The Latest Update on the Ukrainian War: Day 388 [Updated at 19:40]

Live text broadcast – short and concise about the most important things in the Ukrainian war on March 18. Ukraine has been heroically defending its land against the aggressor’s invasion for a whole year.

19:40. Ukrainian defense forces on Saturday repelled Russian attacks in the northern part of Bakhmut, while the city remains the epicenter of hostilities.

18:09. The Russians are trying to surround Avdiyivka, but without success and lost almost two companies of soldiers during the day, referring to the Ukrainian Defense Forces, reports pravda.com.ua.

17:10. Moscow and Kyiv have agreed to extend the agreement on the export of Ukrainian grain through the Black Sea, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced on Saturday.

16:33. Russian propagandists claim that dictator Vladimir Putin arrived in Crimea on the ninth anniversary of the occupation – right after the International Criminal Court issued a warrant for his arrest, reports pravda.com.ua.

15:00. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi has imposed sanctions against Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad. The sanctions will be valid for 10 years. They block Assad’s assets if they are located in Ukraine and any trade operations are prohibited, reports pravda.com.ua.

13:44. On the morning of March 18, airstrikes throughout Ukraine lasted for about two hours. Activists from Belarus wrote about the takeoff of the Russian MiG-31K, reports pravda.com.ua.

12:38. On Friday evening, the “Underdog” and “La Virgen” bars in Moscow were broken into by the fighters of the police special task force (OMON), allegedly conducting an operation related to the financing of the Ukrainian army, reports the government-controlled agency TASS. Approximately 40 people – both employees of the institutions and visitors – were detained and taken to the police station, where they were interrogated, with the participation of representatives of the Federal Security Service (FSB). Lawyers are not allowed to visit the detainees. “Telegram” channel SOTA reports that the police forced the visitors of the “Underdog” bar to listen to the songs of pop musicians-war supporters, popular with Russian chauvinists, forcing their victims to join them.

11:44. The loss of Russian troops in Ukraine has reached 164,200 soldiers by Saturday morning, according to the General Staff of the Ukrainian Army. According to the data of the general staff, 880 invaders were destroyed during the day. Since the beginning of the repeated invasion on February 24 of last year, the Russians have lost 3,511 tanks, 6,830 armored personnel carriers, 2,560 cannons, 506 multi-charge rocket launchers, 265 anti-aircraft artillery installations, 305 airplanes, 290 helicopters, 2,159 drones, 907 cruise missiles, 5,404 cars, and 18 tankers. and speedboats, as well as 259 units of specialized equipment.

10:41. Of the Ukrainian refugees in Poland, 45% plan to stay in this country for a longer time – at least one or more years after the end of the war, while in March 2022, 31% of the Ukrainian refugees in Poland expressed such a wish. This is the sentiment of Ukrainian refugees, according to a survey conducted by the migration platform EWL and the Center for Eastern European Studies of the University of Warsaw on the order of the Polish Prime Minister’s Office. The proportion of refugees who want to stay in Poland permanently has decreased from 7% to 6% since last March.

09:33. The Russian Armed Forces sent 16 Iranian-made Shahed-136/131 attack drones to Ukraine on Friday evening, 11 of which were shot down by Ukrainian air defense, the Air Force of Ukraine announced on the Telegram app.

08:10. UN Secretary-General António Guterres will continue to meet and talk with Russian President Vladimir Putin even after the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for Putin, UN Secretary-General’s Office representative Stephane Dijarric said at a press conference on Friday.

00:10. “The arrest warrant of Russian President Vladimir Putin issued by the International Criminal Court is a historic decision, from which historical evidence will be obtained,” according to the president of Ukraine, pravda.com.ua reports.