Summary of the Events of the Day
Russian forces seem to be giving up and are running low on supplies. And reports of successful Ukrainian counterattacks and retaking of territory are being claimed. Russia is losing the war on the ground. That is why the attacks from the sky have increased with over 300 flying missions over the last 24 hours bombarding mostly the civilian population. And now the Russian government has begun using chemical weapons against civilians.
Battle for the Skies
Russia steps up its bombardment of Ukraine flying over 300 missions alone the last 24 hours. WAR CRIME
But Ukraine is not taking it sitting down and continues to shoot Russian planes out of the air.
Battle for Kyiv (including Kharkiv, Chernihiv, Sumy, and Zhitomir)
The Institute for Superhard Materials in northwestern Kyiv was struck by a drone attack resulting in the death of one Ukrainian soldier.
Battle for the Donbas (Donetsk & Luhansk regions)
Russia attacked civilian homes on the frontline city of Kramatorsk with the chemical weapon white phosphorous which is a long-burning chemical that will eat the flesh off a human down to the bone. It is the first verifiable use of chemical weapons used by Russia in its genocide against Ukraine. U.S. President Joe Biden had threatened Russia that they would suffer a “severe price” if they used chemical weapons on Ukrainians. We will see if he meant it.
Ukraine is negotiating with Russia to evacuate the civilian population of Mariupol which has been besieged now for nearly three weeks with 90% of their city reduced to rubble. The population is starving and forced to drink water from drainpipes and puddles.
Battle for the Black Sea (Kherson, Mykolaiv, and Odesa)
Ukraine claims to have begun an offensive to retake territory lost to Russian forces who are demoralized and under-supplied. Evidence of this can be seen in the Mykolaiv region with already one community retaken by Ukrainian forces.
Peace Negotiations
President Zelensky again stated that he would like to have face-to-face peace negotiations with President Putin noting that all talks below that cannot achieve a ceasefire. He is willing to compromise and give us Ukraine’s desire to join NATO, but any deal must guarantee Ukraine’s sovereignty over their territory and allow Ukraine to be defended against any future attacks. He did note that Ukraine is a democracy, not a republic like the U.S., and any deal must be voted on by the people in a referendum. This is a weakness of a democracy, and why the U.S. chose a republican system of government.
Other News
96-year-old Boris Romantschenko, a survivor of the German genocide of the Jews during the Holocaust, became a victim of the Russian genocide of Ukrainians, when his apartment in Kharkiv was shelled.
The Kremlin-allied newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda slipped and reported on their website that 9861 Russian soldiers had died and 16,153 had been injured in Russia’s genocide against Ukrainians. It was quickly taken down.
The number of Ukrainian refugees that have fled their country has risen to 3.5 million, or 8% of the population.
Russian Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Koshel, head of Information and Psychological Counteraction for the Russian army, was captured by the 128th Separate Mountain Assault Zakarpattia Brigade. When he was captured, the Russian forces deployed significant forces to try and free him, but to no avail.
Ukrainian intelligence reported that Russian forces have only a three-day supply of food, fuel, and ammunition due to the targeted attacks by Ukrainian forces on Russian supply lines. They also claimed that one division of 300 Russian soldiers refused to continue fighting and drove their vehicles back towards Russia. They noted that on the Donbas front, most of the soldiers that are being captured are young and old men with no military training, suggesting that Russian forces are running out of trained soldiers and forcing Ukrainians in occupied regions to join in the fight.
President Zelensky addressed the Italian Parliament and stated that only one person needs to be stopped to save the lives of millions, and that one person is Russian President Putin. “This is a war that Russia has been preparing for a long time. Which one person has been preparing for a long time. One! For decades. Earning crazy money on oil and gas exports and directing them to prepare for war. And not only against Ukraine. Their goal is Europe. Decisive influence on your life, control over your policy, destruction of your values. Not only ours. Democracy, human rights, equality, freedom… The same values as ours,” Zelensky said.
The Russian Duma approved new legislation that imposes a 15-year prison term on anyone who publishes information that does not follow the talking points of the State. Since he considers Ukraine to be a part of Russia, this law could also be applied to people like me who write such posts. This is why it is important that you do not share these posts and include my name or location. You can simply say “this is from a friend of mine from inside Ukraine”. Nothing more.
International Support
UN Chief Antonio Guterres described the Russian war against Ukraine as unwinnable and called on Russia to end its aggression which can only kill more civilians.