Today's Massive Missile Attack
Plus: Georgians and Ukrainians resisting together
War Day 379: I took the night train from Kyiv through the hills of Galicia to Lviv. About an hour outside of Lviv, I woke up in the still-dark, and for the few minutes I had a phone signal, I could tell something big had happened: reports of explosions already in many cities and more incoming …
by JOE LINDSLEY
Arriving at Lviv railway station, I saw people huddled in the underground passage ways to the tracks; the grand entry hall was completely empty .
As additional reports of incoming missiles all over Ukraine pinged my phone, I sat in a taxi on the fresh post-rain cobbled streets, under the ethereal morning blue glow. I saw people calming sweeping the sidewalks, calm amid the still-unfolding drama.
What happened?
Today, March 9, the birthday, incidentally, of Taras Shevchenko, the great 19th century kobzar, or bard of Ukrainian language and culture amid Moscow’s attempts to eradicate it, the Russians launched 81 missiles, almost all types of weapons, including the Kinzhal hypersonic missile, which according to reports, Ukraine does not have the capacity to stop. Read below for details of this morning’s attack.
WITHIN:
—Daily War Journal Video
—Daily War Analysis
—Daily War Music from Ukraine
—Greetings from Ukraine’s ‘Memestry of Defense’
“[It's something rare in our world of corporate and automated radio regular, real humanity.”
—Neil Steinberg, in the Chicago Sun-Times, on Joe Lindsley’s daily Ukraine reports with Bob Sirott of Chicago’s WGN Radio. We invite you to follow on YouTube.
*UKRAINIAN FREEDOM NEWS: Please support us by subscribing and sharing this newsletter with your friends, colleagues, and family. Donations welcome here.*
DAILY WAR JOURNAL—ON CHICAGO’S WGN RADIO:
Why Do The Tbilisi Protests Matter?
Did you know that Mihheil Saakasvili, the former president of Georgia the country later became a reformist governor of Ukraine’s Odesa region? And that President Poroschenko stripped him of his citizenship, which President Zelenskiy later restored?
Now, Saakasvili languishes in a Georgian prison … but it seems the people are rising up again ..
Yesterday on Chicago’s WGN Radio, I shared an update from friends in Tbilisi, Georgia, who have been protesting a so-called “Russian-style” law pushed by the parliament there. I have spent many months there and in the video above, I describe the history of connections between freedom-lovers in Ukraine and, across the Black Sea, Georgia, which its people call Sakartvelo. Watch or listen above.
Tonight at 11pm Ukraine time / 4pm New York, we’ll share the story of what happened in Tbilisi last night. —Joe Lindsley
DAILY WAR MUSIC:
As Ukrainian soldiers and foreign volunteer colleagues work to hold Bakhmut after months of Russian siege, the nation stands in solidarity, whether by helping get supplies there, evacuating the wounded, or by song. Two songs about Bakhmut, this one by Spiv Brativ (“Singing Brothers”, and another by Antytila, are often heard in the cafés and public places of Ukraine these days: reminding everyone of the hell and heroism in Bakhmut, in the far east.
DAILY WAR ANALYSIS:
This morning’s attack. What happened.
by JOE LINDSLEY
“How can we sit here this morning and allow this to happen? This cannot go on. I am astonished by the complacent. What are we doing to prevent this from happening?”
—
The alarms began to sound just before midnight Wednesday with reports of Russian strategic bombers in the air. By 2am,7 the first reports of explosions arrived , with air defense seeming to work in central Ukraine, as seven ‘aerial objects’ were spotted over the Sea of Azov heading for Zaporizhzhia—plus three missile carriers in the Black Sea.
By this point, that witching hour, everyone who was awake knew something big was coming. For the next five hours, the Russians used missiles and Iranian drones to hit Ukrainian cities and infrastructure.
In Zhytomer, northwest of Kyiv, a fleet of Iranian ‘Shaheed’ ‘or suicide martyr drones’ caused city wide water outage and significant electrical problems.
In Lviv region, the small city of Zolochiv - a house was hit, five people dead.
In Odesa region arrival at the regional energy infrastructure facility, as well as damaged residential buildings.
In Dnipro, Zaporizhzhia, Mykolaiv regions — infrastructure hit
The Russians shook hard the city of Kharkiv, where I spent the past month. Just last evening, many of the city lights had been turned on for the first time in a year.
