The Paper's reporter Su Yangfan
On February 21, local time, Russian President Vladimir Putin delivered a national video speech, announcing the recognition of the "Donetsk People's Republic" and the "Luhansk People's Republic" called by the Wudong civil forces as independent countries. Three days later, Putin announced a "special military operation" in the Donbass region, saying Russia would work to demilitarize Ukraine and would not allow Ukraine to possess nuclear weapons, but did not intend to occupy ukraine.
The sharp escalation of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict has made it the largest military conflict in Europe since World War II. With more than 3 million Ukrainians fleeing the country, the military operation will also expose Europe to its biggest refugee crisis since World War II.
As of March 16, Russia's "special military operation" has lasted for 21 days. What has been the state of the war in Russia and Ukraine in the past three weeks? How much did each side lose? How will Europe and NATO respond to the conflict? What was the situation facing Ukrainians during the war? The Paper (www.thepaper.cn) has updated the above issues according to the news of all parties.
The current state of the war
CNN reported on March 13 that Russian forces are still slowly approaching Kiev, and cities in southern and western Ukraine continue to be attacked.
The government of Lviv Oblast in western Ukraine said that Russia attacked the Yavorov military training ground in the oblast on the 13th, firing about 30 rockets and killing at least 35 people.
On March 12, the British Ministry of Defence said in its latest intelligence assessment that most of the Russian ground forces were about 25 kilometers from Kiev. The makariv area, a village 48.3 km west of Kiev, was hit by Russian airstrikes. According to photos posted by local residents on social media, CNN said after geolocation that there were traces of airstrikes on residential apartment buildings, schools and medical facilities in the area.
The cities of Kharshev, Mariupol, Nikolayev, Dnipro, Chernigov and Samui were under constant Russian onslaught, and Russian troops continued to expand their offensive to the west.
The New York Times published an article on March 15 saying that the progress of the Russian military's recent military operations has slowed down, but it is still clashing with the Ukrainian army on multiple fronts. At present, the war zones near Kiev are mainly on the northwest and western outskirts of the city, and the clashes are mainly concentrated in the Bucha and Irpin regions, about 16.09 kilometers from the center of Kiev.
In southern Ukraine, Russian forces resumed their offensives against Mykolaiv and Kryvyi Rih and advanced toward Zaporizhzhia, where reports speculated that Russians might try to blockade the city on both sides of the Dnieper River.
In eastern Ukraine, Russian forces were still advancing the front line after entering the city of Kharkov, occupying more Ukrainian areas. After several days of fierce fighting in Izium, southeast of the city of Kharkiv, the Russians abandoned the occupation of the city and instead headed west to the city of Dnipro, which was known to be a key Russian target stronghold.
The report pointed out that because Russia failed to occupy major cities, the Russian army stepped up air strikes on various parts of Ukraine on the 15th, and Russian missiles hit many neighborhoods in Kiev on the same day, and at least three residential buildings, a subway station entrance and the market around the subway station were attacked.
Russia and Ukraine suffered losses
On March 13, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Konashenkov said that since the start of special military operations, the Russian army has paralyzed 3,687 Ukrainian military infrastructures. These included 99 aircraft, 128 drones, 1194 tanks and armored vehicles, 121 multiple rocket systems, 443 artillery and mortars, and 991 military vehicles.
Konashenkov noted that at the same time, the forces of the "Luhansk Republic" have blockaded the eastern and southern regions of Northern Donetsk in Ukraine. It is reported that Serv donetsk is a town with a population of more than 100,000 and is the administrative center of the Luhansk region in eastern Ukraine.
However, as for the specific war losses of the two sides, the Russian side did not provide much information, and there were contradictions with the Ukrainian side's statement. According to Konashenkov's briefing on the evening of March 2, 498 Russian troops had been killed and 1,597 wounded in the special military operation. At the same time, the Ukrainian army killed more than 2,870, wounded 3,700 and captured 572.
The Ukrainian Armed General Staff issued a statement on March 15 saying that as of March 15, the total combat losses of the Russian army were about 13,500 people. In addition, the Russians lost 401 tanks, 1279 armored fighting vehicles, 150 artillery, 64 salvo missiles, 36 anti-aircraft systems, 640 combat vehicles, 60 fuel vehicles, 81 aircraft, 95 helicopters and 9 drones. Ukrainian troops had lost 1,300 soldiers by the 12th, in addition, another 500 to 600 Russian soldiers had been captured.
