Kyiv: Ukrainian army today claimed that it managed to eliminate two high-ranking Russian commanders – the deputy head of the Black Sea Fleet Paliy, who it claimed, was responsible for ideological work; and the deputy chief of engineering troops of the Western military district of the Russian Federation, who was liquidated near Izium.
Earlier the Air Force Command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine claimed that on March 19, 2022, it had taken down three Russian helicopters.
The General Staff of Armed Forces of Ukraine claimed that the total combat losses of Russian forces in Ukraine from February 24 to March 20, 2022 (approximation) were: 14700 troops; 476 tanks; 1487 armoured vehicles; 230 artillery systems; 74 rocket systems; 44 anti-air systems; 96 aircraft; 118 helicopters; 947 military auto vehicles; 3 military boats; 60 fuel tanks; 21 tactical UAVs.
Ukraine’s Minister of Internal Affairs Vadym Denysenko meanwhile claimed that the Russian military equipment was approaching the Belarusian border to try to enter Ukraine. He mentioned that the Belarusian diplomats had left Ukraine, and called it an alarming signal.
The Mariupol City Council stated that the Russians today dropped bombs on Art School #12 used as a shelter for women, children and the elderly. No information was available on casualties yet. Earlier, four Russian warships opened heavy rocket fire on Mariupol. The city has been shelled by artillery, tanks and aviation. Ukraine’s foreign affairs ministry claimed the Russian army was “purposefully destroying homes, civil infrastructure and killing thousands of people, as well as blocking evacuation and shooting at civilian vehicles”.
Russian artillery shelling of Avdiivka (Donetsk region) continued and several apartment buildings and a kindergarten were hit. Three people were killed and information was being updated, according to the Donetsk Regional Prosecutor’s Office.
The Mayor of the Ukrainian town of Chernihiv reported today that the town was suffering from a humanitarian catastrophe. “There is no electricity, heat, and water, the infrastructure is destroyed, and “green” corridors did not work,” the Mayor reported.
The Ukrainian Commissioner for Human Rights Liudmyla Denisova claimed that the Russian forces were essentially turning numerous towns and cities, including Manhush and Melekino towns, in Kherson and Donetsk regions into concentration camps by denying humanitarian aid to them and keeping them blocked in without heating and water.
In the town of Berdyansk in the Donetsk region, 200-500 people came out in a protest against Russian occupiers. The local media reported that Russian soldiers fired warning shots, beat, searched and detained some people, but could not fully stop the protest. The fate of the detained people was unknown.
Locals at Enerhodar also were protesting and blocking invaders since their arrival at the nearby Zaporizhia Nuclear Power Plant. Enerhodar City Council claimed today that the Russian forces kidnapped the deputy mayor of Enerhodar, Ivan Samoydiuk. The town is closest to the Zaporizhia Nuclear Power Plant, taken over by Russian forces.
On the night of March 20, 2022, 5 civilians were killed, including a 9-year-old boy in the shelling of the industrial district in Kharkiv, police reported.
The head of the Luhansk Regional Military Administration, Haidai, claimed Over the past 24 hours in Rubizhne and Sievierodonetsk, three people died and 24 houses were destroyed by Russian shelling.
– global bihari bureau
