Status: 03/21/2022 3:57 p.m
Russian forces have fired on civilian buildings in the Ukrainian city of Odessa for the first time. Nobody got hurt. Odessa has the largest port in Ukraine. Attacks continue in Kyiv.
So far, the Ukrainian port city of Odessa has been largely spared from Russian attacks. According to the authorities, several civilian buildings in the outskirts were fired at for the first time.
The news portal “Kyiv Independent” reported that Russian warships are said to have shelled several residential buildings in Odessa from a long distance. Several buildings were damaged, according to the spokesman for the Odessa military administration, Serhiy Bratchuk. There were no injuries, he said in a video message on Telegram. Odessa Mayor Hennady Trukhanov visited the affected place and said: “We will not leave Odessa and fight for our city.”
War against Ukraine: Russian attacks on cities continue
Sabine Bohland, WDR, daily topics 10:45 p.m., March 20, 2022
Odessa has the largest port in Ukraine
Odessa is Ukraine’s third largest city and strategically important – the Black Sea city has Ukraine’s largest port and is thus the most important connection for Ukrainian trade.
In the meantime, Russian troops have taken large parts of the southern coast of Ukraine. According to their own statements, Russian armed forces docked with a large landing ship in the port of Berdyansk. The city is located on the Azov Sea, about 70 kilometers southwest of the besieged port city of Mariupol. Berdyansk is also strategically important. The Russian army is likely to want to secure supplies of equipment and ammunition in this way.
Shaded in white: advance of the Russian army. Shaded in green: Russian-backed separatist areas. Crimea: annexed by Russia.
Image: ISW/03/20/2022
Attacks also on Kyiv
Russian troops also continued their attacks on Kyiv last night. A shopping center and residential buildings were hit by Russian shelling, the authorities in the capital said. At least four people were killed.
The British defense minister, citing a secret service situation report, reported fierce fighting north of Kyiv.
Zelenskyj: Russia’s misconceptions
The Russian advance on the capital had largely come to a standstill recently. In his late-night video address, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned Russian soldiers about misconceptions about how their invasion was going: “They keep looking for the imaginary Nazis they supposedly wanted to protect our people from and they still can’t find any Ukrainians who could protect them received with flowers,” he said.
The video messages from the Ukrainian head of state, in which Zelenskyj occasionally addresses Russian soldiers or the Russian population directly, are now an integral part of the defense measures against Russian attacks.
Ukraine: Russia engages in state terrorism
Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said during a visit to London that 150 Ukrainian children have been killed, more than 400 schools and kindergartens and more than 110 hospitals destroyed since Russia invaded. “This is state terrorism. That’s why the Kremlin must be stopped because it will go further. It will attack other countries,” said Reznikov. He did not provide any evidence for his claim. Russia denies attacks on civilians.
conflicting parties as a source
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 in the current situation.
New round of sanctions planned against Russia
Today, the EU foreign ministers want to give the go-ahead for additional weapons worth 500 million euros to be procured for Ukraine.
According to EU diplomats, the EU states want to discuss an oil embargo against Russia with US President Joe Biden this week. “We are working on a fifth round of sanctions and some new proposals are being made,” said a senior EU diplomat. However, the spokesman for the federal government, Steffen Hebestreit, emphasized that the coalition is still of the opinion that oil imports from Russia cannot be dispensed with at the moment.
Negotiations without a breakthrough
Negotiators from Ukraine and Russia had agreed to a new round of negotiations via video link for today. According to the spokesman for the Office of the President in Moscow, Dmitry Peskov, the talks on a ceasefire have so far remained without a major breakthrough.
Moscow’s maximum demands include Ukraine’s neutrality and the demilitarization of the neighboring country. In addition, Russia is demanding the recognition of Crimea as Russian territory and the independence of the breakaway so-called People’s Republics of Donetsk and Luhansk. Ukraine has so far signaled a willingness to compromise in the talks on the country’s neutrality, but is demanding strong security guarantees from the West. In addition, Kyiv insists on territorial integrity.