Russian invasion of Ukraine: tanks and rocket attacks on the cities. Breaking news

American oilfield services corporations Halliburton and Schlumberger on Friday announced that in connection with the sanctions against Russia, they stop further investments and implementation of technologies in their activities in the territory of the Russian Federation.

Italy seized a €105 million villa in Olbia, Sardinia, owned by Severstal owner Russian oligarch Alexei Mordashov (Deutsche Welle).

German Minister of Defence, Christine Lambrecht said in an interview with the Süddeutsche Zeitung that NATO would in no way interfere in Russia's war against Ukraine. She also said that creating a no-fly zone over Ukraine was impossible due to “unpredictable consequences.”

The head of the Lugansk Regional State Administration Serhiy Haidai: “We are waiting for 9 am, when the silence regime should be established, in order to begin the evacuation of the region's residents, to bring food, water and medicines to those who remain. The humanitarian corridor has been agreed at the highest level. I hope that the agreements on the part of the Russians will be observed.”

Kyiv: The Kyiv City State Administration warns that there is little smoke in the capital. "This is due to changes in weather conditions, including the direction of the wind. According to experts, the air quality meets the standards. But please do not open the windows and do not leave the house unnecessarily."

Ukraine Presidential Office Adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said on Bloomberg TV that talks with Russia could take “several weeks.”

EU Commissioner for Crisis Management Janez Lenarčič said that the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine had already reached a critical point, but the situation could get worse. “As long as hostilities continue and a ceasefire is not reached, it is impossible to get access to people in need of vital assistance,” he said.

Former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has joined a campaign to set up an international tribunal to try Putin for war crimes and the war in Ukraine (Daily Mail).

Video: how Bayraktars make fire correction for the artillery of Ukrainian Armed Forces.

Operational information from the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine as of 6:00 a.m. March 19:

Positions and actions character during last 24 hours remain almost the same. The Armed Forces of Ukraine continued to attack the enemy's troops which were trying to keep the occupied borders.

Anti aircraft troops and exterminatory aviation affected 12 air targets of the enemy - 2 aircrafts, 3 helicopters, 3 drones, and 4 missiles.

Ukrainian defenders destroyed several columns of the occupiers' vehicle in Mykolaiv and Sumy region,losses of the enemy are under specification. Besides, as a result of fire attacks to the enemy, a commander of the 8th general military army of Southern military district of russian army lieutenant general Andrei Mordvichev was killed.

The enemy continues to bear huge losses, has problems with logistics provision of the divisions. Low level of moral and psychological state of the personnel causes increasing desertion and refusal of militants of russian armed forces to take part in the war against Ukraine.

Video chronicles of the 23d day of the war from the Ministry of Defense.

Yesterday before the session of the United Nations Security Council, the US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield read a mutual declaration of Albania, France, Ireland, Norway, Great Britain and USA, due to the fact that russia included to the agenda of the Council a discussion about "biological laboratories of USA in Ukraine". It said that russia all the time tries to use the Security Council of The United Nations to spred its propaganda and excuse of the unprovoked and violent attack to Ukraine.

In Prague, painters drew a mural to support Ukraine opposing russian aggression. Operational Armed Forces of Ukraine in Telegram writes.

In the mural, the authors drew a girl with a firm look hiding fairytale heroes from different countries under the Ukrainian flag - American Mickey Mouse, Czech Krtek, Scandinavian Moomin trolls, French Obélix, Polish Bolek and Lolek, etc.

On March 23 The President Zelenskyy will address online to the Parliament of Japan to get support of the country to oppose the invasion of russia. Kyodo News writes about this.

Zelenskyy is supposed to start the address live at 6:00 p.m., if the military situation allows to do this. His address is planned for ten minutes.

On the eve the ambassador of Ukraine in Japan Sergiy Korsunskyy met the parliament representatives to ask for the translation arrangements with Ukrainian leader. He was supported by the Prime Minister of Japan Fumio Kishida.

750kV - high voltage power line providing the stability of Zaporizjka NPP work is restored, Ukrenergo informs. It was damaged by the russian occupiers.

