Rocket strike on Zaporizhzhya, attack on Kyiv Oblast, Zelenskyy's trip to frontline: highlights of the day

Rocket attack on Zaporizhzhya

On March 22, at about 12:00 p.m, the occupiers fired at Zaporizhzhya from a Smerch multiple launch rocket system. One of the projectiles hit between two high-rise buildings.

So far, one person has been reported dead and 34 injured. 29 people were hospitalized, including three children.

As a result of the hit, a fire broke out in the apartments on the 1st to 3rd floors, destroying the apartments, damaging balconies and roofs, and smashing windows.

Attack on Kyiv and Zhytomyr oblasts

In the early hours of March 22, Russian troops launched 21 Shahed drones at Ukraine. The launches were recorded from the northern direction (Bryansk Oblast of Russia). The Ukrainian military shot down 16 drones.

In Kyiv Oblast, in the town of Rzhyshchiv, four people were killed and seven others were injured in a night attack.

In addition, an infrastructure facility was damaged in Zhytomyr Oblast. There were no victims.

Zelenskyy's trip to the front line

On March 22, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited the frontline positions of the Ukrainian military on the Bakhmut axis.

The Head of State heard reports on the operational situation and the course of hostilities in the area, and talked to the military. In addition, he presented state awards and visited a hospital where wounded soldiers, including the defenders of Bakhmut, are being treated.

After that, he went to Kharkiv Oblast, but stopped at a gas station to drink coffee. There he was met by military and civilians who wanted to take pictures with the president.

In Kharkiv Oblast, Zelenskyy heard a report from the military command on the operational situation in the region and discussed the issue of supplying all settlements in the region with electricity.

In addition, Zelenskyy presented Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov with the honorary award "Hero City of Ukraine", which the president awarded to the eastern Ukrainian city on March 6, 2022.

Situation at the front

According to the General Staff, the fiercest fighting is currently taking place in the southern and northern parts of Bakhmut. Russian forces also conducted offensives on the Avdiyivka axis to establish control over Avdiyivka and Maryinka.

Over the course of the day, the aviation of the Defense Forces struck an enemy anti-aircraft missile system, as well as 12 strikes on clusters of Russian personnel and military equipment.

Mine explosions

On March 22, three men were killed in Mykolaiv Oblast when they tripped a mine.

The day before, a tractor hit a mine during excavation work in a field in Mykolaiv Oblast. Two men aged 27 and 44 were on board.

Another tractor exploded while driving on a field road. The 40-year-old driver was taken to the hospital with a mine-blast injury.

In addition, in the south, a 16-year-old boy and a 48-year-old man were injured by an explosive device.

In Donetsk Oblast, a woman was injured by a mine on March 22.

And in Kyiv, a man was found dead with injuries. According to preliminary information, a grenade detonated in his hands.

Other news:

• A petition has been posted on the website of the President's Office with a proposal to create a National Pantheon of Heroes of Ukraine in Askoldova Mohyla Park in Kyiv.
• Defense concern Ukroboronprom has already shipped the first batch of 122-mm artillery shells of its own production to the Ukrainian army.
• Two participants of the parties where girls were abused have been charged with sexual violence. They face imprisonment.
• The Asset Recovery and Management Agency received over UAH 1.32 billion ($35.7 million) from the sale of Russian ammonia. This is many times more than the proceeds from the sale of seized property in all previous years of the agency's work.
• As of February 2023, the total amount of damage caused to Ukraine's infrastructure due to Russia's full-scale invasion stands at $143.8 billion, according to the Kyiv School of Economics.
• Citizen journalist Iryna Danylovych, who was sentenced to seven years in prison in the temporarily occupied Crimea for allegedly possessing explosives, went on a hunger strike due to lack of medical care.
• 17 children deported by Russia from Kherson and Kharkiv oblasts during the occupation returned to Ukraine.