Summary of the Events of the Day
Russian President Vladimir Putin knows he can no longer survive politically by continuing this war with Ukraine. He cannot win on the ground without resorting to chemical, even nuclear, weapons. And if he does that, he knows the West will never welcome him back or end the sanctions against Russia unless he resigns. But if he does not achieve some kind of victory, his people will overthrow him. He sees that his only survival is to achieve a smaller win by taking all the Donbas, having started this war with only one-third of the two regions of Donetsk and Luhansk that make up the Donbas. This would still give him the two Republics that he claimed he was fighting for originally and give him a land bridge to Crimea which he had stolen from Ukraine back in 2014. He then can claim victory with his people, and with a peace deal with Ukraine accepting this loss, can begin to repair his relationship with the West and return to normalcy. He then will force Ukraine to demilitarize and wait for his next opportunity to take more of Ukraine. He announced to the world that he has achieved his objective in weakening the Ukrainian army and will now focus on taking the Donbas.
Battle for Kyiv (Kharkiv, Sumy, Chernihiv)
Russian missiles hit a medical facility in Kharkiv killing four civilians and wounding several others.
Russian troops moved into Slavutych, 100 miles north of Kyiv, and took over the hospital as their command post and kidnapped the mayor. Slavutych is known as a city of engineers who operate the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant which lies 35 miles southwest. But because the only road to the nuclear power plant passes through Belarus, the engineers now have to make the 165-mile loop journey through Kyiv. 1000 unarmed residents of Slavutych have barricaded the Russian troops within the hospital shouting expletives at them to leave Ukraine. The soldiers have fired their machine guns and launched flash-bang grenades at the protestors, but to no avail.
Battle for the Black Sea (Kherson, Mykolaiv, Odesa)
Ukrainian forces began the counter-offensive to take back Kherson, the only major city that Russia has been able to occupy. It was part of Russia’s campaign to take Odesa cutting off Ukraine fully from the Black Sea, and creating a land bridge to Transnistria, a region Russia has taken from Moldova. Putin now needs Kherson as a bargaining chip in his hope in convincing Ukraine to give up the Donbas. Ukrainian forces are now on the border and may have even entered the edges of Kherson, placing the city in a contested status.
Battle for Water Supply to Crimea
Melitopol was one of the first strategic cities that Russia took on the second day of their invasion. It is the hub that allows the march towards Odesa to the west and Zaporizhia to the north which controls the water to Crimea. Russia also took the sea town of Berdyansk on their march to Mariupol. The citizens of Melitopol and Berdyansk protest daily in the city center against Russian occupation to the consternation of Putin. Putin expected Ukrainian cities to welcome their liberation from Russia, but instead he has discovered Russia is not liked even in Eastern Ukraine. Putin has brought Russian police from Crimea to suppress the protests in these two cities and others now under Russian control in the Donbas.
Other Regions
Russian missiles struck a Ukrainian military command center in Vinnitsa that oversees the defense of Central Ukraine. Several building and infrastructures were destroyed. It is unknown if there were any casualties from the attack.
Russia launched cruise missiles against Ukraine’s last fuel storage in Dubne, on the highway between Rivne and Lviv. Russia claims to have destroyed the fuel tanks, but Ukraine says they are damaged but still intact. Dubne lies 40 miles southwest of Rivne and 100 miles northeast of Lviv.
President Biden travelled to Rzeszow, Poland just 65 miles from the Ukraine border. He made an unscripted remark when talking about Putin by exclaiming, “For God’s sake, this man cannot stay in power.” In a temper tantrum, Putin released three missile strikes on Lviv just 110 miles from where Biden was speaking as a signal of his displeasure of Biden’s call for regime change in Russia. Later, the White House walked it back by stating that Biden meant that Putin cannot continue to have power over Ukraine, and did not call for a regime change in Russia.
Ukrainian President Zelensky addressed the U.S. through the Delphi Forum arguing that the nuclear status of a country should not be a “permission for injustice” to other countries. Otherwise, more and more countries will develop nuclear weapons for their defense making our world even more dangerous.
Peace Negotiations
Ukraine Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said that negotiations with Russia are not going well. Russia continues to demand Ukraine accept Russian sovereignty over Crimea and the independence of Donetsk and Luhansk regions. Russia also demands that Ukraine remain a neutral country and significantly reduce its army. Ukraine is only willing to consider becoming a neutral country like Sweden, but the rest of the demands are non-starters for Ukraine. Ukraine insists that all territories be returned to Ukraine, and Ukraine be allowed to defend itself militarily.
Other News
The hacktivist group Anonymous has broken into the Russian Central Bank and claims to release all privileged bank records of government officials and oligarchs which will reveal to the world the vast wealth they have stolen from the Russian people. It will also allow Western countries to expand their sanctions by confiscating property of Russian leaders of which they were unaware.
International Support
There are a growing number of NATO countries that are supporting the idea of a NATO peacekeeping force being sent to Ukraine to defend against Russia. Poland has led this movement, which is now supported by Czech Republic, Slovenia, Lithuania, and Denmark as well.
Poland, Czech Republic, and Slovenia have released a ten-point plan to support Ukraine and bring an end to the war. The plan includes cutting off Russia’s economic system from the world bringing Russia to its knees economically, offering asylum to Russian soldiers who surrender, prevent Russia from disseminating their propaganda around the world, suspend all visas to Russian citizens, and exclude Russia from all international organizations. And if this does not work, then they will send troops to Ukraine to serve as shields.
Switzerland has expanded its sanctions on Russia banning all exports of goods and services to the Russian energy sector. It also bans the import of iron and steel goods, as well as luxury items, from Russia.
Volunteers from Belarus have formed a military battalion and placed themselves under the Ukraine Army Command to join in the defense of Ukraine.