Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 377
As the Russia-Ukraine war enters its 377th day, we take a look at the main developments.
Published On 7 Mar 2023
Here is the situation as it stands on Tuesday, March 7, 2023:
Fighting
- The General Staff of Ukraine’s armed forces said late on Monday that Bakhmut and the surrounding areas were under “constant attacks” as “the enemy takes no account of losses”.
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he had discussed Bakhmut with his chief of the general staff and the commander of ground forces, who both backed “continuing the defensive operation” in the salt-mining town.
- “Horrific video of an unarmed Ukrainian prisoner of war executed by Russian forces merely for saying ‘Glory to Ukraine’. Another proof this war is genocidal,” Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba wrote on social media early on Tuesday morning. He urged the International Criminal Court to investigate the footage circulating on social media.
- Russian forces launched 15 Iranian-made Shahed drones from Russia’s Bryansk region northeast of Kyiv; 13 were shot down by Ukrainian forces.
- At least one person was wounded in the southern Russian region of Belgorod after Russian forces shot down three missiles, according to the governor of the region that borders Ukraine.
- Air raid sirens also rang out for several hours in Kyiv early on Monday – authorities said air defences were triggered by an “aerial target”.
- Ukraine has rescued 307 children from Russia-occupied territories, including an 8-year-old boy who was reunited with his grandmother, the country’s human rights ombudsman told the Reuters news agency.
Diplomacy
- Andrey Kelin, the Russian ambassador to the United Kingdom, has told Al Jazeera that the war in Ukraine could be understood as a “civil war” as he blamed the West for creating an “existential threat” for Russia.
- Ukraine’s economy ministry has lowered its gross domestic product (GDP) growth forecast for 2023 to 1 percent, according to the Interfax Ukraine news agency.
- Norway became Europe’s largest natural gas supplier, earning $140bn in revenues from oil and gas last year after Russia cut deliveries.
- Germany says it uncovered a hacking network with links to Russia that targeted more than 600 victims. Dutch and Ukrainian police were also involved in the operation, and German authorities have issued arrest warrants for the group’s three suspected masterminds.
- Russia said it was declaring the German-based anti-corruption group Transparency International an “undesirable organisation”.
- German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said there would be “consequences” if China sent weapons to Russia for Moscow’s war in Ukraine but that he was quite optimistic that China would refrain from doing so.
- Two Canadian firms are among the companies on a new US sanctions list for alleged support to Russia’s war effort in Ukraine, US and Canadian authorities said on Monday.
Weapons
- Ukraine has included the MK-20, an air-delivered cluster bomb, to its request for controversial cluster bombs from the US, according to two legislators from the US House of Representatives Armed Services Committee.
- The European Union is getting closer to a landmark agreement to jointly procure ammunition to help Ukraine and replenish members’ stockpiles. EU defence ministers are expected to discuss the plans this week.
Source: Al Jazeera and news agencies