Military and Political Situation in Ukraine. Morning of March 23rd, 2022
Ihor Zhdanov, Information Defence
Informational Defence of Ukraine provides a daily review of the military-political situation in Ukraine, morning of March 23rd, based on an analysis of open sources.
1. The russian occupiers have not achieved success in any of the operational areas and have sustained heavy losses as a result of counterattacks by the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
According to the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine, on the 28th day of the war, the Armed Forces of Ukraine are holding back the russian offensive attacks on Kyiv, Zaporizhzhia, Popasna, Malyn, Kryvyi Rih, defending Chernihiv, Mariupol, Mykolaiiv and the Black Sea coast.
In the eastern direction, operational groups of troops are in the Donetsk, Slobozhanskyi and the eastern part of the Tavriia operational districts.
The Armed Forces of Ukraine do not allow the enemy to resume the offensive attacks in the direction of Sloviansk and near the settlement of Lozova. The Armed Forces of Ukraine restrain the advance of the enemy in the direction of Zaporizhzhia.
The combined forces are holding back the invader in the direction of Popasna and Kurakhove. Carries out the circular defence of Mariupol.
The defence of the city of Mykolaiiv and settlements of the Mykolaiiv region continues.
Our defenders are holding back the enemy in the directions of Kryvyi Rih and Novovorontsovka, conducting a stabilization operation, and performing territorial defence tasks.
In the north, a group of our troops holds the defence of Chernihiv and hinders the advance of the enemy in the direction of Kyiv.
There is a possibility of involvement of the armed forces of the Republic of Belarus in the war against Ukraine on the side of the russian federation.
But, according to available information, a large number of personnel and some commanders refuse to participate in the occupation against our state.
Ukrainian troops once again, for the eighth time, defeated the russian military in Chornobaiivka, destroyed the equipment and weapons of the occupiers.
During the day on Tuesday, March 22nd, Ukrainian air defence destroyed 17 air targets: 6 planes, 1 helicopter, 5 UAVs, and 5 cruise missiles (see the picture).
The air defence decided not to stop on the 100th downed plane of the russian occupiers and inflicted significant losses on the enemy in the air. It is symbolic that the hundredth, jubilee plane of the occupiers is on the account of the heroic defenders of the hero city of Mariupol.
According to British intelligence agency, the russian troops are trying to surround Ukrainian troops in the east, trying to move ahead from Kharkiv in the north and Mariupol in the south.
Dmitry Peskov, a spokesman for the russian president putin, said that russia could use nuclear weapons only if it saw a threat to the country's existence: “that is, if there is a threat to the country's existence, it can be used, according to our state concept.”
2. The russian occupiers continue to violate international humanitarian law.
The occupiers of the russian federation have claimed 117 children since the beginning of the war in Ukraine. Tragic statistics were reported in the Prosecutor General's Office, and as of the morning of March 22nd, more than 155 Ukrainian children were injured.
According to the UCP, the most affected children were in the Kyiv region - 58, the Kharkiv region - 40, the Chernihiv region - 31, the Donetsk region - 30, the Mykolaiiv region - 24, Kyiv - 16, the Zhytomyr region - 15, the Kherson region - 15 and the Sumy region - 14.
Rocket and bomb strikes on Ukrainian cities continue. As we analyzed in the previous review, the massive shelling of Kharkiv and Mariupol cannot be explained by the executor's excess and tragic mistakes as a result of the use of indiscriminate type ammunition. Let us emphasize again that the only logical explanation is a deliberate people’s terrorism in order to break the spirit and will to victory of both the Ukrainian people and the top military and political leaders of the country.
Here are some (not all) examples of country terrorism by the russian occupiers in recent days. The night of March 23rd was uneasy for the Chernihiv, Kharkiv, Mykolaiiv, Donetsk, and Luhansk regions, and the russians bombed towns and villages.
As of the morning of March 22nd, Chernihiv was left without electricity, heat, and water due to critical infrastructure and active hostilities, but utilities are working and the Armed Forces of Ukraine continue to repel the enemy.
A truck and two buildings were on fire in the Obolonskyi district of Kyiv as a result of enemy shelling, killing one person and injuring three others.
In Severodonetsk, the Luhansk region, russian troops opened fire on a children's hospital, a fire broke out – the rescuers evacuated 22 people. In Rubizhne, a russian shell hit a high-rise building - three people were killed, two of them were children.
On March 22nd, 3 more people were killed and six were injured by russian weapons in the Donetsk region. Among the dead was a 14-year-old boy.
The russian military struck Avdiivka with new Tornado-C MLRS missiles. Police have shown a photograph of the 9B706 control unit from the so-called "high-precision" 300-mm 9M544 / 9M549 Tornado-C multiple rocket launcher, which is designed to hit armored and unarmored vehicles and manpower.
In the Kharkiv region, a russian tank shot down a car with a family of two children. The family shouted that they were civilians, waving a white flag, but in vain. Parents and a 9-year-old girl were killed and a 17-year-old boy was injured.
The russian occupier ruthlessly killed the father of a large family in front of his 14-year-old son. The man warned that he did not have a weapon, but this did not stop the enemy soldier. The tragedy occurred on March 17th, when 47-year-old Ruslan Nechepurenko and his 14-year-old son Yurii went to the center of occupied Bucha for humanitarian aid and medicine.
In the Sumy region, the occupiers fired at the spouses of pensioners who were riding bicycles to the hospital. A 59-year-old woman was killed and her husband was injured in the shelling.
Because of the russian troops shelling of the city of Lozova, the Kharkiv region, 1 person was killed and 9 were injured.
In the Kherson region, the russian occupiers kidnapped Beryslav Mayor Oleksandr Shapovalov and another local activist, who have been in captivity for three days.
