Russian forces made no territorial gains in Ukraine on Wednesday “for the first time in 133 days of war,” according to the Institute for the Study of War. The Washington-based think tank suggested that Moscow could take an “operational pause”, but said this would not entail “a complete cessation of active hostilities”. “Russian forces will likely be limited to relatively small-scale offensive actions as they try to set the stage for more significant offensive operations” and rebuild necessary combat power, the institute said. Russia’s defense ministry appeared to confirm that assessment, saying in a statement on Thursday that Russian soldiers had been given time to rest. “Units that carried out combat missions … are taking steps to regain their combat capabilities. Soldiers are given the opportunity to rest, receive letters and parcels from home,” said the statement, cited by the Russian state news agency Tass. Putin warned Kyiv that it would have to quickly accept Moscow’s terms to end the fighting or prepare for the worst. “Everyone should know that to a large extent, we have not even started anything seriously,” he said in a threatening note. Shelling continued in eastern Ukraine, where at least nine civilians were killed and six wounded in the past 24 hours, Ukrainian officials said early Thursday. Ukraine’s presidential office said in its morning briefing that towns and villages in seven of the country’s regions were bombed last day. Most of the civilian deaths occurred in Donetsk province, where fighting continues. Seven civilians were killed there, including a child, the presidential office said. Later on Thursday, a rocket hit a residential area in the Donetsk city of Kramatorsk, killing one civilian and wounding at least six, officials said. Volodymyr, 66, a resident who declined to give his full name, sat in his upturned apartment, covered in blood. “I was just sitting there drinking tea and then there was an explosion,” he told The Associated Press. “You can see the result.” Asked if he felt safe staying in his apartment building, he replied: “Is it safe anywhere in Ukraine right now? It all happened in an instant, and that was it.” Three people were killed and at least two were wounded in what appeared to be a rocket attack in a residential area of Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city. Earlier in the day, a boarding school was hit in Kharkiv, but no one was injured. In separate attacks, the Ukrainian regional administration reported that three people in the Kharkiv region were injured by shelling. The Kharkiv region, which lies along the border with Russia, has been under daily shelling and at least five civilians have been killed there since Wednesday. In total, 10 towns and villages were shelled in Donetsk and 35 buildings were destroyed, including a school, a vocational school and a hospital, officials said. Donetsk is part of Donbass, a predominantly Russian-speaking industrial region where Ukraine’s most experienced soldiers are concentrated. Pro-Russian separatists have been fighting Ukrainian forces and have controlled much of Donbas for eight years. Putin recognized the independence of two self-proclaimed republics there shortly before Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24. Putin on Monday declared victory in Luhansk, the other Donbas province, after Ukrainian forces withdrew from the last city they controlled there. Luhansk Governor Serhiy Haidai denied on Wednesday that the Russians had fully taken over the province. The Ukrainian military said on Thursday that Russian forces also carried out shelling and helicopter attacks in the Sumy region in the northeast. Although fighting continued, Britain’s Ministry of Defense said it believed the Russian military was “reorganizing” its forces. An intelligence ministry assessment issued Thursday said heavy shelling along the front line in Donetsk is likely to secure earlier Russian gains. Further hostilities were reported in the Black Sea. Ukraine’s military said Thursday that a national flag was raised again on a strategic island from which Russian troops withdrew last month. Ukraine’s southern military command said in a statement that Ukrainian military units had cleared Snake Island, an outpost off Ukraine’s southwestern coast vital to securing sea routes from Odessa, Ukraine’s largest port. The command team said that in addition to placing the Ukrainian flag on the island, the Ukrainian military also destroyed Russian military equipment. The Russian Defense Ministry said on Thursday that a Russian military aircraft launched a missile attack on the island as Ukrainian forces tried to plant the flag. “As a result, part of the Ukrainian military personnel was destroyed, the rest fled,” the ministry said. The claim could not be immediately verified. When Russian troops withdrew from Snake Island on June 30, the defense ministry described it as “a goodwill gesture” to ensure that Ukrainian exports of grain and other exports could resume. Ukraine said Russia also fired two missiles at a Moldovan-flagged oil tanker in the Black Sea, setting it on fire. Ukrainian officials said one hit the Millennial Spirit, which was carrying more than 500 tons of diesel fuel, while the other fell wide open. The ship has been without a crew, drifting at sea since the start of the war in February. Russia did not immediately acknowledge the strike on the boat. Ukraine’s foreign ministry said it had summoned the Turkish ambassador to Kyiv on Thursday over the theft of Ukrainian grain from a Russian ship. The Zhibek Zholy was allowed to leave Turkey’s Black Sea coast after Turkish authorities briefly detained it at Ukraine’s request. Ukraine summoned the ambassador to protest. Turkey, with the Bosphorus Strait, is the main transit route for shipping from the Black Sea. Ukraine has tried to pressure Ankara to stop its Russian grain shipments, a vital source of revenue. ——— Francesca Ebel in Kramatorsk, Ukraine, Jon Gambrell in Lviv, Ukraine and Cara Anna in Kharkiv, Ukraine contributed to this story. ——— Follow AP’s coverage of the Russia-Ukraine war at
