Ukrainian defenders going against the Russian invasion of their country have taken control of Dergachi, a jurisdiction in the vicinity of Kharkiv, where civilians have been facing deadly attacks from Russian forces. Kharkiv — the second-largest city in Ukraine — was reported last week to have seen dozens of civilians killed and hundreds wounded in rounds of Russian aggression against the city, although that was just one spate of losses and overall casualties appear likely substantially higher. Ukrainian presidential adviser Oleksiy Arestovych confirmed the Ukrainian control of Dergachi, saying that “from a military perspective it’s a serious tactical success” and that he expects further Ukrainian strategic victories in the near future bringing the overall situation in line with Ukrainian ambitions to push out Putin’s forces, as reported by journalist Oliver Carroll.
Kharkiv also recently suffered an attack by Russian personnel on an area of town called Freedom Square, after which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy insisted in reference to atrocities including the violence in Freedom Square that “nobody will forgive. Nobody will forget,” adding that the Kharkiv incident constituted “frank, undisguised terror” and “state terrorism of the Russian Federation.” Numerous civilians across Ukraine have been the victims of Russian atrocities throughout the conflict; in Mariupol this week, Russian forces bombed a maternity hospital, leading to at least 3 deaths, including that of a child. The attacks on that city have been simply devastating; according to the jurisdiction’s deputy mayor, over 1,100 people have already lost their lives in Mariupol alone. The civilians trapped in the city, numbering in the hundreds of thousands, have lost access to basic utilities such as running water, and a child in the city was discovered to have died from dehydration in one sobering incident that was shared by Ukrainian authorities.
Deputy mayor of #Mariupol Sergiy Orlov has just been speaking. Says city under "continuous Russian shelling", genocide taking place, 1170 people killed, 47 buried today in a mass grave. No water, heat, power, gas, with residents drinking snow and burning firewood. "It's medieval"
— Luke Harding (@lukeharding1968) March 9, 2022
Ukrainian successes against the Russian military have included a recent instance where some 30 helicopters on the Russian side were wiped out in one sweep at an airfield around the town of Kherson, which has been taken over by Russian forces, for now. Journalist Michael Weiss shared remarks from an officer with Ukraine’s military intelligence service confirming the hit; as that officer put it, “Yesterday, [Russia] lost 30 helicopters in the vicinity of Kherson where our marines destroyed them. The government announced this. Frankly speaking, it’s true.” Although Russian forces have also been reported to have lost thousands of troops, the Putin regime is continuing to stand by the violence in Ukraine, the true scope of which it largely refuses to publicly acknowledge. Russian personnel have been held back from taking control of high-profile cities in Ukraine including the capital city, Kyiv, although fighting across the country is continuing. Over 2 million people have fled Ukraine as refugees.
2 weeks at war. Unbelievable. #Russia launched 710 missiles on #Ukraine. 1170 people dead in #Mariupol ALONE!!! /1
— Lesia Vasylenko (@lesiavasylenko) March 10, 2022
