Here is the roundup of key events on Friday, March 21.
Fighting
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Russia has pounded Ukraine’s Black Sea city of Odesa, with one of its biggest drone attacks overnight, injuring three teenagers and sparking fires as the Czech President Petr Pavel visited, Ukrainian officials said.
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Russia has accused Ukraine of blowing up a major Russian gas pumping and measuring station near the town of Sudzha in the Kursk region near the Ukrainian border in what it called “an act of terrorism.” The Ukrainian military has denied involvement in the attack.
- The Russian government imposed a state of emergency in the district of Engels in the Saratov region after Ukrainian drones set off a huge blast and fire at a military airfield there, local officials said. Reuters reported several damaged buildings, while the region’s Ministry of Health said 10 people were injured.
- Russia’s Ministry of Defence said its units destroyed 132 Ukrainian “unmanned aerial vehicles” in an overnight attack on six regions of the country, including 54 in Saratov.
- Kyiv’s air force said its troops shot down 75 of 171 drones launched by Russia at Ukraine overnight, while another 63 were “lost” due to electronic warfare.
- Russian drones killed two and wounded 10 people, including four children, in the Ukrainian city of Kropyvnytskyi, Regional Governor Arkadyi Raikovych said. Residential buildings, including private houses and multistorey buildings, were damaged in the attacks as well.
- Russia also attacked Ukraine’s Black Sea port of Odesa, injuring three people and damaging an apartment building as well as a shopping centre, the region’s governor, Oleh Kiper, said.
Ceasefire
- Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Russia and the United States are set to meet in Saudi Arabia to discuss the resumption of the Black Sea initiative and other aspects of the possible ceasefire settlement.
- Peskov also accused European countries of planning to “militarise” themselves and becoming a “war party” instead of seeking peace, referring to the recent meeting of European military chiefs in the United Kingdom.
- Russian President Vladimir Putin’s aide Yuri Ushakov said the ceasefire talks are scheduled for Monday in Saudi Arabia’s Riyadh.
- Grigory Karasin, chairman of the Russian Senate’s committee on international affairs, and Sergei Beseda, adviser to the head of Russia’s FSB security service, are to attend the meetings.
- Russia also accused Ukraine of attempting to sabotage peace efforts, referring to Kyiv’s attacks on an oil depot in the southern Russian village of Kavkazskaya.
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed meetings with the US in Saudi Arabia. “Our technical teams will be there,” Zelenskyy said.
- Zelensky has urged “joint pressure” on Moscow after it launched a “massive” overnight aerial attack, firing 214 drones and several guided bombs at cities across Ukraine.
- The Kremlin has said that President Vladimir Putin’s order not to strike energy targets in Ukraine was still in force, despite Kyiv accusing Moscow of breaking it several times.
Politics and diplomacy
- President Zelenskyy travelled to Oslo for talks with Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store, Norway’s government said.
- Zelenskyy told the European Union that Moscow had continued strikes on Ukraine’s energy system despite President Putin’s agreement with the US to hold fire.
- Speaking with the EU leaders, Zelenskyy asked them to approve at least 5 billion euros ($5.43bn) for the purchase of artillery shells.
- Zelenskyy, referring to the idea floated by US President Donald Trump to own Ukraine’s energy facility, said Ukraine would not negotiate ownership of the occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station.
- Zelenskyy branded Hungary’s vote against Ukraine ascending to EU membership as “anti- European”. Although he did not mention names, it was Hungary that voted against Kyiv’s EU entry.
- Trump announced that the US would soon sign a minerals deal with Ukraine. This comes after the White House said Washington had moved beyond the previously negotiated deal and was instead focused on a peace deal between the two warring countries, Russia and Ukraine.
