WAR IN UKRAINE: March 16, 2023
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS: Day 386
The United States erased sensitive software on the MQ-9 Reaper drone remotely before it crashed into the Black Sea to prevent Russia from collecting secret information, according to two US officials. The steps to wipe the software were taken after the encounter between the drone and two Russian Su-27 fighter jets. The Russian jets dumped jet fuel in front of the US surveillance drone early Tuesday morning, after which one of the Russian jets collided with the drone, damaging its propellor and forcing the US to bring it down in the Black Sea. On Wednesday, Nikolai Patrushev, the secretary of the Russian Security Council, said Russia will try to retrieve wreckage of the drone. “I don’t know if we will be able to get it or not, but we need to do it… And we will definitely look into it,” Patrushev said on Russian state TV Rossiya 1 - CNN
U.S. Defense Secretary Austin spoke by phone Wednesday with Russian Minister of Defense Sergey Shoygu regarding the recent unprofessional, dangerous, and reckless behavior by the Russian air force in international airspace over the Black Sea, per the Pentagon - WSJ
Russian parliament's upper chamber has approved a bill expanding the Kremlin's wartime censorship measures to include punishment for anyone considered to have discredited "volunteer" forces such as so-called private military groups involved in Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Ukraine has invited Florida Governor Ron DeSantis to visit, after the Republican dismissed the Russian invasion as a "territorial dispute". Mr DeSantis is widely expected to run for president in 2024 and made his remarks in response to questions sent to possible Republican contenders. The former congressman said continued US support of Ukraine was not among the country's "vital national interests" - BBC
Russia kept up the intensity of its ceaseless assault on Bakhmut and continued to target civilian objectives, causing casualties, as President Volodymyr Zelenskiy vowed to keep defending the city in the eastern region of Donetsk and inflict maximum losses to the enemy - RFE/RL