Hours later, 15 missiles hit the city and its suburbs, including energy infrastructure and a residential building. The city is partially de-energized, some have problems with water supply. These rockets take only a minute to reach from launchpoint: hard to stop
“Good morning, here we have the damned Russians terrorizing civilians again, as always,” a friend in Kharkiv texted.
In Kyiv - energy infrastructure facilities of Svyatoshinsky and Goloseevsky districts are under attack. A car caught fire in the courtyard of a residential building. Power outages began. There are people injured; .The anti-aircraft defense repelled almost everything, but the "Kinzhal" type missile hit an infrastructure facility in the Holosiiv district.
By 8am—all-clear—after 7 hours, 7 hours of alert and attack
Then after all this, at 9:30am, the Russians began shelling the city centre of recently-liberated Kherson — 3 killed, 2 injured
And to top it off: Due to Russian shelling, the Zaporizhzhia NPP is completely de-energized, with the facility’s vital cooling operations operating on generator with a 10-day capacity. Local residents across the river in Nikopol, still Ukrainian control but under daily Russian shelling, are reportedly calm: Are people worried, I asked a friend there.
“Not now, people used to it.”
But in fiery remarks today, Rafael Mariano Grossi, director general of International Atomic Energy Agency, refused to be used to such a situation:
“How can we sit here this morning and allow this to happen? This cannot go on. I am astonished by the complacent. What are we doing to prevent this from happening?”
UPDATE: Power is restored to the nuclear plant after 10 hours offline.
In total today, Ukrainian air defence downed 34 out of 48 Russian cruise missiles, but the air defense seems powerless against the Kinzhal hypersonic missiles, which can achieve a Mach 12 speed with a range of more than 1,200 miles / 2,000 km, while manoeuvring easily. Russia has a limited stock, some reports say less than 60, and they used six today.
For the first time, Russia fired upon Ukraine with such a large number of different types of missiles, said Ukrainian Air Force spokesman Yuriy Ignat.
“That's why we need Patriot & SAMP/T air defense systems delivered ASAP.” tweeted Anton Gerashchenko, Advisor to the Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine.
Russians Show Video of the Killing of a Ukrainian Prisoner of War Calmly Smoking
from Tuesday 7 March: My daily Ukraine report on Chicago's WGN Radio with Bob Sirott
by JOE LINDSLEY
KYIV—I describe the war-time midnight train from Kharkiv to Kyiv, while giving an update on the brutal battles of Bakhmut and a Russian killing of a Ukrainian prisoner of war, whose last words were a cool, calm, "Slava Ukraiini."
And I share stories of visiting a mostly destroyed high-rise where one old man still lives in Kharkiv's devastated Salivka district. Plus: Did you know that in the three years preceding Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the top foreign cadet at the UK's top military academy was a Ukrainian?
DAILY SITUATION SUMMARY:
9 March: Night shelling of the territories of Ukraine, the Pentagon blocks the transfer of evidence of Russian war crimes to the Hague Tribunal
Situation summary of Russia’s war on Ukraine by region for Thursday, March 9, 2023
by PAVLO VITENKO
Headlines:
—Power outage of the ZNPP, the largest nuclear plant in Europe, due to a missile attack by the occupiers: Russia cynically lied about the incident
—Syrskyi, Colonel General, Commander of Ukraine’s Ground Forces, spoke about the situation in Bakhmut: the fighting continues, the Russians are losing their most combat-ready units
—New echelons with Russian equipment and military personnel are arriving in Belarus
—The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation is reducing military support for the Wagnerites in Bakhmut — CNN
Summary by oblasts (regions):
KYIV REGION
During almost seven hours of air alert in Kyiv, the Russians released almost all types of their air weapons: from Shahed to almost all names of cruise missiles, Regional Military Administration reports. The anti-aircraft defense repelled almost everything, but the "Kinzhal" type missile, according to preliminary information, hit an infrastructure facility in the Holosiiv district.
Explosions also rang out in Sviatoshyn district. Three people were injured by the debris, two of them were hospitalized. Cars were burning in the yard of a residential building.
DONETSK REGION
In the past day, two civilians were killed and four wounded in the region.
