War News by Halyna Pastushuk
LETTERS FROM ATTACKED UKRAINE (LeFrAtUk)
MARCH 21, 2022
26th day of Russian invasion in Ukraine and genocide against Ukrainians
OPEN AIR INSTALLATION
109 empty prams have been placed last weekend on the ancient Market Square, near the City Hall, in my home city, to commemorate the children ruthlessly killed by Russian troops. I never thought that this square where every cobble stone is so dear to me, would be hosting an installation with such a sinister message…
WAR NEWS
· Today at 13.15 a Russian fighter-bomber flew over Ukrainian Volyn and entered the airspace of the Republic of Poland. This was reported by journalist Yuri Butusov. The incident occurred immediately after the statement of the Polish leadership about the possible direction of Polish peacekeepers to Ukraine to ensure the safety of civilians. Russia is provoking a clash with NATO forces.
· In the 25 days of the Russian invasion, 1,271 crimes against national security were registered in Ukraine.
Of these, 922 are encroachments on the territorial integrity and inviolability of Ukraine's borders, 244 - for treason, 48 - for sabotage crimes and 57 - for others.The vast majority of detained saboteurs are citizens of Ukraine. The head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs Denis Monastrysky wrote about this on his Facebook page."Some of the detainees came from the temporarily occupied territories or from other countries. Some only have a residence permit. Some of them allegedly stayed in Ukraine, but occasionally crossed the border with Russia, where they were recruited, and later returned to perform the tasks of their masters, "the minister said.
· Russia has launched plan "B" This is due to the failure of the "blitzkrieg".
The Wall Street Journal, citing "high-ranking officials in the Biden administration," writes that Russian troops no longer aim to take Kyiv, but will try to hold the southern and eastern territories of Ukraine. At the same time, the shelling of Ukrainian cities will continue as blackmail in order to force Ukraine to a neutral status as well as other demands. For the besieged citizens of Ukraine, a change in strategy means weeks and possibly months of long-range missile and artillery attacks.
· Russian troops, violating international law, took thousands of children from Mariupol to Russia. "We have concrete evidence that they took thousands of children from Mariupol to Russia. This is a violation of international law," the minister said. According to Kuleba, Mariupol is not just a tragedy of Ukraine, it is a tragedy of the whole world, it is one continuous war crime committed by the Russian Federation.
· The Agency “Fitch” gave a forecast for the Russian economy. Spoiler: Everything is very bad in Putin's Russia. GDP can fall by 8%; Inflation will reach 18%; The dollar will cost 135 rubles by the end of the year; "The expected decline is comparable to the fall during the 1998 crisis and the global financial crisis," - said in a press release of "Fitch".
· Tomorrow Israel will open a field hospital near Lviv.
· Lviv region received the first Starlink satellite dish from Elon Mask. "When the whole world is fighting for you, victory is only a matter of time. We thank Elon Mask for access to satellite Internet, which is now available in all parts of Ukraine. In the Lviv region, we will first connect certain facilities that are critical to the functions of the humanitarian hub of Ukraine." - thanked the representatives of the regional state administration. The latest technologies are already working in Vinnytsia, Rivne, and Zaporizhia.
· There have already been received about 40 thousand applications from foreigners wishing to join the Ukrainian International Legion.
· In Kyiv, 65 citizens were killed and almost 300 were injured in the shelling by the Russian occupiers. The mayor Klitschko reminded that the Russians planned to capture Kyiv in a few days, which they did not succeed in, so out of helplessness they began bombing the homes of civilians.
· The Crimean film director Oleh Sentsov, who was imprisoned by the Kremlin for more than five years for his clear pro-Ukrainian stance, is now defending Kyiv in the ranks of territorial defense.
· State Border Guard Service of Ukraine: almost 400,000 Ukrainian citizens have returned to the country since the beginning of the war. About 75-80% of them are men, said Andriy Demchenko, a spokesman for the ministry. According to him, not everyone is asked about the purpose of their visit. But when talking to border guards or journalists many of the returned "clearly state that they cannot stay away from the situation around their country."
· US ARMY: More and more American troops can be seen in Polish cities.
· Kyiv remains the main target of Russian troops, despite the failure of the offensive.
The enemy may try to surround the Ukrainian capital in the coming weeks, writes British intelligence. Reported about heavy fighting in north of Kyiv. 2/3 of the Russian forces advancing on the city from the northeast, stopped. Troops advancing from Hostomel to the northwest were repulsed by fierce Ukrainian resistance. The main part of the Russians remains 25 kilometers from the center of Kiev.
· Boris Romanchenko, a 96-year-old Nazi concentration camp prisoner who died in Kharkiv, survived Buchenwald, Peenemunde, Dora-Mittelbau and Bergen-Belsen, but was killed by a Russian missile in his apartment during a "denazification operation." The new fascists continue the work of Hitler.
· Navalny's team reports that Putin has recently changed more than 1,000 employees due to fears of poisoning..
Halyna Pastushuk: Philologist, radio journalist, publicist, translator, PhD in Medieval Literature. Graduate of the Ivan Franko National University of Lviv (majoring in English Language and Literature), Oxford University (majoring in English Literature). 1994-1999 - worked as a live broadcaster on the local FM radio "Lviv Wave", 1998-2011 - taught literature at the Ivan Franko National University of Lviv. Since 1996 she has been working as a freelance correspondent for the English service of Polish radio (Warsaw) within the framework of the analytical weekly radio magazine "Europe-East". Freelancing experience in consecutive and simultaneous interpretation since 2001. Author of more than 20 literary studies (mostly on English literature), journalistic articles on current topics, a member of the Ukrainian Shakespeare Center (Zaporizhzhia). Married. Mother of three daughters: Halshka (20), Martha (14), Agatha (8).