3/27/24 Ukrainian General Update LanguageLearner

3/26/24-3/27/24 Update, day 762-763 of Russian invasion.


Belarus/Western Border:

Poland reports they are close to an agreement regarding UA agricultural imports.

A meeting of EU states working on armored vehicle acquisition for UA is taking place in Poland, with Germany, Sweden, Italy, and Poland attending.

UA is seeking to reassure EU natural gas interests that the underground storage sites in W Ukraine are secure, despite the recent RU attack on one.

Lukashenko made bellicose statements about Belarus's capacity to hold the Suwalki Gap, some 42km between belarus and the RU enclave of Kaliningrad.

Belarusian and polish investigative journalists determined that Belarus is exporting sanctioned timber into the EU via poland, with forged documents. The total benefit is approximately 50 million euros.

New protests against Hungarian leader Victor Orban began, after an audio recording seems to show discussion about how government officials can exclude evidence from corruption cases. This is being led by anti-Orban politician Peter Magyar, using audio from his ex-wife.


Kyiv/Central Ukraine:

Overnight 10/13 shahed drones were intercepted over UA. On the 26th, UA intercepted 12/12 shaheds, and 0/2 S-300 missiles in Donetsk.

UA rejected a proposed amendment to the Mobilization bill that would have granted exemptions to people above a certain income who pay taxes, stating "A war of the poor is unacceptable"

Currently the proposal stands-
25-60 y/o citizens will be eligible for mobilization
In 2025, basic military training will be offered in universities, with exemptions.
Basic military service will be implemented for up to 5 months in peace, and 3 months in war.
Citizens over the age of 18 can select their time of military service, and can receive a deferral until they reach mobilization age.

Zelensky dismissed the National Security Secretary, and appointed the head of the foreign intel service in place.

UA arrested an group of FSB informants that had arranged targeting in Kyiv, Odesa, and Poltava. Last year 47 intel networks were exposed.

UA Foreign minister Kuleba stated that UA expects to be utilizing F-16s by mid summer of this year.

UA inspected 10 military medical examination clinics, finding that said medical sites are overwhelmed and have poor hours, as well as bureaucratic failures.

The Estonian parliamentary delegation arrived in Kyiv.

UA claims to have identified some $5 billion USD worth of seizable assets related to corruption or Belarusian/Russian operations, both in UA and abroad.



Northeast Ukraine/Kharkiv city:

RU attacked Kharkiv with glide bombs, which appears to be a rocket propelled (similar to a GLSDB). 1 person was killed and 16 were injured.

UA is still calculating the costs of the RU attack on the powerplant and electrical infrastructure in Kharkiv this week. Some 40 million euros are available in the UA energy support fund for this task.

Hot water supply was restored to most of Kharkiv today. The goal is for power outages to be mitigated over the weekend, and it may take up to 2 weeks to restore the power supply in full assuming no further attacks.

SBU officers stopped an RU attempt to sabotage a railway in Poltava.


Kupyansk/East Kharkiv:

RU launched one attack towards Ivanivka, with no observed change on the ground.


Kreminna/Lyman axis:

RU attacked heavily towards Lyman, with 13 assaults towards Terny. The frontlines don't appear to have changed materially in some weeks, with a noted increase in UA drones and artillery usage along this axis.


Kramatorsk/Bakhmut:

RU has brought more drones to bear in the NE near Bilhorivka.

RU launched 7 attacks towards Ivanivske, and took additional territory to the N of the village, as the western 2/3 remain contested.

RU shelled Klischiivka, with UA forces there leveraging numerous drone strikes to the south around Kurdyumivka.

There were a few longer range UA drone strikes on RU vehicles on the highway leading into Bakhmut from the SE, damaging trucks. RU has increased the quantity of equipment and personnel in this area.

RU continues to threaten Chasiv Yar, with the ultimate goal of attacking Konstantynivka as they search for a weak point. He additionally states that the quantity of glide bombs has increased.


Avdiivka:

RU MLRS strikes continue to the NW of the avdiivka front, near Berdychi, as UA drone strikes continue along the main supply lines here.



Donetsk/Luhansk occupied regions:

RU continues to most heavily prioritize attacks towards Novomykhailivka, apparently contesting more of the center of town. RU launched 26 assaults here in the past day, and UA apparently retook some small territory in the fields to the NE.

RU is intensifying forced mobilization in Luhansk, asking for lists of "important employees" so as to keep them off conscription lists.

RU has reportedly deported at least 2.8 million UA citizens during the war, with the bulk coming from Crimea. RU claims that 744,000 children have been deported.

Currently 1.5 million children live in the occupied territories, of whom 615,000 are school age.


Zaporizhia/Southern Axis:

The Dnipro dam attack has caused at least 3.5 million USD of environmental damages.

RU continues to assault towards Robotyne with no notable changes.


Kherson:

RU launched 3 assaults towards Krynky over the past day.

UA is planning to build a new water pipeline to supply Mykolaiv, which currently is sourcing water from the Black sea and hence dealing with increased salinity.


Odessa/Black Sea/Crimea



RU targeted Mykolaiv with a ballistic missile, injuring 8 people.

Per the UA navy, RU only has 5 functional large amphibious vessels out of a pre-war total of 13. UA claims to have utilized the domestically produced Neptune missiles for this strike, with speculation that their range has been increased.

The UA Southern Command stated that RU has "several dozen" Zircon missiles in Crimea, and they are interceptable when they slow down to under Mach 3.


Russia:

RU claimed to have intercepted 13 MLRS rockets over belgorod.

RU states they are streamlining the veteran benefits process, but complaints from penal battalions indicate that this is not uniformly applied.

RU is reportedly directly supplying oil to North Korea in exchange for weaponry, thus violating UN sanctions.


General:

Over the last day UA forces conducted 8 airstrikes and RU forces conducted 79 air strikes (including drones), and 152 MLRS strikes.

Yesterday Ukrainian forces eliminated:

1030x soldiers (Total 439,190) [7 day avg 871]
9x APC
11x Tank
1x Air defense
27x Artillery (0xMLRS)
41x vehicles
25x UAV


Estimated cost: 62.4 million USD

total estimated cost- $94.8 Million/day per last 30 days, $2.8 Billion USD over last 30 days.

UA estimates the Zircon aeroballistic missiles are vastly more expensive then the Kinzhal missiles, and do not exhibit high levels of accuracy.


Overseas:

The EU allocated 130 million euros to increase Rheinmetall artillery ammo production. The goal is to reach 1.1 million shells annually by 2027.

The World bank will loan 1.5 Billion USD to UA under guarantee of the Japanese and UK governments, expected to arrive by end of this month.

Ukraine received $880 million dollars from the IMF. This is the third tranche of financial support within and money will be directed to priority budget expenditures.