March 18, 2022 Russia-Ukraine news

Our live coverage of the war in Ukraine has moved here.

Norwegian rescue teams reported late Friday that “discoveries were made” in their search for a US military aircraft with four people aboard that went missing during NATO military exercises.

The MV-22B Osprey aircraft, assigned to the?II Marine Expeditionary Force (MEF) US military unit in Norway, was “out on a training mission in Nordland County, northern Norway on Friday,” according to the Norwegian Armed Forces.

According to the JRCC statement, the aircraft “was reported missing at 6:26pm (1:26 p.m. ET) south of Bod?. The aircraft was heading north towards Bod?. The last known position was by Saltfjellet.”

Ground crews coordinated by the police have been deployed to the scene, but they are not expected to reach the area for several hours, JRCC said.

JRCC said a rescue helicopter from the town of Bod? was deployed in the search, as well as a Lockheed P-3 Orion.?Another Norwegian rescue helicopter was also sent from ?rlandet municipality, it added.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks during a second video message early Saturday morning March 19.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Saturday announced assistance for Ukrainians displaced by the Russian invasion.

Speaking in a video message, Zelensky said the country’s ministers are developing a program to support people who were forced to flee or lost their homes due to the war.

The plan will:

Zelensky added that a coordination center has been established to handle deliveries of humanitarian aid to Ukraine, and that the head of the President’s office has consulted ambassadors to ramp up these deliveries.

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern gestures during the post-Cabinet press conference in Wellington, New Zealand, Monday, March 7.

New Zealand’s Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern reiterated her support of Ukraine during a call with Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal on Saturday.

“New Zealand will continue to call on Russia to immediately cease military operations in Ukraine, and permanently withdraw to avoid further catastrophic loss of innocent life.”

Travel ban: The call comes after New Zealand added an additional 364 Russian political and military targets to a travel ban list on Friday.

At the same time, 13 individuals and 19 entities were added to a sanctions list, which included asset freezes. Those on the list include Russian President Vladimir?Putin and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks during a video message early Saturday morning March 19.

In a video message early Saturday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told Russia: “It’s time to talk.”

Pushing for negotiation: Zelensky said the Russian military’s actions were worsening the situation for their own country, and that honest negotiations “without stalling” were the only way to mitigate the damage.

“We always insisted on negotiations,” Zelensky said, “We always proposed dialogue and solutions for peace. Not just during the 23 days of invasion.”

Civilian evacuations: The President added that 180,000 Ukrainians have been rescued through evacuation corridors to date, and that seven corridors were functioning in the country on Friday —?six in the Sumy region and one in the Donetsk region.

Rescue work continues at the site of the destroyed theater in Mariupol. More than 130 people have been rescued, many of whom are injured, but there has not been any information released on casualties, he said.

Wang Jixian didn’t set out to become the Chinese voice of resistance in Ukraine. The 36-year-old resident of Odesa, a key target in Russia’s?invasion of the country, simply wanted to show his parents he was fine.

“I’m coming back from buying groceries,” he said in a video posted to Douyin, China’s version of TikTok, on February 24, the first day of the invasion. Wang, a programmer originally from Beijing, described buying meat and fruit in the video, remarking that some food stores were still open.

But his mood darkened as the days passed and the Russian assault escalated. When he logged onto Douyin, he said he would see Chinese videos praising Russian troops or supporting the invasion.

His daily videos, posted across various platforms including YouTube and the Chinese messaging app WeChat, quickly gained traction as a rare voice offering Chinese audiences a glimpse into war-torn Ukraine —?a stark contrast from Chinese state media, which has?promoted Russian disinformation such as unfounded claims Ukrainian soldiers are using “Nazi” tactics.

But in doing so, he had waded into the middle of?a messy controversy, with China facing international pressure as it refuses to condemn Russia’s invasion, and an outpouring of pro-Russia sentiment on China’s highly restricted and censored social media —?something Wang is hoping to change.

Read the full story:

Related article A Chinese vlogger shared videos of war-torn Ukraine. He's been labeled a national traitor

A US military aircraft participating in NATO exercises in Norway has been involved in a “mishap,” and a search and rescue operation is underway, according to the US Marine Corps.

The aircraft is an MV-22B Osprey assigned to the?II Marine Expeditionary Force (MEF) US military unit in Norway.

“Although the nature of military service is inherently dangerous, the safety of our Marines, Sailors, Allies and partners is our top priority,” the statement said.

In a separate statement, Maj. Jim Stenger said, “We can confirm an incident has occurred involving a Marine Corps MV-22B Osprey aircraft.?The aircraft was conducting training in Norway as part of Exercise COLD RESPONSE 22 at the time of the incident.”

“The cause of the incident is under investigation,” Stenger said.?

Dozens of Ukrainian troops were reported to have been killed at a military base in Mykolaiv in southern Ukraine following a Russian strike on Friday March 18.

