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Russo-Ukraine War - 26 March 2022 - Day 30

US President Joe Biden said he was not sure Putin had changed Russia's strategy in the war to focus on Ukraine's eastern regions. Biden dramatically escalated his rhetoric against Vladimir Putin, calling for the Russian leader to be removed because of his brutal invasion of Ukraine. “For God’s sake, this man cannot remain in power,” Biden said at the very end of a speech in Poland’s capital. Biden called the conflict in Ukraine a “strategic failure” for Moscow and said the world must prepare for a “long fight ahead”. Biden compared Ukraine's resistance against a Russian invasion to the anti-Soviet “battle for freedom” and said the world must prepare for a “long fight ahead.” “We stand with you,” he told Ukrainians. Biden was not calling for regime change in Russia when he said on Saturday that Russian President Vladimir Putin “cannot remain in power,” a White House official said. “The president’s point was that Putin cannot be allowed to exercise power over his neighbors or the region. He was not discussing Putin’s power in Russia, or regime change,” the official said following Biden's speech in Warsaw. Dmitry Peskov told Reuters: “That's not for Biden to decide. The president of Russia is elected by Russians.”

Biden visited a reception center for refugees from Ukraine at the Warsaw National Stadium. Biden again allowed himself to make statements about Putin. One of the journalists asked him what he thought of the Russian leader in the context of what is currently happening in Ukraine. "He's a butcher, that's what I think about it," Biden replied.

Russian State Duma Chairman Vyacheslav Volodin said that only an "old or sick man" would behave the way US President Joe Biden did in Poland on Saturday when he once again assailed the Russian leader, Vladimir Putin. “I’ve said this before, and now I’ll repeat it: only a weak or sick person can behave like this. Psychiatrists will explain the reason for such behavior more professionally. From a man's point of view, it's the weak who behave this way. US citizens should be ashamed of their president," Volodin said, commenting on Biden's harsh remarks about Putin.

Russia said the first phase of its military operation was mostly complete and it would focus on “liberating” Ukraine’s breakaway eastern Donbas region. Reframing his goals may make it easier for Russian President Vladimir Putin to claim a face-saving victory, analysts said. Putin’s forces are under great strain in many parts of the country, and the United States and other countries are accelerating their transfer of arms and supplies to Ukraine.

In the northern city of Chernihiv, Russian troops deliberately targeted sites where food was being stored, a local official said. It is estimated more than 130,000 people remain in the city, which had a pre-war population of 285,000. The Russian Ministry of Defense reports that on March 25, Caliber missiles destroyed a warehouse with ammunition and weapons in the Zhytomyr region of Ukraine. Also, the Onyx cruise missile destroyed a fuel base in the Nikolaev region, from which a grouping of Ukrainian troops in the south of the country was supplied with fuel.

US President Joe Biden was in Poland to pay tribute to a country that has taken in more than two million Ukrainian refugees who were forced to flee their homes. Biden met with refugees and delivered remarks on united efforts to support the people of Ukraine, and hold Russia accountable for its invasion of Ukraine.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov described Western efforts to sanction Russia internationally as “total war”. He says the goal was “to destroy, break, annihilate, strangle the Russian economy, and Russia on the whole”. Germany’s economy minister says his country has forged contracts with new suppliers that will allow it to significantly reduce its reliance on Russian coal, gas and oil in the coming weeks.

The US and the European Union have announced a move to further squeeze Russia economically — a partnership to reduce Europe’s reliance on Russian energy and dry up the billions of dollars the Kremlin gets from the sale of fuel. The US will supply Europe with more liquefied natural gas to help curb reliance on Russia.

Ukraine welcomes the decision of European countries to create a platform for the joint purchase of gas and is ready to provide its underground storage facilities for the formation of a strategic fuel reserve, Energy Minister German Galushchenko said.

The Ukrainian government purchased 5,100 Matador anti-tank grenade launchers from the German defense concern DND. This was reported on Saturday by the Bild newspaper. According to her, Kyiv will pay €25 million under the contract. Half of the purchased units have already been delivered to Ukraine, the article says. The second part will be delivered before the end of May.

