As has been feared for some time, the war in Ukraine could go on for a long time. On Wednesday evening, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy announced that martial law and general mobilization would be extended by another 90 days until August 23. “Our army and everyone defending the state must have all the legal means to act calmly,” he said in a speech. The Russian occupiers will also be expelled from the south of the country. But when that happens depends on the situation on the battlefield.
Meanwhile, Moscow has commented on the situation of the blocked Ukrainian Black Sea ports. According to the Russian agency Interfax, Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Rudenko said those who are calling for an end to the port blockades must also look at the reasons that caused the food crisis: “And these are primarily the sanctions that the USA and the EU have imposed on Russia and hamper normal free trade in food, including wheat, fertilizers and others.”
Meanwhile, fierce fighting continued on the battlefield, especially in the area around the towns of Sieverodonetsk and Popasna in the east of the country. At Kharkiv, the Russian troops are said to be trying to fortify their positions and continue to shell the Ukrainian forces with artillery. British military intelligence is also reporting, Russia has suspended and replaced some of its generals. Such a change in the command structure is unlikely to speed up the offensive.
Destruction of the steelworks in Mariupol, which is now part of the territory of the self-proclaimed pro-Russian Donetsk People’s Republic.
(Photo: AP)
Apart from small gains in territory here and there, neither side can claim any great successes. Arms shipments could change that, but for now it looks like it will be months before western tanks and artillery are used in large numbers in Ukraine. In the worst case, the trench warfare in the east could last for years, and in fact it is already happening: the Ukrainian army and pro-Russian separatists have been fighting each other in the region since 2014.
The separatist leader talks about Mariupol as a future resort
And although it will probably take some time before the south of Ukraine can be liberated, some kind of partisan fight against the Russian occupiers already seems to be underway in the area. Reports of alleged attacks on Russian soldiers and photos of propaganda posters by a resistance movement threatening the Russian army are shared on social networks. The authenticity of the images and reports cannot be verified. News circulated on Wednesday evening that partisans blew up an armored Russian train near the occupied city of Melitopol. An adviser to Zelensky later put the report into perspective: Ukrainian reservists did not blow up the train, but destroyed the tracks.
The attack shows, however, that the Ukrainian army or partisans are capable of heavy strikes against the Russian army, even in the occupied territories. And in Russia itself, Ukrainian attacks seem to be increasing. Shelling was reported on Thursday morning in the Kursk region of Russia, and several buildings are said to have been hit in the town of Tjotkino. At least that’s what the local governor said.
Russia, in turn, is said to have continued the attack on the Mariupol steelworks. Most recently, hundreds of Ukrainian soldiers who had been holed up in the complex for weeks surrendered to the Russian army. The exact number is not known, Russian news agencies reported the surrender of 771 fighters, giving a total of 1730 soldiers. The Red Cross registered several hundred prisoners of war. More than 2,000 men and women from the Ukrainian armed forces are believed to have stayed at the steelworks. Separatist leader Denis Puschilin announced meanwhile, they want to completely destroy the work, the city should be rebuilt as a “holiday resort”. The steelworks as a memorial to the bitter resistance of the Ukrainian army against the Russian invasion would of course be a nuisance when bathing.