Day 301: Zelenskyy Heads to Washington

Facts

• Ukrainian Pres. Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed he was making his way toward the US as of Wednesday morning, with the aim of strengthening the resilience and defense capacities of Ukraine. According to a senior US official, he is set to meet with US Pres. Biden and the admin's national security team, as well as leaders of Congress.
• This comes as the Biden admin. is reportedly planning to announce a further $1.8B package in military support for Ukraine, along with the first-ever shipment of a Patriot missile battery to Ukrainian forces from the US. White House officials revealed the development to AP on the condition of anonymity, stating that the deal would include around $1B in weapons and about $800M in funding to the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative.
• On the ground, Zelenskyy said he visited the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut on Tuesday, which has been under siege by Russian forces for months. The president claimed he had issued awards to the servicemen who have so far resisted fierce efforts — reportedly led by mercenaries from the Russian Wagner group — to seize the urban area, saying: "Ukraine is proud of you. I am proud of you!"
• Elsewhere, a surprise journey has reportedly been made to Beijing by former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev. A video — posted to the now deputy chairman of Russia's Security Council's Telegram account — showed the politician meeting with PRC Pres. Xi Jinping; Medvedev said the two had discussed the conflict in Ukraine as well as the "no limits" strategic partnership between their two nations.
• Meanwhile, Russian Pres. Putin, delivered a speech to his defense chiefs Wednesday, suggesting that Russia was fighting NATO forces in Ukraine. Putin said, "It's well known that the military potential and capabilities of almost all Nato's [sic] main countries is [sic] being actively used against Russia."
• Finally, according to reports from a member of the Ukrainian presidential office Kyrylo Tymoshenko on Telegram, five civilians were killed and 17 more injured in Russian attacks on Ukraine over the past day. Of those killed, four allegedly died in strikes in the Donetsk region.

Sources: Sky News, Al Jazeera, DW, Reuters, BBC News, and Ukrinform.

Narratives

• Anti-Russia narrative, as provided by PBS NewsHour. This invasion is an egregious violation of international law. Putin's ultimate aim is to restore the Soviet empire, even if it takes massive bloodshed and false pretexts such as calling the 2014 Ukrainian revolution after an election a "coup". This unprovoked attack is the latest chapter in Putin's Orwellian attempt to rewrite history.
• Pro-Russia narrative, as provided by National Security Archive. NATO and the US have ignored Russia's security concerns by breaking its promise not to expand eastward in return for German reunification. These concerns are legitimate and taking them seriously would have avoided the Ukraine tragedy.

Predictions