Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has warned the International Criminal Court against indicting a nuclear power leader for war crimes. The court last week issued an arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin on suspicion of deporting children from Ukraine. Dmitry Medvedev now says that this will have “enormous consequences” for international law. “You have decided to indict the president of a nuclear power that does not participate in the International Criminal Court on the same grounds as the United States and other countries,” Dmitry Medvedev told Telegram. “The consequences for international law will be monstrous.”
+++ 07:27 Ukraine: Another 700 Russians killed – total number is 165,610 +++
According to the Ukrainian General Staff, Russia again lost around 700 fighters in Ukraine on Sunday. The total number of fallen soldiers is said to be 165,610. In addition, 5 tanks and 16 armored troop carriers were destroyed, it is said. The numbers are disputed, international observers consider them to be significantly too high, even though it is difficult to take stock. Even with Western experts, the range of casualties is sometimes immense. In terms of Russian material losses, the Dutch project Oryx documents the current status on the basis of photos and videos almost 10,000 tanks, armored vehicles and other military equipment lost.
+++ 07:00 BBC Russia identifies more than 17,000 Russians killed +++
Determined using public sources BBC Russia together with Mediazona, an independent Russian media company, the names of 17,375 Russian soldiers killed in the war in Ukraine. The media carries out a roll-call count of the dead. A third of these casualties are people not associated with the army before the invasion – volunteers, mobilized, prisoners and newly recruited members of private military companies. According to the results, at least 1,000 people have been killed since the beginning of 2023 while they were serving their sentences in Russian prisons. According to the BBC and Mediazona, Russia could have lost around 35,000 people in Ukraine, according to the most conservative estimates. At the same time, the total number of irretrievable losses of Russia, which include wounded, killed and missing, amounts to at least 157,500 people.
+++ 06:31 Ukraine is said to have suffered setbacks during a reconnaissance mission in the south +++
According to the US magazine “forbes” Ukraine is probably suffering significant losses during a reconnaissance mission in the Zaporizhia region. These could already be preparatory measures for a large-scale counteroffensive. According to experts, this is expected either in the Donbass, for example near Bakhmut, or in the south of the country in the Zaporizhia region There the plan is probably to drive a wedge between the Russian formations and advance to the Sea of Azov – the cities of Melitopol and Mariupol are mentioned as possible (partial) targets Crimea to be made possible.
In the case of a possible reconnaissance mission in the small town of Robotyne, videos and photos are now to be used Record loss of four YPR-765 vehicles. These are previously provided by the Netherlands. They are only lightly armored transporters for smaller groups (up to seven men in addition to the three-man crew). Because the terrain was open and the mission took place during the day, the vehicles were “easy prey” for Russian troops, the report said. Two vehicles were destroyed, two others were apparently damaged. The Ukrainian soldiers had withdrawn, some of them were injured, the recordings of Russian drones are said to show. There is no concrete information about the victims so far.
+++ 06:00 ISW: Signs point to Ukrainian counter-offensive at Bachmut +++
Geolocated footage from March 19th indicate that the Ukrainian forces successfully counterattacked southwest of Ivanivske, six kilometers west of Bakhmut, and pushed the Russian forces further back from the main thoroughfare in the region, explains the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) in its most recent update. Russian sources on March 18 circulated footage allegedly showing a column of Ukrainian armored vehicles along the highway southwest of Kostiantynivka (22 kilometers southwest of Bakhmut) and speculated that Ukrainian forces were preparing a counteroffensive southwest of Bakhmut. A prominent Russian military blogger claims that Ukrainian forces are “currently able to step up counterattacks to stabilize the front line around Bakhmut.” “Increasing Russian discussions about an imminent Ukrainian counter-offensive in the Bakhmut region indicate that Russian sources are becoming increasingly uncertain as to the Russian military’s ability to maintain the Bakhmut initiative,” summarizes the ISW.
