Ukraine Breaking News Today Live on 03-24-2024

Latest from the British Defence Intelligence.

• On 18 March 2024, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the construction of a railway line from Rostov-on-Don in southern Russia through the Russian temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine to Crimea. According to Putin, the new line will ultimately reach Sevastopol in southern Crimea and provide redundancy for the Kerch bridge. Although Putin claimed the first completed section restores access to Berdyansk, the pre-existing rail connection used to complete this journey passes through territory vulnerable to interdiction by Ukrainian long-range precision strike systems.

• The new railway line, south of Donetsk, between Kolosky and Kamianka, is nearly 60km in length and took eight months to build. It is almost certainly one of the largest infrastructure projects Russia has carried out in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine and re-establishes the rail connection denied by the fighting outside of Donetsk.

One of the suspects in the attack was pursued by presumably armed Russian law enforcement agents, who beat the suspect, cut off one of his ears and attempted to force him to eat it.

While arresting one of the suspects of the Moscow concert hall attack, those presumed to be armed Russian law enforcement agents were seen beating the suspect, cutting off his ear and attempting to force him to eat his own ear in a series of videos circulating on social media.

Viewers might find some videos disturbing, and a word of caution is advised.

The recent success of the pro-Western candidate Ivan Korcok in Slovakia might stop its "orbanisation" and bring it back closer to Ukraine's aid, says political analyst.

Slovakia's recent shift towards Russia has hit a hurdle, analysts said Sunday, after the pro-West former foreign minister Ivan Korcok topped the first round of the presidential election.

Korcok garnered 42.5 percent of the vote on Saturday, beating parliament speaker Peter Pellegrini with 37 percent, final results showed.

A Hungarian outlet, citing confirmation from officials and security experts, said there are around 100 Russian spies working under diplomatic cover in Austria who also spy on other nations.

VSquare, a Hungarian news outlet, said approximately 100 out of 252 Russian spies in Austria are spying under diplomatic cover who also operate in neighboring nations, with potentially many more under civilian covers, citing an unnamed “intelligence chief of a Central European country” who reportedly shared the intelligence in a closed-door meeting with other officials.

The reporter said the information was confirmed to him “by multiple government officials and security experts,” where one of them said the agents were “obviously not operating only in Austria,” adding that agents also work under other covers.

The president of Tajikstan, a Muslim-majority nation and former Soviet republic in Central Asia, has condemned the Moscow terrorist attack and rebuffed claims that its citizen were behind.

The president of Tajikistan on Sunday condemned the Moscow concert hall attack in a call with Russian leader Vladimir Putin, amid allegations the gunmen were Tajik citizens.

Russian media, including Telegram channels with links to the security services, and a lawmaker have alleged that the four suspected assailants were Tajiks.

Across Ukraine theaters that were once places of joy and entertainment have become memorials to one of the largest tragedies experienced during Russia’s war on Kyiv.

In many Ukrainian cities, people gaze sadly at almost every theater, in front of which the word “Children” is written in large letters often with candles burning next to the inscription.

Two years ago, on March 16, a Russian bomber attacked the Donetsk Academic Regional Drama Theater in Mariupol in which hundreds of citizens, including children, were sheltering. On the asphalt outside, the word “children” was written in huge letters, especially intended to alert Russian pilots of their presence. But it did not prevent the destruction of the theater and the murder of the innocent people inside.

The world in focus, as seen by a Canadian leading global affairs analyst, writer and speaker, in his review of international media.

The Russian authorities said Saturday that they had arrested the four people who carried out a mass killing and arson at a suburban Moscow concert venue, which left at least 133 people dead in one of the worst terrorist attacks to jolt Russia in decades. The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the brutal attack late Friday, raising fears of a global resurgence by the extremist group. U.S. officials said they believed the atrocity was the work of a branch of the terrorist group known as the Islamic State in Khorasan, or ISIS-K, which has been active in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran. ISIS-K previously attacked Russia’s embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan, and has produced floods of anti-Kremlin propaganda. But President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, who gave his first public remarks on the tragedy more than 19 hours after the attack, made no mention of ISIS. He instead accused individuals in Ukraine of preparing a border crossing for the four attackers, who the authorities said were all foreign citizens and had been apprehended in Russia’s Bryansk region, which borders Ukraine. Kyiv has denied any involvement in the attack, saying that suggestions to the contrary were an attempt to rally support for the Kremlin’s war in Ukraine - NYT

The White House on Saturday issued a new statement reiterating the Islamic State’s responsibility for Friday’s attack, reacting to Russian comments blaming Ukraine. “ISIS bears sole responsibility for this attack,” said Adrienne Watson, a National Security Council spokeswoman. “There was no Ukrainian involvement whatsoever.” The new statement represented the latest intelligence assessment by the United States, and it signaled American intelligence agencies are confident that Ukraine had nothing to do with the attack - NYT

Images that have appeared on social media following Ukraine’s recent successful attacks on Russian oil refineries suggest it’s not just the new generation of drones that do the business.

Forbes reported that March 16 posts on social media showed the wreckage of a Tupolev Tu-143 unmanned reconnaissance drone that was shot down near Bryansk, Russia, at around the same time as other drones had struck oil refineries in the Samara and Krasnodar regions.

