Kyiv Post Morning Memo – Everything You Need to Know on Tuesday, March 14

Good morning from Kyiv. Monday saw two air raid alarms in the capital but no attacks. Unfortunately, this wasn’t the case elsewhere in Ukraine with 93 recorded in the Kherson region.

“Over the past day, the enemy launched 93 attacks, firing 412 shells from heavy artillery and Grad systems,” Oleksandr Prokudin, the head of the Kherson regional military administration, said in a post on Telegram.

“Thirteen shells hit residential quarters, private and apartment buildings,” he added. As a result of the strikes, one person was killed and six more were injured.

What’s happening today?

More than 50 Ukrainian troops are heading back to the frontlines after completing training on Leopard tanks in Spain.

According to one Spanish officer training them, they have been working 12 hours a day, six days a week. “They are very motivated.” he said. “They have a strong desire to learn and are eager to return and contribute to the defense of their country.”

You can read more about that story here.

What was in President Zelensky’s latest message?

Monday evening’s daily address was a short one, with President Zelensky highlighting some of the issues facing Ukraine’s farmers, particularly the threat of landmines.

“As of now, more than 170,000 square kilometers of our territory remain dangerous because of enemy mines and unexploded ordnance,” he said.

Other Topics of Interest

N. Korean Troops Massed in Russia to Enter Ukraine War ’Soon’: Pentagon Chief

Austin said he had "not seen significant reporting" of North Korean troops being "actively engaged in combat" to date.

“A significant part of this territory is the land of our farmers, the land that has been cultivated. So today we discussed how to intensify this work: to speed up humanitarian demining and increase cooperation with partners.

“We discussed how to support our farmers. The second sowing season has already started during the full-scale war. Last year, the heroic efforts of our farmers and all workers in the agricultural sector made it possible to preserve Ukrainian agricultural production and Ukraine’s global role as a guarantor of food security. And I thank everyone who contributed to this. The government is working on appropriate steps to support the industry.”

What’s the latest military situation?

The British Ministry of Defense (MoD) update on March 14 focuses on Russian artillery ammunition shortages, which it says “have likely worsened to the extent that extremely punitive shell-rationing is in force on many parts of the front.”

The MoD adds: “This has almost certainly been a key reason why no Russian formation has recently been able to generate operationally significant offensive action.

“Russia has almost certainly already resorted to issuing old munitions stock which were previously categorized as unfit for use.

“Russia is increasingly applying the principles of a command economy to its military industrial complex because it recognizes that its defense manufacturing capacity is a key vulnerability in the increasingly attritional ‘special military operation.’”

The Institute for the Study of War’s March 13 daily assessment covers a multitude of topics, most notably:

·      Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Reintegration of Temporarily Occupied Territories of Ukraine Iryna Vereshchuk confirmed that Russia has illegally deported 2,161 Ukrainian orphans to Russia.

·      Russian milbloggers continue to speculate about a prospective Ukrainian counteroffensive in southern Ukraine, suggesting increasing concern in the Russian information space about Ukrainian combat capabilities as Russian forces pin themselves on offensive operations in Bakhmut.

·      Chechen Republic Head Ramzan Kadyrov continues efforts to maintain Chechnya’s relevance in the Russian political and military sphere.

And that’s it for today’s Morning Memo.

Kyiv Post will bring you the latest news throughout the day and we’ll be back with another edition tomorrow.