March 30, 2022 Russia-Ukraine news

Ukraine’s military has submitted a list of needs to Congress as the conflict with Russia continues.

Here is some of what Ukraine is asking for:

The list delivered to Capitol Hill on Tuesday — which was obtained by CNN — also includes a request for help in treating wounded troops and in repairing equipment, including mobile military medical hospitals. Additionally, Ukraine is asking for help with the repairs of armored vehicles in neighboring countries, as well as aircraft to help transport weapons.

Ukraine’s military has provided Congress and the Executive Branch with a variety of wish lists over the past several weeks as the Biden administration has ramped up its security assistance to Ukraine. Last week, Ukraine was seeking 500 American-made Stinger and Javelin rockets daily.

Rep. Jason Crow, a Colorado Democrat, said at a House Armed Services Committee hearing on Wednesday that the latest list provided to Congress this week reflected Ukrainian military and civilian leadership’s “urgent needs.”

At the top of the priority list of 17 items was reconnaissance and attack drones, including “switchblade” drones, which are small so-called kamikaze or suicide drones that carry a warhead and detonate on impact.

Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs Dr. Celeste Wallander told lawmakers during Wednesday’s hearing that the switchblade drones are “in the process of being delivered,” to Ukraine. The switchblade drones were included in President Joe Biden’s $800 million presidential drawdown package of military assistance for Ukraine announced March 16.

Wallander said that the Pentagon was familiar with the list and was looking at how it could help provide Ukraine with the items it is seeking.

The list also included combat aircraft, specifically referencing the Su-25, a Russian-made ground attack plane similar to the US-made A-10 Warthog.

The Ukrainian military is also seeking artillery systems, surface-to-air missile systems, anti-tank Javelin missiles, anti-ship missiles, and optical surveillance equipment.

The senior Russian military official at the embassy in Washington was kicked out of the association of top international military officers in the US capital in a recent vote because of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

At the request of the Ukrainian embassy’s defense attaché, a vote was held by the Defense Attachés’ Association and a majority voted to expel Russian Major General Evgeny Bobkin from the group, three European defense officials in Washington told CNN.  

As defense attaché, Bobkin is the most senior Russian military officer stationed in the United States. The role is to essentially serve as a military diplomat, acting as a go-between with the Pentagon and other military, diplomatic and political officials in Washington.

His expulsion from the DAA, whose dean is selected by the US Defense Intelligence Agency, will have no bearing on Bobkin’s official presence in Washington but is yet another example of the effort to isolate and punish Russia for its aggression against Ukraine.

The vote by secret ballot was held last week at the Canadian embassy. Notably absent from the special vote were officials from African and Middle East countries, in addition to the more predictable absences of China and most former Soviet countries (except for Kazakhstan and the Baltics). Nevertheless, the necessary quorum was reached and around 60 countries voted with most voting to expel Russia’s attaché, officials in attendance said.

A person who answered the phone in the Russian defense attaché’s office quickly hung up and the embassy press office did not respond to a request for comment.

The DAA serves as a professional and social organization for defense attachés and their spouses. Bobkin wrote in a blistering letter obtained by CNN that the effort mounted by his Ukrainian counterpart was “impregnated with hate towards Russia.” Attempting to pre-empt the vote, Bobkin said Russia would withdraw from the association “till the organization is cleared from Nazis.” 

“Everyone who vote[s] against Russia will give his voice for Nazi regime and for the country which tolerated revival of Nazism and genocide of its people,” Bobkin concluded in his response with, echoing President Vladimir Putin’s claim that the war he launched is intended to “denazify” Ukraine.

The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) is unable to communicate with some of its employees in the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol, the organization’s High Commissioner Filippo Grandi said Wednesday.  

Grandi called for "firm commitments" that there will be no fighting in order to operate evacuation corridors, adding that it’s “very complex and it needs those reassurances, otherwise we cannot do it.”  

The high commissioner said that “we helped in Kharkiv just last week; but to do that, we need firm commitments that there will be no fighting and we need a bit of time.”  

“It is one employee. We haven’t been able to reach this team member for over a week,” communication officer for UNHCR in Ukraine Victoria Andrievska told CNN on Wednesday.

US stocks extended their losses and closed lower Wednesday, as Russia continued its bombing of Ukraine just one day after it promised to scale back its invasion.

Germany warned Wednesday that it might ration its natural gas because of its disputes with Russia, and inventory of US crude fell. This sent crude prices up about 3% and energy stocks along with them. 

Retail stocks felt downward pressure on Wednesday following Q4 earnings reports that fell below expectations. Shares prices for Five Below, Chewy, and Restoration Hardware dropped significantly. 

Here's how the US market looked at closing:

As stocks settle after the trading day, levels might still change slightly.

The US Defense Department said the first six of “around 30 or so” total shipments of the latest round of US security assistance to Ukraine have been moved into the region.

“Materiel is getting into the region every single day, including over the last 24 hours,” said Pentagon press secretary John Kirby.

Kirby said the US is prioritizing “the kinds of materiel that we know the Ukrainians need the most,” including anti-armor and anti-air systems, and that the Switchblade drones promised to Ukraine will begin shipping in “relatively soon.”

The damage caused by Russia’s continued bombardment on the Ukrainian city of Mariupol is “devastating,” Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby said during a briefing at the Pentagon on Wednesday.

The “significant damage” has been inflicted on “civilian infrastructure, residential buildings, hospitals, recreation, park, everything,” Kirby added.

New satellite images of the besieged southern port city show entire entire blocks obliterated as Russian forces continue to bombard the area.

The Department of Defense said they’ve seen around 20% of Russia’s forces that had been moving against Kyiv “repositioning,” with some heading to Belarus, over the last 24 hours.

Kirby said that if Russia was serious about their claim of de-escalation, they should send those forces “to their home garrison,” and that Russian forces are still attacking Kyiv “by bombardment, artillery fire as well as airstrikes.”

He specified that the Defense Department is seeing the repositioning forces coming from the Russian forces that had been attacking the city from the north and northwest, and that there were also some Russian forces repositioning from the forces arrayed against Chernihiv and Sumy into Belarus. 

About 1,000 people associated with the Wagner group, a paramilitary group sponsored by Russia, are now in the Donbas region of Ukraine, Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby said during a briefing at the Pentagon on Wednesday.

“We think that the Wagner group now has about 1,000 people dedicated to the Donbas. ... We have seen them prioritize airstrikes in the Donbas area,” Kirby said.

Wagner contractors have been fighting in the Donbas “over the last eight years, so this is an area where the Wagner group is experienced,” Kirby added. 

Russian President Vladimir Putin has “not been fully informed by his Ministry of Defense at every turn” throughout the course of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby said during a briefing at the Pentagon on Wednesday.  

Kirby did not offer any details that led to this assessment.

Kirby said the US does not have “access to every bit of information that” Putin has been given or “every conversation that he’s had,” but he said he concurs with the “basic finding” of press reporting that Putin has not been fully informed by his Defense Ministry of the situation in Ukraine. 

CNN reported earlier Wednesday that a US official said the US believes that Putin is being "misinformed" by his advisors about how badly the Russian military is performing in Ukraine and the effect of sanctions on Russia's economy.

“I’ve seen these press reports attributed to a US official, and we would concur with the basic finding, but we are not going to get any more specific than that,” Kirby said.