Ukraine: Russian occupiers flee Crimea
11:37 am: The Russian occupiers of Crimea are said to have started an evacuation, a spokesman for the Ukrainian military intelligence service announced on Friday evening. Accordingly, the occupiers deployed by the Kremlin would Sell real estate and take their families away.
Crimean residents heard a radio warning on March 22 urging them to prepare to leave Crimea, the intelligence spokesman told Ukraine’s Freedom TV channel.
Zelenskyj: We cannot start a counter-offensive yet
11:12 a.m.: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has described the military situation in the embattled east of his country as “not good”. The reason is the “lack of ammunition,” said Selenskyj in an interview with the Japanese daily “Yomiuri Shimbun” published on Saturday. About the beginning of a possible counter-offensive he said: “We can’t start yet.” Without tanks and artillery one could not send “brave soldiers” to the front.
According to the newspaper, Selenskyj made the serious shortage of weapons clear. “We are waiting for ammunition to arrive from our partners,” he said, adding that the Russian military fires three times more ammunition than Ukrainian forces every day. The newspaper conducted the interview on March 23 on the train, when Zelenskyy was on his way back to the capital Kiev after visiting the southern region of Cherson close to the front. He had previously visited the eastern regions of Donetsk and Kharkiv.
London: Russian attack on Bakhmut almost halts
10:34 am: According to British intelligence services, the Russian attack on the eastern Ukrainian town of Bakhmut has largely come to a standstill. “This is probably mainly a result of the significant losses suffered by Russian forces,” the British Ministry of Defense said on Saturday. “The situation of the Russians has probably also worsened due to the tensions between the Russian Ministry of Defense and the Wagner Group, both of which are deployed on this front section.” Ukraine also suffered heavy losses in the month-long battle for Bakhmut, it was emphasized in London.
Russia’s focus is now more on the city of Avdiivka further south and on the front near Kreminna and Swatowe north of Bakhmut. The Russians wanted to stabilize the front line there, it was said. This indicates that Russian troops are generally repositioning themselves more defensively after attempts at a major offensive have failed to produce “conclusive results” since January.
Ukraine has denied arbitrary executions of prisoners of war
5:55 a.m.: Ukraine has denied UN allegations that, like Russia, it arbitrarily executed prisoners of war without trial. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Kiev thanked the UN mission to monitor human rights in Ukraine on Friday for their investigations, but at the same time warned against any attempt “that could be interpreted as equating the victim with the aggressor”. It is “unacceptable” to blame the “victim of the aggression”.
The head of the UN mission to monitor human rights in Ukraine, Matilda Bogner, said at a press conference in Kiev on Friday that both sides in the Ukraine war had executed prisoners without trial or charge. In addition, Ukrainian and Russian prisoners of war were mistreated. Ukrainian human rights envoy Dmitro Lubinets told Telegram that he was “surprised” by the UN’s allegations against his country. He was not informed in advance about the findings.
Lubinez did not directly reject the allegations. However, he emphasized that he now wanted “to know the facts and the undeniable arguments” on which the conclusions of the UN mission were based.
Selenskyj relies on the World Bank for reconstruction
5:50 a.m.: The Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj relies on the support of the World Bank for the reconstruction of the country destroyed by the Russian war of aggression. Promising new programs were discussed at a meeting with representatives of the development bank, Zelensky said in his video message, which was broadcast every evening in Kiev on Friday. “Of course we have focused on reconstruction – and everything that needs to be done in the many Ukrainian towns and villages that have suffered from the occupier’s terrorist attacks,” he said.
“Houses, social infrastructure, the economic basis of life – all of this must be rebuilt,” said Zelenskyj. At the same time, he once again condemned the severe destruction caused by the Russian attacks, which began with the invasion on February 24, 2022. In the video, Zelenskyj also acknowledged the fight of the defenders of Ukraine for the country and praised the fact that many young people are pursuing an officer’s career.
The war in Ukraine caused damage of at least 135 billion US dollars (around 125 billion euros) within the first year alone. This emerges from a joint report by the Ukrainian government, the World Bank and the European Commission. The financial losses caused by the war during this period are given as 290 billion US dollars (around 269 billion euros). The cost of Ukraine’s reconstruction and recovery was estimated at at least US$411 billion as of February 24, 2023.
War in Ukraine reduces fertilizer consumption
Saturday, March 25, 2023, 5:00 a.m.: High gas prices and the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine have led to falling fertilizer sales in Germany. This comes from data from the Federal Statistical Office. This year, too, farmers have been reluctant to buy fertilizers, as reported by Munich-based Baywa, Germany’s largest agricultural trader. One possible consequence is poorer harvests.
