Ukraine’s week of 2022 March 21-27 in view

March 21

• Missiles strike Rivne’s all-military training grounds. Rivne Oblast Governor Vitaliy Koval confirmed on March 20 that Russian forces hit the city’s military training grounds with two missiles. There is no information on casualties yet. The city of Rivne is located 300 km west of Kyiv.
• Ukraine rejects Russia’s demand to surrender Mariupol. Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk responded to Russia’s earlier demand, stating that surrender is not an option. A letter from Russia’s Defense Ministry on March 20 said it would only establish a humanitarian corridor if Mariupol surrenders. Ukraine demands that Russian forces allow safe passage immediately.
• Russian social media VK allegedly hacked, spreads truth about war in Ukraine. Users of VK have received messages from the social network’s official account informing them of the true casualties and impact of Russia’s war against Ukraine, according to screenshots posted online. The message also states that all user information has been accessed and those who support the war will be punished.
• Ukraine: Russia reaches agreement on hiring Libyan mercenaries. According to the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Russia has reached an agreement with Libya’s military commander Khalifa Haftar during his visit to Moscow to recruit Libyan mercenaries for fighting on Russia’s side in Ukraine.
• Russian air strike damages 13 buildings in Zhytomyr Oblast. The March 20 air strike in the Korosten district of Zhytomyr Oblast also injured at least three people, according to the State Emergency Service. Fires have been extinguished by local rescue workers.
• Workers of Chornobyl nuclear power plant evacuated. 64 people trapped at the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant, occupied by Russia, were released. 46 employees have volunteered to take their place and traveled to the occupied facility. The evacuated employees had been at their workplaces for over 600 hours.
• US reaffirms it will not send troops to Ukraine. In an interview with CNN on March 20, U.S. Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield was asked if the US would support Poland’s upcoming proposal for a NATO peacekeeping mission to Ukraine. The ambassador reasserted President Biden’s stance that American soldiers would not be sent into Ukraine. She added that America will continue to support its NATO allies and did not rule out support for other member nations sending troops.
• New Zealand to provide additional $3.4 million, non-lethal military assistance to Ukraine. New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said on March 21 the funds would be directed to a NATO Trust Fund that supplies fuel, communication equipment, and first aid kits to Ukrainian forces. New Zealand will also provide Ukraine with surplus tactical equipment.
• US not optimistic about negotiated end to war in Ukraine. U.S. Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield said during CNN’s “State of the Union” on March 20 that Russia has not “leaned into any possibility for a negotiated and diplomatic solution.” U.S. President Joe Biden will travel to Europe on March 25 to discuss Russia’s “unjustified and unprovoked” war on Ukraine.
• Six European countries begin investigating Russian war crimes. According to Ukraine’s Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova, Estonia, Lithuania, Germany, Poland, Slovakia, and Sweden have opened criminal cases concerning Russia’s war crimes. Ukraine is working alongside these countries to exchange “information and evidence.”

