Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 387 | Russia-Ukraine war News

As the Russia-Ukraine war enters its 387th day, we take a look at the main developments.

Here is the situation as it stands on Friday, March 17, 2023:

US drone incident

The Pentagon released a video of Tuesday’s intercept with its drone over the Black Sea, which shows a Russian Su-27 fighter jet coming very close to the United States drone.
Russia has denied any collision took place, saying the drone crashed after making “sharp manoeuvres”, having “provocatively” flown close to Russian air space near Crimea.
The Kremlin said its military would decide whether to try and retrieve the drone debris.

Kyiv’s forces continued to withstand Russian assaults on the now-ruined salt-mining town of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine.
Russian attempts to capture Bakhmut are “difficult” with no signs Ukraine is ready to withdraw, said the Russian-installed leader of Ukraine’s semi-occupied Donetsk region.
Ukraine revealed it shot down a Chinese-built drone near Sloviansk in eastern Ukraine.

Russia has committed a “wide range” of war crimes in Ukraine, according to the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine, a United Nations-mandated investigative body. Russia dismissed the report.
China hopes Russia and Ukraine will hold peace talks, Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang told his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba in a phone call on Thursday. According to a statement from China’s foreign ministry, Beijing hopes “all parties will remain calm, rational and restrained”.
Kuleba said the discussions covered “the significance of the principle of territorial integrity” and that he had reiterated Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelenskyy’s formula for restoring peace.
The UN has backed Turkey and Ukraine’s calls for a 120-day extension to the Black Sea grain deal after Russia said it would only extend the deal for 60 days.
Poland said it detained nine people from a suspected Russian spy ring who were planning to disrupt weapons supplies to Ukraine.

Poland will send four MIG-29 fighter jets to Ukraine in the coming days, Polish President Andrzej Duda said.
Poland’s decision to hand over the MIGs is a “sovereign decision” that will not prompt US President Joe Biden to supply Kyiv with US F-16 aircraft, the White House said.