Russo-Ukraine War - 22 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.
As of the past weekend, in 24 days of conflict, Russia had flown some 1,400 strike sorties and delivered almost 1,000 missiles (by contrast, the United States flew more sorties and delivered more weapons in the first day of the 2003 Iraq war).
Ukrainian intelligence claimed that a Russian soldier complained about his troops getting frostbite and meeting fierce Ukrainian resistance in an intercepted phone call. The trooper said conditions had become so bad that "50 percent" of his squadron were suffering from frostbite. Speaking to a commander in a three-minute telephone call intercepted and released by Ukrainian intelligence, the soldier said troops were being forced to "ride around" with the dead because they couldn't be transported out.
The focal point of fighting was Mariupol, the strategically important southern port that has suffered some of the heaviest bombardment since Russia invaded. Many of its 400,000 residents remain trapped as fighting rages around them. There are bodies lying in the streets, and sometimes bodies being buried in shallow graves close to apartment blocks … local people chopping down trees for firewood and makeshift stoves outdoors. This was until just a few weeks ago a thriving city of 430,000 people, it is now thought there are about 300,000 people still in the city in an increasingly desperate situation.
Russian forces entered Mariupol airfield without a fight. Ukrainian troops most likely withdrew a few days ago. The situation remains tense inside the city, heavy fighting was reported from Azovstal industrial complex. Azov Regiment reported a destruction of Russian patrol boat near Mariupol. The Ministry of Information of the DPR stated that by now about 50% of the area of Mariupol hadbeen liberated. The DPR said that initially there were up to 14 thousand nationalists in Mariupol, now there are about half as many.
The special military operation in Ukraine is proceeding clearly in accordance with pre-established plans and tasks, said Dmitry Peskov, press secretary of the President of the Russian Federation. According to him, from the very beginning, no one thought that a special military operation in Ukraine would take a couple of days.
Several Ukrainian telegram channels reported that, allegedly due to a shortage of foreign components in Russia, the work of the only tank manufacturer, Uralvagonzavod (UVZ), had stopped. “According to available information, due to the lack of foreign-made components, the work of the enterprises of the Uralzavod Corporation and the Chelyabinsk Tractor Plant has been suspended. These enterprises specialize in the production and repair of tanks, as well as other armored vehicles for the needs of the armed forces of the Russian Federation,” the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said in a statement.
However, the company has already denied this fake. On the official VKontakte page, Uralvagonzavod stated that there were no problems in production: “The work is going on as usual, UVZ continues to fulfill its obligations under the state defense order and the instructions of the President of the Russian Federation to diversify production, increase the share of high-tech civilian products. Previously launched investment projects are also being implemented". Interruptions were also reported in the work of the UVZ branch - the Chelyabinsk Tractor Plant, however, it continued to produce products as usual.
Ukrainian journalist Roman Tsymbalyuk published information about the huge shortage of artillery from the occupiers. School cadets and their teachers are thrown into the war with Ukraine. Tsymbalyuk stressed: "The armed forces of the Russian Federation in the war against Ukraine suffered huge losses among artillery units. In order to fill them on the basis of cadets of Russian military universities, artillery divisions are being formed, which will soon be transferred to Ukraine. For example, two artillery divisions had already been formed at the Mikhailovsky Artillery Academy (St. Petersburg). Officer positions in the divisions are held by teachers of the academy, and ordinary and sergeant positions are held by cadets of the Faculty of Missile Troops and Artillery. After the combat coordination, the divisions will be sent to the combat zone in Ukraine. The third artillery division is currently being formed." Ukrainian presidential adviser Oleksiy Arestovych said in a televised interview that active hostilities between could end within two-three weeks. Arestovych added that one of Russia’s main priorities is to take control of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv but attempting to do so is “suicide”.
A week after the war began, Ukraine sent Olaf Scholz a list of much-needed weapons to defend against Putin's aggression. Three weeks later there is still no answer from the federal government. Anti-aircraft missiles, anti-tank guided missiles, drones, grenade launchers and rifles? Not as available as in the US.
Russian artillery continues to pound the eastern cities of Kharkiv, Sumy, and Chernihiv. A Ukrainian official accused Russia of using banned phosphorus munitions in the besieged eastern town of Kramatorsk. The mayor of Boryspil, a town outside Kyiv and home to Ukraine’s main international airport, has urged civilians there to evacuate the area. Volodymyr Borysenko said the departure of civilians would make it easier for Ukrainian forces to operate in the area, given the continuing hostilities.
Ukraine’s defence ministry said its forces had retaken control of Makariv, a strategically important suburb about 60 kilometers (37 miles) west of Kyiv, after a fierce battle with Russian troops. The strategically important town was the scene of a fierce battle and has sustained significant damage from Russian shelling, the Ukrainian Defense Ministry said, adding its recapture prevents Russian forces from encircling the capital from the northwest. The "state flag of Ukraine was raised over the city of Makariv" as the Russians retreated, the ministry wrote.
