Dispatches from Ukraine, provided by Forbes Ukraine’s editorial team.
As Russia’s attack on Ukraine continues and the war rages on, reliable sources of information are critical. Forbes Ukraine’s reporters will continue to gather information and provide updates on the situation. We will be sharing them here as they come. Live coverage from Forbes Ukraine’s site can be found here.
Wednesday, March 23. Day 28. By Daryna Antoniuk
Regional
Russia used white phosphorus bombs in Hostomel and Irpin near Kyiv on March 22, violating the rules of the Geneva Conventions.
Russian armed forces destroyed a bridge used to evacuate civilians from Chernihiv to Kyiv. The bridge was also used for bringing humanitarian aid to the city, which has no electricity and suffers from a shortage of supplies.
Russian troops have destroyed 1,143 buildings in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-biggest city, since the start of the full-scale invasion. Almost 1,000 of them are residential buildings.
Russians shelled a parking lot near a shopping mall in Kyiv’s Podil district, killing one person and injuring two, according to Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko.
Russian shelling hit a shopping center, a high-rise residential building and some private houses in Kyiv’s Sviatoshynskyi and Shevchenkivskyi districts on March 23. At least 4 people were injured.
National
Russian troops destroyed a lab near Chernobyl nuclear power plant used to monitor radioactive waste. The samples of radionuclides – atoms that emit radiation – had been removed from the lab.
As many as 15,000 Russian soldiers have been killed since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, according to senior NATO military officials, CNN reports. The number could range from 7,000 to 15,000, officials said.
A Russian journalist for an independent news website the Insider has died after she was hit by Russian shelling in Kyiv. She was filming the destruction of rocket fire in a shopping center in the Podilsky district. Two people accompanying her were wounded and hospitalized.
World
The U.S. government has officially stated that the Russian military has committed war crimes in Ukraine, according to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken. Now the court must determine the criminal guilt for the violation, he said.
Russia's invasion of Ukraine may spark a food crisis in the Middle East and North Africa, according to the UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres. These countries rely on Ukrainian and Russian wheat imports. According to Guterres, due to the war in Ukraine, food, fuel and fertilizer prices have skyrocketed, while supply chains have been disrupted.
Swiss food giant Nestle is suspending KitKat and Nesquik in Russia after facing backlash from consumers, activist groups and politicians. Now the company will focus on providing essential food in Russia, such as infant food and hospital nutrition, and will not be making a profit.
Belarus has ordered 12 Ukrainian diplomats to leave the country within 72 hours. On March 22, Belarus accused Ukrainian diplomats of espionage. The Ukrainian embassy in Minsk will continue to operate but with a reduced staff.
