Thursday, March 28

Russia’s war against Ukraine

A local woman, holding a dog in her arms, stands near the site of a Russian aerial bombardment of a high-rise residential building in the Shevchenkivskyi district on March 27, 2024 in Kharkiv, Ukraine. (Oleksandra Novosel/Suspilne Ukraine/JSC “UA:PBC”/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images)

Air Force: Ukraine can down Zircon hypersonic missile with Patriot, SAMP/T. Air Force spokesperson Ilia Yevlash’s statement came after reports that Russian troops had used Zircon ballistic missiles in a March 25 attack on Kyiv. The researchers continue to examine the debris to determine what type of missile was launched.

Russian attacks on Dnipro hydroelectric plant caused $3.5 million in environmental damage. Russia’s attack on the Dnipro Hydroelectric Power Plant on March 22 caused at least $3.5 million in environmental damage, although that figure is expected to rise, Ukraine’s Environment and Natural Resources Minister Ruslan Strilets said on March 27.

SBU: 2 alleged Russian agents caught helping FSB plan missile strikes in Kyiv and Odesa. The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) has detained two Ukrainian men accused of helping Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) plan missile strikes on military installations and communications infrastructure including the Kyiv TV tower, the service said on March 27.

Zelensky visits Sumy Oblast, inspects fortifications. President Volodymyr Zelensky was briefed on the project for the construction of a platoon stronghold near Sumy, which includes reinforced concrete structures, firing positions for tanks and infantry fighting vehicles, and corrugated steel shelters.

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Defense Ministry list key points in updated mobilization bill. The draft law on mobilization, which is being amended by lawmakers, proposes to lower the enlistment age and introduce basic military training for adults, according to Ukraine’s Defense Ministry.

Partisans: Russia constructing barriers to prevent further strikes on Black Sea fleet. Russian forces in occupied Crimea are constructing barriers at the entrance to Sevastopol Bay to prevent further Ukrainian strikes on the Black Sea fleet, the partisan group Atesh reported on March 27.

Reuters: Russia turns to Belarusian gasoline amid decreasing domestic supplies. Russia is increasing imports of gasoline from Belarus to avert possible shortages connected to recent Ukrainian attacks on Russian oil refineries, Reuters reported on March 27, citing four undisclosed trade and industry sources.

Read our exclusives

Ukraine war latest: Russia attacks civilians in Kharkiv; Zelensky inspects fortifications

Russian troops attacked a residential neighborhood in Kharkiv on March 27, killing one civilian man and injuring at least 19 other people, including four children, Kharkiv Oblast Governor Oleh Syniehubov reported.

Photo: Oleh Syniehubov/Telegram

How thousands of Ukrainian children cope with losing parents to war

Almost 1,800 Ukrainian children have been made orphans by the war, the National Social Service of Ukraine said in a comment to the Kyiv Independent. At a young age, these children have to learn to cope with the loss and live without their parents’ support.

Photo: Viacheslav Ratynskyi / The Kyiv Independent

In Putin’s Russia, state violence is on full display

When the men accused of committing last week’s terrorist attack in Moscow appeared in front of a Russian court, their battered faces told a story of physical torture.

Photo: Tatyana Makeyeva/AFP via Getty Images

Human cost of war

Russian attack on Kharkiv Oblast town kills 12-year-old child. Russia attacked the town of Borova in Kharkiv Oblast on the evening of March 27, killing a 12-year-old boy, the Kharkiv Oblast Prosecutor’s Office reported.

Russian drone attack in Kherson Oblast kills woman. Mykhailivka, a small village on the western bank of the Dnipro River, has been hit by Russian attacks numerous times since it was liberated from Russian occupation in the fall of 2022.

Russian attack on Kharkiv residential area kills 1, injures at least 19, including children. Russian troops attacked a residential neighborhood in Kharkiv on March 27, killing one civilian man and injuring at least 16 other people, including four children, Mayor Ihor Terekhov reported.

Russian attacks on Nikopol, Donetsk Oblast kill man, injure 3 civilians. Russian troops attacked Nikopol in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast and Ukrainsk in Donetsk Oblast, killing a man and injuring three other people, including a 49-year-old woman, according to the authorities.

Opinions and insights

Opinion: Ukraine may have no choice but to lower its fighting age

“Ukraine’s politicians have been reluctant to lower the fighting age because it would be unpopular. Many defend the relatively high combat age as a social virtue to protect Ukraine’s young adults from the battlefield unless they volunteer,” writes Brian Bonner, former chief editor of the Kyiv Post.

Photo: Jose Colon/Anadolu via Getty Images

Opinion: Russia’s policy of torture on show in Moscow terror ‘trial’

“When Russian security forces apprehended one of the terror suspects, they cut off his ear and reportedly forced him to eat it. The suspect’s mutilation was celebrated on Russian social media,” writes Daniil Ukhorskiy,

litigation officer at Legal Action Worldwide.

Photo: Olga Maltseva/AFP via Getty Images

International response

UK general admits military ‘couldn’t fight Russia for more than a couple of months.’ The striking admission was the latest warning from U.K. defense and military officials cautioning that the country is unprepared for armed conflict.

Bloomberg: US in talks with Turkey for more explosives to boost shell production. The U.S. is negotiating to increase purchases of explosives from Turkey to boost the production of artillery shells amid allies’ efforts to provide Ukraine with ammunition, Bloomberg reported on March 27, citing unnamed officials familiar with the matter.

General: Germany to hand over 10,000 artillery shells to Ukraine in coming days. Germany will hand over 10,000 artillery rounds from its own military stocks to Ukraine in the next coming days, German General Christian Freuding said in an interview with Deutsche Welle (DW) published on March 27.

Poland doubles its contribution to Czech ammunition initiative for Kyiv. Poland has decided to double its donation to the Czech-led initiative to purchase artillery shells for Ukraine, Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said in Riga on March 27, without providing a specific figure.

Council of Europe Development Bank to lend almost $110 million to Ukraine for housing. Council of Europe Development Bank has allocated a loan of 100 million euros ($108 million) to restore housing for Ukrainians, Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov said on March 27.

UK defense secretary calls on Europe not to curb Ukrainian imports. U.K. Defense Secretary Grant Shapps urged Europe not to restrict imports from Ukraine, pointing out London’s decision to extend tariff-free and quota-free imports from Ukraine for most goods for another five years.

EU ambassadors agree on ‘new compromise’ regarding extension of Ukraine trade deal. EU ambassadors “agreed on a new compromise” regarding the extension of the trade agreement with Ukraine, ensuring a “balanced approach between support for Ukraine and protection of EU agricultural markets,” the Belgian presidency of the EU Council announced on March 27.

In other news

Budanov: Russia knew about terror attack preparations at least since Feb. 15. According to Kyrylo Budanov, Russia knew from where the attackers would come and through which two countries they would enter Russian territory. “Don’t let them tell you stories on how this (attack) appeared out of nowhere,” the intelligence chief commented.

Top judicial official, previously accused of holding Russian citizenship, resigns. The High Qualification Commission, one of Ukraine’s key judicial bodies, approved on March 27 the request of its chair Roman Ihnatov to be dismissed from the commission.

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Today’s Ukraine Daily was brought to you by Lili Bivings, Chris York, Nate Ostiller, Martin Fornusek, Kateryna Denisova, Kateryna Hodunova, Sonya Bandouil, Dmytro Basmat, and Olena Goncharova.

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