US Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley said the downing of a US surveillance drone intercepted by Russian jets was a sign of Moscow’s increasingly aggressive behavior, and Russia warned Washington that drone flights near Crimea risk escalating the situation.

Ukrainian military in the Bakhmut region, where fierce battles have been going on for a monthPhoto: Roman Chop / AP / Profimedia

The latest on the war in Ukraine, day 386, LIVETEXT:

01:40 VIDEO Zelensky: Russian aggression is approaching the limit where it can give way

01:15Shoigu called “American espionage” one of the reasons for the incident with the drone in the Black Sea

00:57Pope Francis demands “respect” for the Pechersk Lavra monastery in Kyiv, from where the Moscow Patriarchate church has been ordered to evacuate

00:09Lavrov accuses the US of “ignoring” the Black Sea airspace restrictions

A brief summary of recent events:

  • The defense ministers and military chiefs of Russia and the United States held a rare phone call on Wednesday, a day after a Reaper drone crashed over the Black Sea. The American surveillance drone likely disintegrated and would be difficult to recover given the depth of the water in the area, Milley said.
  • The US remotely wiped the software of a drone that crashed in the Black Sea to prevent Russia from gathering classified information. Moscow has said it will try to retrieve the remains of the Reaper drone from the Black Sea
  • Russia’s ambassador to the United States said he told Washington that Russia “will no longer allow anyone to violate our waters.”
  • US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said the crash of a US military reconnaissance drone in the Black Sea was under investigation, declining to comment on the intent or motivation behind the incident.
  • It is “very likely” that the Turkish parliament will ratify Finland’s bid to join NATO by mid-April, two Turkish officials told Reuters. Sweden and Finland applied to join the defense pact last year after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, but faced objections from Turkey.
  • Turkey will continue negotiations on the extension of the agreement on the shipment of grain from Ukrainian Black Sea ports for 120 days instead of 60 days, Ankara said. Grain exports from Ukraine in the 2022/23 season as of March 15 stood at 34.7 million tons due to a smaller harvest and logistical difficulties caused by the invasion.
  • The main command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine advocates the defense of the east of Ukraine, including the surrounded city of Bakhmut, and the task of inflicting maximum losses on the enemy, Volodymyr Zelenskyi said.
  • Russia’s military announced on Wednesday that it had begun naval exercises in the Arabian Sea with China and Iran, two of Moscow’s partners united by their opposition to the West.
  • Ukraine’s armed forces said on Wednesday that they managed to shoot down another Russian Su-24 tactical bomber.
  • After several countries opposed the participation of Russian athletes in the Olympics in Paris, Russia wants to host the Games of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization along with China, India, Pakistan and other Central Asian republics.
  • Chief Wagner announces the capture of a new city north of Bakhmut. Wagner’s group of Russian mercenaries captured the town of Zaliznyansk on Wednesday, tightening the ring around this Ukrainian bastion in the Donbas.
  • Vladimir Putin greeted Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad in Moscow on Wednesday, marking the 12th anniversary of the uprising against his regime that eventually led to the outbreak of civil war.
  • Russia advanced in Ukraine by less than 0.04 percent for the month. The month in which they had “the fiercest battles that cost Moscow thousands of soldiers and vital equipment.”
  • Yahoo News has obtained an internal Kremlin document detailing Russia’s plan to destabilize the Republic of Moldova, which was developed before the invasion of Ukraine last year.
  • The sanctions have served their purpose: Russia’s oil revenues are steadily falling, but there is no deficit on the world market.
  • The soldiers sent to Ukraine by Russian President Vladimir Putin received armored vehicles produced during the Soviet Union, under Joseph Stalin or Nikita Khrushchev.

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  • Wednesday’s events were broadcast live on HotNews.ro