What the strikes and shell pledge meant for Ukraine's allies
A look back at 22 and 21 March 2023, when attacks on civilians and a British ammunition decision framed the debate over Western support.
What did the days around 23 March 2023 show about the war's pressures on Ukraine and its partners? Two strands stood out: continuing Russian attacks on civilians, and a sharpening dispute over the weapons supplied to Ukraine.
Civilians under fire
On 22 March 2023, a Russian drone strike in Rzhyshchiv killed at least nine civilians and injured 29 others. The same day, a Russian missile struck an apartment building in Zaporizhzhia, killing one civilian and injuring 25.
The Zaporizhzhia strike was not the city's first on a residential block. As background, an earlier missile attack on a residential building there, in the early morning of 9 October 2022, killed at least 13 people and injured more than 89.
A contested shell decision
On 21 March 2023, the United Kingdom confirmed that it would provide Ukraine with depleted uranium armour-piercing shells, to accompany its Challenger 2 main battle tanks. London said the risk of radiation contamination was low. Russian president Vladimir Putin responded that Russia would be forced to react to the British move.
Why the juxtaposition matters
The two strands sat side by side. The attacks on residential areas and a town struck by a drone underlined the daily cost to civilians, while the shell pledge showed Western governments weighing the supply of heavier armaments against Moscow's warnings. The British decision came with an explicit public assurance on safety, while the Kremlin's reaction signalled that each step in military aid would draw a response in words, at least.
For Kyiv's partners, the lesson of those days was that decisions on equipment were being taken against a backdrop of continued strikes on civilian targets, and that public justification of such decisions was part of the process.
