An image of the explosion in Dzhankoi in Russia-occupied Crimea in southern Ukraine, March 21, 2023

Monday’s Coverage: Xi Visits Putin

Map: Institute for the Study of War

UPDATE 1553 GMT:

China’s Foreign Ministry has issued its first significant statement on President Xi Jinping’s three-day visit to Russia and talks with Vladimir Putin.

Spokesperson Hua Chunying spoke after the two men finished formal talks and signed a joint statement “deepening the two countries’ comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination for the new era”.

Notably, the Foreign Ministry avoided any support of Putin’s military operations and objectives. Instead, it said Xi and the Russian leader “stressed that the Ukraine crisis should be settled through peace talks”.

Hua drove home the point about China’s avoidance of an alliance siding with the invasion: “Russia speaks positively of China’s objective and impartial position on the Ukraine issue.”

The spokesperson then gave a consolation to Putin — and a sign of China’s broader goals: “The two sides oppose the practice by any country or group of countries to seek advantages in the military, political and other areas to the detriment of the legitimate security interests of other countries.”

Speaking at a news conference alongside Xi, Putin followed Beijing’s line: “We believe that many points of the Chinese peace plan correlate to the point of view of the Russian Federation and many of these points can be adopted in the west and in Kyiv.”

UPDATE 1456 GMT:

Ukrainian Human Rights Commissioner Dmytro Lubinets says 15 children, their mothers, and legal guardians have been returned from Russian-occupied areas in northeast and south Ukraine.

Lubinets says a total of 308 children have been returned to Ukraine-controlled areas during Russia’s invasion.

Ukrainian official says more than 16,000 children have been forcibly transferred from Ukraine to Russia. A Yale University report cites at least 6,000 cases.

UPDATE 1128 GMT:

Turkey has halted the transit of sanctioned goods to Russia, say a senior export official and a diplomat.

After pressure from the US and European countries, the Erdoğan Government circulated a list of banned foreign goods and instructed companies not to transship them to Russia from March 1, said Cetin Tecdelioglu, head of the Istanbul Ferrous and Nonferrous Metals Exporters Association.

“Any goods on that list are blocked from Russia no matter which country they come from,” he said.

A European Union official confirmed verbal assurance from Ankara that no goods would be allowed to Russia from March 1 if they are covered by EU, US, or UK sanctions and export controls.

UPDATE 1044 GMT:

The latest Russian shelling across the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine has killed two civilians and wounded three.

Donetsk Governor Pavlo Kyrylenko said one civilian was killed and two injured in the town of Avdiivka, near the frontline, amid two shelling attacks and a rocket attack. Houses on 4 streets and two factories were were damaged.

One person was killed and one wounded in Bakhmut.

In Kostyantynivka, three private houses, a kindergarten, a gas pipeline, and a water pipeline were damaged.

UPDATE 0952 GMT:

Footage from Vuhledar after Russia’s failed attempt to overrun the city in the southern Donestk region in eastern Ukraine….

Russia reportedly lost 130 armored units, including tanks, with brigades decimated during the assault.

UPDATE 0751 GMT:

Russian law enforcement officers have raided the homes of employees of the human rights organization Memorial, liquidated by Russia’s courts in December 2021.

At least six homes were raided under the guise of an investigation of the “rehabilitation of Nazism”.

Memorial was established in 1987 to study political repression in the Soviet Union and to rehabilitate victims. It created an online database with more than 3 million records.

Memorial, along with the Ukrainian Center for Civil Liberties and the Belarusian human rights activist Ales Byalyatsky received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2022.

UPDATE 0733 GMT:

Hungary has blocked a European Union joint statement on the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin.

Because of the Hungarian veto, EU foreign policy head Josep Borrell issued a statement on his own behalf:

The EU sees the decision by the ICC as a beginning of the process of accountability and holding Russian leaders to account for the crimes and atrocities they are ordering, enabling or committing in Ukraine.

On Monday, EU Justice Ministers published a statement in support of the ICC. Hungary did not sign.

Sources said EU countries may seek tougher wording when leaders meet at a summit in Brussels on Thursday-Friday.

Hungarian President Viktor Orbán is close to Putin. Budapest has delayed or limited EU measures, including sanctions on Moscow, over the invasion of Ukraine.

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UPDATE 0709 GMT:

In his nightly address to the nation, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy praised the European Union’s commitment of a million rounds of artillery shells.

Our European partners have agreed on a joint plan to accelerate the supply of shells for our artillery….This is a strategic step. It gives us confidence in our unity, in the immutability of the movement towards victory over the terrorist state.

On Monday, EU foreign and defense ministers agreed the €2 billion ($2.14 billion) plan to jointly purchase artillery shells, bolstering Ukraine and replenishing European stockpiles.

Zelenskiy also thanked the US for its latest military aid package, with munitions worth $350 million: “These are rockets for HIMARS [high mobility artillery rocket systems], artillery shells and other ammunition — everything we really need to support our warriors.”

UPDATE 0706 GMT:

The Ukraine military says it repelled more than 120 Russian attacks, including 21 air and 9 missile strikes in the last 24 hours.

The General Staff said there were no civilian casualties. However, a strike on Kramatorsk in eastern Ukraine — near the the frontline and a regular target of Russian attacks — damaged seven multi-story buildings and three private cars.

ORIGINAL ENTRY: An explosion in the Russian-occupied Crimea peninsula in southern Ukraine has reportedly destroyed a trainload of Russia’s Kalibr cruise missiles.

The Ukraine Defense Ministry said the blast, in the city of Dzhankoi, destroyed the Kalibrs fired by Russian Black Sea warships on Ukrainian energy infrastructure and other civilian sites.

The Kalibrs have an operational range of more than 2,500km (1,550 miles) on land and 375km (233 miles) at sea. They have been part of the waves of Russian strikes since October 10. Destruction of them would deal a blow to Moscow’s diminishing stocks of missiles for the attacks.

Anton Gereschenko, an advisor to the Ukraine Defense Ministry tweeted:

While not officially claiming responsibility, Ukraine’s forces have carried out a series of sabotage operations against Russian positions in Crimea since last summer. There have been successful attacks on oil and ammunition depots and military bases. One operation destroyed half of the warplanes used by the Russian Black Sea fleet, and the Russian naval headquarters in Sevastapol was targeted by a drone. In October, the Kerch Bridge between Russia and Crimea — a flagship project of Vladimir Putin — was badly damaged by explosives.

Dzhanhoy, the site of Monday’s explosion, is near a Russian base. Russian proxy officials said drones had attacked the city, with anti-aircraft defenses responding. Sergey Aksenov, the Russian-appointed “governor” of Crimea, said one person was injured by falling debris and a home and store were damaged.

None of the proxy officials referred to an attack on the rail station or the Kalibr missiles.

Aksenov has declared, “I can say that all the central facilities that ensure the life of the peninsula, including logistics, are protected to the maximum.”