Explaining complex things in simple words: Terror against Odesa residents, Ukrainian and Russian elections, prospects of war

MISSILE TERROR AGAINST ODESA RESIDENTS

On March 6, the Russians shelled Odesa again. At that time, the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the Prime Minister of Greece Kyriakos Mitsotakis were in the city.

• Russia keeps committing terrorist attacks against Odesa, killing its civilians.
• Moscow insidiously dealt another strike on Odesa on the day of mourning, when the locals were saying goodbye to residents of an apartment building who were killed by a Russian drone on March 2.
• Zelenskyy and Mitsotakis also arrived in Odesa to honour the memory of the innocent victims.
• Odesa will never forget or forgive Russia’s atrocities.

UKRAINIAN AND RUSSIAN ELECTIONS

On March 17, the so-called "presidential elections" will be held in Russia. The next presidential election of Ukraine was supposed to take place on March 31, but was postponed due to martial law.

• Ukraine is a country of stable democracy, in which there is a regular rotation of power.
• The elections not being held in 2024 is an extraordinary and necessary measure caused by the full-scale Russian aggression.
• Russia is a totalitarian dictatorship, the ruling regime of which has turned the election procedure into a ritual deprived of its original essence. In Russia, those in power are elected not by people but by Putin’s entourage.
• The most recent presidential election in Ukraine took place in 2019, while the last competitive presidential election in Russia was held in 1996 (with results probably falsified anyway).
• Putin's so-called "elections" in 2024 will be the worst in the history of Russia, because they will be accompanied by violence against millions of Ukrainian citizens in the temporarily occupied territories. The legitimacy of pseudo-elections cannot be recognized.
• Elections will be held in Ukraine after the end of martial law. To lead a country in times of war is a heavy burden, not a privilege.

PROSPECTS OF WAR

• In this war, Ukraine has the same goal of deoccupying all the territories within internationally recognized borders.
• Ukraine's negotiating position is established in the 10 points of the "peace formula" of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Unfortunately, there is currently no actor on the Russian side capable of conducting constructive negotiations.
• The situation at the front may change for the better or for the worse, but Ukrainians have faith in the Defence Forces and work for the sake of victory.
• Russians’ large-scale offensive, started at the turn of 2023/2024, is choking. Ukraine’s defence forces are stabilizing the front line.
• The Ukrainian command plans new counteroffensive operations in 2024. This was declared by the commander of the Ground Forces of the AFU Oleksandr Pavliuk.

Center for Strategic Communication and Information Security