[Korrespondent] 22:33 Turkey calls for a thorough study of China's "peace plan" for Ukraine, Erdogan's spokesman Ibrahim Kalyn said. According to him, Ankara is ready to support Beijing's proposals if they "create a foundation for negotiations." Kalyn noted that the West "miscalculated the situation," and sanctions against Russia only push it towards closer ties with China.
20:51 The occupational Russian administration has actually established control over the Askania-Nova reserve in the Kherson region, the press service of the reserve reported. In particular, on March 20, the first deputy head of the presidential administration of the Russian Federation Sergey Kiriyenko, the "acting governor" of the Kherson region, collaborator Vladimir Saldo and the new "director" of the reserve D. Meshcheryakov arrived at the institution.
19:24 Putin said that Russia "has something to answer" for ammunition with depleted uranium, the Russian Federation "has a lot of such weapons, but it has not yet used them." He also said that Russia is completing the construction of a storage facility for tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus on July 1.
At the same time, he stressed that "Russia is not transferring its nuclear weapons to Belarus, but is doing what the US has been doing for decades." Russia has already helped Belarus re-equip aircraft: ten types of aircraft are ready for the use of tactical weapons, and crew training will begin on April 3, Putin added.
19:03 IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi next week will visit Zaporozhye NPP, the agency reported.
18:46 Deputy Defense Minister Anna Malyar urges not to discuss or publish information about the counter-offensive for which the Armed Forces of Ukraine are preparing: "Three people in this state have the right to publish strategic military plans and plans - the Supreme Commander (President), the Minister of Defense, the Commander-in-Chief. All the rest - just quote. No need to ask questions on the air to experts - what about the counteroffensive, no need to write blogs and posts on this topic, no need to publicly discuss the military plans of our army at all. We have one strategic plan - to liberate all our territories. And the details - It's a military secret."
Malyar stressed that "information is also a weapon, and we also fight with it."
17:37 Prime Minister of Poland Mateusz Morawiecki proposes to buy shells for Ukraine outside the EU, since the Armed Forces of Ukraine need ammunition immediately. In Poland itself, according to him, the Dezamet plant plans to significantly increase the production of ammunition for Ukraine, in particular for mortars and grenade launchers.
16:59 The Russians fired artillery at Chasov Yar and Toretsk in the Donetsk region - one person died in each city, the Office of the President reported.
15:53 ​​The Russians fired at the distribution point for humanitarian aid in Kherson, two people were injured, the OVA reported.
15:28 Bakhmut is still the epicenter of hostilities, so the information of British intelligence about the slowdown in the advance of Russian troops in this direction needs to be clarified, said Sergey Cherevaty, spokesman for the Eastern Group of Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine: "This still needs to be analyzed. But the last three days show that today There were 18 clashes in the Bakhmut direction, more recently there were from 30 to 50. But this requires a more detailed analysis, and I think the next week will show this. So far, Bakhmut remains the epicenter of hostilities, the direction of the main attack of the enemy."
14:51 Russia has a very large stock of aerial bombs, and converting them into guided bombs is cheaper and faster than producing missiles, Yuri Ignat, spokesman for the Air Force Command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, said. According to him, the Russians can drop their planning bombs at a distance of 50 km or more, not reaching the border of Ukraine. Therefore, Ukraine needs funds to hit the planes that release these bombs.
13:40 The Russians were rotating in Nova Kakhovka, Kherson region, so it seemed that they had left the city, spokesman for the Southern Defense Forces Natalia Gumenyuk explained: “At first it was a massive rotation, which provoked the understanding that the troops were packing up and leaving. others came in. Such work, in principle, is carried out very often in those settlements that are adjacent to the left bank, since they are used by the enemy as places for the recovery of combat units after they return from hot spots.
13:18 Erdogan and Putin discussed the situation in Ukraine and bilateral relations by phone, the office of the Turkish President said.
12:22 The Russians no longer have such a potential to launch 50-70-80 missiles at once, Natalya Gumenyuk, speaker of OK Pivden, said: "Massive missile attacks are already a thing of the past, the enemy is starting to use pinpoint strikes. Now tactics are in a state of search. they do not have such a potential to launch 50-70-80 missiles at once - this is already a very senseless step." At the same time, she added that the possibility of new massive attacks cannot be ruled out.
10:57 British intelligence believes that the Russians' attempts to capture Bakhmut have stalled due to extreme attrition, and now they are preparing for defense. At the same time, analysts note that Ukraine also suffered significant losses in the defense of the city. But the situation for the Russians was further undermined by the conflict between the Wagnerites and the Ministry of Defense.
Intelligence officials believe that Moscow has probably shifted its focus to Avdiivka, as well as to the Svatovo-Kremenskoye direction. This may indicate that the Russians are moving to a more defensive pattern after unsuccessful offensive attempts.
09:26 Ukraine cannot launch a counteroffensive now, Zelensky said in an interview with the Japanese edition of Yomiuri: "We cannot start yet, and without tanks, artillery and HIMARS, we cannot send brave soldiers to the front line." At the same time, the president acknowledged that the situation in eastern Ukraine was "bad", and added that the reason was the lack of ammunition. According to him, the Russian military daily uses three times more ammunition than the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
Zelensky also said that Kyiv did not receive any offers of mediation or organization of negotiations from China, and there was no reaction from Beijing to the proposals of the Ukrainian side.
09:22 In the Donetsk region over the past day, as a result of Russian shelling, two people were killed (in Bakhmut and Orlovka), three more were injured, Pavel Kirilenko, head of the OVA, said.
