Russia-Ukraine war. Timeline of events, March 12-13

🔘 American journalist Brent Renaud was killed in the war zone near Irpin. Another journalist is injured. After the incident, the mayor of the city Alexander Markushin banned the entry of journalists.

Video: Wounded journalist talks about how he and Brent Renaud came under fire – UNIAN: 

🔘UN: since the beginning of the conflict in Ukraine, 2,698,280 people have left the country.

🔘 The French Foreign Minister said that a new package of EU sanctions will come into force in the near future. They will affect the import of iron and steel from Russia and the export of luxury goods. Investments in the oil sector will also be banned, and the sanctions list of Russian oligarchs will be expanded.

🔘 The US Department of Commerce has published a list of luxury items that will be prohibited from being imported into Russia from March 16. This includes about 570 commodity items, such as perfumes and cosmetics, silk, furs, handbags, expensive clothes, snowmobiles, some cars and motorcycles.

🔘The British edition of the Daily Mail writes that Putin suffers from a brain disorder caused by dementia, Parkinson’s disease or “steroid rage”. The latter may have resulted from steroid treatment for cancer.

🔘In Mariupol besieged by Russian troops, the last supplies of food and water are coming to an end. The city council reported that there is no electricity in the city, the supply of water and heat is cut off, there is almost no mobile communication, and residential areas are subjected to constant shelling and bombardment. The city authorities also report that 2,187 citizens have died during the fighting.

Photo: destroyed pontoon crossing of Russian troops near Gostomel – Ukraine 24\7

🔘 The supply of electricity has resumed at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. This is reported by the Ukrainian Energoatom. The nuclear waste cooling systems are operating as usual.

🔘Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba on his Twitter warned the citizens of Syria and Serbia, whom Russia could use in the war against Ukraine, that they would be “considered war criminals” and urged them not to come.

🔘 Head of Chechnya Ramzan Kadyrov arrived in Ukraine. His units participate in the Russian invasion.

Video: Ramzan Kadyrov surrounded by soldiers somewhere in the suburbs of Kyiv – RBC

🔘The Russian Ministry of Defense reported that it began to successfully use shock drones in Ukraine. According to the ministry, the drone destroyed a multiple launch rocket system of the Armed Forces of Ukraine from a height of more than 3,000 meters.

🔘According to preliminary data from OVD-Info, 600 people were detained at anti-war rallies in 33 Russian cities today.

Video: Everyone is getting detained on Red Square, including Putin’s supporters – Ukraine 24/7

🔘 An adviser to the head of the Office of the President of Ukraine has said that a meeting between Zelensky and Putin could take place in the foreseeable future. “Not in a day, or two, or three. It will take some time, but we will try to make it happen as soon as possible”, said Mikhail Podolyak. Press Secretary of the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Peskov also said that “no one excludes the possibility of a meeting between Putin and Zelensky, but it is necessary to understand what will be the agenda of the meeting and what it can achieve”.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu also spoke about the meeting between the presidents of Russia and Ukraine. He stated that during the telephone conversation, Putin told his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan that he was not opposed to meeting with Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky.

🔘Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov in an interview with the “Moscow. Kremlin. Putin” show said that Russia lost access to half of its gold and foreign exchange reserves due to sanctions: “We have a total amount of reserves of about 640 billion dollars, about 300 billion dollars of reserves are now in a state in which we cannot use them. So far, part of the reserves will not be unfrozen, debts to countries that are unfriendly to the Russian Federation will paid in ruble equivalent”.

🔘 The US Helsinki Commission has proposed to US President Joe Biden to give Georgia and Ukraine the status of main allies outside NATO, Foreign Policy reports. This status would not oblige them to participate in defense or bilateral security. The members of the commission believe that the new status will push Georgia and Ukraine towards the Euro-Atlantic path of development. The status of the main allies outside NATO will allow them to receive weapons, information and funding in a simplified manner. It is also proposed to give this status to Sweden, Finland and Moldova.

Photo: Kyiv is preparing for the blockade. Supplies have been gathered to last two million inhabitants remaining in the city for two weeks — UNIAN

🔘Russian and Ukrainian sailors with valid US visas are not allowed into some US ports after the start of the war in Ukraine. The American Chamber of Shipping believes that the authorities fear that sailors may stay in the United States and not leave on time. Several sailors have already turned to the authorities for the special assistance amid the ongoing war, the organization said.

