Friday, March 15

Russia’s war against Ukraine

Members of an election commission, representing the Russian proxy authorities in occupied Donetsk, visit potential voters alongside armed soldiers during early voting in Russia’s presidential election on March 14, 2024. Ukraine has declared Russia’s elections in occupied territories illegitimate. (Stringer/AFP via Getty Images)

Anti-Kremlin militias warn of new attacks, again call on civilians to evacuate. The Freedom of Russia Legion, the Siberian Battalion, and the Russian Volunteer Corps published the appeal on their Telegram channels in today’s evening, promising to maintain a humanitarian corridor from 9 p.m. on March 14 until 7 a.m. on March 15.

Russian reconnaissance troops forced to retreat after failed attempt to cross Dnipro, Ukraine says. According to the Southern Operational Command, a boat carrying Moscow’s forces attempted to land on the western bank near the Antonivskyi Bridge.

Military: Russian troops intensify attacks in Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk sectors. Russian forces intensified their assaults in the Zaporizhzhia and Donetsk sectors of the front, Dmytro Lykhovii, a spokesperson for Ukraine’s Tavria group of forces, said on national television on March 14.

Russia claims fighting in Kursk, Belgorod oblasts amid ongoing anti-Kremlin militia raid. The Russian National Guard claimed it was repelling an attack near the village of Tyotkino in Kursk Oblast allegedly carried out by “sabotage groups” on March 14.

Russian governor claims Belgorod hit by three strikes during day. Belgorod Oblast Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov claimed at around 5:30 p.m. local time on March 14 that the air defense system over the city of Belgorod was operating, marking the third report of a strike on the city since that morning.

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Reuters: Russia believed to have jammed signal on plane carrying UK defense minister. Russia is believed to have jammed the satellite signal of a Royal Air Force aircraft used to transport U.K. Defence Minister Grant Shapps, a government source and journalists travelling with Shapps told Reuters on March 14.

Prosecutors: Russia has launched around 50 North Korean missiles at Ukraine. Russia has used around 50 North Korean missiles to attack six Ukrainian regions since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, Oleksandr Filchakov, head of the Kharkiv Oblast prosecutor’s office, said on March 14 during a press conference.

Zelensky calls Scholz, discusses further Ukrainian-German cooperation. President Volodymyr Zelensky wrote on his Telegram on March 14 that he held a telephone call with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to discuss further political, economic, and defense cooperation between the two states.

Ukrainian embassy appeals to France over ‘cultural appropriation’ at Russian film festival. The Ukrainian embassy in France appealed to local authorities after the “Another Russia” (Une autre Russie) organization included the Ukrainian film “Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors” by Sergei Parajanov into the program of the Russian film festival in Paris and Taverny, the embassy’s press service reported on Facebook on March 13.

SBU detains alleged Russian agent planning to blow up Kharkiv railway. A Ukrainian man suspected of working with Russian military intelligence and planning to blow up a railway in Kharkiv Oblast has been detained, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) announced on March 14.

Read our exclusives

Ukraine war latest: Ukrainian units begin rotation, Syrskyi says

“On the positive side, despite the quite difficult situation across the front line, we have managed to launch the process of rotating and replacing battalions and units that have been performing combat missions on the front line for a long time,” Syrskyi said.

Photo: Diego Herrera Carcedo/Anadolu/Getty Images

Ukraine wants to reopen airports during war. Will its ambitions take off?

Plans of resuming passenger flights have been in the air in recent months. In late February, Presidential Office Head Andriy Yermak announced that Ukraine was working on “restoring operations at one of the country’s airports once security issues are addressed.”

Photo: STR/NurPhoto via Getty Imagess

Ukraine’s judicial reform relaunch shows mixed results so far

In late 2023, Ukraine finally re-launched the process of vetting judges as part of a long anticipated judicial reform – a key condition for Ukraine’s accession to the European Union. Four months later, the results are mixed.

Photo: Yan Dobronosov/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images

Human cost of war

Drone attack in Vinnytsia Oblast kills 1, injures 4. A Russian drone hit a residential building in Vinnytsia Oblast on the evening of March 14, killing one person and injuring at least four others, Governor Serhii Borzov reported on Telegram.

Update: Russian March 13 attack on residential building in Sumy kills 3, injures 12. The body of a resident was pulled from the rubble after the rescue operation had resumed at 6 a.m. local time, State Emergency Service reported. Two more people killed were found the day before.

