Reports from Ukraine this morning indicate that while Russians press the fight on Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, resistance is solidifying among the Ukrainian military and ordinary citizens. For its defense, men between 18 and 60 are prohibited from leaving the country. For the first time in their lives, ordinary men and women are learning to handle and fieldstrip a Kalashnikov. The Ukrainian defence minister reports that 25,000 guns have been distributed just in the Kyiv region. Others vow to man barricades with pistols and hammers if necessary.
In the fog of war, it is wise to maintain skepticism of damage and casualty reports from both sides. USA Today devoted an entire thread to debunking videos of explosions circulating online that have nothing to do with Ukraine. Part of the war is psychological. Ukrainiain accounts of Russian armor and aircraft destroyed are unconfirmed. Outnumbered and outgunned Ukrainians clearly are trying to keep spirits up, especially fighting spirit.
‘Can I tow you back to Russia?’
The Guardian reported one nonviolent encounter between a Ukrainian driver and a Russian military vehicle:
A Ukrainian citizen confronted Russian soldiers after their armoured vehicle broke down on a country road in the Sumy region, close to the border with Russia.
After spotting the hapless soldiers, the driver pulled alongside them, and asked: ‘Can I tow you back to Russia?’
There are reports that after armored columns pass Ukrainians are tearing up roads so Russian fuel resupply truck cannot get to them.
The New York Times offers this:
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Fighting drew closer to the center of Kharkiv, in eastern Ukraine, according to videos and photographs analyzed by The New York Times. The footage showed Ukrainians firing rockets toward Russian troops, as well as some Russian military vehicles burning and others being ransacked by Ukrainian troops.
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As Ukraine’s armed forces targeted Russian supply lines, the Kremlin’s offensive seemed likely to intensify, as U.S. officials said that most of the more than 150,000 Russian troops who had massed around Ukraine were now engaged in the fighting.
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Mr. Zelensky rejected the Kremlin’s offer to hold talks in Belarus, saying the country was not neutral territory because Russia had carried out part of its invasion from there.
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The Biden administration and key European allies announced on Saturday that they would remove certain Russian banks from the SWIFT financial messaging system, essentially barring them from international transactions.
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John Spencer, Chair of Urban Warfare Studies at the Modern War Institute at West Point, offered warfighting pointers for Ukrainian defenders (via Twitter) on Saturday. Training in how to kill enemy soldiers is not something I ever expected to see on Twitter or on Hullabaloo, but here we are, via The Guardian’s Carole Cadwalladr:
Yeesh. Spencer is still posting. Eight rules, etc.
Russian troops are moving into Karkiv.
I can’t help wondering if our fringe-right, fantasy revolutionary league is watching and taking notes for when they launch their Second Civl War against the United States. Ukrainians are showing them how it’s done. Terrific.
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