Share and Follow
Russia warns of ‘serious consequences’ if UK supplies depleted uranium shells to Ukraine
Russia will not leave “unanswered” a UK plan to supply Ukraine with tank shells made with depleted uranium, its foreign ministry has said.
In a statement, Russia’s foreign ministry said:
This decision will not remain without serious consequences both for Russian-British bilateral relations and at the international level, where the initial reaction from multilateral structures already indicates the complete rejection of London’s plans. We will not leave such actions unanswered.
It added:
Violating the fundamental norms of international law, London must not forget that it will have to bear full responsibility for this.
Separately, the Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, said Britain’s decision took the situation to new and dangerous levels.
Britain’s foreign secretary, James Cleverley, earlier today said there was no “nuclear escalation” in the country’s decision.
Key events
There are some official photographs of Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy visiting the Bakhmut frontline region today, but the one that is causing the biggest stir on social media is a picture that appears to show him stopping for coffee and meeting staff at a petrol station en route.
Донеччина.
Костянтинівка.
Наш президент і наш незламний колектив однієї з двох працюючих заправок у місті.P.S. Заправили яким треба – Pulls’ом помсти. pic.twitter.com/zZB6zfmEOt
— мережа АЗК ОККО (@okkoua) March 22, 2023
The spiritual head of the world’s Orthodox Christians said on Wednesday that Russia’s powerful Orthodox church shared responsibility for the conflict in Ukraine but that he stood ready to help in Russia’s postwar “spiritual regeneration”.
Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew’s comments are a rebuke for Russian Patriarch Kirill, whose vocal support for Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine has splintered the worldwide Orthodox church.
Bartholomew, who in 2019 infuriated Moscow by recognising the newly established Orthodox church of Ukraine, said Russian authorities were using the church as an “instrument for their strategic objectives”.
“The church and the state leadership in Russia cooperated in the crime of aggression and shared the responsibility for the resulting crimes, like the shocking abduction of the Ukrainian children,” Reuters report he told a conference held in Lithuania’s parliament.
China’s president, Xi Jinping, has returned to Beijing after a state visit to Russia, state broadcaster CCTV has reported.
Russia warns of ‘serious consequences’ if UK supplies depleted uranium shells to Ukraine
Russia will not leave “unanswered” a UK plan to supply Ukraine with tank shells made with depleted uranium, its foreign ministry has said.
In a statement, Russia’s foreign ministry said:
This decision will not remain without serious consequences both for Russian-British bilateral relations and at the international level, where the initial reaction from multilateral structures already indicates the complete rejection of London’s plans. We will not leave such actions unanswered.
It added:
Violating the fundamental norms of international law, London must not forget that it will have to bear full responsibility for this.
Separately, the Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, said Britain’s decision took the situation to new and dangerous levels.
Britain’s foreign secretary, James Cleverley, earlier today said there was no “nuclear escalation” in the country’s decision.
Almost 20 people have been injured by a Russian attack on a residential building in the southern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia, officials in Ukraine have said.
Footage from a security camera captured the moment the strike hit, causing an explosion and a large plume of smoke to rise from two nine-storey buildings.
The International Committee of the Red Cross has said it is “deeply concerned” about the situation in Bakhmut and nearby communities around the frontline in eastern Ukraine and the “deep civilian suffering caused by constant military hostilities”.
ICRC staff delivered humanitarian assistance to Kostiantynivka, Chasiv Yar and Selydove, close to the frontline, where they said the extent of destruction was evident. In a statement, it said:
Homes, hospitals, schools, and infrastructure have sustained heavy damage. The humanitarian situation is dire for those who have not fled, and the constant hostilities prevents them from accessing the most basic services.
Most civilians who are able to leave have already been evaluated, but thousands still remained around the frontline, it said. Those are mainly elderly people, or people with disabilities or low mobility, as well as people who refuse to leave their homes or have been displaced from frontline villages.
One resident was quoted as saying:
It is a really difficult situation here; it’s loud and scary. Yesterday a rocket flew over our heads. We are not living but surviving.
Here are some images we have received of President Volodymyr Zelenskiy making a surprise visit to Ukrainian troops near the frontline city of Bakhmut.
Zelenskiy, dressed in a dark sweatshirt and military khaki trousers, was seen handing out medals to soldiers he said were heroically defending their country’s sovereignty.
Russia’s defence minister Sergei Shoigu said armed forces in the east have received around 400 items of modern military equipment over the past year, including SU-57 jets and anti-aircraft missile systems.
The military capabilities of the eastern military district have “significantly increased”, Shoigu told his country’s top army brass.
He also said the modernisation of Russia’s air defence system would be completed this year.
On the subject of Ukraine, Shoigu said Russian aerospace forces had so far destroyed more than 20,000 Ukrainian military facilities since the start of what Moscow calls its “special military operation”.
The Russian minister’s claims have not been independently verified.
Russia has deployed coastal defence missile systems to Paramushir, one of the Kuril islands in the north Pacific, the defence minister, Sergei Shoigu, has announced.
