On the evening of March 23, the 24th flight this year took off from Eglin (KVPS) to Rzeszow (EPRZ), operated under a contract with the United States Transportation Command for the delivery of military equipment on behalf of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. It was operated by a Kalitta Air Boeing 747-446 (BCF) cargo aircraft, callsign CMB358, tail number N744CK.
European Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos has clarified that “Ukraine will not be able to join the European Union by 2027.” “I think everyone in this room understands that it is impossible for Ukraine to become an EU member on January 1, 2027,” Kos said.
Clarifications also came from Lithuania following the drone scare. Lithuanian Prime Minister Inga Ruginienė stated that the drone that crashed in Lithuania was Ukrainian.
Kyiv is also beginning to feel the effects of the energy crunch due to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. “Africa will supply gas to Ukraine: today we discussed these possibilities with the President of Mozambique,” President Volodymyr Zelensky said. Meanwhile, power outages continue: DTEK, “emergency power outages have been introduced in Kyiv and the Kyiv region.” The Ukrainian president also tasked Andriy Motovylovets, first deputy leader of the Servant of the People party, with developing a plan for the functioning of the Verkhovna Rada should hostilities drag on for another three years, Ukrainska Pravda reports, citing sources in the pro-presidential faction.
“We need to prepare a plan for the survival of the current parliament for another year, two, three years. Andriy Motovylovets is working on it. He has no time limit,” the newspaper reports, citing one of the Servant of the People leaders. According to Ukrainska Pravda’s sources, negotiations are underway to define the conditions under which the faction could operate in the long term. At the same time, authorities are establishing cooperation between the government and the Office of the President.
To defend against Russian attacks, an anti-drone network has been deployed on the road between Kramatorsk and Druzhkivka. The aim is to slow down the Russian advance. Meanwhile, a SAS Airlines Boeing 737-783 hospital flight (the flights are operated under an agreement with Norwegian authorities for the medical evacuation of the injured from Ukrainian territory), call sign SAS7181, tail number LN-RPJ, arrived in Ukraine for the route Oslo (ENGM) 15:00 CET – Rzeszów (EPRZ) 16:50 CET.
Tensions between Ukraine and Hungary also persist. The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) has appointed Zoltan Andre, a career Hungarian military intelligence officer, as head of a spy network in the Transcarpathian region. According to Ukrainian intelligence, “The network mapped Ukrainian air defense positions and studied local reactions to the possible deployment of Hungarian troops, the SBU reported.”
From Russia, there is much economic and foreign policy news. The government commission has approved a bill regulating cryptocurrency circulation in Russia, RIA Novosti reports. Illegal mining by an organized group or with particularly large damages/revenues—more than 13 million rubles—carries a prison sentence of up to 5 years. If the damage is less than 13 million rubles, illegal mining carries a fine of up to 1.5 million rubles. The ban on paying for goods or services with cryptocurrencies remains in effect in Russia.
Russia and Vietnam signed an intergovernmental agreement in Moscow on cooperation in the construction of Vietnam’s first nuclear power plant, the Ninh Thuan-1 nuclear power plant. Vietnam’s National Assembly resumed its long-suspended nuclear program in December 2024, after freezing it in 2016 due to energy shortages that are straining the country’s rapidly growing manufacturing sector.
Security forces have foiled sabotage and terrorist attacks by Kiev in Moscow and the Moscow region, the Russian FSB reported. “Information has been received regarding the preparation by Ukrainian special services of sabotage and terrorist acts <…> against critical infrastructure, government officials, members of the Russian Ministry of Defense, and law enforcement officers,” the FSB Public Relations Center stated.
According to the Russian agency, a series of terrorist attacks using improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and drones were foiled. An attempt by Ukrainian special services to acquire drones capable of carrying up to 20 kg, used by the Russian Armed Forces, from a Moscow-based company was also foiled. Finally, A shipment of explosive-laden heated insoles from Poland destined for the SVO zone has been discovered.
The State Duma has passed a law criminalizing denial and approval of the genocide of the Soviet people, as well as insulting the memory of its victims.
And now a look at the military scenarios, updated at 3:30 PM on March 24. Russian forces struck the energy infrastructure of the city of Pivdenne, in the Odessa region, overnight with Geranium missiles and air-launched missiles, causing a power outage in part of the region. In Moldova, the Isaaccea-Vulcanești power line was disabled following attacks on energy infrastructure in southern Ukraine, according to media reports citing official sources. Additionally, explosions were heard in the regions of Kyiv, Vinnytsia, Khmelnytskyi, Ivano-Frankivsk, Chernihiv, Ternopil, Poltava, Sumy, and Zaporizhia.
Between 9:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. on March 23, the Ministry of Defense reported the destruction of 86 fixed-wing drones. A drone attack on Sevastopol and the Tula region was repelled overnight, and several drones headed for Moscow were downed.
In the Bryansk region, Ukrainian forces used kamikaze drones to attack a bus in the village of Demyanki, in the Starodubsky district of the municipality, injuring three people. Two civilians were injured in the village of Belaya Berezka. One civilian was injured in a combat drone attack in the village of Pozdnyashovka, in the Sevsky district.
In the direction of Sumy, the Northern Group of Forces is advancing (up to 250 meters) in eighteen locations in the Sumy District and two in the Hlukhiv District. The Ukrainian Armed Forces Command is attempting to halt the advance of Russian troops in the Shostka District by transferring reserves from the rear. Units of the 808th Independent Support Brigade (Engineers) of the Ukrainian Armed Forces have been transferred to the Sumy District. In the Krasnopil’s’kyi District, Russian forces advanced up to 1,200 meters during firefights.
In the Belgorod region, in the village of Nezhegol, a drone attacked a car, wounding two people. In the village of Rakitnoye, a drone strike set a house on fire. During firefighting operations, Ukrainian Armed Forces struck an emergency service crew, wounding five people. Four civilians were injured in attacks on several villages. Numerous villages in the border areas are under constant attack by Ukrainian forces.
In the Kharkiv sector, the Northern Group of Forces continues to fight in the Vovchansk and Velykyi Burluk sectors.
Fighting continues in Kupyansk. South of Kurylivka, assault groups are reportedly moving towards the outskirts of Kivsharivka.
In the Slovyansk sector, fighting is ongoing near Dibrova and Lypivka for access to the outskirts of Rai-Oleksandrivka. Clashes are also reported near Kryva Luka.
In the Kostyantynivka sector, Ukrainian forces are strengthening their positions near Chasiv Yar and counterattacking. Small Russian infantry units continue to advance deep into Kostyantynivka, and intense fighting continues in urban areas.
In the Dnipropetrovsk region, Russian forces are attacking Ukrainian forces’ concentration areas north of the Vovcha River. According to Russian accounts: “The Ukrainian forces have reportedly exhausted their forces and equipment and gone on the defensive, suffering the greatest losses not on the offensive.”
In the eastern Zaporizhia region, in the areas of Boikove, Verkhnya Tersa, Vozdvyzhivka, Novoselivka, and Charivne, assault units of the Russian Vostok Group of Forces continue to carry out offensive operations, penetrating Ukrainian defenses.
On the Zaporizhia front, Ukrainian forces are attacking near Prymors’ke and have also increased their presence in Stepnohirs’k. An attack by Ukrainian forces on the urban settlement of Mykhailivka resulted in one death and the destruction of six buildings. Ukrainian forces attack infrastructure in the region daily.
On the Kherson front, Russian forces are conducting stabilization operations in the Oleshky sector and hunting for Ukrainian signal towers that increase the range of tactical drones.
Graziella Giangiulio
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