Sunday, March 17

Russia’s war against Ukraine

A woman in Odesa lights lamps near an impromptu memorial to the victims of a Russian missile attack. The region observed a day of mourning on March 16, 2024. According to the latest information, 21 people were killed and more than 70 were injured as a result of a double Russian strike on Odesa the morning of March 15, 2024. (Viacheslav Onyshchenko/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

Russian media: Oil refinery in Krasnodar Krai hit by drones. A fire broke out at an oil refinery in Slavyansk-on-Kuban in Krasnodar Krai, Russia, amid reports of explosions and a possible drone attack overnight on March 17.

Zelensky: Ukrainian strikes reveal Russia’s military vulnerabilities. “These weeks have demonstrated to many that the Russian war machine has vulnerabilities that we can reach with our weapons,” President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his evening address on March 16.

National Resistance Center: Resistance disrupts ‘voting’ in occupied Skadovsk, injures 5 Russian troops. The explosion reportedly occurred at 3 p.m. local time on the central square near the polling station while Russian forces were patrolling nearby.

Media: At least 15 criminal cases opened on first day of Russian presidential election. At least 15 criminal cases on alleged “obstruction of the electoral comissions’ work” had been opened during the first day of the Russian presidential election, Russian media outlet Novaya Gazeta Europe reported on March 15, citing regional investigation committees.

Anti-Kremlin militia claims to have captured 25 Russian troops. In a video published on Telegram early on March 16, the Russian Volunteer Corps’s commander Denys Nikitin, also known by his nom de guerre “White Rex,” talks to a man introduced as captured Russian senior lieutenant Alexei Volkov.

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Budanov: Ukraine to continue to support anti-Kremlin militias. Ukraine’s military intelligence chief Kyrylo Budanov said on March 26 on national television that anti-Kremlin militias were becoming “a force” and Ukraine would help them “to the extent possible.”

Russia claims another rocket attack on Belgorod Oblast. Earlier the same day, Russian anti-Kremlin militias warned Belgorod residents that a “massive strike will be carried out against military facilities and Russian military positions” in the city at 5 p.m. local time.

Kuleba calls Blinken to discuss unblocking Ukraine aid stalled in Congress. Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba wrote on X on March 16 that he held a telephone call with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken to discuss the potential unblocking of aid for Ukraine that has been stuck in Congress since autumn 2023.

Update: 1 person remains missing as rescue operations concluded after March 13 strike on Sumy. Three people were killed, 12 were hospitalized, and one person is still missing as the emergency services have finished clearing the debris after the Russian March 13 attack on Sumy, the local military administration reported.

Court releases ex-Defense Ministry official charged with weapons procurement fraud without bail. Oleksandr Liyev was arrested in February 2024 in charges related to a corruption scheme revealed by the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) in January that involved the procurement of almost 100,000 mortar shells, amounting to almost Hr 1.5 billion ($40 million).

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Opinion: How many planes does Russia have?

“The Ukrainian military shot down five Russian military aircraft in the span of three days in early March, begging the question: How many planes does Russia have?” Military historian Andrii Kharuk analyzes the data on Russia’s aircraft.

Photo: Russian Defense Ministry/Handout/Anadolu via Getty Images

Human cost of war

Update: Death toll in Russian missile strike on Odesa rises to 21, at least 73 injured. Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said on March 16 that the death toll had risen to 21 after another wounded person died in the hospital.

Russian shelling of Donetsk Oblast village kills civilian, injures another. Russia launched an artillery strike against the village of Novoselivka Persha in Donetsk Oblast’s Ocheretyne community on March 16, killing a 51-year-old man and injuring another resident, Governor Vadym Filashkin said.

Russian governor claims 2 killed in missile attack on Belgorod. Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov claimed that a man and a woman had been killed in the strikes, and that three others had been injured and sent to the hospital.

General Staff: Russia has lost 429,580 troops in Ukraine since Feb. 24, 2022. This number includes 1,160 casualties Russian forces suffered over the past day.

This Week in Ukraine S2 E10 – Will Trump abandon Ukraine if he beats Biden in November?

International response

Politico: Finnish FM does not rule out sending Western troops to Ukraine. At the same time, Finland is not currently willing to send troops or even ready to discuss it, Finnish Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen said.

Western countries denounce Russia holding election in occupied Ukrainian territories. “Russia has no legitimate basis to hold elections on the sovereign Ukrainian territory of Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk, Luhansk, and Crimea. These areas are a part of Ukraine,” the U.K. Foreign Office said on X.

EU pressures European importers to cut down Russian LNG purchases in 2024. “My message was that this year must bring further disengagement from Russian exports,” Energy Commissioner Kadri Simson told Bloomberg following an EU-U.S. Energy Council meeting in Washington.

Tusk urges House speaker Johnson to ‘take decision’ on stalled Ukraine aid after Russian attack on Odesa. “Look at Odesa! How many more arguments do you need to take a decision?” Tusk wrote on X on March 16, tagging Johnson.

Media: Latvia investigates MEP accused of spying for Russia. Latvia’s State Security Service (VDD) began investigating Tatjana Zdanoka, a Latvian member of the European Parliament accused of spying for Russia, the Latvian news outlet Delfi reported on March 16.

Media: UK defense secretary canceled planned Odesa visit due to Russian threat. U.K. Defense Secretary Grant Shapps’ scheduled visit to Odesa was canceled after U.K. intelligence officials informed him that Moscow was aware of his travel plans.

Czech President: Russia ‘has no right’ to set conditions for peace in Ukraine. “The Kremlin has presented its list of conditions that it as an aggressor has no right to put forward,” Czech President Petr Pavel said on March 16.

In other news

Police open investigation over attempted suicide in Zakarpattia Oblast enlistment office. The police launched an investigation into the circumstances of a supposed attempted suicide by a man in the Khust military enlistment office in Zakarpattia Oblast, Hromadske reported on March 16, citing a statement from the police.

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Today’s Ukraine Daily was brought to you by Oleg Sukhov, Nate Ostiller, Martin Fornusek, Francis Farrell, Kateryna Hodunova, Abbey Fenbert, and Olena Goncharova.

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