🔘Turkey will not join Western sanctions against Russia – Turkish Foreign Minister

Situation in Ukraine:

🔘A coordinating headquarters for the treatment of prisoners of war will be created in Ukraine. This was stated in a government decree. The headquarters will monitor compliance with international legislation in the field of treatment of prisoners of war, deal with the exchange of prisoners of war and coordinate the work of departments.

🔘 The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine announced the termination of the work of the Russian embassy and consulates. Citizens of Ukraine are advised to refrain from traveling to the Russian Federation, and Ukrainians in Russia are advised to leave the country immediately. Ukraine announced the severance of diplomatic ties with Russia on the first day of the war, February 24.

🔘 Deputies of the Melitopol City Council appeal to the President of Ukraine, the Prosecutor General of Ukraine and “NATO member countries”. They call for doing everything possible to release the mayor of the city, Ivan Fedorov, who has been kidnapped by the Russian military, as well as prosecution of Galina Danilchenko, a deputy from the Opposition Bloc, under the article “Treason,” for “attempts to create an occupation administration”.

🔘Aleksandr Markushin, the mayor of the city of Irpin the fighting for which is ongoing, has said that the city remains 70% Ukrainian. The mayor has also denied reports that he fled or was injured. “Today, Irpin has not been captured. 70% of it is our Ukrainian city. We are fighting for the remaining 30%”.

Video: Protests in occupied Berdyansk against Russian troops – NEXTA

In Russia:

🔘The website of the Belarusian publication “Nasha Niva” has been blocked in Russia. The publication did not specify the reason for the blocking. Mediazona reports that the decision to block it was made on February 24, the day of the invasion of Ukraine. There is a “No to War” banner on the website, and many media outlets in Russia have already been blocked due to anti-war statements and the use of the words “war” and “invasion” in relation to the actions of Russian troops in Ukraine.

🔘Anti-war protests continue in Russia. To date, more than 170 people have already been detained, OVD-Info reports. Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, more than 14,000 people have been detained in Russia for participating in anti-war rallies.

Video: ‘Avtozak’ full of journalists arrested at the anti-war rally in St. Petersburg — SOTA

🔘Russia has launched an air strike on a military training ground 30 kilometers from Lviv. This was reported by the head of the local regional administration Maxim Kozitsky. As a result of the shelling, 9 people have been killed, 57 were injured and are currently in the hospital.

Photo: Consequences of an airstrike on military training ground – Trukha Telegram channel

🔘Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine Evgeny Enin: “The Mayor of Melitopol Ivan Fedorov is still held by the occupiers, but the Ukrainian special services are taking appropriate measures to free him”.

Video: Consequences of an air strike on Chernihiv. One person died and one was injured. Removal of debris continues – UNIAN

🔘The new package of Western military assistance to Ukraine will include anti-tank, anti-aircraft systems, small arms – Reuters.

🔘Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić said that “due to pressure from the West” the country will reduce the number of flights to Russia:

“We are accused of making money on Ukrainian blood, and instead of one flight we have two. Well, let’s return to the old level, we will have one flight a day so that no one can tell us that we are earning something,” the president said, mentioning that the number of flights from Turkey to Russia is 30 times higher, but it is never addressed or condemned by the international community.

🔘The British Ministry of Defense reports that Russian troops will try to bypass Nikolaev to attack Odessa.

🔘Anti-war protests continue in Russia

Video: Detention of a protester holding a blank sheet of paper in Russia 

 Russian Defense Ministry’s reports:

🔘 The Russian military has advanced 14 km and captured the southern regions of four settlements.

• – In Nikolsky, according to the Ministry of Defense, members of the Ukrainian national battalion equipped firing positions on the territory of the Holy Assumption Nikolo-Vasilyevsky Monastery, held about 300 civilians and monks hostage. Part of the Ukrainian fighters was destroyed, the inhabitants and monks who were in the monastery were not injured.
• – LPR forces partially blockaded Severodonetsk.
• – Russian air defense and aviation has shot down one Su-24 aircraft of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the Lyubimovka area, as well as two drones.
• – In total, since the beginning of the operation, according to the Russian Ministry of Defense, 3,687 military infrastructure facilities of Ukraine have been disabled, 99 aircraft, 128 drones, 1,194 tanks and other armored combat vehicles, 121 multiple launch rocket systems, 443 field artillery guns and mortars, 991 units have been destroyed special military vehicles.

