WORLD BRIEFING: March 16, 2024

Ukrainian officials said that the Russian daytime attack on Odesa on Friday had killed 20 and wounded at least 70 others. Among the dead and injured were several first responders who were caught in the carnage from a second subsequent missile on the same location. If confirmed, it would rank as the deadliest attack on Odesa since the start of Russia’s full scale invasion. The dead included the former vice mayor of Odesa. A day of mourning has been declared for tomorrow

Several people have been detained for vandalism at polling stations on the first day of voting in presidential elections, Russian officials say. Incidents involved green dye being poured into ballot boxes, the boxes being set alight and fireworks being set off inside polling stations, state media reported. Vladimir Putin is certain to win six more years in office after the vote. However, officials have called on law enforcement officers to be vigilant. Voting is taking place in Russia over three days until Sunday. The result is not in doubt as Mr Putin has no credible opponent, however state-run media said that turnout had reached 23% by late afternoon in Moscow. Most of the incidents were reported at polling stations in Moscow, Voronezh in south Russia, and the region of Karachay-Cherkessia in the north Caucasus, according to state news agency Tass - BBC

A Ukrainian missile attack killed two people in western Russia and a separate drone strike set an oil refinery ablaze on Saturday, the second day of an election that President Vladimir Putin has accused Kyiv of trying to disrupt. The deaths of a man and a woman were reported by Vyacheslav Gladkov, governor of the Belgorod region where cross-border attacks from Ukraine have become part of daily life. Dmitry Azarov, governor of the Samara region 850 km (530 miles) southeast of Moscow, near the border with Ukraine, said the Syzran refinery was on fire but an attack on a second refinery had been thwarted - Straits Times

A ship delivered 200 tons of humanitarian supplies, food and water to Gaza on Friday, the Israeli military said, inaugurating a sea route from Cyprus for aid to help ease the humanitarian crisis brought by Israel’s 5-month-old offensive in the enclave. Israel has been under increasing pressure to allow more aid into Gaza, especially in the Palestinian territory’s isolated north where hunger is at its worst, with many people reduced to eating animal feed and weeds. The United States has joined other countries in airdropping supplies into northern Gaza and has announced separate plans to construct a pier to get aid in. Aid groups said the airdrops and sea shipments are far less efficient than trucks in delivering the massive amounts of aid needed. Instead, the groups have called on Israel to guarantee safe corridors for truck convoys after land deliveries became nearly impossible because of military restrictions, ongoing hostilities and the breakdown of order after the Hamas-run police force largely vanished from the streets - AP

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned on Friday that countries around the world will soon face the kind of fentanyl drug crisis that's killing tens of thousands of people each year in the U.S. Blinken spoke at a United Nations conference in Vienna, Austria, focused on the spread of narcotics and synthetic street drugs. "In many ways we've been a canary in the coal mine, particularly when it comes to fentanyl, Blinken said. "It hit us hard, it hit us first, but unfortunately not last. And we can see its ravages taking hold in other countries." According to the latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, drug overdose deaths are now killing more than 110,000 people in the U.S. every year. The U.S. lacks low-cost drug treatment and healthcare programs available in many other developed countries, which have seen far fewer impacts from fentanyl - NPR

Members of the G7 alliance have warned Iran it will be hit with significant new Western sanctions if it moves forward with a plan to provide ballistic missiles to Russia for use in the war in Ukraine. The Biden administration has raised alarms for months that Russia is seeking close-range ballistic missiles from Iran as Moscow struggles to replenish its dwindling supplies. The US has yet to confirm that missiles have moved from Iran to Russia, but Washington is alarmed by comments from Iranian officials suggesting a deal is imminent. “Were Iran to proceed with providing ballistic missiles or related technology to Russia, we are prepared to respond swiftly and in a coordinated manner including with new and significant measures against Iran," the G7 leaders said in a statement. Iran's UN Mission said last month there are no legal restrictions to prevent it from making ballistic missile sales, but the Iranian government is "morally obligated to refrain from weapon transactions during the Russia-Ukraine conflict to prevent fuelling the war." - Euronews

This review is reprinted with the author’s permission from his World Briefing blog.