Closing summary
That’s all for today. Thank you for following along.
Attacks continued on Russia’s Belgorod oblast, with the Russian ministry defence saying that Russian air defence shot down 15 rockets today. These attacks come after a man and a woman were killed in Belgorod oblast earlier today, and another person was killed by Ukrainian shelling in the Russian city of Grayvoron.
The death toll in the Russian attack on civilian infrastructure in Odesa has risen to 21 people after an emergency worker succumbed to injuries at a hospital. The Russian ballistic missile strike on Odesa was Moscow’s deadliest attack in weeks, wounding more than 75.
Ukrainian drones struck two Rosneft oil refineries in Russia’s Samara region, leaving one facility on fire on Saturday, the region’s governor said. The Volga river region’s Syzran refinery was on fire, Dmitry Azarov said on Telegram. His comments also confirmed an attack on the Novokubyshev refinery. Workers at both plants had been evacuated and there were no casualties, Azarov claimed.
Resistance forces set off an explosion yesterday near a polling station in Russian-occupied Skadovsk in the Kherson oblast, injuring five Russian soldiers, the national resistance centre of Ukraine said. The explosion forced Russian administration in Skadovsk to cancel voting at polling stations and allow it only at places of residence, the centre said.
There have been 11 attempts to set fire to polling stations in Russia, along with 19 cases of ballot boxes being spoiled with greenery and paint, Nexta reports. Russia is proposing eight-year prison sentences for those involved.
Russian shelling killed a 51-year-old man in the Donetsk oblast and injured another, regional governor Vadym Filashkin said. Russians shelled the Donetsk oblast about 11,000 times this week, Filashkin said.
There has been a record growth in the number of Russian men ages 31 to 59 with disabilities, the UK defence ministry said in its daily intelligence briefing. “The increase in the number of men with disabilities was most likely due to the growth in military invalids,” the UK defence ministry said. “This is almost certainly the case. A significant majority of the over 355,000 casualties that the Russian armed forces have suffered as a result of the conflict in Ukraine have been wounded personnel.”
In Kyiv today, the families of Ukrainian prisoners of war gathered in Maidan Square to call for their safe return.
Russian defence ministry: Russian air defence shoots down 15 rockets
Russian air defence shot down 15 rockets over Russia’s Belgorod oblast today, the Russian ministry of defence said.
This is the latest in a series of Ukrainian raids into Russian territory. Over the past day, three people were killed by Ukrainian shelling in the Belgorod oblasts.
Resistance forces set off an explosion yesterday near a polling station in Russian-occupied Skadovsk in the Kherson oblast, injuring five Russian soldiers, the national resistance centre of Ukraine said.
The explosion forced Russian administration in Skadovsk to cancel voting at polling stations and allow it only at places of residence, the centre said.
Russian shelling killed a 51-year-old man in the Donetsk oblast, regional governor Vadym Filashkin said.
Another man was injured in the shelling and taken to the hospital.
Russians shelled the Donetsk oblast about 11,000 times this week, Filashkin said.
Here are some of the latest images of Russia’s presidential election coming in via news agency wires:
Nexta is reporting that there have been 11 attempts to set fire to polling stations in Russia, along with 19 cases of ballot boxes being spoiled with greenery and paint.
Russia is proposing eight-year prison sentences for those involved.
Voting continues through Sunday in the presidential election that is all but certain to extend Vladimir Putin’s 24-year rule. Alexei Navalny’s widow, Yulia, who has blamed Putin for her husband’s death, urged her supporters to protest against Putin by voting en masse at noon local time on Sunday, forming large crowds and overwhelming polling stations. The polling protest has been labelled “Noon Against Putin” and the plan was endorsed by Navalny before he died.
A woman spectacularly set fire to a polling station in Russia's Volgograd region pic.twitter.com/51ogp2ChPB
— NEXTA (@nexta_tv) March 16, 2024
Today so far
The death toll in the Russian attack on civilian infrastructure in Odesa has risen to 21 people after an emergency worker succumbed to injuries at a hospital. The Russian ballistic missile strike on Odesa was Moscow’s deadliest attack in weeks, wounding more than 75.
A man and a woman died in a Ukrainian attack on Russia’s Belgorod oblast and three other people were wounded. The Russian defence ministry said on Saturday that Russia’s air defence systems destroyed two additional Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles over the Belgorod oblast in what is the latest in a series of raids reported in recent days.
