- Britain says some Russian units are leaving Ukraine to regroup
- The US is looking for a major offensive elsewhere
- “The Ukrainians are not naive,” says Zelenskyj
Lviv, Ukraine/Kyiv Region, March 30 – Russian forces bombed a besieged city in northern Ukraine on Wednesday, a day after promising to limit operations there, and Kyiv and its western allies called a retreat near the capital back as a ruse to regroup from invaders who have taken heavy casualties.
Nearly five weeks after an invasion in which it failed to capture major cities, Russia said it would scale back operations near Kyiv and the northern city of Chernihiv “to boost mutual trust” for peace talks.
However, Chernihiv Mayor Vladyslav Astroshenko said the Russian bombardment had only intensified over the past 24 hours, trapping more than 100,000 people in the city with just enough food and medical supplies to last about another week.
“This is another confirmation that Russia always lies,” he told CNN in an interview. “They have actually upped the intensity of the strikes,” with “a colossal mortar attack in central Chernihiv” on Wednesday, injuring 25 civilians. Reuters could not immediately verify the situation there.
In an overnight address, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy made it clear that he did not take anything from Moscow at face value.
“Ukrainians are not naive people,” he said. “The Ukrainians have already learned in these 34 days of invasion and in the last eight years of the war in Donbass that they can only trust in a concrete result.”
Zelenskyi adviser Oleksiy Arestovych said Moscow is moving some forces from northern Ukraine to the east, where it is attempting to encircle the main Ukrainian force there. Some Russians would stay behind near Kyiv to tie down Ukrainian forces, he said.
Russian forces also hit industrial plants in western Ukraine with three strikes overnight, a regional governor said.
Over the past week, Ukrainian forces have made significant gains, retaking towns and villages on the outskirts of Kyiv, breaking the siege on the eastern city of Sumy and pushing back Russian forces in the southwest.
The Pentagon said Russia had begun withdrawing very small numbers of troops from positions around Kyiv, describing the move as a repositioning rather than a withdrawal.
“We should all be prepared to watch for a major offensive against other areas of Ukraine,” spokesman John Kirby said in a news conference. “It doesn’t mean that the threat to Kyiv is over.”
Britain’s Defense Ministry said Moscow was being forced to move troops from near Kyiv to Russia and Belarus to resupply and reorganize after heavy casualties. Russia is likely to compensate for its reduced ground maneuverability with mass artillery and missile attacks, it added.
Tacit Admission
Russia says it is conducting a “special operation” to disarm and “denazify” its neighbor. Western countries say Moscow launched an unprovoked invasion that included a full-scale attack on the capital that was repelled by fierce Ukrainian defenses.
Moscow has said in recent days that its main focus is now on south-eastern Ukraine, a region called Donbass, where it is trying to seize more territory to hand over to separatists it has supported since 2014.
A destroyed Russian tank is seen amid the Russian attack on Ukraine in the town of Trostianets in the Sumy region, Ukraine, March 28, 2022. Picture taken March 28, 2022. REUTERS/Oleg Pereverzev
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The area includes Mariupol, a port of 400,000 that was devastated after a month of Russian siege and where the United Nations believes thousands of people may have died.
On Wednesday, Russian forces shelled almost all towns along the frontline separating Ukrainian government-controlled territory from separatist-held areas in the region, the Donetsk governor said, and heavy fighting was reported in Mariupol. Continue reading
The UK Ministry of Defense said in an intelligence briefing that the announcement that Moscow was now focusing on the south-east was “probably a tacit admission that it is struggling to maintain more than one significant axis of advance”.
Around a quarter of Ukrainians have been driven from their homes in the largest attack on a European country since World War II. The United Nations said on Wednesday that the number of refugees leaving the country had risen to over 4 million. More than half of these refugees are children, the rest mostly women.
‘FIND RUBLES’
Russia and Ukraine held their first face-to-face peace talks in nearly three weeks at a palace in Istanbul on Tuesday. Ukraine presented a peace proposal under which it would accept neutral status with international guarantees to protect it from future attacks. The proposal called for a ceasefire and would postpone discussion of Russia’s territorial demands.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Wednesday it was good to have Ukraine’s proposal in writing, but that there was no sign of a breakthrough yet. Russia cannot negotiate over Crimea, which it seized and annexed in 2014, he said. Continue reading
Western sanctions have isolated Russia from world trade to a degree never before achieved for such a large economy. But Russia remains a major supplier of oil and gas to Europe, and Moscow has tried to exert that influence.
Last week Moscow told western buyers of its gas that they would now have to pay in rubles, a demand rejected by the G7 group of industrialized democracies.
On Wednesday, Germany, Russia’s largest gas customer, declared an “early warning” of a possible emergency if Russia were to halt supplies. Continue reading
“Every kilowatt hour counts,” Economics Minister Robert Habeck urged consumers and companies to reduce consumption. The supply is secured for the time being, “nevertheless we have to step up the precautionary measures in order to be prepared for an escalation on the part of Russia”.
Kremlin spokesman Peskov said the switch to paying in rubles will take time and will not be enforced immediately. Russia’s gas monopoly and central bank are expected to present plans for ruble payments on Thursday.
In a social media post, Russian Parliament Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin said Europe should not oppose ruble pricing.
“If you want gasoline, you can find rubles,” he said. Continue reading
Volodin suggested extending the requirement for ruble payments to other exports, such as oil, grain and metals. Peskov called this a good idea that would be explored.
rendition of Natalia Zinets and Gleb Garanich; writing by Peter Graff; Edited by Frank Jack Daniel