Ukraine: realities | «The Weekly Five»: 20.03 – 26.03

Russians fired missiles at residential buildings in Zaporizhzhia

On March 22, Russian troops fired 6 missiles at Zaporizhzhia. One of the missiles hit between two high-rise buildings, partially destroying apartments and balconies, damaging roofs and breaking windows, and injuring two dozen people.

The blast wave and shrapnel also damaged other nearby residential buildings, cars and other civilian infrastructure in the city.

According to preliminary information, 18 people (including two children aged 7 and 9) were injured when a Russian missile hit a high-rise building in Zaporizhzhia, and one of them died in hospital.
 

Russians hit Konstantynivka's Point of Invincibility with a missile: 5 dead

Five people were killed in Russian strikes on the town of Kostyantynivka, Donetsk region, on the night of March 24, when one of the missiles hit a point of invincibility.

Statement of the prosecutor's office: «On March 24, at 01:00, the Russian army fired from the S-300 anti-aircraft missile system at the town of Kostyantynivka. One of the missiles hit the building of the point of invincibility, and the other hit near it.»

At first, the prosecutor's office reported 3 dead women. But later, the State Emergency Service clarified that 5 people - 3 women and 2 men - were killed as a result of the Russian strike on Kostyantynivka. Rescuers rescued another person from the rubble.

It is also reported that two more citizens sustained injuries of varying severity.

We wrote about the work of the Points of Invincibility in Ukraine in this article.
 

Russia has started receiving regular deliveries of Shaheds - British intelligence

The agency noted that since the beginning of March 2023, Russia has probably launched at least 71 Iranian-designed Shahed unmanned aerial vehicles at targets in Ukraine.

These attacks followed a two-week pause in late February 2023. Therefore, British intelligence concludes that Russia has probably begun receiving regular supplies of a small number of Shahed UAVs.

The Russians use drones to attack mainly critical and civilian infrastructure.
 

Putin says Russia will deploy nuclear weapons in Belarus

Moscow and Minsk have agreed to deploy tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus. This was stated by Putin himself in an interview with a propaganda outlet.

According to Putin, the reason for this step was the UK's statement about supplying Ukraine with depleted uranium ammunition.

«We have already transferred our well-known, very effective Iskander system to Belarus, and it can also be a carrier. On April 3, we will start training the crew and on July 1, we will complete the construction of a special storage facility for tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus.»

Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine Oleksiy Danilov reacted to this statement:

«Putin's actions maximize the level of negative perception and public rejection of Russia and Putin in Belarusian society. The Kremlin has taken Belarus as a nuclear hostage,» he wrote.
 

Putin and Xi Jinping meet in the Kremlin

The leaders announced plans to continue economic cooperation and deepen partnership. After the meeting, the leaders delivered speeches, and the results of the talks were also reported by Chinese state media. 

During the meetings, the leaders called each other «dear friend». Both also characterized the talks as successful. 

As a result, they signed two joint documents (on plans for economic cooperation and deepening partnership) and publicly disclosed some plans for further cooperation. They also discussed the outcome of the discussion of the bloody war waged by Russia against Ukraine.

 

The project «Ukraine: realities» is implemented by the News agency «Konkurent» together with the Civic Movement «SVIDOMI» and the charity organization Global Empowerment Mission in English for readers from other countries to tell the stories of people who survived the horrors of the Russian occupation.

Проєкт «Ukraine: realities» реалізовується Інформаційним агентством «Конкурент» спільно з Громадянським Рухом «СВІДОМІ» та благодійною організацією Global Empowerment Mission на англійській мові для читачів з інших країн аби розповісти історії людей, які пережили жахи російської окупації.