Sumy border sabotage and a week of strikes: 18 March 2024
A look back at the events reported around 18 March 2024, as Ukraine and Russia traded strikes across regions from Odesa to Belgorod.
What was happening in Ukraine's regions on 18 March 2024? The picture, drawn from reports in the days before, was of continued cross-border pressure and strikes on civilian areas.
On 17 March, Ukraine said three Russian sabotage groups had been intercepted in Sumy Oblast. Days earlier, on 13 March, a Russian drone attack on an apartment building in Sumy killed two people and injured at least eight.
On 15 March, a Russian double-tap missile strike on Odesa killed at least 20 people and injured at least 73. On 12 March, a Russian missile strike on apartment buildings in Kryvyi Rih, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, killed three and injured at least 36.
Strikes and incursions in Russia
Ukraine launched drone waves on Russian territory. On 12 March, 25 drones were sent at Russian cities, hitting a major oil refinery in Nizhny Novgorod Oblast. On 13 March, a second consecutive day of strikes caused a fire at a Rosneft 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 14 March, a civilian was killed and three injured in Ukrainian airstrikes in Belgorod Oblast, Russia.
On 12 March, the Freedom of Russia Legion, the Sibir Battalion and the Russian Volunteer Corps entered Belgorod and Kursk oblasts; Russia claimed to have repelled the attacks.
Zaporizhzhia plant
On 14 March, Russian-installed officials at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in Enerhodar said shelling had hit critical infrastructure there and called such attacks unacceptable. The plant lies in Zaporizhzhia Oblast, parts of which Russia occupied after its February 2022 invasion and declared annexed on 30 September 2022.
