- The Russian army entered Friday, March 18 in the city of Mariupol, where at least 300,000 inhabitants are besieged for eighteen days. Street fighting is taking place near the city center as 50 to 100 bombs are dropped daily on residential areas, along with hundreds of shells and rockets.
- Airstrikes followed one another at a rapid pace on Mykolaiva town in the south of the country where dozens of soldiers were killed the day before in a strike against an army barracks, according to the governor of the region. “No less than 200 soldiers were sleeping in the barracks”told a soldier interviewed on the spot, according to which “at least 50 bodies were extracted”.
- The Russian Ministry of Defense announced on Saturday that it had used Kinjal hypersonic missiles the day before to destroy an underground weapons warehouse in western Ukraine. Russia had never previously reported the use of this ballistic missile during the two conflicts where it is belligerent: Ukraine and Syria. This type of missiles, very maneuverable, defies, according to Moscow, all anti-aircraft defense systems. “Ukraine has unfortunately become a testing ground for the entire Russian missile arsenal”said the spokesman of the Ukrainian Air Force.
- The war in Ukraine forced more than 3.3 million Ukrainians – 90% women and children – to leave the country, according to the United Nations. Nearly 6.5 million people are believed to be internally displaced.
- The head of the Russian delegation to talks with Kyiv announced on Friday that he had seen a ” reconciliation » positions on the question of a « neutrality status of Ukraine and its non-membership of NATO “. For his part, the Ukrainian President has pleaded for a serious discussion, in a solemn video, filmed at night in kyiv, deserted. ” It’s time to get together. It’s time to discuss. It’s time to restore territorial integrity and justice for Ukraine “says Volodymyr Zelensky. “Otherwise, the losses for Russia will be such that it will take several generations to recover. »
- On Friday, the President of the United States, Joe Biden, and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, ended their one hour and fifty minute interview on Friday. The United States said on Thursday that China would face retaliation if it were to “support Russian aggression”. Russia gave up on Thursday evening to hold a vote in the Security Council on a resolution, for lack of support from its closest allies.
Read all our articles, analyzes and reports on the war in Ukraine:
Live March 18 can be found here
Report. In Mariupol, after the bombs, the tanks
To analyse. Biden seeks to avoid a common front of authoritarian regimes in favor of Russia
Your questions. The answers of the “World” to your most frequently asked questions
To analyse. Russia takes first step towards default
History of a concept. Siege warfare, a weapon to terrorize civilians
Chronic. “Countries considering falling out with the Western alliance may be inclined to hold fewer reserves”