CNN has identified two locations at a military base in Mykolaiv in?southern Ukraine that were hit by Russian strikes on Friday.

One location was documented by a photographer of the CNN Swedish affiliate Expressen, and another building was seen to be hit in photos and video on Telegram about 800 feet away to the north.?

It’s unclear if any individuals were killed in the military strike at the second location.?At the location in the Expressen photos, a number of bodies are seen.

According to journalists who were at the scene?from Expressen, dozens of Ukrainian troops are reported to have been killed at the military base.

Expressen correspondent Magnus Falkehed and photojournalist Niclas Hammarstr?m reported that around 6 a.m. local time on Friday (12 a.m. ET), “two Russian fighter jets dropped what appeared to be five bombs,”?destroying several buildings at the military barracks.

Rescuers at the scene used shovels and their bare hands to free survivors from the rubble of the buildings, according to the journalists.?In dramatic video filmed by Expressen, one Ukrainian soldier is seen being pulled alive from wreckage.

Expressen quoted one of the surviving soldiers, 54-year-old Serhil, who was sleeping in?the barracks opposite where the attack hit, as saying that “of the approximately 200 who were there, I would guess about 90 percent did not survive.”

Mykolaiv, a southern city that sits along the Black Sea, has been a frequent target of Russian bombings. Prior to Friday’s bombings, Russian forces had already attacked Mykolaiv with cluster munition rockets in three separate attacks spanning a week, according to a Thursday report by?Human Rights Watch.

Two Polish Air Force MIG-29's are seen at the 22nd Air Base Command in Malbork, Poland on August 27, 2021.

While the United States and other NATO member nations have?fulfilled a number of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s requests to help hinder Russian forces, they have stopped short of certain measures they say could risk an escalation in the war.

These are some of Zelensky’s asks left unfulfilled:

No-fly zone:?Zelensky has repeatedly called on Ukraine’s allies to establish a?no-fly zone?over the country. A no-fly zone is an area where certain aircraft cannot fly for any number of reasons. In the context of a conflict such as the one in Ukraine, it would probably mean a zone in which Russian planes were not allowed to fly, to prevent them from carrying out airstrikes against Ukraine.

The problem with military no-fly zones is that they have to be enforced by a military power. If a Russian aircraft flew into a NATO no-fly zone, then NATO forces would have to take action against that aircraft. Those measures could include shooting the plane from the sky. That would, in Russia’s eyes, be an act of war by NATO and would likely escalate the conflict.

S-300 missile defense systems:?This surface-to-air missile system can strike targets that are both higher in altitude and farther away than Stinger missiles are designed for.

Slovakia has?preliminarily agreed?to provide Ukraine with a key Soviet-era air defense system to help defend against Russian airstrikes, according to three sources familiar with the matter. But the US and NATO are still grappling with how to backfill that country’s own defensive capabilities, and the transfer is not yet assured.

MiG fighter jets:?Earlier this month, the US dismissed?a proposal from Poland?to transfer its MiG-29 fighter jets to the United States for delivery to Ukraine.

Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said in a statement that the US did not believe Poland’s proposal was “tenable” and that it was too risky.

“The prospect of fighter jets ‘at the disposal of the Government of the United States of America’ departing from a U.S./NATO base in Germany to fly into airspace that is contested with Russia over Ukraine raises serious concerns for the entire NATO alliance,” Kirby said.

Read more about the aid that Western allies have provided so far here.

Viktor Tereshchenko, mayor of the Velykoburlutska community in Ukraine’s northeastern region of Kharkiv, has been released, according to a video message from Kharkiv Regional State Administration’s head Oleh Syniehubov on Friday.

On Thursday, Syniehubov said Tereshchenko was “captured” by Russian forces.

He said that Russian forces did not allow the delivery of aid along the evacuation corridors, so local officials set up logistical aid centers in nearby towns that needed it most.

On Tuesday, the mayor of Melitopol, Ivan Fedorov, who had been detained by Russian forces, was freed as part of a prisoner swap. On Sunday Yevhen Matveyev, the leader of Dniprorudne, a small city north of Melitopol,?was abducted?by Russian troops, according to Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba.

CNN could not independently confirm the claim.

Former US Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton visited the Saints Volodymyr & Olha Ukrainian Catholic Church in Chicago to “show solidarity with the people of Ukraine” on Friday March 18.

Former US Presidents George W. Bush?and Bill Clinton?visited a Ukrainian church in Chicago to “show solidarity with the people of Ukraine.”

The presidents both tweeted video of their visit to Saints Volodymyr & Olha Ukrainian Catholic Church, each carrying bouquets of bright yellow sunflowers, the national flower of Ukraine.

“America stands united with the people of Ukraine in their fight for freedom and against oppression,” Clinton tweeted.

“America stands in solidarity with the people of Ukraine as they fight for their freedom and their future,” according to a tweet from The George W. Bush Presidential Center.

