On the 387th day of the full-scale Russia’s military invasion of Ukraine Russian troops continue to try to keep the captured settlements of the neighboring country under control. The armed forces and units of the territorial defense of Ukraine resist aggression. It is impossible to verify the statements of representatives of both sides from independent sources. According to the UN, more than 16 million Ukrainians have already left their homes. DW is watching developments Friday, March 17 (Moscow time).
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Government Slovakia approved sending 13 MiG-29 fighters to Ukraine. This was announced by the Prime Minister of the country Eduard Heger. Earlier, Slovak Defense Minister Yaroslav Nagy said that Bratislava is ready to supply Ukraine with 10 MiG-29 aircraft that were decommissioned last summer. Most of them are not in working order, Reuters notes.
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Russian troops, according to British intelligence, have achieved success in the battles for Bakhmut Donetsk region of Ukraine. In recent days, separate units of the Russian army and fighters of the Wagner PMC have entrenched themselves on the left bank of the Bakhmutka River, the British Ministry of Defense reported. Previously, the front line ran along the river. The report notes that Ukrainian troops continue to defend the western part of Bakhmut.
On the remaining sectors of the front, Russia reduced offensive operations to a minimum. British intelligence believes that this is due to the exhaustion of forces. The resumption of offensive operations is expected after the receipt of reinforcements, and until then, Russian commanders will be forced to choose between conducting offensive operations and providing reliable defense along the entire front line, the British Ministry of Defense said in a summary.
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Russian instructors train crews of T-90M “Proryv” tanks of the Central Military District to fight Western-made APU tanksthe Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation reported on Friday.
“In the course of training, the crews of the T-90M Proryv tanks study the weakest and most vulnerable points of the latest Western-made tanks supplied for the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine by NATO countries, and also hone their skills in fire training and control of a combat vehicle. Instructors teach military personnel tactics and specifics of conducting combat with enemy combat vehicles,” the statement said, cited by Interfax.
According to the Russian Defense Ministry, “after the completion of combat coordination,” tank crews will begin to perform tasks in the combat zone in Ukraine.
Swiss attitude towards NATO is changing
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In neutral Switzerland, after the start of the Russian war against Ukraine, the attitude towards the North Atlantic Alliance has changed. A survey commissioned by the Swiss Ministry of Defense found for the first time that more than half of the country’s population favors rapprochement with NATO. If a year earlier, 45 percent of the Swiss adhered to this position, now it is 55 percent. 53 percent of respondents believe that the neutral status of their country allows you to plan defense together with NATO. At the same time, two-thirds of the Swiss spoke out against their country’s entry into the North Atlantic Alliance.
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Russia will lose military influence in the Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) due to the war in Ukraineexperts say American Institute for the Study of War (ISW). The latest analytical review, in particular, notes that on March 16, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan accused Baku of preparing a new offensive against Nagorno-Karabakh and said that Yerevan would have to apply to the UN Security Council if the Russian Federation was unable to maintain a truce in this region.
The number of Russian “peacekeeping forces” in Nagorno-Karabakh is likely to be insufficient, since in the spring of 2022 Moscow redeployed units of the 15th separate guards motorized rifle brigade, the only peacekeeping unit of the Russian Federation, from Nagorno-Karabakh to Ukraine, the report says. Analysts believe that Moscow will lose military influence in the CSTO countries and Georgia, since it has transferred to the west parts of the units permanently stationed at military bases in Kyrgyzstan, occupied Abkhazia and South Ossetia and Tajikistan, according to ISW.
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Belgium to send 240 military trucks to Ukrainethe first of them will be sent there next week, writes the Belgian edition De Standard. According to him, the Belgian Armed Forces fleet currently consists of 400 trucks of the Volvo family, but they have been in operation since the early 1990s, and a large-scale replacement of the army fleet is being prepared. Vehicles in good condition were selected for the supply of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the publication emphasizes. Together with the trucks, the necessary spare parts will also be sent to Ukraine.
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Liberation of Serpent’s Island at the beginning of the war was one of the main tasks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, said the head of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine Kirill Budanov in the documentary trilogy “Military intelligence of Ukraine: at sea, in the sky, on the ground”. According to him, without the restoration of control over the island, it would be impossible for ships to leave Ukrainian ports in the Black Sea. “The Russians would simply destroy us economically,” the head of Ukraine’s military intelligence said.
