Ukraine Daily

Sunday, March 20

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Russia’s war against Ukraine

Russian troops halt convoy of buses traveling to evacuate residents of Mariupol. According to the Berdyansk city council, the convoy was heading to Berdyansk from Zaporizhzhia to pick up fleeing Mariupol residents and was stopped by Russian occupying forces near the village of Azovske, three kilometers from Berdyansk. The convoy was not allowed to enter the city limits and the drivers were not allowed to spend the night.

71 children evacuated abroad from orphanage in Sumy. Sumy Governor Dmytro Zhyvytskyi wrote on Facebook on March 19 that they had been sheltered in basements for two weeks before they were able to be evacuated abroad to a safe location. Many of the children have health problems.

AP: Mariupol police officer pleads for help from Biden, Macron in video post. Officer Michail Vershnin, addressed U.S. President Biden and French President Macron directly, asking the two countries to provide Ukraine with modern air defense systems. In the video post, Vershnin says that Mariupol “has been wiped off the face of the earth.”

Ukrainian activists block trucks at Poland-Belarus border, demand halting EU trade with Russia. One of the Ukrainian activists, Iryna Zemlyana, told the Kyiv Independent there were about 200 protesters on the border. She said the line of trucks currently stretches for more than 30 kilometers.

Residents fleeing Mariupol are dying of hunger. Head of Donetsk Military-Civil Administration, Pavlo Kyrylenko, said thousands of Mariupol residents who managed to escape from Russian bombs are starving to death in the occupied Manhushi and Melekin, as Russian occupying forces refuse to provide food and water and to allow safe passage.

Ukraine to receive new batch of weapons from US in coming days. The military expects to receive Stinger air-defense systems, Javelin anti-tank missile systems, and other weapons, according to Oleksiy Danilov, secretary of the National Security and Defense Council.

Read the Kyiv Independent’s report on how Russia throws untrained civilians from occupied Donbas into hot spots of its war in Ukraine.

Ukraine’s anti-corruption agency creates database of potential collaborators. The National Agency on Corruption Prevention created a list of 245 people who might be helping Russia in its war in Ukraine for the State Security Service. Among them are officials of all levels, those who spread Russian propaganda and undermine Ukraine’s defense capabilities and state sovereignty.

US officials confirm that Russia launched hypersonic missiles against Ukraine. Earlier, Russia claimed it used Kinzhal missiles against an ammunition warehouse in western Ukraine. Ukraine hasn’t confirmed the type of the missile used. Unnamed U.S. officials confirmed to CNN that Russia launched hypersonic missiles against Ukraine, the first known use of such missiles in combat.

Finance minister: Ukraine’s economy down by third. About 30% of Ukraine’s economy “stopped functioning” since the beginning of Russia’s invasion on Feb. 24, according to Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko. His estimation is based on the decreasing tax revenue, he said.

The human cost of Russia’s war

UN: At least 847 civilians, including 64 children, killed in Ukraine since Russia’s all-out invasion began on Feb. 24. According to the United Nations office on human rights, there have been 2,246 civilian casualties, 847 killed and 1,399 injured, since Feb. 24. The UN agency believes that the actual figures are considerably higher since officials have not been able to verify information where intense hostilities have been ongoing.

Three people killed following Russian attacks in Rubizhne. Luhansk Oblast Governor Serhiy Haidai says that 24 houses and apartment buildings were destroyed in Rubizhne and Severodonetsk over the past 24 hours. Seven people were evacuated and three people killed, including two children.

In Kyiv, 228 people, including 4 children, killed since Russia’s all-out invasion. According to the city council, more than 900 citizens, including 16 children, were wounded. Nearly 40 houses, six schools, and four kindergartens were damaged.

AFP: At least 50 Ukrainian soldiers killed by Russian airstrike in Mykolayiv. “At least 50 bodies have been recovered, but we do not know how many others are in the rubble,” a Ukrainian serviceman on the ground, 22-year-old Maxim, told AFP. He said that some 200 soldiers had been sleeping in the barracks when Russian missiles struck the unit on March 18. Authorities have not released any details about the attack.

International response

Australia bans exports of alumina and aluminium ores to Russia. Russia imports 20% of its alumina from Australia. The chemical compound has widespread use in many industries, most significantly in the production of munitions.

Chinese senior official calls sanctions against Russia ‘outrageous.’ According to Vice Foreign Minister Le Yucheng, the measures will only worsen the global economy and hurt ordinary people. He said during a security forum in Beijing that “sanctions cannot solve problems.” Yucheng also acknowledged the Kremlin’s position on stopping NATO’s eastward expansion.

US oilfield service companies Halliburton, Schlumberger suspend new investments to Russia. Halliburton said it immediately suspended future business and will halt its operations in Russia. Schlumberger has halted new investments only, and continues with existing activity in Russian oilfields.

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Today’s Ukraine Daily was brought to you by Asami Terajima, Oleg Sukhov, Natalia Datskevych, Thaisa Semenova, Sergiy Slipchenko, Olena Goncharova, Oleksiy Sorokin, Olga Rudenko, Toma Istomina, Lili Bivings and Brad LaFoy.

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