Russia-Ukraine war updates: Russia condemns EU’s frozen assets plan
These were the updates on the Russia-Ukraine war for Wednesday, March 20, 2024.
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This live page is now closed.
- The Kremlin says EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell’s proposal to use frozen Russian assets to buy weapons for Ukraine would undermine the foundations of international law.
- Russian President Vladimir Putin and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi discuss Ukraine in a phone call, according to the Kremlin.
- Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova says the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC’s) decision to ban Russia’s athletes from the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics in July is unjust and unacceptable.
- Zakharova also says a decision by the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) to cut cooperation with Russian scientists is politicised, discriminatory and unacceptable.
- Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal welcomes an interim EU deal on Ukrainian farm imports as “good news”, saying it would allow his country to support its producers and maintain its export levels.
Here’s what happened today
We will be closing this live page soon. Here’s a recap of some of today’s key events:
- Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova says Moscow will continue to demand a transparent investigation into the Nord Stream gas pipeline explosions.
- Russia has tortured and arbitrarily detained people in occupied Ukraine, creating a “climate of fear” and suppressing Ukrainian identity, according to a UN report.
- The United States has imposed sanctions on two people and two companies it accused of supporting disinformation efforts directed by the Russian government.
- Indian Prime Minister Modi says he spoke to Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy about strengthening India-Ukraine relations.
- Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal announced that Ukraine had received the first 4.5 billion euro ($4.88bn) tranche from a European Union bridging finance programme.
Lithuania to allocate $38m to ammunition procurement
Ukraine’s Defence Ministry has announced that Lithuania has allocated 35 million euros ($38m) to buy ammunition for Ukraine via the Czech initiative.
“We are grateful to our Lithuanian friends for their strong support! Ukraine appreciates your efforts to bring victory closer,” the ministry wrote on X.
Lithuania has allocated €35 million to procure ammunition for Ukraine within the Czech initiative.
We are grateful to our Lithuanian friends for their strong support!
Ukraine appreciates your efforts to bring victory closer.
🇺🇦🤝🇱🇹@Lithuanian_MoD pic.twitter.com/m2o5UFWhLK— Defense of Ukraine (@DefenceU) March 20, 2024
Russian court jails woman for spoiling ballot
A Russian court has sentenced a St Petersburg woman to eight days in jail for writing “no to war” on a ballot paper during the country’s election where Putin was re-elected.
Putin warned in his victory speech that Russians who spoiled their ballot will “have to be dealt with”.
St Petersburg’s Dzerzhinsky district court said it ordered Alexandra Chiryatyeva to be jailed for eight days and fined 40,000 rubles ($433).
The court said she was guilty of hooliganism and “discrediting the Russian armed forces”.
“Chiryatyeva took a voting ballot and with a red marker wrote ‘no to war’ at the back of it before placing it in the ballot box,” the court added. “In this way, Chiryatyeva damaged state property and discredited the Russian armed forces.”
Putin won majority of votes cast abroad, electoral commission finds
Putin won 72.3 percent of the votes at polling stations abroad during last week’s presidential election, and the state-run RIA news agency cited the electoral commission as saying.
Russians living abroad, including many who have fled Russia since the start of the Ukraine war, were able to vote at Russian embassies and consulates.
Putin won his fifth term as leader of the country after securing 87.3 percent of the total vote.
US pressuring Austrian bank to drop Russian tycoon deal: Report
The US is pressing Austria’s Raiffeisen Bank International to drop plans to buy a 1.5 billion euro ($1.6 bn) stake from a Russian tycoon, several people with direct knowledge of the talks told the Reuters news agency.
Raiffeisen is buying the stake in Vienna-based Strabag from a company the construction group identified as controlled by Oleg Deripaska.
In recent weeks, senior US Treasury officials have highlighted their concerns about the transaction in meetings with the bank and Austrian authorities, the unnamed sources said, pointing out that Deripaska is sanctioned.