General Staff: Russia has lost 427,840 troops in Ukraine since Feb. 24, 2022. This number includes 970 casualties Russian forces suffered just over the past day.

Opinions and insights

The Counteroffensive: Crimean Tatars are observing this Ramadan in exile

“The story of Crimean Tatars and how they used Islam to protect their heritage and culture is one chapter in a wider story of how people in Ukraine are protecting and preserving their identity and heritage against Russian aggression,” writes The Counteroffensive’s Tim Mak.

Photo: Max Vetrov/AFP via Getty Image

International response

The Guardian: EU to propose funneling billions in profits generated by Russian assets to Ukraine. The commission’s officials plan to put forward a “legally robust proposal” for consideration by the member states, possibly before a meeting of prime ministers on March 21, the outlet said.

Bundestag votes against Taurus missiles for Ukraine for third time in 2024. Of the 687 lawmakers who participated in the vote, 494 voted against the delivery, with 188 voting in favor and five abstaining.

Macron: Russia’s war against Ukraine ‘existential’ for France, Europe. French President Emmanuel Macron on March 14 again refused to rule out the potential presence of Western troops in Ukraine but stressed that the current situation does not call for it.

The Hill: Johnson signals potential change in stance on Ukraine to Republican senators. House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson addressed Republican senators at their annual retreat on March 13, where he floated the idea that the long-obstructed Ukraine aid package could be made into a loan or lend-lease program for the benefit of U.S. taxpayers, the Hill reported on March 14.

Sweden pledges $33 million to Czech ammunition initiative for Ukraine. Sweden joined the Czech-led initiative to supply Ukraine with hundreds of thousands of artillery shells, pledging 30 million euros ($32.6 million) to the cause, the Swedish embassy in Czechia announced on March 14.

Bulgaria confirms long-awaited armored personnel carriers headed to Ukraine. After months of delays, 100 Bulgarian armored personnel carriers are on their way to Ukraine by rail, Bulgaria’s Defense Minister Todor Tagarev confirmed on March 14.

Ambassador: Poland ‘absolutely neutral’ whether refugees stay or return to Ukraine. Warsaw will neither encourage nor prevent the return of Ukrainian refugees to Ukraine, Polish Ambassador to Kyiv Jaroslaw Guzy said in an interview with Deutsche Welle published on March 13. Poland hosts around 1 million Ukrainians who fled from Russia’s all-out war, the highest number of all countries.

Rheinmetall plans to open at least 4 plants in Ukraine. German arms manufacturer plans to open at least four plans in Ukraine to produce artillery shells, military vehicles, gunpowder, and anti-aircraft weapons, the AFP reported on March 14.

Ukrainian campaign in US, Canada to commemorate Mariupol theater bombing. The Ukrainian project DE TY is organizing an international awareness campaign on March 16 in the U.S. and Canada to mark the second anniversary of a Russian strike against the Mariupol Drama Theater and draw attention to children suffering due to Russia’s war.

In other news

Russian Mi-8 helicopter crashes in Magadan region, two people reported dead. The aircraft was reportedly transporting 17 gold mine workers and three crew members when it made a “hard landing” 75 km from the village of Evensk, the Russian Far Eastern Transport Prosecutor’s Office said in a post on Telegram.

Russia bans entry to over 200 US policy makers, business leaders, journalists. The Russian Foreign Ministry added another 227 U.S. citizens to its list of those who are banned from entering Russia, state news agency TASS reported on March 14.

International journalist federations call for probe into detainment of Ukrainian journalists in Poland. The International and the European Federations of Journalists (IFJ-EFJ) urged Polish authorities to investigate after two separate instances of Ukrainian journalists being detained in Poland were reported in recent weeks.

Border Guard: Krakovets border crossing remains open for trucks going to Poland. The Korczowa-Krakovets crossing on the Polish-Ukrainian border remains open for trucks heading to Poland despite initial reports that Polish protesters would resume the blockade on March 13, Border Guard Service spokesperson Andrii Demchenko said on March 14.

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Today’s Ukraine Daily was brought to you by Chris York, Oleksiy Sorokin, Kateryna Denisova, Kateryna Hodunova, Martin Fornusek, Elsa Court, Dmytro Basmat, Sonya Bandouil, and Abbey Fenbert.

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