Ukrainian servicemen unload a plane with the FGM-148 Javelin, American man-portable anti-tank missile provided by the US to Ukraine on February 11.

Ukrainian President?Volodymyr Zelensky?has implored Western allies to provide?his country with military aid as Russia continues its unprovoked invasion.

The US and other NATO member nations have?fulfilled a number of?Zelensky’s requests, while stopping short of certain measures they say could risk an escalation in the war.

The military aid provided to Ukraine so far includes weapons that range from portable drones to complex, long-range missile systems. Here’s what’s been sent:

Switchblade drones: Small, portable, so-called kamikaze drones that carry warheads and detonate on impact. The smallest model can hit a target up to six miles away, according to the company that produces the drones, AeroVironment. It’s unclear which size model the US will send to Ukraine.

Stinger anti-aircraft missiles:?These heat-seeking, anti-aircraft missiles have a range of about five miles and 11,000 feet. Critically, Stinger missiles can distinguish between enemy and friendly aircraft.

Javelin anti-tank weapons:?This guided missile system can be shoulder-fired by a single solider and has a range of up to 8,200 feet.

AT-4 anti-armor systems:?These Swedish anti-armor weapons are “lightweight, single-shot and fully disposable,” according to the company that produces them,?Saab Bofors Dynamics.

Patriot air defense missile system:?The US also delivered two missile defense systems to Poland this month intended to deter Russia and boost Poland’s security amid Western concerns that the Ukraine conflict could spill into NATO-aligned nations.

The Patriot air defense missile system — Patriot stands for “Phased Array Tracking Radar to Intercept of Target” — is designed to counter and destroy incoming short-range ballistic missiles, advanced aircraft and cruise missiles.

The battery includes missiles and launching stations, a radar set that detects and tracks targets, and an engagement control station, according to the Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance.

Continue reading the full story here:

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks to Congress by video to plead for support.

Related article Ukraine has requested military aid. Here's how allies are providing assistance

A US Army veteran is in western Ukraine teaching first-aid classes to Ukrainian civilians, in case they need to treat wounds during the war with Russia.

Dr. Robert Lim is among the medics and doctors that the Global Surgical and?Medical Support Group is bringing to Ukraine.

Lim, who was an Army surgeon for 20 years, headed up a training at a local gym in Lviv, where he instructed teachers, engineers, dancers and even high school students how to use tourniquets and keep an injured person breathing.

Lim also taught other doctors and medical professionals how to treat wounds rarely seen during peacetime.

Dr. Tania Boychuk, a dermatologist, told McLean she is planning on joining the military.

“I?plan to go to?the war front,” she said, adding that she has close friends who are there as well.

Aid supplies are unloaded in Sumy, Ukraine, on March 18.

The United Nations announced Friday that alongside its partners in Ukraine it completed the first convoy of humanitarian aid to the city of Sumy, which is located in the northeast of the country.

Supplies were provided by the World Food?Programme, UN Refugee Agency, World Health Organization, and the UN Children’s Fund, as well as the nongovernmental organization People in Need, according to the statement. ?

“We count on the continued cooperation of all parties as the United Nations and our humanitarian partners scale up our relief operation to respond to the grave humanitarian crisis caused by this war. We are here to help the most vulnerable civilians caught in the fighting, wherever they are in Ukraine. We need unhindered and sustained humanitarian access to do so,” Awad added.

Continuing to face attacks from Russian forces, Ukrainian hospitals are strained by growing numbers of casualties and finite medical supplies. There are shortages across all types of medication, but limited access to insulin supplies has led to an uptick in conditions related to uncontrolled diabetes.

According to Valentina Ocheretenko, chair of the Ukrainian Diabetes Foundation, the country has enough insulin to supply its needs for three months. The challenge is getting it to the people who need it.

There are?over 2.3 million people with diabetes in Ukraine, according to the International Diabetes Federation, making up 7.1% of the population. For some people with type 1 diabetes, immediate access to insulin is a necessity for survival.

“We have enough insulin in the country, and a lot of humanitarian aid … is bringing more and more, but we have big problems with logistics,” Ocheretenko told CNN.

Most of Ukraine’s insulin supply is imported or made domestically by two pharmaceutical manufacturing companies, Indar and Farmak, both of which are in Kyiv, said Dr. Orest Petrychka, medical director of the Clinical Center of Endocrinology Lviv. Insulin is provided to people who need it for free in Ukraine.

“About the patients in the conflict zones, I am afraid they can be cut off from the supply of insulin … because of actions of targeted terror held by Russian troops or by the physical impossibility to supply this insulin to patients … from the pharmacy,” Petrychka told CNN.

Continue reading the full story here:

VOLNOVAKHA, UKRAINE - MARCH 12: A view of a damaged hospital as civilians continue to hide in a bomb shelter under the hospital amid Russian-Ukrainian conflict in the city of Volnovakha, Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine on March 12, 2022. (Photo by Stringer/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

Related article With Ukraine's conflict zone cut off from insulin supplies, concerns escalate for people with diabetes

Protective berms are seen around Russian military equipment near Ozera on March 17.

