Ukraine Breaking News Today Live on 03-20-2024

Erstwhile moderate Dmitry Medvedev outdoes himself with another of his twisted commentaries on the likely outcome of a French “interventionist contingent” coming to Ukraine.

Dmitry Medvedev is at it again. The deputy head of the Russian Security Council took to his Telegram channel on Wednesday, March 20 in response to Tuesday’s claims by Sergey Naryshkin, Director of Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR), that France was preparing to deploy up to 2,000 troops to Ukraine. Even though the French Ministry of Defense had already decried the assertion as another example of Kremlin “systematic disinformation,” he felt compelled to say his piece.

He said that eliminating French military personnel in Ukraine would be a critical but not particularly difficult mission for Russia’s Armed Forces but would represent a humiliating defeat for Paris.

Prosecutors had requested he be jailed for nine years.

A Russian filmmaker who criticized the Kremlin's military offensive in Ukraine on social media has been sentenced to three years in prison, a Saint Petersburg court said Wednesday.

Russia made opposition to what it calls its “special military operation” illegal shortly after it sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022, and thousands of people have been detained for simple acts of protest.

There is a growing understanding of the important role that sport can play in the physical, psychological and morale recovery of injured veterans of the war in Ukraine.

On Monday March 18, a forum was held by the Odesa State University of Internal Affairs (ODUVS) in cooperation with the Ukrainian National Academy of Sciences. It was organized by the Ukrainian veteran’s organization “Strong of Ukraine.”

The purpose of the forum, which followed on from a similar event hosted by the Dnipropetrovsk Regional Military Administration in February, was to identify and discuss current issues surrounding the rehabilitation of wounded veterans through sports, supported by the development of a veteran sports community in the region.

Comments by troops fighting on the Dnipro left bank agree with the view of analysts that masses of UAVs make movement dangerous for both Ukrainian and Russian forces.

Swarms of Russian drones have forced Ukrainian Marines dug in on the south bank of the Dnipro River to shelter underground to escape them. But they are still holding their positions and according to some recent reports may have even expanded the bridgehead into Kremlin-controlled territory.

Between 60 and 100 Ukrainian Marines living in cellars and basements in the ruined village of Krynky face almost continuous assault from Russian attack drones as long as the sun is up. When night falls, they patrol the two to three kilometers of no man’s land that links their bridgehead to the river when small boats bring up supplies and reinforcements as detailed in unofficial reports from the 35th and 36th Marine Brigades on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Mass protests by Polish farmers on Wednesday, March 20 saw almost all major highways as well as many other minor roads being blocked throughout Poland.

Since Wednesday morning, farmer protests led to traffic jams in every province in Poland, Polish news channel TVN 24 reported.

Traffic jams began forming late Tuesday night, March 19, leading to Polish police warning people planning trips to find alternate routes around the blockades.

Russian troops launched an X-59 missile targeting Kharkiv at approximately 13:00 local time, according to regional police reports.

Russian troops launched an X-59 missile targeting Kharkiv on Wednesday, March 20, according to regional police reports.

Kharkiv is Ukraine's second-largest city and lies close to the Russian border. It has seen increased attacks in recent months as Moscow's invasion drags on for more than two years. 

On Tuesday, the IOC barred Russian athletes from taking part in the opening ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympics on July 26 and criticised the Kremlin for planning to hold its own "Friendship Games."

Russia launched a furious tirade at the International Olympic Committee on Wednesday, arguing the IOC's restrictions on Russian athletes and its criticism of the Moscow-organised Friendship Games amounted to "neo-Nazism".

The IOC on Tuesday both barred Russian athletes from taking part in the opening ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympics on July 26 and criticised the Kremlin for planning to hold its own "Friendship Games" to rival those held in the French capital.

Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov restricts entry to seven settlements starting March 20. The regional authorities plan to implement a “visiting procedure” for residential buildings.

In Russia’s Belgorod region, roadblocks are being established in several settlements, with restricted entry into border areas, as reported by the Russian Telegram channel Astra.

Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov announced that starting Wednesday, March 20, entry will be limited in seven settlements: Kozinka, Glotovo, Gora-Podol, Novostroevka-pervaya, Novostroevka-vtoraya, Bezymeno, and Grayvoron city. Roadblocks will be positioned at the entrances to these areas.

In a speech at the FSB spy service’s annual meeting, Putin said its spies should work with other agencies to increase the security of the banking and financial systems.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday (19 March) told the Federal Security Service (FSB), the main successor to the Soviet-era KGB, to help Russian companies bust Western sanctions and expand their clout into new markets around the world.

In an attempt to sink the Russian economy and force Putin to change course, the West imposed on Russia what it casts as the toughest ever sanctions shortly after the Kremlin ordered the invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

In the early days of the full-scale invasion, a Ukrainian reporter died while working for Fox News. Now her parents are suing the broadcaster for negligence.

