Ukraine Daily

Friday, March 18

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Russia’s war against Ukraine

Multiple explosions reported in Lviv. Mayor Andriy Sadovyi said Russian missiles struck an aircraft repair plant in Lviv early on March 18.

130 survivors saved so far from ruins of Mariupol Drama Theater. Russians hit the theater, which was known to house hundreds of women and children, with a massive air bomb on March 16. Two sources, lawmaker Olga Stefanyshyna and businessman Serhiy Taruta, said that the theater’s bomb shelter survived the attack. The rescue efforts continue.

UK: Continuous Ukrainian counterattacks stall Russian advances. According to the latest British Defense intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine from March 17, Russia is struggling with logistics and cannot provide food and fuel to advancing forces due to the efforts of the Ukrainian military. Not has Russia been able to establish air superiority over Ukraine.

Over 320,000 Ukrainians return home since the beginning of war. According to the State Border Guard Service, most Ukrainians returning home are men.

Luhansk Oblast most dangerous region in Ukraine, says governor. According to Luhansk Oblast Governor Serhiy Haidai, the Russian military is trying to take Rubizhne and continues to shell the area. Haidai says fighting is taking place all over the region.

Russia’s Ministry of Internal Affairs and FSB receive order to check all Ukrainian citizens living in Moscow. According to two Ukrainian citizens living in Moscow with whom the Russian news outlet OVDinfo spoke, the security services searched their apartments and demanded they unlock their phones. They reportedly offered some Ukrainians accelerated Russian citizenship, while others were charged with petty hooliganism.

Read the Kyiv Independent’s exclusive on how rental prices soar in western Ukraine amid influx of refugees as Russian forces continue to bombard residential areas across the country.

City council: Russian forces drop 50-100 bombs on Mariupol every day. The city council said that the southeastern city is in critical condition. Encircled since March 2, Mariupol has been cut off from electricity, water, gas, mobile networks, food and medicine supplies.

PayPal payment system enters Ukraine. PayPal issued as statement saying that MasterCard and Visa cards issued by Ukrainian banks can now be linked to a PayPal account. It will allow people to shop online, send money, and withdraw funds through Ukrainian bank cards. Previously, Ukrainian users were only able to send money out of the country.

Mariupol official: Azovstal, Ukraine’s major steelmaker, completely destroyed. Mariupol Deputy Mayor Serhiy Orlov said in an interview with Forbes Ukraine that the enterprise owned by Ukraine’s richest man Rinat Akhmetov was repeatedly attacked by Russian forces. According to Natalya Yemchenko, a spokesperson for Akhmetov’s SCM Holding, it is yet impossible to assess the damage.

The human cost of Russia’s war

Read the Kyiv Independent’s latest story on how Russian soldiers shoot dead mother of two as she drives family to safety.

Prosecutor General’s Office: Russia’s war kills 108 Ukrainian children. According to the agency, over 120 children have been injured since Russia launched its all-out invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24.

State Emergency Service: 2 killed in Russian shelling of Kyiv’s Sviatoshynskyi district. The attack took place at around 4:30 p.m. on March 17 and resulted in multiple fires. The firefighters are working on putting out the fire at the local warehouse but there is a risk of a shell explosion, the State Emergency Service reported.

Two-year-old killed, 4 people injured in Russian artillery attack in Novi Petrivtsi village, Kyiv Oblast. The March 17 strike destroyed a multistoried building and damaged multiple houses, Kyiv Oblast Police reported.

21 killed, 25 injured in Russian attack of Merefa, Kharkiv Oblast. Ten people are in critical condition, Kharkiv Oblast Prosecutor’s Office reported. Merefa, home to 21,500 residents, was shelled at 3:30 a.m. on March 17. A local school and community center were destroyed.

Russian troops kill 53 civilians in Chernihiv in one day. Chernihiv Oblast Governor Vyacheslav Chaus said that 53 bodies were delivered to the city morgues on March 16. The victims were killed by artillery fire and air strikes.

International response

Biden: Putin is a ‘murderous dictator.’ Speaking at a Saint Patrick’s Day event, U.S. President Joe Biden called Russian autocrat Vladimir Putin a “pure thug.” Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, shelling residential areas and killing thousands of people.

Italy ready to rebuild Mariupol theater destroyed by Russian military. “Theaters of all countries belong to the whole humanity,” said Italian Minister of Culture Dario Franceschini. The theater, used as a shelter for Mariupol residents, was destroyed by a Russian bomb on March 16.

Blinken: US will punish China if it provides military aid to Russia. “President Biden will be speaking to President Xi tomorrow and will make clear that China will bear responsibility for any actions it takes to support Russia’s aggression, and we will not hesitate to impose costs,” said U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

Italian Prime Minister: Putin does not want peace. Prime Minister Mario Draghi only sees the Kremlin leader’s “willingness for war.” The Italian government is ready to impose additional sanctions to end the conflict, despite the reflected impact sanctions have already had on Italy, he added.

Biden to discuss Russia’s war against Ukraine with Xi Jinping on March 18. According to a statement by White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki, U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese dictator Xi Jinping will have a phone call to discuss “competition between the two countries as well as Russia’s war against Ukraine and with other issues of mutual concern.”

Australia adds more sanctions against Russian banks, oligarchs. Australia stated on March 18 it expanded sanctions against Russia to include 11 more Russian banks and government entities, as well as oligarchs Oleg Deripaska and Viktor Vekselberg, both of whom have business ties to Australia.

Scholz: NATO will not intervene militarily in Russia’s war against Ukraine. During a press conference on March 17, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said that his country will, however, continue to support Ukraine. The statement followed President Volodymyr Zelensky’s address to Bundestag, where he said that Germany shares blame for the delays in Ukraine’s NATO and EU integration, which made Russia’s aggression against Ukraine possible.

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Today’s Ukraine Daily was brought to you by Oleg Sukhov, Daria Shulzhenko, Natalia Datskevych, Sergiy Slipchenko, Olena Goncharova, Oleksiy Sorokin, Olga Rudenko, Toma Istomina, Lili Bivings and Brad LaFoy.

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