New support for Ukraine is one step closer

Russia has attacked Odessa while Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelensky was with the Prime Minister of Greece. European ammunition may arrive in the coming days. The situation of women in Ukraine has deteriorated due to violence caused by the post-traumatic stress of some fighters.

Journalist and correspondent María Senovilla gives an insight into the conflict in Ukraine on Onda Madrid's "De cara al mundo" programme. 

Has there been any reaction to Joe Biden's speech on the demand that aid be unblocked and that the Republicans have kicked up a fuss and walked out of Congress? Has there been any reaction or comment on the frontline where you are? 

I am in Kharkov. I have come to talk about the problems of women in the middle of the war, coinciding with Women's Day, it's time to make it visible, isn't it? A short time has passed and on the front line they are waiting to hear if this speech materialises and if they give the green light to get this aid package to arrive. For the moment, people are somewhat reluctant to believe the stagings. What they want is for what is there to be given and for that aid to be on its way. 

In recent days there has been an increase in domestic violence that seems to be causing the veteran's syndrome that, after two years of war, quite a few soldiers are already suffering from. What have you encountered with that? 

It is a problem, a dramatic situation on top of all the other dramas that the war has brought with it. Since the Russian invasion began two years ago, hundreds of thousands of men dedicated to civilian life have enlisted, have gone to the front and the mothers of their children, who used to develop their professional lives, have had to leave those jobs to devote themselves to care, to the elderly, to the wounded, to the care of society, they have lost their economic independence and after two years in that situation, it has now been aggravated by the veteran's syndrome. 

Many of the military were professors, taxi drivers, teachers who suddenly, from one day to the next, put on a uniform, pick up a gun and go to a front line to kill other people, to see things they never thought they would see in their lives and to see how they die, their family, their friends, their people. 

Talking to residents of the city of Kharkov, the people who know about this, the grassroots associations, the NGOs that treat women who have these problems, when these soldiers return home, either because they have been wounded or even mutilated, have lost a leg or an arm, or for a short holiday, the severe post-traumatic stress, which they are already suffering from, comes to the surface and domestic violence situations break out and have not stopped growing in the last two years. 

A situation that is added to the dramas that the war is already causing on a daily basis for these women who in many cases have had to flee their homes because they are in territories now occupied by Russia or have fled close to the front line because they have small children, have gone to other European countries or have gone to cities in the west, in Ukraine, and on top of that they find themselves alone, starting from scratch in a city that is not their own, where they have lost all the support they had: family, friends, partners, parents, siblings, fighting on the front lines and, in addition, managing the whole situation which, if physically domestic violence is a problem, on a psychological level the problem that Ukraine is going to have in the next 10 years is going to be terrible. 

NGOs seem to agree that most of the complaints will come to light when the war is over. 

Mostly, the complaints that have to do with sexual violence, with episodes that have taken place at the hands of Russian troops. One of these NGOs, Divchata,, is one of the largest NGOs working in Ukraine. They have cared for more than 400,000 women and children since the invasion began. So they have a good caseload on the table to analyse the issues. They told me that they had treated many women fleeing from occupied territories who had suffered this sexual violence, from harassment, to rape, to being forced to strip naked at border controls or in the filtration camps they were made to pass through before being allowed to enter Ukrainian territory. 

They told me about minors who have witnessed these abuses and rapes and that many women are afraid to speak out because they are afraid that Russia might still conquer more territory in Ukraine and they might end up under the Kremlin's rule. They are afraid to speak out because of the fact that their own community will point the finger at them for not defending themselves enough against rape. 

Look how sad and dramatic it is, they are still in such a shock that it will take years before they dare to speak out and tell what they have been through.  These NGOs told me that we are still seeing the tip of the iceberg, that the bulk of what has happened will probably start to come out when the war is over. 

There are many wars within a war unfortunately. Zelensky was in Odessa together with the Greek Prime Minister when a Russian attack took place, what happened? 

Odessa has experienced an absolutely terrifying week, it started with a drone bombing of a building where 13 people were killed, unfortunately 5 of them were children. They were sleeping so the parents could not do anything, 13 dead, 5 minors and a lot of wounded. 

Zelensky's visit to Odessa with the Greek Prime Minister was to show the grief that Odessa was going through. After seeing the neighbourhood where the attack took place, he went to the port facilities, from where the grain is still leaving, to a much lesser extent, but still to Europe and other countries. While they were at the port facilities, just 200 metres away, there was another Russian bombardment, the third to hit Odessa this week. 

Many international media sold it as an assassination attempt on President Zelensky and the European leader. I, in my humble opinion, think it was more of a coincidence, because Odessa is a recurrent target. That week was quite terrible for them. They were in an area that is considered a critical facility, which is where these exports come from, and it was probably a coincidence, but the war is not fought by the best man, nor by the president, nor by the visiting prime minister, nor by anyone else, it is the reality of war. 

European ammunition could arrive in two weeks. It looks like 800,000 shells could finally be on their way and arrive in two weeks. 

That is the good news of the week. Several European countries have contributed the money needed to buy the consignment of 800,000 shells being managed by the Czech government. The latest to join has been Norway, which has contributed 153 million dollars for the purchase, and it seems that the cost of the projectiles that would be needed to manage and send them to Ukraine could already be covered, which could happen in a few weeks. 

It remains to be seen how long it will take them to cross the border with Poland, which is currently experiencing border problems, causing many delays, but yes, it is possible that in a few weeks these projectiles will be in Ukrainian territory and will allow or give a little oxygen to the soldiers who are going through an absolutely critical moment due to a lack of ammunition. 

Russian troops are already entering Chasiv Yar, that is, they are 25 km away from Kramatorsk. All the territory that the Ukrainians had scratched last summer with that counter-offensive and moved closer to Bakhmut has now been lost. 

Russia has advanced further than the Ukrainians had managed to scratch with that counteroffensive and they are at the gates of Chasiv Yar, which is a very small town. If it falls, the last remaining checkpoint is Constantinivka, after which they would have a free hand to take the little piece of the Donbas that they are missing, which is the northern part of Donetsk, where the cities of Kramatorsk and Sloviansk are, which are the two most important cities in Donetsk that Ukraine controls, and I don't know to what extent, with such a huge lack of ammunition, with such high casualties of soldiers over the last two years, which have left the ranks at half strength, I don't know to what extent they will be able to withstand the onslaught if this continues to advance and if the US aid package that seems to be closer than expected doesn't finally arrive.