UNESCO supports Ukraine in saving cultural heritage issues and asks russia not to destroy valuables. A corresponding declaration was approved on March 18, the Minister of Culture Oleksandr Tkachenko writes in Facebook.

According to him, Ukraine appeals to have the 45th session of the Committee of World Heritage in Kazanj cancelled and to have it transferred to Lviv.

Tkachenko added that Ukraine demand to deprive russia the status of a UNESCO member, "This is a logical and fare decision which should be taken immediately".

Belgium postpones exit from nuclear power for 10 years due to the russian' attack over Ukraine and enreased prices for energy carriers. BBC writes.

"The Federal Government decided to make necessary steps to prolong service terms of two (recently built) nuclear reactors for ten years", - the Prime Minister of Belgium Alexander De Croo says.

The President Volodymyr Zelenskyy got onto the cover of a new edition of Der Spiedel magazine.

"During several weeks Ukrainian forces and volunteers have been opposing the invasion of the russian army. Can he really win putin's military power over?" - the magazine commented a photo of Ukrainian leader.

In Sumy region the occupiers kidnap and torture the civilians, the Head of Sumy Military Administration Dmytro Zhyvytskyy informs. Local collaborators actively support these crimes. Also, the russians are looting and making riots in the villages of Sumy and Ohtyrka districts.

LG Electronics paused the supply of equipment to russia due to the Kremlin' s attack to Ukraine. Head of the Ministry of digital transformation Myhailo Fedorov writes in Telegram

In Chicago former presidents of USA George Bush and Bill Clinton visited a Ukrainian church to demonstrate solidarity with Ukrainian people.

The American leaders came to the Ukrainian catholic church of St. Volodymyr and Olga, carrying buckets of son flowers with blue and yellow ribbons.

President George W. Bush: America stands in solidarity with the people of Ukraine as they fight for their freedom and their future. pic.twitter.com/AOBbR4hvh5

— George W. Bush Presidential Center (@TheBushCenter) March 18, 2022

Four armed emergency vehicles were handed over by Israel to Ukraine. They were sent to Poland by plane, later they will be headed to the front to evacuate the injured. JNS informs.

Also, paramedics will be headed to Moldova. They will form a clinical personnel - the clinic will help Ukrainian refugees at the border. The same field clinic is planned to be organised at the border with Poland after the government approves.

Russian occupation troops have killed 12 civilians in Donetsk Region over the past 24 hours. The head of the Donetsk military administration, Pavlo Kyrylenko, said this on Facebook.

• Russians killed five civilians and injured 25 in Kramatorsk.
• Occupiers killed two and wounded four people in Avdiivka.
• In Pokrovsk one person was killed and six wounded. There is one casualty in Stepne and one in Bakhmut.
• The exact number of deaths in Mariupol and Volnovakha cannot be clarified.

Ukrainian Madonna. A woman was injured in Kyiv during the shelling by the Russian occupation forces. She covered her young daughter with her body and saved her from death. Photo published by UNICEF Children's Fund.

The woman and her husband were wounded and then were operated on at Okhmatdet hospital.

The 93rd brigade of the Ukrainian armed forces smashed and burnt down a convoy of Russian occupiers' equipment in Trostyanets, Sumy Region. The occupiers shelled a hospital: it is a lot of damage and, fortunately, no casualties, according to the head of the Sumy military administration, Dmytro Zhyvitskyy.

The occupiers managed to temporarily cut off Ukraine from the Sea of Azov, while hostilities continue for a number of towns in Donetsk and Luhansk regions. This was reported in a summary on the frontlines as of the evening of 18 March from the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

In Sivershchina, the enemy is partially blockading Chernihiv and bombarding the city with artillery.

In Slobozhanshchina, the Russians are further trying to blockade Sumy and Kharkiv. They are also trying to advance on Pokrovsk - two additional combat units have been brought in from Russia.

In Luhansk Region, the occupiers are trying to blockade Severodonetsk and to capture with battles Popasna and Rubizhne. In the latter, the enemy has entrenched itself in the western and northwestern outskirts of the city.

Battles near Verkhnetoretske, Krymske, Avdiyivka and Taramchuk in Donetsk Region. Russian occupiers blockade and try to storm Mariupol.