The Russian military is quite literally digging in, constructing earthen berms around its military equipment northwest of the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv, according to Maxar Technologies’ analysis and satellite images.

The new satellite images show the protective berms around Russian military equipment near Ozera and the Antonov Air Base.?

Additional Russian military equipment, and some berm construction, are also seen in the villages of Zdvyzhivka and Berestyanka, further northwest.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki speaks during a press briefing at the White House on March 18 in Washington, DC.

The White House downplayed threats made by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov against material assistance coming into Ukraine after US President Joe Biden pledged to send more than $800 million in security assistance. On Friday, Lavrov said any weapons shipments entering Ukraine will be a “legitimate” target for Russia.?

“That’s a threat that he has made before,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins during a press briefing Friday, adding that “there are no US troops operating inside Ukraine,” with all US forces operating exclusively in NATO territory.?

As CNN previously reported, Lavrov reportedly said the Russians had “made it very clear that any cargo that will enter the territory of Ukraine, which we will consider … [carrying] weapons, will become a legitimate target,” according to state TV channel RT. A number of NATO countries, including the US, have pledged military aid to Ukraine ranging from drones to anti-tank missiles.

Lavrov said Soviet and Russian-made missile defense systems, which are available to some NATO countries, cannot be legally transferred to third countries, according to TASS.

But Psaki added that some of the convoys were also bringing humanitarian assistance.?

“We continue to have the means of getting that assistance in and we have effectively been doing that in recent days,” she added, “so we will continue to work through those channels.”

As Friday ends in Ukraine, here’s a look at the latest developments that have happened so far in the war.

Hundreds likely still under rubble: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Friday that 130 people have been rescued?from the bombed theater in the city of Mariupol?so far. Hundreds of people were taking shelter at the theater when it was bombed on Wednesday. Speaking on Ukrainian TV, Zelensky said that rescue operations are continuing at the site despite the difficulties. However, hundreds of people are still under the rubble in Mariupol, Zelensky added.

Impacted areas: Lviv, Kramatorsk and a district in Kyiv were hit by Russian weapons, according to Ukrainian authorities. But the Ukrainian army offered a rosy assessment of Russian advancement on Kyiv, saying Russia’s two main routes for attacking the capital city have been blocked.?US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin also said on Friday that the US has “seen a number of missteps” by Russia in its invasion of Ukraine.

Meanwhile, French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday told Russian President Vladimir Putin that he was concerned about the situation in?Mariupol, the Ukrainian city that has been hit by constant shelling over recent days, according to the Elysée Palace.

Evacuations:?Nine corridors to evacuate civilians from towns and cities badly hit by Russian attacks had been agreed for Friday, according to the Ukrainian government. For the second day running, one of the agreed corridors links the besieged southeastern city of Mariupol to Zaporizhzhia, which remains under Ukrainian control.

New satellite images from Maxar Technologies are showing more areas in Mariupol have been destroyed from intense firefights between Russian and Ukrainian militaries. Just southwest of Mariupol, a line of cars — residents evacuated from the city — was seen traveling along the highway toward Berdyansk.

Deaths mount: The United Nations estimates that over 800 Ukrainian civilians have lost their lives since the Feb. 24 Russian invasion began, but “believes that the actual figures are considerably higher.”

Biden and Xi speak: US President Joe Biden told CNN that his call with Chinese President Xi Jinping Friday “went well.” According to the White House, Biden “described the implications and consequences if China provides material support to Russia” in?a nearly two-hour phone call?with China’s leader.

New satellite images from Maxar Technologies are showing more areas in the city of Mariupol have been destroyed from intense firefights between Russian and Ukrainian militaries.

In one of the images, taken in western Mariupol, apartment complexes are seen burnt and debris scattered around them. Outside one of them, a number of buses are seen, and some are burnt.

In northern Mariupol, the apartment buildings surrounding two schools have been damaged.?

Just southwest of Mariupol, a line of cars is seen traveling along the highway towards Berdyansk.

US President Joe Biden’s nearly two-hour video call with his Chinese counterpart hasn’t assuaged US concerns that China may be willing to provide military or financial support to Russia, the White House says.

Instead, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said the US would be watching President Xi Jinping’s actions closely going forward.

She said “actions are a key part of what we will be watching.”?

On the call, Biden offered his view of the invasion of Ukraine and spelled out the implications should China intervene in support of Russia. But he did not offer a specific request to Xi.

“China has to make decision for themselves on where they want to stand and how they want the history books to look at them and view their actions,” Psaki said. “That is a decision for President Xi to make.”

Psaki said Biden would discuss China’s role in the conflict when he meets with NATO and G7 leaders in Brussels next week.

