Day 383 of the invasion of Ukraine. Summary of key events in the last 24 hours:
- Ukrainian command: All Russian attacks on Bakhmut have been repulsed
- Ukraine and Russia claim hundreds of victims of the fighting in Bakhmut over the past 24 hours
- Military expert: The Ukrainian army has destroyed Russian units in Bakhmut, enough for a repeated assault on Kyiv
- The Institute for the Study of War: Russia‘s Bakhmut offensive appears to be faltering
- Russian wives, mothers call on Putin to stop forcing husbands, and sons to join assault groups
- No more men: Russia is also sending female prisoners to the front in Donbas
- HRW raises alarm about children from orphanages in Ukraine
- Moldova announced it had foiled a Russia-linked plot ahead of anti-government protests
- Switzerland decided to scrap 60 air defense systems instead of sending them to Ukraine
Ukrainian command: All Russian attacks on Bakhmut have been repulsed
The situation around Bakhmut remains difficult, but Ukrainian forces are repelling all Russian attempts to capture the city, said the commander of the Ukrainian ground forces, Colonel-General Oleksandr Syrskyi, on Monday, quoted by Reuters.
“The situation around Bakhmut remains difficult. All enemy attempts to capture the city have been repelled with artillery, tanks and other firepower,” Sirsky was quoted as saying on the Telegram messaging platform of the Ukrainian Media Military Center.
Syrskyi added that the Russian mercenary group “Wagner” was “attacking from several directions, trying to break through the defenses of our troops and advance to the central areas of the city.”
Bloody battles
Ukrainian forces are facing relentless Russian attacks on Bakhmut, with both sides reporting mounting enemy casualties, Reuters reports.
Ukrainian forces control the western part of Bakhmut, while the Russian mercenary group “Wagner” – most of the eastern part, with the river Bakhmutka, which runs through the town, marks the front line, according to British intelligence.
“The closer we are to the center of the city, the heavier the fighting… Ukrainians are throwing endless reserves. But we are advancing and we will advance,” Wagner owner Yevgeny Prigozhin said in comments published by his press office.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said late Sunday that his forces had killed more than 1,100 Russian soldiers in the battle for Bakhmut in recent days.
“In less than a week, starting on March 6, we managed to kill more than 1,100 enemy soldiers in the Bakhmut sector alone, which is an irreversible loss for Russia,” Zelensky said in his video address.
Russian forces suffered 1,500 “sanitary losses”, soldiers wounded badly enough to keep them out of action, he added.
The Russian Defense Ministry said earlier in the day that its forces had killed more than 220 Ukrainian servicemen in the past 24 hours in the Donetsk region.
Drones over Russia
The governor of Russia‘s Belgorod region, which borders Ukraine, announced the downing of four missiles by local air defenses on Monday.
According to Vyacheslav Gladkov, there was damage, with at least one person injured and three houses hit by rocket debris.
A “yellow” (high) level of terrorist threat is announced in the Belgorod region. A state of emergency has been introduced in 15 border settlements.
Ukraine and Russia claim hundreds of victims of the fighting in Bakhmut over the past 24 hours
Ukraine and Russia say hundreds of soldiers from each side have died in the fighting at Bakhmut in the past 24 hours.
Ukrainian President Zelensky announced that since March 6, 1,100 Russian soldiers have died and 1,500 have been seriously injured. Three civilians were killed by Russian shelling in Kherson, Ukrainian authorities said.
The foreign minister called on Germany to speed up the delivery of ammunition and start training Ukrainian pilots on Western fighter jets. An EU representative said that the fund for the purchase of weapons for Ukraine could soon be supplemented with 3.5 billion euros. Turkey expressed confidence that the agreement on the export of Ukrainian grain through the Black Sea can be extended after its expiration on March 18.
Moscow indicated that Russian representatives had not yet engaged in negotiations to extend the agreement.
Military expert: The Ukrainian army has destroyed Russian units in Bakhmut, enough for a repeated assault on Kyiv
The Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) have “grinded” in Bakhmut‘s “meat grinder” enough Russian units for another assault on Kyiv, “Defense Express” expert military analyst Ivan Kirichyevsky claims. Russia continues to suffer huge losses inthe Bakhmut direction and, according to the expert, those killed would be enough for the enemy to conduct another strategic offensive operation. Estimates are for 50,000 Russians killed at Bakhmut.
“50 thousand occupiers – killed or wounded and up to 200 tanks. Roughly speaking, if they had not destroyed these troops, the Russians could have used them for a second offensive towards Kyiv. This success, which is now being staked in the planning of the counteroffensive (of the AFU), can be unexpectedly large and swift than we imagine now“, the expert emphasized on the air of Espreso TV.
