Cities in eastern Ukraine continue to suffer heavy shelling, while US officials have begun searching for the source of leaked secret documents, including Ukraine’s counter-attack plans, Reuters writes.
The Ukrainian army reported on the morning of Tuesday, the 11th of April, that the Russians are continuing their attack on the eastern side of Donetsk. The Ukrainians have repelled several attacks, and the Russian army continues to push to capture Bakhmut. Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskyi, commander of Ukraine’s ground forces said that Russia has started to use the “scorched earth” tactic that it has previously used in Syria. This means that the entire city is completely destroyed during artillery attacks and airstrikes.
In the battle for the relatively small and now almost completely destroyed Bakhmut, both sides suffered significant losses, however,
Syrskyi pointed out that the situation, although very difficult, is controllable.
Denis Pushilin, the Russian insert in the Donetsk region, has reported that the Russians control 75% of the city’s territory. However, he also pointed out that it is too early to talk about Bakhmut’s fall.
The Russian army also shelled Avdiivka. Donetsk Governor Pavlo Kyrylenko, describing the strike that toppled a high-rise building on the 10th of April, said the city had been reduced to rubble and the remaining residents were constantly risking their lives.
As the fighting continues, CNN has reported that the Ukrainians have been forced to change plans for a long-awaited counter-offensive due to the release of secret documents. US officials are trying to track down the source of the leak as they review the procedure for handing over classified information and try to avert a diplomatic crisis.
The documents contain information about the war in Ukraine, during which Washington delivered large shipments of military aid to Kyiv. Ukrainian presidential aide Mykhailo Podolyak stated that
Kyiv’s strategic plans will not be changed, while certain tactics can always be subject to change.
Certain security experts and US officials have said that the suspect could be an American, but the involvement of Russian agents is not ruled out. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov refused to comment on the leaked documents and said: “There is in fact a tendency to always blame everything on Russia. It is, in general, a disease.”
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