In the south, the occupiers are setting up logistics and positions. They are trying to move units to Mykolaiv and Kryvyi Rih. The Russians have been stopped on the outskirts of Mykolaiv.

In Polissya the enemy is not advancing and is turning to defence: they are trying to hold on to positions they have seized on the Irpin River. Still trying to resume movement towards Kyiv.

In Volyn, the situation is stable.

The enemy continues to bomb cities: 14 missiles and 40 air raids were launched during the day, the General Staff has calculated.

Former British Prime Minister David Cameron has come to Poland to help Ukrainian refugees - he delivers medicines and nappies. He posted the photo on Twitter.

Cameron and his two colleagues are involved in the Chippy Larder volunteer project. In a commentary to Sky News, he stressed that enough donations had been collected to "fill a small truck with everything from nappies to hygiene products, warm clothing to first aid kits".

The former prime minister called on Britain to increase humanitarian aid to Ukraine.

Mykolaiv mayor Oleksandr Senkevych said that the city residents were not warned about the air strike on March 18 because the missile was fired by the Russian occupiers from close range - from Kherson Region. He said this on the air of the TRC Mart.

"We didn't have an air alert because we were attacked from Kherson, and we just didn't have time to launch the alert system. The bombardment happened faster than we were navigating and launching the system," he said.

On March 18 Ukrainian servicemen hit 12 air targets of the Russian occupiers, according to the Air Force of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. The Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine hit 10 air targets, two more targets were on the account of the air defense of the Land Forces.

During the day, air defense destroyed at least 12 air targets of the Russian invaders: 2 aircraft; 3 helicopters; 3 UAVs; 4 cruise missiles.

01:55 Germany and the Netherlands will hand over Patriot air defence systems to Slovakia at NATO's request. This was reported by the press service of the Dutch Defence Ministry. It is specified that the handover of the systems is related to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Earlier, Slovak Defence Minister Jaroslav Nad' said that Slovakia was ready to provide Ukraine with S-300 air defence systems, but the country needs to get a "proper replacement".

Ukrzaliznytsya has published a list of evacuation trains as of 19 March.

Kyiv, Darnitsya station:

• 1:00 - Intercity+ Darnytsya - Kharkiv;
• 8:00 - Intercity+ Darnytsya - Lviv;
• 17:00 - Intercity+ Darnytsya - Lviv.

Kharkiv:

• 8:00 - Intercity+ Kharkiv - Lviv;
• 9:40 - №229/230 Kharkiv - Ivano-Frankivsk;
• 13:00 - №239/240 Kharkiv - Lviv.

Dnipro:

• 20:00 - No. 234/233 Dnipro - Chop.

Kramatorsk:

• 13:00 - No. 263/264 Kramatorsk - Lviv;
• 16:00 - №265/266 Kramatorsk - Lviv.

Zaporizhzhya:

• 16:05 No. 225 Zaporizhzhya - Kovel.

Additional trips will also go from Odesa to Uzhgorod at 22:32 and from Kyiv to Chelm at 19:13.

International evacuation trips

Poland:

• 0:40 - No. 7603/7604 Lviv - Przemyśl;
• 3:00 - #7621 Lviv - State Border;
• 7:10 - #35/36 Lviv - Przemyśl;
• 8:52 - #7607 Lviv - State Border;
• 12:12 - No. 7609/7610 Lviv - Przemyśl;
• 14:00 - #7623 Lviv - State Border;
• 15:40 - #7611/7612 Lviv - Przemyśl;
• 17:00 - #7616/7617 Lviv - Chelm;
• 19:13 - #67/68-910/909 Kyiv - Kyiv - Warsaw/Kyiv-Helm;
• 19:55 - #7601/7602 Lviv – Przemyśl

Slovakia:

• 11:35 - No. 8661 Chop - Čierna nad Tisou - Košice (arrival 13:49);
• 16:50 - No. 961 Chop - Čierna nad Tisou - Košice (arrival 18:13)

Hungary:

• 12:30 - No. 33 Mukachevo - Budapest
• 16:30 - #32521 Mukachevo - Budapest

There are 9 pairs of Chop-Zahonj trains running at 3-hour intervals during the day. The trip is regular and costs 102 UAH depending on the exchange rate of Euro.

