This week, battles continued to rage along the front lines. Russia continued to pummel Ukrainian cities and towns deep in the rear with missiles and drones. Ukraine’s deep-strike campaign also goes on.
In an interview with the BBC, released on Monday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi explained why Ukraine cannot cede Donbas to Russia. A Ukrainian counterattack in the southeast demonstrates that Kyiv’s forces have got plenty of fight left, The Wall Street Journal said Monday. “Today marks exactly four years since Putin started his three-day push to take Kyiv,” Zelenskyi said, addressing the nation on the fourth anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion. Ukraine’s Defense Minister, Mykhailo Fedorov, presented a war plan Tuesday designed to “force Russia into peace.”
Russia carried out another major missile and drone attack on Ukraine overnight into Thursday, using 39 missiles and 420 drones. With the frost largely gone, the power outages now last shorter.
Russia has likely seized Pokrovsk, but failed to capitalize on it, the Institute for the Study of War said. More than 90,000 Ukrainians are missing in the war, according to the government’s commissioner.
Dissolution of Russia as an empire would improve global security, Budanov says.
Ukraine and allies should be aiming at creating an environment where Russia would dissolve, leading to greater security for all, Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, Kyrylo Budanov told Lebanese news site Al Modon in an interview published on Thursday.
“Generally speaking, the policies of the current Russian president do not differ significantly from those of the Tsarist or Soviet eras. One should not expect Russia to change as a result of internal factors. Instead, we should create the conditions under which Russia will dissolve as an empire,” Budanov said, according to the Ukrainian translation of the interview.
Russia’s disintegration will contribute to greater security worldwide, Budanov continued. “Several regional nation-states would emerge in its territory, with each concerned with well-being of its people. It’s only then that Ukraine, Europe and the entire world will feel more secure,” he said.