Situation at a glance: Ukraine: 1,000 days of war – and there is a threat of further escalation

The 1,000th day of Russia’s war of aggression has begun in Ukraine with concerns about a further escalation of the conflict. At the front, the Ukrainian defenders are under heavy pressure, and the country’s cities are facing heavy attacks from the air. At the same time, Moscow accuses the West of escalation.

In the east of Ukraine, there are particularly fierce battles over the small town of Kurakhove, located on a reservoir in the Donetsk region. Russian troops have already managed to advance westwards south and north of Kurakhove, threatening to be surrounded. According to military observers, in order to force the conquest of the city, the Russian army has recently resorted to frontal attacks there with great losses.

Zelensky visits contested cities of Pokrovsk and Kupiansk

A little further north, fighting is ongoing east of the city of Pokrovsk, also in Donetsk. However, the Russians have made little progress here. However, the situation has become dangerous even further north in the Kharkiv region. A small column of Russian armored vehicles was recently able to penetrate the strategically important city of Kupyansk. Even though the advance ended with the surrender of Russian soldiers, military observers like Jan Matveyev saw frightening weaknesses in the Ukrainian defenses and warned of a repeat of such a scenario on a larger scale.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who, unlike Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin, has already been in the immediate vicinity of the front several times, has now visited both Pokrovsk and Kupyansk and honored soldiers. The trip probably served to boost troop morale. “We are holding our positions both in the Donetsk region and in Kharkiv,” Zelensky said in his evening video message from Kupyansk.

Moscow reports heavy losses in Kiev

Figures about casualties in war should always be treated with extreme caution – now the Russian Ministry of Defense has published a count that cannot be verified. The Ukrainian armed forces are said to have complained of over 900,000 dead and wounded since the start of the war exactly 1,000 days ago. This year alone, Kiev has lost more soldiers than in the first two years of the war, the state agency Tass and the ministry claimed. Kiev’s total losses so far have been put at a total of 906,500 dead and wounded.

As a rule, the number of victims in such conflicts cannot be independently verified. Neither Moscow nor Kyiv have yet released exact figures for their respective losses.

The New York Times recently reported, citing US military and intelligence sources, that 57,000 Ukrainian soldiers had already died. This corresponds to around half of the losses on the Russian side, it was said.

NATO recently estimated Russian losses at over 600,000 dead and wounded. Western intelligence services spoke of 200,000 dead and 400,000 wounded in the Russian ranks. A list of Russian losses published by the Ukrainian side since the start of the war speaks of over 722,000 Russians killed or wounded.

London: 50,000 Ukrainian soldiers trained so far

Ukraine is getting help in its defensive fight from the West. Britain has trained around 50,000 soldiers from Ukraine since the start of the war. Tomorrow marks a “bloody milestone” when the illegal invasion began 1,000 days ago, Defense Minister John Healey said on Monday in Parliament in London. He could confirm that 50,000 people from Ukraine have now been trained.

The British began “Operation Interflex”, which is supported by other countries, in the summer of 2022. According to the British government, recruits are being trained who have little or no military experience. The program will continue next year.

Russia fires rockets and accuses the West of escalation

However, the pressure is not only enormous on the front: Russia has massively increased the shelling of Ukrainian cities and civilian objects – including with long-range missiles – in the past two days. After a heavy airstrike on targets across Ukraine on Sunday, there were also many deaths and injuries on Monday after a rocket hit Odessa and one in Sumy.

Meanwhile, Russia has responded to media reports about an alleged release of extensive US weapons to Ukraine for use in Russia with sharp criticism and a warning. If Ukraine uses these weapons against Russia, it would mean a direct involvement of the USA and its allies in the war, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova wrote on Telegram. “Russia’s response in such a case will be adequate and noticeable.” She did not provide further details about a possible reaction.

The release means a “maximum escalation of the hybrid war launched against Russia,” said Zakharova. The step is tantamount to a radical change in the character of the war, as the USA and its Western allies would become direct participants in the war. Hours earlier, Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov had explained that the USA would then be directly involved in the war. Both refer to a statement by Russian President Vladimir Putin, who claimed at the end of October that Ukrainian soldiers could not operate the missiles themselves.

US media had previously unanimously reported that outgoing US President Joe Biden was allowing Ukraine to use ATACMS tactical missiles with a range of several hundred kilometers against targets in Russia for the first time.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha has described the alleged US approval as a possible turning point in the war. “In short, it could be a turning point and the further away Ukraine can strike, the shorter the war will be,” he told a meeting of the UN Security Council in New York.

The warring parties attacked each other again with combat drones during the night. Ukrainian drones were spotted over the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don, state agency Tass reported. During the approach, a drone was shot down over the port city of Taganrog on the Black Sea coast. No further information was provided about the drone entry.

Russian drone swarms entered Ukraine from several directions early this morning. Individual groups of drones were spotted over Kyiv, Cherkasy, Kharkiv and Mykolaiv.

A combat drone struck a residential building in the Sumy region. According to media reports, several people were killed and injured. Numbers were not initially given. Just at the weekend, a residential building in Sumy was hit by a Russian missile. Twelve people died and over 50 residents were injured.

Solidarity rally for Ukraine in Cologne

On the occasion of the 1,000th On the day of the war, a solidarity demonstration for Ukraine is planned for Tuesday (6 p.m.) in Cologne. The rally will appeal to the federal government to significantly increase support for Ukraine. The organizer is the German-Ukrainian association Blau-Gelbes-Kreuz, and according to the police, 2,000 participants are registered.