Several people were killed in Russian airstrikes on Thursday. Ukrainian emergency services report eleven dead and at least eleven injured. The attacks were primarily aimed at power plants, although most of the attacks were reportedly repulsed. Ukraine’s air defense is said to have shot down 47 of the 55 missiles, according to senior general Valery Zaluzhny.
Recognition
Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelensky made it clear again today that he does not want to negotiate with Russia. In an interview with the British news channel SkyNews, the Ukrainian president said that peace talks are possible only if the Russian army withdraws from Ukraine. The situation can only be resolved if Putin admits he has made mistakes and if a new leader arrives in Moscow, Zelensky believes. “Only then can the situation be resolved,” he said.
Zelensky and Putin last spoke before the war. Zelensky tells SkyNews: “I then saw a man who says one thing and then does another.” The Ukrainian leader also says he is sure that the invasion is only the first step for Putin. After the invasion, Putin “is no longer relevant” to Zelensky.
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‘terrifying’
That Zelensky so clearly rejects a conversation with Putin is “understandable and terrifying at the same time,” says Laurien Crump, an international relations researcher at Utrecht University. “That means there is no other way out than to fight to the end.” That means the possibility of talks under international pressure is also “unlikely,” Crump says. “As long as weapons are provided, Zelensky can continue fighting.”
The Kremlin now claims that the West is joining the war now that it has been decided to supply modern tanks to Ukraine. According to a confidant of President Putin, the United States and NATO are also prolonging that war. Another “logical and troubling” response, according to Crump. ‘Until now, mainly weapons have been supplied with which Ukraine can defend itself. But these tanks are indeed offensive weapons intended to attack the Russians.” This makes the Russians’ claims “hard to deny”.
Nuclear threat
Even top Russian diplomat Konstantin Gavrilov warned today that “Western sponsors of Kiev’s military apparatus should not fuel nuclear provocations”. According to Gavrilov, the promised Leopard 2, Bradley and Marder tanks can be armed with special shells whose warhead contains uranium.
A nuclear threat is “unlikely” at the moment, according to Crump, but the West must “be careful”. “If Russian territory is invaded with those tanks, and according to Russia, also Crimea and Donbass, then we have to be careful that the Russians don’t feel too cornered.”