Back Story Newsletter
Good Morning,
War In Ukraine
The Russian army has been constantly bombarding the coastal City of Mariupol for nine days now. Yesterday from the air several bombs hit a 600 bed hospital complex including a children’s ward. Video from the site shows a bomb crated and Ukrainians digging out the wounded.
President Zelenskiy has called it another war crime and genocide - and the attack came as Russia had pledged to open corridors to allow families to escape.
“Hospitals and schools are destroyed. Churches and ordinary buildings are destroyed. People are killed. Children are killed. The aerial bombing of a children’s hospital is the ultimate evidence that genocide of Ukrainians is happening” he said.
5 % of Ukrainians have now fled their homes and that’s mostly women and children as the men stay to fight on against the Russian invasion. Many will have no homes to go back to and are long term displaced refugees. And this number will grow.
House speaker Nancy Pelosi who spoke to Zelenskiy yesterday said “This is the beast that Putin is”.
Russian troops are stalled in the north it seems as the Ukrainians have been hitting fuel trucks in the 40 mile convoy north of Kyiv. So that convoy is going no where for now.
And, Russia admits it has indeed fielded conscripts into battle, many who are just 18yrs old. Morale is low and Russian soldiers have little desire to fight this war. Increasingly there are videos on social media showing Russian troops looting food, evidence the supply lines are in disarray.
Yesterday much was made of the Chernobyl nuclear plant being without power and occupied by Russian troops who have cut off reporting of radiation levels. The International Atomic Energy Agency says the fuel rods should have enough water for cooling but long term there are safety concerns. Chernobyl is not an operating nuclear plant, but Ukraine has four more spread across the country.
Today Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Wednesday travels to Turkey where he will have talks with his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba. This is a high level discussion so there is hope for progress in talks but the reality is the two sides are far apart.
Ukraine may be able to commit to not joining NATO for now, but will not give in to Russian demands to recognize the Crimea which was illegally annexed in 2014, or the Russian annexation of the Donbas region which is clearly the Kremlins intention.
As the war grinds on , more anti aircraft arms are being rushed to Ukraine and anti tank weapons.
NATO forces are beefing up their troop presence in the Baltics, and carrying out large exercises in Norway including ‘Cold Response 2022’ which includes 35,000 Soldiers from 26 Countries in the Northern Military Exercise. The message to Russia is clearly NATO strength in Eastern Europe. Poland is receiving 2 Patriot anti missile batteries, which could should down an incoming ballistic missile, nuclear or otherwise.
Much of the debate now is how to stop Russia in Ukraine, and how to do that to prevent complete destruction of Ukrainian cities. There is increasing support for a no fly zone, although NATO is unlikely to get all nations to agree.
There is also the Polish offer to give its 28 Soviet era fighter jets to Ukraine to police its own skies. But a debate over how to transfer those weapons continues with the U.S. refusing to allow it. The transfer of combat aircraft could be mistaken for an escalatory step,” John F. Kirby, a Pentagon spokesman, told reporters.
I think the U.S. should stop blocking the offer from Poland, because it has an obligation to help Ukraine and this would be far less risky than a no fly zone. Ho the planes get to Ukraine can be sorted without them seen by Russia to be flying from a NATO base.
That’s a quick look at the news this morning.
Dana
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