09:19 Over the past day, the Russians fired on Kherson seven times, and in total in the Kherson region they carried out 67 attacks, firing 301 shells from heavy artillery and Gradov. Two people died, six were injured, said the head of the OVA, Alexander Prokudin.
09:16 The General Staff announced the estimated losses of the Russian Federation as of the morning of March 25.
- personnel - about 169,890 (+720) people liquidated,
- tanks - 3580 (+6),
- armored combat vehicles - 6932 (+11),
- artillery systems - 2623 (+7),
- MLRS - 520 (+9),
- air defense systems - 276 (+0),
- aircraft - 305 (+0),
- helicopters - 291 (+1),
- UAV operational-tactical level - 2214 (+6),
- cruise missiles - 911 (+0),
- ships/boats - 18 (+0),
- automotive equipment and tankers - 5483 (+19),
- special equipment - 279 (+2).
08:48 Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, Russia has destroyed and damaged medical facilities in Ukraine for $ 2.5 billion, according to World Bank estimates. In particular, Russian missiles and shells destroyed or damaged at least 978 medical facilities. Also damaged or destroyed were 650 ambulances and at least 596 pharmacies.
Russia inflicted the most damage to the medical infrastructure on the territory of four regions - Donetsk, Kharkiv, Chernihiv and Lugansk. In total, the need to restore the healthcare system as a result of the war is now estimated at $16.4 billion.
08:33 The Russian army is concentrating its main efforts on conducting offensive operations in the Limansky, Bakhmutsky, Avdeevsky, Maryinsky and Miner directions. Over the past day, the Defense Forces repelled 59 enemy attacks on them, the General Staff said in the morning summary .
According to the General Staff, on March 22, servicemen of the Russian Guard carried out a raid on the village of Chaplinka in the Kherson region. During the check, the Russians paid special attention to the personal documents of local residents, vehicles and mobile phones. Meanwhile, in Energodar, Zaporozhye region, Russian invaders are organizing "excursions" for children of senior classes to Volgodonsk, to the Rostov nuclear power plant.
06:26 The American Institute for the Study of War (ISW) believes that the so-called "big" Russian spring offensive is approaching a climax, and the Russian information space is reacting to the slowdown in Russian operations and the possibility of Ukraine seizing the initiative "with considerable concern."
Analysts say the Russian military will need to move a significant amount of forces to the front to either prevent a climax or launch new offensives. However, it is unlikely that such forces exist in sufficient quantities to do both.
ISW also reports that the Russian 155th Naval Infantry Brigade has been destroyed and rebuilt eight times since the start of the war, in large part due to losses incurred during the long battles for Vuhledar and ineffective frontal attacks. Analysts say Russian troops are unable to sustain significant advance rates anywhere along the front lines using "human wave" style attacks.
03:47 A group of creditors of Ukraine, which includes all G7 states, has agreed to defer payments on loans provided to Ukraine until 2027, when the current IMF program ends, the Canadian Ministry of Finance said.
01:55 An EU working group will meet in Brussels next week to study the possibility of using frozen Russian assets to restore Ukraine, writes The New York Times. According to the newspaper, there is growing support in the West for the idea of ​​forced recovery of money from Russia for the restoration of Ukraine.
01:24 US President Joe Biden and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau during the meeting announced their intention to support Ukraine "whatever the cost."
Biden also said that the idea of ​​​​an alliance between China and Russia is greatly exaggerated. He assured that if Beijing and Moscow really create a coalition, the West will unite even more countries. "I don't take China lightly. I don't take Russia lightly. But I think we've exaggerated a lot. I've been hearing for the last three months that China is going to provide serious weapons to Russia... They haven't done it yet. It's not means they won't do it, but they haven't done it yet. And if something happens, the West will come together much stronger," Biden stressed.
00:47 Kuleba spoke about the "behind-the-scenes diplomatic battle" that begins after the issuance of a warrant for Putin's arrest by the International Criminal Court: "Now a huge behind-the-scenes diplomatic battle will begin for respect for obligations under the Rome Statute."
He also commented on the situation with South Africa, which ratified the Rome Statute and officially invited Putin to the BRICS summit: "The question is no longer Putin or Ukraine, but that if the ICC warrant is openly ignored, it will destroy the ICC." According to the head of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry, the ICC itself is now interested in ensuring that its acts are respected, and all countries that support the court "will join the behind-the-scenes battle to ensure the execution of the warrant."
"It is clear that South Africa will not refuse Putin's visit, because it is their political ally ... But to ignore the warrant - I do not think that South Africa will be able to openly and defiantly ignore it ... It is better to fight attempts not to fulfill the warrant for Putin's arrest than to fight for for such an order to be issued in principle," the minister added.
00:22 The Kremlin abandoned plans for a further offensive in Ukraine this spring after they failed to achieve great success. Instead, the Russian Federation will focus on containing a new Ukrainian counteroffensive, Bloomberg writes, citing sources. According to them, this year the Russian authorities plan to recruit up to 400,000 contract soldiers to make up for losses and avoid another forced mobilization.
The publication notes that almost all 300,000 troops mobilized in the fall are now on the battlefield, but for many months Russia has not been able to take a single large city.
00:04 Kherson City Council called on local residents to evacuate due to constant Russian shelling. This is especially true for residents of settlements located near the Dnieper. Due to constant attacks, it is almost impossible to provide a constant heat and water supply there. Free daily buses from Kherson to Odessa via Nikolaev are organized for evacuation.