Since March 11, the Russian invasion of Ukraine has continued as more cities become conflict zones and the death toll rises.
The invasion, which began on Feb. 24, has led to widespread devastation across Ukraine. The conflict has created over 3 million refugees, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. While it is difficult to provide coverage of what has happened every day, here are some of the most important events of the past week in Ukraine.
March 13
Among the civilian deaths, estimated by the United Nations to near 1,000 as of March 19, is Brent Renaud, an American journalist shot by Russian troops on March 13.
“The details of Renaud’s death were not made immediately clear by Ukrainian authorities, but American journalist Juan Arredondo said the two were traveling in a vehicle toward the Irpin checkpoint when they were both shot,” said the Associated Press. “Arredondo, speaking from a hospital in Kyiv, told Italian journalist Annalisa Camilli that Renaud was hit in the neck. Camilli told the AP that Arredondo himself had been hit in the lower back.”
Renaud’s death has led to journalistic groups condemning the attack. Renaud was honored in an official statement by Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson.
“My heart is heavy at the passing of American journalist and Little Rock native Brent Renaud,” Hutchinson wrote on Twitter. “An award-winning filmmaker and journalist, Brent made great contributions to the culture and arts of Arkansas.”
March 15
US defense analysts have begun to provide new estimates for lost Russian equipment during the war, clarified by an article from Forbes.
“Oryx, an outstanding open source intelligence site run by analyst Stijn Mitzer, painstakingly documents every confirmed photograph of a Russian loss,” said Forbes. “The count stood at 204 tanks and 406 other armored vehicles for a total of 610 lost as of Monday.”
Most of these losses of armored vehicles are from anti-air Javelin missiles that have been repurposed against Russian tanks. Oryx estimated the javelins fired have had a 93% accuracy rate.
“Again this may be optimistic but it is an indication of just how effective these weapons are (and Russian ‘cope cage’ add-on armor does nothing to stop them),” Forbes said.
March 16
On March 16, the Donetsk Academic Regional Drama Theatre, located in besieged Mariupol, was bombed by the Russian military. Estimates between news sources, including CNN and NPR, place the number of people taking shelter in the theater to be between 600 and 1500.
“CNN has geolocated the image and confirmed it is of the theater in the southeastern port city. The word “children” was spelled out on two sides of the theater before it was bombed, according to satellite images.” says CNN.
As of publishing, the search for survivors continues and no deaths have been confirmed.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy also gave a speech to Congress on March 16, according to C-Span.
“Right now, the destiny of our country is being decided, the destiny of our people, whether Ukrainians will be free, whether they will be able to preserve their democracy. Russia did not just attack us, our cities, it went on a brutal offensive against our values, base human values, against our right to live freely in our own country, against our right to live our own future,” Zelenskyy said in his address to Congress.
President Zelenskyy appealed again to the United States, asking for further aid in military equipment and a no-fly zone over Ukrainian airspace.
March 20
On March 20, Russian military leader, Andrey Paliy, was confirmed to be killed in the city of Mariupol, according to the Telegraph.
Paliy’s death was initially declared by Ukrainian media on March 19, but was only confirmed by outside sources on the 20th.
“Andrey Paliy, the deputy commander of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, is the sixth top military figure to die during the invasion of Ukraine, after he was killed in battle around Mariupol,” said the Telegraph. “His death was confirmed in a post on the social media site VKontakte by Konstantin Tsarenko, a former colleague at the Naval School in Sevastopol.”
