At least two people were killed and six injured in a Russian attack on the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv this morning. This was reported by the governor of the surrounding region. According to Europe reporter Geert Jan Hahn, Russia is increasing the battle on several fronts. Last night Odessa was also hit by a rocket attack, killing at least five people.
Dead and injured in Kharkiv and Odessa: ‘Russians are scaring people’
6 min 11 sec
The war in Ukraine is approaching 800 days, but there is little room for optimism, despite the Ukrainian army having achieved small successes in recent months. “It’s a dark period because morale is waning,” Hahn says. According to Hahn, the will to fight has not disappeared, but “there is fatigue and hopelessness.”
Major shortages
The Ukrainian army recently succeeded in pushing back the Russian Black Sea Fleet, but no major successes were achieved by Ukraine. Russia, on the other hand, is not really achieving any major successes, but is managing to intensify the fight. That is an additional problem for Ukraine, says Hahn.
“Ukraine is short of everything and has to deal with those shortages while Russia steps up the fight and continuously attacks major cities.” That also affects the morale of the Ukrainians, says Hahn. “The Russians are scaring people with the threat of attacking major cities.”
Huge numbers
Meanwhile, the Russians are also suffering enormous losses. According to figures from the Ukrainian side, Russia is now losing around 1,250 soldiers per day. “They were killed or too badly injured to fight,” says Hahn. “These are gigantic numbers that we have not seen on such a large scale before in this war.”
Also read | NATO CEO angry: ‘Ukraine has had no chance for months’
Moreover, these attacks did not lead to major breakthroughs, says Hahn, who points out that there has been speculation for weeks about a Russian capture of Kharkiv. So the Russians fired on that city again last night. ‘That city is definitely not going to fall. The Russians are definitely not going to take that city. But that is also part of Russian disinformation, to encourage refugees to head west again. Ukraine has to deal with all these forms of war.’
Follow all developments in the war in Ukraine via our live blog.
