Today, March 17, is the 22nd day of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. This is what you need to know today about the war: Kamikaze drones In the $800 million package of military support assistance that US President Joe Biden announced on Wednesday are 100 “tactical unmanned aerial systems”. American media reports have identified these as none other than the Switchblade, a backpackable, handheld drone that is actually a missile, and was developed for use by US forces in Afghanistan. Described as a “kamikaze drone”, the Switchblade has two versions, the 300, unveiled in 2011, and 600, which came out in 2018. Though it is not clear which of these two is being sent to Ukraine, the first version was deployed in Afghanistan from 2012 to give small platoons of American soldiers instant individual firepower instead of waiting for reinforcements. The Switchblade is two feet long, weighs just over 2.5 kg, and can be packed in a carrying case that can be tucked into a soldier's backpack. It is launched out of a tubular casing, and carries a small warhead that flies directly into its target at great speed to explode on impact. Civilian casualties continue to mount Ukraine said Russia had bombed a theatre in the south-eastern city of Mariupol leaving hundreds of civilians trapped and an unknown number of casualties. Human Rights Watch has said at least 500 people were sheltered in the building. A US private satellite imaging company, Maxar Technologies, distributed satellite imagery that it said was collected on March 14 and showed the word "children" in Russian script painted on the ground outside the red-roofed building. The port city has been continuously bombarded by Russia. Last week, a children's hospital was bombed. The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights said civilian casualties have risen to 1,900 as of midnight of March 15. Of these, 726 killed have been killed and the remaining wounded. The UN agency warned the numbers would be higher as the fighting is spreading to several new parts of the across the country. In a new video on Wednesday, Russian president Vladimir Putin said Russian troops were “doing everything” to avoid civilian casualties. In the same video, Putin said the war was “going according to plans”. According to US assessments, the opposite is true - Russian troops have got bogged down due to logistical reasons and shortage of troops, and for these reasons have not been able to occupy any of the big cities yet. The US-based Institute for the Study of War says Russia is deploying reserves from Armenia and South Ossetia and forming new “battalion tactical groups” from remnants of units lost early in the invasion to compensate for combat losses. It reports that Russian forces conducted several failed attacks northwest of Kyiv and no offensive operations northeast of Kyiv on March 16. Russian forces are continuing to bombard civilian areas of Kharkiv, but have been unable to take over the second biggest city in Ukraine. Meanwhile, the U.N. Security Council is due to vote on Friday on a Russian resolution calling for aid access and civilian protection in Ukraine, Reuters reported, but diplomats have said it would fail as the text does not say anything about an to the fighting or withdrawal of Russian troops. 'Humanitarian parole' The US-Mexico border is one of the world's most highly-guarded peacetime international borders. Despite the deployment of thousands of customs and border patrol personnel and even the National Gaurd It is also the world's busiest immigrant crossings. Not just from Mexico, people from all over the world including India, use the Mexico route to enter the US illegally. The numbers of such people has spiked sharply after pandemic restrictions eased and international flights resumed in 2021. Now, border officials have been authorised to grant “humantarian parole” to Ukrainians, according to this report. Newsletter | Click to get the day's best explainers in your inbox
