Attacks on civilians and a Zelensky who does not want to negotiate: where is the war in Ukraine going?

At 6:30 a.m. on Sunday the 26th, after the sound anti-aircraft alarm was activated, four explosions were heard in Kyiv. Thus ended almost a month in which the capital of Ukraine was not attacked by Russia.

“A missile was shot down by anti-aircraft defense in the kyiv region, debris fell on a village”, reported Oleksiy Kuleba, governor of the region.

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At least that is the thesis of those led by the president Volodymyr Zelensky: “after an enemy bombardment, a fire broke out in a nine-story building”, which left two wounded and others”under the rubble”.

For him Kyiv Mayor Vitaly Klitschkoit is a form of intimidation, since the NATO summit will start this Tuesday 28 in Madrid and that Ukrainian integration is very likely to be discussed.

Moscow does not share the opinion. In fact, for those of Vladimir Putin responsibility for the act rests solely with Ukraine. According to their Ministry of Defense, they successfully fired four missiles at an arms factory. None of them targeted civilians. The projectile that fell on the building was launched by a bug in the defense system of kyivhe added.

Reuters explains that this argument is added to the one already handled by the Kremlin about not attacking civilians. Nevertheless, According to UN reports, there are at least 4,731 people not involved in the conflict who have perished since February 24.

Firefighters try to control the fire and rescue people who were inside the Kremenchuk shopping center. REUTERS (STATE EMERGENCY SERVICE OF UKRAI/)

A change of address?

The Russian thesis would have been unfounded this Monday the 27th. One of its missiles hit a shopping center in Kremenchuk, in the center of the invaded country. For now there is talk of 10 dead and more than 40 injured, many of them seriously.

In response, the President Zelensky said: “It is just an attempt by the people to live a normal life, which makes the occupants very angry. Russia continues to attribute its helplessness to ordinary citizens. It is useless to expect adequacy and humanity from him”.

The phrase has a special impact because, after months in which he himself asked Putin to sit down and talk, he seems to have accepted that dialogue is impossible. In fact, this Monday during a meeting of the G7 -integrated to Germany, the United States, France, Canada, Italy, Japan and the United Kingdom-, the Ukrainian president said that it is not a good time to deal.

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The residential building attacked in kyiv. The damage, according to Ukraine, was caused by a Russian bombardment this Sunday 26. EFE (ROMAN PILIPEY/)

Before, Zelensky argued, West has to have a better position (of strength), for which it will be necessary for the G7 to toughen the sanctions against Russia. In fact, some of them have already begun to take effect. For example, it is the first time in a hundred years that Russia has suspended its debt payments.

Has the war perhaps taken a different course?

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky. EFE (SERGEY DOLZHENKO/)

“These bombings are still too recent to be able to say what they are responding to -points Enrique Banús, director of the Institute of European Studies of the University of Piura-. It is necessary to wait a little longer to give an answer”.

“Of course, if this happens again, it could make us think that it is a new strategy, because blaming the Ukrainians is not so credible. They have tried it before and then testimonies appeared that gave an account of the responsibility of the Russian army. Of course: if it were a new path, it would be horrible and it would be necessary to understand that it was born of desperation”.

For Sandro Teixeira Moita, Doctor of Military Sciences, there is a possibility that the alleged attack on the civilian building is a mistake in the Ukrainian defense system. “It has happened before and it is possible that it will continue to happen, especially in a scenario where it is overloaded”.

Even so, it should not be ruled out that it was orchestrated by Russia.

Teixeira adds: “There are more chances of it being so. Part of the modern bombing doctrine is to use terror to put pressure on the government that is being attacked. It is a way of demonstrating power, of showing that they have the capacity to attack any city in the country.”.

The thing about Zelensky, says Banús, has already been repeating it for some time. His mentioning it again could well reveal that he has reports on the Russians’ situation, data that the rest of the world doesn’t know. But there is also the possibility that the Ukrainian president’s words seek to force his allies to increase aid.

Banus adds: “He may say that he is not going to negotiate simply as a form of pressure on Western countries to send more weapons. In any case, as the information is insufficient and fragmentary, we have to be very cautious when evaluating his words.”.

In Teixeira’s opinion, Zelensky is at a crossroads. “According to a Ukrainian press poll, the Ukrainians do not want to compromise with the Russians to exchange territory for peace. On the other hand, Russia is pressuring them to sit down to negotiate”.

This in a context where Moscow continues to gain territory donbas.

Teixeira concludes: “Zelensky thinks there will be a better time to negotiate, but you need to gain precious time. The thing is, right now, time is on the side of the Russians. Every time a shipment from the West is delayed in reaching the Ukrainian troops, it adds to the Russian cause”.

Source: Elcomercio