Russian army stalls in its invasion of Ukraine

Russian troops are slowing down in their aim to invade Ukraine. The Ukrainian resistance, together with international aid, remains impassive in the face of the Russian army, which is objectively far superior to the Ukrainian army.

As defined by the British Ministry of Defence, the 'strong and well-coordinated' Ukrainian resistance holds most of the country under its control. Since Russia began its invasion, the Russian army has managed to seize important enclaves in the east and south, but in recent days Russian advances have been "minimal", as they describe them. 

According to the report issued by the British Secret Intelligence Service, the invasion is "stalled" and the Russian army continues to suffer heavy casualties. However, the Ukrainian population continues to bear the brunt of these offensives. Mariupol, which has been under siege for 13 days, has seen one of the most vicious attacks after the Russian army shelled a theatre where dozens of refugees, including children, were being held. Some experts say the Kremlin's aim is to divide the city and cause as much damage as possible, the same strategy used in Aleppo in Syria.

However, Moscow denies having carried out this attack against civilians and maintains that it is a strategy waged by Kiev. Despite Russia's stance, local authorities in Mariupol continue to pull survivors of the shelling from the rubble. In addition to this attack, the besieged city still has thousands of citizens trapped in cellars without food, water or electricity.

Following this meagre advance, Russian troops have continued to send more reinforcements to all open fronts, but the numbers of Russian soldiers killed continue to rise. The US has announced that 7,000 soldiers have been killed in Ukraine and between 14,000 and 21,000 may be wounded. Still, this does not stop Moscow, which has already deployed new troops on the ground.

The British Ministry of Defence noted that the Kremlin was 'redeploying forces from as far afield as the Eastern Military District, Armenia and the Pacific Fleet'. Alongside this, they state that Moscow "intends to use even more irregular forces from private military companies, Syria and other mercenaries". Moreover, they state, the "continued loss of personnel will make it difficult for Russia to secure the occupied territory".

In the last few hours, Moscow has also bombed the area around the airport of Leopolis, located just 75 kilometres from the Polish border. According to the mayor of the city, Andriy Sadovyi, at least three missiles hit an aircraft repair plant. Since the beginning of the Russian invasion, Leopolis has been preparing to serve as a refuge for more than 200,000 refugees coming from different parts of the country. The authorities also indicate that the missiles were launched from the Black Sea, two of which were intercepted by the Ukrainian army.

Similarly, Putin continues to intensify his attacks on the civilian population. According to Ukrainian presidential adviser Oleksi Arestovich, as Russian troops occupy cities, they are plundering them with a campaign of rape, robbery and purges. "The Russian army is deliberately destroying the Ukrainian population. This is genocide," he denounced.

Amid these attacks, Russian and Ukrainian negotiators enter their fourth day of talks. Although there is some rapprochement between the parties after Kiev announced that there is some room for mutual compromise in the initial draft, a draft that includes the renunciation of Ukraine's position on NATO membership, there are "fundamental contradictions", statements criticised by Moscow, which said that Kiev is "slow" in the dialogue. It is worth noting that the negotiation process is taking place without any ceasefire being declared, and Zelensky's delegation continues to urge the Kremlin to cease its attacks in order to move forward in any negotiation channel.

In this context, Russia continues to suffer near-total international isolation. Abandoned by most countries, Russian President Vladimir Putin is also seeing part of his population fleeing the country, which he has described as "scum and traitors". 

In the midst of the negotiating race, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov held a meeting with his Turkish counterpart, at which Lavrov concluded that there was "hope" of reaching a common ground. A day later, Putin met with Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who proposed a meeting with Zelensky. In addition, US President Joe Biden will hold a (telephone) conversation with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping. With this conversation, Washington will try to restrain China from explicitly supporting Moscow, something that would have very negative consequences for Beijing.