RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE
Ukraine was never going to win – US senator
Ukraine always faced the prospect of losing the conflict with Russia in the event that Washington cut off its aid, US Republican Senator Tommy Tuberville has said.
His comments came after the US Senate last week blocked a bill by President Joe Biden that was intended to allocate a further $60 billion in funding to Kiev, on top of the $110 billion already spent. Republicans opposed to the package have demanded tougher immigration control on the US-Mexico border in exchange for approving the bill, rejected by the White House.
Speaking to CNN on Tuesday, Tuberville was asked whether cutting off funding to Kiev could result in Ukraine being defeated. The senator replied that he personally “never thought they can win to begin with,” especially with the way the US “eased into” the conflict.
Tuberville also dismissed claims by Kiev’s backers that Russia will advance elsewhere into western Europe once it defeats Ukraine’s forces. The Republican argued that Moscow “can’t beat Ukraine on the eastern side,”and questioned how it was expected to push further across Europe.
“I’ve never believed that scenario. I think it’s a good selling point to send more money,” Tuberville suggested.
The US has so far provided Ukraine with an estimated $111 billion in military and economic assistance since the outbreak of its conflict with Russia in February 2022. While Washington has increasingly warned that funds are beginning to run out, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky has nevertheless continued to insist on receiving more money.
The Ukrainian leader traveled to Washington on Tuesday to hold a series of meetings with top US officials, in an attempt to save Biden’s $60 billion aid package. However, Zelensky appears to have failed to convince key Republicans to change their mind about opposing the bill. Instead, some senators left the meeting while describing it as “the same old stuff” and “very scripted.”
Biden has continued to urge Congress to approve the funding package and has also pledged an additional $200 million in emergency military aid for Kiev through the Presidential Drawdown Authority, which allows him to send weapons from US stocks without congressional approval.
Meanwhile, Moscow has brushed off Zelensky’s latest visit to Washington as inconsequential for the outcome of the conflict. Russia’s ambassador to the US, Anatoly Antonov, claimed that “everyone is tired of the Kievan beggarman.” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov has also stressed that no amount of money would change the situation on the front lines.
** Ukrainian general reveals discord among frontline troops
Ukrainian frontline troops are disgruntled with the way Kiev is handling the ongoing conflict with Russia, including the gaslighting it engages in via the national media, retired Gen. Sergey Krivonos warned on Monday. Soldiers wonder why they must shed blood on behalf of an uncaring government, he claimed.
Krivonos is a critic of President Vladimir Zelensky, who sacked him from the National Security and Defense Council in late 2020 for allegedly not being a team player. The commander, who has since left the military, allegedly under pressure, blasted what he perceives to be a disconnect between the government and the military. He was interviewed by Priamyi, a TV channel that currently broadcasts only online that is historically associated with the country’s former president Pyotr Poroshenko.
The general said Kiev was “teasing the tiger” with its treatment of troops, who, he warned “may act quite harshly” in response.
“There are not cemeteries, but entire burial fields. People on the frontline take such things to heart and they do not accept shades of gray. For them, there is either black or white,” he said.
The Russian Defense Ministry has estimated Ukrainian losses between June and November at over 125,000 troops. Kiev does not report its casualties, but Western media say that they must be steep, judging by the rapidly expanding graveyards and other circumstantial evidence.
Kiev is running out of career military and is struggling to conscript soldiers, since civilians “are less than eager to fight for a military and national government that is viewed as rife with corruption and incompetence,” the Washington Post reported last week.
Krivonos cited a recent announcement by the Ukrainian state-owned railway operator that seasonal trains would be on offer for people visiting ski resorts as an example of what irritates troops. He believes the country needs to go into total war mode and accused Zelensky of failing to do so due to fear of losing popularity.
The Zelensky government has contributed to the problem by using the state-controlled “television marathon” – the only programming on the air – to gaslight the public, the general said. He called the content “one of the worst manipulations” of the Ukrainian people.
Another problem is tolerance of graft, he alleged. People who empty their pockets buying overpriced eggs should not get farewell applause from MPs and disappear into the night, he said in a clear nod to Aleksey Reznikov. The former defense minister was sacked in September, months after a scandal erupted over the procurement of overpriced food for troops by his department.
‘Reznikov’s eggs’ reports became the subject of gallows humor in Ukrainian trenches.
WESTERN PERSPECTIVE
Ukraine says 53, including 6 children, hurt in Russian missile strikes on Kyiv
Russia's second missile assault on Kyiv this week injured at least 53 people, damaging homes and a children's hospital, Ukrainian officials said on Wednesday, as President Volodymyr Zelenskiy pleaded for more help for his country.
The windows of residential apartment blocks were blown out and frightened residents streamed out onto the street to assess the damage. Missile debris blew a large crater in the ground and destroyed parked cars.
Ukraine's air defence systems downed all 10 ballistic missiles that targeted the capital at about 3 a.m. (0100 GMT), Ukraine's Air Force said on the Telegram app.
"Just yesterday, (U.S.) President (Joe) Biden and I agreed to work on increasing the number of air defence systems in Ukraine. The terrorist state demonstrated how important this decision is," Zelenskiy wrote on Telegram, referring to Russia.
Falling debris caused injuries and destruction in four of Kyiv's districts along the Dnipro River, which cuts through the capital, officials said. Thirty-five buildings were damaged, according to the city's military administration.
Ukraine's national police said 53 people, including six children, had been injured by the attack. Eighteen people have been hospitalised, it said in a social media post.
"There was no air raid siren. At around 4 a.m. (0200 GMT), I heard an explosion. We fled to the corridor, (the explosion wave) threw me into the doors," Olena Ustinova, 45, a local administration clerk, told Reuters.
"I regained consciousness and started to shake the doors but they were blocked. I shouted for help from my balcony and emergency workers came to help me."
Ukraine's Armed Forces General Staff identified the projectiles as Iskander-M ballistic missiles, as well as S-400s: extremely fast missiles intended for air defence, but which have also been used to hit ground targets.
AIR DEFENCES
Zelenskiy, who was visiting Norway on Wednesday, said his main priority was to strengthen air defences.
His chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, praised Western-supplied air defence systems and their operators after Ukraine downed all 10. "The effectiveness of Western weapons in the hands of Ukrainian soldiers cannot be doubted," Yermak said.
The Air Force said it also shot down all 10 Russian-launched attack drones over the Odesa region in southern Ukraine.
Windows and entrances at a children's hospital in Kyiv's Dniprovskyi district were shattered by debris, but based on initial assessments, there were no casualties, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said.
"These (ballistic) missiles fly at a speed up to 8,000 km per hour," Klitschko told Reuters while visiting a site near one of the damaged buildings.
Kyiv military administration chief Serhiy Popko said 17 people, including seven children, were evacuated from a residential building in the Dniprovskyi district after debris hit a building and nearby cars, causing a fire.
The attack followed a salvo of ballistic missiles that targeted Kyiv on Monday and injured four people.
There was no comment from Russia about Wednesday's attack, which also damaged buildings in Kyiv's Desnyanskyi, Darnitskyi and Holosiivskyi districts.
Both Moscow and Kyiv deny targeting civilians in the nearly 22-month-long war that Russia launched against its neighbour in February 2022.
RT/Reuters