Business Insider: 1.4 million civilians in Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city, have been told to take shelter as Russian troops begin siege
* Russian forces invaded Ukraine's second-largest city, Kharkiv, overnight.
* The city's governor urged its 1.4 million residents to remain indoors.
* Russian troops blew up a natural gas pipeline, and one residential building.
The 1.4 million residents in Ukraine's second-largest city, Kharkiv, have been urged to shelter indoors after government officials said Russian troops had arrived.
In a statement on Sunday morning, Kharkiv's governor Oleg Sinegubov told people not to leave their homes after a "breakthrough of light equipment of the Russian enemy" reached the central part of the city.
A video verified by Sky News shows tanks driving into the city, which is located just 20 miles south of the Russian border. Russian troops blew up a nine-story residential block overnight, killing one elderly woman, the BBC reported, citing emergency services.
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WNU Editor: My aunt and her family lives in Kharkiv. I talked to her last night and with her son (my cousin) for the first time since the war started, and they gave me a lot of insight from what they saw in the past few days.
My aunt lives on the outskirts of Kharkiv, and she told me that Russian soldiers passed through her district yesterday morning unopposed. That does not surprise me. Where she lives is dominated by Russian-Ukrainians. I was there many times before 2014, and much of the regions outside of Kharkiv are made up of Russian-Ukrainians who I predict will try their best to stay neutral.
Her son's home and business is near the city center, and he decided for the safety of his family to get out on Friday. He told me that this is where Ukrainian forces are dug in (at least from what he saw on Friday). He expects heavy fighting in the center of the city, but his impression from what he has seen so far and what his friends are saying is that Russian forces are taking great pains not to engage with Ukrainian forces that are dug in among districts that are heavily populated or predominantly made up of Russian-Ukrainians. That when there is a fire-fight, they quickly withdraw. If this is true this is big news, this rule of engagement by Russian forces to minimize civilian casualties is a good thing, but it will prolong the war. There are many parts of Ukraine made up of communities like Kharkiv.
I also talked to a cousin who is sheltering in my father's home town 70km south of Kyiv. She has an interesting history. She was one of the first in Ukraine's business community to support Zelensky when he ran for office, hoping that he would bring peace to the country. And when that did not work, she still supported him because to her the alternative Ukrainian political parties were too corrupt and incompetent (on that I agree with her). Her tireless work to make Ukraine a better and prosperous country is something that I deeply respect, and Ukraine will need people like her when this war is finally over. She like everyone else in Ukraine did not expect this invasion, and she is (to put it mildly) still in shock.
When I asked her on what was the military situation where she is located, she told me that Russian forces have been present since Friday night. They tried to take over an airport, but Ukrainian forces were present and the engagement was short. She thinks these Ukrainian forces are still there, but she is always seeing Russian forces with their country's flag traveling back and forth on a highway not far from where she is located. She thinks this Russian military presence is a unit that advanced too far, and are waiting for reinforcements. She has seen no Ukrainian forces. Where she lives is 90% Ukrainian, and as such it will be a place that will not be hospitable to a Russian military presence. She thinks this war is going to go on for a few months, and she fears that the center of Kyiv is going to be destroyed. She likes to believe that what she is seeing on Ukraine media is true, but she is skeptical. We were also both surprised that we could talk on the phone. Russia has clearly made the decision to not cut-off communications, electricity, and other key infrastructure. But who knows how long that will last.
Russian Troops Enter Ukraine's Second-Biggest City Kharkiv
Kharkiv governor claims Russian troops repelled from city -- The Guardian
Ukrainians fend off Russian invasion in Kharkiv, Kyiv -- UPI
Russian troops enter Ukraine's Kharkiv -Ukrainian official -- Reuters
Ukraine accuses Russia of 'war crimes' targeting civilians as fighting enters Kharkiv -- CNN
9 comments:
National Public Radio:
"Russia’s attack on Ukraine means there’s a stressful news cycle ahead of us. The reality of conflict is always a shock to the system.”
NPR stress relief:
"Maybe this is the time that you finally recreate a family recipe, or maybe you learn how to make a prettier pie, or maybe you just lose yourself to a kitsch reorganization.”
or maybe you play patty cake baker's man
Gotta love Democrat liberals.
NPR hit with universal scorn over 'pathetic and insulting' article offering self-care tips for anxiety from war headlines
"My aunt lives on the outskirts of Kharkiv, and she told me that Russian soldiers passed through her district yesterday morning unopposed. That does not surprise me. Where she lives is dominated by Russian-Ukrainians. I was there many times before 2014, and much of the regions outside of Kharkiv are made up of Russian-Ukrainians who I predict will try their best to stay neutral. "
I have a friend who is in Kharkiv right now with his family who are entrenched in the city and they have lived there all their lives. They also have family and friends in Russia. What you describe is not what I'm hearing. What I'm hearing is far from that completely; they are absolutely not neutral, and many of their family have weapons to defend themselves. They have no plans to engage in street fighting, simply because they are terrified. But neutral? No sir, not at all, not them, and that's the feeling throughout the city. They are not neutral at all. They see this as an invasion, they are scared and they are willing to defend their property and lives with force if need be.
I have just relayed your opinion to my friend and he was quite angry in replying; there is nothing neutral about this war, and that everyone he knows, that his family knows, does not support this war nor do they see the russians as anything but invaders.
This coupled with the reports of intense fighting in and around Kharkiv seems to play counter to your idea that Russian-Ukrainians are neutral in this conflict in certain parts of Ukraine.
"My aunt lives on the outskirts of Kharkiv, and she told me that Russian soldiers passed through her district yesterday morning unopposed."
Not the reality for many on the outskirts and inside Kharkiv -
https://www.reddit.com/r/CombatFootage/comments/t2i4qf/the_first_footage_of_street_fights_in_kharkov/?context=3
Getting in was the easy part. Getting out might be a little harder.
I wonder when we might see WNU Editor might revisit his earlier predictions. On Thursday he believed that Russia would immediately wipe out key Ukrainian positions, that Russia would own the skies (achieve air supremacy), that there would be very little fighting in Kharkhiv leading to a quick Russian victory, that Odessa would fall with very little fighting, there will be no street to street fighting in Kyiv, and that Zelensky would quickly flee. The war itself would only take several weeks and end when Zelensky would flee to the West.
Needless to say none of these predictions have come true. Now to his credit, he has consistently mentioned certain things that would help explain this. Russia does not seem to have included all forces available to them, and have not targeted certain assets he expected to be destroyed. If they had, the frontline might be different. Nevertheless, I would say that WNU Editor has grossly underestimated the fighting spirit and capabilities of the Ukrainians. Not as much as Putin has. WNU gave Ukraine a few weeks before Russian conquest while Putin seems to have expected collapse after a few days.
But it seems to me the fighting as it exists right now don't match WNU's original expectations.
This does not mean that Russia won't eventually win. Or that a breakthrough can't occur that quickly destabilizes the front line. But WNU's editor's recent posts now mention fighting that could go on for months and even talks about what may happen if Putin's momentum reverses. Something has clearly changed in his thinking.
Chris
Chris I'd call the editor "flexible". A good posture to adopt in any war situation.
Interesting to get a different take.
In some regards I've been curious about the Russian military and leadership not using more of their heavy resources and capabilities in the overall assault. I have some decent theories but it'll be interesting imo to see how it plays out. I hope things deescalate.
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