Ukraine Update, October 16-22
Hі everyone,
I hope you’re enjoying your Sunday. Here’s the weekly update on Ukraine.
While the focus is on the Middle East, Putin is attacking Ukraine extremely hard. The eastern and southern regions of Ukraine are under heavy shelling. The closer to Russian forces - the more civilian casualties. Russian attacks in the past few days have killed civilians in Ukraine and damaged the power grid in many settlements, including the city of Kharkiv in the East and the Kherson region in the South.
Russian missile hit a depot of the biggest private post service Nova Poshta (New Post) in Kharkiv last night. At least six people are dead, another 16 people injured, including individuals in critical condition. People didn’t have time to reach shelter.
Meanwhile, Kherson region was shelled 103 times in the last 24 hours. A gymnasium in the village of Molodizhne near Kherson was attacked several times just recently. Overall, 274 educational and sports institutions in the region have been destroyed due to the full-scale invasion. Every day I get terrifying news about the consequences of Russian shelling in my home region.
Russian forces tried to conduct an offensive towards Avdiivka, near Donetsk. Heavy fighting ensued for several days, but Ukrainian forces managed to beat the Russian assault back. Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces Valerii Zaluzhnyi visited frontline positions. "The enemy does not stop trying to break through our defenses and surround the city. Despite everything, our soldiers continue to repel attacks, destroying manpower and equipment," Commander-in-Chief Zaluzhnyi said about Avdiivka.
Russia is undermining democracy around the world. A declassified State Department cable reveals that Russia's ongoing efforts to weaken dozens of democracies have expanded in recent years. China is following the same tactics. U.S. intelligence community found evidence that Russian actors made a concerted effort to undermine faith in the voting process in at least nine countries, including the United States, between 2020 and 2022 - the Washington Post wrote.
Russia is focused on carrying out operations to break public confidence in election integrity, and they are doing this on a global scale.
«…In 17 additional countries, there was “a less pronounced level” of Russian social media activity and other “messaging” aimed at amplifying preexisting domestic narratives questioning election integrity.
The cable, dated Wednesday, is intended to be shared with the governments of more than 100 democracies, a senior State Department official said on the condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive internal effort. U.S. diplomats and intelligence officials plan to meet with partner nations to detail the threats to their election systems posed by Russia, potentially with an eye to encouraging other countries to expel Russian diplomats or take other measures to try to combat the efforts».
Ukraine fires ATACMS missiles at Russian forces for the first time. U.S. missiles were secretly deployed to Ukraine in recent days, WSJ reported. Ukrainian special forces early on Tuesday struck two Russian military airfields, saying they successfully destroyed nine military helicopters, an anti-aircraft missile system, and an ammunition warehouse. The attacks took place in occupied Berdyansk, a southern city in the Zaporizhzhia region; and at an airfield in Luhansk, an occupied city in eastern Ukraine. The special forces also managed to successfully damage airfield runways, Ukraine said, in what it called “Operation Dragonfly,” according to Politico.
President Joe Biden compared Russia to Hamas in his address to the nation.
Hamas and Putin represent different threats, but they share this in common: They both want to completely annihilate a neighboring democracy, Biden said.
Israel’s and Ukraine’s success is vital for America’s national security, he continued. “History has taught us that when terrorists don't pay a price for their terror, when dictators don't pay a price for their aggression, they cause more chaos and death and more destruction.”
President Biden has sent an urgent budget request to Congress to fund America’s national security needs and to support the critical partners – including Israel and Ukraine.
I’ll remind you that last year I had a book out, “The Fight Of Our Lives,” that tells about my work with President Zelenskyy, what Ukraine had been doing to de-escalate the Russian war in Donbas, and what this war means for our nation.
Have a peaceful Sunday.
Iuliia Mendel,
The Knight Wallace Fellow,
WCEE Distinguished Fellow, 2023-2024