Russia Ukraine War March 20 Latest Updates: A day after admitting the sue of hypersonic missile, Russia on Sunday said that it has fired missiles from ships deployed in the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea against new targets deep inside Ukraine. On Saturday, Russia had fired a hypersonic missile from airspace in annexed Crimea. There seems to be almost zero headway in terms of diplomatic resolution. Ukrainian authorities on Sunday also said that despite intense bombing, as many as seven humanitarian corridors will be opened to provide safe passage to the civilians.
Here are the latest Russia-Ukraine war updates
1: CNN reports that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has said that he is ready for negotiations with Russian President Vladimir Putin, and there’s no other way to end the war without negotiations.
2: In another sensational claim, Mariupol city authorities claim that Russian troops are forcibly taking locals to the other side. Ukraine claims that around 4,000 people have been forcibly deported from Mariupol into Russia. The official say that these citizens have been moved against their will to Tangarog that falls in the Russian territory.
3: While Moscow has neither confirmed nor denied this new development, it has said that several civilians are trying to or have crossed over to Russia to escape the assault and that Russian authorities are ‘helping them’.
4: Russia to change tactics in coming weeks. Rather than moving its forces on ground, Moscow is resorting to target Ukraine from air, experts say. An update by the UK defence ministry says that intense firepower will be used by Russia to back its ground attack. In last one week, with total dominance of the airspace over Ukraine, Russia has fired hypersonic missiles, cruise missiles to bomb the urban areas in Ukraine. On Sunday, Russia once again fired the Kinzhal hypersonic missile targeting west Ukraine.
5: A CNN report on Sunday revealed how major European airlines are overcoming the airspace ban by Russia. For instance, a flight from Finland to Tokyo in Japan would take an air route that would involve some travel via Russia. But with the airspace ban now, the airlines have been forced to take a major detour, says the CNN report. This involves flying over the North Pole!
6: The Kyiv Independent has reported that Ukraine’s General Staff sees high risk of attack from Belarus on western Ukraine. Ukraine’s Armed Forces have said that according to Ukrainian intelligence, in the next several days, Belarus will join Russia in its invasion of Ukraine.
7: An art school sheltering over 400 civilians was bombed in Mariupol today, Ukraine claims. Though there is no immediate news about the exact number of casualties, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky claims that Russia is committing war crimes in this strategic port city.