As the war between Russia and Ukraine enters its 380th day, we take a look at the main developments.
This is the state of affairs on Friday, March 10, 2023:
To fight
- Russia launched a massive wave of missile strikes across Ukraine, killing at least six civilians, three of them in the southern city of Kherson, and cutting power to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.
- The Ukrainian Air Force says Russia fired 81 missiles, including six Kinzhal hypersonic missiles, as well as eight drones.
- Russia says the attacks were “retaliation” for what it called a terrorist attack by Ukraine last week in Russia’s Bryansk region.
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy condemned the attacks and said Moscow “will not shirk responsibility”.
- The Ukrainian army says its forces have beaten back intense Russian attacks on the eastern mining town of Bakhmut, despite Russia’s Wagner mercenary group claiming to have taken full control of the eastern part of the city.
Diplomacy
- The Kremlin says there are still “many questions” about the Black Sea grain deal and that there are no plans to meet with United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, meanwhile, said extending the deal was getting “complicated”.
- German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said he saw no sign of willingness from Russian President Vladimir Putin to negotiate an end to the war.
- In a meeting with US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, Israeli counterpart Yoav Gallant said Israel was doing its “best” to help Ukraine.
- Saudi Arabia was among the countries that helped facilitate POW exchanges with Ukraine, Lavrov told reporters at a news conference with his Saudi counterpart.
- NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg launched a new push to get Finland and Sweden accepted as members of the world’s largest military organisation.
- Russia said it had imposed sanctions on 144 government officials, journalists, lawmakers and other public figures deemed “most hostile” to Moscow by the Baltic states of Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia.
- Security forces in the Moldovan breakaway region of Transnistria said they prevented an alleged assassination attempt on their Russian-backed leader.
- Hackers with ties to Russia and China have repeatedly tried to break into Lithuanian government computers, Lithuanian security services said.
- The Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) said it supports a ban on athletes from Russia and Belarus competing in the 2024 Summer Games in Paris.
Weapons
- Slovakia must decide whether to send MiG-29 fighter jets to Ukraine, while Poland has shown willingness to cooperate, said Slovak Republic Defense Minister Jaroslav Nad.
- Poland has delivered the additional 10 Leopard 2A4 tanks it promised Ukraine, Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak said.