Russian forces have launched “more than 1,080 missiles” since the beginning of their invasion of Ukraine, a senior US defense official said Friday.

Reports of missile strikes in the western part of Ukraine “in the vicinity of the Lviv International Airport appear to be accurate,” the official said.

The official did not have additional information on where the origin of the missile strikes in the western part of Ukraine were from or how much damage they caused at this time.

The airspace over Ukraine “remains contested,” the official added.

The US Commerce Department is warning that servicing certain aircraft tied to Russia could constitute a violation of export laws.

The department provided a list of aircraft that are in “apparent violation” of Export Administration Regulations, known as EAR, including one owned by prominent oligarch Roman Abramovich.?

The export restrictions were put in place last month in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The department has since compiled this list, which it says is not exhaustive.?

Some of the actions that are restricted include “refueling, maintenance, repair, or the provision of spare parts or services.”

“We are publishing this list to put the world on notice—we will not allow Russian and Belarusian companies and oligarchs to travel with impunity in violation of our laws,” US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said in the statement.

In this photo released by the White House, US President Biden speaks with President Xi Jinping of the People's Republic of China on Friday, March 18.

US President Joe Biden told CNN that his call with Chinese President Xi Jinping Friday “went well.”

“The President underscored his support for a diplomatic resolution to the crisis,” the White House said.

The White House added that the two leaders “also agreed on the importance of maintaining open lines of communication.”

A senior administration official, meanwhile, said that?Biden’s phone call was “direct,” “substantive” and “detailed.”

The bulk of their discussion centered on the war in Ukraine, and the implications the crisis would have both on US-China relations and the “international order,” the official said.

Biden provided an assessment of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s actions in his conflict with Ukraine, the official said, and “made clear” the implications and consequences of potentially assisting Russia in its war.

More on the call: The secure video call between Biden and Xi began at 9:03 a.m. ET on Friday. It lasted one hour and 50 minutes, and concluded at 10:53 a.m EDT, the White House said.

According to Chinese state media CCTV, Xi told Biden, “conflict and confrontation are not in the interests of anyone,” and “China and the US have a responsibility to work for peace.”

Here’s a full readout of the call from the White House:

CNN’s David Chalian breaks down the call in today’s episode of the CNN Political Briefing podcast. Listen here.

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Friday said that the US has “seen a number of missteps” by Russia in its invasion of Ukraine.

In offering an assessment of Russia’s troops, Austin told CNN’s Don Lemon in an exclusive interview that the Russians “have not progressed as far as quickly as they would have liked.”

Austin told CNN that the Russians have “struggled with logistics” and that he has not seen evidence of “good employment of tactical intelligence” nor “integration of air capability with a ground maneuver.”?

Since the invasion Ukraine began nearly a month ago, Russian troops have bombarded and destroyed large parts of cities including Mariupol and Kharkiv, but Ukraine has been able to prevent Russia taking large swaths of the country, including the capital of Kyiv.

“I think (Russia) envisioned that they would move rapidly and very quickly seize the capital city, they’ve not been able to do that,” the Pentagon chief said.

In the face of fierce Ukrainian resistance to its invasion, Russia is also coping with low troop morale and struggling to resupply the thousands of troops in the country, US and NATO officials told CNN this week.

Lemon’s full interview with Austin will air at 10 p.m. ET tonight on CNN.

French President Emmanuel Macron attends a meeting in Pau, France on March 18.

French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday told Russian President Vladimir Putin that he was very concerned about the situation in Mariupol, the Ukrainian city that has been hit by constant shelling over recent days, according to the Elysée Palace.

According to a statement from the Elysée, Macron “shared his extreme concern with President Putin regarding the situation in Mariupol and once again demanded an immediate ceasefire.”

“The [French] President again brought up the deterioration of the situation in Ukraine, the continued strikes hitting civilians and failure to respect humanitarian law while negotiations between the Russian and Ukrainian delegation have for now not led to any progress,” according to Macron’s office.

In response to a journalist’s question about whether Putin had accused Ukraine of war crimes on the call with Macron, the Elysée said: “As he has done publicly, President Putin again placed responsibility for the conflict on Ukraine.”?

The call lasted just over one hour, according to the Elysée.?

At least three cruise missiles were shot down by air defenses in the central Ukrainian city of Vinnytsia on Friday morning, the head of Vinnytsia war and civil administration reported.

Vinnytsia has faced increasing rocket fire from Russian forces; the city’s TV tower and airport have both been hit by airstrikes in the past two weeks, according to Ukrainian authorities.

Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia have expelled 10 Russian diplomats, according to statements from their foreign ministries on Friday.

In a tweet on Friday, Latvian Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkēvi?s confirmed that the decision “has been coordinated with #Lithuania and #Estonia.”

Lithuania declared four employees of the Russian Embassy to be persona non grata, while Latvia and Estonia have each done the same for three Russian Embassy staff.?