The three most important types of fertilizer are nitrogen (N), phosphate (P) and potassium (K), which are available in different concentrations and mixtures in the agricultural trade. Nitrogen is the staple food for plants and quantitatively the most important fertilizer. According to the Federal Statistical Office, sales fell by 13 percent to 1.1 million tons in the 2021/22 marketing year.
In the case of phosphate fertilizers, the Wiesbaden authority reported a 40 percent drop in sales to almost 115,000 tons. For potash it was 306,000 tons, a drop of 31 percent.
The farmers, who stocked up last year as a precautionary measure in anticipation of permanently high fertilizer prices, are now in an unpleasant situation. “Producer earnings for grain and oilseeds have fallen steadily since the beginning of the year,” according to the Bavarian Farmers’ Association. The wheat price in Bavaria is currently between 230 and 250 euros per ton. “Many farmers are now faced with the situation of producing with very expensive fertilizer at greatly reduced grain prices.”
British intelligence: Russia lacks military trainers
Friday, March 24, 9:30 a.m.: According to British intelligence experts, the Russian army is finding it increasingly difficult to train its recruits. This emerges from the daily update of the London Ministry of Defense on the Ukraine war on Friday. Accordingly, 1,000 soldiers were recently transferred back to Ukraine after exercises in a camp in Belarus.
“Although no new troop transfers there have been identified, Russia has most likely left the tent camp in place, indicating that they are continuing the exercise program,” the British experts said.
The fact that Russia is relying on the far less experienced Belarusian army to train its personnel is an indication that the war in Ukraine has upset the Russian training program. Russian trainers are largely deployed in combat in Ukraine. However, the indirect support from Belarus is probably also seen as an important political signal in Moscow.
Kiev: Russians launch cleanup operation in Kherson region
6:47 p.m.: According to the Ukrainian General Staff, Russian troops and security services have started so-called cleansing operations among the population on the banks of the Dnipro they control in the southern Ukrainian region of Cherson. The search for citizens with pro-Ukrainian attitudes, military pensioners and employees of Ukrainian law enforcement agencies has begun in various settlements there, the General Staff in Kiev announced on Thursday in its daily situation report on Facebook.
In contrast, a large-scale raid took place in the Nowa Kachowka settlement. Large quantities of household appliances, jewelery and mobile phones were “confiscated” from the civilian population. After that, the Russian units disappeared from the area. The information could not be independently verified.
During a Ukrainian offensive in the fall, the Russian military retreated from the west bank of the Dnipro near Cherson. Since then, Russian troops have massively expanded their defense lines on the south bank of the river.
Report: Wagner boss Prigozhin wants to withdraw his mercenaries from the Ukraine
5:03 p.m.: Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin plans to end the combat operations of his mercenaries in Ukraine. This is reported to the US medium “Bloomberg” by people familiar with the situation. According to the report, Prigozhin wants to direct the focus of his mercenaries back to operations in Africa after they have not achieved any great success in Ukraine.
Previously, Prigozhin had already said that his mercenaries would have to be “reorganized and reduced” after the Battle of Bakhmut. The Wagner boss has been complaining for weeks that the fighters are no longer being supplied with ammunition and other supplies by the Russian Defense Ministry. Despite considerable losses, the Wagner mercenaries have still not been able to win the month-long battle for Bachmut.
Ukraine receives first MiG-29 fighter jets from the west
3:29 p.m.: Slovakia has handed over the first four of its 13 promised Soviet MiG-29 fighter jets to Ukraine. Defense Minister Jaroslav Nad announced this on Facebook on Thursday. His spokeswoman confirmed the information to the German Press Agency.
The planes were transported from Slovakia to Ukraine by Ukrainian pilots in cooperation with the Slovak Air Force, Minister Nad explained, adding: “I would like to thank all the units involved for the fantastic work. Slovakia is on the right side and with this gesture we have inscribed ourselves in modern world history in capital letters when it comes to timely assistance and sincere solidarity.”
Hungary would not arrest Putin on its territory
2:02 p.m.: Hungary would not arrest Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose arrest was warranted by the International Criminal Court (ICC), on its territory. This was stated by Chancellor Gergely Gulyas at a press conference in Budapest on Thursday. “Hungary never proclaimed the ICC statute,” he said. It contradicts the Hungarian constitution. The President was therefore unable to countersign it, he added.
The ICC in The Hague issued an arrest warrant against Putin for war crimes in Ukraine last Friday. Hungary’s right-wing populist Prime Minister Viktor Orban maintains a relatively good relationship with the Kremlin ruler.
