Russia-Ukraine war: what we know on day 30 of the invasion
Russia and Ukraine exchange prisoners; Ukraine reoccupies towns east of Kyiv
A man walks holding bags near a burning warehouse hit by a Russian shell in the suburbs of Kyiv on Thursday. Photograph: AFP via Getty Images
Samantha Lock
Fri Mar 25 2022 - 10:49
Ukraine's emergency services are reporting an oil depot in the village of Kalinovka in north-west Ukraine was hit by Russian shelling and caught fire overnight.
Russia and Ukraine exchanged prisoners in the first swap of soldiers since Moscow ordered troops into Ukraine one month ago, Ukraine's vice prime minister, Iryna Vereshchuk, said writing the first "full-fledged exchange of prisoners of war took place" where 10 "captured occupiers" were exchanged for 10 Ukrainian servicemen. In a recent update published to her official Telegram channel just before midnight local time, Vereshchuk said the humanitarian hostages taken in Mangush have been released.
Ukraine accused Moscow of forcibly taking hundreds of thousands of civilians from shattered Ukrainian cities to Russia, where some may be used as "hostages" to pressure Kyiv to give up. Lyudmyla Denisova, Ukraine's ombudsman, said 402,000 people, including 84,000 children, have been taken against their will. The United Nations told the BBC that Ukrainians are being arbitrarily detained and subjected to enforced disappearances in Russian-controlled areas.
Volodymyr Zelenskiy shared his appearance at the EU summit where he thanked European Council members for putting sanctions on Russia but said it was "a little late", in a video message posted to his official Facebook account.
Russian ex-president Dmitry Medvedev said it is "foolish" to believe that western sanctions against Russian businesses could have any effect on the Moscow government. The sanctions will only consolidate the Russian society and not cause popular discontent with the authorities, Medvedev told Russia's RIA news agency in an interview.
US president Joe Biden will travel to a town near the Polish-Ukrainian border on Friday, in an attempt to signal western resolve. He is expected to meet with experts on the humanitarian response and US troops stationed in Poland. On Saturday, he is to meet Polish counterpart, Andrzej Duda, to discuss "the humanitarian and human rights crisis" resulting from the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The UK's ministry of defence said Ukrainian forces have reoccupied towns and defensive positions up to 35 km east of Kyiv. In an earlier report, the ministry said Ukraine is striking "high value targets" that is forcing Russian forces to divert resources to defend their supply lines. It cited the attacks on a landing ship and ammunition storage depots at Berdyansk as examples of valuable targets. "It is likely that the Ukrainians will continue to target logistical assets in Russian-held areas. This will force the Russian military to prioritise the defence of their supply chain" and reduce their ability to carry out offensive operations.
Ukrainian forces have been bolstered by the destruction of the major Russian landing ship as it brought in supplies to its troops. Dramatic pictures showed billowing fire and black smoke as the ship, docked in Berdyansk on the Azov Sea, was hit by Ukrainian ballistic missiles.
The Ukrainian defence ministry said its troops had pushed back Russian forces from some areas around the capital, Kyiv. Russian troops did not have enough resources to push ahead with their offensive in Ukraine, Oleksander Motuzyanyk, Ukraine's defence ministry spokesman said.
These accounts appear to be corroborated by a senior Pentagon official who said Russia is running out of precision-guided munitions and it is more likely to rely on so-called dumb bombs and artillery. Under secretary of defence for policy, Colin Kahl, said Russia is suffering failure rates as high as 60 per cent for some of its precision-guided missiles while its forces have taken heavy casualties and are low on supplies. – Guardian
