Day 15
Russia continues to bomb encircled Ukrainian cities. The farce of diplomatic negotiations continue in Turkey. Refugees continue to arrive in Europe.
Putin’s war on Ukraine is now over two weeks old. Today I thought to take a closer look at where things stand militarily. This podcast by the New York Times is a good explainer and also doesn’t shy away from reporting the emotional pain of the reality of war for so many (and doesn’t edit out the crying woman in Mykolaiv who yells at the reporter in Russian, asking him what he is even doing there, how is it supposed to help her in that situation? She says to him, I don’t even have money to buy bread).
“It has been two weeks since the beginning of the war in Ukraine and Russia’s high tech army of nearly 200,000 soldiers have not taken control of any major cities, except the southern port of Kherson. The state of war is eerily stalled and the Russians’ answer has been to encircle cities and, from a distance, bomb what they can’t control.”
The horrible news of yesterday afternoon was Russia’s deliberate bombing of a maternity and children’s hospital in encircled Mariupol, which has been without water, electricity, heat, communications for over a week. The images which emerged after the attack were indescribable. A bombed out building, a blown up courtyard, 9-month pregnant women being carried away on stretchers, standing with blood on their faces, covered in blankets. More photos here. Ukraine’s president said this morning three people died in this attack, including one child. 17 were injured.
This is the reality of Putin’s war on Ukraine:
Is Russia’s strategy to starve out Ukraine’s cities? Secretary of State Blinken suggested as much yesterday.
Leonid Bershidskiy also pointed this out yesterday, when analysing the map of Russia’s advances and what if anything Ukraine was doing to stop this strategy. Here, the New York Times maps.
If you listen to the entire The Daily podcast, there is a harrowing interview with a woman who just fled Mariupol, and has been in touch with her husband and parents who stayed behind. Her husband texts her yesterday:
“What can I tell you? There is no water, nothing. I am sleeping on the floor. No windows, and there are explosions everywhere. And we only have food for a few days left. And it’s cold. And my shoes are wet all the time, and I cannot warm up my feet.”
Marina herself tells the New York Times she saw bodies on the streets before she fled. Citizens were asked to tie hands and legs and leave bodies on the street, covered, or to dig their dead themselves if they could. Marina is only 28 years old.
Here is a just published readout of an emergency online conference of Ukrainian mayors of cities under Russian siege.
Meanwhile, there are still discussions in the west trying to “understand” what Russia wants. At this point it’s become pretty damn clear that Putin’s Russia is set on destroying not just Ukraine but also the Ukrainian people. It is forcing millions of them to flee to safety in Europe, and those who remain, they face Russian bombs flying out of the sky, raining down on Ukraine’s cities and civilian targets. I understand that war is a time for propaganda, and all statements must be questioned, but I cannot remember a situation like this, in which one side only lies. Only tells falsehoods. The only way to know the truth out of Russia these days is to take whatever the official line is and conclude the exact opposite must be true.
In Russia, Putin said conscripts were not sent to Ukraine. It turns out to be, of course, a total lie. Now Russia has passed a new law to force young men eligible for the draft to show up themselves in person to collect their draft notices. If you read Russian, this is a fascinating report on what this means for Russia’s army and who may take the heat for this, namely, defense minister Shoigu.
Russia has lost a colossal amount of equipment so far. And this happened today near Kyiv.
Russia’s economy is being ripped apart by these new sanctions. Russia’s brain drain continues. The Russian people? Well, it’s complicated. If you listen to this, you see years of exposure to state TV and internet propaganda takes its toll, especially on people who don’t travel abroad, who don’t look beyond their local or online bubbles for news and information.
Zelensky asked the question last night, what kind of country is the Russian Federation? What kind of country bombs a maternity hospital in the name of freeing it from a made-up enemy? I keep thinking about the Zs. To me they are not funny, they are frightening.
Russia does not want peace. It makes open threats. Lavrov went to Turkey, only to say he has no authority to negotiate anything on behalf of Moscow. Tomorrow, Lukashenko will meet Putin in Moscow. My fear is this is all only the beginning. That this drags on for weeks, months. I, unlike McDonalds, do not see a quick solution in sight.
Meanwhile, here in Europe, it feels like this is only the very beginning of what will be an enormous exodus of people out of Ukraine into Europe. Today at the train station felt busier than yesterday. Everywhere I looked I saw people who had obviously just come from Ukraine, via Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania. Continuing on to Germany, Italy, Prague. Some choosing to stay here in Austria. So many people. A thread from today here:
Afternoon thread
Morning thread
If you would like to help here in Vienna on a local level, Train of Hope published a list of which donations they need most right now. You can also bring donations to Hauptbahnhof they are handing out water, snacks, baby food, etc in the central hall under the departures and arrivals board.
Thank you for reading.
I am struck by the propaganda of the Putin government. I had a look at this pro-military video describing in-field refueling of vehicles and feeding of the troops. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eD60LFzDgMM and the comments are telling. One person says, "More and more tanks, guns and soldiers. What is going on over there. Is it war?" They are answered by this comment..."A purge of the Nazis and American military laboratories." I do not speak or read Russian, so I rely on DeepL to translate--excuse any missed subtle nuances.
I also read through Farida Rustamova's piece on the new conscription law. Good piece of reporting. Thanks for calling our attention to it.
Please stay safe.
--christopher