Nearly 10,000 Russian soldiers killed in Ukraine, says Russian newspaper – Attacks in Rivne, Dnipro, Donetsk

LAST UPDATE 23:32

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said today that any compromise reached with Russia to end the war would need to be approved by Ukrainians in a referendum. “I have made it clear to all the negotiating teams,” Zelensky said. “The people must speak out and react to any form of compromise. And who they are (the compromises) are the subject of negotiations between Ukraine and Russia,” he said in an interview with Ukrainian state television. “Issues that could be put to a referendum could be about territories occupied by Russian forces, including Crimea, as well as security guarantees offered by other countries in Ukraine instead of joining NATO,” he added.

The Russian invasion remains largely immobilized on all its front lines, with troops not advancing further on Kyiv since last week, a senior U.S. defense official has said. The Russians have fired more than 1,100 missiles, but may face some “stock problems,” the official said. Some rockets failed to fire, some failed to explode, the official added.

The United States has not been able to confirm or deny Russia’s claim that it used a supersonic missile, the official said.

On the diplomatic chessboard, Russian and Ukrainian negotiators held a 90-minute communication meeting on Monday and the two sides will continue talks throughout the day, a member of the Ukrainian delegation told Reuters. Earlier, the Kremlin said peace talks between Moscow and Kiev had not yet made significant progress and called on countries that could exert influence in Ukraine to use their influence to make Kyiv “more constructive” in the negotiations. Russia is not really and seriously discussing the peace talks, said an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on the BBC.

The Russians admit terrible losses

Komsomolskaya Pravda, the Kremlin’s tabloid, says that according to Russian Defense Ministry figures, 9,861 Russian soldiers were killed and 16,153 wounded in Ukraine. The last official Russian KIA number, on March 2, was 498. Fascinating that someone published the leaked number.

Komsomolskaya Pravda, the pro-Kremlin tabloid, says that according to the Russian ministry of defense numbers, 9,861 Russian soldiers died in Ukraine and 16,153 were injured. The last official Russian KIA figure, on March 2, was 498. Fascinating that someone posted the leaked number. pic.twitter.com/LHrBWIQ49z

– Yaroslav Trofimov (@yarotrof) March 21, 2022

Almost a thousand civilians were killed

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHR) announced today that it had recorded 2,421 civilian casualties in Ukraine – 925 killed and 1,496 injured – as of midnight on March 20.

“The scale of the human suffering and the forced displacement due to the war far exceeds any planning for the worst-case scenario,” said Antonio Vitorino, IOM’s director general. He added that the agency’s teams had provided assistance to thousands of people, but that access to those in severely affected areas was still inaccessible.

What is happening in Ukrainian cities

Zitomir: Four people were killed by Russian bombing.

Kyiv: In the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, eight people lost their lives after bombings of a shopping mall and several houses in the Podilskyi area. Russia says the mall has been turned into an ammunition depot by Ukrainians. The mayor of Kiev announced a curfew in the city from 20:00 local time on Monday until 07:00 local time on Wednesday. New peace of air threat sounded at 16.13 Greek time the terror returned at 23:32 with new sirens.

Missile strike on a military object in #Kiev this morning. pic.twitter.com/fQ8x8fstnM

– White Swan (@SDyorin) March 16, 2022

Throw: Four rockets were fired by Russian forces, with all three being shot down by Ukrainian air defenses.

Sumi: Extremely toxic ammonia has been leaking since the morning at a chemical plant in the city of Sumy in northeastern Ukraine, according to local authorities.

Novoselitsa: Local authorities have called on Novoselitsa residents to seek refuge from the chemical, especially in basements and on the ground floor, and to avoid being exposed to it – amid ongoing fierce fighting between Russian and Ukrainian forces.

Chernihiv: Chernihiv, in the north of the country, is under siege and has suffered severe damage, but is still under Ukrainian control. Three people were killed by Russian bombing.