Two people told Reuters that if the bank goes ahead with the deal and it is proven to violate US sanctions, Washington could impose penalties on it.
Due to the US’s stance on the deal, one person said Austrian authorities would hold off on giving it the green light, while another said the bank itself was preparing to drop the deal.
Russia to continue calling for investigation into Nord Stream blasts
Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova says her country will continue to demand a transparent investigation into the Nord Stream gas pipeline explosions in September 2022, the state news agency TASS reports.
“We will wait for the investigation’s results. Even if the West fails to complete a probe, there’s one going on here. On the international stage, we will continue to continuously emphasise the need for transparency,” she told Sputnik radio.
Zakharova suggested that the US, specifically President Biden, was the most likely to benefit from the blasts at the two pipelines in the Baltic.
Before the sanctions, she said, Russia “and European Union countries achieved fantastic results, building true and practical integration in the economic field, including in the energy sector”.
“This was precisely one of the reasons why the United States … started to target those ties,” she added.
Germany and Sweden, which last month dropped its investigation into the explosions, found traces of explosives relating to the incident, suggesting it was a deliberate act.
What is Josep Borrell’s plan for Russia’s frozen assets?
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell announced on Tuesday that he would submit a formal proposal to the bloc to transfer 90 percent of revenues from frozen Russian assets to an EU fund that buys arms for Ukraine.
He proposed that the remaining 10 percent, which cannot be used for weapons, go into the bloc’s central budget to boost the defence capacity of Ukrainian industry.
Roughly 70 percent of all Russian assets frozen in the West are held in the Belgian central securities depository Euroclear, equal to about 190 billion euros ($206.1bn) worth of various Russian central bank securities and cash.
The announcement came as Ukraine’s forces are under pressure along the front line due to ammunition shortages.
Russia criticised the plan, calling the transfer of funds “banditry and theft”.
UN report accuses Russia of using ‘fear’ to rule occupied Ukraine
Russia has tortured and arbitrarily detained people in occupied Ukraine, creating a “climate of fear” and suppressing Ukrainian identity, according to a UN report.
The report, which the UN Human Rights Office said was based on more than 2,300 interviews, accused Moscow of “committing widespread violations” of human rights law.
Russia has imposed its “language, citizenship, laws, court system, and education curricula on the occupied areas,” while suppressing a Ukrainian identity, the UN office said in a release accompanying the report. “From the onset, Russian armed forces, acting with generalised impunity, committed widespread violations, including arbitrary detention of civilians, often accompanied by torture and ill-treatment.”
Russia had tried to suppress Ukrainian identity among children, replacing the curriculum in schools with a Russian one which sought to “justify” Moscow’s invasion, the report added.
Peaceful protests have met “force” from the Russian army, which has restricted free expression and pillaged homes and businesses, it said.
US targets Russian firms with sanctions
The United States has imposed sanctions on two people and two companies it accused of supporting disinformation efforts directed by the Russian government, the US Treasury Department said, as Washington increases pressure on Moscow.
Washington has repeatedly warned of Moscow’s efforts to sow disinformation and instability in democratic countries and the sanctions come amid serious tensions between the US and Russia over the war in Ukraine and a host of other issues.
Modi, Zelenskyy discuss relations in call
Indian PM Modi says he spoke to Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy about strengthening India-Ukraine relations.
“Conveyed India’s consistent support for all efforts for peace and bringing an early end to the ongoing conflict. India will continue to provide humanitarian assistance guided by our people-centric approach,” Modi wrote on X.
Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba is reportedly expected to visit India next week.
Had a good conversation with President @ZelenskyyUa on strengthening the India-Ukraine partnership. Conveyed India’s consistent support for all efforts for peace and bringing an early end to the ongoing conflict. India will continue to provide humanitarian assistance guided by…
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) March 20, 2024
India’s Modi discussed ‘dialogue and diplomacy’ with Putin
We reported earlier that Indian PM Narendra Modi held a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss Ukraine.
