War between Russia and Ukraine: list of important events, day 386

By William On Mar 16, 2023

As the war between Russia and Ukraine enters its 386th day, we take a look at the main developments.

This is the state of affairs on Thursday, March 16, 2023:

US drone incident

The crash of a US military surveillance drone in the Black Sea after it was intercepted by Russian fighter jets is still “under investigation,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said.
Chief of Defense Lloyd Austin said the US will continue to fly where international law allows, after speaking with his Russian counterpart Sergei Shoigu.
Russian ambassador to Washington Anatoly Antonov said he told US officials that Moscow “would no longer allow anyone to violate our waters,” the state news agency TASS reported.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said the US is “ignoring” that Russia has imposed airspace restrictions around Crimea.
Russia’s defense ministry said it would respond “proportionately” to future US “provocations”.

Ukrainian ground forces shot down a Russian fighter jet near the besieged eastern city of Bakhmut, Andriy Yermak, the head of the Ukrainian president’s office, said.
Russian troops have taken control of Zaliznianske village and are expanding the encirclement of Bakhmut, said the head of Russia’s mercenary Wagner force Yevgeny Prigozhin.

Finland expects Turkey to approve its NATO membership this week, as Finnish President Sauli Niinistö is due to meet his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Istanbul on Friday.
During a televised meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said Russia was fighting “Nazis” in Ukraine and expressed support for Moscow.
The International Monetary Fund says its staff have made “very good progress” in talks with Ukrainian officials on a range of policies to support a new loan program for Ukraine.