Day 319: Ukraine Strikes Power Plants

Facts

• Russian officials reported that Ukrainian shelling in Ukraine's Donetsk region — controlled by Russian forces — damaged two thermal power plants on Sunday.
• According to Russia's state news agency, the attack in Zuhres and Novyi Svit was carried out using a multiple rocket launcher system. While one person was reported killed, at least two thermal electric power plant employees in Novyi Svit were trapped under the debris. This comes as Moscow's unilateral ceasefire for Orthodox Christmas expired.
• Meanwhile, Russia's overnight bombing in Donetsk killed two Ukrainians and injured eight others shortly after Putin ended the 36-hour unilateral ceasefire. Ukrainian officials claim one person died in Kharkiv, and another was injured in Kherson as a result of the shelling.
• Pres. Zelenskyy stated that Pres. Putin's truce was a failure, alleging that Russian shells hit multiple Ukrainian positions. Ukraine's defense ministry claimed Russia fired at least nine missiles and three air strikes — mostly on civilian infrastructure — during the ceasefire.
• In addition, Russian state media reported that Ukraine has imposed ten-year sanctions on 119 figures, including opera singer Anna Netrebko as well as Alexander Dugin. The sanctions include the suspension of bank accounts as well as a cessation of cultural exchanges.
• Elsewhere, the head of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, called foreign aid to Ukraine — including the recently announced $3B military assistance package — a money laundering scheme, adding that there is no need to worry as "no more than 15% of the entire aid will reach the trenches."

Sources: Reuters, Guardian, Straits Times, Scmp, and Tass.

Narratives

• Anti-Russia narrative, as provided by BBC. Putin's hastily announced ceasefire was part of an information war aimed at discrediting Ukrainians. Since Ukraine could not meet its terms suddenly, Russia intended to leverage the hostile rejection of its unilateral truce to make Ukrainians seem unwilling to cooperate. Moreover, the ceasefire was a sham. It was the Kremlin's ploy to buy more time to replenish and rearm its forces and move more soldiers to the front lines.
• Pro-Russia narrative, as provided by RT. Putin's declaration of a truce was significant as it was the first time either side had used the language of peace since the start of the full-scale invasion. Despite Ukraine's allies pledging to send armored vehicles, Russia offered a hand of Christian mercy to Ukrainians. The truce offered a glimmer of hope, which Ukraine shrugged off promptly. It is clear to Russians who they're dealing with and ensures that future opportunities for deception don't creep in.

Predictions