Luke Harding writes that people in Kiev expressed a mix of hope and skepticism Tuesday about whether Donald Trump can end the war in Ukraine. “I think the agreement is unrealistic. Trump is just blah, blah, blah,” said Valeria, a 23-year-old store employee. “He promised to end the conflict within 24 hours. That’s not going to happen. My friends are split 50-50 between those who think he will do something and those who don’t.” “I watched the inauguration on TV. Trump impressed me. We have to stop the war,” said Mykola, a former physicist who used to live in the United States. . I think he can really do something. He got a ceasefire with Israel.”
More than 200 Ukrainian civilians, including the elderly, disabled people and their caregivers, remain in Chasiv Yar, a front-line stronghold following heavy Russian attacks, a military spokesperson announced on Tuesday. Spokesman of the Lugansk forces, Dmytro Zapozhets, said that due to the Russian attack, the Ukrainian junta was no longer able to organize shelters or distribute food to the remaining population. said. Ukraine still controls the former brick factory in Chasiv Yar after a recent failed raid attempt by Russia, the spokesman said, but Russian forces used “small assault groups of three to eight people” to “They are moving in the direction of the factory,” Zapožec said. .
Russia’s Ministry of Defense announced on Tuesday that Russian troops had captured the village of Volkove in eastern Donetsk region. This village had an estimated population of about 24 people before the war. Further north, in the city of Kupiansk, police said a Russian drone strike injured three Ukrainian police officers and two elderly residents. Russian troops are about 2 kilometers from the town, officials and loggers said. Meanwhile, the head of the country’s national railways said Russian troops attacked railway infrastructure in the south-eastern Donetsk region, injuring three staff members.