On the 386th 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 continues to follow developments Thursday, March 16 (Moscow time).
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The fact that Poland will provide Ukraine with MiG-29 fighters will not encourage the United States to transfer American F-16 fighters to Kyiv, said John Kirby, coordinator for strategic communications at the White House National Security Council. “It doesn’t change our F-16 calculations. These are the sovereign decisions of any nation, and we respect those sovereign decisions,” Kirby said. He declined to comment on these actions of Warsaw, explaining that, in his personal opinion, the United States should not “characterize Poland’s decision in one way or another.”
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The Swiss Parliament approved a bill by a majority vote that would allow to punish persons guilty of the crime of aggression on Swiss territory. The corresponding concept will be enshrined in the legislation of the country. The initiator of the project, the deputy of the upper house of parliament, Carlo Sommaruga, meant, first of all, Russia’s aggression against Ukraine. His opponents argued that if the law were passed, the Swiss authorities would have to find out whether an act of aggression had actually been committed between the two states.
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Turkey from March 16 at the request of the United States ceased to refuel and service more than two dozen Airbus and Boeing aircraft Russian and Belarusian airlines, reports the Telegram channel “Economy of Turkey” with reference to the publication Airporthaber. Now Russian planes have to take off from Turkey without refueling, land in Sochi, refuel there and then continue flying.
The ban applies to private, cargo, commercial, charter aircraft, or aircraft manufactured in any other country and containing more than 25% U.S.-manufactured components if those aircraft are destined for Russia or Belarus. In addition, Turkish-flagged aircraft are prohibited from buying fuel from the Russian oil companies Gazprom and Lukoil, which are under sanctions.
The United States announced a new package of military assistance to Ukraine
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USA announced new package of military aid to Ukraine as part of efforts to counter Russian aggression. It will be announced “in the coming days,” said White House National Security Council (NSC) strategic communications coordinator John Kirby. He did not specify what exactly would be included in this package, but stressed that the support of the United States to Ukraine “is unmatched in the whole world” in terms of opportunities and amounts.
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Negotiations on Ukraine’s accession to the European Union should begin as early as 2023, while talks about the process of joining this country to NATO should be after its victory in the war against Russia. About it how reports the agency “Ukrinform”, declared during a visit to Kyiv, Prime Minister of Latvia Krisjanis Karins. “As soon as Ukraine ends this war with its well-deserved victory, it will be able to start joining NATO, because only Ukraine’s membership in the EU and NATO at the same time will guarantee lasting peace and security in Europe,” the head of the Latvian government said. In addition, according to him, Latvia is ready to convince the whole world that the terrible atrocities of Russia on the territory of Ukraine should not go unpunished, so a special tribunal should be created so that the perpetrators receive proper and fair punishment.
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Austria has decided to join the group of countries working on creation of a special tribunal for the crime of Russian aggression against Ukraine. Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs Dmitry Kuleba announced this on his Twitter microblog. He thanked the Austrian authorities for this step and stressed that now the group already includes 33 states. “As their number increases, so does the belief that the Russian leadership will be held accountable,” Kuleba said.
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Germany refused to host the Women’s Fencing World Cup because athletes from Russia and Belarus were allowed to participate in it. The decision to allow them “caused heated discussions” and the refusal to hold the stage will be a “clear signal” that Germany does not agree with such a decision, informed Fencing Federation of Germany.
The Congress of the International Fencing Federation on March 10, following a vote, allowed Russians and Belarusians to participate in international competitions in a neutral status. The German federation stressed that it “takes this decision” but “wants to send a clear signal” that it would prefer a different outcome of the vote. “We still see a large number of open questions to the world federation, which make the tournament impossible,” the German Fencing Federation said.
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Deputy of the Samara Regional Duma from the Communist Party of the Russian Federation Mikhail Abdalkin, who listened to Putin’s speech with noodles on his ears, fined 150 thousand rubles for “discrediting the army” of the Russian Federation. Abdalkin’s defense plans to appeal the verdict.
A video in which he watches Vladimir Putin’s message to the Federal Assembly with noodles on his ears was published by the deputy on social networks in February. Shortly after this publication, the police filed an administrative protocol against him on “discrediting the army” (Part 1 of Article 20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offenses).
Media: Russian Defense Ministry found a US drone shot down over the Black Sea
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Specialists of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation found an American MQ-9 Reaper drone that fell into the Black Sea, 60 kilometers from Sevastopol at a depth of 850-900 meters, the Sevastopol edition of ForPost reports, citing a source close to the military department. A Russian warship is on duty in the area where the drone fell, and the ministry is looking for ways to raise the device from the bottom, the source said.
“The depth where the drone lies is quite decent. To carry out the recovery, it is necessary to use the means that were used to raise sunken deep-sea submarines,” a source told ForPost. According to him, the drone’s electronics and engine are of interest to the RF Ministry of Defense.
