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Sanctions, sieges and a shifting front, 24 March 2022
Summary
A look back at a day when new sanctions were announced, Chernihiv saw some Russian forces pushed back, and attention turned to Donbas.
What did 24 March 2022 show about the shape of the war and the response to it? Taken together, the reports from that day and the days before it point to pressure on several fronts: military, economic and informational.
Fighting around Chernihiv and Donbas
On 23 March 2022, troops in Chernihiv managed to push back part of the Russian forces that had encircled the city for weeks. The same day, an official said Russia had begun to give priority to its operations in the Donbas region, including around Luhansk.
Nuclear safety concerns
On 24 March 2022, the IAEA reported that workers at the Chornobyl nuclear power plant were at risk because of Russian shelling of a neighbouring town. The agency said the shelling endangered the homes and families of the operational staff who maintain nuclear and radiation safety.
Widening sanctions
On 24 March 2022, Australia imposed sanctions on Belarusian president Oleksandr Lukashenko and his family for supporting the Russian invasion. It also targeted 22 Russian propagandists and disinformation operatives, among them managing editors at Russia Today, the Strategic Culture Foundation, InfoRos and NewsFront.
Two days earlier, on 22 March 2022, Biden announced plans to sanction hundreds of members of the State Duma, the lower house of the Russian parliament. The two moves show the measures reaching beyond the Russian government to legislators, a Belarusian leader and media figures.
A separate flashpoint in the Caucasus
Also on 24 March 2022, the government of Artsakh said Azerbaijani soldiers had crossed the Line of Contact and taken control of the village of Farukh. Women and children were evacuated from the nearby village of Khramort, and Russian peacekeepers were reported to be negotiating with Azerbaijan. The episode was part of the 2021–2022 Armenia–Azerbaijan border crisis.
A small sign of the information war
On 22 March 2022, a former Canadian air force sniper known as Wali, rumoured to have been killed by Russia, appeared on a video call and showed that he was alive.
No single event that day settled anything. But the reports show a war in which local counterattacks, a reported Russian shift of emphasis towards Donbas, nuclear-safety worries and a widening sanctions net were all unfolding at once.
