Russo-Ukraine War - 19 March 2022
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On 24 February 2022, Ukraine was suddenly and deliberately attacked by land, naval and air forces of Russia, igniting the largest European war since the Great Patriotic War. The military buildup in preceeding months makes it obvious that the unprovoked and dastardly Russian attack was deliberately planned long in advance. During the intervening time, the Russian government had deliberately sought to deceive the world by false statements and expressions of hope for continued peace.
"To initiate a war of aggression... is not only an international crime; it is the supreme international crime differing only from other war crimes in that it contains within itself the accumulated evil of the whole." [Judgment of the International Military Tribunal]
Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a "special military operation" in Ukraine in response to the appeal of the leaders of the "Donbass republics" for help. That attack is a blatant violation of the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine. Putin stressed that Moscow's goal is the demilitarization and denazification of the country.
The war in Ukraine, which Russia hoped would be over within days, is now into its fourth week. Despite battleground setbacks, Russian President Vladimir Putin shows little sign of relenting. Three Russian cosmonauts wore Ukraine colours as they arrived at the International Space Station.
The nationalists mined storage facilities with ammonia and chlorine in Sumy in order to poison the inhabitants of the region at the entrance to the city of Russian army units, the same provocation is being prepared in the village of Kotlyarovo, Nikolaev region, where containers with toxic chemicals have already been delivered to the school, said the head of the National Defense Control Center of the Russian Federation Mikhail Mizintsev.
The United States will not interfere with the supply of military aircraft to Ukraine from third countries. This was stated by US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin in an interview aired on CNN.
The Russian Federation fired the latest Kinzhal hypersonic missile system. US officials later confirmed that this was the first known use of such missiles in combat. The launches were likely intended to test weapons and send a message to the West about Russian capabilities, CNN reported.
Ukrainian officials confirmed they are not able to lift the siege of Mariupol by military means, and also clarified the situation in the vicinity. The nearest Ukrainian units to Mariupol are located north of Volnovakha, while other units are 100 km (fits to Velyka Novosilka), 120 km (fits to Huliaipole) and 150 km (fits to Orechov) away from the city. Violent fighting continued in Mariupol and the capture of settlements in the Donbass. Russian forces have pushed deeper into Ukraine’s besieged and battered port city of Mariupol where heavy fighting shut down a major steel plant and local authorities pleaded for more help. The advisor to the Ukrainian Presidential Office, O. Arestovych, said a military operation to deblock Mariupol is currently impossible. All attempts to provide air support in the recent days failed, and Ukraine has no means to overcome Russian air superiority in the area. The fall of Mariupol, the scene of some of the war’s worst suffering, would mark a crucial battlefield advance for the Russians, who are largely bogged down outside key cities more than three weeks into the biggest land invasion in Europe since World War II.
According to the Daily Mail, Ukraine dealt a big blow to Russia by supposedly killing a large contingent of vicious Chechen special forces ordered to assassinate Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelensky. The military force, which is known for its horrific aggression and human rights violations, is alleged to have been decimated after their convoy of 56 tanks was blown to smithereens by Ukrainian missile fire near Hostomel, just northeast of Kyiv, on the second day of the Chechens' deployment. Chechen general Magomed Tushaev was alleged to have been among those killed. According to the Daily Mail, he was the commander of the 141st motorised national guard brigade, Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov's special squad.
In other regions, there is no active offensive yet, but local battles are taking place. Ukrainian reconnaissance groups and drones spotted Russian soldiers digging trenches near Brovary, signaling the change of operations on the western bank of Dnieper. The offensive in Izyum is not being carried out now. But the village of Kamenka, following it to the south, where the positions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine are located, is being actively fired upon. In the Sea of Azov, the Russians are regrouping troops in order to prevent the breakthrough of the Armed Forces of Ukraine to Mariupol. It should be noted that Bankovaya denies plans to unblock Mariupol by military means. In the city, by the way, a real hell is going on - judging by the report from The Guardian, it lies in ruins.
