March 18 (Reuters) – Russian missiles struck an airport near the western city of Lviv, where hundreds of thousands found refuge from Ukrainian battlefields as Moscow tries to regain initiative in its stalled campaign.
U.S. President Joe Biden is due to speak with Chinese President Xi Jinping at 1300 GMT, seeking to isolate Moscow from the one big power that has yet to condemn its invasion of Ukraine.
An injured elderly woman sits next to a damaged residential building in the aftermath of a shelling in the Podilskyi district of Kyiv (Kiev), Ukraine, 18 March 2022. At least one person was reportedly killed and 19 others were injured. EPA-EFE/ROMAN PILIPEY
CIVILIAN TOLL
* More than 350,000 people are sheltering in the besieged southern port of Mariupol, officials said, while Russian defence ministry said separatists helped by Russian troops were “tightening the noose” around the city.
* A U.S. citizen who waited in a bread line was among civilians killed in the city of Chernihiv, his family said. Russia denies targeting civilians.
* The U.N. said it had recorded 780 confirmed civilian deaths since the invasion began while 3.2 million have fled.
* Food supply chains in Ukraine were collapsing and the conflict was creating a wave of “collateral hunger” across the world, U.N. aid agency World Food Programme said.
⚡️Strollers have been put in central Lviv on March 18, representing the number of children killed in Russia's war against Ukraine.
According to Prosecutor General’s Office, Russian forces have killed 109 children and injured more than 130 since Feb. 24.
— The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) March 18, 2022
MILITARY FRONT
* “Russian forces have made minimal progress this week,” Britain said in a daily intelligence update.
Ukrainian forces around Kyiv and Mykolaiv continue to push back Russian attempts to encircle Kyiv and Mykolaiv, it said, while heavy shelling of encircled cities of Kharkiv, Chernihiv, Sumy and Mariupol continued.
Hour by hour, minute by minute, people are fleeing the terrifying reality of the war in Ukraine.
Unless the conflict ends, this heartbreaking crisis will only get worse.
* Chancellor Olaf Scholz called for a ceasefire in Ukraine and intensified diplomatic efforts during a phone call with President Vladimir Putin on Friday.
* The Kremlin said Putin told Scholz Ukraine was trying to stall the negotiations with “unrealistic proposals.”
* Ukraine’s foreign minister said he had discussed a new round of sanctions against Russia with EU’s foreign policy chief.
* Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said Poland will formally ask for an U.N. peacekeeping mission in Ukraine at the next NATO summit.
ECONOMY AND MARKETS
* The International Energy Agency urged consumers to travel less, share transport and drive more slowly, part of a 10-point plan to cut oil use as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine deepens concerns about supply.
* Some creditors have received payment of Russian bond coupons due this week, meaning Russia may for now have averted a debt default.
QUOTES
* “The tragedy of the war taking place in the heart of Europe has left us stunned,” Pope Francis said in a message to a Catholic Church conference in Slovakia.
“Once more humanity is threatened by a perverse abuse of power and partisan interests which condemns defenceless people to suffer every form of brutal violence.”
