The Russia-Ukraine war is escalating and crossing borders

Wins the war on scale and diplomacy remains in an outstanding gesture, of goodwill and little more, conducted this week by the Secretary General of the United Nations, António Guterres.

Shortly after he met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in kyiv, Russia attacked the capital with missiles. At least five hit Artem’s weapons factory and another destroyed the first floors of an apartment block.

It’s been a few weeks since kyiv avoided the worst war, but Thursday’s attack, as well as the shrinking of Guterres ’mediation efforts, demonstrates Russia’s artillery and missile ability to reach even where in Ukraine.

Pressing kyiv when Guterres was talking about opening a humanitarian corridor in Mariupol was a provocation and a clear message that Moscow does not believe this is the time for diplomacy.

Frozen negotiations

Ukraine and its allies are also not here to negotiate anything. The defense of the territory is paramount, as is the principle that Russia will not gain any basis for this aggression.

The transmission of weapons to the front is consistent. Roads to the Sloviansk and Kramatorsk areas were still full of military convoys, troops traveling by bus and private vehicles on Friday to strengthen defense lines that surrendered to the ground but sold their skin at a high price. .

The war is intensifying every day. Although the Russian army bombed the coast, especially Odessa, it was an anachronistic ground war, reminiscent of World War II and all the other wars before it.

The Donbas were disputed with artillery and tanks, as always. There are several planes and little or no cyber technology.

The heavy weapons coming to Ukraine are low-tech, similar to those used by the Russian army. The high-precision missiles that fell on kyiv on thursday were the exception.

The Pentagon estimates that more than 1,900 rockets have already been launched. None of them served, however, for Russia to score a great victory, and that was two weeks since the offensive in the Donbas began.

The UN is trying to intervene

Guterres had options to find a path to peace, starting with humanitarian corridors, steps that, in addition to rescuing the population, could build trust between those fighting.

Guterres started the week in Istanbul, then went to Moscow and it ended badly in Kyiv. Zelensky, at first, did not like that he would leave it too late, while President Vladimir Putin has long reiterated to any international dignitary who visited him that the use of force was still necessary.

The war in Ukraine, which is now beyond its geographical limits, includes some very serious economic consequences for Europepits, above all, Russia against the United States.

Hence the importance of the UN, the only international body in which Russia and the US sit on equal footing.

The president of North America, Joe Biden, does not think this is also the moment to speak.

He simply asked Congress for 33,000 million dollars for Ukraine, an enormous amount, which would keep the war engine oil efficient for many months. It seems clear that analysts in Washington clearly see that peace is still far away.

NATO is preparing for this confrontation, absolutely at the moment, but it could be an open war any moment.

Tens of thousands of Atlantic Alliance soldiers are training for it. Britain announced on Friday that it would send 8,000 more to join them.

more dead

The Ukrainian population, meanwhile, is paying the price for militarism to hold on to Moscow and allied capitals.

The drop of the dead is steady. Kyiv has lost a hundred citizens, the most recent being Vira Girich, a journalist for Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty. He was at home when he was killed by a Russian missile on Thursday.

Kharkiv and Odessa suffer daily bombing, but so do small towns in the Donbas.

Many of its inhabitants chose to flee, but hundreds of thousands continue to live there and in the southern provinces, which are also suffering from the onslaught of Russian artillery.

The cannons silenced the voices of the diplomats and it would continue until one side was defeated or on the realization that no one would win.

The author was sent from La Vanguardia to Ukraine

CB