Forbes drew the conclusion that a lack of ammunition had forced Kyiv to drag yet more old Soviet weaponry from storage to attack Russian targets. The Russian state news agency TASS also reported that Moscow’s air defenses had shot down two similarly aged Tu-141 drones in the Bryansk region on Sunday, March 17.

War update covering the last 24 hours.

Ukraine claimed Sunday to have hit two Russian military ships stationed at the annexed peninsula of Crimea in overnight strikes, as it suffered another night of "massive" Russian aerial attacks.

Ukraine's ally and neighbor Poland said a Russian cruise missile headed for western Ukraine breached its airspace overnight, after it had put its armed forces on high alert amid intense Russian aviation activity.

The future of the US is being decided in Ukraine.

It may seem hyperbole to suggest that the fate of Ukraine will determine the fate of the US, at least in terms of its position as a world power. It seems inconceivable to those with their hands on the levers of decision-making in Congress that Ukraine – a financially, militarily and geographically smaller nation than the US – might quietly hold sway over the future of the US.

But that is the situation we are in. The reason for this is not some secret form of potency that Ukraine has over the US. It lies in the domain of soft power.

Following Ukraine’s attack on occupied Crimea last night, there are now reports that an oil depot is on fire in occupied Simferopol, but the exact circumstances remain unclear.

Following Ukraine’s attack on occupied Sevastopol last night that might have struck the Black Sea Fleet (BSF) communications center, locals later reported a fire at an oil depot in occupied Simferopol.

Reports remained scarce at the time of publication, but locals have shared videos on social media of the alleged fire where a thick cloud of black smoke is visible.

The Polish Army said a Russian missile breached Polish airspace for close to 40 seconds during last night's missile strike on Ukraine, and it had scrambled F-16 fighter jets in response.

A Russian cruise missile fired at towns in western Ukraine breached Polish airspace, Poland's army said Sunday.

For about 40 seconds, "Polish airspace was breached by one of the cruise missiles fired in the night by the air forces... of the Russian Federation," the army wrote on social media platform X.

Serhiy Kolyada on the impact of the Free Russia forces (RDK) striking into Russia.

US Congress averts government shutdown but support for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan further delayed.

US President Joe Biden on Saturday (March 23) signed into law a $1.2 trillion spending package, keeping the US government funded through a fiscal year that began six months ago.

Biden described the package, which Congress overwhelmingly passed in the early hours of Saturday, as investing in Americans as well as strengthening the economy and national security. The Democratic president urged Congress to pass other bills stuck in the legislative chambers.

After reports of explosions in occupied Sevastopol surfaced late Saturday, an OSINT expert said the targeted area is likely a communications center as the site was “festooned with SATCOM antennas.”

Following reports of multiple explosions in occupied Sevastopol on Saturday evening, an open-source intelligence (OSINT) group said the area being struck likely housed the Black Sea Fleet (BSF) communications center.

At around 10:00 p.m., reports of multiple explosions in occupied Crimea began surfacing on social media, where Ukrainian news outlet Suspilne said there were at least 10 explosions, citing locals.

Insularity among Russian newcomers is jarring with locals and forcing tourism-dependent economies across the developing world to revisit their open-door policy towards those fleeing Putin’s tyranny.

Three weeks ago, Sri Lanka abruptly pulled the plug on gratis visa extensions that Russian visitors had been exploiting to overstay their welcome in the small island nation ever since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine began.

Interestingly, this move coincided with a distasteful “whites only” party that was set to take place at an upscale Russian-run restaurant called Sarayka Lounge in the southern resort town of Unawatuna. Despite ultimately cancelling the event amid fierce public backlash, its organizers only made matters worse by attempting to absolve themselves of any willful bigotry or prejudice vis-à-vis native inhabitants.

Islamic State has published a video of the Moscow concert hall attack after claiming responsibility, where multiple gunmen were seen brandishing rifles before firing on concertgoers.

A video apparently shot by gunmen who carried out the deadly attack on a Moscow concert hall has been posted on social media accounts typically used by the jihadist group Islamic State (IS), according to the SITE Intelligence Group.

The video, which lasts a minute and a half, shows several individuals with blurred faces and garbled voices, armed with assault rifles and knives.

Approximately five Russian servicemen were estimated to have been lost in the artillery strike.

Ukrainian troops destroyed a building housing Russian aerial reconnaissance scouts in the Kherson region, as reported by the Special Operations Forces (SSO) on Telegram.

Ukraine needs as much outside help as it can get to build back after Russia’s attempt to destroy it. Denmark is helping pave the way and showing others how it might be done efficiently.

The reconstruction plan for the city of Mykolaiv, Ukraine’s ninth largest, could become an anti-corruption model for all other Ukrainian cities as the Municipality of Mykolaiv partners with the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) and Denmark.

Taras Byk, board member of the Agency for Recovery and Development, and foreign businessmen from Odesa discussed rebuilding Mykolaiv at a meeting on March 14.

Preliminary data shows that multiple regions experienced heating disruptions and blackouts as a result of the Russian attack on Sunday morning, with dozens of drones and missiles reportedly shot down.

Multiple cities in Ukraine have reported heating disruptions and power outages as a result of the Russian air strikes that took place in the early hours of Sunday, March 24.

Today’s strike is the latest in a series of intense Russian air strikes that resumed on Thursday after weeks of pause, following another strike on Friday against energy infrastructure that was the largest of its kind to date.