“Current activities of those persons under diplomatic cover are incompatible with their diplomatic status and are causing detriment to the Republic of Latvia,” Latvia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement on Friday.

“The persons subject to expulsion must leave the Republic of Latvia by 23:59 on 23 March,” the statement continued.

Lithuania also ordered the four diplomatic staff to leave the country within five days, according to its Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Estonia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs added that all three Russian Embassy staff members “have directly and actively undermined Estonia’s security and spread propaganda justifying Russia’s military action”.

“The activity of the persons in question has been in violation of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, and therefore they must leave Estonia within 72 hours,” the Estonian ministry added.

The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE)’s investigation into human rights abuses and atrocities committed in the ongoing Russian war in Ukraine is now underway.

The fact-finding mission, which comes after 45 countries invoked a rare OSCE mechanism that is used to investigate human rights concerns, is being led by three experts chosen by Ukraine from an OSCE list of experts.

An email inbox has been established for people to send information relevant to the fact-finding mission. Andrusz said the inbox has been receiving a lot of information from a variety of sources, and it will be open for the entirety of the investigation.

The OSCE does not have the authority to legally punish Russia if it finds evidence of war crimes and crimes against humanity, but their facts can be given to other bodies that do have that authority.

The Moscow Mechanism is a serious step, and according to the OSCE, it has been triggered only nine other times since its establishment in 1991. It was most recently used in 2020 to investigate human rights abuses in Belarus.

Russia, Ukraine and Belarus are all members of the OSCE.

Smoke rises over Kyiv, Ukraine on March 18.

The Armed Forces of Ukraine have issued an upbeat assessment of their defense of Kyiv, saying Russia’s two main routes for attacking the capital city have been blocked.?

In the face of a campaign to apparently encircle the capital ahead of a possible attempt to take it, Russian forces?on both sides of the Dnipro river — which divides the city north to south?— have been stopped, according to Oleksandr Hruzevych, deputy chief of staff.

Russian forces had abandoned offensive actions around Brovary to the northeast of Kyiv, and Boryspil to the southeast, Hruzevych said. After creating two lines of defense to protect the capital, Hruzevych said Ukraine’s army was now “working on strengthening a third, distant line of defense.”?

Addressing the threat posed by cruise missiles, the brigadier general said an air defense system was still in operation around Kyiv, but admitted missiles intercepted over the city still posed a threat. One person was killed in such an incident Friday morning in the northwestern district of?Podilskyi, the city council said earlier.?

On Friday morning, four cruise missiles fired from warplanes over the Black Sea had smashed into an aircraft parts plant in the western city of Lviv. Two further missiles had been intercepted by air defense systems before they could hit their target.??

“The Black Sea and Belarus are two difficult directions from which the enemy launches missile strikes,” Hruzevych acknowledged. But, he continued: “An effective system has been developed where the missiles are to be destroyed on approach. We are now working on a system that will minimize the impact of missiles for civilians.”?

He also said a campaign to remove the threat of saboteurs in the capital had already resulted in the elimination of more than 100 people.?

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin speaks with US troops in Bulgaria on March 18.

US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin met with US and NATO troops in Bulgaria on Friday, where he told the troops that they are creating “trust” by training alongside one another.

“You can’t surge trust at the eleventh hour; trust is something you have to work on every day. And from what I’ve heard, it’s exactly what you’re doing. You’re building trust with, amongst, with our allies, and you’re learning more about each other, and I think that’s just fantastic,” Austin said.

The US troops that are in Bulgaria are part of the US troop deployment to reinforce the United States’ commitment to the NATO alliance and to reinforce the Eastern flank.?

Reporters traveling with Austin conducted a brief interview with an Army major who is on deployment in Bulgaria from his home base in Rosenberg, Germany.?

The focus of the US troop deployment there is to partner with Bulgarian land forces, Mannina said. The US troops are there to be a part of “NATO’s effort to stand up a multinational battle group here in Bulgaria,” he added.

Mannina said the soldiers there are “anxious” but “understand the strategic relevance of our mission.”

“We’re very, we’re very aware and attuned to the fact that there’s a war going on only a few hundred miles from us and, and we, but I think the soldiers are also excited to be a part of something really important here and to understand the strategic relevance of our mission and assuring our allies and building combat credible forces on behalf of NATO,” Mannina said.

Debris is seen after a theater was damaged by shelling in Mariupol, Ukraine on March 17.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Friday that 130 people have been rescued from the bombed theater in the city of Mariupol so far.

Hundreds of people were taking shelter at the theater when it was bombed on Wednesday.

Speaking on Ukrainian TV, Zelensky said that rescue operations are continuing at the site despite the difficulties.

However, hundreds of people are still under the rubble in Mariupol, Zelensky added.

