This is the state of affairs on Wednesday, March 29, 2023:
Diplomacy
- The United States and Russia have stopped sharing semi-annual nuclear weapons data under the faltering New START arms control treaty.
- The US says it saw no indication that Russian President Vladimir Putin was preparing to use tactical nuclear weapons in Russia’s war against Ukraine, days after Putin said he would bring such weapons to Belarus.
- Russia has diverted all crude oil exports hit by Western sanctions to “friendly” countries, Russian Energy Minister Nikolai Shulginov said.
- The International Olympic Committee has recommended the gradual return to international competitions for Russian and Belarusian athletes competing as “individually neutral” competitors.
To fight
- Russian-backed separatist leader Denis Pushilin has said Russian troops are advancing into the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut and have taken almost complete control of the city’s metalworks.
- Russian soldiers continue to prioritize encircling the town of Avdiivka despite heavy casualties, the British Ministry of Defense said.
- Ukrainian authorities said air defenses shot down Russian drones near Kiev and falling debris set fire to a non-residential site, but no casualties were reported.
- Ukrainian troops have killed two civilians when they fired on an apartment building in the Russian-occupied city of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine, a member of the Russian-installed police force has claimed.
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelesnkyy has visited the Sumy region of northern Ukraine on an ongoing tour of the country’s front-line areas.
- The Russian Navy fired supersonic anti-ship missiles at a counterfeit target ship in the Sea of Japan, the Russian Federation’s Defense Ministry said. Japan said it had witnessed an increase in Russian military activity in the Sea of Japan region.
Aid and sanctions
- Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki has suggested that Belarus should face further sanctions for allowing Russia to place nuclear weapons on its territory. Belarus says it was forced to harbor Russian nuclear weapons because it claimed NATO aggression had endangered its national security, Russia’s state news agency TASS reported.
- The United Kingdom and Poland will build two temporary villages in western and central Ukraine to provide housing for people forced from their homes by the Russian invasion and war.
- Germany plans to increase its spending on military aid to Ukraine by about 12 billion euros ($13 billion) more for Kiev.