In the Ukraine war, the battle for Bakhmut rages on.
Zelenskyj publishes a new video message.
The current news ticker.
Criticism
of
Russian offensive
: Hardliner Girkin sees "strategic defeat" for Russia
Russian attacks
: Putin's soldiers continue to attack Ukraine
Battle
of
Bakhmut
: Russia encircles hard-fought city.
Ukraine up-to-date
: All information and news about the Ukraine war in our current news ticker.
Update from March 18, 5:25 p.m .:
According to official information, two ministers will be exchanged in the Ukrainian government in the coming week.
"Today at the parliamentary group meeting of the political party 'Servants of the People' we discussed cadre changes in the government that are planned for the coming week," said Prime Minister Denys Schmyhal via his Telegram channel.
This affects the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Industry.
Nothing is known about the reasons.
Recently, the Ukrainian government had been shaken by several corruption scandals, which had led to some dismissals.
Ukraine update: Putin visits Crimean Peninsula on anniversary of invasion
Update from March 18, 3:40 p.m .:
According to Russian state media, Kremlin boss Vladimir Putin is currently in Crimea.
He said he was visiting the peninsula to mark the 9th anniversary of its invasion by Russian troops.
The state broadcaster Ria Nowosti published a short video excerpt on Telegram.
The mayor of the city of Sevastopol, Mikhail Razvozchaev, accompanied him.
+
Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin in Crimea to mark the 9th anniversary of the invasion.
© Screenshot/Telegram/@rian_ru
Ukraine news: Erdogan announces extension of the grain agreement
Update from March 18, 3:20 p.m.:
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has claimed that the grain agreement between the UN, Turkey, Russia and Ukraine has been extended.
Erdogan did not specify the period for which the agreement was extended.
Previously, Russia had asked for a 60-day extension, while Ukraine had asked for a longer period.
The agreement is intended to enable the free export of grain from the war zone and was negotiated by Turkey and the UN in July 2022.
Update from March 18, 12:45 p.m .:
Russian troops want to have destroyed Ukrainian targets in the Zaporizhia region.
A camp of "foreign militias" was also fired upon, the Russian state agency Ria Novosti said, citing the pro-Russian representative Vladimir Rogov.
He spoke of "Nazi mercenaries and advisers".
Dozens were killed, he claimed.
Criticism of Russian offensive: Hardliner Girkin sees "strategic defeat" for Russia
Update from March 18, 12:40 p.m .:
The Russian hardliner, ex-militia commander and at the same time fierce opponent of the Kremlin Igor Girkin again criticized the Russian offensive against the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut from a military point of view.
According to the Ukrainian news agency Unian, he predicted a "strategic defeat" for Russia.
He praised the city's Ukrainian defenses as "competent".
There are tactical achievements by the Russian military, but strategically it is a defeat.
Russian troops would fight “by the enemy’s rules.”
Long thought to be the commander of several pro-Russian militia groups in eastern Ukraine, Girkin is also believed to have been involved in the downing of the Malaysian MH17 airliner in 2014.
He is a well-known critic of the Kremlin.
He repeatedly accuses the Russian leadership of acting too indecisively and softly.
Ukraine news: Russia probably wants to expand military service
Update from March 18, 11:55 a.m .:
According to British intelligence services, the Russian authorities are probably preparing for an expansion of military service in order to strengthen the armed forces.
On March 13, a bill was introduced in the Russian House of Commons, according to which in future men between the ages of 21 and 30 should be called up instead of men between the ages of 18 and 27, the British Ministry of Defense announced.
"The law is expected to be passed and would then come into force in January 2024," it said in London.
Since Soviet times, Russia has been conscripting conscripts twice a year.
"Officially, Russia continues to exclude conscripts from operations in Ukraine, although at least hundreds are likely to have been deployed - through mix-up by authorities or after being forced to sign contracts," the UK ministry wrote.
According to the intelligence services, many 18- to 27-year-olds are currently applying for exemption from military service by citing that they are in college education.
Authorities are now likely changing the age range to increase troop levels, sources said.
"Even if Russia continues to refrain from using conscripts in war, additional conscripts will make a larger number of professional soldiers available for combat operations."
A Year of Ukraine War: The Origins of the Conflict with Russia
A Year of Ukraine War: The Origins of the Conflict with Russia
War in Ukraine: Putin passes new law against "defamation" of war volunteers
Update from March 18, 11:15 a.m .:
Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin has signed the tightening of the controversial law punishing “slander” or “discrediting” war volunteers.
