WAR IN UKRAINE: March 12, 2023
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS: Day 382
Russian forces are continuing to press their offensive in the area around Ukraine’s Donetsk region city of Bakhmut, the Ukrainian military reported on March 11 - RFE/RL
As Russian attacks on Bakhmut continue, there have been more than 50 combat engagements between Ukrainian and Russian forces over the last 24 hours in the area, according to a Ukrainian military spokesperson. "The enemy was actively conducting combat operations all week, just like the previous week. Yesterday was no exception," said Serhii Cherevatyi, spokesperson for the eastern grouping of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, on national television Saturday. "Over the last 24 hours, the enemy attacked our positions in the Bakhmut sector 157 times with artillery and multiple rocket launchers” - CNN
Media in Finland have reported that Prime Minister Sanna Marin is prepared to discuss providing U.S.-made fighter jets to Ukraine.
The European Union intends to pressure third countries to improve trade monitoring to block the transfer of military-use technologies and goods to Russia
The US intelligence community believes that individuals with ties to Russian intelligence are planning to stage protests in Moldova to try to foment a manufactured insurrection against the Moldovan government, with the ultimate goal of seeing a more pro-Russia administration installed there, White House officials said Friday. The US believes that Russia is working to weaken the Moldovan government which is seeking closer ties with the European Union, the officials said. The US is also seeing signs that Russian government-linked actors could provide training to anti-government demonstrators in Moldova. The country’s capital, Chisinau, has been rocked by anti-government protests in recent weeks, largely organized by Moldova’s Russia-friendly Shor Party - CNN
British Culture Minister Lucy Fraser has called for preventing Russian and Belarusian athletes from returning to international competitions, according to The Guardian. According to the publication, she appealed to the executive directors of the IOC's world partners, including Coca-Cola, Intel, Samsung and Visa, to influence the decision of the committee, which is inclined to ease the ban on the participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes in competitions.
Japan will send a large batch of power equipment to Ukraine. Tokyo intends to supply about 10 autotransformers and 140 units of power equipment.