Back Story Newsletter
Good morning,
Ukraine War
I have spent the last 8 days reporting for TV on Ukraine, pouring over every tweet and hundreds of videos as we piece together what the Russian army is doing in Putin’s horrible attack on Ukraine. A few thoughts for you.
The Russians now are making more rapid progress in seizing towns and cities using horrendous attacks on urban areas, with little regard for the civilians living in those areas. Keep in mind while up to a million Ukrainians says the UN fleeing, many others simply can’t move and are sheltering in basements and apartments, and are running low on food and medicine.
As U.S. Sec. of State Blinken this is not about NATO as Russia claimed. This is about Ukraine being absorbed in one fashion of another into Russia. Russian also claimed is didn’t intend to attack Ukraine if you remember that and it was media hysteria?
In the south Russia is taking everything on the Black Sea coast cutting Ukraine off from its ports and shipping access. Kherson has fallen. They will move West towards Odessa and the fighting is expected to be fierce. Reporters in the Odessa say they see preparations for a long resistance.
To the south east the Russians have destroyed parts of Mariupol. That city of 450 thousand has seen according to the mayor 1/4 of the city flattened by heavy non stop artillery strikes and bombing. The firing is so intense rescue workers cannot get to people injured in the street or in their apartments.
"Today was the hardest, cruelest of the seven days of this war," said Vadym Boychenko, the mayor of the key southeastern port of Mariupol who said Russian forces pummelled the city for hours and were attempting to block civilians from leaving.
Big picture the Russians are forming a land bridge from the Donbas to Crimea and beyond. They could also link up Moldova which is partially occupied by Putin’s forces.
Russian Ministry of Defense has admitted the loss of Russian occupation troops in Ukraine: 498 killed and 1597 wounded. You can bet the numbers are double of triple if they admit that. The Ukrainians put Russian losses as high as 7000 but these numbers are to be treated with skeptical caution.
Kyiv is slowly being surrounded. This huge convoy of Russian vehicles is about 20 miles north and getting resupplied with food and fuel and ammo. Russian’s have attacked towns both to the east and west and forces are moving up from the south as well.
Kharkiv the second largest city is being shelled and hit with rockets none stop. The Russians have hit the main square, the police hdq’s and administration building, and numerous residential buildings.
The Ukrainian president condemned the attacks on Kharkiv as "state terrorism on the part of Russia”.
Today look for Russian attacks on those cities mentioned above. Increased shelling of civilian areas and attacks on Kyiv to increase as well. The Ukrainian army is fighting but losing ground.
The battle is not seesaw, but is going the way of Russian invasion forces, which have time on their side. It’s a tragic moment for a free nation in Europe being taken by force by Russian leader Putin who has delusional thoughts of restoring the Russian empire.
Inside Russia opposition and anger grows. Two free media outlets have been shutdown and some of the staff have fled Russia under threat of jail. But this is a police state and repression has reached new levels with 7000 protesters being jailed and many more being arrested at home.
Putin’s struggle to keep power is reaching new desperate heights and he surrounds himself with hardline cold war Soviet thinking dinosaurs. The European minded business people have been pushed aside or silenced. In this atmosphere no one can speak truth to power, and that’s a dangerous atmosphere.
But the economy is being squeezed and as that takes hold in families abilities to afford food and even work, as businesses fail, and word of the invasion spreads it could destabilize the Kremlin further.
Whats Putins long game in Ukraine? The answer isn’t known. Will he storm Kyiv? Will he then push West? All of Ukraine or just the East? No one knows but soon it will become clear as this brutal onslaught continues.
Please excuse the spelling mistakes today. I am crushed with work and short on time.
Have a good day my friends.
Dana