Ukrainian drones struck two Rosneft oil refineries in Russia’s Samara region, leaving one facility on fire on Saturday, the region’s governor said. The Volga river region’s Syzran refinery was on fire, Dmitry Azarov said on Telegram. His comments also confirmed an attack on the Novokubyshev refinery. Workers at both plants had been evacuated and there were no casualties, Azarov claimed.
Two men were injured in a Russian unmanned aerial attack on the Kharkiv oblast, regional governor Oleh Syniehubov said. Over the past day, about 20 settlements in the Kharkiv oblast were hit by enemy artillery and mortar attacks.
There has been a record growth in the number of Russian men ages 31 to 59 with disabilities, the UK defence ministry said in its daily intelligence briefing. “The increase in the number of men with disabilities was most likely due to the growth in military invalids,” the UK defence ministry said. “This is almost certainly the case. A significant majority of the over 355,000 casualties that the Russian armed forces have suffered as a result of the conflict in Ukraine have been wounded personnel.”
Voters in Russia headed to the polls across the country’s 11 time zones on Friday in a three-day presidential election that is all but certain to extend Vladimir Putin’s 24-year rule until at least 2030. Putin is running against Communist Nikolai Kharitonov, Leonid Slutsky, leader of the nationalist Liberal Democratic Party, and Vladislav Davankov of the New People party. Two anti-war candidates, Boris Nadezhdin and Yekaterina Duntsova were barred from running by the electoral commission.
Voting is also taking place in the four occupied regions of Ukraine which Russia claims to have annexed despite its forces only partially controlling the territory. Ukraine has said the election there is illegal. Speaking at a meeting of Russia’s security council, Putin accused Ukraine of trying to disrupt the voting process and people in the border regions with “a number of criminal armed actions”. Putin said the attempts to break into Russia did not succeed. He said the acts would not go unpunished.
Two men – ages 48 and 35 – were injured in a Russian unmanned aerial attack on the Kharkiv oblast, regional governor Oleh Syniehubov said.
Over the past day, about 20 settlements in the Kharkiv oblast were hit by enemy artillery and mortar attacks.
The Mariupol Drama theatre acted as the largest civilian shelter as the Russian army laid siege to the city in March 2022. More than 1,000 people were sheltering there when a Russian aircraft dropped two 500kg bombs, killing anywhere from 15 to 600 people.
While the city remains under Russian occupation, the players who survived the strike are taking to the stage in Kyiv to perform in Mariupol Drama, a play based on the memories of four actors who were sheltering inside the theatre.
Read more here:
Russian air defence systems destroyed two Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles over the the Belgorod oblast, the Russian defence ministry said on Saturday – the latest in a series of raids it has reported in recent days.
Earlier, Ukrainian shelling killed two people in the Belgorod oblast.
Record growth in Russian men with disabilities likely due to war injuries
There has been a record growth in the number of Russian men ages 31 to 59 with disabilities, the UK defence ministry said in its daily intelligence briefing.
An analysis by Vorstka of Russian pension and insurance fund data found that in 2022, there were 1.67m Russian men in this age range with disabilities. This number grew by 30% – 507,000 – in 2023.
“The increase in the number of men with disabilities was most likely due to the growth in military invalids,” the UK defence ministry said. “This is almost certainly the case. A significant majority of the over 355,000 casualties that the Russian armed forces have suffered as a result of the conflict in Ukraine have been wounded personnel.”
The UK defence ministry noted that that the average daily number of Russian casualties reached a peak of 983 a day in February 2023 – the highest since the start of the war.
Latest Defence Intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine – 16 March 2024.
— Ministry of Defence 🇬🇧 (@DefenceHQ) March 16, 2024
Find out more about Defence Intelligence's use of language: https://t.co/KmmciaHxmW#StandWithUkraine 🇺🇦 pic.twitter.com/BXkLyLdMl6
Russian forces launched 10 rockets and 68 aviation strikes, carried out 89 shellings and engaged in 78 combat clashes in Ukraine yesterday, general staff of the Ukrainian armed forcessaid in its morning briefing.
About 100 settlements of Chernihiv, Sumy, Kharkiv, Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, Dnipropetrovsk, Kherson and Mykolaiv oblasts came under artillery fire.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian defence forces struck seven areas where Russian personnel were concentrated, and struck down two Shahed attack drones in the Kharkiv oblast.
Death toll in Odesa attack rises to 21
Another state emergency service worker has succumbed to injuries from the Russian ballistic missile attack on Odesa, bringing the total death toll to 21.