Russian forces battling toward Kyiv had taken partial control of other northwestern suburbs, including Bucha, Hostomel and Irpin, some of which had been under almost constant attack since Moscow launched its invasion.
Russian Ka-52 and Mi-28N helicopters destroyed nine tanks, seven infantry fighting vehicles and armored personnel carriers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine during night strikes, Major General Igor Konashenkov, spokesman for the Russian Defense Ministry, said.
Since the beginning of the special operation, the Russian armed forces have destroyed 230 drones and 181 anti-aircraft missile systems of Ukraine, said the official representative of the Russian Defense Ministry, Major General Igor Konashenkov. During the special operation, the Russian military advanced another 6 km and captured the village of Urozhaynoye, Konashenkov said. According to him, the group of troops of the Donetsk People's Republic has penetrated 4 kilometers deep into the defense of the 25th airborne brigade of the Ukrainian armed forces and is fighting for the capture of the settlements of Kamenka, Novoselovka Vtoraya, Verkhnetoretskoye.
The Russian Defense Ministry released a video it claimed showed Ukrainian rocket artillery for which civilian buildings had been used as cover before it was hidden inside a Kiev shopping mall. The site was destroyed overnight 21 March 2022 in a missile strike, which the Ukrainian authorities described as an indiscriminate bombing of a civilian target. The Retroville shopping center, situated between the Vinogradar and Podolsk neighborhoods on the northwestern side of Kiev, was struck during the night. Ukraine’s emergency services reported that rescuers had recovered eight bodies from the scene. A nine-story building – the tallest of several on the site – was heavily damaged by the blast and subsequent fire.
Before Moscow showed the drone footage, there was widespread speculation online that Russia might have launched the attack after seeing videos on Ukrainian social media showing the launchers at Retroville. Several Facebook, Twitter, and TikTok users had posted images and videos of the rocket artillery being operatied in the area, and even parked up in what looked like a garage or an underpass between two parking lots. The individual behind one of the Facebook accounts that had made the connection between the photos and the strike apologized for having shared their post and subsequently deleted it, after others accused them of being a Russian propagandist spreading fake news to justify the attack.
Russian units, advancing 6 km, liberated Urozhaynoye and are fighting with battalions of the 128th Separate Mountain Assault Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The group of troops of the DPR passed 6 km deep into the defense of the 25th airborne brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine is fighting, clearing Kamenka, Novoselovka Vtoraya, Verkhnetoretskoye. Also, units of the DPR captured the settlements of Slavnoe, Trudovskaya, Chelyuskintsev Mine and Maryinka.
Since the beginning of the special operation, 230 UAVs, 181 air defense systems, 1,528 tanks and other armored vehicles, 154 multiple rocket launchers, 602 field artillery and mortars, 1,312 units of special military vehicles have been destroyed.
The units of the Russian Airborne Forces were conducting a successful offensive against the fighters of the Ukrainian national battalions, clearing the outskirts of Kiev from them. It is specified that the Ukrainian security forces abandoned T-64BV and T-72B tanks, German Panzerfaust 3 grenade launchers and so on during the retreat.
"Whether that's cruise missiles, ballistic missiles, artillery fire, they're lobbying an awful lot of hardware into the cities to try to force their surrender," Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said. "And that's resulting in more civilian casualties, more damage to residential areas, hospitals, schools, and innocent victims at greater rates and greater numbers," Kirby said, adding: "In many ways, it's indiscriminate."
Ukrainian counter-intelligence scuppered an attempt on the life of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, according to local media reports. News agency UNIAN reported that a man belonging to group of Russian saboteurs was arrested in Uzhhorod, a city in the far west of the country. The group of up to 25 men planned on pretending to be members of the Ukrainian armed forces in a bid to make their way towards Kyiv. The report states that the group was also planning on carrying out acts of sabotage. Ukraine's government has claimed that Russia has sent a number of assassination squads to kill Zelenskyy.
The Pentagon said Russia is boosting air and sea military operations in Ukraine, flying more than 300 missions in the past 24 hours. Ukraine’s military said the Russian ground offensive remained largely stalled, but Russian air forces continued to bomb infrastructure in Kyiv, Chernihiv, Kharkhiv and in the Donetsk regions. A senior US defence official said Ukraine had also increased the pace of its military flights, but declined to provide numbers. The official said that most of the military flights involve air-to-ground strikes, mainly on stationary targets, and that the Russian aircraft are not spending a lot of time in Ukrainian airspace. The Ukraine military has continued to use its short and long-range air defence systems and drones to target Russian aircraft.
The Russians had also increased naval activity in the northern Black Sea, but there are no indications at this point of an amphibious assault on Odesa.
Almost 80% of the territory of the Lugansk People's Republic is already under its control as a result of the operation to liberate it from the Ukrainian security forces, Leonid Pasechnik, head of the LPR, said on the Russia-24 TV channel.
