Day 134 Roundup: Putin Warns War is Yet to Start "in Earnest"; Reports of Russian Operational Pause
The Facts
On Thurs., at least one person was reportedly killed and six wounded in a Russian missile strike on Kramatorsk, the de facto administrative capital of Donetsk. Elsewhere, a strike in Kharkiv killed at least three and injured five, according to Ukrainian officials.
This comes as Ukraine on Thurs. claimed to have regained control of Snake Island. The army had raised its flag there earlier this week after Russian forces retreated. According to a senior Ukraine military official, Oleksiy Gromov, Ukraine has "physical control" of the island.
The Spin
Pro-establishment narrative
As the war shifts to the strategically important Donbas region of Donetsk, the US and its allies need to continue to do everything in their power to arm Ukraine with all the weapons they need. Doing so is the only way to push Putin's forces back as was done in Kyiv.
Pro-Russia narrative
As stated by Putin, the whole purpose of the war was never to invade Kyiv, but to liberate the ethnically Russian people of Donetsk and Luhansk, who have been subjected to systematic killing by Ukrainian forces for not recognizing the 2014 coup in Kyiv.