On day 39 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Ukrainian military continues to reclaim lost territory from the withdrawing Russian forces.
But in their wake, the Russian forces have been leaving devastation, with horror stories of executions and other war crimes emerging in every liberated Ukrainian village.
The siege of Mariupol continues as the Russian military is desperately trying to capture the city and achieve one of its objectives.
The Siege of Mariupol Continues
Having failed to achieve any of its primary objectives, the Russian military is focusing its efforts on eastern Ukraine. The port city of Mariupol is a strategic urban center and one of the few objectives within Moscow’s grasp. For weeks the Ukrainian defenders have been keeping the Russian forces from taking the city. The Russian forces have resorted to an indiscriminate bombardment of the city. About 100,000 civilians have been trapped there, and the humanitarian cost rises with each passing day.
In its daily estimate of the war, the British Ministry of Defense assessed that the Russian military would continue to focus its efforts on Mariupol in an attempt to capture the port city and create a land bridge to occupied Crimea.
“Heavy fighting has continued in Mariupol as Russian forces attempt to take the city. The city continues to be subject to intense, indiscriminate strikes but Ukrainian Forces maintain a staunch resistance, retaining control in central areas. Mariupol is almost certainly a key objective of the Russian invasion as it will secure a land corridor from Russia to the occupied territory of Crimea,” the British Military Intelligence assessed.
The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense claimed that as of Sunday, Ukrainian forces have killed approximately 18,000 Russian troops (and wounded approximately thrice that number), destroyed 143 fighter, attack, and transport jets, 134 helicopters, 644 tanks, 325 artillery pieces, 1,830 armored personnel carriers, 105 Multiple Launch Rocket Systems (MLRS), seven boats, 1,249 vehicles, 76 fuel tanks, 54 anti-aircraft batteries, 89 unmanned aerial systems, 24 special equipment platforms, such as bridging vehicles, and four mobile Iskander ballistic missile systems.
Russian War Crimes
The Russian military has been withdrawing from the north of Ukraine. After weeks of fighting, the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv seems to at last be safe from capture. But in their wake, the retreating Russian forces have been leaving waste.
Liberated Ukrainian villages report hundreds of tortured and executed civilians. In some cases, the Russian forces tried to hide their atrocities by burning or attempting to burn the bodies with car tires.
In the small town of Trostyanets, near the border with Russia, the accounts are indicative of life under Russian occupation.
“They [the Russian troops] were brash and angry. We could not negotiate with them about anything. They would not give us any green corridors, they searched the apartments, took away the phones, abducted people — they took them away, mostly young men, and we still don’t know where these people are,” Doctor Olena Volkova, the head doctor of Trostyanets’ hospital told the New York Times.
The U.S. has already accused Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Kremlin of allowing war crimes in Ukraine.
1945’s New Defense and National Security Columnist, Stavros Atlamazoglou is a seasoned defense journalist specializing in special operations, a Hellenic Army veteran (national service with the 575th Marine Battalion and Army HQ), and a Johns Hopkins University graduate. His work has been featured in Business Insider, Sandboxx, and SOFREP.
