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Talks and strikes: Ukraine war on 16 March 2022
Summary
On a day of reported peace-plan drafts and new Western arms, the fighting around Mariupol and Chernihiv continued to claim civilian lives.
Could a war that was killing civilians in besieged cities also be edging towards a ceasefire? On 16 March 2022, the evidence pointed both ways, and the day showed how diplomacy and violence were running side by side.
A reported peace framework
A report from the Financial Times on 16 March said Ukraine and Russia had drafted a peace plan. Its conditions, as reported, included a ceasefire and a Russian withdrawal, in return for Ukraine abandoning all attempts to join NATO and accepting limits on its armed forces. The same day, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said there was hope of reaching a compromise aimed at a ceasefire.
The tone from the Russian president was different. Vladimir Putin addressed his ministers on Ukraine and the Russian economy. He said Russian "traitors" and "scum" would be spat out like a midge that had flown into someone's mouth, and he accused a so-called "fifth column" of trying to destroy the country from within.
Civilians under fire
In Mariupol, the Donetsk Regional Drama Theatre was largely destroyed by bombing. It was being used as an air raid shelter for up to 1,200 civilians. Ukraine accused Russia of an airstrike targeting the theatre. Russian authorities denied responsibility and instead accused the Azov Battalion of planning and carrying out the bombing.
In Chernihiv, Russian troops reportedly shot dead ten people queuing for food. The Russian Defence Ministry denied that its forces were behind the killings. The city had been under siege since 24 February 2022, and Ukrainian authorities later stated, on 4 April 2022, that the Russian military had left Chernihiv Oblast.
In the south, the captured mayor of Melitopol, Ivan Fedorov, was freed in exchange for nine Russian prisoners of war. Russian forces had entered the city on 25 February and taken control of its government buildings.
Kyiv and the days before
The capital remained in the middle of the Kyiv offensive. On 15 March, the Kyiv city government and Kyiv Oblast administration imposed a 35-hour curfew starting at 20:00 local time. That day, Fox News cameraman Pierre Zakrzewski and producer Oleksandra Kuvshynova were killed, and war correspondent Benjamin Hall was injured, while covering fighting in Horenka, Kyiv Oblast. The Battle of Kyiv later ended with the withdrawal of Russian forces; it lasted until 2 April 2022.
Arms and sanctions
Western governments kept adding to Ukraine's defences. US President Joe Biden announced a further $800 million in security assistance, including 800 anti-aircraft systems, thousands of anti-tank missiles and armed combat drones. British Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said the UK had begun supplying Starstreak anti-aircraft missiles to the Ukrainian military.
The political pressure on Moscow also grew. On 15 March, the US Senate unanimously passed a bipartisan resolution declaring Putin a war criminal and calling for an International Criminal Court investigation. Russia, for its part, imposed sanctions on Biden, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, CIA Director William Burns and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, in response to US sanctions on Russian officials.
What the day showed
The reported draft terms centred on NATO membership and limits on Ukraine's forces, while Western aid was aimed at air and armour threats. Meanwhile, the strikes on shelters and food queues, and the denials that followed, left the human cost of the war in plain view as negotiators spoke of compromise.
