Progress of the liberation of Ukraine. Rossa Primavera News Agency’s report. March 20 (5:00 pm)

21.03.2022, Moscow.

The Rossa Primavera News Agency publishes a summary of events in Ukraine as of 5 p.m. on March 20.

On the evening of March 19 and the morning of March 20, long-range precision-guided strikes were delivered against Ukrainian military targets. From the Black Sea, sea-launched Kalibr cruise missiles destroyed workshops at the Nezhin repair plant for repairing Ukrainian armored vehicles damaged in combat operations.

From the Caspian Sea, sea-launched Kalibr cruise missiles, as well as from the airspace over the territory of Crimea, Kinzhal aviation missile systems with hypersonic ballistic missiles destroyed a large fuel and lubricant storage base of the Ukrainian army near the town of Konstantinovka in the Nikolaev region. This base was the main source of fuel for Ukrainian armored vehicles in the areas of military operations in southern Ukraine.

High-precision airborne missiles struck a Ukrainian Armed Forces special operations training center, where foreign mercenaries were based in Ukraine, near the village of Ovruch, Zhitomir region. More than 100 fighters of the special operations forces and foreign mercenaries were killed.

Overnight, operational-tactical and army aviation hit 62 Ukrainian military targets. Among them: three command posts, one multiple rocket launcher installation, two rocket and artillery weapons depots and one fuel depot, as well as 52 places of ammunition accumulation.

Russian Air Defense forces shot down in the air: one Mi-8 helicopter of the Ukrainian Air Force near the village of Kokhannoye, six Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles, including one Bayraktar TB-2 near Shibennoye, and one Ukrainian tactical ballistic missile Tochka-U near Chistovodka north of the town of Izyum. Artillery fire destroyed six Ukrainian mobile REB complexes Bukovel.

A total of 207 unmanned aerial vehicles, 1,467 tanks and other armored combat vehicles, 148 multiple rocket launchers, 573 field artillery and mortar guns, and 1,262 pieces of special military vehicle equipment have been destroyed since the start of the special military operation.

Kiev direction

In the Kiev region, civilians have been banned from entering the forests. At the same time, there have been instances when representatives of the territorial defense battalions shot civilians hiding in the forests, mistaking them for Russian saboteurs. There is also information that the Russian Air Force attacked forests near Vyshgorod and in other places with volumetric detonating aerial bombs, which are very effective against enemy manpower.

A mass surrender of Ukrainian servicemen near Kopylov of the Kiev region was observed. According to those who surrendered, the command of the 14th Ukrainian army’s Motorized Rifle Brigade is demoralized and confused, and servicemen are leaving their positions. A major of the Ukrainian army, the deputy commander of the 1st battalion of the 14th Ukrainian army’s Brigade, also surrendered.

There are reports from the field of clashes between the territorial defense battalions and advanced units of the Russian Armed Forces north of Baryshevka in the Borispol district. The Russian Armed Forces control Peremoga and nearby villages north of Baryshevka.

The Russian Armed Forces are mopping-up the villages in the Kiev region anear Borodyanka, expanding their control zones.

It is noted that in the Kiev region, Ukrainian troops are retreating from villages and towns using the tactics of burned bridges and destroying critical infrastructure, such as power and pumping substations. All this is intended to make life in the villages and towns uninhabitable for the Russian military, but in fact the victims are local residents.

Kharkov direction

During the operation to liberate the town of Izyum in the Kharkov region, the servicemen of the National Guard of Russia captured several leaders of nationalist formations and SBU accomplices, seizing important documents. Forty servicemen and special forces personnel were presented with awards for their participation in the liberation of the city, National Guard of Russia reported.

Combat is underway in the area northwest of Balakleya. The town itself is taken under the control and cleared of the Ukrainian militants by the Russian Armed Forces. The Ukrainian army has tried and is trying to take back this most important junction, mortars and artillery are constantly operating, snipers and counter-snipers are actives.

Zaporozhzhye direction

The head of the Dnepropetrovsk defense headquarters, Gennady Korban, called on businessmen and the public to provide Toyotas, pickup trucks and flatbed trucks for the needs of his gang. “We need a war of ‘Toyota’,” noted Korban.

National Guard of Russia servicemen detained provocateurs at a rally in support of Ukraine in Berdyansk in the Zaporozhzhye region.