Russia's defence minister Sergei Shoigu reappeared on television images broadcast 26 March 2022, after his two-week absence from view prompted questions from journalists. The defence ministry published a video showing Shoigu, an ally of President Vladimir Putin, chairing a meeting on Russia's weapons budget. No dates accompany the images on state television but Shoigu refers to a finance ministry meeting that Russian news agencies reported took place on 25 March 2022.

In the Kherson region and in the south of the Zaporozhye region, which are under the control of the Russian military, they began to form new military-civilian administrations, launched the process of broadcasting Russian television and radio broadcasting and began to use Russian rubles more widely, Georgy Muradov, permanent representative of Crimea under the President of Russia, told RIA Novosti.

The Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense says that the commander of the 13th tank regiment of the 4th division of the Russian Armed Forces shot himself. According to the Main Intelligence Directorate, the occupiers are trying to restore losses at the expense of equipment removed from long-term storage. In particular, at the airfield in Klimovo, Bryansk region (35 km from the border with Ukraine), the enemy is deploying a repair and restoration base (RRB). Intelligence notes that the condition of this equipment is mostly extremely unsatisfactory, which makes it impossible to fully use it.

“In general, the Russian Federation often faces the problem of the impossibility of updating equipment after “re-mothballing” from warehouses. Optical devices and electronics containing precious metals were completely stolen from combat vehicles. In particular, in the 4th tank division of the Russian Federation, they found out that out of 10 "demosballed" tanks, only one is in a more or less operational condition. The rest are completely dismantled. Some of them don't even have engines. At present, plans to transfer the equipment removed from storage to the front have actually been thwarted," the authority notes.

The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine announced the withdrawal of units of the armed forces of Belarus from the points of permanent deployment to the training grounds. “The enemy continues a full-scale armed aggression against our state, whose tasks remain unfulfilled. The preparation and movement of additional units of the Eastern Military District to the territory of Ukraine continues. In the Volyn direction, the enemy does not carry out offensive operations. At the same time, there is a withdrawal from the points of permanent deployment of units of the armed forces of the Republic of Belarus to the training grounds,” the report said. The Ukrainian military has stated that there is still a possibility that the armed forces of Belarus will be involved in the war against Ukraine. However, according to the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, "according to the available information, a large number of personnel and some commanders refuse to participate in the occupation actions against our state."

Jerome at Military Land reported that Ukrainian forces liberated several villages in Kharkiv and Kherson region. Russian Army crossed the river near Izium and had broken through Ukrainian lines. Local authorities denied information about Ukrainian offensive and encirclement of Russian troops in Bucha and Hostomel. Heavy fighting was reported near Makariv. Russian artillery attacked Ukrainian positions at Nova Buda, Ozershchyna and Nalyvaikiva. Russian forces unsuccessfully attempted to break thought Ukrainian lines in the vicinity of Brovary. Ukrainian troops liberated Novovorontsovka on the edge of Kherson Oblast in the north.

Jerome at Militlary Land reported that the regional capital of Chernihiv is de-facto besieged. The last free roads leading from/to the city are now in the fire range of Russian troops. The situation in Slavotych remains difficult. Russian snipers are active in the area, there are KIAs among Ukrainian defenders. Russian troops had entrenched in the vicinity of Sumy, complicating the possible operation to lift the siege of the regional capital. Ukrainian troops have switched to offensive in Trostianets, they no longer just defend the northern part of the town. Ukrainian 92nd Mechanized Brigade attacked Russian positions at the eastern outskirts of Kharkiv. As the result of the attack, Ukrainian troops liberated Mala Rohan and Vilkhivka. Russian forces crossed Seversky Donets south of Izium and have broken through Ukrainian lines. The enemy breakthrough was stopped at Kamyanka and Tykhotske. The status of Ukrainian troops in the southern part of Izium is unclear. The area in Mariupol under Ukrainian control is slowly shrinking. French President Macron said that France, Greece and Turkey are working on a humanitarian operation to evacuate civilians from Mariupol.