Dnipro: Russian forces bombarded the village of Sirokovsky in Dnipropetrovsk with mortars.

Kharkiv: Kharkiv has been hit hard by rockets and rockets since the start of the Russian invasion on February 24, but has not yet been completely surrounded, according to Ukrainian officials.

#Kharkiv: A #Russian shell explodes next to people who are standing in line at the supermarket. pic.twitter.com/QIZkgV4ZLa

– NEXTA (@nexta_tv) March 21, 2022

Lugansk: Heavy bombardment and artillery shelling have destroyed dozens of buildings. At least two people have been injured.

Donetsk: At least five people were killed and at least 19 were injured in what became known as the Avdivka bombing. Two wounded in the village of Ocheretino and three wounded in Pokrovsk.

#Avdeevka. #Donetsk Oblast of #Ukraine. The Russian occupiers are destroying the city.#UkraineCrisis #UkraineConflict pic.twitter.com/cT3fQnUt8k

– UA FreeSky (@uafreesky) March 21, 2022

Mariupol: The dire situation in Mariupol continues, with about 300,000 people trapped without electricity, food or water in the midst of heavy bombardment and it is estimated that 90% of the buildings have been destroyed. Meanwhile, the Russian-backed leader of the Donetsk separatists in eastern Ukraine said on Monday that it would take more than a week for Mariupol to come under Russian control, according to Russia’s Interfax news agency.

#Mariupol city ​​in south #Ukraine is burning pic.twitter.com/fjVWHuqaPp

– C4H10FO2P (@ markito0171) March 21, 2022

Berdyansk: Russia began using the port west of Mariupol to unload ammunition.

#Russia has started using the port of Berdyansk near Mariupol to unload military equipment pic.twitter.com/JQjZq3BBoE

– Michael A. Horowitz (@ michaelh992) March 21, 2022

Melitopoli: Three journalists, along with a retired newspaper publisher and his family, were abducted by Russian forces on Monday morning and held for several hours before being released, according to the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine.

Zaporizhia: The governor of the Zaporizhia region claimed today that the buses that were removing civilians from the front areas were bombed and four children were injured, in separate incidents. “Four children were taken to hospital,” Alexander Starouch said in a statement posted on the Internet. The governor blamed Russian forces.

Hersonissos: The city of Kherson is under Russian occupation, but there have been ongoing civil protests, with further protests over the weekend in the southeastern city of Enherkhodar following the arrest of the deputy mayor.

Nikolaev: Russian-backed Crimean forces are still trying to bypass Mykolaif as they try to move west towards Odessa, adding that these forces made little progress last week. Three dead from bombing of a residential house in the village of Kostandinivka.

Odessa: Authorities in Ukraine’s largest port, Odessa, say Russian naval forces in the Black Sea have bombed some apartment buildings on the outskirts of the city. This is the first time buildings have been hit there. A spokesman for the regional military administration said there were no casualties. From the Russian ships that “appear hit and disappear” as the residents of Odessa say, houses were destroyed up to the fourth row behind the coastal road of the city.

Humanitarian corridors

An agreement has been reached to set up eight humanitarian corridors to evacuate civilians from the besieged cities on Monday, but the city of Mariupol is not among them, Verestsuk told Reuters.

She said efforts to reach humanitarian aid in Mariupol continued to fail.

Ten million people have fled their homes

At least 10 million people have been forced to flee their homes in Ukraine since the Russian-led invasion less than a month ago, the head of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said on Sunday.

This figure represents almost a quarter of the country’s population, estimated at 44 million by the World Bank in 2020.

Of those who have fled their homes, the majority – 6.48 million by March 16, according to figures provided by the International Organization for Migration on Friday – have been internally displaced since the conflict began on February 24.

Others have sought refuge in neighboring countries, such as Poland, Romania, Moldova, Hungary, Slovakia, Russia and Belarus.