WAR IN UKRAINE: March 9, 2023
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS: Day 379
OVERNIGHT RUSSIAN MISSILE ATTACK: Overnight there was a massive Russian missile and drone attack on several Ukrainian cities. Involving some 81 flying objects, it’s being described as the largest missile attack on Ukraine since the start of 2023.
Here in Odesa, missiles hit the energy infrastructure of the region, as well as damaged residential buildings. There are no injured. A second wave of attack is expected - the head of Oblast Military Administration. All electrical public ground transportation has been suspended. Officials said six missiles and one drone was shot down in Odesa oblast.
Rockets also hit Kyiv, Cherkasy, Kharkiv, Zhytomyr, Mykolaiv and Dnipropetrovsk regions - all of which face fresh power outages. In Kyiv, centralized heating and water supply are partially disconnected. Many long haul train services have been impacted.
In Lviv oblast in western Ukraine, five people have died from a strike on a residential area - head of the Lviv Regional Military Administration, Maksym Kozytskyi, said in a video posted on Telegram. He said the attack lasted four hours.
During 7-hours long overnight attack on Kyiv, Russian forces lobbed several kinds of weapons - including drones, cruise missiles and at least one Kinzhal hypersonic air-to-surface missile, which struck critical infrastructure - officials. Forty percent of the capital’s residents are without heating, officials said.
The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which is on Russian occupied land, has been “completely disconnected” from Ukraine’s power grid due to Russian shelling, state energy company Energoatom says. “Currently, the plant is in blackout mode for the 6th time during the occupation, Units 5 and 6 are being put into cold shutdown, and 18 diesel generators have been switched on to power the plant's own needs.” Officials say plant has enough fuel to operate for 10 days
Ukrainian forces continued to hold their ground in Bakhmut, the military said on March 8, despite claims by Russian mercenaries that they are holding the eastern part of the city in the Donetsk region, as the European Union readies plans to supply much-needed ammunition to Ukraine - RFE/RL
Ukraine has again said it was not involved in the sabotaging of the Nord Stream gas pipeline amid media reports that intelligence reviewed by U.S. officials indicates that a pro-Ukrainian group was behind last year's attacks.
European Union countries agreed on March 8 to speed up supplies of artillery roundsand buy more shells to help Ukraine.
“I don’t have to go to Ukraine to understand where there’s a blank check or not” - the flippant response by House Speaker Kevin McCarthy to Volodymyr Zelensky’s invitation to come to Ukraine. By coming here, McCarthy has a golden opportunity to project himself as a statesman, potentially playing a key role in the most consequential conflict in Europe since WWII. That won’t happen by staying cloistered inside the Beltway
The United Nations Secretary General Antonio Gutierrez was in Kyiv yesterday to pave the way for extension of crucial Black Sea Grain Initiative. Signed by Kyiv, Moscow, UN & Turkey it must be renewed by March 18. Moscow poised to block extension unless it gets more of its own ag products to world markets. At same time, Russian inspectors in Istanbul accused of delaying OK for ships to pass. Recently I spotted almost half dozen bulk carriers queued to load grain here in Odesa port - but nowhere near full capacity. About 23 million tons of grains said to have been exported since BCGI came into effect
The Institute for the Study of War tweeted: Russian authorities are reportedly requiring those traveling from occupied #Luhansk Obl. to #Russia to fill out “foreign migration” cards suggesting Russian officials continue to struggle with the full integration of occupied areas of #Ukraine into Russia - VOA