The Russian Ministry of Defense announced that its troops crossed the Kashlagach River and reached the area of the highway to Kurakhovo, the city next to Maryinka to the west of Donetsk. That is, there is a gradual offensive on all fronts in the Donbass. At the same time, rocket strikes are being carried out on various targets.
The barracks of the 79th separate airborne assault brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in Nikolaev were attacked (the exact number of victims is unknown, Western media report that at the time of the attack there were 200 soldiers in the barracks). Russia also bombed a warehouse in the Ivano-Frankivsk region.
The official representative of the Russian Defense Ministry, Major General Igor Konashenkov, reported that the Russian Armed Forces have destroyed about 200 unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and more than 1,400 tanks and other armored vehicles since the beginning of the operation in Ukraine, Major General said. "In total, since the beginning of the special military operation, 196 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles, 1,438 tanks and other armored combat vehicles, 145 multiple launch rocket launchers, 556 field artillery pieces and mortars, as well as 1,237 units of special military vehicles have been destroyed," - he said.
"On the night of March 19, Russian tactical, army and unmanned aircraft hit 69 military facilities in Ukraine," Konashenkov said. He clarified that among the affected facilities there are also four command posts, including a brigade command post in Zabuyanye, 43 places of accumulation of military equipment, three installations of multiple launch rocket systems, one radar station for guidance and target designation, 12 warehouses of rocket and artillery weapons. In addition, according to Konashenkov, 12 Ukrainian UAVs were shot down in the air by means of air defense of the Russian Aerospace Forces. Russian aviation destroyed four anti-aircraft missile systems of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, of which three S-300s and one Buk-M1. The Russian coastal missile system "Bastion" liquidated the centers of radio and electronic intelligence of the armed forces of Ukraine in the Odessa region.
Russia has warned that mines that Ukrainians had deployed in the Black Sea against its “military operation” could drift as far as the Straits of Bosphrous and the Mediterranean Sea. “After the start of the Russian special military operation, Ukrainian naval forces had deployed barriers of mines around the ports of Odessa, Ochakov, Chernomorsk and Yuzhny,” the FSB security service said in a statement, adding that the mines were “dilapidated” and made in the first half of the 20th century. Storms have cut cables to some of those mines that are now floating freely in the western Black Sea, pushed along by wind and the currents, it said.
In the reports of the Russian General Staff it is reported that in many directions the Russians are actively digging in. What can say that they do not plan to advance further. However, Western analysts do not think so. "US and European officials see no sign that Russia is ending the attack. One of the key indicators is whether Russian troops are digging defensive lines to consolidate control over the territory they have captured. This has not yet begun, indicating a likely intention to continue moving forward" , writes The Washington Post.
The DPR group destroyed up to a company from the 53rd separate mechanized brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and took control of the village of Taramchuk, the Russian Defense Ministry reported . Subdivisions of the Russian armed forces crossed the Kashlagach River, broke through the defenses of the Aidar battalion and advanced 5 km, the department noted. During the day, operational-tactical, army aviation hit 59 military facilities of Ukraine, the Russian Defense Ministry reported.
All 11 employees of the Belarusian embassy left Ukraine together with the ambassador, Nasha Niva reported. This has not been officially confirmed in Minsk. But the ambassador left for sure. Recall that on the eve of the Russian invasion, Russian diplomats also left Ukraine. So this is a warning sign. Which gives additional arguments to suspect that Belarus may soon enter the war against Ukraine. Lukashenka denied such a possibility, and more recently. He said that Russia would cope with the "special operation" on its own. Ukraine, on the other hand, regularly declares that it is preparing a pretext for Belarusian intervention.
President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko is convinced that Russia itself will cope with a special military operation in Ukraine. "No one asks us to take part directly in the operation of the Russian troops. I spoke about this recently, we will not be able to add anything to this operation of Russia, nothing. They have enough manpower, they have enough equipment, it is the same as ours, even more modern. Therefore, Russia will cope with this problem without Belarus, and without Japan, and without other countries," Lukashenka said.
