War in Ukraine Update #4




BULGARIA-UKRAINE UPDATES

 

94,000 Ukrainian refugees have entered Bulgaria and some 50,000 remain within the country. Around 100,000 refugees enter the EU daily. Close to 3.1 million have left Ukraine with around two million of those in Poland. 

 

Many of those that traveled to Bulgaria are staying in large hotels on the Black sea coast

 

A private Blagoevgrad Facebook group is assisting the coordination for helping refugees in Blagoevgrad. You can find this group here

 

Another group has been made to find ways for the AUBG community to help. Here is the group

 

The US will send a Stryker armored vehicle company to Bulgaria in an effort to bolster NATO’s eastern flank. This company will be under a new Bulgarian battle group that is currently forming. This company will not be deployed outside of Bulgaria’s territory. 

 

Bulgarian Prime Minister Petkov has denounced any rumors that Bulgaria will send any military equipment to Ukraine.

A map of Ukraine, marking the cities some AUBG students come from. Illustration made by Vera Arzumanyan.

 

UKRAINE WAR UPDATE

 

Russian forces entered Mariupol after weeks of bombardment and leaving its citizens trapped. Thousands were able to flee during brief humanitarian corridors, but many stayed and endured dwindling food supplies, cut-off water and power, and bombings. 

 

The Kyiv Independent reported that Russian troops as far as Vladivostok – a city that sits on the Sea of Japan – are heading towards Ukraine’s borders. Similarly, Syrian mercenaries may join the fighting soon as Putin scrambles to find more soldiers. 

 

Lviv, a safe haven for many Ukrainians for these first few weeks, has been a target for air raids and bombings

 

U.S. President Biden has announced a one billion dollar military aid package to Ukraine after Ukrainian President Zelenskyy gave a speech to the U.S. Congress. Drones, guns, ammunition, and anti-aircraft systems will be sent to Ukraine as a part of this package. This is after the $13.6 billion in aid to Ukraine that Congress had passed before Zelenskyy’s speech. 

 

The Biden administration has made it clear that the U.S. and NATO will not create a no-fly zone over Ukraine. Biden believes it is an escalatory measure and once U.S. troops are fighting Russian troops, that will begin World War III

 

Zelenskyy also expects progress on Ukraine’s EU application within months after his meeting with the head of the EU Commission, Ursula von der Leyen.

 

U.S. intelligence expects nuclear threats from Putin as the war drags on but does not expect Putin to use nuclear weapons. This is after Putin had put Russia’s nuclear arsenal on “high alert.” 

 

.
.
.

This is not a comprehensive list of everything that has happened, just key highlights. As we are covering the war in real-time, some information may not be accurate by the time of reading and other events may have already happened. 

Please reference AUBG Daily’s Ukraine Sources Page to dive deeper. AUBG Daily will be providing biweekly updates on the war.

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked with *