According to one of Kirichyevsky’s scenarios, there is every reason to assume that the Russians will get stuck in these positions, which they have already managed to conquer for a long time, and the AFU will continue to grind them down. “As long as there is such an opportunity, Bakhmut will be held in an organized manner,” summed up Kirichyevsky.
Despite the assessments of Ukrainian and Western experts, the Russian army does not stop its attempts to conquer Bakhmut. On Sunday, the Ukrainians repelled attacks near the settlements of Minkovka and Orekhovo-Vasilyovka. Orekhovo-Vasilyovka, Bogdanovka, Bakhmut, Chaskov Yar, Kurdyumovka, Druzhba, Mayorsk, New York (in the Donetsk region) were subjected to enemy shelling.
There is concern in the AFU that, due to the shelling of the supply routes to Bakhmut by the Russians, the situation with Debaltsevo from 2015 could be repeated, when all routes for supply and retreat were cut off. However, the Ukrainian army then managed to withdraw, and the units of the Ukrainian Armed Forces were pulled out from there by the current commander of the Ground Forces, Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi.
The Russian offensive against Bakhmut appears to be faltering, the Associated Press reported with reference to the Washington-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW), which analyzed the longest land battle since the start of the war in Ukraine.
The Russian army and units of the private military company “Wagner” continue to carry out ground attacks against the city, but there is no evidence of significant progress, commented the international think-tank.
The analysis quoted the spokesman of the Eastern Group of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Serhiy Cherevaty, as saying that the fighting in the Bakhmut region has been fiercer this week than in previous ones.
Ukrainian troops continue to hold Bakhmut in order to “buy time” to organize a counteroffensive against Russian forces in the region of this city in eastern Ukraine, which Moscow has been trying unsuccessfully to capture since last summer at the cost of heavy losses.
The Institute for the Study of War: Russia‘s Bakhmut offensive appears to be faltering
Russia‘s offensive against Bakhmut appears to be faltering, the Institute for the Study of War said in an analysis of the longest ground battle since the start of the war in Ukraine.
The Russian army and units of the private military company Wagner continue to launch ground attacks on the city, but there are no signs of significant progress, said the Washington-based think tank.
The analysis quoted the spokesman of the Eastern Group of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Serhiy Cherevaty, as saying that the fighting in the Bakhmut region has been fiercer this week than in previous ones. “The real heroes are the defenders who hold the front in the east,” said Ukraine‘s ground forces commander Oleksandr Syrskyi.
“We need to buy time to collect reserves and launch a counteroffensive, which will be very soon,” he added, quoted by the press service of the Ukrainian army.
Ukraine‘s Defense Ministry said the country’s armed forces repelled “more than 100 enemy attacks” in the main combat zones yesterday.
Russian wives, mothers call on Putin to stop forcing husbands, sons to join assault groups
A group of Russian wives and mothers have called on President Vladimir Putin to stop sending their husbands and sons “to the slaughter” by forcing them to join assault groups without adequate training or supplies, CNN reported.
Independent Russian Telegram channel SOTA shared a video in which women said their loved ones had been “forced to join assault groups” at the beginning of March despite having just four days training since their mobilization in September. The video shows the women holding a sign in Russian that reads, “580 Separate Howitzer Artillery Division,” dated March 11, 2023.
One woman in the recording said: “My husband… is located on the line of contact with the enemy.”
“Our mobilized [men] are being sent like lambs to the slaughter to storm fortified areas, five at a time, against 100 heavily armed enemy men,” she continued.
“They are prepared to serve their homeland but according to the specialization they’ve trained for, not as storm troopers. We ask that you pull back our guys from the line of contact and provide the artillerymen with artillery and ammunition,” she said as quoted by CNN.
CNN could not independently verify the claims made by the group of women in the video.
According to CNN, Russia‘s move to send hundreds of thousands to fight on the battlefields of Ukraine has generated dissent and protest and prompted many Russians, young men in particular, to flee the country.
“We ran away from Russia because we want to live. We are afraid that we can be sent to Ukraine,” said one man who asked not to be identified.
Families of drafted Russian men have criticized the mobilization, saying it is beset by problems such as discipline issues and lack of leadership from mid-ranking officers, non-existent training as well as logistical difficulties like insufficient uniforms, poor food and a lack of medical supplies.
Meanwhile, Asia Times recently reported that Russian success in Ukraine would align with China’s goals of reshaping global politics and power and could help facilitate China’s own rise as an economic and military leader.
In the backdrop of China’s goals of reshaping global politics and power that would bolster its superpower status, Beijing might arm up Russia‘s war, wrote Michael A Allen, Professor of Political Science, Boise State University in Asia Times.
In February 2022, Chinese President Xi Jinping met with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Winter Olympics in Beijing. They issued a joint document calling for reshaping global politics.
The lengthy statement details shared values and a vision for a world without the United States as a major leader, and where China and Russia gain more control and influence.