Southern direction

In the morning of March 20, a political murder was committed in Kherson near Neftegavan by the Ukrainian Defense Ministry’s State Security Service – a car carrying pro-Russian activist Pavel Slobodchikov and his wife was shot dead. Slobodchikov died, and his wife is in hospital in a critical condition. A few days ago, a pro-Russian “Committee for the Salvation of Kherson Region for Peace and Order” was established in Kherson, which set as its goal the fight against Nazism in the Kherson region. Slobodchikov was an assistant to one of the Committee’s organizers, Vladimir Saldo.

Liberation of the LPR and DPR

A group of DPR troops, developing an offensive, took full control of the village of Stepnoye and pursued retreating units of the 53rd Separate Mechanized Brigade of the Ukrainian army. Up to 25 personnel, 2 tanks, 2 BMPs and 5 cross-country vehicles were destroyed.

In the direction of Novoselovka II, units of the Donetsk Republic advanced to a depth of up to three kilometers, crossed the road Kamyanka – Verhnetoretskoye, and are fighting with the first paratrooper battalion of the 25th Separate Airborne Brigade of the Ukrainian army.

Throughout the night, a large part of the Verkhnetoretskoye village was taken under control, where battles with the second battalion of the same 25th Brigade are underway. A total of up to 40 personnel, 5 armored personnel carriers and 4 cross-country vehicles were destroyed in this direction overnight. Offensives continue.

A group of journalists came under mortar fire in the Central District of Mariupol. The group included representatives of the Russian news agencies TASS and RIA Novosti, as well as employees of Chinese Phoenix Television. The Chinese journalist sustained a minor wound to his arm.

Combat continues in Mariupol, with most of the Ukrainian fighters driven into an industrial zone. Nazis defending in Mariupol report that four Russian Navy ships fired artillery at militant positions from the Sea of Azov today.

Meanwhile, there is a humanitarian disaster in Mariupol, with no light, food, water, or medicine. There is a mass evacuation of residents to the DPR and further to Russia. There were practically no evacuations today in the direction of Zaporozhzhye.

Shelling of the territory of the LPR and DPR

A children’s city hospital was damaged as a result of shelling of the Petrovsky district of Donetsk by Ukrainian troops, the DPR representation to the Joint Centre for Ceasefire Control and Coordination reported.

Political situation

Marina Ovsyannikova, editor of Channel One, who carried out an anti-Russian action with a placard on live TV, “I am at my friends’ house, hiding… My mother is still in a state of shock, she is exhausted. My son reproached me for destroying the lives of all family members… I feel very hard mentally… My family does not support me properly.”

The Turkish foreign minister said that Moscow and Kiev were converging on important issues, including critical ones. Çavuşoğlu said Ankara has a desire to hold a trilateral summit of the leaders of Turkey, Russia and Ukraine.

On March 19, members of the Assembly of Russian-Lebanese Business Circles held a rally in support of Russia. It was also stated at the rally that the Lebanese Foreign Ministry’s statement condemning Russia’s special operation in Ukraine did not correspond to the opinion of the majority of Lebanese citizens.

China is not considering supplying weapons to Russia – Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.

The United Nations is not aware of any biological weapons development programs in Ukraine, UN Under-Secretary-General for Disarmament Affairs Izumi Nakamitsu said. She added that the UN has neither the authority nor the capacity to investigate such allegations.

Mercenaries

On March 12, the Portuguese newspaper Expresso published an investigation stating that a group of 20 Portuguese, led by Mário Machado, would soon leave for Ukraine to fight for the Ukrainian army, with some of them, including the leader, intending to join the local Nazis. The Portuguese authorities themselves facilitated his departure: a court granted Machado’s request to withdraw his obligation to report to the Lisbon police every 15 days, thus clearing the way for him to go to Ukraine. Mário Machado is a leader of the Portuguese neo-Nazis, who spent a third of his life in prison for various crimes.

A nineteen-year-old guard of the British Army’s Coldstream Infantry Regiment, who had previously gone AWOL to Ukraine to fight on the side of the Ukrainian army, returned home and was detained by military police. According to the Sun newspaper, he could face trial and imprisonment in the United Kingdom.

Sanctions

Global milk prices may increase significantly due to the disruption of supply chains and the situation in Ukraine, the Financial Times wrote.

The price of steel in Europe has reached an all-time high.

The French Minister of Economy and Finance Bruno Le Maire reported on the freezing of Russian assets. In France were frozen:

assets of the Central Bank of Russia in the amount of 22 billion euros.

