Russian military settles in temporarily abandoned apartments under gusie of utility inspections – AFU General Staff

This is stated in the evening report of the Ukrainian Armed Forces’ General Staff for April 4.

"In the town of Starobilsk, Luhansk region, the so-called occupation authorities are using public utility workers to move Russian military into apartments and houses temporarily abandoned by Ukrainian citizens. Such actions are carried out under the guise of preventive checks of meter readings by public utilities," the statement said.

The General Staff also reported that cases of civilians being taken away in an unknown direction without any explanation after random checks of mobile phones have become more frequent.  

Ukrainian aviation launches 7 strikes on Russian personnel concentrations over the day

Meanwhile, Ukrainian missile and artillery units hit 2 Russian control points and an electronic warfare station.

During the day, Russian troops have launched 2 missile and 28 air strikes

Russian forces also launched 7 MLRS attacks, causing deaths and injuries among the civilian population. 

Russia continues to focus its main efforts on launching offensives in Lyman, Bakhmut, Avdiivka and Marinka directions – over 45 attacks were repelled during the day. Bakhmut and Marinka remain at the epicenter of the fighting.

On the northern and northeastern border with Belarus and Russia, the operational situation has not changed significantly, no signs of Russia offensive groups have been detected. 

Russian units remain present in the border areas of Russia’s Kursk and Belgorod regions. 

During the day, Russian troops fired at 3 settlements in the Sumy region, as well as at 6 settlements in the Kharkiv region.

The situation in other directions is as follows:

In the Kupiansk direction, 4 settlements in the Kharkiv region and 2 in the Luhansk region came under Russian fire.

In the Lyman direction, Russian troops launched unsuccessful offensives in the area south of Kreminna over the last day. Three settlements in the Luhansk region and 3 more in the Donetsk region came under artillery fire.

In the Bakhmut direction, the Russian army continues to storm the town of Bakhmut - Ukrainian defenders repelled about 20 attacks over the last day. At the same time, Russian troops launched unsuccessful offensives near Bohdanivka, Donetsk region. Eight settlements suffered from Russian shelling.

In Avdiivka and Marinka directions, Russian forces launched offensives near Marinka and 2 other settlements, but were unsuccessful. At the same time, they fired at 6 settlements in the Donetsk region.

In the Shakhtarsk direction, Russian troops did not launch any offensives over the last day. They actively launched UAVs to adjust artillery fire. They fired at 4 settlements in the Donetsk region.

In Zaporizhzhia and Kherson directions, Russian troops continue to build up their defense capabilities. They fired at 5 settlements in the Zaporizhzhia region, as well as 5 settlements of the Kherson region and the city of Kherson itself.

On the night of April 4, Russian troops shelled Toretsk, Donetsk region, killing 2 mine workers and injuring 1.