Dispatches from Ukraine, provided by Forbes Ukraine’s editorial team.
As Russia’s attack on Ukraine continues and the war rages on, reliable sources of information are critical. Forbes Ukraine’s reporters will continue to gather information and provide updates on the situation. We will be sharing them here as they come. Live coverage from Forbes Ukraine’s site can be found here.
Tuesday, March 22. Day 27. By Daryna Antoniuk
Regional
Russian forces shelled a children's hospital in Luhansk Oblast. The hospital's roof caught fire and seven children and 15 adults were evacuated, according to Ukraine's state emergency service.
A warehouse of one of Ukraine’s biggest pharmaceutical companies, Farmak, burned down during hostilities in Makariv, near Kyiv. The company suffered nearly $51 million in losses.
At least one person has died after drones attacked a science institute in Kyiv. The Institute for Superhard Materials, in northwest Kyiv, is a part of the National Academy of Science of Ukraine.
Food and medical supplies have almost run out in the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson, according to the spokesperson for Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Oleg Nikolenko. The city has been occupied by Russian forces for about two weeks.
Russian shelling in the residential Obolon district of Kyiv damaged two buildings and a vehicle, killed one person and injured three others, according to local authorities.
National
Russian troops illegally deported 2,389 Ukrainian children from Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts to Russia, according to the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry. “This is not assistance. It is kidnapping,” the ministry said. Forbes Ukraine could not verify these figures. Ukraine’s Prosecutor General, Iryna Venediktova, wrote on Twitter on March 21 that an investigation into the forcible transfer of Ukrainian children is ongoing.
Russian troops destroyed at least 10 Ukrainian hospitals since Feb. 24, according to the Ukrainian health minister, Viktor Lyashko. Many hospitals cannot be restocked with medicines and supplies because of nearby fighting. Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, Russian forces have also completely destroyed 651 homes and partially damaged almost 4,000 houses.
More than 3.5 million refugees have fled Ukraine, according to the UN Refugee Agency. France announced on March 22 that it is ready to welcome 100,000 Ukrainian refugees. More than 26,000 Ukrainian refugees have arrived in France since the beginning of the war.
World
Russian court has sentenced jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny to nine years in prison after convicting him of fraud and contempt of court. Navalny is already serving a two-and-a-half-year sentence at a prison camp in Moscow.
US officials and NATO believe that Belarus could “soon” join Russia in its war against Ukraine. A Belarusian opposition source told CNN that Belarusian troops are ready to go into Ukraine as soon as within the next few days, with thousands of forces prepared to deploy.
The arrival of more than 331,000 Ukrainian refugees in Moldova since Russia invaded Ukraine is putting huge pressure on its health care system, according to the country’s health minister. More than 100,000 Ukrainians are still in the country. Moldova has already appealed to the European Union and UN agencies for help.
Italy wants Ukraine to join the European Union, according to Italian prime minister, Mario Draghi. He also promised to continue to support Ukrainian refugees fleeing hostilities, as well as to provide military assistance.
