Status: 03/30/2022 6:48 p.m
Explosions in Kyiv and a “colossal grenade attack” on Chernihiv: According to Ukrainian sources, Russian shelling is continuing – contrary to Russian promises. The US expects large-scale attacks in other parts of the country.
During the negotiations in Istanbul on Tuesday, the Russian delegation announced that the Russian troops in the greater Kyiv area and around the city of Chernihiv in northern Ukraine are to be regrouped. The fighting should therefore be reduced. But apparently there were attacks again.
Intense attacks could be heard from the northern suburbs of Kiev in the morning, reports the Reuters news agency. According to the mayor of Chernihiv, Vladyslaw Astroschenko, there were attacks there again. 100,000 people are trapped in the city.
“This is further confirmation that Russia always lies,” Astroshenko told US broadcaster CNN. “They actually increased the intensity of their attacks.” In the city center there was a “huge grenade attack”. 25 civilians were injured. The information cannot be independently verified.
conflicting parties as a source
In the current situation, information on the course of the war, shelling and casualties provided by official bodies of the Russian and Ukrainian conflict parties cannot be directly checked by an independent body.
Governor: 15 dead in Mykolayiv
According to the mayor, at least 200 people have been killed in the Kiev suburb of Irpin since the beginning of the war. “I think about 200 or 300 people unfortunately died,” Oleksandr Markushin told journalists. According to the government, Ukrainian troops recaptured the city from Russian troops on Monday.
According to the region’s governor, at least 15 people were killed in a rocket attack on the region’s administration in Mykolayiv, southern Ukraine. 34 people were injured, said Vitaly Kim in the messenger service Telegram.
“Kyiv is still being shelled and Irpin is also still hard fought”, Norbert Hahn, WDR
Tagesschau 5:00 p.m., 30.3.2022
Escape corridor in Mariupol failed again
Russian troops used phosphorus bombs and shelled villages along the front line in Donetsk, the region’s governor Pavlo Kyrylenko told Ukrainian television. A new attempt to evacuate civilians from Mariupol failed. People would not be allowed through the escape corridors.
Announcement should inspire confidence
The Russian delegation’s withdrawal announcement should inspire confidence. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukrainians had learned from 34 days of Russian invasion and eight years of war in eastern Ukraine that you can only trust what is actually happening.
Governments in the US and UK suspect the withdrawal was announced primarily because Russian troops have suffered heavy casualties. “We should all prepare for a major offensive against other parts of Ukraine,” said US Defense Department spokesman John Kirby.
Shaded in white: advance of the Russian army. Shaded in green: Russian-backed separatist areas. Crimea: annexed by Russia.
Image: ISW/03/29/2022
Cities still under attack
According to the British Ministry of Defense, Russian armed forces are to withdraw to Belarus and Russia in order to receive new equipment and reorganize there. “I would be very cautious about taking what comes out of Putin’s war machine at face value,” British Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab told Times Radio. Ukrainian cities continue to be subjected to heavy artillery and rocket fire.
At the Istanbul negotiations, Ukraine offered to forego NATO membership and adopt neutral status if security guarantees were provided. There should also be a 15-year transitional rule for the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea, which was annexed by Russia in 2014. Before there is a referendum on a peace agreement with Russia, however, the Russian troops must withdraw to the positions of February 23.