An apartment building in Mariupol, Donetsk Oblast, targeted by the Russians forces on March 12, 2022. (Evgeniy Maloletka)
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It is widely believed that Russian leadership expected its all-out invasion of Ukraine to succeed within days.
Twenty days later, Ukraine still stands, and Russia has no major victories to claim. It seized only one large city and regional center, Kherson in southern Ukraine.
To force Ukraine to surrender, Russia has shelled civilians in residential areas and attacked military and civilian infrastructure, including schools, kindergartens, and hospitals all across the country. Photos of Kharkiv's wrecked downtown and a destroyed maternity hospital in Mariupol have appeared on the front pages of newspapers all over the world.
Since Feb. 24, Russia's aggression has killed thousands of Ukrainians, forced some three million to flee, and left cities and villages in ruins.
Ukrainian emergency workers carry an injured pregnant woman after Russian troops shelled a maternity hospital in Mariupol, Donetsk Oblast on March 9, 2022. The woman and her unborn baby have died. (Evgeniy Maloletka)A mass grave in Mariupol, Donetsk Oblast, on March 9, 2022. According to local authorities, over 2,000 residents have been killed in the city since Feb. 24, 2022. (Mstyslav Chernov)Firefighters rescue people from an apartment building in Kyiv that was shelled on March 14, 2022. At least one person was killed and dozens were injured. (Getty Images)A woman in despair after an apartment building was destroyed by shelling in the northwestern Obolon district of Kyiv on March 14, 2022. (AFP/Getty Images)Firefighters extinguish fire at a destroyed shoe factory following an airstrike in Dnipro on March 11, 2022. (AFP/Getty Images)A burned tank and a damaged building in Volnovakha, Donetsk Oblast on March 12, 2022. The city was occupied by Russian forces after 16 days of heavy fighting. (Getty Images)Funeral ceremony held for three Ukrainian servicemen Taras Didukh, 25, Andrii Stefanyshyn, 39, and Dmytro Kabakov, 58, in Lviv on March 11, 2022. (Getty Images)A resident prays by a candle while sheltering in the basement as Russian forces move through the city on March 7, 2022 in Irpin, Kyiv Oblast. (Getty Images)Andriy says goodbye to his partner Yarina before boarding a train to Dnipro on March 9, 2022 in Lviv. As civilian Ukrainians flee to western Ukraine and abroad to escape Russia's assault, military personnel are heading east to fight. (Getty Images)Firefighters put out the fire after a Russian missile hit downtown Kharkiv on March 14, 2022. (Getty Images)The bodies of two civilians killed by Russian shelling are seen in the central park of Irpin, Kyiv Oblast, on March 10, 2022. Irpin, a suburb northwest of Kyiv, had experienced days of sustained shelling by Russian forces advancing toward the capital. (Chris McGrath/Getty Images)A family walks down a stairwell pocked with shrapnel from an earlier rocket strike in Mykolayiv. The regional capital in southern Ukraine has been under frequent bombardment by Russian forces trying to advance along the Black Sea coast. (Getty Images)People walk amid destruction as they evacuate from Irpin, Kyiv Oblast, on March 10, 2022. A body of a civilian man killed by Russian forces is seen nearby. (Getty Images)A rescuer pushes a trolley with an elderly woman during an evacuation in Irpin, Kyiv Oblast, on March 8, 2022. (AFP/Getty Images)A Ukrainian soldier stands near the blown-up bridge in Irpin, Kyiv Oblast, as Territorial Defense volunteers help civilians cross the river and flee on March 7, 2022. (Volodymyr Petrov)A man stands inside his house wrecked by Russian shelling in Mariupol, Donetsk Oblast. The city has been under Russian siege for over two weeks. (Evgeniy Maloletka)
"I say they (Ukraine) don't have the cards. Nobody really has the cards. Russia doesn't have the cards. What you have to do is you have to make a deal, and you have to stop the killing. It's a senseless war, and we are going to get it stopped," Trump said.
"I think the notion of the pause in aid, broadly, is something I hope we can resolve. Obviously, what happens tomorrow will be key to that," Marco Rubio said.
Russian forces have made a breakthrough south of the Ukrainian-held town of Sudzha in Kursk Oblast, potentially threatening to cut off some of the Ukrainian positions in the Russian region.
Following Zelensky's meeting with the Saudi crown prince, the Ukrainian president's team will remain in the country on March 11 to meet U.S. delegates and discuss the framework for a potential peace agreement.
Just a few years ago, the biggest purveyors of disinformation on the internet were bots, conspiracy theorists and Russian propaganda outlets. Today the world is a very different place and two of the most prominent sources of lies and mistruths are the President of the United States, Donald Trump, and the world’s richest man, Elon Musk. The Kyiv Independent’s Chris York sits down with Eliot Higgins, founder and creative director of the investigative outlet Bellingcat, to discuss how we arrived at this point and what can be done about it.
A Russian woman, Olga Dorokhina, took a 4-year-old girl from the occupied part of Kherson Oblast and plans to adopt her, according to an investigation by Ukrainian media outlet Suspilne published on March 10.
Chinese car exports to Russia surged sevenfold in 2023 compared to 2022, as Western sanctions over Moscow’s war against Ukraine cut Russia off from brands like Volkswagen, Toyota, and BMW.
Alexander Turchin, who previously served as head of the Minsk regional executive committee, held key government positions, including Chief of Staff of the Council of Ministers in 2016 and First Deputy Prime Minister in 2018-2019.
The total cost of the procurement exceeds Hr 110 billion ($2.6 billion), with Hr 102 billion ($2.4 billion) allocated through the Defense Procurement Agency.
The decline is attributed to Russia prioritizing weapons production for its own military, the impact of Western sanctions, and increased pressure from the U.S. and its allies on countries purchasing Russian arms, the report said.
"These are small assault units, composed of a few people. They try to penetrate our territory, accumulate forces and advance further into Ukraine, probably to cut off logistical routes," State Border Guard spokesperson Andrii Demchenko said on national television.
The U.S. has officially canceled 83% of U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) programs, with the roughly 1,000 remaining contracts to be administered by the State Department, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on March 10.
According to the investigation, the suspect, an IT specialist from Kharkiv, was recruited by Russian special services and tasked with assembling improvised explosive devices (IEDs) containing metal fragments to maximize casualties.
The European Union is bracing for a potential Hungarian veto on extending sanctions against Russia, which are set to expire on March 15, Euractiv reported on March 10, citing sources familiar with the matter.