No more men: Russia is also sending female prisoners to the front in Donbas
In order to make up for the losses in manpower on the Donbas front, the Russian occupiers last week transferred a trainload of prisoners. This was announced by the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) on Facebook.
It is noted that amid the heavy losses of personnel in the war, the invaders are using alternative sources to replenish their personnel.
“So, for example, last week a train with wagons with bars was moving towards the Donetsk region. Female prisoners were transported in one of the wagons,” reports the General Staff.
HRW raises alarm about children from orphanages in Ukraine
Russia‘s invasion of Ukraine has had “devastating” consequences for children placed in homes, with thousands of them transferred to the occupied territories or to Russia, said Human Rights Watch (HRW).
In a report released today, the rights group also said the war had highlighted the urgent need for reforms in Ukraine, where before the invasion there were more than 105,000 children in institutions – the largest number in Europe after Russia.
“This brutal war has starkly shown the need to end the dangers facing institutionalized children,” said Bill van Esveld, associate director of children’s rights at the New York-based organization.
“The return of children who were illegally taken by Russian forces must be an international priority,” he added.
The report said at least several thousand children were transferred to Russia or the occupied territories.
It adds that 100 institutions, which housed more than 32,000 children before 2022, are now located in territories under Russian occupation.
For almost two decades, Ukraine has been trying to reform the system, but the number of children’s institutions has only increased – from 663 in 2015 to 727 in 2022, the report said.
Many more children will be orphaned or separated from their parents as a result of the war.
In a report released today, the rights group also said the war had highlighted the urgent need for reforms in Ukraine, where before the invasion there were more than 105,000 children in institutions – the largest number in Europe after Russia.
The report said at least several thousand children were transferred to Russia or the occupied territories.
It adds that 100 institutions, which housed more than 32,000 children before 2022, are now located in territories under Russian occupation.
For almost two decades, Ukraine has been trying to reform the system, but the number of children’s institutions has only increased – from 663 in 2015 to 727 in 2022, the report said.
Many more children will be orphaned or separated from their parents as a result of the war.
“Children are placed in new institutions, including children whose parents have been killed and wounded, as well as children whose parents have experienced mental crises as a result of the war,” the watchdog said.
The 55-page report highlighted other problems, including psychological trauma for the displaced children, as well as neglect and inadequate care due to a lack of guardians.
“Many children in institutions have had to hide for weeks since the bombing in basements without electricity or running water, including children with disabilities,” the report said.
“A group of children from an institution in Mariupol did not speak for four days after being evacuated to Lviv, in March 2022.”
A two-year-old boy from an institution for disabled children in the central city of Kropyvnytskyi “was in a basement for eight weeks” and when he was evacuated, he “smelled like dirt“, an educator in Lviv told HRW.
The monitor also said that thousands of children from institutions have been displaced abroad and some of them remain unaccounted for.
Moldova announced it had foiled a Russia-linked plot ahead of anti-government protests
Moldovan police said Sunday they had arrested a group of men with ties to Russia who planned to cause trouble during anti-government protests in Moldova, Politico reported.
The arrests come just days after the White House warned that Moscow was trying to “weaken the Moldovan government“.
Moldova has faced increasing political pressure from Moscow since Russia‘s invasion of Ukraine. Moldova, which is led by pro-Western President Maia Sandu, was granted EU candidate status in June last year.
Last month, Sandu said the Kremlin was planning a coup in Moldova.
Moldovan police chief Viorel Cernauteanu revealed on Sunday that 50 to 100 people were involved in the plot, each of whom would have been paid up to $10,000 to participate in the anti-government demonstrations.
Moldovan police said they were able to foil the plot on Saturday, which led to the arrest of seven people after an undercover agent infiltrated the group. “The information about the participation of groups from Russia was confirmed, including by our undercover agent, who contacted the person from Moscow with the pseudonym ‘Main Sandu’ sent to Chisinau to give the necessary instructions,” Viorel Cernauteanu was quoted as saying by the Moldovan news agency MOLDPRESS and BTA.
“This is a person with dual citizenship, Moldovan and Russian, who has repeatedly changed his name. He came to Chisinau on March 9 to give instructions on further actions. After follow-up actions, specifically video recordings, the law enforcement officers found out about the infiltration of ten groups – each of which has 5-10 people, with certain signs – leading the destabilizing actions, with a reward of about 10,000 dollars per person,” Cernauteanu added.
The head of the Moldovan police said that it had found evidence of communication between destructive groups and prominent opposition figures. “If necessary, (oppositionists) should have organized legal, material assistance, lawyers, etc.,” he explained.
The recent wave of anti-government protests was organized by the People’s Movement group, which is backed by the small pro-Kremlin party SOR.
Thousands of people gathered in Chisinau on Sunday, with demonstrators criticizing the pro-European government for sharply rising living costs, the Guardian reported.
