Ukraine war latest: Ukraine destroys Russian Buk air defenses in flurry of strikes, military says
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Key developments on March 21-22:
- Ukraine destroys Russian Buk air defenses in flurry of strikes, military says, shows footage
- Ukraine launches nearly 300 drones against Russia overnight, hits oil depot, command post of elite Rubikon drone unit
- Ukrainian delegation meets Witkoff, Kushner in Miami, plan to continue talks on March 22
- Russian attacks kill 6, injure 29 in Ukraine over past day, first responders targeted in double-tap strike
Ukrainian drones struck two Buk air defense systems in Russia's Bryansk Oblast on March 22, amid a broader wave of strikes on additional air defense and military targets, the Ukrainian military said.
A Buk-M3 surface-to-air missile system and a transporter-loader vehicle of a Buk-M2 system were destroyed, said Robert Brovdi, known as "Madyar," commander of Ukraine's Unmanned Systems Forces.
The commander shared a video purportedly showing footage of the drone attack. The Buk systems were struck by drone operators from the 413th Raid Unmanned Systems Regiment, Brovdi noted.
Operators from the 1st Separate Center of the Unmanned Systems Forces also destroyed a radar of the advanced S-400 Triumf air defense system in the occupied part of Donetsk Oblast, according to the commander.
The Unmanned Systems Forces have already destroyed 26 elements of Russian air defense systems in March, according to Brovdi. In total, the military branch's drone units wiped out or hit 7,073 Russian personnel and 25,612 military assets.
The General Staff also reported that Ukrainian forces destroyed a Russian Buk-M1 anti-aircraft missile system near the settlement of Pervoye Maya in Bryansk Oblast on March 21, confirming a direct hit.
Another Buk-M2 system was reportedly struck in the occupied territory of Zaporizhzhia Oblast.
Ukrainian forces also reportedly hit a logistics hub and a Russian troop concentration near occupied Velyka Novosilka in Donetsk Oblast, as well as a command post near Uspenivka and a drone control point near Rivnopillia.
Additional strikes targeted troop concentrations near Berdiansk and Huliaipole in Zaporizhzhia Oblast and another Russian command post near Smorodino in Russia's Belgorod Oblast.
The Kyiv Independent could not verify these claims.
The Buk-M3 is one of Russia's key air defense systems, designed to engage targets in the air, on land, and at sea. Manufactured by Almaz-Antey, it can reportedly track and engage up to 36 targets simultaneously, including aircraft, helicopters, cruise missiles, and drones.
Ukraine launches nearly 300 drones against Russia overnight, hits oil depot, command post of elite Rubikon drone unit
Ukraine hit an oil refinery in Russia's Saratov Oblast and targets in Russian-occupied Ukraine, including the command post of an elite Russian Rubikon drone unit in Mariupol, as part of its overnight attack on March 21, Ukraine's General Staff confirmed.
Russia's Defense Ministry claimed on March 21 that overnight, Russia intercepted 283 Ukrainian drones over Bryansk, Smolensk, Kaluga, Belgorod, Voronezh, Rostov, Volgograd, Tula, Ryazan, Kursk, Saratov, Samara, and Moscow oblasts, as well as the Republic of Tatarstan and Russian-occupied Crimea.
The cities of Saratov and Engels in Saratov Oblast and Tolyatti in Samara Oblast were also targeted in the attack. The towns host key Russian military and industrial sites that have been previously targeted in Ukrainian drone strikes, including the Saratov oil refinery and Engels-2 military airfield.
The General Staff said on March 21 that the Ukrainian attack damaged an RVS-10000 vertical storage tank at the Saratov oil refinery.
"This facility processes crude oil and produces fuels and lubricants used to support the occupying (Russian) army," the General Staff wrote.
The Saratov oil refinery is among the oldest oil refining facilities in Russia. As of 2023, it had a refining capacity of 4,8 million tons.
Saratov Governor Roman Busargin claimed that attacks on the regional center injured two people and damaged multiple homes. Meanwhile, residents shared images and videos on social media indicating power outages in the city.
Residents also shared footage of fires near the Saratov oil refinery, according to the Ukrainian Telegram channel Exilenova Plus.
In Russian-occupied Mariupol, Donetsk Oblast, the Ukrainian Defense Forces struck a command post belonging to Moscow's elite drone unit known as the Rubikon Center for Unmanned Technologies, the General Staff said on March 21.
A core part of Russia's unmanned system program to bolster its drone warfare against Ukraine, Rubikon specializes in both hunting down Ukrainian drone pilots and shooting their drones in the sky.
Rubikon has not commented on the General Staff's claim as of the time of publication. The Russian Defense Ministry has also not reacted to the report.
The General Staff added that a Russian Army repair unit in occupied Khliborobne, Zaporizhzhia Oblast, and a command and observation post of Russia's unit in Paraskoviivka, Donetsk Oblast, were struck.
