Day 353: UN Draft Resolution Urges to Keep Ukraine Intact; Russia Strikes Energy Infrastructure

Facts

• On Saturday, Ukrainian defense officials claimed that its forces shot down 20 Iranian-made drones during a series of overnight attacks following a day of strikes on Friday that they say saw Russia launch over 100 missiles.
• According to Ukraine's State Emergency service and the state-owned power utility company Ukrenergo, several thermal and hydroelectric power plants were damaged in the strikes, and the International Atomic Energy Agency reported 'instability' at Ukraine's nuclear power plants.
• The strikes come amid increased fighting on the ground, with Kyiv warning that Moscow is preparing a new advance to take over the entire Donbas region in eastern Ukraine.
• Speaking in an interview with Russian military blogger Semyon Pegov on Friday, Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of Russia's private military company Wagner, estimated that it could take up to two years for Moscow to fully seize the Donetsk and Luhansk regions — annexed by Russia in September, receiving international condemnation — in eastern Ukraine. Prigozhin, however, doesn't speak for the Russian military.
• Meanwhile, Russia's deputy foreign minister said on Saturday that the country is prepared to enter into negotiations but without any preconditions. He further added that the decision to enter into talks is up to the US and the EU, not Ukraine.
• This followed a report from The Associated Press on Saturday that claimed Ukraine-backers disseminated a draft resolution on Thursday for endorsement by the 193-member UN General Assembly on Feb. 23. According to unnamed UN diplomats, the resolution — which calls for Ukraine's 'sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity' — is less detailed than Ukrainian Pres. Volodymyr Zelenskyy's 10-point peace plan proposed in November.

Sources: ¹New York Times, ²Guardian, ³TASS and ⁴Associated Press.

Narratives

• Anti-Russia narrative, as provided by CNBC. Russia's deliberate targeting of energy infrastructure — unnecessarily increasing the suffering of civilians — amounts to war crimes. This continuing Russian barbarity must be confronted.
• Pro-Russia narrative, as provided by TASS. Attacks on Ukraine's energy infrastructure are a direct consequence of the failure of the country's leadership to meaningfully engage in peace talks and its belief that it can defeat Russia on the battlefield. These attacks will stop once a more sober position is reached.