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China is concerned about the escalation of the war in Ukraine and wants Moscow and Kyiv to return to peace talks, Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang told his Ukrainian counterpart Dmitry Kuleba. “China hopes that all parties will remain calm, rational and restrained and resume peace talks as soon as possible,” Qin was quoted as saying by Reuters. The PRC expects that Ukraine and Russia will not close the door to a political solution, the country’s foreign ministry said in a statement.
“During my conversation today with State Counselor and Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang, we discussed the importance of the principle of territorial integrity. I stressed the importance of Zelensky’s “peace formula” for stopping aggression and restoring a just peace in Ukraine,” Kuleba commented on the talks.
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Ukrainian servicemen shot down a Chinese-made Mugin-5 commercial drone in the east of the country, according to CNN. According to the military, the drone was shot down with conventional weapons because it was flying at low altitude. Military analysts, after examining photographs of the drone, told CNN that it did not have cameras installed and that it most likely had a 3D printed bomb release mechanism. The Chinese company Mugin Limited confirmed to CNN that it was their UAV that was shot down in Ukraine. The company called the use of the drone “deplorable” and said they were doing “everything possible to stop it.” Such drones can be freely bought on Chinese online marketplaces, CNN notes. Their price reaches 15 thousand dollars.
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In one of the military offices in Buryatia, a journalist from the Baza Telegram channel was told that they continue to call up as part of the mobilization. According to Baza, on March 1, the military registration and enlistment office of the Khorinsky district received an order to mobilize 12 people. A report on the dispatch of “newly mobilized” was published on the official page of the Khorinsky district on VKontakte. After journalists drew attention to this, the words about mobilization were removed from the post. The press service of the government of the republic explained to RIA Novosti that the called-up men are volunteers.
“We receive an assignment from a higher headquarters, and our immediate leadership is the military commissariat of the Republic of Buryatia. We receive mobilization assignments for the supply of resources from the military commissar of the subject,” the military registration and enlistment office replied to the Baza Telegram channel, emphasizing that Putin did not sign the decree on the end of mobilization .
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Basmanny District Court of Moscow in absentia Ilya Krasilshchik, founder of Sluzhba Support media and former publisher of Meduza, was arrested for two months on charges of spreading “fakes” about the Russian army. A criminal case against Dyer was opened in April 2022, and in July he was put on the wanted list. The reason was a post on his Instagram about the killing of civilians in Bucha. The dyer left Russia after the outbreak of the war.
Poland to hand over MiG-29 fighter jets to Ukraine in the coming days
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Poland to hand over four MiG-29 fighter jets to Ukraine in the coming daysAndrzej Duda, President of the country, said. In the future, Warsaw will provide Kyiv with the rest of the 12 promised fighters, he added.
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In Rostov-on-Don, the building of the border department of the FSB caught fire. The region borders on the Lugansk and Donetsk regions of Ukraine, where fighting is taking place. Telegram-channel Baza published a video filmed by an eyewitness from a nearby building. According to the man, there was a strong explosion in the FSB premises before the fire. “It just exploded, right in front of my eyes,” the man in the video says.
According to RBC’s source in the Ministry of Emergency Situations, the cause of the fire was the ignition of a power cable in a warehouse. “In the outbuilding where this happened, fuel tanks were stored, which exploded,” RBC’s interlocutor said.
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The Pentagon published a video of the flight of Russian Su-27 fighters over the American drone MQ-9 Reaper over the Black Sea. The footage shows two flights of fighter jets dropping fuel in the path of the drone. After the second reset, the picture disappears for a few seconds, and when it is restored, it can be seen that two of the drone’s propeller blades are damaged. According to the US version, the MQ-9 Reaper crashed after a collision with a Russian fighter. The collision was likely unintentional, said US State Department spokesman Ned Price. “It was probably the result of profound incompetence by one or both of the Russian pilots,” he said.
The OSCE estimated the losses of the Russian Federation in Bakhmut at 20-30 thousand people
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Since May 2022 in the battles for Bakhmut the Russian regular army and PMC “Wagner” lost from 20 to 30 thousand soldiers killed and wounded, writes the publication “Ukrinform” with reference to the senior military adviser to the British delegation to the OSCE, Ian Stubbs. “While Russia continues its offensive in the Donbass, it is suffering extremely heavy losses. Since May last year, from 20 to 30 thousand Wagnerites and regular Russian army soldiers have been killed and wounded in the Bakhmut region alone – these are huge human losses, with a total about 25 kilometers of advance,” Stubbs said.
Chronicle of events March 16 00.00 – 13.59 >>>
Chronicle of events March 15 14.00 – 23.59 >>>
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