Kyiv Attacked, ‘People Continue to Suffer and Die’ – War in Ukraine Update for March 21

• Update: At least 5 civilians killed in Russian aerial attack on Kharkiv printing house; Kyiv also attacked, 10 people injured, two of them have been hospitalized, says Mayor Klitschko.
• Russia likely to take advantage of Ukrainian weapons shortage this Spring, Summer
• Czechia’s munitions for Ukraine to start delivery in June
• Two pro-Kyiv Russian military units call on Belgorod governor to evacuate civilians

Kyiv attacked

At least 10 people were injured in this morning’s Russian missile attack on Kyiv; two of them have been hospitalized, says Mayor Vitali Klitschko.

Sirens blared in the early morning hours Thursday, followed by explosions, as the capital came under ballistic missile attack. Kyiv Post journalists in and around the city heard responding air defenses and multiple airborne blasts before sunrise.

The story is still unfolding. Kyiv Post will publish updated information as it becomes available. 

Death toll in Kharkiv climbs to five

The number of civilian victims killed from a Russian airborne attack on a Kharkiv printing house has grown to five people, city manager Ihor Terekhov said later in the evening on Wednesday.

The eight-story building was struck at around 1 p.m. in the day and the ensuing fire engulfed 1,000 square meters of space, he added.

Russia regularly employs unmanned aerial attack vehicles, multiple-launch rocket systems, and hypersonic and ballistic missiles on Ukrainian civilian targets, especially in the border regions of Sumy, Kharkiv, Donetsk and Luhansk.

Despite an abundance of visual evidence, Moscow still denies using its weapons to target civilian areas.

Earlier in the day, Kyiv Post had reported that three civilians were killed in the bombardment and that five were injured. Before the full-scale invasion of 2022, Kharkiv had printed approximately 85 percent of all books published in the country.

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War analysts expect Russia to step up attacks as Ukrainian ammo supply dwindles

Washington-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW) says that Russia “will likely continue ongoing efforts” to incrementally take over more territory in its ongoing war against Ukraine which is already entering its 11th year.

Given Kyiv’s shortage of Western weaponry that is outmatched by Russian artillery and also munitions procured by the Kremlin from Iran and North Korea, “the provision of Western security assistance will likely play a critical role in Ukraine’s ability to hold territory now and to repel a new Russian offensive effort in the coming months.”

Russia’s military efforts are currently focused on advancing past the Donetsk regional industrial town of Avdiivka, ISW cited Ukrainian military commander-in-chief Col.-Gen. Oleksandr Syrsky as saying.

“Although Ukrainian forces have recently been able to slow Russian advances west of Avdiivka, pervasive materiel shortages caused by delays in Western security assistance appear to be forcing Ukraine to prioritize limited resources to critical sectors of the front, increasing the risk of a Russian breakthrough in other less-well-provisioned sectors and making the frontline overall more fragile than it appears despite the current relatively slow rate of Russian advances,” the ISW’s daily war assessment said.

Prague optimistic it will begin ammunition delivery in a few months

Ukraine will receive the first batch of artillery shells to replenish its dwindling supplies in June based on the Czechia’s initiative, the European Union and NATO-member country’s defense minister announced on Wednesday.

Kyiv expects close to 180,000 rounds of artillery shells by the end of the year based on Czechia’s multi-country initiative to which 15 nations have joined. In June, the first installment of 155mm and 122mm shells should arrive.

“If the initiative manages to deliver ammunition by June, it will significantly and timely help the Ukrainian army. The Ukrainian military needs ammunition in large quantities. We have found the resources, but we need even more promised money,” Czech Defense Minister Jana Cernochova said in the statement.

Amid a fourth consecutive day of incursions into Russian territory, two anti-Kremlin Russian militia groups have called on Belgorod Gov. Vyacheslav Gladkov to “immediately evacuate people from the entire region.”

The Free Russia legion, together with a Siberian paramilitary unit, issued a statement on the former unit’s social media Telegram channel stating that their “strikes’ military targets are intensifying, the shelling of the region has not actually stopped, and people continue to suffer and die.”

Anti-Putin forces in Russia’s border regions escalate attacks, push for civilian evacuations

Fighting intensified over the past weekend during the March 15-17 sham Russian presidential election that Vladimir Putin claimed to have won without free and fair opposition.

Three anti-Putin Russian military units fighting for Ukraine under the purview of the Defense Intelligence agency launched attacks into the neighboring Kursk and Belogorod regions over that time. Little visual evidence has been seen via social media platforms and both Russia and the pro-Kyiv groups provide conflicting information.

Kyiv Post earlier on Wednesday reported that roadblocks were erected in Belgorod region and that entry would be limited in seven population centers.

“The procedure for visiting one’s residential buildings will be determined,” Gladkov said. “We will ensure safe passage to the location of the building and back when there is no shelling.”