WAR IN UKRAINE: March 28, 2023
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS: Day 398
Around midnight, a wave of Russian drones were discovered and shot down around Kyiv. In the Sviatoshyn district, a fire broke out due to falling debris - Suspilne
Around four o'clock in the morning, Russian troops shelled a hospital in the Dnipro district of Kherson. There were at least five explosions. One of the shells hit the fifth floor of the building. The blast wave knocked out almost all the windows in the main building on one side, the head of the press office OVA Tolokonnikov - Suspilne
Ukraine shut the eastern town of Avdiivka to non-military personnel on Monday, describing it as a post-apocalyptic wasteland, as Kyiv tried to break the back of Russia's flagging winter offensive before a counter-assault of its own. A Ukrainian general said Kyiv was planning its next move after Moscow appeared to shift focus from the small city of Bakhmut, which Russia has failed to capture after several months of the war's bloodiest fighting, to Avdiivka further south. The Ukrainian Armed Forces General Staff said in a Monday evening update that Russian forces were still trying to storm Bakhmut and had shelled the city and surrounding towns - Reuters
The area of Ukraine contaminated by landmines - about 180,000 square kilometres - is now larger than the size of Cambodia. That makes Ukraine one of the largest minefields in the world and creates a serious hazard for farmers. About 30 percent of the entire territory is contaminated after about nine years of war. Director of the Crisis Bureau of the UN Development Program Asako Okai said: "It's shocking figures…Estimates suggest over 10 million Ukrainians are at risk. So, Ukraine has become one of the world's largest minefields.” She told Interfax Ukraine that the issue of mine clearance is a priority, since many areas of Ukraine are not yet accessible, which complicates emergency assistance and delays reconstruction. Other experts told me that given the sheer size of the contamination, outside expertise will be crucial but that the process of clearing is extremely time consuming.
Russian missile strikes in the eastern city of Sloviansk in the Donetsk region killed at least two people and injured another 29, including one child, according to a regional military official. Further south, Ukrainian and Russian forces reported explosions in the occupied city of Melitopol. Meanwhile, Russian and Ukrainian forces are caught in "the most intense phase" of the battle for control of Bakhmut, according to a top Ukrainian official. It comes as the Russian mercenary group Wagner says it captured a metal plant near the besieged city - CNN
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy made a surprise visit to frontline positions in the region of Zaporizhzhya, where he also met with UN nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi to discuss the protection of Europe's largest nuclear power station. Meanwhile, international condemnation has intensifiedover Moscow's plans to station tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus - RFE/RL
Ukraine has received the 18 Leopard 2 tanks pledged by Germany, der Spiegel reported on March 27. 40 Marder infantry fighting vehicles also arrived in what der Spiegel’s sources said was a “large package” of weapons - Kyiv Independent