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Russian war in Ukraine ‘largely stalled on all fronts’ with ‘minimal progress on land, sea or air’ UK claims

‘Ukrainian resistance remains staunch and well-coordinated,’ British intelligence update says

Zoe Tidman
Thursday 17 March 2022 11:07 EDT
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'We need to stop this': Zelensky shows Congress video of the damage caused by Russian troops in Ukraine

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The Russian invasion of Ukraine has “largely stalled on all fronts” and has seen “minimal progress” on land , air and sea in recent days, the UK government has claimed.

The British Ministry of Defence said Ukrainian resistance “remains staunch” as they provided an intelligence update on the war on Thursday.

The invasion of Ukraine has now entered its third week, with hundreds of civilians killed and more than 3 million forced to flee since Russia launched its attack.

The UK Ministry of Defence tweeted: “The Russian invasion of Ukraine has largely stalled on all fronts.

“Russian forces have made minimal progress on land, sea or air in recent days and they continue to suffer heavy losses.”

It added: “Ukrainian resistance remains staunch and well-coordinated. The vast majority of Ukrainian territory, including all major cities, remains in Ukrainian hands.”

Since launching its attack on 24 February, Russia has gained control of eastern and northern parts of its neighbouring country.

This map shows the extent of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine
This map shows the extent of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine (Press Association Images)

This includes the cities of Kherson and Melitopol in the southeast of Ukraine.

Russian forces freed the mayor of Melitopol - who Ukraine had accused them of kidnapping - in exchange for nine of their captured conscripts, the Ukrainian presidential office said on Wednesday.

Attacks on Ukrainian cities continued on Thursday morning, with a missile strike on a building in Kyiv killing at least one person and injuring several others.

The day before, Russa was accused of destroying a theatre where hundreds were sheltering in the besieged city of Mariupol by local authorities.

A UN Security Council meeting is set to go ahead on Thursday afternoon ahead of a resolution seeking protection for Ukrainian civilians “in vulnerable situations” as the war continues.

The Independent has a proud history of campaigning for the rights of the most vulnerable, and we first ran our Refugees Welcome campaign during the war in Syria in 2015. Now, as we renew our campaign and launch this petition in the wake of the unfolding Ukrainian crisis, we are calling on the government to go further and faster to ensure help is delivered. To find out more about our Refugees Welcome campaign, click here. To sign the petition click here. If you would like to donate then please click here for our GoFundMe page.

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