Ukraine Daily Summary - Tuesday, March 7

Foreign Minister asks ICC to investigate alleged execution of Ukrainian POW -- Russia has lost 5 times more soldiers in Bakhmut than Ukraine -- Zelensky, Zaluzhnyi have conflicting views on Bakhmut -- Ukraine has returned 307 children from occupied territories -- Investigators identify 3 Russian soldiers involved in war crimes in Irpin -- and more

Tuesday, March 7

Russia’s war against Ukraine

View of the Lychakiv military cemetery in Lviv, Ukraine on March 4, 2023. The Lviv cemetery has been increasing the number of graves in recent weeks due to soldiers killed in combat, especially in Bakhmut, in Donetsk Oblast. (Photo by Adri Salido/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

Foreign Minister asks ICC to investigate alleged execution of Ukrainian POW. Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has asked the International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate the alleged execution of a Ukrainian prisoner of war. Earlier in the day, a video was shared online in which an unarmed man in a Ukrainian military uniform was allegedly shot dead after saying “Slava Ukraini (Glory to Ukraine),” a Ukrainian national salute.

Cabinet of Ministers appoints new NABU chief. Semen Kryvonos, who currently serves as the head of the State Inspection of Architecture and Urban Planning, was appointed as the new head of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau by the Cabinet of Ministers on March 6.

US Defense Secretary: Bakhmut more of ‘symbolic’ than ‘strategic’ value. U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said on March 6 that the fall of Bakhmut would not be a significant setback for the Ukrainian military, Reuters reported.

Bild: Zelensky, Zaluzhnyi have conflicting views on Bakhmut. President Volodymyr Zelensky and Commander-in-Chief of Ukraine’s Armed Forces Valerii Zaluzhnyi have conflicting views on how the military should handle the situation in Bakhmut, according to unnamed sources within the Ukrainian political leadership cited in a report by Bild.

CNN: Russia has lost 5 times more soldiers in Bakhmut than Ukraine. Russian troops have lost at least five service people for every Ukrainian soldier killed defending Donetsk Oblast’s Bakhmut, CNN reported on March 6, citing an unnamed NATO military official.

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Investigators identify 3 Russian soldiers involved in war crimes in Irpin. Investigators have identified three members of the Russian military who were allegedly involved in the shooting of Ukrainian civilians trying to escape Irpin, according to Ivan Dulkai, senior investigator from the Main Investigative Department of the National Police.

Ombudsman: Ukraine has returned 307 children from occupied territories. Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets reported on March 6 that an 8-year-old boy was recently returned to Ukraine from the occupied territories.

Governor asks civilians in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast to return weapons they were issued when full-scale war started. Civilians in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast have to return the firearms and ammunition given by the police at the beginning of Russia’s all-out war as the situation in the region “has stabilized,” Governor Serhii Lysak said on March 6.

State reconstruction project provides temporary work to 8,500 people. According to Economy Minister Yulia Svyrydenko, the project aims to involve unemployed people in “socially useful” work that aids in the reconstruction of Ukraine and corresponds to the needs of specific oblasts.

Economy ministry cuts Ukraine’s 2023 GDP growth forecast to 1%. Ukraine’s Ministry of Economy has lowered its GDP growth forecast for 2023 to 1%, the Interfax Ukraine news agency reported on March 6, citing Deputy Minister Oleksii Sobolev.

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Brigade that spent 2 months in Bakhmut: ‘It was becoming harder each week’

Russia has amassed troops for months to capture Bakhmut, a city nearly emptied of its 70,000 residents. Despite heavy casualties, Russian forces, aided by the Kremlin-backed private mercenary Wagner Group, are inching toward encircling the city.

Photo: Asami Terajima/The Kyiv Independent

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New top anti-corruption investigator has mixed record of graft allegations, reformist credentials

Semen Kryvonos, the newly-appointed head of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU), has previously held jobs associated with anti-corruption reforms. However, the journalists and activists questioning whether his assets are compatible with his official income.

Photo: Semen Kryvonos/Facebook

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Ukraine war latest: Tensions at all-time high in Bakhmut as Russia throws more Wagner mercenaries onto the city

Photo: Anatolii Stepanov/AFP via Getty Images

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The human cost of Russia’s war

Regional authorities: 1 killed, 1 injured by explosive device in Kherson Oblast. According to the local authorities, the victims were working in a field when their tractor hit the explosive device allegedly left by Russian troops during the occupation of the western bank of the Dnipro River in Kherson Oblast.

General Staff: Russia has lost 153,770 troops in Ukraine as of March 6. The General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces reported on March 6 that Russia had lost 153,770 troops in Ukraine since the beginning of its full-scale invasion on Feb. 24 last year. This number includes 650 casualties Russian forces suffered just over the past day.

The Kyiv Independent launches war investigations department

The Kyiv Independent is launching a new department specializing in journalistic investigations of war crimes and other topics related to Russian aggression in Ukraine and beyond.

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In other news

Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk wins ATX Open final against Russian opponent. Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk beat Russian tennis player Varvara Gracheva 6-3, 7-5 at the ATX Open final in Texas on March 5.

Investigators seize 16,000 tons of petroleum products from Ukrnafta and Ukrtatnafta sites. Law enforcement officials confiscated over 16,000 tons of petroleum products worth nearly Hr 800 million ($22 million) while conducting searches of logistics bases and warehouses belonging to Ukrnafta and Ukrtatnafta, the Security Service of Ukraine reported.

Belarus sentences Tsikhanouskaya in absentia to 15 years in prison. In response to the news, Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya said, “I don’t think about my own sentence. I think about thousands of innocents, detained & sentenced to real prison terms. I won’t stop until each of them is released.”

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Today’s Ukraine Daily was brought to you by Toma Istomina, Kate Tsurkan, Oleksiy Sorokin, Dinara Khalilova, Olena Goncharova, Lili Bivings, and Brad LaFoy.

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