Fighting enters second week with Ukrainians still holding out

Japanese civilians are volunteering to fight for Ukraine in its war against Russian attackers.

Seventy men, including 50 who are veterans of Japan’s Self-Defense Forces and two who previously served in the French Foreign Legion, had applied to be volunteers as of Tuesday, according to a Reuters report that cited the local Mainichi Shimbun newspaper.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy over the weekend asked for volunteers for an “International Legion” to resist Russian troops. The request was echoed by Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba.

The Ukraine Embassy in Tokyo confirmed to Reuters that it had taken calls from Japanese “wanting to fight for Ukraine” but provided no further details.

— Ted Kemp

The United Nations said the number of refugees leaving Ukraine has topped 1 million in the seven days since Russia’s invasion began.

“For many millions more, inside Ukraine, it’s time for guns to fall silent, so that life-saving humanitarian assistance can be provided,” UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi said in a tweet.

Countries around the world have opened their borders to Ukrainian refugees. The European Union has granted Ukrainians the right to stay and work for up to 3 years.

— Chelsea Ong

Worries about a shortage of wheat and corn due to the Russia-Ukraine conflict have sent futures soaring.

Although China was the largest buyer of Ukrainian corn last year, the impact on inflation is likely limited since Beijing has emphasized food security in recent years.

Less than 10% of China’s domestic corn, wheat and rice consumption was imported last year, Citi analysts pointed out.

“The US-China trade disputes, the African swine fever outbreak, and the food price shock of the Covid-19 pandemic have propelled China to further improve self-reliance in food supply,” the analysts said, noting a small impact to inflation from rising grain prices.

— Evelyn Cheng

At this point, it would be very hard for Russia to install a pro-Moscow puppet government in Ukraine, according to Chris Miller, assistant professor of international history at Tufts University.

Even if the Kremlin succeeds in taking capital city Kyiv and toppling President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, “how are they going to construct an effective government to replace him? It seems very difficult to imagine they can do so,” Miller told CNBC’s “Streets Signs Asia” on Thursday.

Miller said while Putin could install someone new in Zelenskyy’s place, it would be extraordinarily “hard to actually keep them in power.”

“One of the things that the invasion has brought forth is that almost all Ukrainians don’t want to be ruled by Russia or a Russian puppet,” he said.

“The last couple of Russian wars had very limited aims. They were trying to achieve limited political goals, not regime change on their border,” Miller noted. “This time the goals are far grander and as a result, the resources simply aren’t there.”

— Sumathi Bala

Russian prisoners of war, officers of the police (LR) sergeant Yevgeniy Plotnikov, lieutenant colonel Dmitriy Astakhov, and captain Yevgeniy Spiridonov as they are presented to the press in Ukrainian capital of Kyiv on March 2, 2022.

Russian security forces take anti-war protesters into custody in Moscow, Russia.

Ukraine’s second biggest city, Kharkiv, suffered heavy bombardment on Wednesday as Russia’s week-long invasion was deounced by the United Nations in a historic vote and dozens of countries referred Moscow to be probed for potential war crimes.

The biggest attack on a European state since 1945 has caused over 870,000 people to flee, led to a barrage of economic measures against Russia, and stoked fears of wider conflict in the West unthought-of for decades.

West of Kyiv, in the city of Zhytomyr, four people, including a child, were killed on Tuesday by a Russian cruise missile, a Ukrainian official said.

Rocket strikes on the center of Kharkiv killed at least 10 people and wounded 35, Ukrainian Interior Ministry adviser Anton Herashchenko said. Similar strikes that killed and wounded dozens in the city the previous day involved cluster bombs, experts said.

— Reuters