The family of Oleksandra “Sasha” Kuvshynova, a 24-year-old Ukrainian journalist who tragically lost her life in March of 2022 while reporting on the war in Ukraine, has taken legal action against US broadcaster Fox News.

According to a report by Business Insider, the lawsuit was filed on Thursday, March 15, in New York State Supreme Court.

The FSB did not name the suspect, but said he was a resident of Komsomolsk-on-Amur, a remote Russian city in the far eastern region of Khabarovsk.

A man living in Russia's Far East who allegedly spied for Ukraine to help it carry out sabotage has been charged with high treason, local FSB security services said Wednesday.

Since launching its assault on Ukraine two years ago, Russia says it has been targeted by hundreds of sabotage attacks, both on civilian and defence infrastructure.

The one area where Western sanctions against Russia are really biting is in its aviation industry and its airlines are having to take ever more extreme measures to stay aloft.

The Izvestia news site reported on Wednesday, March 20, on the latest measures that Aeroflot, the Russian State airline, is trying to keep its aviation business going as the falling availability of its Western aircraft impacts ever more severely on its business.

It says the Aeroflot Group has decided to remove its business class on its budget Rossiya subsidiary’s Sukhoi Superjet 100s to compensate for the current lack of medium size aircraft to service its resort and tourist routes.

After two years of intense fighting, the outcome of the war will hinge on psychological factors that impact the international support now indispensable to Ukraine’s resistance.

Setbacks on the battlefield have a psychological impact. Seeing cities and settlements being devastated and the Armed Forces of Ukraine slowly being pushed back is straining. Seeing friends and acquaintances killed is distressing. More than 10 years of war, millions of internally displaced and refugees, destroyed homes and plans are psychologically exhausting.

As is a lack of support from your allies. Lack of commitment to victory. Running out of ammunition and air defense. The knowledge that your friends have the means needed for you to succeed but instead choose to help too little or too late, has a huge psychological impact on all.

Kremlin authorities claim that missile and drone attacks in the region have killed 16 people since last week. In addition, anti-Kremlin militias stormed Russia’s border regions last week.

Under attack by anti-Kremlin militias of Russian citizens, Russia’s Belgorod region bordering Ukraine plans to evacuate 9,000 children following an uptick in bombardment, the region’s governor said Tuesday, March 19.

The Belgorod Regional Governor, Vyacheslav Gladkov, told a meeting of ruling United Russia party members: “We are evacuating a large number of villages, and now we are planning to evacuate about 9,000 children because of the shelling by the Ukrainian armed forces.”

The world in focus, as seen by a Canadian leading global affairs analyst, writer and speaker, in his review of international media.

Russian and Belarusian athletes will not be allowed to take part in the traditional parade at the opening ceremony at the Paris Olympics, the IOC said. The opening ceremony on July 26 will see thousands of athletes travel on boats down the River Seine for several miles (kilometres) toward the Eiffel Tower, instead of the normal parade of teams inside a stadium. The IOC said athletes from Russia and Belarus who are approved to compete at the Olympics as neutrals will have a chance only “to experience the event” — likely watching from near the river. The IOC has laid out a vetting procedure for Russian and Belarusian athletes to be granted neutral status, with requirements including that they must not have publicly supported the invasion of Ukraine, or be affiliated with military or state security agencies. The IOC said it expects about 36 neutral athletes with Russian passports and 22 with Belarus passports to qualify for the Paris Games. A decision on whether those athletes will be allowed to take part in the Aug. 11 closing ceremony will be taken “at a later stage,” the IOC said - AP

Police in Haiti have killed at least three people while repelling an attack on the country's central bank. A "group of criminals" targeted the Bank of the Republic of Haiti (BRH) on Monday, an employee told AFP, leaving up to four dead and a guard injured. The bank itself thanked security forces for "protecting our community". Haiti has been rocked by weeks of violence after gangs raided prisons, released thousands of inmates and forced the prime minister to resign - BBC

The farmers have been blocking border crossings with Ukraine since last month to protest at what they say is unfair competition from goods entering from neighbouring war-torn Ukraine.

Polish farmers on Wednesday staged tractor blockades on roads nationwide in their latest protest against farm imports from outside the European Union and the bloc's environmental red tape.

The farmers have been blocking border crossings with Ukraine since last month to protest at what they say is unfair competition from goods entering from neighbouring war-torn Ukraine.

Ariah Ben-Yehudah, who has been serving in the International Legion since the start of the war, opens up about how things are at the front and how under-armed Ukraine is in combat with the Russians.

The Saratov governor reported drone activity, while Ukrainian special services told Kyiv Post that Ukrainian intelligence is behind the Engels drone attack.

In Engels, Russia, explosions were heard early on March 20, with local authorities reporting the suspected downing of drones, as stated by the Saratov region governor, Roman Busargin, on Telegram.

Sources within Ukrainian special services have confirmed to Kyiv Post that the Main Intelligence Directorate (HUR) of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine is behind the drone attack on the Engels air base.

