On Wednesday, Russian forces made no territorial gains in Ukraine “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” that would not entail “a complete cessation of active hostilities.” “Russian forces will likely be limited to relatively small-scale offensive operations as they attempt to set the stage for more significant offensive operations and rebuild the combat power needed to undertake these more ambitious operations,” the institute said. A statement Thursday from Russia’s defense ministry appeared to confirm that assessment. He said that Russian military units engaged in fighting in Ukraine had time to rest. “Units that carried out combat missions during the special military operation are taking measures to regain their combat capabilities. Soldiers are given the opportunity to rest, receive letters and parcels from home,” the statement said, according to the Russian state news agency Tass.
Bombing in Eastern Ukraine
Shelling continued in eastern Ukraine, where at least nine civilians were killed and six wounded in 24 hours, Ukrainian officials said. Ukraine’s presidential office announced in its Thursday morning briefing that towns and villages in seven Ukrainian regions were bombed in the past 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. Ten towns and villages were shelled in Donetsk and 35 buildings were destroyed, including a school, a vocational college 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. Russian President Vladimir Putin recognized the independence of two self-proclaimed republics there shortly before Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24. People hide during a strike in Kramatorsk, located in Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region, on Thursday. (Nariman El-Mofty/The Associated Press) Putin won Monday in Luhansk, the other province that makes up Donbas, 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. In Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second largest city, a boarding school was hit, but no one was injured. The Kharkiv region, which lies along the border with Russia, is under daily shelling and two civilians have been killed there in the past 24 hours. The Ukrainian military said on Thursday that Russian forces also carried out shelling and helicopter attacks in the Sumy region in the northeast. PHOTOS | Day 134 of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine: Even as fighting continued, Britain’s Ministry of Defense said it believed the Russian military was “reassembling” its forces. An intelligence ministry assessment issued Thursday said heavy shelling along the front line in Donetsk is likely to secure earlier Russian gains. The British ministry flagged a new law under consideration by the Russian parliament to give the government special economic powers amid the war. The law would allow Russia “to avoid acknowledging that it is involved in a war or its failure to overcome Ukraine’s outnumbered and outgunned military,” the ministry said. Smoke rises after shelling near the Donbas city of Sloviansk on Thursday. (Miguel Medina/AFP/Getty Images) As fighting continued in the east, Ukraine’s foreign ministry said it summoned the Turkish ambassador to Kyiv on Thursday over what it described as the theft of Ukrainian grain from a Russian ship. The Russian ship 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 the “unacceptable situation”. Turkey, with the Bosphorus Strait, is a key 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.