+++ 04:46 London wants to advance the investigation of war crimes +++
As the host of an international meeting, London wants to advance the investigation of Russian war crimes in Ukraine today. Justice ministers from all over the world are coming together to organize financial and practical support for the work of the International Criminal Court in The Hague, according to the British Ministry of Justice. According to the information, Great Britain is organizing the meeting together with the Netherlands. “We gather today in London united by the aim of holding war criminals accountable for the atrocities committed during this unjust, unprovoked and illegal invasion of Ukraine,” Justice Secretary Dominic Raab said in a statement.
+++ 02:10 EU ministers discuss ammunition for Ukraine +++
The foreign and defense ministers of the EU states want to discuss further support for Ukraine in the war against Russia this afternoon. The meeting in Brussels is said to be primarily about the delivery of urgently needed ammunition. The background is concerns that Ukraine could be missing important types of ammunition in the near future. The focus is on artillery shells.
+++ 00:17 Four Ukrainian soldiers killed in accident +++
Four Ukrainian soldiers died in an accident at a military training ground north of Kiev. The training center in the Chernihiv region announced this on Facebook without giving any details. It is being determined how the “extraordinary event” on Saturday could have happened. The condolences of the leadership and soldiers of the center were expressed to the families and friends of the dead.
+++ 22:35 Putin describes Xi as a “good old friend” +++
Russian President Vladimir Putin calls Chinese President Xi Jinping a “good old friend” ahead of his visit to Moscow. Relations between the two countries are at the best possible point and will be further strengthened, according to a statement by Putin on the Kremlin’s website. There are no forbidden topics and no limits in the mutual relationships. Russian trade with China will exceed $200 billion this year and it is important to further expand it.
+++ 22:17 Girkin wants to be able to distinguish between Putin and Double +++
Discussions are raging on social media as to whether Russian President Vladimir Putin actually visited Mariupol in Ukraine, which was occupied by Russian troops, or whether it was just a stand-in. As a result, an older video of Igor Girkin – a Russian nationalist and former secret service employee who helped unleash the war in Donbass in 2014 – is now circulating again. During the Ukraine war he was one of the best-known critics of the Russian military leadership. In the video, Girkin says he assumes it’s the real Putin when people around him are at a distance from him. If Putin is in the middle of a crowd, hugging people, he assumes a double.
+++ 21:42 Selenskyj: Russia will have to answer for everything +++
According to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Russia will have to answer for all crimes committed in the war against Ukraine. “The evil state will be held accountable for every act of terrorism against Ukrainians,” says Zelenskyj in his evening video address. It is about “responsibility for every attack on Ukraine, for every life destroyed, for every deported Ukrainian child”. The President also thanks the deminers in Ukraine. Since the beginning of the war, they have defused more than 400,000 grenades and removed more than 200,000 explosive objects.
+++ 21:20 report: lack of explosives could limit arms deliveries +++
According to one report, a shortage of explosives could limit European arms supplies to Ukraine. TNT, gunpowder and plastic explosives are in short supply, industry insiders tell the Financial Times. This could delay a planned increase in shell production by up to three years.
+++ 21:09 Al-Sisi receives Russian delegation in Cairo +++
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has received a high-ranking delegation from Russia. It was headed by the Russian Deputy Foreign Minister and special envoy for the Middle East, Mikhail Bogdanov, according to Cairo sources. According to al-Sisi’s spokesman, both sides agreed to strengthen their ties in several areas. Accordingly, it is also about Egypt’s first nuclear power plant, which is being built by the state-owned Russian nuclear company Rosatom. Despite calls from Western countries to isolate Russia internationally over the war of aggression in Ukraine, Cairo maintains its ties with Moscow. Like many other Arab countries, Egypt, which is stuck in an economic crisis, is heavily dependent on Russian imports.
+++ 20:27 warring parties estimate the enemy’s losses at hundreds of soldiers +++
Both the Russian and the Ukrainian defense ministries publish daily figures on the alleged enemy losses. The information cannot be verified. The Russian ministry reported on its website in the afternoon that more than 290 Ukrainian soldiers had been eliminated in various regions. The Ukrainian ministry speaks of 710 Russian soldiers killed in one day.
You can read earlier developments in the Ukraine war here.