Zelenskyy's speech at the European Council meeting and missile attacks in Odesa Oblast: last night's highlights

Zelenskyy's speech at the European Council meeting

On 23 March, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addressed a meeting of the European Council online and named five key reasons for prolonging the war and pushing peace further away:

• Delays in the supply of long-range missiles to Ukraine, which does not allow Ukraine to push back the occupiers' positions, in particular from Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, and other cities that are constantly under fire;
• Delays in the transfer of modern aircraft;
• Delaying new sanctions packages from Europe;
• Delays in implementing the Ukrainian peace formula and organizing a “peace summit”;
• Delays in Ukraine's integration into the European Union.

He made a video call from a train carriage during a working trip to the regions of Ukraine.

Missiles shot down in Odesa Oblast

Two guided missiles fired by Russian Su-35 fighters were shot down in the sky over Odesa Oblast on 23 March, the South Air Command reported.

According to the military, at about 21:30, the occupiers fired two Kh-59 air-to-surface guided missiles at Odesa Oblast from the Black Sea. Air defense forces shot down the missiles.

Conference on the return of children

Ukraine, Poland, and the European Commission have launched an initiative to return Ukrainian children abducted by Russia. To this end, the EU will organize a conference, said Ursula von der Leyen, head of the European Commission.

“Today we know about 16,200 children who have been deported. So far, only 300 have returned. In partnership with the Ukrainians, [Polish] Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki and I have launched an initiative aimed at returning these children who were abducted by Russia. We are organizing a conference for this purpose. We are at the very beginning of very difficult work,” she said.

Briefly about other news:

• A petition calling for the creation of the National Pantheon of Heroes of Ukraine in Askoldova Mohyla Park in Kyiv has collected the required 25,000 votes. Now it must be considered by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy;
• Representatives of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate continue to leave the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, despite statements the day before that they lacked time to leave in time, Minister Tkachenko said;
• Difficulties have been encountered in organizing a possible conversation between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Chinese leader Xi Jinping, but the talks can still take place, said Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to the head of the Presidential Office;
• The Pentagon said that on March 23, a drone attack on a base near the Syrian city of Al-Hasakah killed one US contractor and wounded 5 other servicemen and one contractor. In response, the United States launched airstrikes on targets in Syria;
• On 23 March, border guards in Zakarpattia found the body of a 23-year-old man from Bukovyna who drowned in the Tysa River while trying to illegally cross the border and enter Romania.