Every week we wrap up essential coverage of the war in Ukraine, from news and features to analysis, opinion and more.
General under fire
Volodymyr Zelenskiy, made Valerii Zaluzhnyi head of Ukraine’s armed forces in July 2021, when Putin was beginning to assemble his full invasion force across the border. By this week, their relationship had deteriorated to the point that the president asked his top general to resign – a request that was refused.
Julian Borger reports that after the February 2022 full-scale invasion, Zaluzhnyi and his army surprised the world by defending Kyiv, smashing the bulk of the Russian invading force, and then fighting back to recapture more than half of the lost territory. But a much-heralded Ukrainian counteroffensive failed to take back more ground last summer.
Zaluzhnyi admitted to the Economist that the war was at a stalemate. The interview irritated the president’s office. Both men are popular – in fact Zaluzhnyi is consistently the only public figure to rival Zelenskiy in the opinion polls. Zelenskiy’s aides suspect that the general’s charitable foundation could ultimately become a political platform making him a rival for the presidency, and viewed an increasing number of social media posts of Zaluzhnyi with his wife as projecting a would-be presidential vibe. This week, while some Ukrainian politicians urged a reconciliation, rumours of the general’s imminent dismissal continued to circulate.
Ukraine burns through Russia’s oil
Ukraine has been wreaking havoc with Russia’s energy infrastructure. Soon after the new year, someone attached explosives to train carriages in the Urals city of Nizhny Tagil. A blast took place next to facilities owned by Gazprom Neft, the country’s third biggest oil producer.
Next, a kamikaze drone crashed into an oil depot in the Oryol region. Then another oil terminal, in St Petersburg, came under attack – the first time since the invasion in February 2022 that unmanned aerial vehicles had reached the Leningrad region. Following that, a large-scale fire out at an oil depot in the town of Klintsy, not far from Belarus and Ukraine. Three days later, drones hit the Baltic port of Ust-Luga in the Gulf of Finland and a main oil terminal belonging to the Novatek company. Another drone hit the Tuapse oil refinery in southern Russia on the Black Sea.
Luke Harding and Pjotr Sauer report that so far this year, Ukrainian drones have struck at least four Russian oil and gas terminals across the country. The attacks are part of a growing asymmetrical campaign by Ukraine to cripple the industry and to deprive Moscow of the billions of dollars in global revenue it uses to fund its war. About half of Russia’s $420bn export earnings last year came from oil.
‘Crying every day, you cannot live’
After almost two years of war, Ukraine playwrights have sensed a turning point in what they can – and should – write about, Charlotte Higgins reports.
At the beginning of 2022 many stopped writing altogether: the priority was to keep themselves and their families alive, and help others. Later, scripts did get written but tended to be quickfire documentary works recounting stories of escape and survival, or morale-boosting, patriotic texts.
Now the approach is broadening, even into comedy. In a studio theatre in Kyiv, six playwrights and six directors discuss a comedy-drama set in a Polish hostel hosting Ukrainian refugees. “In Ukraine, it’s very important for people to laugh about the war. It’s a way to survive,” said playwright Oksana Grytsenko after the final session in their week-long laboratory. “If you keep on crying every day, about every lost life, you cannot live.”
EU agrees €50bn aid package as Viktor Orbán bows to pressure
A robust and united position among EU member states convinced Viktor Orbán to end his “blackmail” and support a €50bn (£43bn) funding package for Ukraine, European prime ministers have said.
The Hungarian prime minister, who had been vowing to block the funds since December, performed one of the fastest U-turns seen at a leaders’ summit after six weeks of brinkmanship, Lisa O’Carroll reports.
There was relief that the deal was finally done but also a sense of fury among leaders who had been dragged to Brussels for the second time in as many months to try to get the package over the line after Orbán blocked the aid in December.
The Finnish prime minister, Petteri Orpo, said: “Nobody can blackmail 26 countries of the EU. Our values were not for sale.”
Ukraine thought to have sunk Russian warship near occupied Crimea
Ukrainian forces are believed to have sunk the Russian Ivanovets warship near occupied Crimea in a sophisticated overnight attack by multiple sea drones, demonstrating Kyiv’s expanding power in the Black Sea.
Ukraine’s military intelligence published a grainy video showing several sea drones attacking the Russian corvette, ending with three dramatic images showing it listing, exploding and sinking into the water, write Dan Sabbagh, Pjotr Sauer and Luke Harding.
Ukraine said the boat had been sunk, as did leading Russian military bloggers. Hours later, western officials said they believed the warship had been destroyed in an attack that used long range uncrewed drones.
Russia did not immediately comment on the incident, but a number pro-Kremlin military bloggers close to Moscow confirmed that the Ivanovets warship was hit.
Dissident rock band Bi-2 leave Thailand after Russia deportation fears
A dissident Russian-Belarusian rock band critical of the war in Ukraine have left Thailand for Israel after fears they would be deported to Russia under suspected pressure from the Kremlin.
Seven members of the Bi-2 group were detained by Thai immigration authorities last Wednesday on the resort island of Phuket for working without a permit. The band were touring in Phuket, a holiday destination popular with Russian tourists.
After paying a fine, the band members were sent to an immigration detention centre in Bangkok, writes Pjotr Sauer.
Human rights groups had urged the Thai government not to deport Bi-2 to Russia, where the members could face severe persecution.
Bi-2’s lead singer, Igor Bortnik, accused Moscow of orchestrating the band’s arrest.
“We were all told that there was a Russian trace, a special order from the Russian consulate for the band Bi-2 to extradite us to Russia,” Bortnik said.
Russia has denied any role in getting the band arrested.