The attack on civilian infrastructure was Russia’s deadliest in weeks after Moscow recently increased its strikes on the port city. More than 75 were injured.
"Сьогодні в лікарні від важкого поранення загинув ще один працівник ДСНС України, ще одна жертва вчорашнього російського удару по Одесі", — повідомив Ігор Клименко.
— DSNS.GOV.UA (@SESU_UA) March 16, 2024
Таким чином кількість загиблих від удару по Одесі 15 березня зросла до 21.
"Ще понад 70 осіб отримали поранення" pic.twitter.com/H52kX7Lbhr
More on the Ukrainian attacks on Russia:
A man and a woman died in the attack in Belgorod and three other people were wounded, regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said on Telegram.
Five people were also wounded when a Ukrainian drone hit a car in the village of Glotovo, some 2km (1.25 miles) from the border, Gladkov said.
Also on Saturday, a Ukrainian drone attack caused a fire at an oil refinery belonging to Russian oil giant Rosneft in the Samara region, regional governor Dmitry Azarov said. He said an attack on another refinery was thwarted. No casualties were reported.
The attacks come a day after a Russian assault on the Ukrainian port city of Odesa killed at least 20 people. The ballistic missile attack blasted homes in the southern city on Friday, followed by a second missile that targeted first responders who arrived at the scene, officials said.
Forty people are still in the hospital following the attacks, Odesa regional governor Oleh Kiper said on Saturday.
The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, promised a “just response” to the attack in a video address Friday evening.
Opening Summary
Welcome to our live coverage on Ukraine. It has just gone noon in Kyiv and 1pm in Moscow. Here are the headlines:
Ukrainian shelling of the Russian city of Belgorod, close to the border, killed two people on Saturday, regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said on Telegram.
Ukrainian drones struck two Rosneft oil refineries in Russia’s Samara region, leaving one facility on fire on Saturday, the region’s governor said. The Volga river region’s Syzran refinery was on fire, Dmitry Azarov said on Telegram. His comments also confirmed an attack on the Novokubyshev refinery. Workers at both plants had been evacuated and there were no casualties, Azarov claimed.
A Russian ballistic missile attack hit civilian infrastructure in Ukraine’s Black Sea port city of Odesa on Friday, killing at least 20 people – including rescuers – and wounding more than 75 in Moscow’s deadliest attack in weeks, Ukrainian officials said. Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, called the attack “vile”. A three-storey recreational facility was destroyed in the attack, as well as at least 10 private houses, the southern military command said. Saturday was declared a local day of mourning.
Voters in Russia headed to the polls across the country’s 11 time zones on Friday in a three-day presidential election that is all but certain to extend Vladimir Putin’s 24-year rule until at least 2030. Putin is running against Communist Nikolai Kharitonov, Leonid Slutsky, leader of the nationalist Liberal Democratic Party, and Vladislav Davankov of the New People party. Two anti-war candidates, Boris Nadezhdin and Yekaterina Duntsova were barred from running by the electoral commission.
Voting is also taking place in the four occupied regions of Ukraine which Russia claims to have annexed despite its forces only partially controlling the territory. Ukraine has said the election there is illegal. Speaking at a meeting of Russia’s security council, Putin accused Ukraine of trying to disrupt the voting process and people in the border regions with “a number of criminal armed actions”. Putin said the attempts to break into Russia did not succeed. He said the acts would not go unpunished.
Germany’s chancellor, France’s president and Poland’s prime minister met in Berlin and, in a public briefing, said Europe was united and determined in its support for Ukraine. Olaf Scholz, Emmanuel Macron and Donald Tusk also said they would use frozen Russian assets to purchase more weapons for Ukraine on the world market. The meeting follows tensions between France and Germany over Russia.
One person was killed by Ukrainian shelling in the Russian city of Grayvoron in the Belgorod region, the governor said on Telegram. Earlier, Russia claimed it had thwarted attempts by Ukraine to stage cross-border raids into the territory, but produced no evidence to support this, while a senior Ukrainian intelligence official claimed that Kursk and Belgorod regions were “active combat zones”.
Two people were reported killed and five injured by Russian shelling in northern Ukraine’s Sumy region overnight to Friday, with houses and cars damaged. As well there were missile strikes in the Kharkiv, Poltava and Donetsk regions.
The EU is set to agree sanctions on several people seen as involved in the mistreatment and death of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny in an Arctic penal colony, three diplomats said on Friday.
