Explaining complex things in simple words: Missile attack on big cities, U.S. assistance, human rights violations in temporarily occupied territories

MISSILE ATTACKS ON BIG CITIES

On March 20-21, Russia attacked Kharkiv and Kyiv with Kh-35, Iskander-M/Kinzhal, and Kh-101/Kh-555 missiles. Dozens of civilians were injured.

▪ For more than 2 years, Russia has been attacking Ukraine's densely populated cities with long-range missiles. The victims of these attacks are mostly civilians.

▪ At least 5 civilians were killed in a missile attack on Kharkiv on March 20. This is not the first such attack on the city in 2024. ▪

On the morning of March 21, air defense forces shot down 31 enemy missiles over Kyiv. 10 people suffered from the wreckage; residential facilities were destroyed.

▪ The only guarantee of the safety of civilian Ukrainians in the rear is powerful air defense. But for it, Russia would be destroying Ukrainian cities by aviation, as it did in Chechnya and Syria.

▪ Ukraine has an urgent need to increase the number of Western air defense systems and ammunition to them. 

U.S. ASSISTANCE

On March 19-20, Lindsey Graham, Senator of the U.S. Congress from the Republican Party, and Jack Sullivan, U.S. National Security Advisor, visited Ukraine.

▪ The matter of restoring full-fledged assistance to Ukraine from the United States is one of the most important today.

▪ The United States maintains faith in Ukraine's victory and will continue to support the struggle of Ukrainians against Russian aggression, according to Sullivan.

▪ American guests assured Ukraine of bipartisan support for it in the United States and expressed confidence that the issue of approval of assistance by Congress would be unblocked.

▪ While the debate and approval of assistance to Ukraine continues, the Kremlin's authoritarian satellites, in particular Iran and the DPRK, have established an uninterrupted supply of ammunition to the Russian aggressor.

▪ Ukraine expects a more rapid response from the democratic world to global challenges. A democratic system must finally demonstrate superiority over authoritarianism. 

HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS IN THE TEMPORARILY OCCUPIED TERRITORIES

On March 20, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights published a report “Human rights situation during the Russian occupation of territory of Ukraine and its aftermath 24 February 2022–31 December 2023.”

▪ The UN report reveals the objective state of affairs in the temporarily occupied territories: the imposition of an atmosphere of fear, the restriction of rights and freedoms, the imposition of Russian citizenship and identity.

▪ Russia practices killing, torture, and kidnapping of those suspected of supporting Ukraine in the temporarily occupied territories. The occupation administration uses censorship, surveillance, political oppression, suppression of freedom of speech, restrictions on movement, etc.

▪ The occupiers force locals to collaborate and deprive people who refuse to take Russian passports of access to medical and humanitarian assistance.

▪ Russians have destroyed Ukrainian education in the temporarily occupied territories and are imposing Russian identity on children in schools. Everything that reminds of Ukraine, its language, and its culture gets destroyed in the temporarily occupied territories.

▪ The UN report is another argument why Putin's elections should not be recognized there under any circumstances, and why the occupied territories should be liberated from the invaders.

Center for Strategic Communication and Information Security