Has the counteroffensive begun or not? President Zelensky seems to say it has not, but that initial counterattacks in preparation have begun. Russia is touting it has begun along with the Washington Times. Ukraine Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov sarcastically chides that the counter-offensive began on February 24, 2022 (the day of the invasion). If it has begun, the initial results are mixed. Although Ukrainian forces are making progress in the Bakhmut region and on the Donetsk-Zaporizhia border, they have suffered great losses farther west with Russia posting pictures of dozens of Western tanks already immobilized. For now, it is anyone’s guess, but if it has begun, Ukraine needs your prayers more than ever. According to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), Ukraine has launched counterattacks on three fronts (the three mentioned above).
Russia launched a missile strike near Uman hitting an industrial factory and car wash. Eight people were injured in the attack. Another missile strike hit the city of Zviahel in the western region of Zhytomyr resulting in one death. Six apartment buildings were destroyed and another twelve damaged. The number of injuries is not yet reported.
More than 3300 homes are now under water due to the destruction of the Kakhovka Dam. Ukraine has evacuated 2300 people both on their side and the Russian side of the Dnipro River. For the fourth day, Russia compounded their atrocities by shelling Kherson residents trying to flee from the rising waters. The death of one woman was caught on video by Ukraine’s Chief Rabbi who was there assisting in the evacuation work. https://youtu.be/oqoQGwKvEqY. The world is coming together to assist Ukraine in this tragedy, with even China offering assistance.
The investigation into the destruction continues. Structural damage has been ruled out. Two seismic networks in Norway detected a tremor at the moment of the dam collapsing as evidence there was an explosion. And US satellites have also recorded an explosion. What caused the explosion is still being determined with the three leading theories in order being Russian blew up the dam from inside, an accidental explosion occurred inside, and Ukraine blew it up with a missile. Ukraine has released a transcript of an intercepted phone call which suggests the former.
Speaker One: “News. Yesterday there was a video in the Telegram channel – a soldier standing there, his face covered, in his uniform. And he says there is no flooding, that people are living normally. And behind him there is a window, and you can see knee-deep water.”
Speaker Two: “That’s funny! Is it about the fact that the hydroelectric power plant was destroyed?”
Speaker One: “Yeah. The main problem is that the hydropower plant cools their nuclear reactor.”
Speaker Two: “That’s great! They did it to themselves. It’ll blow up and that’s it.”
Speaker One: “Our guys did it. It’s not them, it’s ours.”
Speaker Two: “Really, it was ours? They said that the Khokhols [Russian derogatory term for Ukrainians] blew it up.”
Speaker One: “They didn’t blow it up. Our sabotage team is there. They wanted to cause fear with this dam. It did not go according to plan. More than they planned.”
Speaker One: “Our guys
The International Atomic Energy Agency released an official statement that the Zaporizhian Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP), the largest in Europe, is not in danger from the lower waters of the Kakhovka Reservoir it depends on for cooling its reactors. The ZNPP is still pumping water from the reservoir and when that is no longer possible, they have cooling pools at full level that will allow the reactors to run for months. But Russia has certainly mined these reactors as they did the dam and would blow them without hesitation which would far exceed the damage done by the Chernobyl Nuclear Power accident. And as they are on the frontline, we are watching this situation carefully.
But there is yet another possible disaster on the horizon. Russia has mined a giant industrial chemical plant on the Isthmus of Perekop that connects the Crimean Peninsula with mainland Ukraine. If Ukrainian forces approach Crimea, Russia can blow up the plant and stop the Ukrainian army from advancing. It will also send a carcinogenic dust cloud of titanium dioxide that will head north or west to Ukraine, or south to Turkey and Bulgaria killing all animals and plants in its path (of course, if the wind is blowing northeast than Russia will be the victim). And as both Bulgaria and Turkey are NATO allies, it would trip a NATO declaration of war against Russia. Putin is just crazy enough to take the chance as Moscow would be safe.
US President Joe Biden and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak held a summit at the White House adopting the “Atlantic Declaration” which states: “We face new challenges to international stability – from authoritarian states such as Russia and the People’s Republic of China; disruptive technologies; non-state actors; and transnational challenges like climate change.” Ukraine was at the top of the discussion with both promising to continue to support Ukraine in this war.
The pro-Ukrainian Russian rebel troops continue to hold on to territory in the Belgorod region of Russia and have moved forward up to ten kilometers placing Russian tanks out of range of Ukrainian border targets. They have expressed their goal of taking Moscow. But for now, they are the most likely culprits for an attack on Voronezh which is 180 kilometers (110 miles) from the border of Ukraine. The intended target was an aircraft factory, but Russian air defense jammed the drone and it crashed into a multi-story residential building instead. There were no casualties in the attack.
Russian Lt. Col. Roman Vinivitin, who had been captured and tortured by Wagner Group forces, is now free and told a story of horror of what happened to him and his troops at the hands of those they felt were on their side. He shared that his confession of guilt in firing on Wagner Group forces out of a state of drunken animosity was coerced. He was kept in a basement and physically abused and was subjected to a mock execution in the night three times. Another of his soldiers was raped several times until committing suicide. Another was kept in a cold cellar, sprayed with acid in his eyes, doused with petrol, and threatened with burning. Vinivitin also claimed that some of his soldiers were coerced to sign contracts to join the Wagner Group. I would feel sorry for them, but that is what they do to Ukrainians every day. I recommend you watch the new documentary that has just been released entitled “The Eastern Front”. Here is the trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tXU8QU0k3Mk.
Iceland has closed its embassy in Russia, but not for political reasons, but for economic. With Russian sanctions in place, there is just not enough trade between the two countries to justify the expense of keeping the embassy open.