New military assistance and confirmation of war crimes by Russia: today's highlights

Confirmation of Russian war crimes

The Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Violations in Ukraine, established at the UN, has published a report on the investigation of crimes committed by Russian occupiers.

The commission has classified several crimes committed by the Russian military as war crimes. These include the intentional killing of civilians, indiscriminate attacks on civilian objects, illegal imprisonment, deportation, rape, sexual violence, and more.

The commission also saw signs of crimes against humanity: attacks on populated areas with the use of explosive weapons, including the bombing and siege of Mariupol, massive attacks on Ukraine's energy infrastructure, and so on. However, the chairman of the commission, Erik Møse, said that they found no evidence of genocide during the investigation.

New military assistance

Several countries have announced new military aid to Ukraine:

• Germany has announced a new military aid package for Ukraine. It will include shells for 155-mm artillery and other ammunition;
• The Estonian government has agreed on a new military aid package for Ukraine, which this time includes ammunition, sniper weapons, and special forces equipment;
• Sweden will transfer 8 Archer self-propelled artillery systems to Ukraine as part of the military aid package announced in January;
• French Defense Minister Sébastien Leсornu said that the promised AMX-10 RC armored fighting vehicles, also called light-wheeled tanks, had “just arrived” in Ukraine;
• President of Poland Andrzej Duda said that Poland would send Ukraine four multi-purpose Soviet MiG-29 fighters in the coming days.

Situation at the front

According to the General Staff, Russia continues to prepare for a renewed offensive on Vuhledar in Donetsk Oblast. However, the UK Ministry of Defence, citing its intelligence, reported that Russian attempts to storm Vuhledar in Donetsk Oblast have almost certainly slowed down over the past week. This comes after three months of failed attacks with heavy casualties.

The Ukrainian command said that in the Bakhmut sector, Ukrainian defenders repelled Russian attacks in the areas of Orikhovo-Vasylivka, Bakhmut, Ivanivske, and Hryhorivka over the past 24 hours.

According to the Armed Forces, Ukrainian forces killed 225 Russian occupiers in the area of Bakhmut alone and wounded another 306 Russians during this time. Russian troops are also actively trying to attack in the Lyman-Kupiansk direction.

Kupol's demotion due to a critical interview

A Ukrainian soldier with the call sign “Kupol” said that he was demoted from the position of battalion commander of the 46th separate airmobile brigade because of a critical interview with The Washington Post. In response, he wrote a letter of resignation.

According to the serviceman, the commander of the Air Assault Forces of the Armed Forces, Major General Maksym Myrhorodskyi, explained his demotion by saying that if Kupol claims that the military are poorly trained, then he should train them himself.

Interlocutors of Ukrayinska Pravda in the 46th Brigade reported that Kupol was demoted to the position of deputy battalion commander of the training center. Read what the military said in an interview with WP here.

Hacker attacks

On March 15, Microsoft reported that Russian hackers may be preparing a new wave of cyberattacks on Ukraine, including the threat of ransomware against organizations that service Ukrainian supply lines.

And on March 16, the Ukrainian state-owned enterprise “Information Court Systems” announced a cyberattack by Russia on the e-mail systems of the Ukrainian judiciary.

Other important news

• In Moldova, the Parliament finally approved a bill that would replace the phrase “Moldovan language” with “Romanian language” in all laws and the Constitution;
• members of the Committee for the Taras Shevchenko National Prize of Ukraine announced their resignation after a proposal to add new nominations to the award;
• Polish Interior Minister Mariusz Kaminski confirmed the exposure of a network of Russian spies in the country who were supposed to prepare sabotage;
• law enforcement officers notified a platoon commander of a military unit in Zhytomyr region who had beaten a conscript on suspicion of abuse of power;
• Ukrainian servicemen noticed the atypical activity of the Russian occupation forces in the Black Sea – they moved 20 ships and an auxiliary fleet to the sea. The head of the Joint Press Center of the Southern Defense Forces, Nataliia Gumeniuk, noted that the Russians are trying to demonstrate their presence in the Black Sea as much as the international community can allow.