Photo : Nathan Laine/Bloomberg
Photo : Nathan Laine/Bloomberg
By Padmashree Anandhan
WAR ON THE GROUND
On 26 March, Sergiy Popko, Kyiv’s military administration head reported on injury of five after a Russian missile strike in Kyiv. He also observed additional two ballistic missiles launched from Crimea resulting in damage of residential building and electricity grid leading to electricity outage. On the same Bridget Brink, US Ambassador to Ukraine claimed the missiles to be “hypersonic,” and called for assistance.
On 26 March, Dmytro Kuleba, Ukraine’s Foreign Minister released a statement on receiving USD 880 million from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF). The move marks the third set of financial assistance under the EEF and will be used to cover Ukraine’s budget expenditures and macro financial stability. The EEF was formed to raise the reserves of the Ukraine’s national bank and to stabilise its balance of payments and overcome its economic problems and issue reforms.
THE MOSCOW VIEW
Claims by Russia
On 26 March, Russia’s Ministry of Defence claimed on targeting Ukraine’s command and control facilities along with its defence industrial base. It reported its success in hitting the targets such as Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) and shooting down of 131 drones, two S-200 air defence missiles and 15 HIMARS and vampire missiles. The attack follows multiple drone strike in Kyiv and Lyiv military and energy infrastructures.
On 26 March, Dmitry Peskov, Russian parliament spokesperson reported on the majority of Russian’s agreeing with the government’s policies on Ukraine. In an interview to a Russian newspaper, he denied the comments on existence of “gap” in Russian society over the recent presidential election. He stressed on the votes received to be unprecedented with large turnout which led to victory of Putin.
THE WEST VIEW
Responses from the US and Europe
On 26 March, Emmanuel Macron, France’s President warned Russia to not retaliate on Ukraine over the attacks in Moscow. He confirmed on having information on involvement of ISIS-K or Islamic State (IS) in the recent attack and claimed on witnessing similar attempts inside France. He said: “…cynical and counterproductive for Russia to use this context to try and turn it against Ukraine.”
On 26 March, in its daily intelligence update, the UK Ministry of Defence reported on Russia’s ability to gather manpower “for two armies in 2024.” It stated that Russia faced challenges in accumulating equipment and providing training. The composition of the force was yet to be known but it is expected to contain “mechanized, armored, artillery and logistics.” In a statement it said: “…given Russia's limited training widespread use of legacy equipment and infrastructure issues, it is likely these units will suffer similar resourcing problems.”
References
“PM Shmyhal: Ukraine receives $880M from IMF under EFF Arrangement,” Ukrinform, 26 March 2024
“Very few’ Russians oppose Ukraine operation – Kremlin,” RT, 26 March 2024
“Russia targets Ukraine’s decision-making centers – MOD,” RT, 26 March 2024
“Putin blames 'Islamists' for Moscow attack but links them to Ukraine,” Le Monde, 25 March 2024
Iryna Kutielieva, Stanislav Pohorilov, “UK intelligence reveals Russia's dilemma over newly formed military units,” Ukrainska Pravda, 26 March 2024
“Ukraine updates: Kyiv and Moscow report overnight strikes,” Deutsche Welle, 26 March 2024