United States Congresswoman Taylor Green spoke out against Washington's decision to support Ukraine. “We should not spend billions of dollars of hard-earned American taxes on military aid that could possibly go to Nazi groups that torture innocent people, especially women and children,” she wrote on social media.
Belarus may join the fray on Moscow’s side – and send between 10 and 15 tactical battalions of up to 800 men each to help the stalled Russian army which has been taking heavy losses and barely moving in recent days. This would follow weeks of purges within the Belarusian military after many servicemen and officers refused to fight Ukrainians. The Belarusians would only move in alongside Russian forces – and only after Moscow completes deploying reserves such as paratroopers from the Pacific fleet that are being hastily flown to western Russia and Belarus. Belarusians may help Russia advance towards three major western Ukrainian cities to dissect Ukraine and to cut it off from the sources of Western military aid. “The invasion may go to Lviv, Kovel, Lutsk so that it could cut Ukraine from its western borders or, at least, get Ukrainian reserves entangled in the war.
With just 48,000 servicemen, the Belarusian army is small in comparison with those of Russia and Ukraine and has far less combat experience. But it has often held drills with Russians, has a similar post-Soviet structure, arms and other equipment as Ukraine effectively retrained tens of thousands of its servicemen in accordance with NATO standards and received hefty shipments of Western arms.
The US president described India as an exception among Washington’s allies with its “shaky” response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Addressing a meeting of US business leaders in Washington, Biden said there had been “a united front throughout NATO and in the Pacific”. He said “The Quad is, with the possible exception of India being somewhat shaky on some of this, but Japan has been extremely strong – so has Australia – in terms of dealing with Putin’s aggression.” Indian oil refiners reportedly continued to purchase discounted Russian oil, even as the West seeks to isolate Moscow.
UN chief Antonio Guterres said Russia's invasion of Ukraine "is going nowhere fast." Speaking at UN headquarters in New York, he decried the conflict as "absurd" and "unwinnable." Guterres said "Even if Mariupol falls, Ukraine cannot be conquered city by city, street by street, house by house". He added "the only outcome" is "more suffering, more destruction, and more horror as far as the eye can see." Guterres said negotiations to bring about the cessation of fighting were making progress.
Ukraine’s president said that he was prepared to discuss a commitment from Ukraine not to seek NATO membership in exchange for a ceasefire, the withdrawal of Russian troops and a guarantee of Ukraine’s security. “It’s a compromise for everyone: for the West, which doesn’t know what to do with us with regard to NATO, for Ukraine, which wants security guarantees, and for Russia, which doesn’t want further NATO expansion,” Zelenskyy said. Zelenskyy said that Kyiv will be ready to discuss the status of Crimea and the eastern Donbas region held by Russian-backed separatists after a ceasefire and steps towards providing security guarantees.
Ukraine’s president said that any compromises agreed to with Russia to end the war would need to be voted on by Ukrainians in a referendum. “The people will have to speak up and respond to this or that form of compromise. And what they [the compromises] will be is the subject of our talks and understanding between Ukraine and Russia,” Zelenskyy said.
Press Secretary of the President of Russia Dmitry Peskov said that Russia would negatively perceive attempts by other countries to intervene in the military operation in Ukraine. In addition, the official representative of the Kremlin ruled out a ceasefire during the talks between Russia and Ukraine. The Kremlin believes that a truce will enable nationalist units to regroup to attack the Russian military, so there will be no ceasefire until Kiev accepts the demands put forward by the Russian side and fulfills all the tasks assigned to the RF Armed Forces.
Russia’s mass-market Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper was supposedly hacked on 21 March 2022 and a false article on Russian military deaths in Ukraine was posted on its site, the newspaper’s Kremlin correspondent claimed. Journalist Alexander Gamov said the article – which reported nearly 10,000 Russian troops had been killed – was fake and had been deleted after a few minutes of going live online. Komsomolskaya Pravda is a Kremlin propaganda organ owned by Grigory Berezkin, an oligarch with a history of buying up and silencing disobedient news outlets.
The UN’s refugee agency (UNHCR) says more than 3.5 million people have fled Ukraine since Russia’s invasion, marking another milestone in the mass exodus that has led to Europe’s worst refugee crisis since World War II. Berlin expects significantly more Ukraine refugees. The federal government expected three times as many refugees from Ukraine as initially assumed. Berlin is preparing to take in a million people from the country attacked by Russia for a longer period of time in Germany. Originally, the government assumed 340,000 people.
About half a million refugees from Ukraine who have fled to Poland need support for mental health disorders, and 30,000 have severe mental health problems, the representative for the World Health Organization (WHO) in Poland said. Those arriving in Poland are suffering from a range of health problems, including diarrhea and dehydration, but the main need among those who have fled Ukraine is for support due to trauma, Paloma Cuchi told a briefing in Geneva.
The International Organization for Migration said nearly 6.5 million people had been displaced inside Ukraine due to the war. "The scale of human suffering and forced displacement due to the war far exceeds any worst-case scenario planning," IOM Antonio Vitorino, Director General of the International Organization for Migration said.
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