Day 341: Russia Claims Control Over 9 Villages in Zaporizhzhia

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Facts

  • Russian forces have taken control of nine villages in the southern Zaporizhzhia region, a pro-Russia official in the local administration claimed on Sunday. 'The enemy has been driven out of nine villages in exploratory attacks and these villages have been taken under control,' Vladimir Rogov said.1
  • The names of the villages were not identified and the claims could not be independently confirmed. However, in its latest assessment, the Institute for the Study of War — a US military think tank — suggested sizeable Russian gains in the Zaporizhzhia region.2
  • Meanwhile, extensive Russian attacks continued to be recorded in Ukrainian-controlled territory of the neighboring Kherson region. Ukrainian officials said three civilians were killed and 11 more were injured in Russian attacks over the past day.3
  • In Donetsk, where heavy fighting continues across the region, Ukrainian officials reported that one civilian was killed and one more was injured. One civilian was also recorded killed and three more were injured in the Kharkiv region; Russian attacks were also recorded in the regions of Sumy and Mykolaiv without reports of civilian casualties.4
  • Meanwhile, Ukrainian Pres. Zelenskyy urged Western partners to speed up the delivery of weapons to Ukraine. 'The speed of supply has been and will be one of the key factors in this war,' Zelenskyy said. 'We must speed up the events, speed up the supply and opening of new necessary weaponry options for Ukraine.'5
  • Elsewhere, in a BBC documentary that aired on Monday, former British prime minister Boris Johnson claimed that Russian Pres. Putin threatened the UK with a missile strike. 'He sort of threatened me at one point and said, 'Boris, I don’t want to hurt you, but with a missile, it would only take a minute,' or something like that,' Johnson said. Responding to the allegation, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov described Johnson's remarks as a 'lie.'6

Sources: 1TASS, 2ISW, 3UKRINFORM (a), 4UKRINFORM (b), 5President and 6Guardian.

Narratives

  • Anti-Russia narrative, as provided by Washington Post. Arming Ukraine is crucial to help maintain Ukraine's electricity, heating, and water infrastructure, as well as fend off Russia's systematic missile attacks. The clock is ticking loudly. It's time for Ukraine to arm up to win back its territory. Powerful tanks — both M-1 Abrams and Leopard 2 — and F-16 fighter jets could turn the tide of a war that has threatened to descend into a prolonged stalemate.
  • Pro-Russia narrative, as provided by Al Jazeera. It is no secret that Ukraine's war effort would have collapsed long back without the West's support. The 11-month-long Western intervention now threatens to escalate the Russia-Ukraine conflict into an all-out direct war between NATO and Russia. The move to arm Ukraine with modern offensive weapons is extremely dangerous and takes the conflict to a new level of confrontation.

Predictions