Japan lays claim to the Russian-held southern Kuril islands, which Tokyo calls the Northern Territories, a territorial row that dates to the end of the second world war, when Soviet troops seized them from Japan. Japan does not claim Paramushir.
Moscow’s deployment of a division of its Bastion coastal defence missile systems to Paramushir is part of a wider strengthening of Russian defences in its vast far eastern regions, Reuters cited Shoigu as saying today.
Shoigu, speaking a day after Japanese prime minister Fumio Kishida’s visit to Kyiv, told Russia’s top army brass:
To contain Russia and China, the United States is significantly increasing its military presence in the Asia-Pacific region, strengthening its political and military links with its allies, continuing to create a new American security architecture in this region.
The Bastion system, which have missiles with a flight range of up to 310 miles (500 km), would bolster Russian security around the Kuril island chain, he added.
The dispute over the islands has prevented Moscow and Tokyo from ever signing a peace treaty formally ending hostilities.
Andriy Yermak, head of the office of the Ukrainian presidency, has tweeted that he also visited frontline positions in Bakhmut along with President Zelenskiy.
Yermak writes that it was a “great honour” for him to be there “next to our heroic warriors”. He added:
Bakhmut is standing. Defence forces hold the city.
Read Related Also: Elite Fight Force: Spooky gym link between alleged six day Belmore kidnapping and gangland shooting
Together with President @ZelenskyyUa and the team visited Bakhmut frontline today. It is a great honor for me to be here, next to our heroic warriors 🇺🇦.
The President awarded military. Briefed of the current situation. Bakhmut is standing. Defense forces hold the city. pic.twitter.com/38yN3GWTWJ
— Andriy Yermak (@AndriyYermak) March 22, 2023
President Xi Jinping’s visit to Russia was a “journey of friendship, cooperation and peace”, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson has said, as the Chinese leader ended his three-day visit to Moscow.
Wang Wenbin reiterated Beijing’s claims that it remained neutral in the Ukraine conflict and said it had “no selfish motives on the Ukraine issue, has not stood idly by … or taken the opportunity to profit itself”.
Wang, speaking at a daily briefing, said:
What China has done boils down to one word, that is, to promote peace talks.
China would “continue to play a constructive role in promoting a political settlement of the Ukrainian issue,” he said, an apparent reference to a 12-point “peace” proposal put forward by Beijing.
The plan, which has been largely dismissed by western leaders, calls for dialogue, respect for all countries’ territorial sovereignty, and an end to economic sanctions – but critically does not suggest Russia withdraw its forces.
The Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson also criticised the US for providing military support to Ukraine, accusing Washington of lacking impartiality and of “fanning the flames” of the conflict.
Wang said nothing about the international criminal court (ICC) arrest warrant issued for Vladimir Putin on charges of alleged involvement in abductions of thousands of children from Ukraine.
UK says ‘no nuclear escalation’ in supplying depleted uranium shells to Ukraine
Dan Milmo
The UK foreign secretary has said there is no “nuclear escalation” in the country’s decision to supply Ukraine with tanks shells made with depleted uranium.
James Cleverley was responding to Vladimir Putin’s warning that the move would prompt a Russian response, as he accused the west of “beginning to use weapons with a nuclear component.”
Speaking at the launch of the government’s international technology strategy in London, Cleverley said depleted uranium shells were not nuclear munitions. He said:
They are not nuclear munitions, they are purely conventional munitions. And of course, we’ve seen threats from Vladimir Putin every time the UK and our neighbours, friends and allies have sought to support Ukraine in their defence against this brutal, brutal, illegal and unjustified war that Russia has perpetrated against Ukraine.
So there is no nuclear escalation. The only country in the world that is talking about nuclear issues is Russia.
Zelenskiy visits frontline near Bakhmut – presidency
Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has visited frontline military positions near the besieged eastern city of Bakhmut, according to a statement by his office.
During his visit, Zelenskiy “heard “reports on the operational situation and the course of hostilities on the frontline”, the statement said.
He was also pictured meeting with Ukrainian servicemen, and held a moment of silence in memory of those who had fallen in the war.
Zelenskiy was quoted as saying:
I am honoured to be here today, in the east of our country, in Donbas, and to award our heroes, to thank you, to shake hands. Thank you for protecting the state, sovereignty, the east of Ukraine.
Iuliia Mendel, a former spokesperson for Zelenskiy, shared a video which she said showed the president near Bahkmut:
Hello everyone, it’s Léonie Chao-Fong here taking over from Martin Belam to bring you the latest from Ukraine. Feel free to get in touch on Twitter or via email.
Russia firing at residential areas in Zaporizhzhia ‘where children live’, says Zelenskiy
Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has posted a video that he said shows a Russian missile hitting an apartment building in Zaporizhzhia in south-eastern Ukraine.
Residential areas “where ordinary people and children live are being fired at”, Zelenskiy writes, adding that this situation cannot become “just another day” in Ukraine or anywhere in the world.
Zelenskiy adds:
The world needs greater unity and determination to defeat Russian terror faster and protect lives.
