Russians have significantly intensified drone attacks in border and frontline regions. Throughout the week, air defense forces engaged enemy drones in the capital. UAVs also reached the western and central regions of the country. The enemy targeted railway, energy, and port infrastructure facilities, as well as enterprises, and attacked residential buildings and civilian transport. Towards the end of the working week, drones massively attacked Odesa. Over the weekend, enemy shelling completely de-energized Chernihiv and most of the region. The consequences of the devastating drone attack on Odesa are detailed in photo reports by documentarians Oleksandr Hymanov and Tymofii Melnykov.
Chronicle of Russian Shelling from March 16 to March 22, 2026
March 16 saw significant damage and casualties due to Russian attacks. In Zaporizhzhia, the private sector and energy facilities were damaged, one person was killed, and three were injured, including a 15-year-old girl in serious condition who was pulled from the rubble. In Dnipropetrovsk region, two people died under the rubble of a house, and eight more were wounded, including three children; residential buildings, a school, a fire station, a gas station, and an enterprise were damaged. In Donetsk region, five people were killed and six more were injured. In one of the communities in Mykolaiv region, an FPV drone attacked a bus carrying enterprise workers, and two people were hospitalized. In Sumy region, a UAV attacked a grain truck, which caught fire, and the driver died on the spot. From the morning, Sumy and Kyiv were under drone attack. In Sumy, four people were injured, and houses and cars were damaged. In the capital, fragments fell in three districts, including in the very center of Kyiv, a few meters from the Independence Monument, reported the NV publication. The death toll from the night shelling of Kyiv region on March 14 rose to six people—a man died in the hospital from his injuries.
As a result of a Russian attack on March 17 in the Donetsk region, two people died under the rubble of their own home. In the morning, Russians struck a Nova Poshta terminal in Zaporizhzhia, injuring six employees of the enterprise. In the Chernihiv region, several days of attacks resulted in fires and damage to enterprises and energy facilities; on the afternoon of March 17, an administrative building in one of the settlements was hit. According to a report by Suspilne Novyny, it housed employees of the district prosecutor's office and the RTCK (Territorial Recruitment and Social Support Center). In the Dnipro region, one person was killed and four were wounded due to shelling; a dozen people were injured in the Kharkiv region, and in the Kherson region, one woman was killed and nine others were wounded, including a child. Every day, these regions experience significant destruction, infrastructure damage, and civilian casualties.
On the night of March 18, Russians struck a residential area of Kramatorsk, Donetsk region, with two FAB-250 bombs equipped with UMPK modules. Eight people were wounded, including two children; 27 private houses, two high-rise buildings, and cars were damaged. Over the past 24 hours, Russians killed two residents of the region. The enemy army attacked an administrative building in the Sumy community with a strike drone, injuring a 16-year-old boy; he is in the hospital in serious but stable condition. Ukrainska Pravda reported that the building of the RTCK was affected, though mobilization activities were not being conducted there as the center had moved. In the Chernihiv region, the enemy attacked the railway; a drone hit a locomotive, injuring the driver and his assistant. An ambulance medic was injured during a repeated strike, and the blast wave damaged a medical vehicle. Other targets in the region included an emergency medical station building, an energy facility, and a residential house. Following a Russian drone attack on Kyiv, debris fell on the roof of a non-residential building in the Holosiivskyi district, damaging the wall of a shopping center.
On the night of March 19, Russians destroyed a lyceum and school buses in the Chernihiv region using three "Geran" drones; the facility had recently been renovated and had a new cafeteria. The enemy struck energy infrastructure in Zaporizhzhia, causing power outages. Over the course of the day, there were more deaths and injuries: in the Kherson region, an FPV drone killed a man; in the Sumy region, airstrikes and drone attacks resulted in three deaths and ten injuries—drones attacked homes, civilian cars, and a man riding a bicycle; in the Kharkiv region, one woman was killed and five people were injured, including a child.
