There is “no safe city” in Ukraine as Russian forces expand their attacks and continue to target civilians.
All across Ukraine, hospitals have been bombed, basic supplies are running low, and corpses lie dead, waiting to be added to the official death toll. $100 billion worth of infrastructure has been destroyed and constant shelling imperils the journey of would-be refugees; International observers are alarmed by the increased use of landmines. So far 2.5 million Ukrainians have fled the country and the U.N. expects that number to double.
In the last twenty-four hours, Russian missile strikes were reported in Dnipro, in the east, Lutsk, in the northwest, and Ivano-Frankovsk in the southwest.
In Kharkiv, the local mayor says 48 schools have been destroyed and the U.N.’s Human Rights office said there’s evidence that cluster bombs were used against the city of 1.5 million. The displaced must now find shelter against freezing weather. In Mariupol, 400,000 residents are running low on food, water, and medicine and the Russian military has blocked the delivery of humanitarian assistance. The Russians “have a clear order to hold Mariupol hostage, to torture it, to carry out constant bombardment,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Friday, a day after reports emerged that Russians have bombed a maternity hospital there.
Outside Kyiv, a miles-long Russian military convoy is finally on the move after being stalled by supply shortages and command problems. Satellite images show Russian forces are beginning to encircle the capital city.
“In the next upcoming days, we’re expecting significant attack on the capital,” said former boxing champion Wladimir Klitschko, who is now a member of Ukraine’s territorial defense forces. “They are regrouping. They’re trying to find different strategies and trying to find the right way and the right timing. So every hour counts, and then we’re expecting an attack on the capital at any moment, especially, as I said, the next coming days. Their target is the capital.”
Russians have already taken control of two Ukrainian nuclear power plants. Workers at the Zaporizhzhia facility, which was captured last week, are being forced to work at gunpoint and are in “very bad psychological conditions,” according to Petro Kotin, head of Ukraine’s state-owned atomic energy firm Energoatom. And at Chernobyl, the defunct site of a 1986 nuclear disaster, key safety equipment went offline briefly after Russians cut the power source. An accident at either facility can cause severe damage.
On Friday, Russia’s defense minister said “All is going according to the plan.” And the Kremlin’s press secretary dismissed anti-war protests, saying “A real Russian is not ashamed that he is Russian — and if he is ashamed, then he is not Russian and is not with us.”
Russia’s brutal escalation of its invasion, now entering its third week, is largely attributed to its military failures – including its inability to quickly capture Kyiv. Despite a massive advantage in military might, Russia has been stymied by a Ukrainian resistance passionately defending its homeland. Weapons flowing from Western allies have helped the Ukrainian cause. But Russia has responded by operating outside of the rules of war, using a finely-tuned misinformation campaign to justify horrendous attacks on non-military targets.
U.S. President Joe Biden and leaders from the European Union and G7 plan to ratchet up the economic pressure on Putin by revoking Russia’s “most favored nation” trade status. The move allows nations to impose higher tariffs on Russian goods.
Russia is already reeling from a wide range of economic penalties that have tanked its currency and pushed the country toward default on its debts. Western companies have largely severed ties with Russia, depriving the nation of many of the technologies and amenities it first gained after emerging from the USSR.
Yet, Putin has convinced a large majority of his people that the war is necessary and righteous. State-media celebrates his every move. Channels for dissent – like social media and independent news organizations – have been shuttered by federal decree. In other words, if Putin wants to continue his murderous campaign, there’s few people to stop him and the West is reluctant to initiate a direct military confrontation with a nuclear power.
So this war will likely drag on indefinitely. It is hard to see how either side will win. It is much more likely both will lose.
