Ukraine latest: Lukashenko luxury 737 on U.S. sanctions radar

The war, which began with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, has passed a somber year-long milestone, with military and civilian death tolls mounting.

As fighting rages on in and around Bakhmut, Western nations have upped their military support to Ukraine to the highest level ever and pledged to send main battle tanks.

Read our detailed coverage. For all of our coverage, visit our War in Ukraine page.

Xi and Putin signal unity against US in joint statement

Kishida tells Zelenskyy that the G-7 will remain closed on support for Ukraine

Xi wins Putin’s backing in Taiwan, plays peacemaker in Ukraine

“Fear for our families”: One year of Putin’s war from the Ukrainian point of view

Price of an invasion: Self-exiled Russians face an uncertain future in Georgia

Note: Nikkei Asia decided in March 2022 to suspend its coverage from Russia pending further information on the scope of the revised Criminal Code. Entries include material from news services and other sources.

Here are the latest developments:

Saturday, March 25 (Tokyo time)

7:00 am China has not yet supplied Russia with weapons for the war against Ukraine, US President Biden told reporters.

“They don’t have that yet,” Biden said in response to a question at a press conference alongside Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. “That doesn’t mean they won’t do it, but they didn’t.”

“I don’t take China lightly. I do not take Russia lightly. But I think we’re grossly exaggerating,” Biden said when asked about rising trade between the two countries.

3:30 p.m The US announces new sanctions against companies and individuals believed to enable the Belarusian government to stifle democracy.

The US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control also identifies a luxury Boeing 737 owned by the government of Belarus and used by President Alexander Lukashenko.

Lukashenko “has exclusive access to [the plane] and other luxury aircraft and uses them for personal travel,” OFAC says. He has also used it “for international travel with his family and other members of his entourage.”

According to OFAC, the targets of the latest sanctions include two car factories that generate revenue for the Lukashenko regime. “As a result of today’s action, all assets and property interests of the named persons described above that are in the United States or owned or controlled by US persons will be frozen and subject to reporting to OFAC.”

Friday March 24th

5.00 The Central Bank of Russia has extended a ban on retail investors buying shares in companies from countries Russia deems “unfriendly” for another six months. Russia has labeled all countries that have imposed sanctions on it over its military campaign in Ukraine – including the 27 members of the European Union – as “unfriendly” and imposed a series of counter-financial sanctions on them. The central bank said the ban on selling securities of companies from “unfriendly” countries to so-called unqualified investors will be extended until October 1. The central bank said its measures are designed to protect Russian retail investors from the impact of sanctions.

6.30 am European Union leaders have approved a plan to send 1 million rounds of artillery ammunition to Ukraine over the next 12 months to help it fight off invading Russian forces. EU foreign and defense ministers approved the accelerated purchase plan earlier this week, and leaders of the bloc’s 27 member states gave it their political blessing at a summit in Brussels on Thursday. “Taking into account the security and defense interests of all member states, the European Council welcomes the agreement … on the supply of ground and artillery ammunition to Ukraine and, if necessary, missiles,” the conclusions of the meeting on Ukraine read.

12:30 pm Finnish President Sauli Niinisto signs law admitting his country to NATO. The move means that Finland has completed the national measures needed to join the western military alliance and now only awaits the approval of Turkey and Hungary, the only two of the 30 existing NATO members not to ratify its offer have.

On the same day in Turkey, a parliamentary committee approved Finland’s request, state agency Anadolu reports, bringing Helsinki one step closer to the alliance. Finland’s motion could be ratified by the entire Turkish assembly as early as next week.

Thursday, March 23rd

17:30 Any attempt to arrest President Vladimir Putin after the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for the Kremlin chief would amount to a declaration of war on Russia, says Putin’s ally and former President Dmitry Medvedev. “Let’s imagine – obviously this situation that will never happen – but let’s still imagine that it happened: the current head of the nuclear state went to an area, let’s say Germany, and was arrested,” Medvedev said. “What would that be? It would be a declaration of war on the Russian Federation,” he said in a video posted to Telegram. “And then all our assets, all our missiles and so on, would fly to the Bundestag, to the Chancellery.”

4:10 p.m According to Russia, it launched a military satellite from the Plesetsk cosmodrome. “On Thursday, March 23, at 09:40 a.m., a Soyuz-2.1a medium-class launch vehicle carrying a spacecraft for the Russian Defense Ministry was launched by combat crews of the Space Force from the Plesetsk launch site in the Arkhangelsk region,” the ministry said.

6:00 am. A World Bank report released on Wednesday puts the cost of Ukraine’s recovery and reconstruction from the Russian invasion at $411 billion over the next decade, with the cost of clearing the debris of war alone estimated at $5 billion. The report describes some of the casualties of the Russian war in Ukraine: at least 9,655 civilians have been confirmed dead, including 461 children; almost 2 million homes damaged; damaged more than one in five public health facilities; and 650 ambulances damaged or looted. Overall, the World Bank so far estimates direct damage to buildings and infrastructure at USD 135 billion, not taking into account broader economic damage.

Wednesday March 22nd

4:46 p.m. Three people have been killed in a nighttime Russian drone strike on civilian infrastructure in the Kiev region, Ukrainian officials say. The state rescue service says in the messaging app Telegram that two dormitories and an educational institution in the city of Rzhyshchiv were partially destroyed in the attack. “More than 20 Iranian murder drones plus missiles, numerous incidents of shelling, all in a final night of Russian terror against Ukraine,” President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote on Twitter. His post said that Russia does not want peace in Ukraine after almost 13 months of war: “Every time someone tries to hear the word ‘peace’ in Moscow, another order for such criminal strikes is issued there.”

4:30 p.m Russia will always remain important for Europe, said the Austrian foreign minister, adding that it is delusional to think otherwise. Alexander Schallenberg also defends the country’s second largest bank, Raiffeisen Bank International, saying it is unreasonable to single out the lender for doing business in Russia when so many other Western firms are doing the same. “To think that Russia will no longer exist and that we can decouple in all areas is illusory,” Schallenberg told Reuters, adding that while Austria will loosen ties, it “cannot happen overnight”.

4:35 a.m The G7 nations remain unwavering in their support for Ukraine, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv. Kishida, who will receive G-7 leaders in Hiroshima this May, pledges $30 million in non-lethal aid to Ukraine. He is the last G-7 leader to visit Ukraine since Russia invaded in February 2022. At a press conference after their meeting, Ukrainian President Kishida called a strong defender of the international order and thanked Japan for its leadership. Selenskyj wants to take part virtually in the G-7 summit. Continue reading.

1:20 p.m Russian President Vladimir Putin says his country will be forced to respond if the UK supplies Ukraine with depleted uranium shells, Interfax reports. After talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping, Putin claims that the West is already beginning to use weapons with a nuclear component. Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said Russia will have a response to the delivery of depleted uranium shells to Ukraine, announced by the British side as part of its military support. Depleted uranium is used for armor plating and armor-piercing shells. While most of the radioactive material has disappeared from the metal, depleted uranium “is both a toxic chemical and a radiation health hazard when in the body,” according to the US Environmental Protection Agency.

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