The war in Ukraine – highlights of the day: attacks in the East, skepticism about Russia’s promises and more than four million refugees

Offensive By order of Russian President Vladimir Putin on February 24 against Ukraine from the east, south and north The country entered on the 35th day. Ukrainian authorities have condemned attacks in the eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions, as well as bombings in Chernigov, despite Moscow’s promise to reduce operations to facilitate talks in the area. Skepticism.

Analysts also believe that Russia is close to capturing the completely devastated port city of Mariupol in the east, where thousands of civilians are expected to be killed and the number of refugees already exceeds four million.

Negotiations

The Kremlin has dashed hopes of a breakthrough after talks between Russian and Ukrainian delegates in Istanbul on Tuesday. Speaker Dmitry Peskov said nothing promising was said nor progress was made.

Battles

In the east, the governor of the Donetsk region said that Russian forces were bombing areas along the Ukrainian-controlled territories and along the line of contact between Russian-backed separatists. According to him, there are victims of civilians.

Also east, in the Luhansk region, authorities said Russian forces had bombed settlements in the town of Lisichansk in the early hours of the day. Ambulance services say the “significant demolition” of high-rise apartment buildings and one person was found dead in the rubble. The governor also assured that Russian forces had destroyed the kindergarten.

Russia has said in recent days that it now wants to focus on the “liberation” of the eastern Donbas region (where Donetsk and Lugansk are located), which has been in armed conflict since 2014.

The Ukrainian army reports that Russian forces continue to blockade the city of Kharkov – the second largest country – and carry out artillery attacks on residential areas of the city.

On Tuesday, Moscow vowed to “dramatically” reduce operations in the north, Kiev and the Chernigov region to “boost mutual trust” in peace talks. His troops were sunk on this side while they achieved most of their gains in the southern and eastern cities – although they continued to launch shells and rockets into many cities.

Many eyes are now on Russia’s steps. Despite Russia’s promises, Chernigov region governor Vyacheslav Chaus said on Wednesday that Russian forces had been carrying out “all-night” attacks in the city of Chernigov and claimed that airstrikes had been carried out in the Chernigov city of Nizhny Novgorod. “Do you believe that? [la promesa]? “Absolutely not.” Ukrainian authorities have warned that Chernigov residents have been without electricity, heating and water for weeks.

In general, Russia’s statement was met with skepticism. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky believes that there is “no basis for Wendy’s words” of a country “that continues to fight for the destruction of Ukraine.” “We can positively consider the signs we heard after the talks. “But these signals do not silence the explosion of Russian shells.”

The Ukrainian army, which said on Tuesday it had observed the withdrawal of “some units” of Russian forces from the territory of the Kiev and Chernigov regions, but warned that there was a high risk that they would continue to attack infrastructure. In the last part of this, Russia continues to carry out “large-scale armed aggression” against the country.

“The enemy suffered heavy losses and, presumably, temporarily abandoned the blockade of Kiev. “It will regroup and concentrate its offensive operations in the Eastern Operational Zone,” the Ukrainian Armed Forces said.

The Pentagon believes that Russia has begun moving a very small number of troops from positions around Kiev and describes the move as a “move” to focus on alternative and potentially more successful military targets. “We believe this is a move, not a real withdrawal, and that we should all be ready for a major offensive in other parts of Ukraine,” spokesman John Kirby told a news conference.

The British defense minister says in his latest intelligence update that there are Russian units that have suffered heavy losses and have been forced to return to Belarus and Russia for reorganization and supplies. “This activity puts even more pressure on the already tense Russian logistics and shows the difficulties that Russia faces in reorganizing its units inside Ukraine.

Britain reiterates that Russia is likely to continue to “compensate for the reduced maneuver” on the ground with massive artillery and missile strikes, and believes that focusing on the attack in Donetsk and Lugansk is “perhaps a tacit acknowledgment that it is struggling to maintain itself.” More than one axis of significant progress.

