WAR IN UKRAINE: March 8, 2023
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS: Day 378
Russia launched fresh waves of attacks on Bakhmut over the past 24 hours, the Ukrainian military said on March 7, as President Volodymyr Zelenskiy vowed to beef up the defense of the besieged city in the eastern Donetsk region, saying that he and his military commanders have agreed that withdrawal is not an option.
Ukrainian authorities have called for a war crimes investigation after a video that surfaced on social media appeared to show Russian forces killing a Ukrainian prisoner of war.
Ukraine has denied any involvement in last September's attack on the Nord Stream pipelines, which carried Russian gas to Europe. On Tuesday, the New York Times reported that new intelligence reviewed by US officials suggested that a pro-Ukrainian group carried out the attack on the Nord Stream pipelines. But, Mykhailo Podolyak, a senior advisor to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, said the Ukrainian government "was absolutely not involved" in the sabotage. In a statement in response to the New York Times report, Mr Podolyak added that Kyiv had no information about what had happened.
Western intelligence officials estimate 200,000 Russian soldiers have been killed or wounded in the war in Ukraine. Of those, more than 16,000 have been confirmed dead in public sources, according to a project conducted jointly by Media Zonna, an independent Russian news outlet, the BBC Russian service and volunteer researchers. While the true number is undoubtedly far higher, even that figure already exceeds the official death toll during the Soviet Union’s nine-year war in Afghanistan - NYT
Dramatic footage has emerged from the first days of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine a year ago. TV cameraman Serhiy Kylymnyk was using amateur equipment to document how Russian troops were attacking his town when a tank opened fire on the window he was filming from. Watch it here
Semen Kryvonos, the newly-appointed head of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU), has faced corruption accusations himself, with journalists and activists questioning whether his assets are compatible with his official income. Moreover, evidence has emerged that he has links to officials of the President’s Office, which raises questions about Kryvonos’ political independence. Under the law, the head of the NABU must be politically neutral and independent from the government - Kyiv Independent
The authorities of Antigua and Barbuda will sell at an auction the yacht of the Russian sanctioned oligarch Andrei Guryev. It is reported to be worth $81 million - The Guardian
Required reading…
Ukrainian SMEs hold the key to the country’s economic revival
The full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine has evolved over the past year into the largest European conflict since World War II. While there is currently no end in sight to the fighting, the future reconstruction and redevelopment of Ukraine is now also increasingly under discussion.
On the eve of the invasion, the Ukrainian economy was in relatively good shape. While Ukraine suffered a slight decline in 2020 due to the Covid pandemic, this had been preceded by four consecutive years of strong GDP growth. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) had played an important role in this progress, especially in the wholesale, retail, and IT sectors.
Over the past twelve months, Ukraine’s positive economic outlook has been shattered by the brutality and destruction of Russia’s invasion. The SME sector has been particularly hard hit. Wartime disruption and Russian attacks on critical infrastructure have caused a dramatic deterioration in the business environment. This is making it more and more difficult for Ukraine’s entrepreneurs to survive.
Read the full Atlantic Council article here