"Like A Sniper Rifle:" Ukraine Troops Love Home-Made Bohdana Cannon

As Ukraine works to become more self-sufficient in weaponry, its success with drones is already well known. What may be less apparent is its production of heavier weapons, like artillery. 

The Bohdana cannon, domestically designed and manufactured in Ukraine is so accurate, its operators say it is 'like a sniper rifle.' The Ukrainians use both self-propelled (shown here) and towed models. The latter growing in importance because they are easier to camouflage and can better withstand a drone strike. Both versions demonstrate the creativity and effectiveness of the country's defense manufacturing. JL

Vladyslav Khriystoforov reports in Ukraine Pravda:

Bohdana self-propelled artillery is one of the flagships of Ukraine's defence industry. It is a large 155mm gun mounted on a lorry, enabling its operators to strike the enemy precisely and quickly change position. (But) towed howitzers mounted on trailers are also becoming (popular) as they are easier to camouflage and can better withstand strikes from FPV drones. "In our system, we can see all our Bohdana guns, their traverse sectors, field of rotation and firing orientation. As soon as target coordinates come in, it helps us determine which gun will fire first. At the same time, a live feed from our drone monitoring the target appears on screens. We must (have) accurate target coordinates, carry out calculations, adjust for meteorological data. This gun is like a sniper rifle. Its accuracy is very high. But achieving such results depends on the people."

Ukraine's Tactical, Operational Successes Are Generating Strategic Leverage

In descriptions of Ukraine's counteroffensive operations in Zaporizhzhia and Dnipropetrovsk, as well as in the defensive actions in Donbas, the word 'cascading' appears frequently. 

The implication is that Ukraine's battlefield successes, long range bombing of Russian energy and manufacturing capacity and technological innovations are combining to have degrading effect on Russian military capabilities which, in turn, is impacting the Kremlin's ability to wage war. JL

The Institute for the Study of War reports:

Ukraine's tactical and operational successes are increasingly generating strategic effects. Ukrainian forces began making significant tactical gains in southern Ukraine in late January 2026 that created cascading operational effects on the front and forced Russian forces to choose between defending against the Ukrainian counterattacks or allocating manpower and resources to other sectors. Ukrainian counterattacks have even disrupted Russian plans for the Spring-Summer 2026 campaign. (And) Ukraine’s technological innovation efforts are increasingly generating operational effects. Russia's recruitment rate in March 2026 was below its battlefield loss rate for the fourth month in a row. 

Terminator Time: Ukraine Ground Robots Increasingly Replace Infantry In Combat

It's Terminator Time on the frontlines in Ukraine. Increasingly sophisticated ground drones (UGVs) are replacing infantry in combat, from holding positions, to attacking Russian lines and even taking prisoners. 

Armed with remote controlled machine guns, grenade launchers and even aerial drone take-off capabilities, ground drones are proving effective at a range of dangerous tasks formerly assigned to infantrymen. But with the widening of the drone-dominated killzone on both sides of the front, using lethalized ground drones smaller than tanks or infantry fighting vehicles - and thus harder to hit - is proving to be a sound and effective strategy borne out by Ukraine's success so far this year. JL

Luke Harding reports in The Guardian:

Ground robots are increasingly taking a key role in combat, replacing human infantry. They have been kitted out with remote control machine guns and grenade launchers. A Ukrainian DevDroid TW 12.7 defended a position for 45 days. A kamikaze robot carrying 200kgs of explosives trundled 12 miles (20km) to a building used by Russian troops and blew it up.Last summer for the first time in the history of warfare Russian soldiers even surrendered to an armed ground robot.   “It’s not Star Wars. The frontline is more like Terminator. A land robot arrives at your position and there is nothing you can do about it. You can shoot a person in the chest and they stop firing. If you shoot a ground robot it doesn’t feel pain. There is a guy looking at a screen who is going to fire back.”

Bluesky's New AI Tool Is Already Its 2nd Most Blocked Account - After JD Vance

Ah, the dangers of misreading your audience. Recent polls across a wide variety of media with varying political views have largely delivered a consistent result when it comes to AI: Americans hate it. 