Notably, the Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies at Uppsala University in Sweden said the Ukrainian government may be conducting a "false propaganda campaign aimed at boosting morale" and that the Russian side may have "downplayed" its own casualty losses.
In addition to Russian-Ukrainian soldiers, at least 21 people from 11 countries outside Ukraine lost their lives in the war.
External interference
At a time when the situation in Russia and Ukraine continues to escalate, Russia has also attracted accusations from many countries. The United States and its allies have condemned Russia's approach and have successively announced sanctions against Russia, and the intensity of sanctions has also increased.
On Feb. 22, U.S. President Joe Biden called Russia's latest operation an "invasion of Ukraine" and joined forces with allies and partners to impose a comprehensive blockade and sanctions on two of Russia's largest financial institutions, the Russian State Development Bank (VEB) and the military bank. On the same day, the EU unanimously passed the EU sanctions on 351 MPs and 27 entities in the Russian State Duma; British Prime Minister Johnson also announced that sanctions would be imposed on five Russian banks and three high-net-worth individuals; and Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio announced a ban on the issuance and circulation of new sovereign bonds of the Russian government. It is worth noting that Germany also announced on the 22nd that it would suspend the certification process for the "Nord Stream-2" natural gas pipeline project.
Andrei Mölnik, Ukraine's ambassador to Germany, told German media on February 24 that Ukraine needs defensive weapons and ammunition to strengthen the Ukrainian army, saying that "now is the time for Germany to wake up." Previously, the German government had refused to supply Ukraine with lethal weapons.
On the same day, French Foreign Minister Le Dreyon said in an interview that Putin needs to understand that NATO is also an alliance with nuclear weapons when "threatening to use nuclear weapons.". Still, Le Drian said NATO would not intervene militarily in the Ukraine crisis.
According to The British Sky News reported on February 26, 27 countries, including the United Kingdom, the United States and some European countries, agreed to provide more military assistance to Ukraine, including ammunition, anti-tank weapons and anti-aircraft weapons, as well as medical supplies.
The United States and the European Union, the United Kingdom and Canada also issued a joint statement on the same day, announcing that several major Russian banks are prohibited from using the Global Interbank Financial Communications Association (SWIFT) payment system, while imposing "restrictive measures" on the Russian central bank to prevent its allocation of international reserves to weaken the impact of sanctions.
Not only did the United States and other countries resort to the "killer weapon" of sanctions against Russia, but the neutral country of Switzerland also announced on the same day that it would participate in the EU's sanctions package against Russia and freeze the assets of relevant Russian individuals and institutions in Switzerland, a move that broke its long-standing tradition of political neutrality. Singapore, also historically neutral, announced on March 5 that it would impose financial sanctions on Russia and ban the export of electronics, computers and military items to Russia.
On March 8, U.S. President Joe Biden formally signed an executive order banning U.S. energy imports from Russia.
On March 11, the United Kingdom announced sanctions against 386 members of the Russian State Duma (the lower house of parliament), with an asset freeze and a ban on entry.
On March 12, the Japanese government discussed further additional economic sanctions against Russia. Against the backdrop of the G7's cancellation of Russia's MFN status, the Japanese government has also made adjustments to this policy and decided to abolish Russia's MFN status.
After the boycott began, many companies and organizations, including major consumer goods, entertainment, educational, technological and sports organizations, chose to voluntarily withdraw from the Russian market.
On March 14, global fast-food chain McDonald's temporarily closed 850 of its stores in Russia. In addition to McDonald's, the international brands that recently decided to suspend their business in Russia include KFC, Starbucks, Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Adidas, Nike, IKEA, Estée Lauder and so on. Also on the 14th, Russia has officially blocked access to the social platform Instagram. The Russian Federation's Communications, Information Technology, and Mass Media Supervisory Service has previously issued several messages condemning Meta for allowing its social platforms Facebook and Instagram to post messages containing calls for violence against Russian citizens.
On March 15, the Japanese government announced that as part of its economic sanctions against Russia, Japan will in principle ban the export of about 300 kinds of goods and technologies such as semiconductors to Russia as part of its economic sanctions against Russia.
