Yuliia Taradiuk

This weekly update from the Kyiv Independent aims to shed light on the situation facing Ukrainians living under Russian occupation and the tight control of information imposed by the Kremlin. Key news as of March 14: * Utility shutoffs in occupied Mariupol used to facilitate property confiscation, Ukraine says * Russia tightens abortion restrictions in Ukraine's occupied territories * Russia makes obtaining Russian citizenship in occupied territories indefinite, signaling consolidation * P

"They thought the occupation would hide their faces, but they were wrong," Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko said.

The bus was struck with a Lancet drone.

The Security Service of Ukraine said it detained a serviceman recruited by Russian intelligence to help organize strikes targeting 3rd Army Corps commander Andrii Biletskyi and his unit's positions.

Russian-controlled authorities in occupied Ukraine are increasing restrictions on women's reproductive rights, effectively preventing them from accessing abortions, according to the NGO East Human Rights Group. "The (Russian) regime needs children to be born, even if the child is unwanted, without proper conditions to grow up in," Vera Iastrebova, the head of the East Human Rights Group, told the Kyiv Independent. "These children are then being raised to become future soldiers, as evidenced by

Ukrainian forces struck oil and fuel depots, Buk air defense system and other military targets in Russian-occupied territories on March 10-11, Ukraine's Armed Forces General Staff and Special Operations Forces (SOF) said.

Ukraine says Russian occupation authorities in Mariupol are cutting off utilities to apartments as part of a process to identify and seize homes.

The March 4 decree removes the deadline for residents of occupied Ukrainian territories to obtain Russian citizenship through a simplified process established by a 2022 Russian law, effectively making the policy permanent.

YAHIDNE, CHERNIHIV OBLAST – The unkept school stands still, surrounded by pine and birch trees covered with melting snow. Shattered windows remain, and the voices emanating from the audioguide bear witness to the torment of the ordeal inflicted upon the villagers by Russian occupation. Russian troops captured Yahidne village in northern Chernihiv Oblast on March 3, 2022. All the civilians who could not escape the village in time were trapped — Russian soldiers forced all, from infants to the e

Russia's regular army has grown to 2,391,770 personnel. Of these, 1,502,640 will serve as active-duty troops — 2,640 more than before, according to the March 4 decree.

"There are no 'protected areas' for Russian military facilities," a source in the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) told the Kyiv Independent.

Russian drone hit two passenger trains in just one day.

Russia launched 149 drones at Ukraine overnight, the Air Force said, reporting that Ukrainian air defenses intercepted 129.

A Russian-flagged liquified natural gas (LNG) tanker, the Arctic Metagaz, has reportedly caught fire in the Mediterranean Sea, multiple media outlets reported on March 3.

Zelensky said Ukraine has seen no signs of a PAC-3 interceptor shortage so far, but warned that a prolonged Middle East war and intense fighting could strain air defense supplies.