An independent Russian Telegram news channel, Astra, reported that overnight, residents of Tolyatti experienced a series of explosions and a fire. Based on analysis of eyewitness footage, the fire erupted near two chemical plants located close to each other, Togliattikauchuk and KuibyshevAzot.
In Russia's Bashkortostan, drones were shot down near the oil refineries in Ufa, Radium Khabirov, head of the Republic of Bashkortostan, reported on March 21.
Khabirov also claimed that two drones crashed into a building under construction in the Zaton neighborhood, setting the insulation on fire, with two construction workers sustaining minor injuries.
Ukrainian delegation meets Witkoff, Kushner in Miami, plan to continue talks on March 22
U.S. and Ukrainian officials held another round of peace negotiations in Miami, Florida, on March 21, President Volodymyr Zelensky announced, with discussions set to continue the following day.
The latest round of negotiations comes more than a month after the last face-to-face meeting in Geneva on Feb. 17–18, when trilateral talks among Kyiv, Moscow, and Washington were held. A follow-up meeting scheduled for March 5 in Abu Dhabi was postponed after U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran.
Despite months of U.S.-led efforts to broker a peace deal between Ukraine and Russia, progress on key negotiating points has all but stalled in recent weeks amid the war in Iran.
Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, who co-leads the U.S. delegation alongside U.S. President Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, called the meeting with Ukrainian officials "constructive" in a statement on social media.
Witkoff said that the talks "focused on narrowing and resolving remaining items to move closer to a comprehensive peace agreement," without specifying the details of what was discussed.
In his evening address, Zelensky welcomed the latest round of talks, saying that it was important "that diplomacy continues and that we are working to end this war."
"The key issue is to understand how ready Russia is to move toward a real end to the war, and whether it is ready to do so honestly and with dignity. Especially now, when the geopolitical tensions have only increased due to the situation around Iran," Zelensky added.
European officials have cautioned that U.S. military support, particularly air defense systems, could face delays as Washington prioritizes the Middle East, with EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas saying there is now "competition for the same assets."
The Ukrainian delegation includes Rustem Umerov, Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council Secretary; Presidential Office Head Kyrylo Budanov; First Deputy Presidential Office Head Serhii Kyslytsia; and David Arakhamia, the parliamentary leader of Zelensky's Servant of the People party.
The latest talks did not include a delegation from Moscow. Zelensky previously said that Russia has refused to hold trilateral talks in the U.S. and has instead proposed meeting in Switzerland or Turkey.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov, speaking with Russian state media earlier this week, said that there was a "situational pause" in talks with Kyiv due to the war in Iran.
Russian attacks kill 6, injure 29 in Ukraine over past day, first responders targeted in double-tap strike
Russian attacks against Ukraine killed at least six civilians and injured at least 29 others over the past day, regional authorities reported on March 22.
Ukrainian defenses intercepted 127 out of the 139 drones launched by Russia overnight, according to Ukraine's Air Force. Eight drones struck seven locations, and debris from downed drones was also recorded at seven sites.
In Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, two people were killed and six were injured, including a child, as a result of Russian drone and artillery strikes during the past day and overnight, according to the region's governor, Oleksandr Hanzha.
In Sumy, first responders were targeted in a Russian double-tap attack. A fire engine was damaged, but there were no casualties among the staff, Ukraine's State Emergency Service said.
Overall, five people were injured in Sumy Oblast over the past day, according to the region's military administration.
Two people were killed and eight others were injured in Russian attacks on Zaporizhzhia Oblast over the past day, according to the region's governor, Ivan Fedorov.
Overall, Russian forces carried out 700 strikes on 39 settlements across Zaporizhzhia Oblast during the 24-hour period. As of March 22 morning, the attacks were still ongoing.
A 31-year-old man was injured during Russian strikes in Kharkiv Oblast, Governor Oleh Syniehubov reported. Civilian infrastructure facilities were damaged or destroyed.
One person was killed and six were injured in Donetsk Oblast over the past day, Governor Vadym Filashkin said. Houses, power lines, and utility structures were damaged.
In Kherson Oblast, one person was killed and three others were injured following Russian aerial attacks and artillery strikes on multiple towns and villages. Critical and other civilian infrastructure, as well as residential areas, were targeted, Governor Oleksandr Prokudin reported.
Due to the threat of a Russian drone attack, an accident occurred overnight on March 22 on the Odesa railway during a train stop and passenger evacuation, Ukraine's state railway operator Ukrzaliznytsia reported. A conductor was fatally struck by an oncoming train that was also heading to its evacuation stop, and one passenger was injured.
Ukrzaliznytsia CEO Oleksandr Pertsovskyi identified the conductor as 19-year-old Ilona Vovk, who had completed an internship in Germany and was conducting her first full trips with the railway.
Note from the author:
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