This not only severely punishes criticism of the regular army, but also of “volunteers” fighting in the neighboring country.
The law "On entering amendments to the Criminal Code" has been published on the official law portal of the Russian government.
A conviction under the new law carries a sentence of up to 15 years in prison.
The tightening of the law is mainly due to a demand from the head of the notorious Wagner mercenary group, Yevgeny Prigozhin.
He had recruited rows of serious criminals for the war against Ukraine.
The 61-year-old asked politicians to protect the mercenaries - who are officially considered volunteers - from defamation.
Ukraine war: US again deports Russian citizens
Update from March 18, 10:10 a.m .:
The United States had actually stopped the return of Russian citizens to Russia with the start of Vladimir Putin's war of aggression in Ukraine.
But now they are probably going further, as the British newspaper
The Guardian
reported, citing their sources.
For example, a young Russian man who apparently fled Russia because of the mobilization was recently returned to the country.
According to the report, the development was unexpected.
Other Russians who have fled are now afraid that they too will be handed over to the Russian government.
"I don't know what's going to happen to him," Jennifer Scarborough, the repatriated Russian man's lawyer, told the British newspaper.
After all, Russia makes no secret of its feelings towards the opposition in the country.
"The very fact that they fled Russia to come to the US puts them at risk," Scarborough said.
Russian attacks: Putin's soldiers continue to attack Ukraine
Update from March 18, 9:30 a.m.:
Over the past day, the Russian military has carried out 34 airstrikes against Ukraine, as the Ukrainian General Staff announced in its latest report on Facebook.
11 of these attacks were carried out with Iranian Shahed 136 drones.
While the Ukrainian army destroyed 10 of these drones, one drone crashed into an industrial infrastructure object.
In addition, the Russian military fired 57 rockets from multiple rocket launchers.
There are no losses.
The Ukrainian army, on the other hand, carried out six airstrikes against Russian units' concentration areas.
In addition, an anti-aircraft position was fired upon.
Ukraine news: Kiev's military is apparently destroying Russian positions
First report from March 18:
Kiev – Ukraine apparently destroyed several enemy positions in the Battle of Bakhmut.
This is what Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a new video message about the current situation in the war with Russia.
He thanked the Ukrainian armed forces for their continued resistance, especially around the hard-fought town of Bakhmut in Donetsk region.
The battle for Bakhmut, which has been going on for days, is now considered the bloodiest in the entire Ukraine war.
Zelenskyy reiterated that the largely destroyed city, which once had a population of 70,000, was to be retained.
If Bakhmut fell, Russian forces in the east of the country could penetrate deep into Ukraine and shift the course of the front in his favor.
This is one of the reasons why the city's defenses have been strengthened again.
Ukraine news: Russian troops are encircling Bakhmut
Russia is currently trying to completely encircle Bakhmut with its troops.
So the supply of the defenders should be cut off.
Oleksandr Syrskyj, leader of the local infantry, said that Russia is deploying all available forces in the Ukraine war in Bakhmut.
The city has become the "epicenter of hostilities".
According to the British MoD, the Russian troops around Bakhmut have made progress - albeit with heavy casualties.
+
The current hostilities in the Ukraine war are mainly concentrated in the city of Bakhmut.
© Roman Chop/dpa
The head of the Ukrainian ground forces, Oleksandr Syrskyj, said Russia was using all its forces.
Syrskyj also emphasized that Bakhmut "remains the epicenter of hostilities".
The British Ministry of Defense reported in its daily update that Russian forces were making progress in the battle for the city.
Ukraine news: Kiev receives new fighter jets to fight against Russia
To support Ukraine in the current war against Russia, Slovakia has announced that it will deliver several fighter jets to Kiev.
The jets are Soviet MiG-29 fighter planes.
Meanwhile, Russia has canceled celebrations in Crimea due to the current situation in the Ukraine war.
Actually, the intention was to celebrate the ninth anniversary of "reunification" with Russia on the peninsula.
Russian President Vladimir Putin annexed Crimea in 2014.
Scheduled festivities have also been canceled in Moscow.
A planned concert in Moscow's Luzhniki Stadium will not take place.
The reason for this is the fear of an attack or other incidents.
(with dpa)
Rubric list image: © Screenshot/Telegram/@rian_ru