Funds in private accounts worth 150 billion euros.

Real estate worth a total of half a billion euros, belonging to about 30 Russian citizens.

The head of the German Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture called for eating less meat to fight Putin. “Even though I am a vegetarian, I will not preach that everyone should switch to vegetarianism. But let’s just say that eating less meat would be a contribution against Putin.”

The German newspaper Bild published an article about Turkish companies preparing to enter the Russian market. Turkey has not joined the sanctions against Russia. This makes Turkey the only NATO country that continues to trade with Russia and can benefit from the departure of Western companies. Turkish companies are now preparing to enter the market – while Western companies are closing their stores.

Bulgarian Deputy Prime Minister, “Against the background of the situation in Ukraine, hoping for increased supplies from Azerbaijan, Bulgaria will not extend the contract for Russian gas that expires this year.” At the same time, demonstrations in support of Russia are taking place in various Bulgarian cities.

Ukraine

The Ukrainian Defense Ministry announced that the army of Belarus is preparing to cross the border and join Russia’s special operation.

Alexksandr Kamyshyn, head of the board of the Ukrainian Railway, said that there are no more railroad connections between Belarus and Ukraine.

The National Security and Defence Council of Ukraine suspended in the country the activities of opposition parties that in one way or another advocated normalization of relations with Russia:

“Opposition Platform – For Life.”

“Party of Shariy”

“Ours”

“Opposition Bloc”

“Left Opposition”

“Union of Left Forces”

“Derzhava”

“Progressive Socialist Party of Ukraine”

“Socialist Party of Ukraine”

“Socialists”

“Bloc of Vladimir Saldo”

Ukraine has already received $1.4 billion from the International Monetary Fund, 300 million euros of macrofinancial aid from the EU and $311 million from the World Bank. The reserves of the National Bank of Ukraine are now higher than before the military special operation, thanks to financial assistance from the EU, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, said deputy head of the NBU Sergey Nikolaychuk.

Zelensky approved the decision of the National Security and Defence Council of Ukraine, according to which a “single information policy” is introduced, which “is implemented by uniting all national TV channels,” which have news programs and analytics, reports Strana.ua. Ukrainian TV channels will be united “on a single information platform of strategic communication – a 24-hour information marathon United News.” De facto all TV channels will be closed and only one remains – Zelensky.

Podolyak, Adviser to the Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, calls on China to support a coalition of civilized countries, promising that in this case, China will gain the right to sit at the table with Ukraine on an equal footing. And he calls on the West to put sanctions pressure on China.

According to Deputy Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Rostislav Shurma, Ukraine will be provided with food until the end of next year, “Today we have enough reserves of wheat, corn, oil, and basic products for 3-5 years. We will definitely feed ourselves.” It is worth mentioning that earlier it was reported that Ukrainian officials were uncontrollably selling food products from Ukraine’s strategic reserves for profit, which led to the emptying of warehouses and created the preconditions for the food crisis in the country.

Western countries

The USA has confirmed Russia’s use of hypersonic Kinzhal missiles. This is the first known use of such missiles in combat – CNN.

Germany is concerned about Russia’s use of hypersonic weapons in Ukraine – German Defense Ministry

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, in talks with his counterpart in India on Saturday, called on Indian leader Narendra Mori to take a tougher stance on Russia’s special operation in Ukraine. At a joint press conference following the talks, Modi made no statements about Russia.

Switzerland is ready to play a mediating role in resolving the conflict in Ukraine and to host talks between Moscow and Kiev, the Swiss president said.

The UaS demanded that Turkey hand over the S-400 complex to Ukraine. According to Reuters, US officials during consultations with their Turkish counterparts touched on the possibility of handing over the S-400 SAM system to Kiev. This topic, in particular, was discussed during a visit to Turkey by US Undersecretary of State Wendy Sherman. According to analysts, this idea will certainly be rejected by Turkey. The agency’s sources clarified that this option is unacceptable for the Turkish side. It is obvious that this US demand is primarily aimed not at supporting Ukraine but at organizing a conflict between Russia and Turkey.

Greece is not considering transferring S-300 systems to Ukraine – the Greek government.

NATO units have started arriving in Slovakia to deploy Patriot systems. Earlier, the country’s Defense Ministry said that it was ready to transfer its S-300 systems to Ukraine, but only after it was compensated by receiving another air defense system.

Source: Rossa Primavera News Age

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