Earlier on Friday, officials from the Donetsk region and Kyiv said they had no further update on how many people had survived the attack. On Thursday, Ukraine’s human rights commissioner Liudmyla Denisova said there was no update on figures released, which reported 130 people rescued from a total of 1,300 people believed to have been sheltering in the building.

Zelensky also warned that it will be Western leaders’ moral defeat if Ukraine does not receive advanced weapons.

“We still have no missile defense. We do not have enough fighter planes,” Zelensky said.

“Russian missiles are not going to be defeated by certain hunting guns that they are trying to sell us sometimes,” he said.

On Ukraine’s bid to become a member of the European Union, Zelensky said, “We will become a full member of the EU and every civil servant is working towards this 24/7.”

US Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield delivers a statement at the United Nations Security Council meeting on Friday, March 18.

United States Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield slammed Russia’s attempts to lie about allegations of biological weapons in Ukraine once again Friday morning.?

“As I said one week ago, Ukraine does not have a biological weapons program. There are no Ukrainian biological weapons laboratories – not near Russia’s border, not anywhere. There are only public health facilities, proudly, and I say proudly, supported and recognized by the US government, the World Health Organization, and other governments and international institutions,” Thomas-Greenfield said in prepared remarks to the UN Security Council.?

Ukrainian and US officials have repeatedly debunked claims of US-supported biological programs in Ukraine.?

Friday’s emergency session?was called by Russia after they announced Thursday that they would not?call for a vote on their humanitarian draft resolution on Ukraine.?

Thomas-Greenfield instead said “it is?Russia that has a well-documented history of using chemical weapons” and that Friday’s meeting is ‘the result of their isolation on this Council and on the world stage.”?

Russian Ambassador to the United Nations Vassily Nebenzia claimed Friday that new details show evidence of US-supported biological weapons in Ukraine.?

“Over the last week, new details have come to light which allows to state that the components for biological weapons were being created on the territory of Ukraine,” Nebenzia said in translated remarks to the council. “We can see that the American colleagues were not helping, as they claim, the Ukrainian Ministry of Health, but rather the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense.”

Nebenzia claimed that a new document distributed to the council Friday morning “confirms direct funding and supervision of the Pentagon and its defense threat reduction agency of military and biological projects in Ukraine.”?

“The representative of the US State Department continue to muddle the information and ascertain that US allegedly does not operate in any biological laboratories in the territory of Ukraine, but the facts show otherwise,” the Russian ambassador claimed.?

More context: There are US-funded biolabs in Ukraine, but they are not building bioweapons. Actually, it’s the opposite: Part of the reason for their creation was to secure old Soviet weapons left behind in the former Soviet republics. The State Department has described the claims as nonsense — and the US and Ukrainian governments?have?repeatedly,?and for years now, tried to bat down conspiracy theories about the labs and spoken about the work that is actually being done in them.

Russia’s falsehoods about labs like this have not been limited to Ukraine, and the country has been pushing various bits of disinformation about the US and biological weapons since the Cold War.

CNN’s Kiely Westhoff and Donie O’Sullivan contributed reporting to this post.

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki speaks during a summit in Warsaw, Poland, on March 14.

Poland plans to submit a proposal at a NATO summit in Brussels next week for a peacekeeping mission in Ukraine, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said on Friday.?

Speaking at a news conference in Warsaw, Morawiecki told reporters that “at the next NATO summit, the proposal for a peace mission in Ukraine will be formally submitted.”?

Morawiecki was asked whether he thinks there was consensus for such a mission in Ukraine among NATO members.?

“Poland is very active in this forum, both in NATO and in the EU and we are the ones who urge them to take the following steps,” he said. ?

On Friday, Russia?launched missile strikes near an airport in?Lviv, a strategic?Ukrainian city?not far from the Polish border.

Russian soldiers do not seem “to be particularly motivated,” Gen. Frank McKenzie, the Commander of US Central Command, told reporters during a briefing at the Pentagon Friday.

“They don’t appear, from where I sit at least, to be particularly motivated or particularly engaged in the campaign they’re undertaking,” McKenzie said of Russian forces fighting in Ukraine.

US Central Command oversees the US military presence in the Middle East. McKenzie is set to retire in the coming weeks.

Casualties in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine are mounting. In central Lviv, local activists and authorities placed 109 empty strollers to symbolize the children who have been killed during the invasion.

According to the Prosecutor General’s Office of Ukraine, 109?children?had been killed. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights noted the office’s report on Friday.

109 empty prams placed in the center of?Lviv?during the "Price of War" campaign organized by local activists and authorities to highlight the large number of children killed during Russia's invasion of Ukraine, in?Lviv, on March 18.

109 empty prams placed in the center of?Lviv?during the "Price of War" campaign organized by local activists and authorities to highlight the large number of children killed during Russia's invasion of Ukraine, in?Lviv, on March 18.

A Ukrainian serviceman stands among debris after shelling in a residential area in Kyiv, Ukraine on March 18.