The staff of the Progress Rocket and Space Center (part of Roskosmos) is "on the drum" of the sanctions of Western countries. This was announced by the Director General of Roscosmos Dmitry Rogozin. “In short, the Progress team asked me to tell the Americans and their European servants that they don’t care about their sanctions. Something like that,” Rogozin wrote in his Telegram channel.
The head of Roscosmos recalled that the Progress RCC was included in the sanctions lists of the European Union and the United States, despite the fact that American and European astronauts trust their lives to the rockets of the enterprise. "Well, how to understand these Westerners? They don't seem to be idiots, but they behave like idiots and enemies," he stressed.
During his visit to the plant, Rogozin specified, the preparations for a new production facility for the Soyuz-5 light-heavy launch vehicle aroused particular interest. He also published a photo of the shell of the fuel tank housing, the oxidizer tank, the transition truss, as well as the main engine RD-171MV, which is the most powerful liquid rocket engine in the world.
Jonathan McDowell, an astrophysicist at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, said that “America has been trying to persuade Russia to extend the life of the station project until 2030, currently scheduled to end in 2024. I can’t see how that’s going to happen now.” McDowell said “Western satellites were meant to go up on Russian rockets; they’re now stranded. And yet at the ISS, it’s as if nothing had happened … But I don’t see how that can be sustained in the long run”.
The German side turned off its telescope at the Spektr-RG space observatory, which is a joint project with the Russian Federation. Rogozin said that the Russian segment of the ISS is stopping work on joint experiments with German colleagues, he will conduct them on his own.
Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki says Poland has proposed to the European Union that the bloc impose a total ban on trade with Russia. “Poland is proposing to add a trade blockade to this package of sanctions as soon as possible, (including) both of its seaports… but also a ban on land trade. Fully cutting off Russia’s trade would further force Russia to consider whether it would be better to stop this cruel war,” Morawiecki said.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he sees no way to normalize relations with Russian President Vladimir Putin after the completion of the special operation in Ukraine. The West must not try to “normalise relations” with Russian President Vladimir Putin after his invasion of Ukraine, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said, calling the crisis a “turning point for the world”. British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss expressed doubts that the restrictive measures imposed on Russian entrepreneurs, including Roman Abramovich, could be lifted in the foreseeable future.
“There are some around the world … who say that we’re better off making accommodations with tyranny … I believe they are profoundly wrong,” the British leader told his Conservative Party’s Spring conference in Blackpool, northwest England. “To try to renormalise relations with Putin after this, as we did in 2014, would be to make exactly the same mistake again, and that is why Putin must fail.”
Unlike fellow members of the Quad alliance, Japan, Australia and the United States, India has abstained in three UN votes deploring Moscow’s actions, calling only for a halt to the violence.
China does not show readiness to give in to US demands regarding interaction with Russia and the situation in Ukraine, experts do not expect such steps from Beijing. Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Le Yucheng said the escalation of the conflict in Ukraine was proof that there was no need for blocs like NATO to exist. Global Times reported "The Chinese side will never accept coercion by the US, nor will it allow the US to use the Ukraine issue to harm China’s legitimate interests. The Chinese side has made this point very clearly. "
The White House has declined to share details about the “implications and consequences” that it said Biden warned Xi of if China comes to Russia’s aid in Ukraine. “We feel it’s the most constructive way to engage and have a constructive dialogue,” the White House’s Jen Psaki said. Asked whether Biden offered Xi incentives to get China on board with the US effort to end the Russian invasion of Ukraine, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said: “This was not about carrots. This was about laying out what the implications and consequences would be” if Beijing aids Moscow in the war.
Global Times wrote : "If China really pressures Russia in a way that is inconsistent with the China-Russia comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination, it will only undermine the China-Russia relationship and sabotage mutual trust, which will be a huge strategic loss to both sides. This is what the US is eager and happy to see....
"For a long time, the West has misinterpreted the China-Russia relationship, believing it's based on expediency and could be easily torn apart. The truth is, the China-Russia comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination has withstood the test of the time and is rock solid. It's China's most important and stable diplomatic strategic asset that cannot be damaged."
