The Russian army is tirelessly continuing its efforts to capture the devastated Bakhmut and Avdiivka, however, the Ukrainian armed forces report that the Russian efforts remain unsuccessful, writes Reuters.
Ukraine’s armed forces said in a report that the two cities, along with other settlements in the industrial Donetsk region, are the main targets of Russian attacks. During the previous 24 hours, 57 Russian attacks on Bakhmut and other cities were repelled.
The British Ministry of Defense has informed that the Russians managed to make a small advance near Avdiivka, but they lost many armored personnel carriers and tanks. Meanwhile, Denis Pushylin, the Russian insert in the Donetsk region, has reported that most Ukrainian forces have withdrawn from the metal factories in the western part of Bakhmut, and the Russian army is advancing.
As Western tanks arrive in Ukraine for counteroffensive use, Russia’s RIA news agency has reported that Moscow has sent hundreds of new and refurbished tanks to its army.
Russia’s ally Belarus has said the decision to allow Moscow to deploy tactical nuclear weapons is a response to Western sanctions and what it has called NATO’s arming of its external borders. US President Joe Biden has indicated that he is concerned about this turn of events, however, in general, Washington does not believe that Russia has moved closer to using tactical nuclear weapons in Ukraine.
Russia has begun testing the Yars intercontinental ballistic missiles
in what is seen as another attempt by Moscow to show off its power.
Another hot spot in Ukraine is the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. It is expected that the Director General of the UN International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Rafael Grossi will visit it on Wednesday, the 29th of March. Grossi said in an interview with Reuters that he has not given up on working on an agreement to protect Europe’s largest nuclear power plant.
US officials have informed that they support the establishment of a special tribunal to try crimes of aggression committed in Ukraine. Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine Iryna Vereshchuk has called on Russians not to adopt children who were illegally taken to Russia. Deportation of children is considered a war crime. Vereshchuk wrote on Telegram that sooner or later these persons will have to take responsibility. Russia has described its criminal actions as efforts to protect orphans and children abandoned in the conflict zone.
Read also: Zelensky: Russia uses Zaporizhzhia NPP for blackmail