New Russian conscripts from mass mobilisation being sent straight to frontline, Ukraine says
Peter Beaumont
Ukraine’s armed forces general staff has claimed some Russian conscripts from the Kremlin’s mass mobilisation are being sent directly to the frontlines in Ukraine without training.
Amid warnings from the UK’s Ministry of Defence and other experts that many of those conscripted were likely to get little meaningful training – and faced the risk of “high rates of attrition” when deployed – men recently mobilised by pro-Russian occupation officials in Ukraine were also being readied for the frontline.
Those included newly drafted personnel in Crimea as well as conscripts in the Luhansk region who have received draft summonses in recent days.
The latest moves came as it was reported that Russia has also closed its border to occupied areas of Ukraine with the neighbouring Rostov region for entry and exit ordering locals to appear at military enlistment offices within three days
The first wave of Russian conscripts have begun arriving for training in Russia amid widespread scepticism among outside western analysts over what impact the call up was likely to have on Russian capabilities in Ukraine.
Following Ukraine’s success in retaking thousands of square kilometres of territory in the Kharkiv region, heavy fighting was reported on Monday morning including in the area of Lyman in the Donetsk region.
Unconfirmed reports in the past 24 hours described Russian lines collapsing in some areas while video posted on social media was described as showing Ukrainian armour moving through at least one former Russian position littered with burned out vehicles.
“The lack of military trainers, and the haste with which Russia has started the mobilisation, suggests that many of the drafted [Russian] troops will deploy to the front line with minimal relevant preparation,” said the UK MoD.
The US based Institute for the Study of War was also highly dubious about how the likely effectiveness of the Russian mobilisation.
Noting that the Kremlin “is unlikely to overcome fundamental structural challenges”.
It’s almost 9pm in Kyiv. Here are the day’s key events across Ukraine, Russia and beyond.
Nato air forces conduct drills over Baltic Sea. Member states including the UK, Germany, Italy took part in the military training, both over water and on land, in an effort to boost eastern defences.
The Netherlands increases its military support for Ukraine. Prime minister Mark Rutte also announced new sanctions in response to Russia’s mobilisation and referendum.
The US pledges to provide Ukraine with $457.5m in civilian security aid. The support is aimed at “saving lives” and “bolstering” Ukrainian law enforcement, secretary of state Antony Blinken said.
The Russian Orthodox Church head says Russian soldiers who die on the battlefield will have their sins absolved. Patriach Kirill – a close ally of President Vladimir Putin and a staunch supporter of the Ukraine invasion – said the “sacrifice washes away all sins”.
The UK announces 92 new sanctions in response to Russia’s regime of illegal referendums in Ukraine. The package of penalties target those behind the sham votes as well as oligarchs and board members.
Germany debates whether it should grant asylum to Russian war refuseniks. The country is potentially prepared to give protection to deserters who face repercussions if they refuse to fight, but each case would be decided on an individual basis amid security concerns.
The UN’s atomic energy watchdog says it was ready for talks about setting up a protection zone around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. The International Atomic Energy Agency head met the foreign ministers from both Russia and Ukraine at the UN general assembly last week to discuss the possibility.
Horrific consequences are in store if Russia follows through with its thinly-veiled threats to use nuclear weapons, the US warns. Secretary of state Antony Blinken said any use of the weapons would have a “catastrophic” impact across the world.
Ukraine claims some Russian conscripts from the Kremlin’s mass mobilisation were being sent directly to the frontlines without training. Those included newly drafted personnel in Crimea as well as conscripts in the Luhansk region who have received draft summonses in recent days.
A Russian man shoots the leader of the local military draft committee in a Siberian town after telling him he would refuse to fight in Ukraine. Video showed the gunman, dressed in camouflage, firing at the official from point blank range as other potential draftees for the Russian invasion fled the room.
Long queues of vehicles form at the border crossing between Russia and Mongolia as people continue to flee the Kremlin’s mobilisation order. The head of a checkpoint in the town of Altanbulag said more than 3,000 Russians had entered Mongolia via the crossing since Wednesday.
Volodymyr Zelenskiy vows to liberate the entire country as Russia presses on with its supposed referendum in occupied areas of Ukraine. The Ukrainian president said the country’s armed forces would throw out Russia’s forces and retaliate against “every strike of the aggressor”.
The UK’s chief of defence staff hosted talks with the Russian defence attaché at the Ministry of Defence in London.
Admiral Sir Tony Radakin and Colonel Maxim Elovik met as part of ongoing efforts to “strengthen military to military channels of communication” with Russia.
A number of Nato member states have begun to conduct air force drills in the Baltic Sea.
Over the next two days, air forces from the UK, Germany, Italy and others will take part in military training both over water and on land in an effort to boost eastern defences.
Today and tomorrow, Allied 🇨🇿🇪🇪🇩🇪🇭🇺🇮🇹🇱🇻🇱🇹🇹🇷🇬🇧 and Partner 🇫🇮 airforces conduct training drills in the Baltic Sea region
Exercise Ramstein Alloy focuses on #NATO's defend and deter concept
“For the first time we are including both air- and surface-based integrated air and missile defence activities in our drills,” said exercise planner Squadron Leader Craig Docker from Combined Air Operations Centre Uedem.
