Daily Wrap Up March 10-13, 2023
Under the cut:
Russia and the United Nations have agreed to a 60-day extension of the Ukraine grain deal after negotiations in Geneva, Russian state news agency RIA reported on Monday.
Fierce fighting rages over central Bakhmut as Russia’s Wagner mercenaries try to break through Ukrainian defenses in the ruined city, Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskyi said on March 13. Syrskyi, who commands Ukraine’s Ground Forces and made two known visits to Bakhmut in recent weeks, acknowledged that the situation in the embattled city remained difficult as Russia continued to press forward.
Ukrainian intelligence officials have officially confirmed the identity of the prisoner of war who shouted, "Glory to Ukraine!" before he was executed in a video that was widely circulated on social media. The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) determined he was a sniper with the 163rd Battalion of the 119th Separate Tank Brigade of the Chernihiv Region, Oleksandr Ihorovych Matsiyevsky. CNN earlier reported that Matsiyevsky's loved ones and his commander had recognized him as the man in the clip.
Three civilians were killed in Russian shelling of Kherson in southern Ukraine on Saturday, and another died in Donetsk, regional officials said. Reuters reported the governor of Kherson oblast, Oleksandr Prokudin, as saying three people, including an elderly woman, had also been wounded.
Dozens of Ukrainian soldiers on Monday wrapped up a four-week training in Spain on how to operate the Leopard 2A4 battle tank, of which Madrid is set to deliver six mothballed units to Kyiv this spring. A total of 40 tank crew members and 15 mechanical specialists underwent training on their use at a military base in the northeastern city of Zaragoza, Spain’s armed forces said in a statement.
Chinese President Xi Jinping plans to travel to Russia to meet his counterpart Vladimir Putin as soon as next week, people familiar with the matter said, which would be sooner than previously expected. Plans for a visit come as China has been offering to broker peace in Ukraine, an effort that has been met with scepticism in the West given Beijing's diplomatic support for Russia.
“Russia and the United Nations have agreed to a 60-day extension of the Ukraine grain deal after negotiations in Geneva, Russian state news agency RIA reported on Monday.
"Our Russian interdepartmental delegation has just completed another round of talks with UN representatives led by UNCTAD Secretary General R. Greenspan and OCHA head M. Griffiths,” Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Vershinin said at a briefing on Monday, according to RIA.
The diplomat added Moscow had agreed to extend the current grain deal, which lasts until March 18, for an additional 60 days.
"But just for 60 days,” Vershinin said. “Any further grain policy will depend on actual —based on not what's said but what's done — progress on the normalization of our agricultural exports, including bank payments, transport logistics, insurance, unfreezing of financial activities and the continuation of ammonia supply through the Tolyatti-Odessa pipeline.”
Why are grain exports so important? Ukraine and Russia are both significant suppliers of food to the world. Before the war, Ukraine – known as one of the globe’s breadbaskets – would export around three-quarters of the grain it produces. According to data from the European Commission, about 90% of these exports were shipped by sea, from Ukraine’s Black Sea ports. The war and its impact on grain exports therefore has major implications, particularly in the global South which relies heavily on them.”-via CNN
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“Fierce fighting rages over central Bakhmut as Russia’s Wagner mercenaries try to break through Ukrainian defenses in the ruined city, Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskyi said on March 13.
Syrskyi, who commands Ukraine’s Ground Forces and made two known visits to Bakhmut in recent weeks, acknowledged that the situation in the embattled city remained difficult as Russia continued to press forward.
The commander said that the Wagner members were storming into central Bakhmut from multiple fronts, but Ukraine still held on to the “fortress” while inflicting “significant losses” on the invading forces.
“All enemy attempts to capture the city are repelled by artillery, tanks, and other firepower," Syrskyi said, as quoted by the Ukrainian Defense Ministry's media center.
Syrskyi’s statement comes amid an eight-month-long battle over Bakhmut, a largely destroyed city nearly emptied of its 70,000 residents. Russia has intensified its offensive on Bakhmut in recent weeks as it captured neighboring settlements, inching its way into encircling the city.
Late on March 12, Wagner head Yevgeny Prigozhin said in a Telegram post that his mercenaries began storming into the underground compound of the Artemivskyi non-ferrous metal processing plant, also known as AZOM, in northern Bakhmut.
Neither Ukraine nor Russia officially commented on the situation at the plant on March 13.
The Institute for the Study of War (ISW), a D.C.-based think-tank analyzing the war in Ukraine, said on March 12 that the Russian military leadership could be trying to expend the Wagner forces and Prigozhin’s influence in Bakhmut.
The ISW has earlier reported that Wagner’s committed elite forces in Bakhmut may be running out as the paramilitary group uses up its manpower to maintain offensive momentum.
Serhiy Cherevatyi, a spokesperson for Ukraine's Eastern Military Command, said on March 11 that Ukraine seeks to degrade Wagner forces during its defense of Bakhmut.
He added that Ukraine has already “thinned out” the second formation of Wagner’s recruited prisoners over the winter, and Ukraine has “a real chance” of degrading Wagner if it keeps up the pace.
As fierce battles raged in the east and south of Ukraine, civilian casualties continued to be reported.
