First responders carry a colleague wounded by a Russian “double tap” attack on Odesa, Ukraine, March 15, 2024

Friday’s Coverage: Macron — “Ukraine Must Win. There Will Be No Red Lines”

Map: Institute for the Study of War

UPDATE 1633 GMT:

A 51-year-old man has been killed and another man hospitalized by Russian shelling of the Donetsk region.

Governor Vadym Filashkin said Russia has fired about 11,000 shells this week.

UPDATE 1627 GMT:

Russia’s managed Presidential elections have been beset by a series of protests at polling stations, with fires being set and ballots spoiled by ink poured into boxes.

There have been 11 reported incidents of fires and 19 cases of spoiled boxes.

Security forces are detaining those involved with possible prison sentences of up to eight years.

Ukraine’s National Resistance Center said partisans set off an explosion on Friday near a polling station in Russian-occupied Skadovsk in the Kherson region, injuring five Russian soldiers.

The Russian administration had to cancel voting at polling stations in Skadovsk, allowing it only at places of residence.

UPDATE 1057 GMT:

Ukrainians are remembering the second anniversary of the Russian killing of up to 600 civilians sheltering in the Drama Theater in Maripuol in southeast Ukraine.

Despite the large letters “CHILDREN” outside the theater, the Russians carried out an airstrike levelling the building.

President Volodymyr Zelensky posted:

Human rights ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets added:

Women, children, the elderly, pregnant women, newborns, who were evacuated from the maternity hospital, died in the rubble.

The building has now been destroyed in an attempt to conceal the crime. Walls may be destroyed, but memories remain. We will not forget. There will be severe punishment for every war crime.

UPDATE 1046 GMT:

Another first responder has died after Friday’s Russian missile strike on Odesa in southern Ukraine, raising the death toll to 21.

Forty people are still hospitalized. Nine of them are in critical condition.

UPDATE 0700 GMT:

Ukraine’s drone attacks have set another Russian oil refinery on fire.

The governor of the Samara region in southwest Russia said two Rosneft refineries in the area were targeted.

Video on Telegram showed a large fire with emergency services at the scene.

Ukrainian strikes this week have damaged several Russian refineries, including the country’s second- and seventh-largest, affecting more than 12% of production.

ORiGINAL ENTRY: In its latest mass killing of Ukraine’s civilians, Russia has slain more than 20 and wounded more than 73 in a double missile strike on the port city of Odesa.

The Russians fired two Iskander-M missiles in a “double tap” attack just after 11 a.m., hitting medics and rescuers as they dealt with the casualties and fire of the initial strike. Eight first responders are among the dead, alongside former Deputy Mayor Serhii Tetiukhin, and the commander of a police special forces unit.

Ten people suffered serious injuries. A three-story recreational facility was destroyed, and at least 10 private houses, a low-pressure gas pipeline and rescue vehicles damaged.

Russia has persistently attacked civilian areas in Odesa, on the Black Sea, throughout the 24 1/2-month invasion. Having failed to overrun the city in 2022, they have tried but failed to break the port’s continuation of exports necessary to Ukraine’s economic survival.

On March 6, a Russian missile struck about 500 meters from Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis as he visited Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in the city. Five people were killed and several wounded.

Ukraine War, Day 743: Russia’s Missile Kills 5 in Odesa, Close to Zelenskiy and Greek Prime Minister

“Very Heinous Strikes By These Bastards”

In his nightly address to the nation, Zelenskiy spoke of ongoing rescue operations after “a very heinous strike by these bastards”.

He pledged, “Our Defense Forces will certainly make every effort to ensure that the Russian murderers face a just response.”

Presidential Chief of Staff Andriy Yermak added, “The Russian terror of Odesa is a sign of the enemy’s weakness, fighting Ukrainian civilians at a time when it cannot guarantee the safety of people on its own territory.”

Dmytro Lubinets, Ukraine’s human rights ombudsman, posted, “The world should know. The world should not forgive! The terrorist state must be held accountable for its cynical war crimes against Ukrainians.”