Situation in Soledar
Fighting rages in Soledar, Donetsk region. In the past day, the Russian forces carried out 91 attacks on the city. Ukraine’s defense forces took out nearly 100 Russian soldiers, spokesperson for Ukraine’s Eastern Military Command Serhiy Cherevatyi said on television.
“Fighting rages in Soledar. The enemy concentrates its greatest efforts there. [Russia is throwing] most highly trained units of the Wagner private military contractor and other units of the Russian military. [The Russian forces] are constantly launching attacks. Soledar was hit by 91 episodes of artillery shelling in the past day,” Cherevatyi said.
“Our troops focused the capabilities of the missile units and artillery to force out the enemy. In the past day, [the Ukrainian troops] took out more than 100 soldiers of the occupying Russian forces with artillery fire and missiles,” the spokesperson for Ukraine’s Eastern Military Command said.
Towns in Luhansk region “wiped out” following constant fighting
During more than four months of heavy fighting, the Russian forces have completely destroyed Bilohorivka and Popasna, and the towns on the line with Kreminna, including Kreminna itself, Rubizhne, Zolote, Hirske, and Lysychansk, the head of the Luhansk regional military administration Serhiy Hayday said.
“Luhansk region can be roughly divided in three parts. The first one was occupied in 2014, and the second one was taken without heavy fighting after February 24, 2022. There is also a part of the region along the line [that goes south] from Kreminna to Rubizhne, Zolote, Hirske, Lysychansk, and Popasna,” Hayday said.
“The area was the site of intense fighting for four and a half months. Some of the towns, including Bilohorivka and Popasna ceased to exist following constant fighting and shelling. There were thousands of episodes of shelling every day [with different types of weapons —] from mortars to aerial bombs.”
“All critical infrastructure is broken there. The water supply system is completely destroyed. The Popasna water supply company and its whole infrastructure were located near Bilohorivka. Everything was destroyed, including the water supply system, pumps, compressors, and water treatment facilities,” the head of the Luhansk regional military administration said.
“The power substations were destroyed. The Kreminna electrical substation – an up-to-date costly facility, one of the best in Europe, was destroyed. It was capable of servicing the entire region.”
“All sewage and gas supply facilities were destroyed. The Russians tried to fix them, but they rather made it for a staged video. After gas was supplied to the houses, the houses began to explode, because the infrastructure is damaged,” Serhiy Hayday said.
The West should supply tanks to Ukraine, The Economists says
Ukraine needs more tanks and long-range missiles to eject Russia from the land that has been stolen. A protracted war and a frozen contact line would count as the Kremlin’s victory of sorts, an editorial by The Economist says.
“If Ukraine cannot break the stalemate soon, it risks a repeat of 2014, when Russia and its proxies grabbed chunks of eastern Ukraine and, after intense fighting died down, the contact line between the two sides froze into something like a frontier. If so, although Mr Putin will have failed in his original aim to seize control of Ukraine, he may still prevent it from thriving as a prosperous, democratic, independent country—and that would count as a victory of sorts.”
“If Mr Putin concludes that his nuclear threats won him this victory, it would set a terrible precedent. For one thing, it would tell him that he should use more uranium-tipped coercion in his next misadventure. For another, every would-be aggressor would be encouraged to see nuclear weapons as a way to prevail when conventional arms fall short. Yielding to Mr Putin’s nuclear threats today sets up more perilous stand-offs tomorrow. The assessment that providing a Marder is much safer than sending in a Leopard is flawed. War is dangerous, but Ukraine needs to finish the job. It should be given the tools it needs,” the article reads.
Read the full text in English here.
In an interview with The Economist in December 2022, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine General Valeriy Zaluzhnyi said: “I need 300 tanks, 600-700 IFVs, 500 Howitzers. Then, I think it is completely realistic to get to the lines of February 23rd. But I can’t do it with two brigades. I get what I get, but it is less than what I need.”
Exclusion of russia from the UN Security Council. Ukraine in Flames #308
Despite continuous violations of international law, russian federation is still a permanent member of the UN Security Council and has a right to veto and block any decision made by the Council. Watch Ukraine in flames #308 to find out more about a joint effort of Ukrainian and international diplomats to kick russia out of the UN and the legal grounds behind it.
Guests:
- Dr. Iouri Loutsenko, co-founder of the NGO “Civic Hub International”
- Dr. Thomas D. Grant, Professor of Cambridge University
- Dmytro Natalukha, Member of the Parliament of Ukraine