March 22

• Ukrainian troops liberate Makariv. The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported on March 21 that “the Ukrainian flag was raised over the town of Makariv” and Russian forces have been pushed back. Makariv is located 60 kilometres west from Kyiv.
• Mariupol authorities: Russian invaders fire at cars evacuating children. Mariupol city council said that two families evacuating by car from the besieged city were shot at by Russian forces. At least two children have been wounded and are in serious condition. Besides the cars, 20 buses with people left the city on March 21.
• Ukraine accuses Russia of kidnapping children from occupied Donbas. According to the Foreign Ministry, 2,389 children from Russian-controlled Donbas were “illegally deported” to Russia. “The facts of abduction of children, as well as other facts of crimes of the Russian occupiers against civilians in Ukraine, are being investigated by law enforcement agencies,” the ministry reported.
• Over 800 babies born in Kyiv since Russia’s all-out war in Ukraine. Deputy Head of the Kyiv City Administration Mykola Povoroznyk said on March 21 that, of the babies born, 427 are boys and 380 are girls.
• Zoo asks for assistance as animals ‘slowly dying‘ under occupation. Mykhailo Pinchuk, Owner of Ukraine’s XII Months Zoo, asked for a green corridor because the blown-up bridge has left the institution isolated and there is not enough food to feed the animals. He said that humanitarian aid has not reached the zoo and emphasized that all 300 animals “are doomed” if the green corridor doesn’t work out.
• Russian shelling kills Holocaust survivor in Kharkiv. Boris Romantschenko, 96, who survived the Nazi Holocaust during World War II was killed during shelling in his apartment block in the eastern city of Kharkiv. The Buchenwald and Mittelbau-Dora Memorials Foundation said it was “deeply disturbed” by Romantschenko’s death and said he had “worked intensely on the memory of Nazi crimes.” > 96-year-old Holocaust survivor killed by Russian strike in Ukraine
• Russia attacks Zhytomyr Oblast with Grad rocket launchers, 4 people killed. According to Zhytomyr Oblast Governor Vitalii Bunechko, three soldiers and one civilian were killed in the Selets village in what was likely Russia’s first attack on Zhytomyr Oblast with Grads.
• Ukraine’s military: Over 15,000 Russian troops killed since Feb. 24. As of 10:30 a.m. on March 21, Ukraine’s military have also reported destroying 1,535 armored personnel carriers, 498 tanks, 969 vehicles, 240 artillery pieces, 45 anti-aircraft warfare systems, 80 launch rocket systems, 97 planes, 121 helicopters, 60 fuel tanks, 13 pieces of special equipment, 24 UAVs, and 3 boats.
• Hungary opposes no-fly zone over Ukraine, embargo on Russian energy. Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto on March 21 condemned EU sanctions on Russian energy, according to Hirado news agency, saying it “threatens the security of energy supply to Hungary.” He also spoke out against sending peacekeepers to Ukraine and the establishment of a no-fly zone, citing the risk of war.
• More than 1,200 residents evacuated from Mariupol on March 22. According to Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk, 15 buses evacuated people from the besieged seaport of Mariupol to Zaporizhzhia.

March 23

• Russian forces steal buses driving to rescue people from Mariupol. A convoy of 11 empty buses — driving towards Mariupol to rescue Ukrainians from besieged city — has been seized by Russian forces, the Ukrainian government reports. The Russians have taken the buses, along with the original bus drivers and several emergency services workers, to an undisclosed location.
• Satellite imagery shows Russia removing military aircraft from a key airport. Russia has withdrawn most of its helicopters from a strategic Chornobayivka airport in southern Ukraine’s Kherson Oblast, according to satellite images provided by space imaging company Planet Labs. According to the New York Times, Ukrainian forces attacked the Kherson airport, inflicting considerable damage to Russian equipment. Russian ground troops appear to still control the airport.
• President’s Office launches humanitarian aid website. Ukraine set up an official portal help.gov.ua for those who want to provide humanitarian or financial assistance to affected people, businesses or the government amid Russia’s war against Ukraine. The website helps to find out how to send and whom to address humanitarian aid. The portal also provides contacts of foreign and Ukrainian humanitarian hubs.
• Ukrainian journalist released from Russian captivity. Viktoria Roshchina, a journalist for Hromadske, has been in captivity in the occupied city of Berdiansk since March 15. She was released on March 22. As a condition for her release, she was forced to record a video in which she said that the Russian forces had saved her life.
• Russians attack oil refinery that they own. A Russian aircraft has fired upon an oil refinery in Lysychasnk, Luhansk Oblast, which is owned by Russian oil company Rosneft. According to Luhasnk Oblast Governor Serhiy Haidai, firefighters are currently fighting a blaze at the site.
• Russia prosecutes journalist for social media posts about Russian attack on Mariupol. The Investigative Committee of Russia opened a case against Russian journalist Alexander Nevzorov for publishing information about the Russian shelling of a maternity hospital in Mariupol. Russia accuses Nevzorov of spreading “false information about the Russian Armed Forces.”
• Farmak’s warehouse outside Kyiv burns down. Farmak, one of Ukraine’s biggest pharmaceutical companies, suffered nearly Hr 1.5 billion in losses when its warehouse in Makariv, a town 60 kilometers west from Kyiv, burned down during the hostilities there, according to Farmak’s supervisory board member Peter Chernyshov.
• UN chief calls on Russia to end ‘unwinnable’ war. UN chief Antonio Guterres said on March 22 that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine “is going nowhere fast.” Speaking at UN headquarters in New York, he decried the conflict as “absurd” and “unwinnable.” “Even if Mariupol falls, Ukraine cannot be conquered city by city, street by street, house by house,” Guterres added.
• EU doubles aid to Ukraine to $1.1 million. The European Council announced on March 23 that the initial budget of 500,000 euros ($550,297) has been doubled. The assistance measures are part of the European Peace Facility, which will allow the EU to “further support the capabilities and resilience of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.”

