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Russian forces struck a maternity hospital in Odesa City overnight on March 27 to 28. The Ukrainian Air Force reported that Russian forces launched 273 Shahed, Gerbera, and Italmas-type drones, including about 180 Shaheds, primarily toward Odesa Oblast. The Ukrainian Air Force reported that Ukrainian forces downed 252 drones, that 21 drones struck 18 locations, and that fragments of downed drones struck nine locations. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stated that Russian forces launched over 60 drones just at Odesa City and struck a maternity hospital in the city. Odesa Oblast Military Administration Head Oleh Kiper stated that Russian forces killed two and injured 12 at the maternity hospital and launched over 100 drones against Odesa Oblast, also damaging critical, residential, and port infrastructure. The Ukrainian Health Ministry reported that there were 22 women in labor and 19 newborns in the maternity hospital at the time of the strike. Russian forces also struck residential and industrial infrastructure in Poltava Oblast and industrial and energy infrastructure in Kryvyi Rih, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, overnight. Russian long-range strikes continue to disproportionately affect civilian areas, and Russia has deliberately modified its strike vehicles and tactics to inflict greater amounts of damage against civilian areas.
Ukrainian forces continued their long-range strike campaign against Russian defense industrial and oil infrastructure on the night of March 27 to 28 and morning of March 28, including with Ukrainian-produced FP-5 Flamingo cruise missiles and FP-1 long-range drones. The Ukrainian General Staff reported on March 28 that Ukrainian forces conducted an FP-5 Flamingo cruise missile strike against the Promsintez explosives plant in Chapayevsk, Samara Oblast (roughly 890 kilometers from the international border) on March 28. The Ukrainian General Staff reported that the plant produces over 30,000 tons of military explosives annually for ammunition, including aerial bombs and missiles. The Ukrainian General Staff confirmed that the strike damaged the plant and caused secondary explosions at the facility. Geolocated footage and imagery published on March 28 show an explosion and smoke plumes from the direction of the Promsintez plant. An image published on March 28 reportedly shows the FP-5 missile in flight. Russian opposition outlet Astra reported on March 28 that Chapayevsk residents reported witnessing the strike and the activation of a missile alert. Samara Oblast Governor Vyacheslav Fedorishchev announced a missile alert in the oblast on the morning of March 28 and claimed that Ukrainian forces unsuccessfully attempted to strike the oblast, but that the strike did not damage social or residential infrastructure.
Russia is preparing to temporarily suspend all gasoline exports as of April 1, likely in response to domestic gasoline price increases partly caused by Ukraine’s long-range strike campaigns against Russian oil infrastructure. Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak instructed the Ministry of Energy during a March 27 meeting to prepare a draft resolution banning all gasoline exports from April 1 to July 31, 2026, in order to stabilize gasoline prices and prioritize supplies to the domestic market. Russian authorities previously suspended gasoline exports in September 2025 but lifted the ban for large exporters at the end of January 2026. Gasoline prices in Russia have risen sharply since Fall 2025 following the intensification of Ukraine’s strike campaign against Russian oil infrastructure, placing increasing burdens of the war on the Russian populace as inflation continues to rise, real income continues to fall, and the price of household goods remains high. Russia’s decision to suspend gasoline imports comes amid continued Ukrainian strikes against Russian oil infrastructure in recent weeks, as well as the war in the Middle East contributing to rising energy prices writ large. Russia’s decision to temporarily suspend gasoline exports, the revenues from which fund Russia’s war machine, is likely the result of increasing pressure on the Kremlin to balance between funding its war effort and mitigating the costs of the war on its domestic populace.
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