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What 17 March 2022 showed about the war's widening reach
Summary
A look back at security and sanctions developments on 17 March 2022, from Poland to Washington to the Black Sea.
What was the war's reach on 17 March 2022, three weeks after the Russian invasion began? Reports from that day and the one before pointed well beyond the front lines.
In NATO's response to Russian military aggression, British Defence Secretary Ben Wallace announced that the UK was deploying a Sky Sabre air defence system to Poland, with 100 troops to operate it. Panama's maritime authority said Russia had attacked three Panamanian-flagged civil vessels in the Black Sea since 24 February, and that one of them had sunk. No deaths were reported.
Sanctions pressure grew. The U.S. House of Representatives voted 424–8 to suspend trade relations with Russia and Belarus. New Zealand added 364 Russian political and military figures to its entry-ban list, along with 13 individuals and 19 entities to its sanctions list, including asset freezes. Putin and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov were among those named. Steam announced it would stop payments to Belarus, Russia and Ukraine.
Inside Russia, President Vladimir Putin ordered the Federal Security Service to arrest Rosgvardiya Deputy Chief General Roman Gavrilov. A day earlier, Putin had told ministers that Russian "traitors" would be spat out, and had accused a "fifth column" of trying to destroy the country from within.
Diplomatic signals were mixed. On 16 March, Lavrov said there was hope of a compromise aimed at a ceasefire. China's foreign ministry statement on a meeting between Chinese security official Chen Guoping and Russia's ambassador, Andrey Denisov, did not mention the war in Ukraine.
On the ground, Russian troops reportedly shot dead ten people queuing for food in Chernihiv on 16 March; the Russian Defence Ministry denied its forces were responsible. Also on 16 March, captured Melitopol mayor Ivan Fedorov was freed in exchange for nine Russian prisoners of war. Ukrainian intelligence information claimed that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad had pledged to supply Russia with 40,000 mercenaries.