March 24

• US confirms Russian army retreat near Kyiv. A senior U.S. defense official told reporters on March 23 that Russian troops have moved 25-35 kilometers from their previously held position, about 50 kilometers east of Kyiv, CNN reports. Additionally, the official stated that Russia has increased its attacks in eastern Ukraine.
• 4,554 people evacuated from hot spots on March 23. According to Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk, 2,912 people were evacuated from besieged Mariupol to Zaporizhzhia. In total, seven out of nine agreed-upon humanitarian corridors worked out on Wednesday.
• Russian occupying forces set up military base at Melitopol Air Base, fire missiles to other cities. Mayor of Melitopol Ivan Fedorov said on Facebook on March 23 that the city’s residents are essentially serving as living shields for the Russian military. He also said that Melitopol is on the verge of a humanitarian catastrophe as a result of Russian occupation.
• General Staff: Russian invaders try to undermine Ukraine’s sowing campaign. According to the General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces, Russian forces chaotically mine the Ukrainian territory and deliberately destroy agricultural machinery. This threatens the beginning of the sowing campaign in some Ukrainian regions.
• Russia uses white phosphorus bombs in Hostomel and Irpin. Russian forces targeted the satellite towns of Kyiv with phosphorus bombs on the night of March 22, according to Irpin Mayor Oleksandr Markushin. The use of such weapons against civilians is banned by the Geneva Conventions.
• Kharkiv Oblast shelled 32 times overnight on March 23. The Russian forces fired at Kharkiv with tank cannons, rocket-propelled grenade launchers and artillery, according to the governor of Kharkiv Oblast Oleh Synyehubov. 8 civilians were injured in Lozova, a city in Kharkiv Oblast, where 20 houses, a school and a kindergarten were damaged by Russian shelling.
• Russian invaders destroy Chernihiv bridge to Kyiv. The bridge was used to evacuate civilians from Chernihiv, located 130 kilometers northeast of Kyiv, and bring humanitarian aid to the city, which has no electricity and suffers from the shortage of supplies.
• Akhmetov: Mariupol’s metal factories won’t work under Russian occupation. Ukraine’s richest oligarch Rinat Akhmetov told the Wall Street Journal that his Azovstal and Ilyich metallurgical plants located in besieged Mariupol would not operate if the city is occupied by Russia. Together they employ 40,000 people, and are temporarily closed now.
• Russian journalist killed by Russian shelling in Kyiv. Oksana Bauila, a reporter with Russia’s The Insider media outlet was on assignment at the site of a Russian shelling in Kyiv’s Podil district when the Russian forces launched another strike at the spot. According to The Insider, two people accompanying Baulina were injured and hospitalized, while one more civilian was killed.
• Swedish Defense Minister: Ukraine to receive 5,000 anti-tank weapons. The TT news agency quoted Swedish Defense Minister Peter Hultqvist saying that the country will provide additional anti-tank equipment. The country has already sent 5,000 anti-tank weapons and other military aid to Ukraine.
• UK to supply Ukraine with 6,000 defensive missiles. According to a U.K. government press release on March 24, the missiles include anti-tank and high explosive weapons. The U.K. will also provide £25 million ($33 million) to the Ukrainian Armed Forces. U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson will announce the package at the NATO and G7 leaders’ meeting this week.

