The Real Russia. Today.

A roadmap to Zelensky’s administration, the unwelcome business of helping Ukrainian refugees, and deadlock in the Donbas

Friday, May 13, 2022

For ongoing coverage of the invasion of Ukraine and its consequences back in Russia, follow Meduza’s live updates. Please note that the authorities are now blocking our website in Russia, and we’re turning to you, our global audience, for financial support.

In today’s newsletter:

• How the Zelensky administration is leading Ukraine through Russia’s invasion
• No good deed goes unpunished for volunteers who lent a helping hand to Ukrainian refugees
• Deadlock in the Donbas

The collective Zelensky: Amid Russia’s war, Ukraine’s president is more popular than ever. Here’s how his team rallied a nation — and the West. (12-min read)

On the eve of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelensky’s rating was less than 25 percent. Moscow waging an all-out war turned Zelensky into a national hero — one who now enjoys more than 90 percent support among Ukrainians. For Meduza, journalist Konstantin Skorkin breaks down how Zelensky and his team are running the country, managing Ukraine’s defense, and cultivating the president’s image as a wartime leader.

Police officers and anonymous bloggers harass Russian volunteers who helped Ukrainian refugees reach Estonia (20-min read)

Up until the end of April, a group of volunteers were working in Penza to help Ukrainian refugees get to St. Petersburg and, from there, to Estonia. However, threats from anonymous Telegram channels and direct pressure from unknown parties — graffitied doors, slashed tires — forced the Penza volunteers to shut down their efforts. Journalist Vladimir Sevrinovsky spent several days with the last group of refugees from Mariupol whom the Penza group was able to help get out of Russia.

Ukraine and Russia are facing the same two problems on the eastern front: enemy fire and the Siverskyi Donets river (10-min read)

In early May, both Russian and Ukrainian troops launched offensives on eastern Ukraine across different parts of the less-than-mighty Siverskyi Donets river (which crosses from Russia into Ukraine before flowing parallel to the Ukrainian-Russian border). Since then, it's been the same story over and over again: one side's troops try to cross the river to launch an attack, but enemy artillery thwarts their attempts, destroying whatever bridge they’ve built and their forward guard. Every kilometer gained is paid for in blood, and the key question right now is whether the Russian army will manage to use the advantage it has before Ukrainian forces begin widely applying precision weapons obtained from the West.

Yours, Meduza