UKRAINE. In the east of Ukraine, Russia continues to gain ground, while the war has been raging for five months now.
Russia continues its enterprise of destroying Ukraine and wants to send a strong signal. While the leaders of the G7 (Germany, Canada, United States, France, Italy, Japan and United Kingdom) meet this Monday, June 27, 2022, Vladimir Putin and his army are not releasing the pressure on the neighboring country, while the fifth month of war has begun. If the main offensives of the Russian military are concentrated in eastern Ukraine, on the territory of Donbass, kyiv, the capital, located much further west, was hit on Sunday by several missiles. It was a residential area of the city that was affected, causing the death of one resident and injuring several people. This Monday, rescue operations are still in progress and the human toll could increase, which has already been very substantial since the start of the Russian offensive on February 24.
More than four months after the start of the war in Ukraine and the conquest of a large part of the country (see below), Russia is working to extend its hold to the east of the country. After the Ukrainians were called upon to lower their flag in Sievierodonetsk, the Russians aimed to take Lyssytchansk, a neighboring town and try to “regain momentum on the northern axis of Izium” according to the British Ministry of Defence, this Monday, in its daily update.
Ukraine-Russia war: the map of the conflict
While the war in Ukraine broke out four months ago now, this country, until then very little known to the general public, saw all the spotlights being trained on it. For weeks there has been talk of the invasion of Russia. But concretely, on which territory did the latter take control? While it only ruled a third (without it being officially recognized by the international community), Russia has extended its hold on the Donbass, this region of eastern Ukraine, bordering the country invader. A fringe of this territory still resists, although bombarded, in particular the city of Dobropillia. After the announcement of the Ukrainian withdrawal from Sievieodonetsk, Vladimir Putin’s men are mainly targeting Kharkiv.
Russia also took control of southern Ukraine, all along the Sea of Azov and inland, bringing Mariupol into its fold. The tip of the Dnieper is also in the grip of Vladimir Putin’s men, with a symbol: the battle at Kherson. Odessa, even if its strategic port is at a standstill, is, at this stage, no longer the scene of combat. The cities of Zaporijjia or Dnipro are no longer targets of the Russian army either, which is concentrating its efforts in the east.
What is the outcome of the war between Ukraine and Russia?
In four months of war, the human toll of the conflict is particularly heavy. According to the United Nations, which tries to make a daily assessment, 4,677 civilians have been killed since the start of the conflict, including 4356 adults and 321 children. A balance sheet that only includes civilian and not military losses. The UN, however, believes that “the actual figures are considerably higher, as receipt of reports from some locations where intense hostilities took place have been delayed and many reports are still awaiting confirmation.” On the military side, no official figures are communicated. RFI reported the death of 15 to 20,000 Russian soldiers since the beginning of the conflict, while Ukraine would lose a hundred men a day, that is to say ten thousand combatants.