Day 94: Encirclement of Severodonetsk Looms; Zelenskyy Vows City Will Never Be Russian

MAY 27 2022·Updated DEC 29 2022

Story

Image credit: Reuters [via PBS News Hour]

The Facts

As the Russian offensive in the Donbas grinds on and continues to make incremental gains, troops closed in on Severodonetsk, launching their first direct assault on the city on Friday.
guardian
Pro-Russian troops from the self-proclaimed Luhansk People's Republic as well as Chechen forces independently claimed they completed the encirclement of the city, though this was denied by military analysts.
ISW
Nonetheless, Serhiy Gaidai, Ukraine's governor for Luhansk, said: "We will have enough strength and resources to defend ourselves. However it is possible that in order not to be surrounded we will have to retreat."
guardian
In his nightly address on Fri., Ukrainian Pres. Volodymyr Zelenskyy reiterated that the situation in the Donbas was "very difficult," but said the Russians would be wrong if they think Severodonetsk or the recently captured city of Lyman would ever fall under their control.
President
In an address to the Foreign Policy Community of Indonesia earlier in the day, Zelenskyy said he wasn't eager to talk to Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, but said that "we have to face the realities of what we are living through," in order to bring an end to the war.
guardian
Russia, in response, blamed Ukraine for the stalling of peace talks, alleging that Ukrainian leadership has constantly changed their demands, making it difficult to understand what they want.
guardian

Sources Split

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The Spin

Anti-Russia narrative

This invasion is an egregious violation of international law. Putin's ultimate aim is to restore the Soviet empire, even if it takes massive bloodshed and false pretexts such as calling the 2014 Ukrainian revolution after a fraudulent election a "coup". This unprovoked attack is the latest chapter in Putin's Orwellian attempt to rewrite history.

PBS NewsHour

Pro-Russia narrative

NATO and the US have ignored Russia's security concerns by breaking its promise not to expand eastward in return for German reunification. These concerns are legitimate and taking them seriously would have avoided the Ukraine tragedy.

National Security Archive

Metaculus Prediction

There is a 30% chance that Putin and Zelenskyy will meet to discuss the peaceful resolution of the Russian-Ukraine conflict before 2023, according to the Metaculus prediction community.

Go Deeper

The Russia-Ukraine War

Context

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