“Russian players, some linked to Russian intelligence, are trying to organize and use protests in Moldova as a basis to foment rebellion against the Moldovan government,” US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby warned on Friday. He added that the aim was probably for Moscow to install a pro-Kremlin administration.
Switzerland decided to scrap 60 air defense systems instead of sending them to Ukraine
Switzerland could send 60 British Rapier air defense systems to Ukraine. Instead, however, it decided to destroy them, reports the local newspaper NZZ.
The publication cites data from Armasuisse, according to which the first batch of Rapiers has already been dismantled. Three more to come.
“All systems are planned to be dismantled and disposed of,” said Armasuisse spokesman Kai-Gunnar Sievert said.
Rapier – how the air defense system could help Ukraine
The Swiss Army purchased the Rapier in the 1980s. The device includes a launch pad and a radar system. In 2007, the federal government put a lot of money into its modernization: the army bought 2,000 modern guided missiles. Now they are also being thrown away. Because in 2022 Switzerland has quietly decommissioned the Rapier.
“Missiles are old, but not completely obsolete,” insists Peter Schneider, former editor-in-chief of the military publication Allgemeine Schweizerische Militaerzeitschrift (ASMZ).
He recalled that Rapiers were installed in the British capital during the 2012 London Olympics.
“They can be used very well against low-flying targets like drones,” says the military expert.
We remind you that the Iranian Shahed drones are among the most effective weapons of the Russian army in the war against Ukraine.
Rapier could also help the Ukrainians against fighter jets and helicopters. Schneider assures that through British air defense systems, Ukraine could protect its civilian infrastructure.
How Switzerland could provide Rapier to Ukraine
The scrapping is causing an uproar among security professionals.
“It is absurd to dump defensive weapons in Switzerland,” said François Lapointe of the Green Liberal Party, which supports providing military aid to Ukraine.
The Deputy Chairman of the Committee on Security Policy points out that Switzerland’s neutrality does not prohibit the sending of Rapier to Ukraine. The reason is that the air defense system is manufactured in Great Britain. Missiles have completely different rules than Swiss guns.
According to a 2006 decision by the Federal Council, foreign systems that have been decommissioned must be sold back to the country of origin as a top priority. And as the Federal Council explicitly emphasizes in its decision, this must be done “without conditions“. That is, Switzerland could not demand a ban on re-exports to Ukraine.
This special regime for decommissioned foreign weapons was applied to the sale of Leopard tanks to Germany. In 2010, Switzerland sold more than 40 Leopards without attaching conditions. As an investigation by Radio SRF showed, Berlin transferred some of these tanks to other NATO countries last summer.
“Theoretically, the resale of the Rapier without conditions would also be legally possible,” confirms the representative of the “Swiss People’s Party” Mauro Tuena.
However, according to him, it would be wrong for the chairman of the Commission on Security Policy to return the weapons to the British without conditions.
“From the point of view of the policy of neutrality, such a sale would be difficult at such a time,” he says.
Scrapping in secret
The fact is that Bern did not receive a corresponding request from London. The federal government decided to scrap the Rapier back in 2019 and never asked Britain if it was interested in getting the systems back – even after the outbreak of war, Armaswiss confirmed.
“It is not usual for Switzerland to actively offer decommissioned military systems for sale,” says Kai-Gunnar Sievert.
However, Franziska Roth of the Social Democratic Party disagrees.
“Switzerland should have at least asked Britain if these weapons were still wanted. I’m surprised they didn’t look overseas.“
“In the interest of transparency, information about the manufacturer would certainly be important,” insists Maja Riniker from “FDP.Die Liberalen”. “How are the Brits supposed to know what Switzerland plans to decommission in the next few years?“
Britain retired its Rapier in 2021. All missiles were destroyed before war broke out. This decision caused criticism in the kingdom after 02/24/2022, as there is no doubt that the air defense systems would prove invaluable to the Ukrainians.
In the coming years, Switzerland will decommission many foreign weapons systems. Among them – 248 M113 infantry fighting vehicles and over 100 M109 artillery guns. Both systems are American-made. They are currently on the front line in Ukraine.
Under current law, Switzerland can return them to the US without any conditions. Washington is likely to send a request to Bern to avoid the Rapier scenario.
However, it is too late for British air defense systems. The scrap press is waiting for them.
“War is not in our genes”
In an interview with NZZ on Sunday, Alain Berset, the president of Switzerland, said it was more important than ever for his country to maintain strict neutrality.
“Swiss weapons should not be used in war. As far as Switzerland is concerned, war is not in our genes,” he assured.
The president condemned Swiss politicians who are calling for the abandonment of the policy of strict neutrality because of the war in Ukraine. According to him, the conflict should end as soon as possible through negotiations.
Source: www.novinite.com