On Monday’s edition of The Daily Wire’s podcast, “Morning Wire,” Ian Haworth joined hosts Georgia Howe and John Bickley to break down the latest news out of war-torn Ukraine.
As noted on the podcast, Ukraine has shown remarkable resiliency against the Russian army, which has caused Russian President Vladimir Putin to implement more “desperate measures” to try and break the Ukrainian people. These escalatory tactics have reportedly included forced deportations and increased targeting of civilians, including children. Neighboring Belarus is also reportedly joining Russia in the war.
“The ongoing failure of the Russian military to capture Ukraine in a short time is leading to a notable escalation in the sort of violent tactics being used, including indiscriminate artillery strikes on civilian positions,” Haworth explained.
“We’re also looking at an increase in terms of raw numbers of invading personnel,” Haworth continued.
“Ukrainian officials are also warning that Belarus is readying its military for an invasion,” he explained. “Belarus is an ally of Russia, and was used as one of the launching points for the Russian military when they invaded last month, and so it wouldn’t be a massive surprise if Belarusian forces got involved. Meanwhile, Russia has reportedly ordered cadets to be deployed. This would mean that cadets aged 17 and 18 would be pushed to the frontlines of the invasion.”
“And as expected, the number of casualties among Ukrainian citizens keeps rising,” he continued, noting that the actual death toll is likely far higher than what the United Nations human rights office reported — 902 Ukrainian civilians among the dead, including 115 children.
In the city of Mariupol, more than 2,000 civilians and non-civilians have reportedly been killed, Haworh remarked.
“Reports continue to flood in regarding the brutality of the Russian onslaught, with strike after strike hitting civilian areas of the now-destroyed city,” Haworth updated Bickley and Howe. “One report on Sunday came in that Russian forces destroyed an art school building, where as many as 400 people were apparently hiding.”
“Ukraine’s President Zelensky said that the atrocities committed in Mariupol amounted to ‘war crimes,’ and that Russia’s ‘terror’ will be ‘remembered for centuries to come,’” he added. “Mariupol’s city council is even claiming that Russian troops are forcing thousands of residents to move from the city, with some being sent to Russia.”
“Over the weekend, there was a lot of talk surrounding the use of a hypersonic missile. What can you tell us about that?” Bickley asked.
“Yeah, on Saturday, a U.S. official confirmed that Russia deployed several hypersonic missiles, saying they destroyed a fuel depot and an underground missile and ammunition storage site,” Haworth replied.
“According to Western analysts, this would be the first time hypersonic missiles have been used in combat,” he stated. “These weapons, known as ‘dagger’ missiles, are designed to be launched from MiG fighter jets, and can fly up to 10 times the speed of sound.”
“But what makes them even more dangerous is that — like much slower missiles — they can change direction during flight, which makes it really hard to track them or intercept them,” Haworth noted.
Monday’s episode of “Morning Wire,” and all episodes of “Morning Wire,” can be listened to here.