You've reached your limit of free articles.
To read the full story, start your free trial today.
Get unlimited access. Cancel anytime.
Exclusive coverage from the world's top sources, in English for the first time.
Insights from the widest range of perspectives, languages and countries.
Already a subscriber? Log in
💡 SPOTLIGHT
Air or ground war? Why Russian missile attacks make a new assault on Kyiv more likely
While Russia again launched a major missile and drone attack Friday, there are growing signs that Vladimir Putin is planning a major ground operation against the capital Kyiv in early 2023. It’s becoming increasingly clear that the path to Moscow victory would be through massive Russian troop casualties.
Russia’s latest large-scale missile barrage on Ukraine on Friday, its seventh major attack since it began targeting energy infrastructure in October, marks another. Yet it also comes amid reports that Moscow may be planning a ground offensive on Kyiv in January or February.
The contrast poses a fundamental question for this war, like so many since the dawn of modern air forces: Can Vladimir Putin achieve any semblance of victory from the air, without sacrificing the massive casualties among Russian ground troops that would almost certainly be necessary for conquering territory.
Friday’s launching of more than 60 missiles and multiple drones at targets across Ukraine left at least two dead, and forced Kyiv authorities to once again impose emergency blackouts across the country, Kyrylo Tymoshenko, deputy head of the President’s Office said.
Kharkiv has been left without power while explosions in Kyiv caused major disruptions to the water supply. Russian forces also hit a residential building in the Dnipropetrovsk region, leaving large numbers of civilians trapped under the rubble.
Still, Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov made a point of praising Ukrainians in a briefing saying that they were again able to “successfully defend themselves against Russian missile attacks” on critical infrastructure facilities. This is by no means the first instance where Ukraine has demonstrated its capacity and fortitude to negotiate pummelling from the sky.
But if Russia is hoping to progress its ‘special military operation’ and capture more Ukrainian territory, it must begin a major ground assault. Air strikes will only go so far. They instill fear and make daily life ever more difficult, but provide little substantive gains for the Russian side in the battle and claims for territory in Ukraine.
These latest Russian strikes followed stark warnings from Ukrainian officials that Moscow was planning a new all-out offensive early next year. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba warned this week that Russia’s new “large offensive" may well be looming as soon as January. “They definitely still keep hopes that they will be able to break through our lines and advance deeper in Ukraine,” he said.
Speaking with Ukrainian Business News, Valery Zaluzhny, commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, said the Russians are training some 200,000 new soldiers called up in September as part of its partial mobilization. "I have no doubt that there will be another attempt to attack Kyiv," Zaluzhny.
However, Mykhailo Samus, Deputy Director for Foreign Affairs at Ukraine’s Center for Army, Conversion and Disarmament Studies, told Ukrainian news site TSN that he did not believe Russia was ready to carry out an offensive in January 2023. “In any case,” he said, “there is not much time left until January, and it is not clear now that Russia has prepared a strike group or whether there are any efforts to prepare such a group.”
Samus suggests that the Russians may go on the offensive at the end of February, carrying out a rerun of the original invasion on February 24, 2022. "By then, the ground will have frozen, and the February frosts will allow the occupiers to hope that they will be able to conduct an operation in Volyn or again, in Kyiv.”
If, in the new year, Russia does launch a new offensive, whenever and wherever it may be, it cannot easily forget that almost a year after the initial invasion, very little ground has been made and at no small cost. Ukraine estimates that more than 80,000 Russian troops have been killed.
But it's also worth remembering that the would-be strategy of air attacks on infrastructure began on Oct. 10, just as Russia was losing control of the key southern city of Kherson. Would-be strategies are often the result of shrinking alternatives, which in war too often simply extend the bloodshed, in both time and space.
🌎 7 THINGS TO KNOW RIGHT NOW
• New drone attacks on Kyiv, Putin heads to Belarus: Russia launched a "kamikaze" drone attacks Monday, hitting key infrastructure in Kyiv, marking the third Russian air attack on the Ukrainian capital in six days and the latest in a series of assaults that have targeted Ukrainian power grids causing blackouts across the country. Meanwhile Russian President Vladimir Putin heads for Belarus amid reports that Moscow wants to pressure Minsk to join the invasion against neighboring Ukraine.
• China reports first COVID deaths in weeks:Monday’s two deaths were the first to be reported by the National Health Commission since December 3, a few days before Beijing announced that it was lifting strict Zero-COVID restrictions that had triggered widespread protests last month.
• Thai warship capsizes, 31 still missing: A Royal Thai Navy warship sank during a storm in the Gulf of Thailand early Monday, leaving 31 of its 106 crew members still missing in the rough seas. The navy announced an investigation into the cause of the disaster as rescue efforts are still underway to find survivors.