On March 20, energy infrastructure facilities were damaged in the Mykolaiv region. Early in the morning, the enemy struck the center of Kherson, damaging an administrative building and residential houses. In the Dnipro region, two people were wounded; a fire station was among the targets. In the Kharkiv region, one person was injured, and an emergency medical vehicle was damaged; in Kharkiv, windows were blown out in two educational institutions, a children's creativity center, and a high-rise building. Russians struck a "Proliska" humanitarian mission vehicle with a drone in the village of Oleksiyevo-Druzhkivka, Donetsk region. According to Ukrainska Pravda, the attack resulted in one death and several injuries. The Russian army dropped three FABs on Sloviansk, damaging a city landmark—a coworking center—as well as a cafe and an enterprise.
On March 21, a Russian UAV destroyed a private house in Zaporizhzhia, killing a married couple and injuring their two children; in total, six victims were reported. During the day, Zaporizhzhia's energy infrastructure was attacked. Due to Russian drone attacks on energy facilities in the Chernihiv region, the regional center and consumers in three districts were left without power. In Druzhkivka, Sloviansk, and Kramatorsk, Donetsk region, fires broke out due to shelling. Over the past day, five people were killed and 14 wounded in the region. In Kherson, a man was killed at his workplace; in the Kharkiv region, there were 10 victims, including a child.
On the night of March 22, the enemy attacked the Kyiv region with drones. In the Brovary district, buildings on the grounds of three enterprises were damaged, and a fire broke out; two private houses and transport vehicles were also affected. Yesterday, nearly 21,000 residents of Slavutych were left without a centralized electricity supply. Throughout the day, the Chernihiv region and its regional center remained under attack. In Sumy, Russians launched a repeated strike on SES rescuers during the night, damaging a fire truck. The adversary attacked a locomotive of a suburban train on the Prydniprovska Railway; no casualties were reported. In the Dnipro region, two people were killed and six others were injured, including a child; in the Donetsk region, one person was killed and six were wounded.
During the week, Russians used almost 1,550 strike drones, over 1,260 guided aerial bombs, and two missiles in Ukraine, reported Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
“Random” Shelling of Odesa and Attacks on Food Security
Russians attacked the Odesa region throughout the week. On Monday, enemy strike UAVs shelled Chornomorsk; damage to the facade and glazing of a kindergarten and nearby high-rise buildings was recorded in the city.
On Tuesday, March 17, a nighttime attack in the south of the region damaged energy, industrial, and port infrastructure facilities; fires broke out, and power outages were observed in certain settlements. The following night, a critical infrastructure facility and some equipment in the region were targeted again.
On the night of March 19, Russian drones launched a massive attack on Odesa. Residential areas in three districts of the city were affected: Prymorskyi, Kyivskyi, and Khadzhybeyskyi. Two high-rise buildings, a residential house in the historic center, and homes in the private sector were damaged. Notably, a direct hit on a house was recorded, causing fires; vehicles and some equipment on the premises of a municipal enterprise were also damaged. Four people were injured, three of whom were hospitalized.
In the Prymorskyi district, 12 houses were damaged, and two people were taken to the hospital. In the Kyivskyi district, a high-rise building and a university dormitory were damaged, with nearly two hundred windows blown out. In the Khadzhybeyskyi district, a two-story residential house was partially destroyed.
Local photojournalist Oleksandr Himanov shared insights into the nighttime shelling of Odesa on social media:
“Last night, the Russians hit Odesa quite randomly. The impacts of enemy drones are scattered all over the city map. As a result of the attack, four people were wounded, apartments were burned, a house in the historic center was nearly destroyed, and a synagogue was damaged.”
The following night, March 20, Russians again attacked the Odesa region with strike UAVs. Two civilian commercial vessels flying the flags of Palau and Barbados, which were loaded with grain and moored at the berths, were damaged. Administrative buildings, a grain bunker, and equipment were also damaged, and two people were injured.
Production team:
Topic researcher, author of the text: Yana Yevmenova
Photo editor: Olga Kovaliova
Literary editor: Yulia Futey
