The Russia-Ukraine war is now in its 393rd day.
Thursday, March 23, 2023
President Volodymyr Zelensky has visited the southern Ukrainian region of Kherson partially controlled by Russian forces, after Kiev’s troops captured the regional capital late last year, the presidency said.
Ukraine forces recaptured Kherson city, the administrative centre of the southern region in November following a strategic withdrawal of Russia forces.
But the region is still partly controlled by Russian forces, who are dug in on the eastern bank of the Dnipro river and routinely shell Kherson city.
“Working trip to Kherson region . The village of Posad Pokrovske, where houses and civilian infrastructural facilities were damaged as a result of Russia’s full-scale invasion,” Zelensky said in a message on social media.
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1251 GMT — Finland should not give Hornet fighter jets to Ukraine, says defence minister
Finland’s defence minister Antti Kaikkonen on Thursday said he did not want to donate Hornet fighter jets to Ukraine, despite a Ukrainian request for such planes.
Finland is replacing its ageing Hornet fleet with F-35 fighters it ordered in 2021, but the delivery of the first new planes is still two to three years away.
1018 GMT — Ukraine’s needs $411B in war recovery: World Bank
The World Bank has hiked its estimate for the cost of Ukraine’s recovery and reconstruction from Russia’s war to minimum $411 billion in the next decade.
The assessment was carried out jointly by the World Bank Group, Ukrainian government, European Commission, and UN, according to an Al Jazeera report published on Wednesday.
The recent figure was up from the $349 billion in the previous projection.
0940 GMT — EU leaders discuss Ukraine war with UN chief
European Union leaders will discuss the war in Ukraine with UN chief Antonio Guterres, including food security and sanctions, and also endorse a plan to ramp up the supply of artillery shells to Kiev, diplomats and officials said.
Guterres will be a guest at an EU summit in Brussels, days after the renewal of a deal brokered by Türkiye and the UN on the safe export of Ukrainian grain through the Black Sea.
That will be discussed over lunch with Guterres before the UN secretary-general takes his leave and EU leaders get an update on the war from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy via video link, officials said.
“We will, as always, reaffirm our unwavering commitment to assist Ukraine,” declared Charles Michel, president of the European Council of EU leaders.
0920 GMT — Ukraine claims Russian fatigue, vows counter-attack in Bakhmut
A senior Ukrainian military commander vowed a counter-attack against Russian forces near the town of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine, the stage for the longest battle of Moscow’s offensive.
“Sparing nothing, they are losing significant strength and becoming exhausted. Very soon we will take advantage of this opportunity, like we did near Kiev, Kharkiv, Balakliya and Kupiansk,” said the commander of Ukraine’s ground forces, Oleksandr Syrsky, referring to successful Ukrainian counter-offensives.
Our Europe correspondent Simon McGregor-Wood has more from Brussels on the EU leaders’ meeting in support of Ukraine pic.twitter.com/NBSABhXq0o
— TRT World Now (@TRTWorldNow) March 23, 2023
0900 GMT — Russia has regained part control of Kreminna town, UK says
British military intelligence has said that Russia had partially regained control over the approaches to the eastern Ukrainian town of Kreminna, after its troops were pushed back from the region earlier this year.
“In places, Russia has made gains of up to several kilometres,” the military intelligence said in an update, adding that Russian commanders are likely trying to expand a security zone and are also seeking to recapture the logistic hub of Kupiansk in Kharkiv.
Russian forces earlier on Thursday unleashed a wave of air strikes in the north and south of Ukraine a day after Russian President Vladimir Putin bid farewell to Chinese leader Xi Jinping following a two-day visit to Moscow.
0745 GMT — Russia stepped up its missile and drone attacks
“Russia is shelling the city with bestial savagery,” President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote in a Telegram post accompanying video showing what he said was a Russian missile striking a nine-storey apartment building on a busy road in the southeastern city of Zaporizhzhia.
“Residential areas where ordinary people and children live are being fired at.”
At least one person was killed in the attack shown in the Zaporizhzhia video, apparently recorded by closed circuit TV cameras.
Two children were among the wounded, said Zaporizhzhia City Council Secretary Anatolii Kurtiev, adding that 25 people needed hospital treatment, with three in critical condition.
0300 GMT — Zelenskyy hopes to see Russia gone from Ukraine by next Ramadan
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has wished Muslims worldwide “Ramadan Mubarak!” and said a significant part of Ukraine’s Muslim community, the Crimean Tatars, are “forced to meet Ramadan under [Russian] occupation.”
Zelenskyy said Muslims in the country are observing Ramadan “under the threat of Russian repression and abuse in Crimea, under shelling in other parts of Ukraine, and in frontline battles.”
“I have no doubt that we will return freedom, respect, and security to our entire state and to all communities … Let the next Ramadan begin in peace and on the entire Ukrainian land free from Russia.”
These are the indicative estimates of Russia’s combat losses as of March 23, according to the Armed Forces of Ukraine. pic.twitter.com/KNYt1UPWM4
— The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) March 23, 2023
For our live updates from Wednesday (March 22), click here.
Source: TRTWorld and agencies
Live blog: Zelenskyy visits Russian-controlled Kherson in Ukraine’s south
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