ISW: Patrushev may become the next target of Prigozhin’s information campaigns
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Founder of PMC “Wagner” Yevgeny Prigozhinprobably made up the story about conspiracy in the Kremlin against themselves to demonstrate their own importance, experts say American Institute for the Study of War (ISW). On March 16, Prigozhin’s press service published a “request” for comment from one of the Russian media about the alleged discussion between Putin and Patrushev of the future “Wagner Groups”.
Information about this “discussion,” during which Patrushev allegedly told Putin that “nothing will be left of Wagner in a month and a half or two months,” according to a press release, has spread through Russian and Ukrainian Telegram channels. Prigogine released an audio recording in response to a “request for press comment”, stating that he had not heard of any such talks.
ISW found no signs that such a dialogue between Putin and Patrushev took place, and also did not record an active discussion of this topic in the information space. According to analysts, Prigozhin apparently fabricated the very message of “collusion” for the sake of an information operation. Moreover, Patrushev could become Prigozhin’s next target after his past campaigns against the Ministry of Defense and the General Staff of Russiaaccording to ISW experts.
Kherson OVA: Russian drones hit the territory of a medical facility
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In Kherson on March 16 Russians attacked from drones on the territory of a medical institution, according to the message of the military administration of the Kherson region in Telegram. According to the OVA, vehicles and nearby buildings were damaged due to the attack. Patients and doctors were not injured.
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The US State Department has approved Delivery of 800 Hellfire air-to-ground missiles to Warsaw, which will be equipped with Polish AW149 fire support helicopters. Polish Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak announced this on Twitter. Technical support was entrusted to PZL Swidnik. The corresponding decision of the US Congress is expected.
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Destroyed at the beginning of the war Russian missile strikes in Gostomel Ukrainian transport aircraft “Mriya”, considered the largest in the world, had to be evacuated to Germany. According to the German edition Bild with reference to a representative of the airport Leipzig – Halle, An-225, along with other aircraft, was supposed to land in Germany on February 25, 2022. The Mriya aircraft was already refueled and ready for evacuation. However, according to crew captain Dmitry Antonov, they were not allowed to take off at the direction of “top management”, writes Bild.
Politico: Chinese firms supplied arms and ammunition to Russia
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Several Chinese companies supplied weapons and equipment to Russia in 2022that could be used for military purposes. This is reported by the American edition Politico with a link to the customs data of the Import Genius aggregator. It is, in particular, about assault rifles, components for UAVs and body armor. According to the publication, among the suppliers was China North Industries Group Corporation Ltd, one of the largest in defense industry of Chinaassociated with the Chinese government. For example, CQ-A rifles delivered to Russia, modeled after the M16 and labeled “civilian hunting rifles” in documents, are used by police and military forces in a number of countries. The publication also states that at the end of 2022, more than 800 tons of Chinese body armor were delivered to the Russian Federation through Turkey.
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Against the background of ambiguity with the extension grain deal Russia continues active export of Ukrainian grainwrites dpa. According to the agency, about 2 million tons of grain could be exported by sea and rail from those Ukrainian territories that are now controlled by the Russian Federation. In turn, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the evening information report on March 16 reported that the Russian self-propelled barge with a cargo of wheat was withdrawn by tugboats from the seaport of the city of Berdyansk in the Zaporozhye region.
Volodymyr Zelensky: “Rashism will not be able to go unpunished evil”
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“The day will come and all those guilty of war crimes against Ukrainians will end up in the halls of the International Criminal Court and national courts,” he said. President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky in his evening video message on the anniversary of the destruction of the theater in Mariupol, resulting in the deaths of people who had taken refuge in the building. “We still don’t know how many people died – hundreds of people, a thousand?” Zelensky recalled. “The day will come and we will liberate Mariupol,” he added. “The day will come and a tribunal will be created that will return justice to our people.” According to the Ukrainian president, “rashism will not be able to go unpunished evil.”
Chronicle of events March 16 14.00 – 23.59 >>>
Chronicle of events March 16 00.00 – 13.59 >>>
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