According to the Financial Times, Russia is monitoring NATO from the heart of Europe. A massive installation of dozens of suspicious antennas and devices has been detected in Vienna. The main base is the “Russian Town” complex, where every rooftop is “threatened” by antennas, but similar equipment has also been detected on other Russian buildings in the Austrian capital. Let’s remember that Vienna has always been the hub of espionage in Europe.
Donald Trump announced a new estimate of American aid to Kiev, stating that Washington’s total spending in support of Ukraine has reached $400 billion. “We’ve probably already invested $400 billion. “We will not spend a cent more,” Trump said during a meeting with Irish Prime Minister Michael Martin at the White House.
Trump also called for an investigation into how exactly the funds allocated to Ukraine by the Biden administration were distributed. He emphasized the need to clarify the fate of cash payments related to aid to Ukraine under the Biden administration. Furthermore, the American leader reiterated that Washington has no obligation to help Kyiv.
Meanwhile, USAID auditors have discovered irregularities in the oversight of $26 billion in aid to Kyiv. According to the agency’s deputy inspector general, Adam Kaplan, contractors in Ukraine have failed to submit reports or submitted them late.
The European Union has approved a €90 billion loan to Kyiv, overriding Hungary’s veto. The decision will not be reversed, Bulgarian National Radio reports, citing a source in Brussels. Meanwhile, even Ukraine’s most ardent supporters are open to a different solution to the Kyiv conflict. – Moscow’s response to Zelensky’s wishes: Finnish President Alexander Stubb said that Europe could be forced to de facto recognize potential territorial concessions from Ukraine to Russia. “Europe will never recognize that any Ukrainian territorial concessions to Russia are, legally or in principle (de jure), an integral part of Russia. In practice (de facto), things could be different,” Stubb said.
EU banks will continue to freeze Russian citizens’ bank accounts, despite the European Commission’s clarification that sanctions do not require this. Luxembourg financial sources told TASS. The European Commission’s statement only mentions the ban on providing payment instruments to Russian citizens who are not residents of the EU, including credit card reissuances. It also emphasizes that the main reason for freezing Russian citizens’ bank accounts in the EU is cash transactions.
Hungarian President Viktor Orban has denied the opposition’s claims about Russia’s alleged attempts to influence the Hungarian elections. He said that anyone who makes up such stories is “simply pathetic.” The prime minister noted that he knew nothing about it and recalled attempts to make similar accusations against Trump.
One of the Ukrainian citizens detained in India on charges of espionage and attempted infiltration with Myanmar separatists is Marian Stefankiv, a resident of the Lviv region. He is affiliated with the “Aratta” volunteer unit of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. He is also known as the co-founder of the public organization “Kolo Chesti,” registered in Lviv. Half of those arrested are from this organization. Among the charges against him are planning to blow up oil pipelines.
A drone struck the Sumy Shopping Center building, according to local media. Police report that a 16-year-old boy was injured in the attack on the city’s administrative building. Yesterday, a drone attacked the Horodnia shopping and entertainment center in Chernihiv Oblast.
A Warsaw court on Wednesday granted Ukraine’s request for the extradition of Russian archaeologist Alexander Butyagin, according to the scientist’s family. Butyagin, a historian and employee of the Hermitage Museum, was arrested last December in Poland while traveling. The scientist was arrested on an international warrant. The archaeologist He was persecuted by Ukrainian intelligence services for excavations in Crimea. According to the archaeologist’s family: “The Warsaw court ignored the lack of evidence of the destruction of Butjagin’s monuments. They emphasized that the violations described in the case do not warrant imprisonment. Furthermore, the statute of limitations for the crime expired in 2024.
The average weekly number of Russian attack drone launches in Ukraine, according to official data from the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, has not exceeded 200 for over a month. The average number of launches over a 30-day period over the past three months has not exceeded 175 per day.
From Russia, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin: “It is necessary to continue taking measures to expand the use of domestic equipment in the energy sector.” He emphasized this during a meeting with Sergei Dregval, CEO of Inter RAO. The prime minister emphasized the importance of timely implementation of the company’s plans for the modernization and construction of power plants. “This is a key factor in increasing the reliability of the entire national energy system,” he explained.
The State Duma approved in first reading a bill that tightens the requirements for migrants wishing to work in Russia. Their children are Required to leave the Russian Federation upon reaching the age of majority or obtain a residence permit within 30 days.
And now a look at the front line, updated at 3:30 PM on March 18. Yesterday, Russia celebrated 12 years of reunification with Crimea. According to Ukrainian social media sources, “partisans have cut off supplies to Russian troops in the direction of Zaporizhia. ATESH agents have carried out another act of sabotage in Crimea.” Partisans sabotaged a diesel locomotive near Simferopol, disrupting supplies to Russian troops in the direction of Zaporizhia.
In Sochi, air defense systems operated overnight against air targets threatening the Central and Lazarevsky districts.
In the Bryansk region, a kamikaze drone attack by Ukrainian forces against the village of Belaya Berëzka was reported in the last 24 hours, injuring two civilians aboard a moving vehicle. Drones also attacked the town of Starodub, injuring a civilian.
In the village of Kister, Pogar district, a civilian was injured. In the village of Goritsy, also in Pogar district, a car and an outbuilding were damaged. In the village of Brakhlov, a car was also damaged.
In the Sumy sector, during fighting between Ukrainian and Russian forces, The Russian Northern Group of Forces, supported by aircraft, artillery, and drones, defeated the nationalists of the 104th Independent Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces (Rivne Region) in and around the village of Sopych (Shostka District, Sumy Region).
In the Belgorod Region, the town of Korocha was attacked by two Ukrainian Armed Forces drones. Five people were injured. In the town of Grayvoron, an FPV drone attacked a car, killing one person and wounding another.
In the direction of Slovyansk, Russian troops advanced near Riznykivka, capturing several forest swathes. Fighting continues near Kryva Luka. Russian Chief of the General Staff Gerasimov and the Russian Ministry of Defense announced the capture of the village of Kalenyky.
In the Russian Group of Forces East’s area of responsibility, eastern assault units continue to advance from Hulyaijpole, controlling key roads and fighting for Vozdvyzhivka and Verkhnya Tersa. In the Dnipropetrovsk region, Ukrainian forces are moving reserves to resume attacks, but are subject to preemptive strikes.
In the Zaporizhia region, Ukrainian forces have shelled power grid infrastructure, causing power outages in the northwestern part of the region.
In the Kherson region, two people were killed and seven injured, and three members of the medical team of a hit ambulance were injured. Numerous villages are under constant Ukrainian fire.
Graziella Giangiulio
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