Drone strikes and attacks on civilians marked 13 March 2024
A look back at a day of Russian drone fire on Sumy and Ukrainian strikes on Russian refineries.
What did the war look like across Ukraine and Russia on 13 March 2024? It was a day of strikes in both directions, with civilians hit in Sumy and refineries targeted in Russia.
In Sumy, a Russian drone attack on an apartment building killed two people and injured at least eight others.
Ukraine, for its part, launched drone strikes in Russia for a second consecutive day. A fire broke out 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.
The days before
The previous day, 12 March 2024, had already brought heavy fighting. A Russian missile strike on apartment buildings in Kryvyi Rih, in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, killed three people and injured at least 36. Ukraine sent 25 drones at Russian cities that day, hitting a major oil refinery in Nizhny Novgorod Oblast.
Also on 12 March, the Freedom of Russia Legion, the Sibir Battalion and the Russian Volunteer Corps entered Belgorod and Kursk oblasts, while Russia claimed to have repelled the attacks. A Russian Aerospace Forces Ilyushin Il-76 military transport plane with 15 people on board crashed in Ivanovo Oblast the same day.