The enemy used artillery, Hrad rocket launchers, mortars, carried out an airstrike (the type of missile was not established) Kostiantynivka, Avdiivka, Bakhmut, Chasiv Yar, the village of Kamianka, the village of Krasnohorivka, the village of Severne, the village of Tonenke, the village of Lastochkine, the settlement of Zhelanne, the village of Karlivka, the settlement of Velyka Novosilka were fired upon.
Nine residential buildings (including 3 high-rise buildings), a workshop of PJSC "AKHZ", a hospital, a building of PJSC "AKHZ", a garage, and an outbuilding were damaged.
ZHYTOMYR REGION
The occupiers attacked the Zhytomyr region with Shahed drones and hit a critical infrastructure facility. There is no water in the city, some houses have electricity, electric transport has been stopped. According to preliminary information, there are no victims.
KHARKIV REGION
Last night and morning, the enemy carried out a massive rocket attack on Kharkiv and the Kharkiv region. About 15 arrivals of S-300 missiles have been previously recorded. Hits to critical infrastructure objects were recorded: there is destruction.
In the town of Pisochyn, Kharkiv district, a rocket hit the yard of a private household, several private residential buildings were damaged, and two women aged 71 and 74 were injured. They received minor injuries, one was hospitalized.
Also, a S-300 rocket damaged greenhouses in Slobozhanske village of Chuhuiv district.
All emergency services are working at the places of hits. Currently, the city and the region are without electricity. Work is ongoing to eliminate the consequences of shelling.
During the past day, the enemy shelled the border settlements of the region. In the Slobozhansk direction, the enemy shelled the areas of the settlements of Strelecha, Ternove, Vilcha, Kamianka, Dvorichna and Holubivka.
In the Kupiansk direction, the enemy conducted unsuccessful offensive actions in the Hryanykivka direction. He carried out artillery fire on more than 15 settlements of Vilshan, Kupiansk, Kislivka, Pershotravneve, Pishchane and Cherneshchyna. …
Read the full region-by-region summary here.
PREVIOUSLY—kindly forward stories to those whom might be interested:
War Day 376: Ukraine's Chief Rabbi Sings of Struggle and Hope
KHARKIV—We start with a music video from Ukraine's chief rabbi as he sings while walking the streets of his beloved Kyiv. And then we turn to a difficult topic:What is happening in Bakhmut? It's brutal and fierce, but Ukrainians hold as Moscow desperately tries to get some win, somewhere.
War Day 373: Elon Musk, Russell Brand, Donald Trump Are Wrong About Ukraine's Maidan Revolution
KHARKIV—While Russia moves to encircle the small city of Bakhmut, after nearly nine months of trying to take it, the skies of Ukraine have been generally quiet for a week: Where is Russia's much anticipated one-year anniversary escalation? And: While the west talks about supporting Ukraine, where is the ammunition, where are the tanks?
Six unpopular truths about Ukraine
1. Russia’s war on Ukraine is happening for one reason: Ukrainians insist on freedom.
2. The talk of war crimes misses the point. The entire war is a war crime.
3. Ukraine’s democratic corruption is not as awful as in numerous other countries.
4. Most Ukrainians are unvaccinated against coronavirus.
5. Hunter Biden made money from Russia, and not from Ukraine.
6. The US has actually given less support to Ukraine than it seems.
Read the story from Poland’s TVP World.
From the Ukrainian Memestry of Defense:
“[It's something rare in our world of corporate and automated radio regular, real humanity.”
—Neil Steinberg, in the Chicago Sun-Times, on Joe Lindsley’s daily Ukraine reports with Bob Sirott of Chicago’s WGN Radio. We invite you to follow on YouTube.
*UKRAINIAN FREEDOM NEWS: Please support us by subscribing and sharing this newsletter with your friends, colleagues, and family. Donations welcome here.*
ABOUT US: Ukrainian Freedom News: The wild story—so far—of free people standing for democracy, faith, dignity
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American journalist Joe Lindsley, in Ukraine since 2020, leads the Ukrainian Freedom News team of Ukrainians and foreigners on a mission to share real talk and real life in war-time with the world. Every weekday since late February 2022, he has reported live from Ukraine on Chicago’s WGN Radio with host Bob Sirott. You can listen to all episodes at UkrainianFreedomNews.com or via our YouTube channel.
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