“This underlines how the allies are shielding the eastern flank and – at the same time – prepare for meaningful execution of NATO’s deter and defence concept in the Baltic region.”
The Netherlands will increase its military support for Ukraine as well as impose new sanctions against Russia, its prime minister has said.
Following a call with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Mark Rutte announced he would step up the response to Russia’s mobilisation and referendum.
📞: We are stepping up our support for Ukraine. More weapons, more sanctions, and more isolation for Russia. I stressed this once again when speaking to @ZelenskyyUa, in response to Russia’s mobilisation and illegitimate referenda. Protecting Europe is crucial for our security. pic.twitter.com/3tyQLpCDDQ
The head of the Russian Orthodox Church has said Russian soldiers who die in the war against Ukraine will have their sins absolved.
Patriach Kirill – a close ally of President Vladimir Putin and a staunch supporter of the Ukraine invasion – has previously criticised those who opposed the war
“Many are dying on the fields of internecine warfare,” he said, in his first address since the mobilisation order.
“The Church prays that this battle will end as soon as possible, so that as few brothers as possible will kill each other in this fratricidal war.”
Patriarch Kirill has previously claimed Russians were doing a “heroic deed” by killing Ukrainian soldiers Photograph: Russian Patriarchy/Reuters
“But at the same time, the Church realises that if somebody, driven by a sense of duty and the need to fulfil their oath, goes to do what their duty calls of them, and if a person dies in the performance of this duty, then they have undoubtedly committed an act equivalent to sacrifice.
“They will have sacrificed themselves for others. And therefore, we believe that this sacrifice washes away all the sins that a person has committed.”
A suspected mass grave in an industrial chicken farm in Kharkiv is being investigated by Ukrainian forces, local officials have said.
It is feared up to 100 bodies were buried in the site which was once used by Russian troops to shelter their tanks.
The area was recaptured by Ukrainian soldiers who pushed Russian forces back over the border earlier this month, however demining teams have yet to sweep the area for unexploded shells.
It’s a little past 6pm in Kyiv. Here’s where things stand:
The UK announced 92 new sanctions in response to Russia’s regime of illegal referendums in Ukraine. The package of penalties target those behind the sham votes as well as oligarchs and board members.
The UN’s atomic energy watchdog said it was ready for talks about setting up a protection zone around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency said he met the foreign ministers from both Russia and Ukraine at the UN general assembly last week to discuss the possibility.
Horrific consequences will be in store if Russia follows through with its thinly-veiled threats to use nuclear weapons, the US warned. Secretary of state Antony Blinken said any use of the weapons would have a “catastrophic” impact across the world.
Ukraine claimed some Russian conscripts from the Kremlin’s mass mobilisation were being sent directly to the frontlines without training. Those included newly drafted personnel in Crimea as well as conscripts in the Luhansk region who have received draft summonses in recent days.
The Kremlin said no decisions have yet been made on closing Russian borders. President Vladimir Putin’s partial mobilisation has seen hundreds attempt to flee Russia prompting calls for a ban on military-aged men crossing the border.
Ukraine’s mayor of Sievierodonetsk decried what he called the “lie and propaganda” of the “referendum from the Russian Federation”. Oleksandr Stryukaccused pro-Russian forces of bussing people in from Crimea to vote and to stage propaganda photographs.
UK announces sanctions linked to Russia's 'sham referendums' in Ukraine
The UK has announced a package of sanctions in response to Russia’s regime of illegal referendums in Ukraine.
The 92 sanctions target those behind the sham votes across the four Ukrainian regions, as well as individuals that continue to prop up Russia’s war.
Among the 33 officials being sanctioned over the referendums are Sergei Yeliseyev, the head of the recently installed government in Kherson, Ivan Kusov, the minister of education and science in the so-called Luhansk People’s Republic, and Yevhen Balytskyi, the supposed head of government in Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia.
Sanctions have also been placed on oligarchs – including the “kings of Russian real estate” God Nisanov and Zarakh Iliev – with a net worth totalling £6.3bn, and board members from state organisations.
“Sham referendums held at the barrel of a gun cannot be free or fair and we will never recognise their results. They follow a clear pattern of violence, intimidation, torture, and forced deportations in the areas of Ukraine Russia has seized,” the UK foreign secretary, James Cleverly, said.
Russia’s Tass news agency is carrying some additional quotes from Hungary’s prime minister Viktor Orbán, in which he suggests he will hold a national consultation in Hungary on whether the EU should continue sanctions against Russia. It quotes Orbán saying:
The sanctions were introduced in an undemocratic way, because it was the decision of the bureaucrats in Brussels, for which the European people are paying. We need to know the opinion of the people. For the first time in Europe, in Hungary, we will ask for the opinion about sanctions. National consultations will be launched, within which the Hungarian people will be able to express their opinion whether they support them and whether they are in favour of introducing new ones.
Tass reports that Orbán stressed he was in favour of “immediate peace talks and a ceasefire” between Ukraine and the Russian forces that invaded the country on 24 February.
This is a reminder that later today the Guardian is hosting a livestream event featuring historian Timothy Snyder in conversation with the Guardian’s foreign correspondent Luke Harding talking about how Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has changed the world.
The event starts at 8pm BST, and you can find more details and book tickets here.
