Voice of Ukraine

From Jamie Peipon: A few military updates: Earlier this week, 10,000 Ukrainian soldiers completed training in the UK and will be returning shortly to Ukraine. In the south of Ukraine, there have been skirmishes going back and forth but no significant advances. There is no need for Ukraine to hurry as russia has been struggling to supply the units there. It seems like the goal is just to attrite the occupying forces. Also in the south, the Ukrainian-held city of Zaporizhzhia has been attacked many times this week. I wonder if Ukraine will open a new front in this area and if they will advance to take the city of Melitopol. This would further isolate the russians in and around Kherson. The one area that russia continues to attack is the city of Bakhmut. It is bizarre strategy, but russia keeps attacking this area in a manner akin to running their heads into wall. They’ve been attacking it unsuccessfully for weeks while losing ground in other places. It really seems like there is no communication among them across the front. In the northeastern area, Ukraine has continued to inch closer to the city of Svatove. That is a key city because of significant roads and rail lines that supply the eastern front for russia. It seems like only a matter of time before one of these russian lines breaks and another rout begins. We wait, watch, and trust in the skill and planning of the Ukrainian Armed Forces that has proved strong.

Since the mass missile strikes earlier this week, the west has moved to get protection to Ukraine. It is estimated that by the end of the year 40,000 of Ukraine’s 600,000 square kilometers will be covered by surface to air systems. Germany has already provided one of their IRIS-T systems and US/Norwegian NASAMS are also on their way. Ukraine currently estimates that before the invasion, russia had 1844 precision guided missiles in their arsenal. They estimate that they are now down to about 600. Today, putin announced that there is no current need for mass strikes in Ukraine and that they have currently have other goals. The pace of their attacks has been slowing down all week.

As far as the Nordstream pipelines go, the plot thickened a bit today. Sweden called off the proposed “Joint Investigation Team” because the information they were uncovering was too highly classified to share. That type of report just fuels speculation on all sides and will only serve to confirm whatever theory you had previously bought into about the pipeline attack.

The mobilization strategy of russia continues to be a disaster. There are some who, in the span of two weeks, have tread the path from regular citizen, to deployed, to arriving on the front lines, to returning home in a body bag all in as few as ten days. No training, no weapons, no nothing. Wouldn’t they rather spend time in a russian prison for protesting the war than getting dumped in Ukraine to be killed?

The UN, while generally powerless to do anything, is at least tracking russian atrocities. A UN envoy has determined that rape is intentionally being used as part of russia’s “military strategy.” Pramila Patten, the UN special representative on sexual violence, said, “When you hear women testify about russian soldiers equipped with Viagra, it’s clearly a military strategy.”

On another sad note, a music director of the Kherson Philharmonic was reportedly killed by occupying forces. Yuriy Kerpatenko was the conductor of the orchestra there and was called by the russians for a meeting. He repeatedly refused to work in the philharmonic of the occupiers. This musician was later shot in his own apartment.

“Why should I fear in times of trouble,
when the iniquity of those who cheat me surrounds me,
those who trust in their wealth
and boast of the abundance of their riches?”