What the week to 22 March 2023 signalled for Ukraine
A retrospective on the diplomatic and military developments around 22 March 2023, from an ICC warrant to a British ammunition pledge.
What did the days leading up to 22 March 2023 reveal about the pressures surrounding Ukraine's war? The reports of that week point to legal, military and diplomatic tracks moving at once.
On 17 March 2023, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Russian president Vladimir Putin and for Maria Lvova-Belova, presidential commissioner for children's rights. The warrants concerned alleged war crimes involving the abduction and forced adoption of children from Ukraine.
Two days later, on 19 March, Putin visited Mariupol in Donetsk Oblast, on Russian-occupied Ukrainian territory. It was his first visit there since the invasion began.
On 21 March, the United Kingdom confirmed that it would supply Ukraine with depleted uranium armour-piercing shells, to accompany its Challenger 2 main battle tanks. London said the risk of radiation contamination was low. Putin said Russia would be forced to react to the British move.
A parallel track in NATO
The enlargement of NATO was also moving. On 17 March, Hungary announced that its parliament would vote on Finland's membership application on 27 March. Máté Kocsis, the Fidesz parliamentary group leader, said Sweden's application would be considered at a later date, so the two bids were being handled separately.
What it added up to
Taken together, the reports show Western institutions and governments acting on several fronts: judicial pressure on Russia's leadership, further military supplies for Ukraine, and incremental steps on alliance membership. Russia's responses in the same period were a public visit to occupied territory and a warning over the British shells.
