Thursday, March 24. The Latest News in Ukraine Today:
- In solemn news, today marks one month since the full-scale war in Ukraine began and life in the country changed beyond all recognition. The impact of war can be felt in every town, city and village — be it in active military action, in the influx of refugees and evacuees, or in the hard work to support the local economy and fellow countrymen in other regions. The whole of Ukraine has united as one and stands firmly against the Russian invaders.
- The situation in Southern Ukraine remains particularly difficult. Russian forces continue to shoot down civilians who are attempting to escape via established humanitarian corridors, while people in Kherson and other cities are peacefully demonstrating against the occupiers. Meanwhile, according to a leaked letter shared with The Times, “the Kremlin is no longer willing to ‘play nicely’ with protesters.” There are concerns that Putin is plotting to unleash a “great terror” upon Kherson civilians, and is prepared to deport as many as needed, perhaps even half the city.
- The sheer magnitude of damage to Ukraine’s civil infrastructure is on all counts horrific. The New York Times has published an interactive map of the country which also highlights Russian attacks on civilian targets:
- In a series of tweets, Christiaan Triebert, an investigative reporter at the New York Times, has published a number of intercepted radio messages between the Russian military active in Ukraine. Among dozens of incriminating transmissions is an order for an artillery strike on a residential area. See the full compilation (complete with cross-references) on the New York TImes’ VIsual Investigation page.
In another transmission, we hear the repeated order to cover the entire residential neighbourhood with artillery after the “property” (хозяйство) has been removed — a likely codeword for Russian personnel or equipment. This could be a war crime. pic.twitter.com/PFrEiF1irV
— Christiaan Triebert (@trbrtc) March 23, 2022
- Shocking CCTV footage of a Russian BMP-2 vehicle has surfaced online. In the video, the armoured vehicle can be seen firing rounds into a civilian sedan. This is yet further evidence of numerous war crimes being committed by Russia.
- According to Ukrainian officials, in Berdyansk, a sea port occupied by Russian forces, a Russian landing ship was successfully destroyed this morning:
- Finally, the Financial Times’s visual storytelling team have put together an interactive report on how Russian miscalculations and Ukrainian resistance have forced Putin to change tack in this war.
Why is Russia attacking Ukraine?
Putin claims that this "special operation" was needed to protect Ukraine’s Russian-speaking population. But what language do people speak in Ukraine anyway? In actuality, while Russian is spoken by approximately a third of the Ukrainian people, it is Ukrainian that firmly prevails with ⅔ of the country being native speakers. Furthermore, since these latest attacks, many Russian speakers have switched exclusively to Ukrainian.
Stay tuned for more of the latest Ukraine news!