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken announced on the 15th that the Biden administration has imposed new sanctions on 11 Russian military leaders, including Russian Deputy Defense Minister Alexei Krivoruchko.
On the same day, the European Union plans to ban the export of luxury goods and cars of certain classes to Russia with prices of more than 300 euros.
In this regard, the Russian Foreign Ministry issued a statement on the 15th, saying that in response to the US sanctions against Russia, the Russian side will include US President Biden, Secretary of State Blinken and 13 others in the sanctions list from now on. The Russian Foreign Ministry announced sanctions against Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, senior foreign and defense officials and more than 300 parliamentarians.
The United Nations has also expressed concern about the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, issued a statement on February 24 saying that it was gravely concerned about the situation in Ukraine. On the 25th, the United Nations Security Council failed to adopt a draft resolution on the current situation in Ukraine. The draft, submitted to the Security Council by the United States and Albania, consists mainly of "condemning Russia's aggression against Ukraine." The results of the vote showed that Russia voted veto, 11 countries voted in favour and China, India and the United Arab Emirates abstained.
State assistance
NATO Secretary-General Stoltenberg said through social media on February 28 local time that he had a phone call with Ukrainian President Zelenskiy on the same day, in which he said that NATO will continue to provide air defense and anti-tank weapons to Ukraine, while providing financial and humanitarian assistance.
On the same day, Kishida also spoke to Zelenskiy to express support for Ukraine. Kishida also pledged to provide Ukraine with an additional $100 million worth of humanitarian aid.
On March 11, the European Commission provided Ukraine with an emergency macro financial assistance (MFA) of 300 million euros (about 2.08 billion yuan). The European Commission noted that the EU plans to provide Ukraine with a total of 1.2 billion euros in emergency macro financial assistance, and is expected to allocate a second batch of 300 million euros in the near future. The U.S. Congress recently reached an agreement on a grant bill that involves providing $13.6 billion (about 86.4 billion yuan) in aid to Ukraine.
On the evening of March 13, the second batch of humanitarian supplies aided by the Red Cross Society of China to the Ukrainian Red Cross Society arrived in the Ukrainian city of Chop, including food, sleeping bags and moisture-proof mats. On the 14th, the third batch of humanitarian supplies aided by the Red Cross Society of China to the Red Cross Society of Ukraine was shipped from Beijing by flight on the same day. This emergency consignment, including children's milk powder and quilts, will help the Ukrainian Red Cross to reach conflict-affected displaced persons, especially the most vulnerable groups such as children.
South Korean Defense Ministry spokesman Fu Shengyue said on the 15th that it has decided to provide military supplies to Ukraine. It is reported that this batch of materials does not contain weapons of mass destruction, and the specific transportation plan is still under discussion.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Biden may announce new military assistance worth more than $1 billion to the Ukrainian government as early as March 16.
Life of the Russian and Ukrainian people
As Russian-Ukrainian tensions continue, millions of Ukrainians have been forced to flee the country. The UN refugee agency said on March 15 that the rapid growth of refugees has led to "the fastest-growing refugee crisis in Europe since World War II". According to UNITED Nations estimates, while many residents of central and eastern Ukraine have moved to the western region, more than 3 million Ukrainians have fled the country. Since Ukrainian men aged 18 to 60 were barred from leaving after the imposition of martial law on February 24, most of those who fled Ukraine were women and children.
The head of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights called the outflow of Refugees from Ukraine "staggering" and suggested that the number of internally displaced persons in Ukraine is as high as the number of people leaving the country. Before russia launched the "special military operation", the Donbass region had already generated a large number of refugees and displaced people due to the civil war since 2014.
The vast majority of refugees went directly to Ukraine's western neighbor, and Poland received more refugees from Ukraine than all other European countries combined.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs estimated on February 27 that within two months, there would be 7.5 million displaced people in Ukraine and 12 million would need health insurance assistance. In a worst-case scenario, the conflict could lead to 5 million Ukrainians fleeing the country.
At the same time, the harsh sanctions imposed by the West on Russia have led to the cancellation of flights by some Russian airlines, the suspension of services by global payment companies, and the decision of hundreds of international companies to withdraw from the Russian market. Actions against Russia are being updated daily, and ordinary Russians are already perceiving the effects of sanctions in their daily lives.
Responsible editor: Zhang Wuwei Photo editor: Shi Jiahui
Proofreader: Ding Xiao