Ukraine trusts that Pope Leo XIV will help end the war

Reporter and journalist María Senovilla, a contributor to Atalayar, analysed the situation on the front line, where more than 30 villages, recaptured in autumn 2022, are under siege from continuous Russian attacks, despite the announcement of a three-day truce that Moscow has not respected, on the programme ‘De cara al mundo’ on Onda Madrid. 

She also mentioned Zelensky's visit to one of the Europe Day memorials and the Ukrainian tendency to shed the festivities inherited from the Soviet Union. 

Peace message from the new Pope, an American. We will see how he relates to Trump. How has Leo XIV been received in Ukraine? 

The first American Pope in history, although he has criticised some members of the Trump administration on several occasions. 

Here in Ukraine, this conclave has not been followed with the same interest as in other countries around the world, because here there is an Orthodox Christian majority, not a Catholic Christian majority; but President Zelensky, who is Jewish, was quick to congratulate the new Pope on social media. As for the general public, it must be understood that they were somewhat disappointed with the previous Pope, Francis, because his latest positions on the war in Ukraine did not recognise Russia as the aggressor or Ukraine as the invaded country. 

He spoke, of course, of the barbarity of war and the need to stop it, but his failure to mention the Ukrainian victims of the invasion here hurt. So now they are waiting for Leo XIV to mention Ukraine and see where he stands. 

In Rome, the new Pope, as we have said, called for peace many times. In Moscow's Red Square, Putin was flaunting his war. A truce with Zelensky walking around Kiev. What does today mean? 

On 9 May, Victory Day over the Nazi Army was celebrated, as you said, and it was practically a national holiday in both Russia and Ukraine for the last 80 years. 

At that time, in 1945, both armies fought together in those battles and, in fact, Russian and Ukrainian soldiers are buried together in many memorials here throughout Ukraine. After the liberation from the Nazis, memorial monuments were erected in the places where Ukrainian and Russian troops who had fought against the Nazis were buried together. And it was very difficult to understand, especially for older people, that after fighting together and dying together, their former brothers from Russia would bring death and war back home in 2022. That was the reality you encountered when you talked to older people in places like Kharkiv, for example. 

I covered practically the entire 2022 conflict from there. The Kharkiv memorial is very important. There are hundreds and hundreds of Russian and Ukrainian soldiers buried together, and on this day when people were going to lay flowers, they were still in disbelief at what was happening, at how, as you said before, we had learned nothing 80 years later, re-enacting a conflict in Europe. 

It has been more than three years since that large-scale invasion began, and many of these elderly people, who are also often the most reluctant to leave their homes in the towns near the front line after three years of bombing, have now understood that nothing remains of the brotherhood that united them in the fight against the Nazis and that, for Russia, at this moment, does not care about destroying Ukrainian civilian lives in order to advance. 

Russia boasts about this by flexing its military muscle and displaying its power and the role it is playing here against Ukraine in a military parade in Moscow's Red Square every 9 May. Here, however, the celebrations are very different, starting with the fact that since 2023, these celebrations in Ukraine have been held one day earlier, on 8 May, to coincide with the date on which most European countries celebrate the end of the Second World War. It was a nod from Zelensky to stop looking towards the Soviet side and look more towards Europe, of which they want to be a part. 

Zelensky had walked through the streets of central Kiev and instead of displaying military muscle, instead of displaying weapons, instead of holding a military parade, they carried flowers in their hands to lay them in memory of the fallen. It is the new celebration of Victory Day, which is no longer called Victory Day, but Europe Day in Ukraine, which also moves away from that date. One day we will have to talk about the divorce that is taking place with regard to the Soviet traditions and festivities imposed by the Soviet Union, inherited from the Soviet Union, and which Ukraine is gradually abandoning in order to adhere to European customs. Today is an example of this. And it is very interesting to see how they are weaving this Ukrainian identity with their eyes firmly fixed on Europe. 

As for the truce you mentioned, to no one's surprise, Russia is not complying with it. Yesterday it bombed Sumy and the attacks have not stopped on the front line either. This has not surprised anyone, neither you there nor us here, but it was Putin who announced the unilateral truce. 

This was not Zelensky's proposal. It was supposed to be in effect between 8 and 11 May, but as I said, there is less activity, fewer air raid sirens are being heard, but the truce has certainly not been total. 

And on the front line, Maria, how is today going? 

It was just a year ago, when the celebrations for Europe Day and Victory Day ended, that Russia launched, as you may remember, a very strong offensive against northern Kharkiv and re-invaded the city of Vovchansk, another 30 small villages around it, and reached practically the gates of Lipsi. It was probably one of the fastest offensives and one of those in which it managed to regain the most ground in these three years. And since then, unfortunately, on this eastern front of Ukraine, in this part of Kharkiv, Russia has not stopped gaining ground. 

In this area, the Armed Forces have positioned two of their most prestigious brigades, the Khartia and the 3rd Assault Brigade. More than prestigious, these brigades are trained according to NATO protocols, have more weapons and better training than other smaller brigades, and have been deployed for a year now to try to contain the advance towards Lipsi and Vovchansk. 

The 3rd Assault Brigade is fighting the battle between Oskil and Kupyans, and I have been working with both of them on both fronts, and I am in contact with them practically every week to see how things are progressing. They tell me that they are barely containing the Russian advance. It's not that they are advancing very quickly, over many kilometres, but they are pressing with such a quantity of artillery, guided bombs and now also suicide drones, that it is practically impossible to hold the line. Small towns are falling in strategic locations, such as around Kupyans, around Vovchansk, and also in Oskil.

They are currently facing problems and the situation they are experiencing is very complicated. It is very difficult right now to prevent Russia from advancing through a region that was liberated in autumn 2022 in the Kharkiv counteroffensive and which the Russians are gradually trying to retake.

On the other hand, on the Donbass front, General Oleksander Syrskyi, the commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, announced a couple of days ago that the situation was more stable, that they had stabilised this front and that the Russians were not advancing.

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to speak with a marine who is serving on this very front in Pokrovsk, which is probably the most heavily shelled area in the Donbass right now. A battalion of marines was transferred from Kherson, their original location, to Pokrovsk, precisely to stabilise that front line. He told me that yes, it has stabilised, that the Russians are not advancing at the moment, but that the number of casualties has not decreased. There are many wounded due to the huge number of drones and guided bombs that Russia is using.

Even if the infantry is not advancing, the situation remains extremely complicated for the Ukrainian army, which is defending as best it can to prevent Russia from continuing its advance, as it is determined to complete the takeover of Donbass and part of Kharkiv.