By Elizabeth Chukwuma
President Vladimir Putin, of Russia Federation President may be winning the war against Ukraine Republic despite all the support of the North American country of the United States, US, United Kingdom, UK, European Union, EU and Canada, all leading member countries of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, NATO ,but the economic sanctions against Russia, since the war started on Thursday, February 24, 2022, appears to have hit hard the country’s Space agency that the officials have cried out to the US, to end the sanctions.
Dmitry Rogozin, Head of the ROSCOSMOS, was said to have sent an appeal letter to the Space agencies of the International partners: the US, UK, EU ad Canada, to suspend the biting the economic sanctions against Russia ‘’to keep the space station operational’’. He was said to have illustrated the appeal with a map showing the flight path of the ISS and a potential fall zone that may straddle much of the world but barely touches Russia.
While the Russian Space Agency officials are no longer finding it funny, because of the biting effect of the US and its allies, economic sanctions against Russian, which is affecting its operations, the Russian Forces, according to Agency reports are still pushing forward to capture Kharkiv, Chernihiv cities and the port cites of Sumy and Mariupol, currently being encircled by Russian troops.
The news making the rounds in Ukraine was that the Russian Forces have captured the eastern outskirts of the besieged port city of Maripol. The Ukraine military had said that the capture of Mariupol and Serodonestsk in the east of Kyiv have been a priority to the Russian forces who were acting out a script. There are indications that repeated efforts to evacuate people from the city of 430,000 have fallen on deaf ears as the UN, Humanitarian convoys were said to have come under Russian shelling.
The fear being expressed in several quarters of Europe was that since the Russian troops are 25 Km or 16 miles from the centre of Kyiv, the Ukrainian Capital, it might be overrun by Ussian Forces who are desperate to capture it. As a prelude to taking over the Ukrainian Capital, to force Volodymyr Zelenskyy out of Power, may have informed why the Russia’s Air Force Pilots have widened their bombardment in the last two days, with raids reported on the east –central city of Dnipro and airfields in western Lusk and Ivano-Frankivsk.
Joe Biden, the U, President and other Western Leaders may have realised that the economic sanctions imposed on Russian are not having the desired effect to force Vladimir Putin, the Russian President to end the war that he has mobilised the other leading NATO member countries Leaders ‘’to revoke Russia’s most favoured nation trade status’’ to force him to bow to pressure to end the war.
Given what is happening the worlover due to the Urainian- Russian war , which had entered its third week, Olaf Scholz, the German Chancellor, in a 75- minute phone call with Putin, on Saturday, March 12, 2022, and Emmanuel Macron, the French President,had urged for immediate ceasefire to end the suffering of the people and further loss of lives.
Note that the Conversation was part of the ongoing international efforts to end the war in Ukraine. Naftali Bennett, the Isreali Prime Mister may have started the moves by travelling to and Moscow on Saturday, March 6, 2022, to have a direct talks with Putin. He was said to have spoken to both the Russian Leader after speaking with President Zelensky of Ukraine.
Another world Leader who had lend his voice to end the war was Recep Tayyip Erdogan, The Turkish President, who had hosted Dymtro Kuleb and Srgev Larov, the Foreign ministers of Ukraine and Russia, respectively, in Istanbul, the country’s Capital , as they have the ears of their respective countries’ Presidents to find solution to the crisis but that was how he could go.
The Russian Leader who spoke with Scholz, the German Chancellor and Macron, the French President, may have opened up as he was to have informed the duo, Scholz and The French President Macron, about ‘’the real state of Affairs’’ why he opted to conduct a Special Military Operation on Ukraine.
He was said to have cited ‘’ numerous facts of the flagrant violation of the norms of the United Nations Humanitarian Law by Ukraine Forces’’. He may no longer be making demand that Zelenskyy the Ukrainian government must abandon plan of joining NATO like Rommania, Bulgaria, Hungray, Slovakia, Slovania, Lactivia and Lithunia, seven of former Russia allies had done in the early 90s, during the Administration of for Former President George Bush as he has found it to be a diffiul task.
Following the continued Humanitarian and military aid to Ukraine by the US, UK, EU and Canada to fight Russia, as well as the use of the Ukraine Embassy in Washington DC, the US Capital, as an unexpected recruitment centre for Americans wishing to volunteer to join in the fight against Russia may have opened the floodgate for thousands of volunteers from the Middle East to have declared their intention to join the Separatist Army in the Donetsk region and fight ‘’shoulder –to-shoulder against the Ukrainian military and their NATO member countries supporters, an indications of the internalization of the war and the turning of Europe as another theatre of war after the WWII I 1945. That much was confirmed by Denis Pushilin, the Head of the Russian backed separatist government in the Donetsk region.
Even Sergei Shiogu, Russian Defense minister, had confirmed also that the government have received request from over 16,000 people from the Middle East who are eager to join the Russian military action UkraineVitaly Klitschko, Kyiv, Mayor, whose position has been threatened with the repeated Russian Forces shelling of the outskirts of the city , has accused Russia of ‘’terrorism’’ for targeting elected officials in Ukraine and insisted that Moscow ‘s Forces would be ‘’kicked out of every inch of Ukraine land’’.
Already, Ivan Fedorov, the Mayor of Melitopol , was said to have been kidnapped by Russian Forces and taken to Moscow on Friday, March 11, 2022, forcing President Zelenskyy to alert the Germany Chancellor and Macron, the French President of the kidnap of the Melitopol Mayor by armed Russian men, pleading with them to to pressurize Putin to release him.
Admitted that Russia is gaining more grounds in the Ukraine war because of its military might, but the Ukraine Forces had said they have killed three Russian Army Generals since the war started about three weeks ago. Anton Gerashenko, an Adviser to the Russian ministry of Interior, had confirmed the death of Anrei Kolesnikov, who said to have been was killed in action during fighting over control of the port city of Mariupol.
The Ukrainian Forces had said that Major-General Vitaly Gerasimov, Chief of Staff of the 1st Combined Arms Armu had earlier been killed outside Kharkiv. The third Russian Army General killed in the Ukraine war was Andrei Sukhovetsky on March 3, 2022. The Russian Army Major Generals were said to have been killed within two weeks of the war. The death of the Major Generals may have toughened the Russian Forces to intensify the fighting against Ukrainian Troops to take over the city of Kyiv, the Capital of Ukraine and force Zelensky and his entire government to resign.
