In a statement that appeared to point to more limited targets, the Russian Defense Ministry said that the first phase of its operation had been completed and would now focus on the eastern part of Donbass, which has pro-Russian separatist pockets. read more “The combat potential of the Ukrainian Armed Forces has been significantly reduced, which … makes it possible to focus our main efforts on achieving the main goal, the liberation of Donbass,” said Sergei Rudsoi, Russia’s chief of staff. Business Management. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register Rethinking Russia’s goals could make it easier for President Vladimir Putin to claim a life-saving victory, military analysts have said. Moscow has said its goals include the demilitarization of Ukraine. Western officials have dismissed it as an unfounded pretext for a war they say is aimed at overthrowing the Ukrainian government. Faced with fierce resistance, Russian troops were unable to capture any major cities within a month of the invasion of Ukraine. Instead, they have bombed cities, deserted urban areas and evicted a quarter of Ukraine’s 44 million people. More than 3.7 million of them have fled abroad, half to neighboring Poland, where US President Joe Biden met with troops from the 82nd Airborne Division of the US Army who were reinforcing the east side of the NATO alliance. read more “Hundreds of thousands of people are being cut off from aid by Russian forces and are being besieged in places like Mariupol,” Biden said, referring to the besieged southeastern port. “It’s like something out of a science fiction movie.” The battle lines near Kyiv have been frozen for weeks with two main Russian armored columns glued northwest and east of the capital. A British intelligence report described a Ukrainian counterattack that had pushed the Russians to the east. “Ukrainian counterattacks and Russian forces retreating to oversupply supply lines have allowed Ukraine to retake cities and defenses up to 35 km east of Kiev,” the report said. Both the United States and Britain have provided arms to Ukraine. “UNPREPARED ARMIES” The Russian Defense Ministry announced that 1,351 Russian soldiers were killed and 3,825 wounded, Interfax news agency reported. Ukraine says 15,000 Russian soldiers have been killed. Volodymyr Borysenko, mayor of Boryspol, an eastern suburb where Kiev’s main airport is located, said 20,000 civilians had been evacuated in response to a clearing call for Ukrainian troops to retaliate. Ukrainian forces recaptured a nearby village the day before and would have moved on but stopped to avoid endangering civilians, Borisenko said. On the other main front outside Kyiv, northwest of the capital, Ukrainian forces are trying to encircle Russian troops in the suburbs of Irpin, Bucha and Hostomel, which have been devastated by heavy fighting. A member of Ukraine uses binoculars at a front line location in the North Kiev region, Ukraine, March 24, 2022. REUTERS / Gleb Garanich read more In Bucha, 25 km (15 miles) northwest of Kiev, a small group of Ukrainian troops armed with anti-tank missiles dug foxes. A Ukrainian soldier who identified himself only as Andriy told Reuters that he had been recruited as soon as the invasion began. “I told my wife to grab the children and hide in the basement, and I went to the camp and entered my unit immediately,” he said. In the Vinnytsia region west of Kiev, the Ukrainian Air Force said that Russian cruise missiles hit several buildings as they tried to hit the Air Force command in the area. The United Nations has said it has confirmed 1,081 civilian deaths and 1,707 injuries in Ukraine since the February 24 invasion, adding that the actual toll is likely to be higher. Mariupol, a city of 400,000 before the war, was one of the worst hit by the Russian bombing. Tens of thousands of people are believed to still be trapped with little access to food, electricity or heat. Local officials, citing witnesses, said they estimated that 300 people had been killed in the March 16 bombing of a theater in Mariupol. The city council had not previously provided an account and made it clear that an exact number could not be determined after the incident. Russia has denied that it bombed the theater. read more The governor of Ukraine’s Donetsk region, Pavlo Kirilenko, said Ukrainian forces were still in control of Mariupol. Some 65,000 people had fled, but attempts to organize mass evacuations as part of the truce had largely failed. read more The eastern cities of Chernihiv, Kharkiv and Sumy have also been bombed. Chernihiv was effectively surrounded by Russian forces, his governor said. CULTURE WAR? Weeks of ongoing peace talks have failed to make significant progress. In a video speech late Friday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said resistance from his troops had dealt “severe blows” to Russia. “Our defenders are leading the Russian leadership to a simple and logical idea: we must speak, we must speak meaningfully, urgently and fairly,” Zelensky said. Western sanctions have isolated Russia from world trade. President Vladimir Putin has accused the West of trying to “annul” Russian culture, including composers Pyotr Tchaikovsky and Sergei Rachmaninov, by comparing it to the actions of Nazi Germany in the 1930s. China is the largest power that has not condemned the Russian invasion and has repeatedly stated its opposition to sanctions. But at the first big sign that Western sanctions on Moscow are hurting investment from China, sources said state-owned Sinopec Group, Asia’s largest oil refining company, had cut off talks on investing in petrochemicals and trading in Russian natural gas. gas. read more “The companies will strictly follow Beijing’s foreign policy in this crisis,” said a senior Chinese state-owned oil company. “There is no room for companies to take new investment initiatives.” Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register Report by a Reuters journalist in Mariupol, Natalia Zinets and Maria Starkova in Lviv and Reuters offices worldwide. Written by Peter Graff, Nick Macfie and Rami Ayyub. Editing by Angus MacSwan, Andrew Cawthorne, Frances Kerry and Cynthia Osterman Our role models: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
