Russian military shells Sumy region, kills 1 civilian

Russia is extensively militarizing Ukrainian children and youth in the occupied territories to "raise future soldiers" and involve them in the fight against their own people, Taya Avram, a lawyer within the Donbas SOS NGO, told the Kyiv Independent on March 20.

Russia’s takeover of Crimea did not begin in 2014. In the second part of "Crimea: The War Before the War," the Kyiv Independent’s War Crimes Investigations Unit examines how Moscow moved from early pressure to direct attempts to seize Ukrainian territory.

The proceeds from director Chloe Zhao's fundraiser will benefit Animal Rescue Kharkiv, a nonprofit organization (NGO).

"The war involving Iran will not deflect France from its support for Ukraine, where Russia’s war of aggression continues unabated," French President Emmanuel Macron said on March 20.

Yaroslav Lysenko allegedly ordered at least seven service members to leave their units beginning in September 2024 and assigned them to renovation and construction work, according to the State Investigation Bureau (DBR).

Filaret Denysenko co-founded the unrecognized Kyiv Patriarchate in 1992 and was the patriarch of Ukraine from 1995 to 2018.

Russian forces launched 156 drones against Ukraine overnight, of which over 90 were Shahed-type, the Air Force said, reporting that Ukrainian air defenses intercepted 133.

The number includes 1,610 casualties that Russian forces suffered over the past day.

Russia is considering escorting its shadow fleet vessels with naval warships, a senior Kremlin aide said March 19, amid increased Western scrutiny of Moscow's clandestine network of ships used to bypass sanctions.

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico said Slovakia may take further measures against Ukraine after a halt in Russian oil supplies, which he said has triggered a “state of emergency” in the country’s oil sector.

The unnamed project, lacking a defined team or political platform, seeks to offer an alternative to the Kremlin at a time when Russia's opposition operates largely from abroad and remains fractured, with its ability to influence domestic politics remaining low.

President Volodymyr Zelensky said on March 19 that a Ukrainian negotiating team is heading to the United States for a meeting scheduled for Saturday, as efforts continue to revive stalled peace talks.