WAR IN UKRAINE: March 17, 2023
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS: Day 387
Poland will send four Soviet-era Mig fighter jets to Ukraine - becoming the first Nato country to send planes since Russia invaded last year. The big question is how will the aircraft be transferred undetected - and when air space in much of Ukraine closed. Experts have previously raised the possibility of shipping them dismantled
Russian authorities have committed a "wide range" of human rights violations in Ukraine, including killings, unlawful confinement, torture, rape, and other forms of sexual violence, as well as the unlawful deportation of children, the UN-backed Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine said in a report released on March 16.
Russian troops launched several waves of attacks on Ukrainian positions in and around Bakhmut over the past day, Ukraine's military said on March 16, as the monthslong battle for the city in the eastern region of Donetsk continued at high intensity - RFE/RL
In Rostov-on-Don, the building of the Border Service of the Russian FSB was on fire on Thursday - Russian media. Officials reportedly blamed the fire on faulty wiring however Ukraine social media channels were giving credit to Ukrainian operatives. At least one person has been killed and two injured from the fire
The Ukrainian Armed Forces said they’ve shot down a Chinese Mugin-5 drone in eastern Ukraine. These UAVs are also known as "Alibaba drones" because they can be bought for up to $15,000 on Chinese online platforms Alibaba and Taobao. The company confirmed to CNN that it was their drone and called the incident "deeply regrettable”
The importance of arming Ukraine doesn’t seem to be getting through to many Republicans as the party splits over US support. In the latest poll almost half say the US is giving to much support to Kyiv. That’s prompted officials from the U.S. and allied countries to defend western support to Ukraine. “Ukraine matters. It matters not just to Ukraine and the U.S., it matters to the world. This is about the rules based international order. It’s about one country’s ability to wake up one day and change the borders of its neighbour,” U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said. Separately, Moldova Foreign Minister Nicu Popescu said: “No one wants to live in a world where international law is brutally ignored & put aside; where armies of big countries invade neighbours.” He told CNN’s Bianna Golodryga that Russia’s “precedent creates a threat for everyone in the world”
Turkey has reportedly decided to stop servicing the planes of Russian airlines. Russian Boeing and Airbus aircraft will also no-longer be refueled in Turkey. It appears that Western sanctions are starting to affect more and more segments of the Russian economy.
Required reading…
CNN Opinion: In Ukraine’s deserted restaurants, I find a light amid the darkness
Whether it be completely losing their businesses due to Russian bombing, cutting operating hours due to lack of customers, or not being able to grow produce because of the presence of landmines, Ukraine’s entrepreneurs are feeling the economic toll of the conflict.
Winemakers, restauranteurs and even beauty salon owners have told me they are having to implement expensive, heart-wrenching work-arounds just to stay afloat. But their stories rarely seem to be part of the official narrative of the war. “No stone should be left unturned to bring these stories of woe to the agenda not only of government decision-makers, but also of all the international rehabilitation conferences,” member of Parliament and Golos Party leader Kira Rudik told me.
Read my full CNN OpEd here