WAR IN UKRAINE: May 21, 2022
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS: Day 87
The war in Ukraine can only be resolved through "diplomacy", President Zelensky says despite a deadlock in negotiations. He says “we want everything to return (to as it was before)" but "Russia does not want that.” Zelensky insisted his country was adequately prepared for the invasion - and suggests the Russians made underestimations. "They did not know about a number of things," he claimed in remarks to mark his three years in office - BBC
Russian troops are turning eastern Ukraine into 'hell' — and it's helping them advance. “This is the first time in weeks that they are actually able to pierce through Ukrainian defenses," said one analyst quoted by NBC News. Meanwhile, in the northeast of the country, Ukrainian forces have pushed the Russians far enough that some semblance of normality is returning to the country’s second biggest city - including a re-opening of the municipal subway system for the first time in weeks.
The U.S. Senate Minority Leader said that a new U.S. aid package to Ukraine could help reopen the Odesa port. “The Ukrainians are trying to go on the offensive. And I think this package of weapons is designed in such a way as to give them what they need now, not only to win a ground war but also, hopefully, to have some influence on reopening the port of Odesa, because the lack of Ukrainian food will be reflected throughout the Middle East and Africa.” - New York Times
Intense fighting will continue, particularly in the south-east where Russian forces are still trying to conquer the whole of the Luhansk and Donetsk administrative regions, predicts Oxford Analytica. Russian successes (or otherwise) on this front will shape events elsewhere, such as plans to attack western Ukraine. Any scenario will unfold slowly and conflict will continue for months.
Andrey Kortunov offers three scenarios for the end of the war in Ukraine The Russian political scientist sees it as a clash between societies as well as armies. Full column in The Economist here
A bomb crater seen in many parts of Ukraine where Russia has struck. This one is in Yakovlivka near Kharkiv. In this location war crimes investigators are collecting evidence. Credit: Erin McLaughlin/NBC News