Zaporizhzhia. Right now, residential areas where ordinary people and children live are being fired at.
This must not become “just another day” in 🇺🇦 or anywhere else in the world. The world needs greater unity and determination to defeat Russian terror faster and protect lives. pic.twitter.com/YnocW2yVaU— Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) March 22, 2023
Andriy Yermak, head of the office of the Ukrainian presidency, tweeted just earlier that Russian forces were “barraging” Zaporizhzhia.
Summary of the day so far …
Four people have been killed overnight in a drone attack on Rzhyshchiv in the Kyiv region. Seven people were reported wounded, including one child. The strike is reported to have hit a dormitory building and a school. Suspilne, Ukraine’s state broadcaster, is reporting that one of the people who died as a result of the strike was “an ambulance driver who came to the call”.
The US ambassador to Ukraine, Bridget A Brink, tweeted in reaction to the attack “After all the talk in Moscow yesterday [between Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping], more Russian missiles and more drone attacks on civilians overnight make it perfectly clear how much interest President Putin has in a just peace or an end to the war he started.”
Andriy Yermak, head of the office of the Ukrainian presidency, has said that “Russians are barraging Zaporizhzhia” and that “residential buildings and Khortytsia island are under enemy fire.”
British military intelligence said on Wednesday there is a possibility that the Russian assault on the town of Bakhmut is losing the limited momentum it had obtained. This could be happening because “some Russian MoD units have been reallocated to other sectors”, the Ministry of Defence said in its regular bulletin.
Maria Zakharova, the Russian foreign ministry spokesperson, has criticised the international criminal court (ICC) in The Hague for its decision to issue arrest warrants for the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, and the children’s rights commissioner Maria Alekseyevna Lvova-Belova over what is claimed to be the illegal deportation of Ukrainian children. She cited evacuations of children by the US from Vietnam in the 1970s, and said she was “looking forward” to the ICC taking action against US leadership.
The Russian-backed administration in Sevastopol in Crimea said on Wednesday that it had suspended ferry routes around the port city, shortly after the city’s governor said a Ukrainian drone attack had been repelled by air defences.
The RIA news agency reported that several radio stations were hacked in Crimea, and that “reports of a possible evacuation from the peninsula are false, authorities say”.
The US has offered to sell Slovakia 12 new Bell AH-1Z Viper helicopters at a two-thirds discount after Bratislava sent its retired MiG-29 fighter jets to Ukraine, the defence minister, Jaroslav Nad, said on Wednesday.
The International Monetary Fund said on Tuesday it had reached a staff-level agreement with Ukraine for a four-year financing package worth about $15.6bn, offering funds the country needs as it continues to defend against Russia’s invasion. The agreement, which must still be ratified by the IMF’s board, takes into consideration Ukraine’s path to accession to the European Union after the war. The fund said its executive board was expected to discuss approval in the coming weeks.
That is it from me, Martin Belam, for now. I will be back later. Léonie Chao-Fong will be here shortly to take you through the next few hours of our live coverage.
Maria Zakharova, the Russian foreign ministry spokesperson, has issued a long message on Telegram criticising the international criminal court in The Hague for its decision to issue arrest warrants for Russia’s President Vladimir Putin and the children’s rights commissioner Maria Alekseyevna Lvova-Belova over what is claimed to be the illegal deportation of Ukrainian children.
In the message Zakharova compares the situation to the US evacuating children from Vietnam in the 1970s in Operation Babylift, and writes: “It is terrible not only that Washington took such a step in 1975, actually depriving thousands of children of their homeland and culture, erasing their national and ethno-social affiliation, but also how the ‘evacuation’ took place. It is known for certain that the babylift operation was carried out very badly.”
She cites a plane crash that occurred during the operation, and says: “I am really, really looking forward to the international criminal court issuing an arrest warrant for the US leadership, the Pentagon and all the ‘humanitarian funds’ involved in this operation.”
Ukrainian officials have continually accused Russia of transporting children from occupied areas of Ukraine, which Russia has denied, saying instead that it has been placing children from institutions in Ukraine to families in Russia.
In her message, Zakharova quotes Lvova-Belova on 20 March saying: “Today, there are 380 children in 19 regions of our country in families. These are children who have been in social institutions for a long time. None of them were separated from their parents … if there are legal representatives, we will immediately do everything to reunite these families.”
Ukrainian official: ‘Russians are barraging Zaporizhzhia’
Andriy Yermak, head of the office of the Ukrainian presidency, has tweeted that Zaporizhzhia is under attack.
Russians are barraging Zaporizhzhia.
Residential buildings and Khortytsia island are under enemy fire.
— Andriy Yermak (@AndriyYermak) March 22, 2023
Khortytsia island is the largest island on the Dnipro River, and it lies within the boundaries of the city of Zaporizhzhia, through which the river flows.
Zaporizhzhia is one of the partially occupied regions of Ukraine which the Russian Federation claimed to have annexed last year.
In the last few minutes, Suspilne, Ukraine’s state broadcaster, has carried reports of explosions being heard in Zaporizhzhia and in Kherson.
More details soon …