Russian air defense systems shot down three Ukrainian aircraft, six unmanned aerial vehicles and one tactical missile of the Tochka-U complex, Major General Igor Konashenkov, spokesman for the Russian Defense Ministry, said. The Russian Armed Forces destroyed a fuel base in the Nikolaev region with a high-precision Onyx cruise missile, from which a group of the Armed Forces of Ukraine was supplied with fuel, Konashenkov said.

The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation reported fake calls to Russian citizens from the territory of Ukraine, in which they were allegedly urged to appear at the military commissariat for mobilization to active military service. The military department noted that all such fake calls are absolutely untrue and are a provocation of the Ukrainian special services. "All such fake calls are made from the territory of Ukraine, they are absolutely untrue and are a provocation of the Ukrainian special services. We officially declare that the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation does not conduct and does not plan any calls from citizens in the reserve to the military commissariats," representative of the Russian Defense Ministry, IgorKonashenkov stressed.

The #CallRussia information campaign was rolled out on March 8, and consists of a digital platform that allows Russian-speaking volunteers from across the world to connect with the 40 million Russians whose telephone numbers have been coded and saved into its database. By 26 March 2022 some 25,000 volunteers in 116 countries had joined the movement, having already placed almost 100,000 calls.

Since the beginning of March, Russia has passed a flurry of laws banning both media and people from spreading so-called “fake news” about its war in Ukraine, including by use of the term “war”. Anyone breaching the law risks heavy fines and up to 15 years in prison. The Kremlin has also accused US tech giant Google and its video subsidiary YouTube of conducting “terrorist” activities, and has blocked access to most international social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, as well as several independent media. The near total media outage means that most Russians – especially those of older generations – have for the past month almost exclusively been limited to the Kremlin propaganda broadcast by state TV.

French President Emmanuel Macron said that France, in cooperation with Turkey and Greece, is preparing to conduct a "humanitarian operation" to evacuate civilians from Mariupol in the south of the Donetsk region of Ukraine, which is besieged by the Russian army. This is reported by the French edition of Le Figaro. According to Emmanuel Macron , he has already discussed the possibility of an evacuation with the Ukrainian authorities and the mayor of Mariupol, and also intends to discuss this issue with Russian President Vladimir Putin within the next 48 or 72 hours . According to the President of France, about 150 thousand people still remain in the city, the pre-war population was more than 400 thousand.

Since the beginning of March, Mariupol has been besieged by the Russian army. According to the city authorities, at least 2.3 thousand people died in the city, blocked by Russian troops. Many may be under the rubble. There is not enough water in the city (back in early March, people melted snow, now there is none), food, there are no communications.

Over 379,000 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 reported.

Since the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine, Russian troops have destroyed about 4,500 residential buildings, about 100 businesses, about 400 educational institutions and 150 healthcare institutions, Minister for the Development of Communities and Territories of Ukraine Oleksiy Chernyshev said. According to preliminary estimates, losses could amount to tens of billions of dollars, Chernyshev said.

During the day, the Armed Forces of Ukraine destroyed three aircraft, one helicopter, three drones of the Orlan-10 type and at least five cruise missiles of the Russian army, the Air Force Command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported. “On March 25, the enemy launched a massive missile attack on the territory of Ukraine in several directions. Only on the territory of the Air Force Command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine were fired six cruise missiles. Some of them were shot down by our air defense, and some hit targets. There is some damage. The fire was quickly localized, the rubble was sorted out by rescuers of the State Emergency Service. The type of missiles, damage to the infrastructure and the presence of victims are being specified," the statement said.

Russia has lost about 16,400 of its military in the war with Ukraine, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine announced. In addition, among the losses of Russia: 575 tanks, 1640 armored combat vehicles, 293 artillery systems, 91 multiple launch rocket systems, 51 air defense systems, 117 aircraft, 127 helicopters, 1131 vehicles, 7 ships / boats, 73 tanks with fuel and lubricants , 56 drones of the operational-tactical level, 19 units of special equipment, 2 launchers of the operational-tactical missile system.