Here’s the current situation on Saturday, March 25, 2023:
Conflict
- The United Nations has said it is “deeply concerned” by what it considers a summary execute prisoners war of both Russian and Ukrainian forces on the battlefield.
- Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said Russia wants to create a demilitarized buffer zone around areas of Ukraine it has annexed, which he added may be necessary. deeper into Ukraine if such zones cannot be set.
- An estimated 10,000 Ukrainians, many elderly and disabled, are clinging on life in terrible conditions in and around the besieged city of Bakhmut, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said.
Fight
- Russian forces attack stretching north and south of the front line in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine. Ukrainian military reports recount fierce fighting along the route running from the towns of Lyman to Kupiansk, as well as further south at Avdiivka, on the outskirts of the Russian-controlled city of Donetsk. Both of these regions are the main targets of Russia in its attempt to completely occupy the industrialized Donbas region of Ukraine.
- Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelenskyy said the situation in eastern Ukraine was “not good” because his forces lacked ammunition, local media reported.
- Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu presents awards to female servicemen who repelled a drone attack in the Crimean port city of Sevastopol, state news agency TASS reported. Shoigu awarded the Order of Courage to the soldiers of the Crimean naval base of the Black Sea Fleet.
- The Russian Defense Ministry said its forces destroyed a drone hangar belonging to the Ukrainian armed forces in the Odesa region, southwestern Ukraine.
- Russian attacks of the past few days have killed at least 10 civilians and wounded 20 people across the country, the Ukrainian president’s office said.
Human rights
- of Russia wartime censorship laws has intensified as the conflict continues. At least 482 people have been charged under the strict new law, according to human rights watchdog OVD-Info. Among them, about 136 people have thrown in jail.
Aid/Diplomacy
- Air force commanders from Sweden, Norway, Finland and Denmark signed a letter of intent to create a unified Nordic air defense force focused on countering the growing threat from Russia.
- The Estonian Foreign Ministry has decided to expel a Russian diplomat working at the Moscow Embassy in Tallinn for “causing division in Estonian society”.
- An economic study conducted by Russian experts shows that as international sanctions against Moscow and prospects for economic development decline, Russia’s middle class is forecast to shrink, in as social inequality increases in the coming years.
- Democratic and Republican senators in the United States have urged the administration of President Joe Biden share information with the International Criminal Court as it pursues war crimes charges against Russian President Vladimir Putin.
- Ukraine’s group of creditors said it had provided financial guarantees to support the International Monetary Fund’s approval of a program of higher credit allocation to help revive Ukraine’s economy. The group includes Canada, France, Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States.
