WITH . – 03/24/2022 18:43 (act. 03/24/2022 18:43)
Kyiv: Russia is increasing air raids. © APA / AFP
According to the Ukrainian military, Russia has intensified the air strikes. Over 250 missions have been registered in the last 24 hours, the Ukrainian General Staff announced on Thursday.
The day before, there were 60 fewer of them. According to the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense, Russian troops were withdrawn in some places ahead of Kiev. Meanwhile, seven escape corridors have been agreed, but not for the besieged city of Mariupol.
Photos from the Kiev region on 03/24/2022
Raids on Kyiv, Chernihiv and Kharkiv
The main targets of the air strikes remain the military and civil infrastructure facilities in the Kiev, Chernihiv and Kharkiv oblasts. Moscow, on the other hand, says it only attacks military targets. In areas occupied by Russian troops, Russia ‘terrorizes’ local residents who are demonstrating against the occupation. Russian National Guard units are deployed to quell such protests. The information cannot be independently verified.
Russian troops withdrew from Kyiv
According to the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense, Russian troops were withdrawn in some places ahead of Kiev. In some cases, the enemy has been pushed more than 70 kilometers, says the spokesman for the ministry, Olexander Motusjanyk. Russia has not abandoned its plans to encircle and capture the capital. Russia has sent more military equipment to Belarus to reinforce the attack on Kyiv. The Ombudsman did not provide any evidence.
According to the Pentagon, the Russian armed forces are also making no progress near the city of Chernihiv, north of Kiev. Russian soldiers are stuck there ten kilometers from the center. In some areas, Russian soldiers have recently withdrawn. “They are even going in the opposite direction, but not much,” explained the representative of the ministry.
Russian armed forces with supply problems
Northeast of Kiev, according to British intelligence services, Ukraine is increasing pressure on the Russian armed forces. They are already struggling with serious problems in terms of supplies and combat morale, according to an update from the UK Ministry of Defense citing intelligence information. Ukrainian forces also successfully counterattacked Russian positions on the outskirts of the capital and were able to retake Makar and Moscow.
According to local police, 294 civilians have been killed in the fighting around Kharkiv in the north-eastern part of the country since the Russian invasion of Ukraine a month ago. There are 15 children among them, officials in the country’s second-largest city said on Telegram.
Taking of Isium rejected as untrue
According to their own accounts, the Russian troops gained “total control” over the beleaguered Ukrainian city of Izyum. It happened on Thursday morning, a spokesman for the Russian Ministry of Defense Igor Konashenkov said in Moscow. The denial appeared immediately: “This is another provocation of the Russian press. They have no choice but to lie about the alleged “victories”, the governor of the Kharkiv region, Oleh Synyhubov, wrote on Thursday in the Telegram news channel. “Izyum is a Ukrainian city. It has been so and it will always be so. Fierce fighting continued, but the Ukrainian armed forces held their positions, emphasized Synyhubov.
The city in eastern Ukraine has been crowded for several days. In the area around Izium, Russian units tried to break through the defensive positions of the Ukrainian armed forces in the villages of Donetsk, Topolske and Kamyanka south of Izium, the sources say. There the fighting continued.
Donetsk region under fire
The vast majority of Ukrainian units are under fire in the Donetsk region. In this area, the Russian army wanted, first of all, to capture the cities of Wierchnoterezke, Marjinka and the city of Mariupol.
According to the authorities, at least four people have died in Russian attacks near the East Ukrainian city of Lugansk. Two children were among the victims, said the Ukrainian governor of the Luhansk region, Serhiy Haidai. Six people were injured during the bombing of the city of Rubishne, northwest of Lugansk. The fear is that the actual death toll is “much higher”.
Allegation: use of phosphorus bombs in Ukraine
Haidai accused the Russian army of dropping phosphorus bombs on Rubishne. Other officials in the region have already made such accusations against Russia in the past few days. The information could not initially be checked by an independent party. “The Russians have problems, they are not making any progress,” said Haidai. “That’s why they started using heavy weapons.” He also reported on Russian attacks on two locations northwest of Lugansk without providing further details.
The report of the Ukrainian general staff also stated that efforts in the Luhansk Oblast were concentrated in the cities of Rubishne with 60,000, Severodonetsk with 100,000. and Popasna with 20 thousand. residents. At Popasna, they tried to go further into the city with the support of artillery, but they failed.
No escape corridor for Mariupol on Thursday
Ukraine apparently was unable to negotiate an escape corridor from the center of the beleaguered city of Mariupol on Thursday. Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Wierieszczuk said, just like on Wednesday, that Mariupol residents have the opportunity to travel to Berdiansk. The city is located approximately 85 kilometers west of Mariupol. Especially in Mariupol, the situation is particularly difficult for the population. To ensure the safety of civilians from other fighting areas, seven escape corridors have been agreed, says Wereshtschuk. It was nine o’clock on Wednesday.
According to estimates by the US Department of Defense, a month after the start of the war, the Russian armed forces have still not achieved air sovereignty. The airspace is still in question. The US and its allies have worked to provide Ukrainians with more long-range anti-aircraft systems. Ukrainians use the current systems “very effectively”. This is one of the reasons “why we are seeing the rather risk-averse behavior of some Russian pilots.”
At least 1,000 civilians died in the war in Ukraine
According to the UN, more than 1,000 civilians died in the war in Ukraine. The UN Human Rights Office reported that at least 1,035 civilians have died since the fighting began on February 24. 1,650 were injured. The UN General Assembly on Thursday adopted by a large majority a resolution calling for “an immediate cessation of hostilities by the Russian Federation against Ukraine, in particular all attacks against civilians and civilian facilities.” 140 countries in the largest UN body with 193 members voted in favor of the text submitted by Ukraine on Thursday. 38 countries abstained, only 5 countries voted against the resolution, which was clearly aimed at Russia: in addition to the Moscow aggressor, there were Syria, Belarus, North Korea and Eritrea.