Kyiv Post Morning Memo – Everything You Need to Know on Wednesday, March, 29

Good morning from Kyiv. It might be nearly April but another cold snap has descended on Ukraine; snow once again blankets the streets and the capital’s tireless municipal workers have spent all night clearing roads and pavements.

Aside from the snow, it was a relatively quiet night across the country with no air raids or alerts in the capital.

What’s happening today?

 The ongoing tussle between the International Olympic Committee and Kyiv continues after Olympic chiefs on Tuesday recommended the return to competition of Russian and Belarusian athletes as individual neutrals, but refused to give a timeline on their potential participation at next year's Paris Olympics.

 Kyiv cautiously welcomed the news but made clear they will not stop campaigning until athletes from Russia and Belarus are barred. "The decision on the admission of Russians and Belarusians to the Olympics in 2024 has been postponed," Ukraine's Sports Minister Vadym Gutzeit said on Facebook.

  "We will also make joint efforts so that not a single Z-patriot gets into international sports arenas," he added.

 Elsewhere, Ukraine is mourning the loss of pilot Denis Kyrylyuk who died on 28 March during a combat mission. He had flown more than 80 combat missions, 70 of them during the full-scale war with Russia.

And Russia has claimed it shot down a U.S.-supplied GLSDB guided smart bomb fired by Ukrainian forces, a potentially significant development ahead of Ukraine’s expected spring offensive.

Other Topics of Interest

NATO, Ukraine to Meet Tuesday Over Russian Missile Strike

Vladimir Putin said on Thursday Moscow had hit Ukraine using a new-generation intermediate-range missile -- which he hinted was capable of unleashing a nuclear payload.

 You can read more about that story here . 

What was in President Zelensky’s latest message? 

What’s the latest military situation?

 The Institute for the Study of War’s March 29 daily assessment covers a multitude of topics, most notably:

·      Wagner Group forces have likely taken the AZOM industrial complex in northern Bakhmut and continue to make gains within the city.

·      Russian and Ukrainian sources speculated that Lieutenant General Sergei Kuzmenko will replace Colonel General Rustam Muradov as Eastern Military District (EMD) commander.

·      Wagner Group financier Yevgeny Prigozhin may be using his influence in Russia’s mainstream media landscape to present himself as a contender in Russia’s 2024 presidential elections.

 And that’s it for today’s Morning Memo.

Kyiv Post will bring you the latest news throughout the day and we’ll be back with another edition tomorrow.