'Pretty Sure I'm Going to Die:' Ukraine Soldier Gives Harrowing Update on Conflict
One Ukrainian soldier has reflected on the onslaught his country’s armed forces faces from Russia, speaking of his own mortality in a conversation with a western journalist.
War reporter Nolan Peterson revealed that one of his sources in the Ukrainian Armed Forces believes his own death is imminent as a result of the raging conflict.
Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine early on Thursday.
I’m getting updates from Ukrainian troops in combat right now on west side of Kyiv. Under relentless airstrikes.
One soldier texted: “No one hurt and I’m fine. Just pretty sure I’m going to die. Not worried or anything just an honest assessment.”
— Nolan Peterson (@nolanwpeterson) February 24, 2022
Attacks on the capital of Kyiv surprised some western observers, who expected a conflict between Russia and Ukraine to be centered in the disputed Donbas regions in the east of the country.
Putin’s government began its attack on Ukrainian sovereignty by targeting Ukrainian air defenses and military bases.
Russian troops have attacked Ukraine in part through the country’s border with Belarus, a Russian satellite state ruled by a quasi-Stalinist dictator.
While the Russian military is one of the most well-funded and equipped in the world, it’s far from a foregone conclusion that Russia will seize control of Ukraine without a serious fight.
Global Firepower, an organization which analyzes militaries, counts Ukraine’s Armed Forces as the 22nd most powerful in the world and the seventh-strongest in Europe. The organization ranks Russia second — behind only the United States.
Ukrainian service members began a counter-offensive to take back the critical Antonov International Airport outside of Kyiv on Thursday.
Russian special forces troops had seized the strategic location in a airborne assault that threatened the nation’s capital itself.
Officials of the Ukrainian government have indicated the country’s armed forces have succeeded in destroying Russian tanks and taking down Russian aircraft.
Army, border guards, national guard, police and other forces are keeping the defence of Ukraine and its people from Russian invasion.
According @GeneralStaffUA, 7 planes and 2 helicopters of Russian air force have been downed in Ukraine today. #StopRussianAggression
— Oleg Nikolenko (@OlegNikolenko_) February 24, 2022
Ukraine’s Interior Ministry indicated that Russian attacks on Ukrainian military infrastructure had incurred “hundreds” of casualties.
CNN: Ukraine’s Interior Ministry says there have already been hundreds of casualties pic.twitter.com/CNAPySQ4y2
— philip lewis (@Phil_Lewis_) February 24, 2022
Russian casualties are less clear, with some reports attesting to the capture of Russian prisoners of war by Ukrainian forces.
Russian prisoners of war taken by Ukraine’s 93rd Mechanized Brigade today pic.twitter.com/BIDCXle1A6
— Illia Ponomarenko (@IAPonomarenko) February 24, 2022
President Joe Biden is expected to slap Russia with severe economic sanctions for carrying out a war of aggression against Ukraine, speaking on the matter Thursday afternoon.
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