March 22, 2023 - Russia-Ukraine news

Ukraine says the offensive capacity of Russian forces in and around Bakhmut is diminishing, but cautions that it remains one of the areas where the fiercest fighting is ongoing.

“The Russian Federation continues its armed aggression against Ukraine, focusing its main efforts on attempts to completely seize Donetsk and Luhansk regions within the administrative borders,” the Ukrainian military’s General Staff said in an evening update on Wednesday. “The fiercest fighting is taking place in the southern and northern parts of Bakhmut.”

According to the Ukrainian military, Russian forces are continuing to expend large numbers of men trying to re-take the city.

“The enemy keeps trying to take the city, losing a significant amount of manpower, weapons and military equipment,” it said on Wednesday. “Our defenders have been repelling numerous enemy attacks around the clock in the areas of Bakhmut, Bohdanivka and Predtechyne.”

The Ukrainian military went on to say Moscow’s armies were on the defensive in some areas in the southern part of Ukraine.

“The enemy is conducting defensive actions in the Zaporizhzhia and Kherson directions. Areas near the contact line came under fire,” it said.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday that any European country that is a party to the International Criminal Court (ICC) should arrest Russian President Vladimir Putin if he visits.

Blinken would not say whether the US authorities would turn the Russian president over to the ICC if he were to come to this country, noting that the US is not a party to the court.

“I don’t think he has any plans to travel here soon,” Blinken said.

Putin has scarcely left Russia in recent years, and he has not traveled to the US since 2015.

Some more context: Last week, the ICC issued an arrest warrant against Putin for his role in a vast Kremlin-wide effort to forcibly deport Ukrainian children into Russia.

A report released in mid-February from the US State Department-backed Conflict Observatory by the Yale Humanitarian Research Lab found that more than 6,000 children — ranging in age from mere months old to 17 — have been in Russian custody at some point during the course of the war, although the "total number of children is not known and is likely significantly higher than 6,000."

It identified 43 facilities that are a part of the vast network where the children were sent, stretching “from one end of Russia to the other," including Russian-occupied Crimea, the "eastern Pacific Coast — closer to Alaska than it is to Moscow," and Siberia, Yale Humanitarian Research Lab's Nathaniel Raymond said.

Sweden’s parliament formally approved the country’s accession to NATO on Wednesday, the government said in a statement.  

The Nordic country requested to join the military alliance alongside its neighbor Finland last year, citing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, but its application must be ratified by all 30 current member states before it can become a member itself. 

Where things stand: The memberships of both countries are currently being stalled by Turkey and Hungary, both of which have yet to ratify. While Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan announced last week that his parliament would begin ratifying Finland’s NATO bid, and Hungary’s ruling party said it would also approve Finland’s accession, neither country has begun the process for Sweden. 

Erdogan has said Turkey will not change its approach to Sweden unless “positive steps” are taken. The country has accused Sweden of harboring members of terror groups, something Sweden denies. 

The Biden administration stopped short of accusing Russia of a missile strike targeting civilians in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, but said it “certainly” is consistent with previous such attacks. 

CNN has reported at least one person was killed and 32 injured Wednesday, with a senior Ukrainian official calling it “a specific deliberate strike at a residential building.”

“It certainly could be” targeted at civilians," National Security Council coordinator for strategic communications John Kirby told CNN’s Kate Bolduan.

Kirby also discussed news that the US is expediting the shipment of Patriot missile systems and Abrams to Ukraine. While he said there has “always” been a sense of urgency, he said the Ukrainians are reacting “well” to training and that the accelerated delivery is a “good thing.” He reiterated that there is “no change” to the US policy on sending F-16 jets at this time. 

“The weeks and months ahead are going to be critical. We want to make sure that the Ukrainians have everything that they need in order to be successful,” he said.

The focus of the next weeks, Kirby said, are the “Four A’s”: armor, artillery, air defense, and ammunition, pointing to “more open terrain, combined arms warfare” ahead.

Pressed by Bolduan on the possibility of China arming Ukraine, Kirby said there is “no indication they are moving in that direction or have made a decision in that regard.”

