What did 20 March 2024 show about the war?

What did 20 March 2024 reveal about the state of the war? That day, a Russian missile strike killed at least five people and injured eight others in an industrial area of Kharkiv, as reported at the time.

The Kharkiv attack came days after one of the heaviest tolls of the week. On 15 March, a Russian double-tap missile strike in Odesa killed at least 20 people and injured at least 73 others.

The fighting was not confined to Ukrainian cities. On 16 March, Russia said two civilians had been killed by Ukrainian shelling in Belgorod. On 17 March, a drone reportedly hit a military base in Transnistria, destroying an Mi-8 helicopter.

The Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant was also in the news. On 14 March, Russian-installed officials at the plant in Enerhodar said shelling had hit critical infrastructure there and called such attacks unacceptable. The plant lies in Zaporizhzhia Oblast, parts of which Russian forces had occupied since the invasion of mainland Ukraine out of Crimea on 24 February 2022. Russia declared the annexation of the occupied areas on 30 September 2022.

Taken together, the reports from 14 to 20 March 2024 describe a week in which strikes hit civilians in Odesa and Kharkiv, while shelling and drone incidents were reported in Belgorod, Transnistria and around the Zaporizhzhia plant.