Russia postpones attacks to ramp up psychological pressure, says deputy head of Ukraine's POW authority

Andrii Yusov, Deputy Head of the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War, has said Russia's show of readiness to launch a large-scale strike on Ukraine followed by the announcement of a "truce" is a form of psychological pressure.

Source: Andrii Yusov, as reported by Suspilne, Ukraine's national public broadcaster

Quote: "As for the attacks, yes, of course, people were preparing for attacks, and they were right to do so. We have had no training air-raid alerts since the start of the full-scale invasion. And of course this is also a tool of pressure and psychological influence: signalling a readiness to strike, then delaying or postponing the attacks."

Details: Yusov said the Russians are using a tactic that combines military and psychological pressure on Ukrainians, "who have been living under stress in wartime conditions for over four years".

Quote: "It is clear that this fatigue and this burden are also elements of pressure used by the enemy. But we must do our job. That means that the security and defence forces prepare for every attack. The intelligence service gathers and analyses data before passing it to the military and political leadership, while the civilian population must take air-raid alerts seriously and be ready to respond to them."

Background:

• Russian media reported that Putin's aide Yuri Ushakov said Russia did not strike Kyiv over the weekend as part of a "Trinity truce".
• Ushakov said the proposal was passed to US special envoy Steve Witkoff, who then conveyed it to President Donald Trump. It applied only to long-range strikes and not to the front line.
• Dmytro Lytvyn, an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, denied reports that Russia had postponed a strike on Ukrainian oblasts.

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