Ukraine is preparing to fend off a new wave of Russian attacks, president Volodymyr Zelensky said earlier today. The authorities expect Russian attacks in Eastern Ukraine, after the Russian army failed to penetrate Kyiv, as they had originally planned. President Zelensky mentioned a new Russian military build-up in Donbas. In nearly five weeks since the start of the invasion, the Russian army failed to capture any major city, despite sieges and massive shelling, Reuters reports. Moreover, the Russian side has sustained significant losses of troops and equipment. According to the British intelligence, which monitors communications, some Russian soldiers refused to carry out orders, sabotaged their own equipment and accidentally shot down one of their aircraft. Russia is regrouping in order to „liberate” Donbas, a region partially occupied by the two separatist republics that Moscow officially recognized a few days before launching the invasion. Donbas also hosts Mariupol, a city that has seen the most brutal Russian siege in this war. The port city on the Azov Sea has been massively bombed, and practically lies in ruins. Over 5,000 civilians are estimated to have been killed here. 170,000 people are still trapped in the city, with no access to utilities and running short on food and medicine. The Russian invasion has displaced nearly a quarter of Ukraine’s total population, with four million people reportedly seeking refuge abroad.