He said he is “not aware” of any plans by China’s President Xi Jinping to speak with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky but reiterated the US hope that such a conversation will take place.

Mike McCaul, the chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, will hold a hearing next Wednesday on “Oversight, Transparency, and Accountability of Ukraine Assistance,” the committee announced Wednesday.

The acting inspector generals from the State Department, Defense Department and the US Agency for International Development are slated to testify. 

The billions of dollars in US assistance to Ukraine were expected to come under increased scrutiny by the Republican-led House. 

The inspectors general have not announced any instances of misuse of US provided funds or weapons. There are dozens of ongoing projects from the Office of Inspector General related to oversight of US assistance to Ukraine.

Some background: On Monday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced the 34th drawdown of arms and equipment for Ukraine valued at $350 million. The US has committed more than $32 billion in Presidential Drawdown funds to aid Ukraine since Russia's full-scale invasion began more than one year ago.

Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas said NATO countries must prepare for a long war in Ukraine, calling on allies to increase defense spending.

“Russia has prepared for a long confrontation and so must we,” Kallas tweeted on Wednesday.

The Estonian prime minister urged NATO countries to increase defense spending beyond the 2% threshold.

At least one person was killed and 32 others were injured by missile strikes in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine’s State Emergency Service said Wednesday.

“As of now, 32 people have been injured as a result of an enemy missile attack between two nine-story buildings: 27 people have been hospitalized, including 3 children,” it said. “5 people were treated on the spot. One person died.”

According to the Ukrainian prosecutor’s office, Russian forces fired at least six missiles at Zaporizhzhia.

The type of missiles that were used are "currently being established," the prosecutor's office said in a statement.

The prosecutor’s office went on to say the missiles had caused significant damage to civilian infrastructure and some people are still missing.

Mykhailo Podolyak, a senior Ukrainian official and adviser to President Volodymyr Zelensky, said the strikes deliberately targeted civilians.

“Zaporizhzhia. Today. A specific deliberate strike at a residential building. To kill civilians. No 'military' nearby,” Podolyak posted on Telegram Wednesday. “Once again, the obvious. 'Russian world' came to kill – plain brazenly." 

Ukraine’s State Emergency Service said rescue operations are still underway.

Moscow and Washington currently have no common ground on the new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START), Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said Wednesday in remarks at the Valdai Forum, according to state outlet RIA Novosti.

“There is simply no common ground here. I don’t think that there are any grounds now for discussing the New START issue with the United States,” Ryabkov said of the agreement.

According to Ryabkov, Russia cannot even consider notifications from the American side under the treaty, because from a formal point of view, the contract has been suspended.

“This would be a violation of federal law on our part," he said.

Ryabkov added that Moscow’s condition for returning to START discussions is “a change in the US hostile course towards Russia."

The American counterparts have to “accept the reality for what it is," he added.

Some more context: Last month, Russian President Vladimir Putin said he was suspending his country's participation in the nuclear arms reduction treaty with the United States, imperiling the last remaining pact that regulates the world's two largest nuclear arsenals.

Putin made the declaration in his much-delayed annual state of the nation address to Russia's National Assembly. Hours after Putin's speech, Russia's Foreign Ministry said the decision to suspend participation in the treaty was "reversible."

The treaty puts limits on the number of deployed intercontinental-range nuclear weapons that both the US and Russia can have. It was last extended in early 2021 for five years, meaning the two sides would soon need to begin negotiating on another arms control agreement.

Rescuers in Zaporizhzhia are searching for survivors after Russian forces fired at least six missiles at the eastern Ukrainian city, the Ukrainian prosecutor’s office said in a statement on Wednesday.

The officials added that the missiles caused extensive damage to residential high-rise buildings.

“One of the missiles hit between two high-rise buildings, partially destroying apartments and balconies, damaging roofs and breaking windows,” the statement said. “The blast wave and debris also damaged other nearby residential buildings, cars and other civilian infrastructure in the city."

Here are some photos showing the aftermath of Russia's latest round of missile strikes in the eastern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia.

CNN's Svitlana Vlasova and Olga Voitovych in Kyiv contributed to this post.