Day 339: Situation in Donetsk 'Extremely Acute,' Zelenskyy Says

Facts

• As Russian forces continued to press Ukrainian positions in the Donetsk region, the frontline situation remained 'extremely acute,' Ukrainian Pres. Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his nightly address on Friday.¹
• 'The situation at the front, and in particular in the Donetsk region — near Bakhmut and Vuhledar, remains extremely acute,' Zelenskyy said. 'The occupiers are not just storming our positions — they are deliberately and methodically destroying these towns and villages around them.'¹
• In Vuhledar, located southwest of the city of Donetsk, pro-Russia forces from the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) claimed to be making advances around the city, with an adviser to the head of the DPR saying, 'We have, indeed, gained a foothold in the town’s southeast and east and fighting is ongoing there and artillery is at work.'²
• Over the past day, Ukrainian officials reported that seven civilians were killed and nine more injured in Russian attacks on Donetsk. Elsewhere, Ukrainian officials reported that two civilians were killed and seven more were injured in the Kherson region. One injury was recorded in each of Kharkiv and Zaporizhzhia. Russian attacks were also reported in Sumy without reports of civilian casualties.³
• Elsewhere, in the same address on Friday, Zelenskyy condemned the International Olympic Committee (IOC) after its subsidiary in Asia ruled to allow Russian and Belarusian athletes the opportunity to qualify for the 2024 Olympics in Paris, saying that Ukraine would launch an international campaign to pressure the IOC to reverse its decision.⁴
• Meanwhile, on Saturday, Russia's defense ministry said that Ukrainian forces attacked a hospital in the eastern Luhansk region, killing at least 14 and injuring a further 24.⁵

Sources: ¹President, ²TASS, ³UKRINFORM, ⁴MSN and ⁵The Moscow Times.

Narratives

• Pro-establishment 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