Russian forces in Ukraine appear to have shifted their focus from a ground offensive targeting kyiv to prioritize what Moscow calls the liberation of the disputed Donbass region as the conflict enters the second month.
Sergei Rudskoi, a top general, suggested a drastically reduced “primary objective” of controlling Donbass, an eastern region already partly held by Russian proxies. (AP)
Saturday March 26, 2022
Russia downsizes targets in Ukraine conflict
Russia has signaled it may backtrack on its offensive goals to focus on eastern Ukraine after failing to break the nation’s resistance in a month of fighting.
The possible change came ahead of a planned meeting by US President Joe Biden with Ukrainian refugees in Poland and talks with his Polish counterpart Andrzej Duda in Warsaw before he delivers a speech on ‘brutal war’, the court said. White House.
Russian President Vladimir Putin had ordered the February offensive to destroy Ukraine’s military and overthrow pro-Western President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, placing the country in the grip of Russia.
But Sergei Rudskoi, a top general, suggested a drastically reduced “primary objective” of controlling Donbass, an eastern region already partly held by Russian proxies.
Ukrainian president calls for ‘meaningful…equitable’ talks
The Ukrainian president said negotiations with Russia were necessary, but should be results-oriented and fair for Ukrainians.
“The conversation is necessary: meaningful. Urgent. Fair. For the result, not for the delay,” Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a statement on Telegram.
“Ukrainian sovereignty must be guaranteed. The territorial integrity of Ukraine must be guaranteed. In other words, the conditions must be fair. And the Ukrainian people will not accept others,” he added.
Ukrainian forces counter Russian troops near kyiv
The battle lines near kyiv have been frozen for weeks with two main Russian armored columns pinned down northwest and east of the capital.
A British intelligence report described a Ukrainian counter-offensive that had pushed the Russians back east.
Northwest of the capital, Ukrainian forces are trying to surround Russian troops in the suburbs of Irpin, Bucha and Hostomel, reduced to ruins by heavy fighting.
The cities of Chernihiv, Kharkiv and Sumy to the north and east of kyiv also suffered devastating bombardments. Chernihiv was effectively surrounded by Russian forces, its governor said.
Biden calls on the ‘free world’ to oppose Putin
US President Joe Biden will say in a speech in Poland that the ‘free world’ opposes Russia’s offensive in Ukraine and that there is unity among major economies on the need to stop Vladimir Putin, a said the White House.
After three days of emergency meetings with G7, European Council and NATO allies, and a visit with US troops to Poland, Biden will meet with Polish President Andrzej Duda.
Biden has vowed to restore democracy at home and unite democracies abroad to take on autocrats including Russian President and Chinese leader Xi Jinping.
US to sanction companies supplying technology to Russian military and intelligence services – Wall Street Journal pic.twitter.com/BKxpBAeGFd
— TRT World Now (@TRTWorldNow) March 25, 2022
“The sovereignty of Ukraine must be guaranteed” — Zelenskyy
The Ukrainian president said negotiations with Russia were necessary, but should be results-oriented and fair for Ukrainians.
“The conversation is necessary: meaningful. Urgent. Fair. For the result, not for the delay,” Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a statement on Telegram.
“Ukrainian sovereignty must be guaranteed. The territorial integrity of Ukraine must be guaranteed.
In other words, the conditions must be fair. And the Ukrainian people will not accept any more,” he added.
UK to provide Ukraine with $2.6 million worth of food
Britain has said it will fund $2.6 million worth of vital food supplies for areas of Ukraine that are surrounded by Russian forces following a direct request from the Ukrainian government.
Britain said around 25 trucks loaded with dry food, canned food and water will be transported by road and rail from warehouses in Poland and Slovakia to the most at-risk Ukrainian towns.
“The need on the ground in Ukraine is clear, with so many people in cordoned off areas trapped in basements without access to food or water,” said Alice Hooper, UK Foreign Office humanitarian adviser. , in a press release.
Around 7,330 people have been evacuated from humanitarian corridors
Thousands of Ukrainians have been evacuated to safe areas through two humanitarian corridors, according to the country’s deputy prime minister.
Iryna Vereshchuk said fighting against Russian forces continued and two humanitarian corridors had been opened in Mariupol and Melitopol with 7,331 residents evacuated.
Vereshchuk said authorities were working on humanitarian convoys as 80 tons of food, medicine and hygiene were sent to Melitopol and Berdyansk.
US prepares to sanction Russian companies that help Moscow – report
The Biden administration is preparing sanctions targeting Russian companies it says supply goods and services to Moscow’s military and intelligence services, The Wall Street Journal reported.
US Treasury Department sanctions could be announced as early as next week, the report said, citing US officials. The Treasury Department declined to comment on the report.
Most of the companies expected to face the reported sanctions – including Serniya Engineering and equipment maker Sertal – were previously added to a US list banning exports of sensitive technology to them, according to the report.
Oil prices and stocks rise after EU snubbed Russia ban
Crude prices were higher and stock markets made decent gains after European countries decided not to ban imports of Russian oil following its assault on Ukraine – but Germany said it reduce its energy purchases from Moscow.
European stocks, which had been firmly higher earlier in the session, ended the day with only modest gains, but on Wall Street, the Dow Jones and S&P 500 emerged from a midday dip to gain all two less than 1% at the close.
“It looks like the commodity price boom has taken a breather and that has allowed investors to reinvest in equities,” said Edward Moya of OANDA.
However, analysts say unstable commodity prices such as oil were keeping markets volatile, while investors will remain cautious about the economic impact of the conflict in Ukraine, which is now entering its second month.
A German orchestra supports its Greek-Russian conductor
Germany’s SWR Symphony Orchestra said it would continue to work with Greek-Russian conductor Teodor Currentzis despite his “problematic” ties to a Russian bank hit by sanctions over the Ukraine assault.
Stuttgart-based SWR radio orchestra said a European tour starting March 27 would go ahead as planned but the program would be changed to feature Russian, German and Ukrainian composers in “an appeal for peace and reconciliation “.
Leading Russian artists working abroad have been pressured to publicly denounce the Russian attack or face losing their jobs. Currentzis, chief conductor of the SWR orchestra since 2018, has not spoken out against Putin.
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Source: TRTWorld and agencies
