As the war enters its 749th day, these are the main developments.
Here is the situation on Wednesday, March 13, 2024.
Fighting
- At least three people were killed and 38 injured, 10 of them children, after a Russian missile hit two apartment buildings in the central Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih.
- Groups of pro-Ukraine Russian volunteer fighters opposed to Russian President Vladimir Putin said they carried out cross-border raids from Ukraine into Russia’s Kursk and Belgorod regions. Russia’s Defence Ministry said it thwarted seven attacks and that some 234 fighters were killed.
- Moscow said it brought down 25 Ukrainian drones over eight regions that were part of a sweeping attack on energy facilities including Russia’s second-biggest oil refinery.
- Russia claimed to have taken control of the village of Nevelske in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region. Ukraine’s general staff said Russian attacks in the area had been repelled.
- Ukraine’s SBU intelligence agency said it uncovered 15 members of a network it alleged was engaged in pro-Russian “informational sabotage”. The SBU said it had detained four of them, including a cleric at the Moscow-linked Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC). The SBU said the network was linked to Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB).
Politics and diplomacy
- Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk visited the United States where he urged Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson to quickly pass a bill that would provide Ukraine with $60bn in new military assistance. Tusk said Johnson’s failure to act would cost “thousands of lives”.
- Tusk’s appeal came as Democrats and a small group of centrist Republicans launched separate long-shot efforts to force a vote on the aid package, which has been stalled for months amid opposition from hardline conservatives.
- French lawmakers voted in favour of a 10-year Ukraine security accord that includes a commitment to send up to 3 billion euros ($3.2bn) in military aid to Kyiv in 2024.
- Thousands of people took to the streets of Slovakia’s capital Bratislava to protest against the government and to show their support for Ukraine. Since taking power last October, the government of Prime Minister Robert Fico has criticised Europe’s military aid to Ukraine and pushed to renew ties with Russia
Weapons
- The White House announced it would be able to send new military aid to Ukraine worth $300m after “unanticipated” cost savings from Pentagon contracts. The funds will be used for artillery rounds and munitions for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS).
- Ukraine’s Army chief Oleksandr Syrskyi and Defence Minister Rustem Umerov spoke on the phone with US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin on weapons deliveries. Syrskyi said ammunition and air defence were key priorities.
- Denmark’s Defence Ministry said it would provide a new military aid package including Caesar artillery systems and ammunition to Ukraine worth about 2.3 billion Danish crowns ($336.6m).
- European Union countries appeared set to agree on a deal on the European Peace Facility, a military aid fund for Ukraine, as soon as Wednesday.