Romania:

• 23:23 - Odesa - Ismail - Isaccea (Romania)

Austria:

• 14:07 - №749 Kyiv - Vienna*.

*for technical reasons the train can go to Zahonj or Budapest station from where it is possible to change to free for Ukrainians trains to Vienna.

20,000 soldiers from the whole world are already in. The International Legion of Ukraine to fight Russia: how to join.

Zelenskyy thanked the defenders of Mariupol. He stressed that the heroic city was undergoing the greatest challenge in its history, in the history of Ukraine.

The President mentioned those who are defending the city of Mariupol by not surrendering it to the Russian occupiers:

36th Detached Marine Brigade;

501st Detached Marine Battalion;

1st Detached Marine Battalion;

12th National Guard Brigade;

The Azov Special Operations Detachment

He was also awarded the title of Hero of Ukraine on the recommendation of the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces of Ukraine:

Colonel Volodymyr Anatoliyovych Baranyuk, commander of the 36th Detached Marine Brigade.

Major Prokopenko Denys Gennadiyovich, commander of a detached unit of special forces Azov. For courage, for effective actions to repel enemy attacks, for defending the hero-city of Mariupol.

Summary from President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's address.

Within a day, officials have worked out a solution for a complete reload of customs. Cargo for our defence, for our people will be brought into Ukraine as easily as the laws of physics allow. We are removing all the bureaucracy, all the paperwork, and also VAT, customs duties and all the customs payments. The purpose is absolutely clear so that the human factor does not interfere with the speed of delivery of goods. They are very much needed right now.

I have instructed the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine to develop a comprehensive program to support our citizens - all those who are unfortunately deprived of their homes because of the war. There are already the outlines of the program.

The first component of the program is financial, state support for all resettled people: adults and children. State support for jobs for people where they are temporarily. So that each of our people, each of our families has a basis for living.

The second component is accommodation. The government is preparing particular proposals for the accommodation of internally displaced people now, as well as arranging for the reconstruction of destroyed dwellings once the war is over.

The third component is no less important: support for families who have accommodated people from the territories of hostilities or temporary occupation. At a minimum, they will be reimbursed for the costs of utilities related to the stay of the displaced people.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's address as of 18 March.

"Meaningful peace and security negotiations for Ukraine are the only chance for Russia to reduce the damage from its own mistakes. It is time to meet. It's time to talk. It's time to restore territorial integrity and justice for Ukraine. Otherwise, Russia's losses will be so huge that you will not have enough generations to recover," the head of state said.

Polish President Andrzej Duda on 18 March signed a decree on almost doubling the size of the army. As stated in the document, the Polish army will be increased to 300,000 servicemen (250,000 professional soldiers, 50,000 territorial defence soldiers). Soldiers will be given additional payments.

Defence spending in Poland in 2022 will amount to 2.2% of the country's GDP, from 2023 - 3% of GDP. The rearmament plan will be reviewed every four years.

Russian occupiers continue to destroy civilian infrastructure in Mariupol. CNN published the new satellite images from Maxar Technologies.

The first picture shows the western part of the city - houses destroyed by air strikes, cars and buses burnt. 

The second image captured the south-western part of the city - a long convoy of Mariupol residents' cars trying to flee the city to escape bombing by Russian aircraft.

Irkutsk area mayor Leonid Frolov reported that the Russian army is taking part in the military action in Donbass since 2014. He also stated that Russian soldiers knew they are going to fight in Ukraine.
He wrote about it on his Vkontakte page in the obituary to the Russian soldier from the village in Irkutsk region, Valery Beresovsky, who died in Ukraine. Frolov's post got edited later.

Former US army commander in Europe Ben Hodges believes that within the next 10 days the Russian occupiers may lose the ability to continue their aggression against Ukraine, but this will only be possible with increased aid to Ukraine with weapons.

Russia has already fired more than 1,000 missiles into Ukraine since the start of the war. The Russian occupier's offensive is now stuck on all fronts, the Pentagon has said.

