Russia-Ukraine war into its 23rd day

When Russia invaded Ukraine, it had presumed that it would be a cakewalk to conquer it. However, resistance offered by the people of Ukraine has forced the invader to rethink its strategies. Vladimir Putin, President of Russia, had justified his action by saying that modern, Western-leaning Ukraine was a constant threat and Russia could not feel "safe, develop and exist." This is reported by The BBC. Ukraine became independent in 1991 after the collapse of the Soviet Union. It has gradually tried to align with the West - both the EU and NATO. The war has gone on for 23 days with destruction of properties, loss of lives and displacement of millions of innocents. Those who once had homes became homeless and are now refugees.

Putin described the war as a "special military operation." Russia initially had plans to overrun Ukraine and depose its government. The intention was to ensure that it did not join the Western defensive alliance NATO. The Russian President had said there was no plan to occupy Ukraine but subsequent events revealed a different picture. The BBC says the bombardment continues. Peace talks tend to suggest Russia is no longer seeking to overthrow the government but will try for a neutral Ukraine.

More than 11,000 Russian soldiers killed in the war with Ukraine

A war is on between Russia and Ukraine. Both sides have suffered losses and it is too early to assess the casualties. The estimates of the United Nations mentions more than 1,000 civilian casualties against 11,000 from the Russian military side. This is since the invasion began. According to the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights OHCHR, there have been 1,058 civilian casualties so far in Ukraine. The breakup is 351 killed and 10 of them are children. This covers the period of 4am on 24 February to midnight on 4 March. The figures could be considerably more. Another source is the Ukrainian Parliament's Telegram channel. It says in the Donetsk region, 52 civilians died in Russian attacks and 267 suffered injuries. These figures do not take into account the dead or the injured in the cities of Mariupol and Volnovakha. A media outlet says the death toll is higher on the Russian side. It is around 11,000 since the invasion began on 24 February.

The UK's Ministry of Defense indicated that the Russian defense ministry admitted to the death of 498 Russian soldiers with another 1,597 wounded. Of course, the actual figures would be considerably higher and it would show an upward trend. There was a second evacuation attempt in Mariupol but it did not succeed. The UN mentions about more than 1.5 million refugees who have fled to neighboring countries. In the opinion of the UN, this figure could go up to 4 million by July. The Interior Ministry of Poland said it has received more than 650,000 refugees from Ukraine and has opened eight reception centers at the border to accommodate them.

Source -

news.sky.com dated 7 March 2022

Riot police ineffective to control influx of refugees into Croatia

Riot police were ineffective to hold back the latest influx of refugees and migrants that has been pushing into Croatia and I excess of 6,000 migrants have entered Croatia because many were unable to cross he borders and enter Hungary from Serbia. AS a result, the Croatian interior minister was forced to announce that his country could not accept any more people.
This has been reported in news.sky.com dated 17 September 2015.

Nearly 2,000 migrants and refugees had gathered at Croatia's Tovarnik railway station waiting for onward travel while heavily armed police officers initially held back a large crowd who had been told transport was available. It was a torture for the children who were in tears as they struggled to cope with the crush. The guards had to, eventually, allow hundreds of people through because they were not able to maintain control.
Similarly in Batina where the border guards had to stand down after hundreds of more refugees broke through the frontier with Serbia.
Incidentally, Croatia had joined the EU in 2013 as its newest member and had, initially, indicated that it would not halt the passage of refugees heading further into the bloc. And, they are now relenting.
(Image curtesy wikimediacommons.org)

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