Day 245: New British PM Re-Affirms Support for Ukraine; 'Heaviest of Battles' Ahead in Kherson, Kyiv Says

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Facts

  • Britain's new PM, Rishi Sunak — the country's third of the year — re-affirmed the UK's support for Ukraine in a call with Pres. Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Tuesday. A Downing Street statement said he used the call to "underline the United Kingdom’s steadfast support," which it added would be "as strong as ever under his premiership."
  • Sunak also spoke with US Pres. Joe Biden and discussed Russia, China and post-Brexit tensions in Northern Ireland. "The leaders agreed on the importance of working together to support Ukraine and hold Russia accountable for its aggression," a White House statement said.
  • Meanwhile, Oleksiy Arestovych, an adviser to the Ukrainian presidency, warned of the "heaviest of battles" ahead in the southern Kherson region. "The Russians are replenishing, strengthening their grouping there," he said. "It means that nobody is preparing to withdraw. On the contrary, the heaviest of battles is going to take place for Kherson."
  • In the neighboring region of Dnipropetrovsk, fragments of a Russian missile struck a petrol station in the city of Dnipro, causing it to catch fire. At least two civilians were killed and four more were in hospital with their injuries. Zelenskyy vowed that "retaliation will be fair and inevitable," following the attack.
  • Further Russian attacks were also reported in the Sumy region, where local officials said over 100 projectiles were fired. There were no reports of civilian casualties at this stage.
  • Elsewhere, a further warehouse in Russian territory has caught fire, this time in the city of St Petersburg. Local officials said the blaze grew to 12K square meters and that 160 firefighters were involved in the operation to extinguish it.

Sources: iNews, Guardian, Yahoo! News, Pravda, and Tass.

Narratives

  • Narrative A, as provided by Associated Press. With Ukrainian forces zeroing in on Kherson, Russia looks set for another humiliating defeat — dashing their hopes for taking control of Mykolaiv and Odesa and creating a landbridge to the separatist Transnistria region of Moldova.
  • Narrative B, as provided by Newsweek. With Russian troops bedding in and mobilizing greater forces in the Kherson region, Ukrainian troops may succeed in retaking some territory but it's unlikely they'll recapture the whole region — at least not by the end of the year.

Predictions