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Volodymyr Zelensky during a speech in Kyiv on Sunday.
In summary :
– The bombardments continue on several cities like Kyiv (Kiev), Kharkiv, Mariupol, Odessa or Mykolaiv. In the capital, where a new curfew came into effect Monday evening until Wednesday morning, “65 peaceful Kyiv residents, including four children, died” in “the bombardments of the Russian military”, said Monday night the mayor, Vitali Klitschko.
– In the south, the situation remains dramatic in Mariupol, besieged for weeks. The Ukrainian government rejected an ultimatum from Moscow on a surrender of the city. The humanitarian situation is there, however. “extremely serious”, according to the UN, with “a critical and life-threatening shortage of food, water and medicine”. For the EU, “what’s going on there” is a major war crime”.
– chemical and biological weapons will they be used by the Russians? Moscow suggested that Ukraine had some, which is “a clear sign that he [Vladimir Poutine] plans to use both types of weapons,” said US President Joe Biden on Monday evening, believing that his Russian counterpart was “back once morest the wall”.
Russian opponent Alexei Navalny found guilty of fraud. Since mid-February, the 45-year-old activist is tried in the very walls of his Pokrov prison for fraud and insulting a magistrate. He was arrested in January 2021 upon his return to his country, sentenced to two and a half years in prison for an old fraud case from 2014. On Tuesday March 15, the prosecution had requested 13 years in prison once morest him. “Navalny committed a fraud, the theft of property from others by an organized group”declared judge Margarita Kotova, during the statement of the judgment from a court which sits in the prison where the opponent has been detained for regarding a year.
That was quick. Judge already announces that the verdict is guilty. Sentence to follow, likely in a long and deeply boring reading. https://t.co/yBHrB2FFHg https://t.co/x9r03K4L10
— Kevin Rothrock (@KevinRothrock) March 22, 2022
On Monday, Russian troops were on the spot. Despite fierce fighting, Ukrainian forces continue to repel Russian attempts to occupy the city of Mariupol, in the south of the country according to the British Ministry of Defense. Elsewhere in Ukraine, yesterday was a day of limited progress as most troops largely remained in their positions. Several Ukrainian cities continue to come under heavy aerial and artillery bombardment from Russia.
Defence Intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine – 22 March 2022
Find out more regarding the UK government’s response: https://t.co/H04Aix2uOs pic.twitter.com/TWVZbPaPTh
— Ministry of Defence ???????? (@DefenceHQ) March 22, 2022
Zelensky ready to talk Donbass and Crimea with Putin once morest the end of hostilities. Ukrainian President once once more says open to “try to address everything that upsets and displeases Russia”in an interview with several media broadcast on the night of Monday to Tuesday. “The issue of Crimea and you Donbass is a very difficult story for everyone”. It’s necessary “security guarantees” and the end of hostilities, and “once this blockage is lifted, let’s talk”, Zelensky said of the peninsula annexed by Russia in 2014 and the region in eastern Ukraine where pro-Russian separatists proclaimed two “republics”, recognized only by Moscow. The Ukrainian head of state, who wants to speak directly to his Russian counterpart, has also argued that the people should, by referendum, “decide on certain forms of compromise” concluded with Russia. Zelensky also said he did not want “May History make us heroes and a nation that does not exist”.
Japan denounces Moscow’s abandonment of peace talks. Japan has “firmly” protested this Tuesday morning once morest Russia’s decision to abandon negotiations for a peace treaty between the two countries because, according to Moscow, of the “unfriendly position” of Tokyo on the conflict in Ukraine. Japan has joined Western countries in recent weeks in imposing heavy economic sanctions on Moscow for its offensive in Ukraine launched on February 24. However, Japan and Russia have had a complex relationship for decades. The two countries did not sign a peace treaty following World War II due to a dispute over four small islands in the Kuril Archipelago. They had been taken by the Soviet army in 1945 and have never been returned since. Tokyo considers these four islands, with a population of 20,000, to be “integral part of the territory of Japan”.
Joe Biden calls India “hesitant” in its position on the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The US President praised the displayed unit by NATO, the European Union and key Asian partners once morest Russian President Vladimir Putin. Unprecedented sanctions were thus adopted to hit Russia in the wallet. Speaking Monday evening at a meeting in Washington, Joe Biden referred to the “united front across NATO and in the Pacific”. However, unlike the other members of the “Quad” (Australia, Japan and the United States), India continues to buy Russian oil and has refused to join the votes condemning Moscow at the United Nations. Joe Biden thus noted “the possible exception of India, which is somewhat hesitant on certain aspects […] in response to Putin’s aggression,” unlike Japan and Australia, whose positions he described as“extremely strong”.