In the meantime, Russian military aggression has only escalated. In addition to costing four civilians their lives, these attacks have thrown hundreds of thousands into darkness in Ukraine’s Chernihiv region. Multiple waves of drone attacks, along with missile attacks, have devastated areas across Ukraine including Novhorod-Siverskyi and Kyiv. In the wake of escalations, particularly in response to attacks on civilians, Ukraine has increasingly made counterstrikes on Russian facilities.
On Tuesday, approximately 20 Russian kamikaze drones attacked Novhorod-Siverskyi, killing four people and injuring at least seven others, including a 10-year-old child. Russian defense ministry or its authorized representatives, indicating the nature and purpose of attacks for which Moscow received strong international condemnation. Not only has the escalation led to civilian casualties, but the resulting devastation in the region is desolate. Chernihiv city and its northern surroundings as well are experiencing extreme problems with electricity and water, the Ukrainian energy ministry reported.
Emergency services were quick to react across neighbourhoods impacted by debris shed from downed air weapons. Thankfully, no further fatalities occurred from these accidents. By the afternoon, power was being restored across Chernihiv, but still in many areas lives are disrupted by lack of electricity, water and heating.
Kyiv faced a barrage of missile attacks on Tuesday night that resulted in fires and shattered windows across several districts. As a result, the intensity of these strikes have alarmed many observers due to the real possibility they suggest of even greater escalation and hostilities.
In a historic first, Storm Shadow missiles fired by Ukraine hit a chemical facility deep in Russia’s Bryansk region. This production facility was historically the largest producer of gunpowder, explosives, and rocket fuel in the country. Alexander Bogomaz, the governor of Bryansk region, blamed Ukraine for sending the drones, missiles and carrying out the strike. He argues that this attack is a piece of a bigger campaign to penetrate and overload Russia’s air defense network.
The consequences of this war are felt well beyond the frontlines. The ongoing Russian attacks have compelled us to cancel an in-person meeting we had planned for the same week. It’s a different world.” — U.S. Senator Marco Rubio R-U.S. In addition, any plans for a Trump-Putin summit are canceled.
As one senior European diplomat stressed on Wednesday, Russia is not budging from its hardline position on the Donbas territory. He added, “They haven’t budged one bit” from their original maximalist stance. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is a notable repeater of this clarion call. He focused on lifting up how Ukraine’s battlefield military power is shaping Russia’s willingness to come to the table for negotiations.
“The greater the Ukrainian long-range capability, the greater the Russian willingness to end the war … As soon as the issue of long-range capability became a little further away for us – for Ukraine – Russia almost automatically became less interested in diplomacy.” – Volodymyr Zelenskyy
One senior Ukrainian official told us he was pulling his hair out at the slow pace of talks with the Russians. They painted a picture of the current diplomatic efforts as “spinning wheels.”
The war has recently reached a new level, with both sides now forced into a dynamic and lethal series of attacks and counterattacks. Zaporizhzhia, Dnipro, as well as Izmail on the Danube River, have all recently come under fire. This latest upheaval is a reminder of the extensive toll that the continuing war has taken.