Ukraine troops on the frontline in the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine (Sofiia Gatilova/Reuters)

Wednesday’s Coverage: Zelenskiy Visits Kharkiv Amid Russia’s Attacks

Map: Institute for the Study of War

UPDATE 1330 GMT:

Ukraine and Latvia have confirmed a bilateral security agreement.

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy announced the pact during a visit to the Lithuanian capital Vilnius for the Three Seas Summit.

UPDATE 1326 GMT:

Two people have been killed and at least four injured in Mykolaiv city in this morning’s Russian missile attacks.

UPDATE 0911 GMT:

In an interview with The Washington Post, amid Russia’s missile and drone assault to knock out energy infrastructure, Ukraine Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has expressed his frustration at the international failure to support Ukrainian air defenses.

Kuleba said Kyiv has identified more than 100 available Patriot air defense systems held by allies, urging the transfer of at least seven to protect Ukraine’s civilians and infrastructure.

“I feel like hitting the wall. I just don’t understand why it’s not happening,” he said. “We’ve tried everything, and nothing seems to work.”

UPDATE 0752 GMT:

The Ukraine Air Force reports Russia’s largest missile and drone assault since March 29’s attempt to destroy energy infrastructure.

Air defenses downed 39 of 40 Iran-type attack drones and at least 18 of 42 missiles overnight.

Two of four Kh-59 guided air missiles and 16 of 18 of 20 Kh-101 cruise missiles were intercepted.

The Russians also fired 12 S-300 anti-aircraft guided missiles and six Kinzhal air-launched missiles.

Among the regions targeted are Kharkiv, Kyiv, Zaporizhzhia, and Lviv.

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy responded:

If Russian missiles and “Shahed” drones continue to strike not only Ukraine but also the resolve of our allies, this will amount to a global license for terror.

We need air defense systems and other defense assistance, not just turning a blind eye and having lengthy discussions.

UPDATE 0746 GMT:

Russia is again attacking the Kharkiv region in northeast Ukraine this morning.

Governor Oleh Syniehubov posted on Telegram:

The occupiers have launched at least ten strikes on critical infrastructure in the city of Kharkiv and the region. As of now, there are no casualties. The information is being updated. We are already recording power outages.

Two thermal power plants were damaged overnight, said DTEK, Ukraine’s largest private energy company.

It did not specify the locations, but the Trypilska thermal power plant outside Kyiv was destroyed, said a “senior company official”.

About 80% of DTEK’s thermal generating capacity was damaged during Russia’s mass drone and missile attacks in March.

The Russians attacked with 40 Iran-type “kamikaze” drones and 42 missiles across the country, including the Kharkiv, Kyiv, Zaporizhzhia, and Lviv regions.

Ukraine air defenses downed 39 drones and 18 missiles, but those that evaded interception caused significant damage, as Russia tries to knock out Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.

UPDATE 0709 GMT:

Seven civilians, including two children, were killed in Russian strikes in the Kharkiv and Odesa regions on Wednesday.

In Kharkiv in the northeast, two women and a 14-year-old girl were killed when the Russians hit a grocery store and a pharmacy. The strike on Lyptsi, about 10 km (6 miles) from the Russian border, injured a 16-year-old boy and a woman.

A hospital was destroyed by a guided aerial bomb in the border town of Vovchansk.

Four civilians, including a 10-year-old girl, were killed and seven injured in the Odesa region in southern Ukraine. Energy facilities were targeted in the Odesa and Mykolaiv regions, causing temporary power outages.

ORIGINAL ENTRY: Ukraine’s legislators have withdrawn a proposal for demobilization of long-serving troops on the frontline of Russia’s 25 1/2-month invasion.

The clause in a draft bill would have allowed soldiers who have served more than 36 months the possibility of discharge, but Parliament backed away after objections from the military.

Dmytro Lazutkin, a spokesperson for Ukraine’s Defense Ministry, said on Wednesday, “The offensive continues along the entire frontline. And currently it is impossible to weaken the defense forces. We cannot make hasty decisions now.”

The draft law had passed its first reading in Parliament in February, following discussion of recruitment for more than a year.

Troops and activists criticized the U-turn, which came just before the bill’s second reading on Wednesday. Oleksandr, a 46-year-old artilleryman in the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine, said:

It’s a disaster. When a person knows when he is going to be demobilized, he will have a different attitude. If a person is like a slave, then it will not lead to anything good.

Sergiy Gnezdilov, an activist and veteran of the spring 2022 defense of the port city of Mariupol, regretted the “cruel twist”.

“Tired and Exhausted”

Iryna Friz, a member of Parliament’s Defense Committee, said some financial benefits for soldiers had also been removed from the draft.

That prompted soldier and politician Yuriy Gudymenko to predict consequences from “neither punishments for evaders, nor serious benefits for newly mobilized people”, with “an increase in the number of unauthorised absences from units, bought decisions from medical commissions and non-returns from vacations”.

Defense Ministry spokesperson Lazutkin acknowledged that a mechanism to relieve soldiers is “necessary”: “It is clear that people who have been fighting since the beginning and holding the defence since 2022 are getting tired and exhausted.”

But he offered no indication what that might be.