On Tuesday, March 22, Ukrainian military reported of Russian occupation forces firing at food warehouses. Meanwhile, heavy fighting takes place in the south of the country, where the invaders have managed to push deeper in Ukrainian territory and establish a Russian-controlled land connection between the occupied Crimea peninsular and the occupied part of the eastern Donbas region, Ukrainian public broadcaster Ukrinform reports.
The head of the Ukrainian Luhansk Regional Military Administration, Serhiy Haidai, claimed that in the city of Severodonetsk, Luhansk Oblast, Russian troops were purposefully destroying food warehouses.
«In Severodonetsk, the Russian army continues to destroy wholesale food warehouses. They are hitting them because they know where they are located. They managed to inflict losses on local businesses, but the city’s residents will be fed anyway – our supplies have been set up,» Haidai reported.
A total of 14 fires broke out in the region on Monday, March 21, amid Russian attacks. About 25 sites were damaged, including two apartment blocks and 16 private households, a children’s hospital in Severodonetsk, a school in Rubizhne, buildings, garages and infrastructure facilities, according to the head of the Ukrainian Luhansk Regional Military Administration.
Kyiv admits losing key territory
The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine has stated that from Tuesday, Russian troops have control over the land corridor connecting the occupied areas of Donbas and Crimea, blocking Ukraine’s access to the Sea of Azov.
Russian troops in Polissia area, northern Ukraine, had tried to intensify offensive operations in several directions, suffered losses, and failed, according to the Ukrainian General Staff.
In the northern direction of Ukraine, the invaders carried out no active offensive operations, restoring their offensive capabilities by bringing additional units into Ukraine, including a battalion tactical group with the 90th Panzer Division, the Ukrainian military wrote.
It added that Russian units continued to shell Chernihiv and other Ukrainian settlements, not abandoning attempts to advance in the direction of Brovary, while having no success due to losses. In the north-east, Russian troops carried out no active offensive operations, partially blocking the city of Sumy, continuing artillery shelling of Kharkiv. In the Donetsk and Luhansk directions, the invaders continued their attempts at advancing and gaining a foothold, the Ukrainian General Staff reported
Zelenskyy points to killing of Holocaust survivor
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has spoken in his latest video address about a 96-year-old man, called Borys Romanchenko. According to Zelenskyy and Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, Romanchenko has been killed by a Russian strike in Kharkiv on Friday, March 18.
See the speech in Ukrainian with English subtitles.
The tweet by Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba.
Borys Romanchenko, 96, survived four Nazi concentration camps: Buchenwald, Peenemünde, Mittelbau-Dora, Bergen-Belsen. He lived his quiet life in Kharkiv until recently. Last Friday a Russian bomb hit his house and killed him. Unspeakable crime. Survived Hitler, murdered by Putin. pic.twitter.com/QYJ4xrNYC9
— Dmytro Kuleba (@DmytroKuleba) March 21, 2022