🔘 Presidents Putin, Macron and Chancellor Scholz have held telephone conversations today, the Kremlin reports.

Highlights of the negotiations:

▪️The heads of state have agreed to continue to communicate and considered issues related to the agreements being worked out on the implementation of Russian requirements;

▪️Putin called on Macron and Scholz to influence Kyiv so that “the crimes of the national battalions of Ukraine were stopped”;

▪️Putin told Macron and Scholz in detail about the talks between Russia and Ukraine that took place in video format in recent days

▪️Scholz and Macron have pointed to the need for a ceasefire in Ukraine;

▪️Putin briefed Macron and Scholz on the humanitarian situation in Ukraine;

▪️Putin has cited the violation of the norms of international humanitarian law by the Ukrainian security forces.

🔘 Ukrainian media reports that Russia is preparing a referendum to declare the Kherson People’s Republic. The deputy of the Kherson Regional Council, Serhiy Khlan, stated on his Facebook that the deputies of the regional council were being called with a question of whether they were ready to cooperate. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Kuleba also confirmed this information on his Twitter:

“Given the zero support of the population, it will be completely rigged. If this happens, tough sanctions should follow against Russia. Kherson has always been and always will be Ukraine”.

🔘 Adviser to the head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Mykhailo Podolyak said that negotiations with the Russian delegation continue in video format. For this, special working groups have been created.

Photo: Russian tanks on the streets of Mariupol – UNIAN

Situation in Ukraine:

🔘 Ukrayinska Pravda reports that the Russian military have kidnapped the protest coordinator in Melitopol. Olga Gaysumova has been detained right at the rally attended by approximately 2,000 people, her whereabouts are unknown. Gaysumova urged residents of the city to take to the streets demanding the release of the mayor of the city, Ivan Fyodorov.

🔘 President Zelensky has announced the losses of the Ukrainian army. He stated that about 1,300 people have died in battles with Russian troops.

🔘 Russian Defense Ministry: On March 12, the Russian armed forces shot down one Ukrainian Air Force Mi-24 helicopter and three unmanned aerial vehicles, including one Bayraktar TB-2. The Ministry of Defense reports that 79 objects of the military infrastructure of Ukraine were hit, the Russian military established control over the settlements of Novoandreevka and Kirilovka, advancing 12 kilometers in a day. Advance detachments of the Luhansk People’s Militia reached the outskirts of the city of Severodonetsk.

Video: Mortar shelling of a residential sector in Nikolaev — UNIAN

In Russia:

🔘 PayPal informs that starting from March 18 all electronic wallets of Russians will be blocked.

🔘 Roskomnadzor explained the blocking of Instagram by “concern for the psychological health of citizens of the Russian Federation”. The Ministry said the decision to allow incitement to violence “against Russians” “is part of the crime characterized as “genocide”.

Video: In Russia, riot police detained a military band for trying to sing the song “Yes to the world of sun, no to the nuclear explosion” — UNIAN

A rally of Russians and Belarusians who fled to Tbilisi because of disagreement with the policies of their countries has been held today in front of the Russian Consulate in Tbilisi (which has been located inside the Swiss Embassy since Georgia and Russia severed their diplomatic ties in 2008).

The anti-war rally was held to condemn Russia’s aggression against Ukraine and Georgia.

Protesters have unfurled flags of Ukraine and the protest flags of Russia and Belarus, many cursed Presidents Putin and Lukashenko. Photo: Bashir Kitachaev/JAMnews

🔘 French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz are currently holding a telephone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin. On March 10, Putin, Macron and Scholz also held a telephone conversation, during which the situation in Ukraine was discussed.

🔘 The Prime Minister of Croatia called for closer cooperation with NATO in connection with the explosion of a military drone in Zagreb. Croatia is a member of NATO, its Prime Minister Andrey Plenkovic specified that the Russian-made UAV flew into Zagreb from Hungary, which it had entered from Romania. Croatian Defense Minister Mario Banozic said that the country, as well as the North Atlantic Alliance, do not consider that the incident as a threat to national security.

🔘 Since the beginning of the war, 564 people have died in Ukraine, including 41 children. 982 people, including 52 children, injured – UN

Photo: Kharkiv, the second most populous city in the country – a consequence of Russian air strikes – NEXTA

Situation in Ukraine:

🔘 British Defense Minister: Russian troops are located 25 kilometers from the center of Kyiv

🔘 A warehouse of frozen products caught fire near Kiev as a result of shelling – State Emergency Service

🔘 The Russian Ministry of Defense reported that on the morning of March 12, a long-range precision-guided weapon attacked Ukrainian military infrastructure facilities. As a result, the military airfield in Vasilkovo and the main center of radio and electronic intelligence of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in Brovary were put out of action.

