The war becomes protracted amid growing support of the war in Russian society

UKRAINE - In Brief 31 Mar 2022 by Dmytro Boyarchuk

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The 36th day of war. We do not see any big changes at the front except the continued reallocation of Russian forces to Donbas and to the South East of Ukraine. To the North of Kyiv a big group of the Russian military is staying in operational encirclement. The Russians also withdrew from the North East of Kyiv after experiencing heavy losses. The garrison of Mariupol remains strong. Ukrainian lines at the Donbas keep repulsing desperate Russian attacks on our fortified positions. There are some scarce reports from the South about the slow recapture of our territories near Kherson. But a big change that we observe is the regular targeting of oil depots and food storage facilities in the heart of Ukraine. We have substantial stocks of grains and foods from the record-high crops of 2021 and we are quite sure there will be no hunger in Ukraine in 2022. However, the missile and air strikes of the recent weeks reveal to us a clear target to destroy those storage facilities and destroy fuel reserves that are currently heavily used for the spring sowing campaign. This change of action clearly indicates that Russia, facing failure at the battlefield, now is preparing for a long-term confrontation targeted to exhaust Ukraine’s means of survival. Another point indicating the war will last for a long time is the growing support of the war and Putin’s policy in Russia itself. We often come across the opinion that it’s only Putin’s war and that lay Russians do not want this war to continue. Public opinion polls in Russia reveal an absolutely different picture. According to the Levada Center, 83% of Russians support Putin’s actions, and 69% of Russians believe that Russia is moving i...