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These are the key developments on day 1,129 of Russia’s war on Ukraine.
Here is the situation on Saturday, March 29, 2025:
Fighting
- Four people were killed in a Russian drone attack on Friday in the Ukrainian city of Dnipro. The regional governor reported that 19 others were injured, and a large fire broke out in a hotel and restaurant complex, engulfing a high-rise apartment building and 10 homes.
- Ukraine’s military stated that its air force struck a border post in Russia’s Bryansk region, destroying infrastructure allegedly used for drone launches. The General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces said the attack was in response to “dozens of daily strikes by attack drones.”
- Ukrainian troops reportedly staged an incursion into Russia’s Belgorod region, according to Russian military bloggers. Kyiv and Moscow have not confirmed this, but Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told reporters on Friday that his military had taken “certain steps” in Russia outside the Kursk region to ease pressure on Ukrainian forces.
- The Russian Ministry of Defence claimed its forces recaptured the village of Hoholivka, one of the few villages still held by Ukraine out of about 100 seized last August. Ukraine’s General Staff reported stopping 18 Russian assaults in Kursk over the past day.
- Ukraine’s military said it shot down 89 of 163 Russian drones launched overnight, with 51 failing to reach their targets due to technical issues.
- The Russian Defence Ministry claimed to have shot down 19 Ukrainian drones that attempted to strike an oil refinery in Saratov.
Ukrainian police cordon off access to the site of a fire in a restaurant caused by a Russian drone strike, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Dnipro, Ukraine, on March 28, 2025 [Violeta Santos Moura/Reuters]
Ceasefire
- Volodymyr Kohut, governor of Ukraine’s Poltava region, accused Russia of damaging warehouses owned by Ukraine’s state gas producer, Naftogaz, in the central region, in violation of a United States-brokered ceasefire on energy infrastructure. The Russian Defence Ministry countered by accusing the Ukrainian military of striking a gas measuring station in the Kursk region’s Sudzha city with US-made HIMARS rockets and a second strike in Bryansk that caused a power outage.
- United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk called for an end to the “horrific suffering” caused by attacks on civilians in Ukraine and stated that a ceasefire in Ukraine “would be very welcome.” Turk noted that “limited ceasefires that protect shipping lanes and infrastructure are a welcome step forward” but emphasized the need for a proper end to the war.
- In a televised address on Friday, Russian President Vladimir Putin suggested that Ukraine should be temporarily placed under external governance to allow for democratic elections. Putin claimed that Zelenskyy lacks legitimacy as Ukraine’s president and suggested Ukraine could alter any negotiated peace at any time.
- Responding to Putin’s statements during a briefing with journalists on Friday, Zelenskyy said the comments offer a “reason not to end the war,” adding that Putin is “afraid of negotiations with Ukraine” and “afraid of negotiations with me personally.”
- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres immediately rejected Putin’s suggestion that Ukraine be placed under external administration, stating that Ukraine’s government is legitimate and must be respected.
Russian President Vladimir Putin chairs a meeting with members of Russia’s Security Council via a videolink in Moscow, Russia, on March 28, 2025 [Vyacheslav Prokofyev/Pool via Reuters]
Politics and Diplomacy
- Putin’s comments on Ukraine followed the conclusion of a summit hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron, which considered plans to deploy troops to Ukraine. Macron said “several” other nations are willing to join a peacekeeping force alongside France and Britain.
- Speaking to reporters on Friday, Zelenskyy confirmed Ukraine had received the draft of a new minerals deal from the US, describing it as an “entirely different” document from previous proposals. Neither he nor his vice president would discuss the draft, stating it needed to be reviewed and discussed first.
- The Ukrainian president confirmed Ukraine was formalizing agreements on European military aid and intelligence sharing ahead of the next summit at the US’s Ramstein airbase in Germany.
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