The President’s Office said on March 13 that Russian troops launched two missiles at a school in Avdiivka, Donetsk Oblast, killing a woman.
To the northeast, the Russians launched a missile strike on the village of Znob-Novhorodske in Sumy Oblast, killing at least one and wounding four, according to the President’s Office.
On the southern front, the Russians fired upon energy workers in a liberated area of Kherson Oblast, wounding one person, the regional military administration said.”-via Kyiv Independent
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“Ukrainian intelligence officials have officially confirmed the identity of the prisoner of war who shouted, "Glory to Ukraine!" before he was executed in a video that was widely circulated on social media.
The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) determined he was a sniper with the 163rd Battalion of the 119th Separate Tank Brigade of the Chernihiv Region, Oleksandr Ihorovych Matsiyevsky. CNN earlier reported that Matsiyevsky's loved ones and his commander had recognized him as the man in the clip.
The SBU came to the conclusion after communicating with the sniper's family and comrades-in-arms, as well as processing photo and video materials, officials said.
"This is a true Hero who, even looking into the face of death, demonstrated to the whole world what Ukrainian character and invincibility are," said SBU Head Vasyl Malyuk in a statement on their website. "It is these defenders who are defending our land today, which means that the enemy will definitely be defeated. Because Ukraine's Great Victory is made up of the heroic deeds of people like Oleksandr Matsiyevsky. Glory to the hero! Glory to the heroes! Glory to Ukraine!"
Matsiyevsky was called for military service in March 2022. Since the end of December, he was reported missing near the village of Krasna Hora in the eastern Donetsk region, according to the SBU. The sniper was shot dead on December 30. His body was returned home in February.
The SBU said it is working to identify the Russian military personnel involved in the execution, and investigating the killing under Article 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (violation of the laws and customs of war).
Officials in Kyiv, including President Volodymyr Zelensky, have roundly condemned the sniper's on-camera slaying as a war crime.”-via CNN
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“Three civilians were killed in Russian shelling of Kherson in southern Ukraine on Saturday, and another died in Donetsk, regional officials said.
Reuters reported the governor of Kherson oblast, Oleksandr Prokudin, as saying three people, including an elderly woman, had also been wounded .
“Today the Russian occupiers have hit Kherson again, on Mykolayivsky road near a shop, debris from a shell killed three people,” he told Ukrainian TV.
Ukraine recaptured Kherson in November after nearly eight months of occupation by Russian forces who seized it soon after the start of their invasion. The area is now under almost constant bombardment from Russian forces on the opposite side of the Dnieper river.
The Donetsk regional governor, Pavlo Kyrylenko, said one person had been killed and at least three injured in the city of Kostyantynivka after several rounds of Russian shelling during the day.”-via The Guardian
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“Dozens of Ukrainian soldiers on Monday wrapped up a four-week training in Spain on how to operate the Leopard 2A4 battle tank, of which Madrid is set to deliver six mothballed units to Kyiv this spring.
A total of 40 tank crew members and 15 mechanical specialists underwent training on their use at a military base in the northeastern city of Zaragoza, Spain’s armed forces said in a statement.
“It has been intense,” Spanish trainer Captain Contreras - who identified himself only by his rank and surname - told reporters, who were allowed access to the drills for the first time.
Contreras said the Ukrainians would be returning home “with a very acceptable knowledge” of the Leopards.
“Although the tanks were different, there were many systems that coincide and that has made things much easier. With that, together with the motivation that the personnel brought and their desire to learn, we see them very well prepared to resume combat.”
One of the Ukrainian soldiers being trained had a patch on a sleeve sporting the slogan “Freedom or Death” underneath the Ukrainian flag.”-via The Guardian
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“Chinese President Xi Jinping plans to travel to Russia to meet his counterpart Vladimir Putin as soon as next week, people familiar with the matter said, which would be sooner than previously expected.
Plans for a visit come as China has been offering to broker peace in Ukraine, an effort that has been met with scepticism in the West given Beijing's diplomatic support for Russia.
Putin said last month that a Xi visit had been agreed, though the Kremlin chief gave no date for a possible visit. The Wall Street Journal reported last month that a visit to Moscow could take place in April or early May.
China's foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the possibility of Xi going to Moscow.
When asked about the Reuters report, the Kremlin said it had nothing to say on the matter.
"As a rule, announcements of official foreign visits are coordinated synchronously by mutual agreement of the parties," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters in Moscow.
"When there is such readiness, we will let you know."
No other details were immediately available.
The sources briefed on the matter declined to be identified given the sensitivity of the issue.
Last month, Putin hosted China's top diplomat Wang Yi on a visit to Moscow. One source said that Wang's trip to Moscow was to help prepare for Xi's visit.
China and Russia struck a "no limits" partnership in February of 2022, when Putin was visiting Beijing for the opening of the Winter Olympics, weeks before Russia invaded Ukraine. The two sides have continued to reaffirm the strength of their ties.
Xi has met Putin in person 39 times since becoming president, most recently in September during a summit in central Asia.
On Monday, Xi wrapped up the annual session of China's parliament, the National People's Congress, during which he was unanimously confirmed in a precedent-breaking third term as president.”-via Reuters
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