Saudi Arabia is in favor of de-escalating the conflict in Ukraine and reaching a political solution to the crisis, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud said at a meeting in Riyadh with Special Envoy of the President of Ukraine Bektum Rustam. "At a meeting at the headquarters of the Foreign Ministry in Riyadh, the Ukrainian crisis and the efforts made by the entire international community for its political settlement were discussed," the Saudi Press Agency quotes the head of the Foreign Ministry . "The Kingdom supports everything that contributes to reducing the escalation in Ukraine, protecting the civilian population and a serious attitude to search for political and negotiated solutions."
At first, ex-Defense Minister Anatoly Gritsenko criticized the consent to such an exchange, calling the rejection of NATO (where they are not going to take us anyway) "capitulation." Then Poroshenko's supporters picked up this topic en masse, stating that NATO's course is enshrined in the constitution, and it cannot be changed. And the people's deputy from the EU, Irina Gerashchenko, generally criticized the president and his team for, in her opinion, failures in preparing for the war.
Europe and the United States "experience anxiety about the trajectory of the talks." Especially regarding the declaration of neutrality. This will have to be explained not only to the Ukrainian people, but also to the West itself. Any potential deal would also require support from the West, which could agree to lift sanctions on Moscow in exchange for a Russian troop withdrawal. Too big concessions to Putin will not please some NATO countries in Eastern Europe. And in general, the West is concerned that if Putin gets too big concessions from Zelensky after the military invasion, this may encourage him to further use military force to resolve his issues in relations with other countries.
Lavrov said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's assurances that he does not support neo-Nazis are at odds with his actual actions. “To my great regret and shame, President Zelensky says that how can he be a Nazi when he is of Jewish origin, and he says this exactly on the days when Ukraine defiantly withdraws from the agreement on the protection of monuments to the heroes of the Great Patriotic War, such an agreement is within the framework of The CIS existed. When he personally patronizes the trends that I mentioned, it is difficult for me to take seriously the policy of the Ukrainian leadership," Lavrov said at the opening of the final of the "International" track of the "Leaders of Russia" contest.
Turkey is to trying find a peaceful end to the conflict in Ukraine, Ibrahim Kalin, the Turkish presidential spokesman said. “As positions get closer on the four main issues of neutrality – that there is no NATO membership, demilitarisation according to the Austrian model, denazification which is kind of offensive of course to the Ukrainian leadership and then the protection of the Russian language. If there is growing consensus, and there seems to be, then the last two strategic issues of the territorial and legal status of the Donbas and Crimea will be addressed.”
Peace talks to end the Ukraine conflict could be a “smokescreen” for more extreme Russian military manoeuvres, British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss warned. “I’m very sceptical,” Truss told The Times newspaper in an interview. “What we’ve seen is an attempt to create space for the Russians to regroup. Their invasion isn’t going according to plan. I fear the negotiation is yet another attempt to create a diversion and create a smokescreen. I don’t think we’re yet at a point for negotiation.” Truss echoed comments by British intelligence that President Putin could turn to “more and more extreme actions”, adding “we’ve seen appalling atrocities already.”
Ukraine’s president warned that continuing the invasion would exact a toll on Russia for “generations”. The remarks came after Moscow held a mass rally in support of its bogged-down forces. Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the event in Moscow illustrated the stakes of the largest ground conflict in Europe since World War II. “Picture for yourself that in that stadium in Moscow there are 14,000 dead bodies and tens of thousands more injured and maimed,” the Ukrainian leader said. “Those are the Russian costs throughout the invasion.”
German Federal Police have officially registered 207,742 Ukrainian refugees in the country, but their real number is likely to be much higher. Over 358,000 refugees from Ukraine have crossed the border with Moldova since the beginning of Russia's special military operation, the press service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the republic informs. According to these data, 325,000 citizens of Ukraine and 33,000 people with passports of other countries entered Moldova. In total, according to the media, there are about 300 thousand refugees from Ukraine in the Czech Republic.
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