They hate how it is  gumming up their laptops and phones, hate what it is doing to the job market and hate the tech bro billionaires trying to shove it down everyone's throat so they can make a few more bucks at the public's expense. So the users of Bluesky, who mostly emigrated there to escape Elon Musk's pollution of Twitter - now X - are not pleased, no matter how well-intentioned Bluesky's initiative may have been. Sometime's it's best not to let FOMO push you to jump on the bandwagon. JL

Amanda Silberling reports in Tech Crunch:

Bluesky has launched an AI assistant called Attie. But Bluesky’s userbase did not embrace the new product. Instead,125,000 users have blocked Attie’s Bluesky account, making Atttie its second most blocked account. The only one with more blocks is Vice President J. D. Vance, with180,000 blocks. Attie blocks surpassed the White House account (122,000 blocks) and the ICE account (112,460 blocks). That’s some seriously detested company. For many Bluesky users, the platform serves as a reprieve from mainstream social internet, where AI search, AI chatbots, and AI video feeds are omnipresent, which makes the launch of Attie feel like a betrayal. Attie only has 1,500 followers, meaning that about 83 times more users have blocked the account than followed it.

With 35,000+ March Russian Losses, "Ukraine In Best Position of Past 10 Months"

Ukraine believes it is in the best position it has been in the past ten months - since the middle of 2025 - as in March, for the third month in a row, it has inflicted more than 30,000 casualties on Russian forces, with March's total topping 35,000. 

Not only are Ukrainian defenses holding, but the Ukrainians have gone on the offensive in multiple sectors. Should the Ukrainian reach their goal of inflicting 50,000 a month on the Kremlin's troops, it would be 'catastrophic' for Russia. JL

Olena Harmash reports in Global Banking and Finance, Adriana Mullayanova reports in Express Global:

Ukrainian President Zelenskiy said the frontline situation for Ukraine was the best since the middle of last year, "the best it has been in the last ten months. Thanks to the strikes of our drones, 33,988 Russian soldiers were killed or seriously wounded, and another 1,363 were eliminated due to artillery and other sources. That is, more than 35,000 Russian losses in a month." Russia is losing 30,000–35,000 personnel monthly so far this year, with a loss ratio of 1:8 compared to Ukrainian forces. If Russian losses climb to 50,000 a month, it could be catastrophic for Russia’s military.

Russian Commanders Charge $39K To Spare Soldiers From Frontline Duty

Russian commanders are demanding extortionate sums from their soldiers who want to be spared frontline duty, with prices going as high as $39,000.

Russian troops can usually get access to such sums by turning over much of the bonuses they are being paid by the government for volunteering in the first place. Commanders are also known to sell weapons, food and the "privilege" of being sent to a hospital if they are wounded. Such corruption appears to be endemic to the Kremlin's military. JL

Verity Bowman reports in The Telegraph:

Russian commanders are charging up to £30,000 (@$39K) to spare soldiers from the front lines in Ukraine. There (have been) multiple cases in which soldiers are offered the chance to pay extortionate sums in exchange for their safety – a practice experts say is systemic. Commanders “reset” soldiers – a euphemism for sending them to their deaths – if they refuse to pay the sums demanded of them, which range from £10,000-£30,000. There have also been cases of Russian commanders not sending wounded troops to hospital if they do not pay for the privilege or refusing to issue documentation to receive state veteran benefits. (And) commanders sold drones, thermal imagers, night-vision gear and humanitarian aid meant for troops

Ukraine 'Destroys' 291 Russian Attacks As Pokrovsk Again Hottest Sector

Ukraine's Pokrovsk-Mynohrad defenders including the Azov, 32nd and 155th mechanized brigades destroyed 291 Russian attacks in the past week, as that region has again become the hottest on the frontline. 

Having been thwarted in Zaporizhzhia and other areas in the south, the Kremlin, as has been its pattern, is now trying a new area to see if it might have more success than it has in the past 18 months. So far, to no one's surprise, the answer appears to be no. JL

 
RFU News reports:

Ukrainian forces repelled a series of Russian attacks in the Pokrovsk-Myrnohrad sector, (again) "the most hotly contested on the entire 1,200 km front." Near Hryshyne, north of Pokrovsk,the 32nd and 155th mechanized brigades destroyed the Russians advances while geolocated footage indicates that on April 1, "the Ukrainians advanced in northwestern Hryshyne as they have been clearing Hryshyne's center in recent weeks." Ukraine's 2026 strategy — exhaust Russian forces, deny breakthroughs, build reserves — positions the Pokrovsk sector as a prime attrition zone where absorbing high assault volumes is itself the mission.