WAR IN UKRAINE: March 25, 2023
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS: Day 395
Russia overnight Thursday/Friday attacked Ukraine with guided missiles and kamikaze drones from the north, the Ukrainian Armed Forces reported. Ten Su-35 fighter jets launched 12 missiles over the Sumy region. Two were killed, 1 injured. Sumy and Kryvyi Rih were also attacked by "Shahed" type drones. One dead, 4 injured from shelling in Kherson region - Suspilne
Ukrainian children who have been returned from Russian camps in occupied Crimea report being beaten with “iron sticks,” threatened with deportation to mainland Russia, forced to sing the Russian national anthem and locked in basements in unsanitary conditions. The children - all from Kherson region - were held for 6 months, reports The Insider. The Children of War state site reports the disappearance of 16,000+ Ukrainian children since the start of Russia’s full scale invasion. Last week the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin and another senior official for the forced deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia.
Ukraine’s ambassador to the U.S., Oksana Markarova, dropped by House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s office suite Thursday as Republicans have grown increasingly divided on sending more aid to the country to combat the Russian invasion. NBC News spotted Markarova entering the speaker's office Thursday evening, where she stayed for about 45 minutes before departing with House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Mike McCaul. “We have very strong bipartisan support and there are so many Republicans, the majority who supports us, so very strong bipartisan support, and we really appreciate it,” Markarova said as she left. McCaul, who is chairing a hearing titled “Oversight, Transparency, and Accountability of Ukraine Assistance” next Wednesday, took selfies with Markarova and walked with her down the hall as they both left McCarthy’s suite - NBC
The World Bank has increased its estimate of how much Ukraine will need for its recovery and reconstruction to at least $411 billion, based on damages inflicted during the first year of Russia’s invasion. The new figure, from a joint assessment by the bank, the government of Ukraine, the European Commission and the United Nations, is equivalent to 2.6 times Ukraine’s projected 2022 gross domestic product. The assessment also found that the invasion pushed 7.1 million people into poverty and reversed 15 years of development progress. “This is a sobering figure, and it shows the extent of the destruction and the continued need for international support,” said Anna Bjerde, the World Bank’s vice president for Europe and Central Asia - Bloomberg
Estonia has expelled a diplomatic member of the Russian Embassy who has violated the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations by directly and actively undermining Estonia’s security and spread propaganda, the MFA announced