Firefighters try to extinguish a blaze after Russian missile attacks on Kyiv, Ukraine, March 21, 2024

Ukraine War, Day 756: EU — Profits From Frozen Russian Assets May Aid Ukraine’s Military

Map: Institute for the Study of War

UPDATE 1604 GMT:

A Moscow military court has sentenced poet Alexander Byvshev to seven years in prison on charges of “calls for terrorism” and “dissemination of fake news” about the Russian military.

Byvshev’s “crime” was an anti-war poem “To Russian Officers or a Rhetorical Question”. It begins, “Rockets are hitting Ukraine”, and end an appeal to the military for a “Russian Stauffenberg”.

Gen. Claus von Stauffenberg led a failed assassination attempt to kill Adolf Hitler in July 194, setting off a bomb in Hitler’s military headquarters “Wolf’s Lair” in Poland.

UPDATE 1540 GMT:

During a visit to Kyiv, Estonia’s Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur has announced a €20m military aid package.

The assistance includes 155 mm artillery rounds, where Russia has a 7:1 advantage over Ukraine. It also contains recoilless anti-tank guns, explosives, artillery ammunition, gas masks, sniper equipment, and small-caliber ammunition.

UPDATE 1521 GMT:

In the wake of Russia’s missile attacks on Kyiv this morning, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has urged US legislators to overcome the blockade by Trumpists and hard-right Republicans of $60.1 billion in aid to Ukraine.

The latest Russian strike has killed one civilian and injured four — three women and a man — in the Mykolaiv region in southern Ukraine.

UPDATE 0900 GMT:

Canada has committed another C$2 billion ($1.5 billion) to finance Ukraine’s budget deficit and ensure social assistance.

Ukraine Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal posted:

Canada has allocated almost C$7 billion ($5.19 billion) in financial aid to Ukraine during Russia’s 25-month invasion.

This month Ottawa has also pledged almost $30 million to the Czech Republic’s initiative procuring artillery shells and joined the drone coalition led by Latvia and the UK, promising more than 800 SkyRanger R70 multi-mission drones.

UPDATE 0857 GMT:

Two civilians were kiiled and two injured in Russian shelling of the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine on Wednesday.

The victims were in the village of Maksymivka.

UPDATE 0837 GMT:

On the eve of Thursday’s summit of European Union leaders, European Council President Charles Michel wrote to them:

Now that we are facing the biggest security threat since the second world war, it is high time we take radical and concrete steps to be defense-ready and put the EU’s economy on a war footing.

Michel said Europeans “face a pivotal moment”. The priority is “the swift provision of military aid to Ukraine”, expanding a Czech Republic initiative procuring 300,000 artillery shells on foreign markets in three weeks.

Michel met Ukraine Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal on Wednesday, as the EU announced the disbursement of the first €4.5 billion ($4.91 billion) of support under its Ukraine Facility.

The EU leaders will consider the use of profits from frozen Russian assets, estimated at €3 billion ($3.27 billion) per year, for military aid to Kyiv. The plan, approved by the EU Executive this week, requires the support of all 27 member states.

ORIGINAL ENTRY: In its latest aerial attacks, Russia has targeted Ukraine’s capital Kyiv and killed at least five people in its second city Kharkiv.

All 31 Russian missiles — 29 cruise and 2 ballistic — aimed at Kyiv were intercepted over almost three hours early Thursday morning. However, fragments fell on a kindergarten, and an apartment building and cars were set on fire as people were evacuated from the area.

Thirteen people were injured, including an 11-year-old girl.

The missiles were the first fired in 44 days on Kyiv, whose air defenses have prevented almost all from reaching targets.

Kharkiv, in northeast Ukraine near the Russian border, was attacked about 11 p.m. on Wednesday. In addition to the five fatalities, eight people were injured and others are missing amid a large fire at a printing house.

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy emphasized, “Kharkiv needs an adequate number of air defence systems, Sumy region needs it, Chernihiv region and all our regions suffering from Russian terror need it.”

Zelenskiy, who hosted US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan on Wednesday, added:

We must be resilient to all types of challenges, and our actions must be far-reaching. We must defeat Putin rather than allowing doubts about the West’s resolve to benefit this insane man.

Putin must lose. This is a life or death situation for the democratic world. When he loses, the democratic world will gain a positive perspective for generations to come.