Page 29 - bon-dia-aruba-20220324

A29
world news Diahuebs 24 Maart 2022

NATO: 7,000 to 15,000 Russian troops dead in Ukraine

(AP) — NATO estimated on Secretary of State Antony Blinken Mariupol officials said at least 2,300
Wednesday that 7,000 to 15,000 said. He cited evidence of indiscrimi- people had died, but the true toll is
Russian soldiers have been killed nate or deliberate attacks against civil- probably much higher. Airstrikes in
in four weeks of war in Ukraine, ians and the destruction of apartment the past week destroyed a theater and
where fierce fighting by the buildings, schools, hospitals, shop- an art school where civilians were
country’s fast-moving defenders ping centers and other sites. sheltering.
has denied Moscow the lightning
victory it sought. Addressing Japan’s parliament, In the besieged northern city of
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zel- Chernihiv, Russian forces bombed
By way of comparison, Russia lost enskyy said thousands of his people and destroyed a bridge that was used
about 15,000 troops over 10 years in have been killed, including at least for aid deliveries and civilian evacu-
Afghanistan. 121 children. ations, regional governor Viacheslav declined to provide estimates of Rus-
Chaus said. sian or Ukrainian casualties, saying
A senior NATO military official said Still, major Russian objectives re- available information is of question-
the alliance’s estimate was based on main unfulfilled. The capital, Kyiv, Kateryna Mytkevich, who arrived in able reliability.
information from Ukrainian authori- has been bombarded repeatedly but Poland after fleeing Chernihiv, wiped
ties, what Russia has released — in- is not even encircled. away tears as she spoke about what It has arrested thousands of anti-
tentionally or not — and intelligence she had seen. The city is without war protesters and cracked down on
gathered from open sources. The of- Near-constant shelling and gun- gas, electricity or running water, said the media. Also, under a law passed
ficial spoke on condition of anonym- fire shook the city Wednesday, with Mytkevich, 39, and entire neighbor- Wednesday, troops in Ukraine will
ity under ground rules set by NATO. plumes of black smoke rising from hoods have been destroyed. get the same benefits as veterans of
the western outskirts, where the two previous wars, including tax breaks,
When Russia unleashed its invasion sides battled for control of multiple Despite plenty of evidence to the discounts on utilities and preferential
Feb. 24 in Europe’s biggest offensive suburbs. Mayor Vitali Klitschko said contrary, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry access to medical treatment.
since World War II, a swift toppling at least 264 civilians have been killed Peskov insisted the military operation
of Ukraine’s government seemed in the capital since the war broke out. is going “strictly in accordance” with In an apparent reflection of growing
likely. But with Wednesday marking plans. divisions in Russia’s top echelons,
four full weeks of fighting, Moscow In the south, the encircled port city Anatoly Chubais has resigned, Pes-
is bogged down in a grinding military of Mariupol has seen the worst dev- The most recent figure for Ukraine’s kov told the Interfax news agency.
campaign. astation of the war, enduring weeks military losses came from Zelenskyy Chubais, the architect of Russia’s
of bombardment and, now, street-by- on March 12, when he said that about post-Soviet privatization campaign,
With its ground forces slowed or street fighting. But Ukrainian forces 1,300 Ukrainian servicemen had been had served in a variety of top posts
stopped by hit-and-run Ukrainian have prevented its fall, thwarting killed in action. over three decades. His latest role
units armed with Western-supplied an apparent bid by Moscow to fully was as Putin’s envoy to international
weapons, Russian President Vladimir secure a land bridge from Russia to The NATO official said 30,000 to organizations.
Putin’s troops are bombarding targets Crimea, seized from Ukraine in 2014. 40,000 Russian soldiers are estimated
from afar, falling back on the tactics to have been killed or wounded. Western officials say Putin’s forces are
they used in reducing cities to rubble Zelenskyy said 100,000 civilians re- facing serious shortages of food, fuel
in Syria and Chechnya. main in a city that had 430,000 people Russia has released very little infor- and cold weather gear, with soldiers
before the war. Efforts to get desper- mation on its casualties, saying March suffering frostbite, while Ukraine’s
As U.S. President Joe Biden left for ately needed food and other supplies 2 that nearly 500 soldiers had been defenders have been going more on
Europe to meet with key allies about to those trapped have often failed. killed and almost 1,600 wounded. the offensive.
new sanctions against Moscow and
more military aid to Ukraine, he Zelenskyy accused Russian forces of Ukraine also claims to have killed six Still, Russia’s far stronger, bigger
warned there is a “real threat” Russia seizing a humanitarian convoy. Dep- Russian generals. Russia acknowl- military has many Western experts
could use chemical weapons. uty Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk edges just one dead general. warning against overconfidence
said the Russians were holding cap- in Ukraine’s long-term odds. The
The U.S. government has also deter- tive 11 bus drivers and four rescue The figures from NATO represent Kremlin’s practice in past wars has
mined that Russian troops have com- workers along with their vehicles. the alliance’s first public estimate of been to grind down resistance by flat-
mitted war crimes in Ukraine, and it Russian casualties since the war be- tening cities, killing countless civil-
will work to prosecute the offenders, In their last update, over a week ago, gan. The U.S. government has largely ians and sending millions fleeing.

Poland orders expulsion of 45 Russians suspected of spying

(AP) — Poland ordered given five days to leave the land ever having expelled so
the expulsion of 45 Rus- Poland’s Internal Security Russian Ambassador Sergei country, with the exception many intelligence agents at
sians whom the govern- Agency said it has asked the Andreev was summoned to of one particularly danger- ones — a number that makes
ment identified as intelli- Foreign Ministry to urgently the Foreign Ministry and giv- ous man who must leave in up about half of Russia’s dip-
gence officers using their remove the Russians, who en a note informing him of 48 hours. lomatic staff in Poland.
diplomatic status as cover were described as a danger the expulsion of 45 employ-
to operate in the country, to Poland’s security, from the ees of the embassy and Rus- He didn’t give a specific rea- He said the agency’s work
officials said Wednesday. country. sia’s trade mission to Poland. son for why the alleged spies also showed that the Russian
were being expelled but sug- services are increasingly on
Andreev, who is not among gested that they pose an es- the offensive and “are acting
those being expelled, lashed pecially grave threat at a time aggressively against Poland.”
out at the decision, telling that Poland is accepting large
reporters after the meeting numbers of refugees from Zaryn said in a separate state-
that those being kicked out Ukraine. ment that the security agency
of Poland “were carrying out found that the activities of
normal diplomatic and trade Zaryn, the state security the 45 Russians have served
activity.” He said Russia has spokesman, said the decision “the objectives of the Rus-
the right to respond on a re- to expel them now was made sian undertakings designed
ciprocal basis. “taking into account Russian to undermine the stability of
aggression against Ukraine.” Poland and its allies in the in-
Polish Foreign Ministry ternational arena and poses a
spokesman Lukasz Jasina He told The Associated Press threat to the interests and se-
said the Russians were being that he was not aware of Po- curity of our country.”