Most of the detained saboteurs are Ukrainian citizens, Interior Minister Denys Monastyrskyy has said.

"Most of them are Ukrainian citizens who had obtained residence permits and citizenship some time ago by coming from other countries or by leaving the previously occupied territories. Or even those who were here and somehow crossed the border with the Russian Federation for some time, were recruited there and then carried out certain tasks," the Interior Minister said.

The chairman of the Verkhovna Rada, Ruslan Stefanchuk, has admitted the possibility of amending the Constitution of Ukraine with regard to Euro-Atlantic integration amid the negotiations with Russia. He said this on air of the 1+1 TV channel.

"Since the path to Euro-Atlantic integration is stipulated by the Ukrainian Constitution, we have a very high level of legitimization of this course of action. Therefore, we will see which path the negotiators will take and then we will look for a model that will either not contradict the Constitution or we will change the Constitution in this part," the VRU chairman noted.

A convoy of enemy equipment is destroyed in the Mykolayiv region.

Guardsmen have seized the occupier's equipment in Luhansk Region, the head of the Luhansk Regional Military Administration, Serhiy Haidai, has said.

Russian occupiers suffered losses near Kremenna. The National Guard discovered two infantry fighting vehicles of the Russian invaders and destroyed one of the infantry fighting vehicles BMP-1 with a grenade launcher.

During the engagement, the crew of another enemy infantry fighting vehicle BMP-1 could not withstand fire contact and fled, abandoning their weapons and equipment.

Our soldiers obtained a trophy infantry fighting vehicle BMP-1 in serviceable condition with full combat kit, suitable for combat missions and elimination of its former owners.

Director Serhiy Loznytsya has been expelled from the Ukrainian Film Academy.

This decision was taken by the board and supervisory board of the Ukrainian Film Academy.

"Director Serhiy Loznitsya has repeatedly stressed that he considers himself a cosmopolitan, a 'man of the world'. However, now that Ukraine is standing up for its independence with all its might, the key concept in the rhetoric of every Ukrainian must be his national identity. And there can be no compromises or half-tones here," the film academy said in a statement.

It is also stressed that Loznitsya's films were recently included in the programme of the Russian film festival in the French city of Nantes under the title "From Lviv to the Urals".

At the same time, Loznitsya quit the European Film Academy (EFA) on 28 February to protest the academy's weak response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Today 9145 people were evacuated via the humanitarian corridors, the deputy of the head of PO Kyrylo Tymoshenko informs.

4972 citizens of Mariupol, among them 1124 children, went to Zaporizhzhya.

Fuel was delivered to Berdiansk to refuel personal vehicles of Mariupol citizens going through the humanitarian corridor.

500 people were taken by buses that arrived to Berdiansk from Zaporizhzhya.

Tomorrow 10 buses will be sent tomorrow to Berdiansk, those will take away Mariupol citizens.

4173 people were evacuated from Sumy region.

The occupiers bombed out the Azovstal metallurgical plant of Ahmetov’s.

A Kyiv family who suffered from shelling of the capital by the russian occupiers was hospitalized. The woman received numerous fragmental wounds – she covered her one month old daughter with her body.

The press service of the National Security and Defense Council recommends one of the easiest ways to detect a member of the sabotage and reconnaissance group – to ask a suspicious person to repeat Ukrainian words, to which the “Russian speech apparatus” is not adapted.

“Shibboleth” is a kind of language password, which can be used to recognize that the language spoken by a person is not native to him.

Words that will quickly uncover NOT a native Ukrainian by the pronunciation: “паляниця, молодиця, світлиця, нісенітниця, веселка, філіжанка, вештатися, духмяний, непереливки, кмітливий, пуцьвірінок, обценьки, теревенити, телепень” (“palyanytsya, molodytsya, svitlytsya, nisenitnytsya, veselka, filizhanka, veshtatysya, dukhmyanyy, neperelyvky, kmitlyvyy, putsʹvirinok, obtsenʹky, terevenyty, telepenʹ”)

Russian occupiers can strike the Dnipro city hospital. To create an “alibi”, the ministry of defense of Russia declared today as if the Security Service of Ukraine mined the hospital to blow it up when a russian aircraft flies over it.