Leading UK politician and former PM Liz Truss says the democratic world has to be united and resolute in supporting Ukraine and defeating Putin’s Russia.

From the Editors:  Kyiv Post’s Special Correspondent in Poland Michal Kujawski took the following exclusive interview with the former UK British Prime Minister Liz Truss at the “Future of Europe Forum” organized this week in the Polish capital by the Warsaw Enterprise Institute, the Heritage Foundation and ZPP.

MK: As the former Prime Minister of Great Britain in 2022, a country which has supported supports Ukraine very strongly from the very first day of Russia’s full-scale war against it, where, in your opinion, are we at more than two years down the road?

It’s even more dangerous than an orbital nuclear bomb

On Feb. 14, US Representative Mike Turner (Republican, Ohio) leaked some information that quickly led the public to learn that Russia is in the advanced stages of developing an orbital nuclear weapon. Such a device could be used to create a massive electromagnetic pulse, thereby frying the electronics of the satellites that enable global communications, reconnaissance, navigation, and GPS-guided targeting for US military systems.

Embarrassed by the revelation, President Joe Biden’s administration allies tried to play down the threat, claiming that such weapons would be “a last resort” for Russia, since it would destroy their satellites as well.

The IOC in December suspended Russia from the 2024 Games, but gave the green light for Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete as neutrals as long as they do not actively support the war on Ukraine

Olympic chiefs announced Tuesday that Russian and Belarusian athletes competing in this summer's Paris Games under a neutral flag will not be able to take part in the opening ceremony.

Individual Neutral Athletes (AINs) from either country "will not participate in the parade of delegations and teams during the opening ceremony since they are individual athletes", IOC director James Macleod said after an executive board meeting of the International Olympic Committee in Lausanne.

The head of Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service said he has information that France is preparing a military contingent of 2,000 troops to be sent to Ukraine.

In a report carried by the Russian state news agency TASS on Tuesday, March 19 Sergey Naryshkin, Director of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR), says that he “has data according to which France is already preparing a military contingent to send to Ukraine.”

Naryshkin said the information Russia has received indicates that France is preparing an initial force of 2,000 troops for the operation and that “such a large military unit cannot be transferred and stationed in Ukraine unnoticed.

The agreement renews the tariff exemption granted in 2022 for one year but adds oats, eggs, poultry, and sugar, to the list of products with import "safeguards" preventing cheap imports.

EU member states and lawmakers on Wednesday reached a deal to cap duty-free imports of some Ukrainian grains, which were allowed in the wake of Russia's invasion but have drawn fierce protests from farmers in the bloc.

The agreement renews for one year the tariff exemption granted in 2022, but adds oats -- as well as eggs, poultry, and sugar -- to the list of products with import "safeguards" preventing cheap imports from flooding the market.

In an upcoming visit to France, China’s Xi Jinping is expected to push via Emmanuel Macron a proposed “peace mission” which includes Moscow's participation at Ukraine’s Global Peace Summit.

Chinese leader Xi Jinping is set to visit France in early May for bilateral talks with his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, Politico reported, citing several officials in Paris and Brussels. It will be Xi's first official trip to Europe since the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to Politico the key aim of Xi's visit is “to rebuild bruised relations with Europe over Xi's ‘no limit partnership’ with Russian President Vladimir Putin despite the Kremlin's war in Ukraine.”

Latest from the Institute for the Study of War.

Key Takeaways from the ISW:

• Russian President Vladimir Putin presented the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) as a key guarantor of Russian security and sovereignty following his victory in the Russian presidential election, likely signaling that Russian security services and siloviki will continue to represent his core constituency in his fifth presidential term.
• Russia continues efforts to build a coalition to counterbalance the West by pursuing bilateral relationships with Iran, North Korea, and China.
• Armenia's Central Bank will reportedly ban the use of Russia’s “Mir” national payment system to prevent Armenia from falling under secondary US sanctions.
• Pro-Russian actors in Moldova are continuing efforts to support wider Kremlin hybrid efforts to destabilize Moldova.
• Ukraine’s European partners continue efforts to stand up significant initiatives to provide military support to Ukraine.
• The Russian military confirmed that Northern Fleet Commander Admiral Alexander Moiseev replaced Admiral Nikolai Yevmenov as acting Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Navy.
• Russian forces recently made a confirmed advance near Avdiivka on March 19.
• Russian State Duma Defense Committee Chairman Andrei Kartapolov stated on March 19 that the Russian military will not increase the number of conscripts summoned during the upcoming semi-annual spring conscription cycle in comparison to the previous fall 2023 conscription cycle.
• Kremlin officials continue to implicate themselves directly in the illegal removal of Ukrainian children to other Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine and the deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia.

Anti-Kremlin militias disable key targets near Zhuravlevka, Belgorod, regularly “leaving Putin's troops without vital surveillance and communication.”

Russian anti-Kremlin volunteers released a video on Telegram depicting the destruction of Russian military equipment, including transport vehicles with personnel, and fortified positions.