The Washington-based Institute for War Studies (ISW) believes that the Russians have not stopped attacking Kiev and continue to fight for the most advanced positions in the eastern and western suburbs of the capital.

“It is possible that [Rusia] “It decided to end the previous practice and force the units, which have already suffered devastating losses, to continue future offensive operations (…) instead of concentrating on achieving decisive results,” ISW experts said. “These military decisions are likely to be presented by the Russian authorities as proposals that show Russia’s readiness to engage in a serious ceasefire or peace talks, perhaps to hide the fact that they have acknowledged the failure of their efforts on the Kiev axis. .

As for Russia’s advance on besieged Mariupol, ISW analysts believe their forces are still gaining ground and it is likely that Russian troops have divided the city into two or even three parts. “Some groups of Ukrainian defenders are still defending Mariupol, but the Russians are expected to finish capturing the city in a few days.”

Runners

Three humanitarian corridors were agreed this Wednesday for the evacuation of Mariupol residents by private vehicles from Berdyansk and the cities of Energodar and Melitopol to Zaporozhye, Deputy Prime Minister Irina Vereshchuk said. The convoys can be joined by people with their own transport.

The besieged and bombed Mariupol drew many eyes to the painful situation in which he had been for several weeks. The mayor said the southern city should be completely evacuated, stressing that there are about 160,000 people left in the city, where he reiterates that life is impossible without electricity and heating. Many neighbors were locked in basements for weeks, without food, water or medication.

Civilians have been able to leave Mariupol only in recent days without an agreement to end hostilities on their own or to leave safely, while Kiev accuses Moscow of avoiding a large-scale evacuation operation from the city.

Victims

The total number of victims remains unclear and the real figures are almost higher than known. According to the latest figures from the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, as of February 24, the death toll has risen to 3,039, including 1,179 dead, including 104 minors and 1,860 injured.

These statistics do not include the hundreds of casualties reported in cities such as Mariupol, where local authorities say thousands of people have been killed in the attacks.

Hundreds of thousands of people continue to flee in search of safety. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), more than four million people, mostly women and children, have fled to neighboring countries since the invasion began. The vast majority, more than 2.3 million, left via Poland, but also through other countries that share the border, such as Hungary, Moldova, Romania, Slovakia and Russia.

According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), almost 6.5 million people are internally displaced in Ukraine.

As for estimates of military casualties, there is a significant lack of information and it is also widely available. The Ukrainian military says Russia has lost about 17,300 troops. Moscow last week updated its figures for the first time since March 2, where 1351 Russian soldiers were killed and 3825 wounded. President Vladimir Zelensky announced on March 12 that 1,300 Ukrainian soldiers had been killed during the invasion.

Calculating Russia’s losses, Ukraine says it has destroyed 605 tanks, 1,723 armored vehicles, more than 401 artillery and multiple missile systems (MLSRs), 262 aircraft and helicopters, as well as several ships and drones, among others. . Russia says its armed forces have destroyed 64 Ukrainian military installations in the last 24 hours.

Authorities in Russia have detained 15,108 people during anti-war protests since the start of the offensive, according to OVD-info, an organization that specializes in monitoring and protecting detainees.

Diplomacy and sanctions

Germany has taken the first formal step towards gas rationing. The German government announced this Wednesday the “early warning phase” of a gas emergency plan as a precautionary measure against possible escalation and closure of supplies by Russia, however.

The foreign ministers of Russia and China on Wednesday condemned what they called illegal and counterproductive Western sanctions, Reuters reported, citing a statement from the Russian Foreign Ministry.

“The war will end, but I do not know how. “The threat to our security will not go away,” said Josep Borrell, head of European diplomacy. Andres Gill reports about it.

French President Emmanuel Macron spoke with Putin again on Tuesday. The aim was to organize an evacuation operation of the civilian population from Mariupol in cooperation with Turkey, Greece, humanitarian organizations and the Ukrainian authorities. But after the call, according to the Elysee, there are no conditions for such an operation at this time, and that Putin told the French president that he would consider it.