🔘 UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi: the number of people who fled Ukraine has reached 2.5 million people.

Sanctions against Russia and statements of the West:

🔘 41 countries will stand against Russia in the international court. Japan and Macedonia have joined the lawsuit of Ukraine against Russia in the International Criminal Court because of the military invasion, said Prosecutor General of Ukraine Irina Venediktova.

🔘 US State Department: The US imposes sanctions against top managers and the chairman of the board of Novikombank, Elena Georgieva.

🔘 One of the largest banks in Germany, Deutsche Bank, announced the closure of the remaining business in the territory of the Russian Federation.

🔘 Due to the cessation of payment providers and main delivery services, eBay has suspended all transactions with Russian addresses.

🔘 In Italy, the yacht of the Russian oligarch Andrey Melnichenko was arrested. It is the largest sailing yacht in the world, valued at over half a billion euros.

🔘 In Georgia, near the section of interests of the Russian Federation at the Embassy of Switzerland, a large rally is held in support of Ukraine and against the war. The main slogan of the action is “No to Putin! No war!”.

🔘 Sony Pictures announced the suspension of activities in Russia.

🔘 Russia has become the most sanctioned country in the world. Aggression in Ukraine triggered 2,778 new sanctions, bringing the number to more than 5,530. In the past eight years, Russia has received more sanctions than North Korea, Myanmar, Chile, Cuba, China, Iran and Syria in 70 years.

In Russia:

🔘 The Prosecutor General’s Office of the Russian Federation, which opened a criminal case against Meta, achieved the inclusion of the American technology giant in the list of “extremist organizations”

🔘 The United States is using Ukraine as a “super training ground” for testing the means and methods of conducting biological warfare, Igor Nikulin, a former member of the UN Commission on Biological and Chemical Weapons, said in an interview with RIA Novosti. The expert believes that the development of US biological weapons was tested on humans, animals and plants. Because of these actions, epidemics and outbreaks of diseases have occurred in Ukraine since 2014.

🔘 Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said that Russia’s response package to Western sanctions are ready, Moscow will soon publish them.

🔘 Deputy General Director of Aeroflot for strategy, service and marketing Andrey Panov told RBC that he had left Russia and the company.

Photo: Azerbaijan has sent 380 tons of humanitarian aid to Ukraine for a total amount of more than 5.5 million euros – NEXTA

Reports from the fronts

 During the night, fighting intensified for the city of Nikolaev in southern Ukraine. Russian troops invaded from nearby Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014. In this zone, the Russian army has been more successful in capturing territory than in other parts of Ukraine. Ukrainian forces have been defending Mykolaiv for more than a week and are holding it so far. Gov. Vitaly Kim: “We are winning this battle, but not this war.”

 Intensive rocket attack on the cities of Lutsk and Ivano-Frankivsk continue. Mayor of Ivano-Frankivsk Ruslan Martsinkiv said that after the second missile attack on the airport, its infrastructure was almost completely destroyed.

 70% of the territory of the Luhansk region is occupied, said the head of the Luhansk region Serhiy Gaidai says.

 “Russian troops have advanced significantly in the direction of Kyiv, and the inhabitants of the capital are facing an imminent attack”, said John Kirby, spokesman for the US Department of Defense.

 A video is circulating on social media showing the Russian military being dragging and kidnapping presumably the mayor of Melitopol, Ivan Fedorov. Ukrainian President Zelenskiy called the apparent kidnapping a “crime against democracy.”

 Russia announces it is starting to recruit mercenaries for war in Ukraine – BBC.

 Ukraine says Belarus could join Russia’s invasion in the coming hours.

 “Evidence has been obtained of the use of cluster munitions by Russia in Kharkiv and Vugledar. This is inconsistent with the principles of international humanitarian law.” — Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.

 Zelensky: “Russia will be equated with ISIS terrorists.” The Ukrainian president once again called on all the inhabitants of the country to resist the Russian troops and appealed to Russian mothers: “Do not send your children to war in a foreign country.”

 US President Biden: “The US will not directly intervene in military actions against Russia in Ukraine, as this will mean the Third World War. However, the US will respond to any Russian move that threatens NATO, even if it leads to a world war. 12,000 US troops have been moved to Russia’s borders and will protect every inch of NATO countries.”