March 25

• Russian forces attack Kharkiv downtown with Kalibr missiles launched from Black Sea. According to Kharkiv Oblast Governor Oleh Synyehubov, in total, the region endured 44 attacks on March 24.
• Russians fire upon evacuation train. Russian forces shelled a train transporting Ukrainian IDPs from Kyiv to Ivano-Frankivsk as it was passing near the town of Vasylkiv in Kyiv Oblast, according to Chairman of the Board of Ukrzaliznytsia Olekandr Kamyshin. Windows were smashed in three train cars, no injuries were reported.
• Ukraine’s military: Large Russian amphibious assault ship destroyed in Berdiansk. According to Ukraine’s General Staff, the Russian warship “Orsk” was destroyed in the port of Berdiansk, which is currently occupied by the Russian forces. U.S. and U.K. defense officials assessed that Ukraine likely conducted the successful attack.
• Ukraine’s General Staff: Russia deploys additional military equipment to Belarus, Crimea, plans to encircle Kyiv. According to Ukraine’s Armed Forces, Russian troops are planning to halt an offensive in some areas and will concentrate on encircling Kyiv and attempt to occupy Donetsk and Luhansk regions completely.
• UN nuclear watchdog: Russian shelling prevents rotation of essential personnel at Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant. The city of Slavutych, which houses most of the plant’s workers and their families, has been under constant Russian artillery fire, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency. Workers at the plant were forced to work for four weeks, as rotating was not possible.
• Mariupol City Council calls for help as residents begin to die from starvation. The city council said that more and more people are left without any food as multiple attempts to create humanitarian corridors and to provide aid have failed due to Russian troops continuously violating ceasefire agreements.
• Mariupol city council: Russian occupiers forcibly move 6, 000 Mariupol residents to Russia. The local authorities in the besieged seaport in southern Ukraine said on March 24 that Russian occupiers are now forcibly moving more of the city’s residents to Russia, allegedly confiscating their Ukrainian passports and other documents.
• Zelensky to NATO: Alliance can still prevent deaths of Ukrainians from Russian attacks. In a virtual address on March 24, President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Ukraine is asking for only 1% of NATO’s jets and tanks to help it defend itself from Russian aggression. “We can’t just buy them. Such a supply directly depends only on NATO’s decisions, on political decisions, by the way.”
• Zelensky to NATO: Don’t say Ukraine’s army doesn’t meet Alliance’s standards. President Volodymyr Zelensky also said in his video address that he has one demand. “After such a war against Russia… Please, never, never again tell us that our army does not meet NATO standards.”
• Russian deputy ambassador to the UN: Russia retains right to use nuclear weapons if “provoked” by NATO. In an interview with Sky News before the summits began on March 24, Dmitry Polyanskiy, one of Russia’s top diplomats in the United States, said that Putin could use nuclear weapons if the country feels it is facing an “existential” threat. Polyanskiy also denied that Russia is committing war crimes in Ukraine.

March 26

• UK sanctions Russian strategic industries, banks, business elites. U.K. Foreign Secretary Liz Truss announced 65 new sanctions “to cut off vital industries fuelling Putin’s war machine,” targeting six Russian banks including Alfa Bank, Russian Railways, defense companies, mercenary Wagner Group, and Russian oligarchs including billionaire oil tycoon Eugene Shvidler.
• Russia hits Vinnytsia with six cruise missiles, some shot down by air defense. According to the ministry of defense, Russian forces targeted the territory of the Air Force Command in Vinnytsia, a city in west-central Ukraine. Some rockets were shot down, yet others hit several buildings causing “significant damage.”
• Synyehubov: Russian forces shell Kharkiv airport. According to Kharkiv Oblast Governor Oleh Synyehubov, Russia attacked the Kharkiv airport using multiple launch rocket systems. Russia also attacked the city with Grad and Uragan missile launch systems. In total, Kharkiv Oblast has endured 55 attacks on March 24.
• Russian occupiers to force introduction of Russian ruble in captured Tokmak. The Zaporizhzhia Oblast Military Administration said via Telegram on March 25 that Russian occupying forces in the temporarily occupied city of Tokmak in Zaporizhzhia Oblast are planning a full transition to the ruble starting April 4, 2022.
• Sowing begins in 11 regions of Ukraine. Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal made the announcement on March 25, the Ukrinform news agency reports.
• Ukraine demands that International Red Cross Committee obtain from Russia lists of deported Mariupol residents. Ukraine demands that all the Ukrainian citizens forcibly deported to Russia from the besieged city of Mariupol are provided with the opportunity to return to Ukraine, says Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk. According to Mariupol City Council, up to 15,000 of its residents have been forcibly moved.
• WHO: Attacks on hospitals increasing on a “daily basis.” The World Health Organization said on March 25 that there have been over 70 distinct attacks on hospitals, ambulances, and doctors in Ukraine since Russia’s all-out war against Ukraine began on Feb. 24.
• German military and humanitarian aid arrive in Ukraine. A shipment of 1,500 “Strela” anti-aircraft missiles and 100 MG3 machine guns from Germany arrived in Ukraine on March 25, according to the German Press Agency, citing the Ukrainian government. Additionally, 350,000 food packs, 50 medical transport vehicles, and medical supplies were delivered.
• Ukraine, Lithuania, Poland set up joint team to investigate Russia’s war crimes. Prosecutors general of the three countries signed an agreement to jointly work on collection, safe storage and rapid exchange of evidence of Russia’s war crimes in Ukraine, says Ukraine’s Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova.