The Indian government said in a statement that Modi reiterated India’s “consistent position in favour of dialogue and diplomacy as the way forward” in the conflict and that the leaders agreed to deepen bilateral ties.
Kyiv receives first $4.88bn EU tranche of bridge financing
Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal announced that Ukraine had received the first 4.5 billion euro ($4.88bn) tranche from a European Union bridging finance programme.
“This strengthens our economic and financial stability,” Shmyhal said on X.
Last month, the EU approved a four-year 50 billion euro ($54.20bn) financing programme for Ukraine, which Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko said would help the government to finance high-priority social and humanitarian needs.
The Finance Ministry also said the next 1.5 billion euro ($1.63bn) tranche from the EU was expected in April, provided Kyiv met all required conditions for the financing.
After fruitful discussions in Brussels, I'm pleased to share good news. Today we received a first tranche in amount of €4.5 billion through the Ukraine Facility Exceptional Bridge Financing. Grateful to @vonderleyen for her invaluable support. This strengthens our economic and…
— Denys Shmyhal (@Denys_Shmyhal) March 20, 2024
‘Record falsification’: Kremlin critics decry vote won by Russia’s Putin
Vote rigging in the Russia-occupied parts of four Ukrainian regions harks back to the decades of similar practices documented in Russia that included coercion to vote, ballot staffing, and “carousels” – when groups of people are bussed to dozens of polling stations.
This reporter, accompanied by an independent election monitor in a northern Moscow suburb during the 2012 presidential vote, witnessed the arrival of several busloads of men, some of them visibly drunk, who loudly said they “only vote for Putin”.
Hours later, the same men arrived at a different polling station, this reporter observed.
Read the full story here.
At least three people killed in Kharkiv: Ukrainian police
Five others were injured in the attack after a Russian attack hit an eight-storey building and a factory, the head of the investigative department of regional police said.
“A regular printing house, a furniture and paint products factory [were hit],” Serhiy Bolvinov, the head of the unit, said on Facebook.
The attack also sparked a fire across more than 1,000sq metres (10,764sq feet), he said, adding that the number of casualties could rise.
French troops in Ukraine would benefit Russia, Medvedev says
Russian Security Council Deputy Chairperson Dmitry Medvedev says “eliminating” French troops in Ukraine would not be difficult for Russia’s armed forces, the state news agency TASS reports.
“Actually, for the success of our cause, it would be nice if the restless French dispatched a couple of regiments to ‘Banderaland.’ It would be very problematic to hide such a number of servicemen, so systematically eliminating them would not be the most difficult task but surely the most important one. But just think of the beneficial knock-on effect!” Medvedev wrote on Telegram.
Medvedev added that it would “be a good lesson for other rambunctious fools in Europe” to see France’s defeat.
His comments come after Russian Foreign Intelligence Service Director Sergey Naryshkin said on Tuesday that France was preparing a contingent of about 2,000 soldiers to go to Ukraine.
In case you’re just joining us
Let’s bring you up to speed on some of the latest developments.
- Russian President Vladimir Putin says Russia will ensure the security of its border regions following frequent Ukrainian attacks.
- The Kremlin says the EU’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell’s proposal to use frozen Russian assets to buy weapons for Ukraine would undermine international law.
- Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal welcomed the EU deal on farm exports and said it would allow Ukraine to support its producers and maintain its export levels.
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Pope Francis has renewed calls for peace through negotiations as he condemned the conflict in Ukraine.
- Russia slammed the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC’s) decision to ban its athletes from the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympics in July.
Russia says Ukrainian forces cleared from border village
Russia’s Defence Ministry says its forces had cleared Ukrainian forces from the Russian border village of Kozinka, state news agency RIA reported.
Ukrainian forces have made several attacks on Kozinka in the Belgorod region and nearby frontier settlements in recent weeks.