• COP15 reaches historic deal to protect nature: The COP15 biodiversity summit in Montreal reached a final agreement in the early hours of Monday to restore 30% of damaged ecosystems by the end of the decade. There will also be targets for safeguarding vital ecosystems in the future such as rainforests and wetlands.
• UK court rules plan to send asylum-seekers to Rwanda legal: Two High Court judges ruled on Monday that the UK government’s plan to send asylum-seekers on a one-way trip back to Rwanda is legal. But the judges also said the government failed to consider the individual circumstances of the people it tried to deport, meaning further legal battles are ahead before anyone is put on a plane to East Africa.
• Russia/China joint naval drills: Moscow announced on Monday that Russian and Chinese forces would hold joint naval drills between Dec. 21 and Dec. 27, involving missile and artillery firing in the East China Sea as the two countries reaffirm a growing alliance in the face of conflict with the West.
• New designs discovered around Peru’s ancient Nazca plain: Hundreds of newly discovered designs could bring more information about the mysterious pre-Columbian artworks that have intrigued scientists and visitors for decades. Earlier this month, Peruvian and Japanese researchers from Yamagata University reported the discovery of 168 new designs at the World Heritage site on Peru's southern Pacific coast.
🗞️ FRONT PAGE
“Eternal Glory”: Buenos Aires daily La Nación, along with thousands of other newspapers around the planet, marked Argentina’s victory over France in the most thrilling World Cup finals in memory. Legendary Argentine captain Lionel Messi kisses the Cup that seals his standing as one of the greatest soccer players of all time. Click here for our collection of World Cup front pages around the world.
#️⃣ BY THE NUMBERS
57.5%
Twitter’s new owner Elon Musk asked Twitter users to vote on his future as CEO of the social media platform. In a poll to his 122 million followers, he tweeted: "Should I step down as head of Twitter? I will abide by the results." A total of 17,502,391 users answered the poll, with 57.5% voting “yes.”
📰 STORY OF THE DAY
From church choir to DJ icon: the singular rise of Anita B Queen
Alex Zani, writing for Buenos-Aires-based news agency Agencias Presentes, draws the portrait of Ana Belén Kim, daughter of conservative Korean immigrants to Argentina and a rising star in Latin America's electronic music club scene who's impossible to categorize.
🇦🇷⛪ In a world that insists on labels, Ana Belén Kim, also known as Anita B Queen, considers herself a "degenerate." That is: someone impossible to classify. The 26-year-old daughter of a Catholic mother and an Evangelical father, both of whom were Korean immigrants who came to Argentina in their early childhood, her musical career began at Cheil, the First Korean Presbyterian Church in the country.
🎧 When she turned 18, her life turned upside down as she questioned her values and her sexuality. “Imagine, a lifelong Christian girl, growing up in a small, closed, conservative and orthodox Korean community, trying to understand what she was feeling and trying to accept herself.” That year she left the church, withdrew from her peers, separated from her boyfriend, and began dating other women. "It was at that moment that I started working as a DJ, making electronic music, learning from local and foreign DJs who, without knowing it, were my mentors."
🏳️🌈 Gone are the days of the teenage Anita B Queen who led a marching band at church. “Now I have a lot of visibility in the LGBTQ+ community. There are times when I still feel the resistance exerted by my body. I still have that very Christian thing that is hard to get rid of, but without a doubt, this is where I want to be. We queer folks are the best things that happened to this world. No community knows as much about partying and joy as ours does.”
➡️ Read more on Worldcrunch.com
📣 VERBATIM
“I have already signed my renunciation.”
— In an interview with Spanish news outlet ABC, Pope Francis has revealed that he has already signed his resignation letter several years ago, in case he is suddenly unable to perform his duties due to health issues or an accident. Aged 86, Pope Francis had surgery last year to remove part of his colon due to diverticulitis and is suffering from knee problems, but overall appears to be in good health.
📸 PHOTO DU JOUR
Thailand has deployed warships and helicopters to find 31 marines missing after a Royal Thai Navy warship sank in stormy seas in the Gulf of Thailand early Monday. — Photo: Royal Thai Navy Handout
👉 MORE FROM WORLDCRUNCH
• Just Let Them Have Crimea! On The Risks Of Russian "Resentment" — And Ukraine's Too — WORLDCRUNCH
• Iran Clerics Denounce "Foolish" Executions of Protesters, A Rare Critique Of Regime — KAYHAN-LONDON
• Deep Inside The Ecological Devastation Of Mexico’s Avocado Production — GLOBAL PRESS JOURNAL✍️ Newsletter by Emma Albright, Anne-Sophie Goninet, Bertrand Hauger and Hugo Perrin
Let us know what’s happening in your corner of the world!
You've reached your limit of free articles.
To read the full story, start your free trial today.
Get unlimited access. Cancel anytime.
Exclusive coverage from the world's top sources, in English for the first time.
Insights from the widest range of perspectives, languages and countries.
Already a subscriber? Log in