PHOTO Reuters: Ukrainian drone drops Molotov cocktail on Russian troops. The explosive mixture is poured into a bottle of Chernihiv beer. The device was developed by the Territorial Defense Forces of Ukraine after the government called on private owners to donate their drones for combat missions.

New evacuation attempts

 Today, March 12, a new attempt to evacuate the residents of the besieged Mariupol is planned. The city has been under siege for more than a week, there is no electricity, gas, water, the threat of hunger. Two days ago, the Russian military bombed the maternity hospital. A humanitarian cargo is moving to Mariupol, and on the way back, the equipment must pick up people. Several previous attempts to evacuate the people had failed as the bombardment continued.

 On March 12, evacuation trains from Kyiv, Odessa, Poltava, Kharkov, Vinnitsa, Zaporozhye and other settlements should leave. In the Sumy region and in the suburbs of Kyiv, Irpin, “green corridors” for evacuation should open.

 Bulgaria offered itself as a mediator in Russian-Ukrainian negotiations.

Dangerous situation at nuclear power plants

 10 representatives of the Russian state company Rosatom, including two senior engineers, unsuccessfully tried to enter the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant and take control of it. They told Ukrainian personnel at the station that it now belonged to them. “There are about 500 Russian soldiers with machine guns on the territory. The Ukrainian staff is in an extremely difficult psychological state,” – the head of the Ukrainian “Energoatom” Petr Kotin.

 Radioactive material at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant is still safely stored, but the station remains disconnected from the IAEA monitoring systems – the head of the Ukrainian “Energoatom” Petr Kotin.

 Russia violates basic principles of nuclear safety – US Secretary of Energy.

Support for Ukraine and sanctions against Russia

 President of Ukraine Zelensky addressed with words of gratitude to the President of Poland Andrzej Duda and the Polish people. More than half of the 2.5 million Ukrainians who fled the war evacuated across the western border to Poland.

 Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan expressed confidence that if Russia had been punished for Crimea in 2014, there might not have been a war against Ukraine in 2022.

 New US sanctions against Russia include a ban on the import of Russian alcohol, seafood and diamonds.

 The United States imposed sanctions against the leader of the Communist Party Zyuganov, the speaker of the State Duma Volodin, oligarch Vekselberg, members of the board of VTB Bank. The list includes the wife of Peskov’s press secretary, Tatyana Navka, and his adult children. Sanctions have been imposed on another 12 deputies of the State Duma. It is promised that the list of American sanctions against Russian oligarchs will expand further.

VIDEO: “Can you hear me? You will be torn apart,” US President Biden on the Russian stock market.

 The European Commission will propose a ban on imports from the Russian Federation of key iron and steel products and consider a ban on investments in the energy sector of the Russian Federation, Ursula von der Leyen said.

 YouTube immediately begins blocking Russian state media channels around the world, the company said. YouTube also suspends absolutely all methods of monetization on the platform in the Russian Federation.

 The United States is working with biological weapons in Ukraine, Russia said without evidence at a meeting of the UN Security Council. UN Disarmament Chief Izumi Nakamitsu said the UN is not aware of any biological weapons program in Ukraine. The US fears that these “false claims are made to justify Russia’s potential use of biological weapons against Ukraine.”

 The US announced further restrictions on trade with Russia, including a ban on the import of Russian vodka and diamonds.

 LINX (London Internet Exchange) has confirmed the disconnection of key RF providers from the point of international traffic exchange.

 Pink Floyd and David Gilmour have decided to remove their music from digital platforms in Russia and Belarus.

 Russia’s decision to block Instagram will affect 80 million people in the country. The Prosecutor General’s Office of the Russian Federation has listed Facebook and Instagram as “extremist organizations” after Meta, which owns Instagram and Facebook, allowed it to publish threats against Russian troops and their commander-in-chief Putin. Meta’s head of international relations stated that these changes are temporary in the context of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and are only valid on the territory of Ukraine. “Were it not for this decision, we would now have to remove content from ordinary Ukrainians expressing their resistance and rage at the invading Russian military, which would rightly be viewed as unacceptable,” Meta spokesman Nick Cleg said.

VIDEO: Russian top blogger cries that she will lose access to her Instagram account. “This is my whole life in the last five years”:

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Follow the timeline of March 10-11 events here.