These are the important developments of the 1,129th day of Russia’s Ukrainian War.
This is the situation for Saturday, March 29th, 2025.
Fineting
Four people were killed in a Russian drone attack on Friday in Ukraine’s Dnipro city. The area governor said 19 people were injured and a major fire broke out in a hotel-restaurant complex that consumed high-rise apartments and 10 homes. The Ukrainian army said the air force had put in border postings in Russia’s Briansk region and destroyed the infrastructure that was said to have been used to launch the drone. Ukrainian military general staff said in a statement that the attacks responded to “dozens of daily strikes by attack drones.” According to Russian military bloggers, Ukrainian forces carried out an invasion of Russia’s Belgorod region. Although Kiev and Moscow have not confirmed that, Ukrainian Bishop Voldimi Zelenki told reporters on Friday that the troops had taken “specific measures” in Russia outside the Kursk region to ease pressure on Ukrainian forces. The Russian Ministry of Defense said on Friday that its forces recaptured the village of Holibaka, one of the few villages still held by about 100 Ukraine in August last year. Ukrainian general staff said they had stopped 18 Russian attacks in Kursk on the past day. The Ukrainian forces said 89 of the 163 Russian drones were fired overnight, with 51 unable to reach the target due to technical issues. The Russian Ministry of Defense claimed it had fired down 19 Ukrainian drones that attempted to attack an oil refinery in Saratov.
Ceasefire
Voldymir Kohut, governor of Ukraine’s Portava region, accused Russia of damaging a warehouse owned by Ukrainian national gas producer Naftogaz in the central region, in violation of a ceasefire that hit the United States on energy infrastructure. The Russian Ministry of Defense countered with its own claims, accusing Ukrainian forces of attacking a gas measuring station in Sudaza city in the Kursk region of the US-made Himaa rocket and a second strike that stopped on the second strike at Briansk.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk called for an end to the “terrifying suffering” caused by attacks on Ukrainian civilians, calling for a ceasefire in Ukraine to be “a welcome.” The Turks said “a limited ceasefire protecting transport lanes and infrastructure is a welcome step,” but a proper end to the war was needed. In a speech aired on Friday, Russian President Vladimir Putin suggested that Ukraine should be temporarily under external governance for democratic elections to take place. Putin suggested that Zelensky had no legitimacy as Ukrainian president, and suggested that Ukraine could change the negotiated peace at any time. In response to Putin’s statement during a briefing with journalists Friday, Zelensky said the comments provided “reasons why we won’t end the war,” adding that Putin “is afraid of negotiations with Ukraine” and that he “fears about negotiations with me.” UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres quickly rejected Putin’s proposal that Ukraine would be put into the form of government, saying that the Ukrainian government is legal and must be respected.
Politics and diplomacy
Putin’s comments on Ukraine followed the conclusion of a summit hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron, and considered plans to deploy troops in Ukraine. Macron said “several” other countries are willing to join the peacekeeping forces alongside France and the UK. Speaking to reporters on Friday, Zelensky said Ukraine was a “completely different” document from what had previously been proposed, confirming that Ukraine had received a new draft of a mineral trade from the United States. Neither he nor his vice president discussed the draft, saying that it would need to be reviewed and discussed first. The Ukrainian president confirmed that Ukraine has formalised the agreement on military aid and intelligence sharing in Europe ahead of the next summit at US Ramstein Air Force Base in Germany.
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