Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 1,127

As of Thursday, March 27, 2018, here is a roundup of significant events.

Fighting

• Emergency services and Ukrainian officials claim that nine people were hurt and severely damaged when Russian forces launched a massive drone attack on Kharkiv, the second-largest city in Ukraine.
• According to regional governor Serhiy Lysak, a Russian drone attack also sparked fires in Dnipro, which is located in the city center. There were no immediate reports of injuries.
• Following an attack by Russian drones, the mayor of Mykolaiv, in southern Ukraine, reported early on Wednesday that there were power outages in the city.
• According to the Ukrainian military, 56 of the 117 drones launched by Russia were shot down by Ukrainian air defense units.
• Twelve members of Ukraine’s Azov regiment, which led the defense of Mariupol in the early stages of the conflict, were given lengthy prison sentences by a Russian military court. The defendants received sentences of between 13 and 23 years in prison for alleged terrorist acts and for violently seizing or retaining power.
• A landmine allegedly laid by the Ukrainian military in the Belgorod region of Russia allegedly caused the death of Russian state TV journalist Anna Prokofieva and seriously injured her cameraman Dmitry Volkov.

 Ceasefire

After Washington announced separate agreements on Tuesday to halt strikes in the Black Sea and against energy targets, Ukraine and Russia both accused one another of breaking a truce on attacks against energy facilities that were brokered by the US.
• Ihor Zhovkva, a senior official in the Ukrainian presidential system, claimed that Russia has attacked at least eight Ukrainian energy facilities since March 18 despite Moscow’s claim that it has stopped them.
• According to Dmitry Peskov, a spokesman for the Kremlin, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s request for a moratorium on attacking Ukraine’s energy infrastructure is being carried out by the country’s armed forces.
• The Ukrainian military refuted Russian claims that it attacked energy facilities in the Russian-occupied Crimea and the Kursk and Bryansk regions.
• Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the president of Ukraine, claimed that the US had informed Kyiv that the truce agreements with Russia were effective right away. The Black Sea ceasefire agreement, according to the Kremlin, wouldn’t become effective until a sanctioned Russian state bank was reconnected to Swift, an international payment system. Leaders in Europe predicted that this wouldn’t occur until Russia reneged from Ukraine.
• In Paris, President Zelenskyy expressed his hope for an unconditional ceasefire from Moscow following his meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron ahead of a summit in Paris to discuss Ukraine.

I want to highlight France’s efforts to protect us from Russian airstrikes. Your “Mirages,” which are French combat aircraft, have performed very well in particular. They have already joined our air defense system and are assisting us, which is particularly grateful of me. twitter.com/ccHbSvWTKM

• Moscow and the US are still in close communication, according to the Kremlin, and it is pleased with how things have turned out for Washington. We are pleased with the results our dialogue is getting, spokesman for the Kremlin Peskov said, “we are satisfied with how pragmatically and constructively our dialogue is proceeding.”
• According to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the US will evaluate demands made by Russia after it “in principle” agreed to a US-brokered ceasefire with Ukraine in the Black Sea to allow safe navigation.
• Rubio promised to “present that” to US President Donald Trump in order to determine the outcome of the meeting by “more fully understanding what the Russian position is, or what they’re asking in exchange.”
• Trump acknowledged that Moscow may be “dragging its feet” despite saying in an interview that he believed Russia wanted to end its conflict with Ukraine.
• The UN atomic watchdog’s Rafael Grossi predicted that the Ukrainian nuclear power plant, which is controlled by Russia, could return to operation in the first few months of a ceasefire. However, it would take more than a year to restart all six reactors. Following what it claimed were reports of a significant diesel spillage, Ukraine has accused Moscow of being incapable of managing safety at the plant. The reports have been labeled as “fake” by Russia.
• German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock welcomed the US’s mediation efforts but warned against being misled by President Putin, claiming genuine dialogue cannot occur when ceasefires are constantly tied to new demands and concessions.
• According to UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric, a free of charge agreement to protect civilian vessels and port infrastructure “will be a crucial contribution to global food security and supply chains.”

military assistance

• As he accused Russia of reinterpreting and rewriting recent limited ceasefire agreements, President Macron announced that France would provide some $2.15 billion in additional military aid to Ukraine.
• In light of rising tensions over the transatlantic alliance’s future and divergent opinions on Russia, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte warned the US and Europe against any temptation to “go it alone” in terms of security. After it became known that a journalist was a participant in a group Signal chat facilitated by national security aides, Rutte added that Europe could still have faith in the US government.
• Rutte warned that a “total lack of confidence” will prevent normalizing relations with Russia even after the Ukrainian war has ended, stating that it will take decades.
• Unnamed European officials told the Reuters news agency that as a result of their political and logistical constraints and the possibility that Russia and the US would oppose their plans, that European efforts to create security arrangements for Ukraine are shifting from sending troops to other options.

Economics

• President Trump will not hesitate to impose sanctions on Russia as needed, according to US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who informed Fox News that Ukraine may sign an economic deal the following week.
• Following a contentious Oval Office meeting between US and Ukrainian leaders last month, Kyiv and Washington have “back on track,” according to Andriy Yermak, the president’s chief of staff.
• Ariston Holding, an Italian company that heats water in Italy, reported that Ariston Holding had regained control of its Russian unit after President Putin revoked his previous-year order to seize it in response to Western sanctions.