Ukraine Daily

Saturday, March 19

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Russia’s war against Ukraine

Over 1,300 civilians still stuck under Mariupol’s destroyed theater. According to Ombudsman Lyudmila Denisova, 130 people were rescued from the Mariupol theater destroyed by a Russian strike on March 16. However, the vast majority of civilians are still stuck under the rubble in the basement of the now destroyed theater.

BBC: Russia fires 1,080 missiles at Ukraine since start of invasion. According to a senior U.S. defense official, Russian troops have not made “significant advances,” with most forces stalled.

Sumy receives first UN aid convoy. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said in a statement on March 18 that it “hopes this is the first of many shipments.” The aid convoy includes 130 metric tonnes of essential aid for around 35,000 people and supplies to repair water systems to help an estimated 50,000 people.

Six-year-old boy gives his drone to Ukraine’s military. A boy from Sumy Oblast decided to give Ukraine’s military his own birthday gift after hearing about their needs for unmanned aerial vehicles, the Ukrainian parliament’s Educational Center reported.

Associated Press: It may take years to defuse Russian mines after invasion. Ukraine’s Interior Minister Denys Monastyrsky said on March 18 that Ukraine will require Western assistance in dealing with the threat posed by unexploded shells and mines that remain embedded in critical infrastructure and among the rubble.

Russia forms earthen berms to strengthen military positions northwest of Kyiv. Satellite imagery by Maxar Technologies from March 17 show protective berms around Russian military equipment near Ozera and Antonov Air Base. The construction of berms is also seen near the villages of Zdvyzhivka and Berestyanka, further northwest of Kyiv.

Ukraine ‘temporarily’ loses access to Azov Sea. General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces said late on March 18 it lost access to the Sea of Azov “temporarily” as Russian forces were tightening their grip around the Sea’s port city of Mariupol.

General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces: Russia has conducted 14 missile strikes and 40 air raids in Ukraine over the past 24 hours. Russia has failed to achieve strategic goals with conventional forces and has switched to indiscriminate bombing and high-precision strikes.

Pentagon: Russian troops not very motivated. U.S Army Commander General Frank McKenzie said at a briefing at the Pentagon that Russian troops did “not seem particularly motivated or particularly involved in the campaign they are conducting.”

Petting zoo near Kyiv requests humanitarian corridor to rescue animals. The zoo, “Park XII Months”, located 25 km north from Kyiv, asked for assistance to evacuate animals or bring food for those that are difficult to transport, as some have begun to die.

Russian war against Ukraine may push 40 million people into “extreme poverty.” A March 18 analysis posted by the U.S. think tank Center for Global Development indicates that food commodity prices since Russia’s full-scale invasion are higher than the price spikes of 2007 and 2010. It notes “immediate concern” for direct importers of Ukrainian and Russian wheat, including Egypt, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Azerbaijan, and Turkey.

Pro-war rally held in Moscow, tens of thousands attend. At least 81,000 people attended a pro-war rally in Moscow’s Luzhniki stadium. Russian authorities claimed over 200,000 people (nearly two and a half times the stadium’s actual capacity) attended the event celebrating Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014. Images of Russian troops invading Ukraine were shown on the screen accompanied by cheers of the gathered crowd.

The human cost of Russia’s war

Dozens of victims reported in Mykolaiv as air raid sirens fail. Oleksandr Senkevich, mayor of Mykolaiv, said the city was fired upon from close range on March 18, so the city did not have time to sound air raid sirens.

222 people, including 60 civilians, killed in Kyiv since Feb. 24. Four children were killed by Russia’s attacks in the capital, according to Kyiv’s administration. Some 889 people were injured, including 241 civilians and 18 children among them. Some 36 houses, five private estates, six schools and four kindergartens were destroyed in Kyiv. The facades of 55 houses were also damaged.

Russia’s war displaces nearly 10 million Ukrainians. The United Nations Migration Agency now estimates that 6.5 million Ukrainians have become internally displaced by the war. An additional 3.2 million have fled abroad, over 2 million of them to Poland.

2 civilians killed by shelling in Avdiivka in Donetsk Oblast. An apartment complex, administrative buildings, and shop came under fire from Russian shelling in Avdiivka, killing two civilians and wounding three, according to the head of the Donetsk regional military administration Pavlo Kyrylenko.

Rescuer killed by shelling in Zaporizhzhia. Russian forces fired upon the village of Natalivka, injuring five people and killing a member of Ukraine’s emergency services.

International response

Xi tells Biden war in Ukraine in no-one’s interest. Reuters cites Chinese state-owned media outlets saying that Xi Jinping supported peace in Ukraine. According to the report, Xi told his U.S. counterpart Joe Biden that the two countries must make an effort for world peace.

Macron calls on Putin to end Mariupol blockade. In a telephone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin, French President Emmanuel Macron expressed “grave concern” over the situation in Mariupol, where over 300,000 people are cut off from the world, and called for a lifting of Russia’s blockade, according to French president’s office.

US bans maintenance of 100 aircraft used by Russia. A U.S. Department of Commerce report published on March 18 said the identified commercial and private aircraft continued to fly to Russia despite sanctions, violating U.S. export controls. One of the planes belongs to Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich.

EU considers providing Ukraine with €500 million military aid package. The EU will discuss the aid on March 21, according to two high-ranking EU officials who spoke to Deutsche Welle.

Mila Kunis and Ashton Kutcher fundraise over $34 million for Ukraine. Ukrainian-born U.S. actress Mila Kunis and her husband, U.S. actor Ashton Kutcher said the money was donated to Flexport, a logistics organization bringing supply to refugee camps in bordering countries, and to Airbnb to help Ukrainians find new temporary homes.

Netherlands, Germany to provide Patriot missile system to Slovakia. As part of NATO moves to strengthen air defences in Eastern Europe, Slovakia will get 3 Patriot missile systems. Earlier, Slovakia’s defense minister said his country was willing to provide Ukraine with S-300 air defenses if NATO allies found a substitute.

Ukraine to receive another 300 million euro tranche from EU on March 18. The second tranche is part of the 1.2 billion euro program approved by the European Union to provide political, financial and humanitarian assistance to Ukraine. Kyiv received the first 300 million euro tranche under the program on March 11.

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