WAR IN UKRAINE: March 24, 2022
A Russian tank in Kyiv region, Ukraine.PRESS SERVICE OF THE UKRAINIAN G/VIA REUTERS
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS: Day 29
NATO says that up to 40,000 Russian troops have been killed, wounded, taken prisoner or are missing in Ukraine, said a senior military official from the alliance and quoted by the Wall Street Journal. The alliance estimates that between 7,000 and 15,000 Russian soldiers have been killed since the invasion began on Feb. 24. Russia began its invasion with roughly 190,000 troops. It has since brought in additional troops from Chechnya, Syria and other locations.
Russian forces are trying to disrupt the planting season in Ukraine: According to the General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces, Russian forces chaotically mine the Ukrainian territory and deliberately destroy agricultural machinery. This threatens the beginning of the sowing campaign in some Ukrainian regions, reports The Kyiv Independent. Earlier, the Ukrainian de-mining association said that the area mined by Russian forces is now larger than the size of Switzerland.
President Zelensky has asked people everywhere to take to the streets in a show of support for Ukraine to mark one month of the Russian invasion. He essentially called for a global rally. He also spoke in Russian, urging people to leave Russia and stop paying taxes, which were directly contributing to this war - BBC
The southern port city of Mariupol continues to be shelled with some 100,000 people trapped with no food, water or power. Other cities such as Kyiv, Chernihiv and Kharkiv are also being bombed.
Israel's attempts to mediate between Russia and Ukraine represent an important shift in the country's foreign policy, says Eran Etzion, a former senior Israeli diplomat and previously the deputy head of Israel's national security council. A country that for decades was clearly aligned with the U.S. and the West, says Etzion, has been drifting toward a more neutral position in recent years, but now it must choose between the democratic world and an authoritarian axis trying to destroy it - Haaretz
Russia has blocked access to Google News for spreading "disinformation" after the website said it would stop the monetization of ads that justified or promoted the war in Ukraine. The move comes after Russia's state media regulator warned Google over ads it claimed were "spreading threats against Russians on YouTube," and in the wake of similar bans on Instagram and Facebook. Google had previously announced a further roll back on operations in Russia, after suspending paid-for services on YouTube and Play.
Children look out the window of a Lviv bound train, in Kyiv, Ukraine, on March 3. (Vadim Ghirda/AP)