Two people killed in Kherson in Russian shelling: Governor
The governor of Ukraine’s Kherson region says Russian shelling has killed at least two people in overnight attacks that also wounded other people in central Ukraine.
“Russian forces attacked various civilian cars in the Kherson territorial community,” Oleksandr Prokudin said. “Preliminarily, two men were killed as a result of the shelling.”
In the northeastern region of Sumy, another person was killed in shelling, the Ministry of Internal Affairs said.
The region was hit by 136 attacks in 24 hours that damaged several homes as well as a “school and a kindergarten, a hospital, a shop and a lyceum building”.
Nuclear arms control talks with US only as part of broader debate: Russia
Russia says it is ready to discuss “issues of strategic stability” with the United States but only as part of a broader debate.
“Washington is offering to have dialogue only on US terms,” Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told reporters when asked about media reports the US had proposed talks with Russia and China.
She added that the US had lost control over arms it had supplied to Ukraine, making it difficult for Moscow to agree to arms talks with Washington.
The Kremlin, which accuses the US of fighting against Russia by supporting Ukraine, says relations with Washington have never been worse.
Ukrainian drones attacked the Engles airbase: Report
Ukrainian drones attacked the Engels airbase deep inside Russian territory early this morning, and Kyiv was assessing the damage, a Ukrainian intelligence source told the Reuters news agency.
“The results are being verified,” the Ukrainian source said of the attack.
Earlier, the governor of the Saratov region, where the base is located, said Ukrainian drones had been downed near the city of Engels but did not report any damage.
The base is near Saratov and is the main home of Russia’s long-range strategic bomber fleet.
Key events on day 755 of the war
It’s day 755 of the war, and these are some of the key developments:
- Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy appealed to Kyiv’s allies to supply more air defences.
- Russia named Admiral Alexander Moiseev as acting commander-in-chief of its navy.
- Belgorod Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said Russia plans to evacuate about 9,000 children from the border region because of Ukraine shelling.
- Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said Kyiv was working to secure “a strong and far-reaching step” towards membership of NATO.
- Russian President Vladimir Putin will travel to China in May for talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping, the Reuters news agency reported.
Read our full list here.
One person killed in Ukrainian shelling in Belgorod, says governor
“According to preliminary information, one person died – the man was in the car when fragments flew into it; he died from his injuries on the spot even before the ambulance team arrived,” the governor of the Belgorod region, Vyacheslav Gladkov, wrote on Telegram.
“As a result of the shelling, two people were injured: a 17-year-old girl had a closed craniocerebral injury and a cut in the superciliary region, and a man had shrapnel wounds to the right upper limb.”
He added that all those wounded were taken to the Children’s Regional Hospital and the Belgorod City Hospital.
Putin says Russia will ensure the security of its border regions
The president told a meeting with activists in the Kremlin that Moscow has plans to respond but will not attack population or civilian targets in Ukraine.
“The primary task is to guarantee security. There are different methods here. They aren’t easy, but we will do this,” he said in televised comments.
Indians die fighting for Russia in Ukraine, leaving a trail of helplessness
On the night of February 20, Ashwin Mangukiya’s phone rang. It was a WhatsApp call from his son Hemil, who told his family that he was speaking from a military dormitory in Donetsk, the eastern Ukrainian region occupied by Russia.
Hemil, 23, said he had been eating well and had warm bedding. But the father knew he was trying to “hide his turmoil inside him”, he said. Hemil was on the front lines of Russia’s war on Ukraine, his role very different from the task of a Russian “army helper” that he had signed up for.
“That night, he didn’t want to hang up the call and was consumed by a deep longing for home,” Ashwin told Al Jazeera over the phone from his home in Surat city in India’s western state of Gujarat. The call lasted an hour.
It would be their last conversation.
Read more on Indians fighting for Russia in Ukraine here.