Ukraine Briefly

March 24, 2022

Ukraine, Briefly

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• Between 7,000 to 15,000 Russian soldiers have died during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, according to NATO estimates, as the conflict enters its fourth week, the Associated Press said. Meanwhile, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov warned that Russia would only use nuclear weapons if its very existence were threatened, Al Jazeera wrote.

• Drone footage published by the Ukrainian National Guard shows a residential section of Mariupol, Ukraine, that is still on fire following intense bombardment from Russia, NBC News reported. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said more than 100,000 people remain in the besieged city, despite humanitarian measures to evacuate inhabitants.

• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged French firms to leave Russia and cease funding Moscow’s “war machine,” as many other Western corporations have done in the aftermath of the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine, Radio Free Europe noted. His comments came during a video address to the French parliament. Meanwhile, the European Union’s executive body adopted new state-aid rules that would allow countries to support businesses harmed by the war, Politico reported.

• Poland will expel 45 Russian diplomats, whom the government accuses of being spies operating in the NATO country, Voice of America wrote. At the same time, neighboring Belarus shut down Ukraine’s Consulate General in the western city of Brest and ordered a number of diplomats to leave the country, Radio Free Europe noted. Belarusian officials said the move was due to Ukraine’s “numerous unfriendly actions” over many years. Belarus is aiding Russia in its war in Ukraine.

• The United States is preparing to sanction most of the members of Russia’s lower house of parliament to punish Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine, the Wall Street Journal added. Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov admitted Wednesday that “no one could have predicted” Western sanctions would target Russia’s central bank, the Kremlin’s first acknowledgment that the transatlantic reaction to Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine caught Moscow off guard, according to Politico.

• Anatoly Chubais, Russia’s climate envoy, resigned and left the country, citing his opposition to President Vladimir Putin’s conflict in Ukraine, becoming the highest-ranking official to oppose the invasion, Bloomberg wrote.

This story originally appeared in the March 24, 2022 newsletter, Four Weeks.