The Week in Ukraine - 5/14/22

On Sunday, we heard the tragic news that many are feared dead after a bomb hit a school in the village of Bilohorivka, in the Luhansk region in eastern Ukraine.  Regional governor, Serhiy Haidai, confirmed two deaths, but claimed as many as 60 people could be lying dead under the rubble.  About 90 people had been sheltering in the building and 30 were rescued, seven of them wounded, he added. Two deaths have been confirmed so far.  Haidai said a Russian plane had dropped the bomb on Saturday, but there was no immediate response from Russia.  The blast brought down the building which caught fire and it took firefighters three hours to extinguish the blaze, according to the governor, writing on Telegram.  He said almost the entire village had been sheltering in the basement of the school.  The final death toll would only be known when the rubble had been cleared, he added.

Early on this week, we also started getting reports that Russian fighters have been sharing tips with one another about how to deliberately damage their own equipment and hamper Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war plans in Ukraine, according to recordings of alleged Russian troops’ phone calls that the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) intercepted.  In one regiment, one Russian soldier allegedly said they’ve been pouring sand into the tanks’ fuel systems to clog them up.  “I don't follow stupid orders, I simply refuse,” one fighter can be heard telling a comrade. “The motherfucker sent me to tanks, motherfucking piece of shit. I fucked it up and that's it.”

We also heard a heartbreaking story from Zaporizhzhia, where the military head of the regional state administration, Oleg Buryak, is a helpless father waiting for the return of his teen son Vladislav, kidnapped by the Russian military.  “I don't know what to do. I don’t know how to bring my son back. What should I give? I can offer myself instead of him. Take me. I will come for the exchange if it helps the situation somehow,” the desperate father said.  Buryak says his son’s kidnapping has not been connected with blackmail yet. “They haven't asked for anything. But the point is, Vlad was taken because he is my son. When the soldiers understood whose son he was, they took him. I haven't got any demands from their side. I'm an official, a public person and I will not disappear.” 

Remember Snake Island, of “Russia warship, go fuck yourself” fame?  Over the past week, Russian forces have been wiped out several times (here, here, here, and here), and yet we saw Russian troops landing there once again.  Russia state media tried to claim that it was Ukrainians who were defeated on the island-- using the Ukrainian armed forces video (with their logo on the top right corner) which features the Bayraktar TB-2 drone interface, of which Russia has none.  It was not reported whether or not Russian viewers were aware of such an obvious deception. The destruction of the ship (when Ukraine has no navy!) was an incredible touch of ridiculousness

The mayor of Mariupol said this week that Russian President Vladimir Putin is determining who lives, who leaves and who dies in the city.  Vadym Boichenko said that the 100,000 people still living in the besieged port city need a permit to move around - and a separate permit to leave.  According to Boichenko, around 2,000 men are being held in so-called “filtration centers” in Bezymenne and Kozatske, and not being allowed to return to their homes unless they are sick or injured.  “They are being used as labor to clear the rubble, collect the dead bodies of those the Russians have killed, and cover up evidence of war crimes,” he said.

 And just this morning, Dergachi's Palace of Culture (in Kharkiv) is now a smouldering ruin, thanks to a final barrage of rocket artillery. It may be one of the last buildings in Ukraine's second city to suffer this fate.  Kharkiv is called a fortress, and with good reason. It has withstood more than two months of constant bombardment.  Its buildings and people have been battered, but never broken. Its defenses never were breached  According to the city's mayor, Ihor Terekhov, people are starting to return – and that the battle has been won.   "There were no Russian troops inside the city of Kharkiv. Russian tanks and armored fighting vehicles were eliminated by Ukrainian fighters.  And due to the efforts of the Kharkiv territorial defense and Ukrainian Armed Forces, the Russians have now withdrawn far from the city – towards the border," Terekhov said.   But, this was not a full-blown retreat as was seen around Kyiv. The Russian forces will hold lines further back, or re-join the fight elsewhere.  This is not a turning point in the war for Ukraine, but it is still a major victory.