In Kherson, people again went to a peaceful rally - the military of the russian federation tear gas was used to disperse them.
3. Under attacks by the russian occupiers, evacuation through humanitarian corridors continues.
On March 22nd, Ukrainian authorities organized a humanitarian corridor to evacuate Mariupol residents from occupied Berdiansk, Yuriivka, and Nikolske to Zaporizhzhia, as well as to deliver humanitarian aid to Mariupol.
Unfortunately, the evacuation was difficult. The russian Nazi again violated humanitarian agreements and did not allow evacuation columns from the settlements of Nikolske and Melekino.
On March 22nd, the representatives of the so-called DNR seized an evacuation convoy with SES officers on an agreed route near Manhush that is near Mariupol. Four SES officers and eleven drivers are in captivity.
To ensure the future evacuation of the Greek people the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Greece Nikos Dendias has said he wants to lead a humanitarian mission to Mariupol, that is a home of thousands of ethnic Greeks now surrounded by russian troops.
Despite the provocations of the russian occupation forces, humanitarian goods were delivered to Berdiansk. Also, 24 evacuation buses arrived in the city, which will leave in the direction of Mariupol on March 23rd to take people out.
In general, on March 22nd, 1,100 Mariupol residents were evacuated from Berdiansk to Zaporizhzhia by bus, 5,926 people traveled from Mariupol to Zaporizhzhia by their own vehicles.
4. International support and assistance to Ukraine.
Western democracies provide political and diplomatic support to Ukraine. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called on Italy to support sanctions against russia, including a full embargo on trade, including an oil embargo, a ban on russian ships from entering Italian ports and a freeze on russian oligarchs' real estate
Italy wants Ukraine to join the European Union, Prime Minister of Italy Mario Draghi said on Tuesday.
Witold Waszczykowski, Head of the European Parliament Delegation to the EU-Ukraine Association Committee and former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Poland, called for a NATO military mission to resolve the situation in Ukraine and partially close the sky over Ukraine.
Normalization of Germany's relations with russia is ruled out as long as it is headed by president putin. This was stated by co-chairman of the ruling SPD party Lars Klingbeil in an interview with Bild .
The United States plans to make it easier for Ukrainian refugees to arrive in the United States this week. The aim is to speed up the processing of visas for relatives of US citizens and green card holders and to appoint more immigration officials to process applications for temporary protected status.
Military assistance to Ukraine. The head of the president's office, Andrii Yermak, spoke at the Chatham think tank in London House and he said Ukraine needed weapons, medium-range missiles and land leases to fight back in the war with russia.
Financial assistance to Ukraine continues. The Minister of Finance of Germany Christian Lindner said that Ukraine needed a "Marshall Plan" to overcome the effects of the russian invasion.
European Council President Charles Michel spoke about plans to establish a Solidarity Fund with Ukraine to meet the urgent needs of Ukrainian citizens. EU leaders plan to agree on its creation at a summit on March 24-25th. According to the plans, the fund in the end will serve as a basis for the restoration of a free and democratic Ukraine after the cessation of hostilities.
Today, not all of Ukraine's allies support the position on imposing an oil embargo on russia. EU countries have split into two camps while discussing an embargo on russian oil, gas and coal - in particular, a ban on russian oil imports is blocked by Germany and the Netherlands.
Germany and the Netherlands have said the bloc is too dependent on russian oil and gas to decide on an embargo.
Western countries provide public support to Ukraine. The Paris City Hall unanimously voted to grant Kyiv a "honorary citizenship" status, giving the city such status for the first time.
Dmitry Muratov, editor-in-chief of russia's Novaya Gazeta, presents the Nobel medal to Ukrainian refugees.
5. Provocations and fakes of russian aggressors.
Unknown people who managed to talk to the UK Minister of Defense on behalf of the Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal turned out to be russian pranksters who have repeatedly resorted to such games with European officials.
According to "European Truth", a fragment of the conversation was posted on his Youtube channel by russian pranksters Alexei Stolyarov ("Lexus") and Vladimir Kuznetsov ("Vovan").
In a fragment for about a minute, pranksters, pretending to be Denys Shmyhal, say that Ukraine allegedly wants to "continue its nuclear program" ostensibly to protect itself from russia, and asks for help.
6. Sanctions against russia are intensifying, and more and more companies are leaving the russian trade market.
The new package of US sanctions will include more than 300 members of the upper and lower houses of the russian parliament.
The Prosecutor's Office and the police of Ukraine have announced suspicions of encroachment on the territorial integrity of Ukraine by kremlin propagandists Olga Skabeeva and Dmitry Kiselyov .
The imposed sanctions have a negative impact on the state of the russian economy. French banking group Crédit Agricole announced a decision to suspend its activities in russia. Earlier, the group stopped only new financing of russian companies and all commercial activities in the terrorist country.
Components for the production of elevators in the russian federation will be enough for six months, and then due to sanctions, problems may start, because one third of the parts were imported from abroad.
The German concern Siemens has informed the russian Railways (RZD) about the suspension of the contract for the purchase of high-speed electric trains "Sapsan".
Japanese equipment manufacturer Sharp has suspended supplies to Russia due to the war in Ukraine.
Finnish customs have detained 21 yachts, which may belong to sanctioned russian oligarchs or their companies.
The Ukrainian Copyright and Related Rights Agency terminates an international agreement with the russian Copyright Society on the payment of royalties unilaterally.
EUMETSAT, a major provider of meteorological data to Western and other governments, has suspended cooperation with russia amid fears that russia could use weather data to plan biological or chemical attacks.
russian clubs - CSKA Moscow, Zenit St. Petersburg and UNICS Kazan - have been officially excluded from the 2021-22 Euroleague basketball season.