Dispatches from Ukraine, provided by Forbes Ukraine’s editorial team.
As Russia’s attack on Ukraine continues and the war rages on, reliable sources of information are critical. Forbes Ukraine’s reporters will continue to gather information and provide updates on the situation. We will be sharing them here as they come. Live coverage from Forbes Ukraine’s site can be found here.
Sunday, March 27. Day 32. By Daryna Antoniuk
National
The next round of face-to-face talks between Ukraine and Russia will take place in Turkey on March 28th through March 30th, according to David Arakhamiya, a Ukrainian lawmaker and a member of the negotiations group. Ukraine and Russia have held regular talks via video conference but have failed to make a breakthrough.
Russia has banned its media from publishing interviews with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Russia's communications watchdog said it had started a probe into media outlets that had interviewed the Ukrainian leader.
On March 27, Zelensky spoke for almost two hours with journalists from Meduza, TV Rain, and Kommersant media outlets. They promised to publish the conversation tonight without censorship. Meduza published an interview, despite warnings. The Russian government considers Meduza and TV Rain “foreign agents.”
Russia is trying to split Ukraine in two and create a separate political entity in the Kremlin-occupied regions, according to the head of Ukrainian military intelligence. So far, Russia has failed to take over the whole country and is considering other options.
Russia’s war in Ukraine has killed at least 1,119 civilians and injured 1,790, according to the UN. The actual numbers could be much higher.
Russia fired a record 70 missiles at Ukrainian cities, towns and targets on March 26, according to Russian investigative journalist project The Inside
Women make up 15% of the Ukrainian army, according to lawmaker Lesia Vasylenko. Almost 7,000 women serve in the Ukrainian air forces alone, she said.
Russia launched 60 cyberattacks against Ukraine between March 15-22, according to the Ukrainian security officials. Most of the attacks were either unsuccessful or did not affect the operation of critical infrastructure.
Russia is forcibly deporting Ukrainians from Mariupol, Kherson and Melitopol to its eastern territories. The Russian military also wants to start forceful deportation from Kyiv Oblast, Bucha city council reported.
“(These people) had no choice: either stay and die or go. Many have no documents and don't know how to return to Ukraine,” said Oleksandra Matviichuk, head of the Ukrainian Center for Civil Liberties.
Regional
Lviv:
During attacks on Lviv on March 26, Russian high-precision cruise missiles hit the city’s fuel depot and a plant used to repair anti-aircraft systems and radar stations.
Chernobyl:
Over 10,000 hectares of forests are on fire in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone due to war. It is nearly impossible to control or put out fires as Chernobyl is currently occupied by Russian forces. The fires threaten to contaminate Ukraine, Belarus, and other European countries.
Rivne:
Russian troops completely destroyed an oil depot in Rivne Oblast on March 26. There were no casualties.
Kyiv:
Schools in Kyiv will reopen online on Monday, according to Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko. “An important task today is for the city to live and work even under such strict martial law,” he said.
World
More than 450 companies have withdrawn their business from Russia since the start of the invasion. At the same time, 40 big international firms have decided to stay in the country, including Acer, Lenovo, Auchan, Decathlon, and Raiffeisen Bank.
According to Ukraine’s National Bank, the Austrian Raiffeisen Bank “is considering the possibility” of suspending its activities in Russia.
The U.S. actor Sean Penn called for the Academy Awards to allow Zelensky to speak about Russian aggression at the March 28 Oscar award ceremony. Otherwise, it would be “the most obscene moment in all of Hollywood history.”
Turkey welcomes Russian oligarchs, according to its foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu. He said that Russian oligarchs are welcome to visit and do business in Turkey, provided they do not breach international law.
A frontman of a popular Ukrainian musical band Boombox Andriy Khlyvnyuk was wounded by mortar fire. In the early days of the war, he joined the territorial defense of Ukraine. His cover of a Ukrainian folk song has recently gone viral.
