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What the days before 19 March 2024 showed
Summary
A look back at the run of strikes, aid decisions and nuclear-plant warnings that preceded 19 March 2024.
What did the picture look like on 19 March 2024, after a week in which strikes crossed the border in both directions and Europe committed more money to Ukraine's defence? The reports from the preceding days show a war pressing on civilians, energy sites and diplomacy at once.
Strikes on Ukrainian cities
On 13 March 2024, a Russian drone attack on an apartment building in Sumy killed two people and injured at least eight others. Two days later, on 15 March, a Russian double tap missile strike on Odesa killed at least 20 people and injured at least 73 others.
Ukrainian strikes inside Russia
On 13 March, Ukraine launched drone strikes in Russia for a second consecutive day. The strikes caused a fire at a Rosneft oil refinery in Ryazan Oblast, and a Ukrainian drone was reportedly shot down near the Kirishi refinery in Leningrad Oblast. Russian President Vladimir Putin said the attacks were an attempt to disrupt the upcoming presidential election.
On 16 March, Russia said that two civilians had been killed by Ukrainian shelling in the city of Belgorod.
On 17 March, a drone reportedly hit a military base in Transnistria and destroyed an Mi-8 helicopter.
Money from Europe
Also on 13 March, the European Union agreed to provide an additional €5 billion to its Ukrainian military aid fund.
The nuclear plant
On 14 March, Russian-installed officials at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in Enerhodar said that shelling had hit critical infrastructure at the plant and that such attacks were unacceptable. The plant lies in Zaporizhzhia Oblast, where Russian occupation began after the invasion launched out of Crimea on 24 February 2022. Russia declared the annexation of the Russian-controlled parts of the oblast on 30 September 2022.
Looking back
Taken together, the reports from 13 to 17 March 2024 show the war reaching from Sumy and Odesa to refineries in Ryazan and Leningrad oblasts, with civilian casualties reported on both sides of the border as Russia prepared for its presidential election. The EU's €5 billion commitment came in the same days.