March 27

• Liberated Trostyanets severely damaged, hospital mined. Trostyanets, a city 59 kilometres south from Sumy, was liberated by Ukrainian forces on March 26, but has been mined by Russian occupiers. According to Taras Savchenko, first deputy head of Sumy Regional Military Administration, Trostyanets has no access to external communication, electricity, or water.
• Missile strikes on Lviv target oil depot. Lviv Oblast Governor Maksym Kozytskyi said that Russian forces attacked fuel infrastructure in Lviv. Four strikes in total hit the city, injuring five people. Firefighters are trying to extinguish the fires.
• Russia attacks oil depot in Rivne Oblast. According to Rivne Oblast Governor Vitaliy Koval, Russian forces have shelled an oil depot in Dubno, Rivne Oblast. The authorities are still addressing the damage from the attack.
• Kharkiv nuclear research reactor hit by Russian shelling. According to the State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate, the nuclear research reactor at the Kharkiv Institute of Physics and Technology has come under renewed Russian fire. Ukrainian authorities have not yet been able to assess damage to the site, due to constant shelling.
• Belarusian Volunteer Battalion officially joins Ukraine’s military. The members of the battalion named after Kastus Kalinouski, Belarusian 19th century writer and revolutionary, took oath and became part of Ukraine’s Armed Forces.
• In a speech wrapping up his two-day visit to Poland, U.S. President Joe Biden blasted Russian dictator Vladimir Putin for unleashing an all-out war in Ukraine and strangling democracy at home. “For God’s sake, this man cannot remain in power,” Biden said at the end of the speech he delivered in Warsaw on March 26.
• US to provide $100 million in new security assistance to Ukraine. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement on March 26 that the U.S. intends to provide an additional $100 million in civilian security assistance. The money is intended to enhance the capacity of the Ukrainian Ministry of Internal Affairs to provide essential border security, sustain law enforcement functions, and safeguard critical governmental infrastructure.
• Europe and Canada to team up with Global Citizen to support refugees. On March 26, the European Commission and the Government of Canada announced the launch of a global campaign to raise funds in support of people fleeing the invasion of Ukraine, in partnership with international advocacy organization Global Citizen. An online fundraiser will take place on April 9. Check Global Citizen for updates.
• UK to fund humanitarian aid valued at 2 million pounds to encircled Ukrainian cities. The British Foreign Office announced on March 26 that $2.6 million in critical food supplies will be delivered at the request of the Ukrainian government.
• UK, other countries warn Ukrainian refugees may be vulnerable to human trafficking ploys. The Guardian reported on March 26 that the U.K.’s Homes for Ukraine initiative, which allows U.K. residents to temporarily house Ukrainian refugees, has been dubbed “Tinder for sex traffickers.” Experts reportedly cite insufficient safeguards, which may allow for women and children to fall prey to human trafficking. Similar warnings have been issued in Poland and Germany.
• Borrell: Russia wants to turn Ukraine into new Syria. “If a strong country could impose by force, on a neighbour that is not threatening him, whatever he wants, passing through war crimes, destroying a country, making Mariupol the ‘European Aleppo’ and making Ukraine a second Syria, then the whole world is in danger,” European Union foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell said at the Doha Forum.