Russian President Vladimir Putin visited Mariupol, state media reported Sunday, his first trip to Moscow-occupied territory in Ukraine’s Donbas since the invasion began 13 months ago. Putin arrived in Crimea on Saturday on an unannounced visit to mark nine years since Moscow annexed the peninsula from Ukraine. He met with the command of his military operation in Ukraine at a command post in southern Russia, state media reported on Sunday.
The latest on the war in Ukraine, day 389, LIVETEXT:
15:21The Ukrainian military now claims to have killed 164,910 Russian soldiers since the beginning of the war. Of these, 710 were killed in the last 24 hours.
The total combat losses of the enemy from 02.24.22 to 03.19.23 were approximately: pic.twitter.com/rrfM8y8Ucq
— General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (@GeneralStaffUA) March 19, 2023
14:45The Biden administration, without public announcement, resumed deportations of Russians who fled to American soil due to fear of the mobilization ordered by Russian President Vladimir Putin, writes The Guardian.
14:22US drone flights over the Black Sea are a sign of direct US involvement in the conflict with Russia, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Sunday, Reuters reports.
14:06A Moscow resident has been detained for 14 days on charges of distributing “extremist materials” after a Moscow subway passenger accused him of having anti-war images on his phone, The Moscow Times reports.
Mobilized Russian soldiers complain that they are being sent to the “slaughterhouse” in Bakhmut
13:09Several soldiers mobilized from St. Petersburg, Leningrad Oblast, who were ordered to fight in Avdiivka, complained that they had to attack Ukrainian positions only with assault rifles. After their brigade was defeated, the Russian command gave the order for a new attack. Mobilizers are asking Russian President Vladimir Putin for help.
12:20 pm During the visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin to Mariupol, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Marat Kusnullin informed him that Ukrainian troops fired at hospitals in the port city during their retreat. The head of the Kremlin replied that “normal people don’t do that,” reports the Russian news agency TASS.
11:28A Ukrainian soldier fighting in Bakhmut, the city that became the scene of the bloodiest battle of the war, released footage from a combat mission in which he and three other soldiers went to find the body of a comrade who had fallen on the front.
10:53Germany will have to arrest Russian President Vladimir Putin if he enters German territory and if the International Criminal Court asks member states to apply the law, the country’s Justice Minister Marco Buschmann said, Bild reports, citing Th Kyiv Independent.
“I expect the ICC to quickly reach out to Interpol and the participating states and demand their compliance,” Buschmann said.
On Friday, the ICC issued arrest warrants for Putin and Maria Lvova-Belova, the Russian commissioner for children’s rights who oversaw the forced deportation of Ukrainian children.
Thus, Putin became the third sitting head of state for whom the ICC issued an arrest warrant, after Omar al-Bashir in Sudan and Muammar Gaddafi in Libya.
The ICC decision obliges the 123 member states of the ICC to arrest Putin and send him to The Hague if he enters their territory.
Putin makes a surprise visit to occupied Mariupol
09:45Pro-Kremlin activists protested in Moscow on Saturday in front of the embassies of 20 countries that Russia considers “unfriendly”, on the occasion of the ninth anniversary of the annexation of the Crimean peninsula, reports AFP.
09:26French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna said in an interview published on Sunday that Friday’s issuance of an arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for war crimes in Ukraine is an “extremely important” decision, AFP and Agerpres reported.
“This decision is extremely important because it means that anyone responsible for war crimes or crimes against humanity will be held accountable, regardless of their status or rank,” the French foreign minister told the Journal Sunday in an interview.
“No link in the chain can now believe that they will be able to escape justice, and that should give a lot of people food for thought. So, this is a decision that can change the course of events.”
09:15Ukrainian forces outside the disputed city of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine are holding back Russian units so that ammunition, food, equipment and medicine can be delivered to the defenders, the Ukrainian army said on Saturday.
08:40Russian President Vladimir Putin visited the Ukrainian city of Mariupol in the Donetsk region, occupied by Moscow forces, the Kremlin reported with reference to Russian mass media.
08:21Since Russian President Vladimir Putin launched his invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Bali, a popular holiday island in Indonesia, has become a magnet for thousands of Russians and Ukrainians seeking to escape the horrors of war, CNN reports. But a year later, the authorities in the tropical paradise have run out of patience because of the behavior of those fleeing a war they consider unacceptable.
A brief summary of recent events:
- The Black Sea grain agreement was extended. Zakharova reported that the agreement was extended for 60 days, and the Ukrainian minister said that the agreement was extended for 120 days.
- Former deputy of the Russian Federation Semyon Baghdasarov suggested on the air of Russian propagandist Volodymyr Solovyov that Moscow should take advantage of the “difficult situation” in Turkey to annex Istanbul.
- Wagner’s Russian mercenary group plans to recruit about 30,000 new fighters by mid-May, Yevgeny Prigozhin said on Saturday.
- Russian President Vladimir Putin visited Crimea on Saturday to mark the ninth anniversary of Russia’s annexation of the Ukrainian peninsula.
- The Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirms its “firm” position of condemnation and non-recognition of Russia’s illegal annexation of the Crimean Peninsula and the city of Sevastopol and confirms its support for the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders. .
- Russian President Vladimir Putin signed decrees establishing responsibility for “discrediting” and spreading “fake news” about volunteers and mercenaries participating in a “special military operation” in Ukraine.
- US President Joe Biden said that the International Criminal Court (ICC) warrant for the arrest of Russian leader Vladimir Putin is “justified”.
- The Russians launched new strikes from Shahed drones on Friday and Saturday, Ukrainian air defense shot down 11 of 16 drones, the Ukrainian Air Force reported.
- Another 880 Russian soldiers died on Friday, according to data from the Ukrainian military.
- In April, Privet-82 kamikaze drones created by Russian volunteers will go on a combat mission to Ukraine, to the area of the “special military operation”, writes TASS
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Saturday’s events were broadcast LIVE on HotNews.ro
Source: Hot News
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