Intense fighting and shelling continued across different parts of Ukraine on Friday. Here’s what you should know:

Impacted areas: Multiple explosions?were heard at about 6:30 a.m. local time and smoke was seen rising in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv, according to a CNN team on the ground. Mayor Andriy Sadovyi said the Russian missiles struck an aircraft repair plant, which is close to Lviv airport. Russia launched six missiles?toward the city, but two of them were intercepted by air defense systems, according to the Ukrainian armed forces.

One person died and four others were injured as a fire broke out after the remains of a downed rocket hit the five-story residential building in?the?Podilskyi district?of Kyiv on Friday, Ukraine’s Emergency Service said.

At least two people have died and six were wounded after a missile strike in the city of?Kramatorsk in eastern Ukraine, according to?Pavlo Kyrylenko, the?head of the Donetsk regional administration.

Russian losses: At least five Russian servicemen, including the commander of the Kostroma airborne forces, died in battle in Ukraine, Russian regional state TV network GTRK Kostroma reported Thursday.

Evacuations: Nine corridors to evacuate civilians from towns and cities badly hit by Russian attacks have been agreed for Friday, according to the Ukrainian government. For the second day running, one of the agreed corridors links the besieged southeastern city of Mariupol to Zaporizhzhia, which remains under Ukrainian control.

Biden-Xi call: A call between Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Joe Biden was underway Friday. Since the war began, China has tried to project a neutral stance. It has not condemned Russian actions, and has refused to label the attack an invasion. Chinese diplomats have criticized NATO expansion and accused the United States of fueling the conflict. But they have also called for a diplomatic solution.

Though not military allies, China and Russia have in recent years burnished their partnership in trade, technology and coordination of military exercises, while becoming increasingly vocal about what they view as Western interference into their domestic affairs — pushing back on US-led sanctions and often voting as a bloc in the United Nations.

Russia has asked China for military and economic support and Beijing has expressed?some openness?to this request, according to US intelligence and diplomacy officials. It is not yet clear whether China intends to provide Russia with that help, US officials familiar with the intelligence tell CNN — but according to the White House, Biden will lay out the potential ramifications of such an action during the call with Xi.

Relatives stand around the coffin of a Ukrainian soldier on March 15 in Lviv, Ukraine.

At least?816 people have been killed and 1,333 have been injured since the Russian invasion of Ukraine began, the United Nations?Human Rights Office said Friday.?

Most of the casualties were?due to?“the use of explosive weapons with a wide impact area, including shelling from heavy artillery and multiple-launch rocket systems and missile air strikes,”?the?OHCR said?in a report.

Those killed include?152 men, 116 women, seven girls, and 16 boys, as well as 36 children, and 489 adults whose sex is yet unknown, the UN agency said.

The OHCR said, it “believes that the actual figures are considerably higher, especially in Government-controlled territory and especially in recent days, as the receipt of information from some locations where intense hostilities have been going on has been delayed and many reports are still pending corroboration.”?

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov speaks during a press conference in Moscow, Russia on March 17.

Any weapons shipments entering Ukraine will be a “legitimate” target for Russia, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Friday, according to Russian state news agency TASS.?

Some context: A number of NATO countries have pledged military aid to Ukraine ranging from drones to anti-tank missiles.?

Lavrov said Soviet and Russian-made missile defense systems, which are available to some NATO countries, cannot be legally transferred to third countries, according to TASS.

China and the US have a responsibility to ensure peace, Chinese President Xi Jinping told US President Joe Biden during a video call Friday, according to Chinese state media CCTV.

“The world is neither peaceful nor tranquil,” Xi acknowledged. “The Ukraine crisis is something we don’t want to see.”

Conflict and confrontation is not in anyone’s interest, Chinese President Xi Jinping said to US President Joe Biden on a video call Friday morning, according to Chinese state media.

“State-to-state relations cannot go to the stage of military confrontation. Conflict and confrontation are not in the interests of anyone. Peace and security are the most cherished treasures of the international community,” CCTV quoted Xi as saying on the call.

Some context: The call between the two world leaders started at 9:03 a.m on Friday. It is their first known discussion in months, the White House said Thursday.

It comes days after?a US diplomatic cable suggested China?has expressed some openness to providing Russia with requested military and financial assistance as part of its war on Ukraine. It is not yet clear whether China intends to provide Russia with that assistance, US officials familiar with the intelligence told CNN earlier this week.

“This is part of our ongoing efforts to maintain open lines of communication between the United States and the PRC,” Psaki had said, using the abbreviation for the People’s Republic of China.

As the call between US?President Joe Biden?and Chinese President Xi Jinping gets underway, here’s why it’s important amid all the ongoing flurry of telephone diplomacy.

Read more:

US President Joe Biden meets with China's President Xi Jinping during a virtual summit from the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington, DC, November 15, 2021. (Photo by MANDEL NGAN / AFP) (Photo by MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images)

Related article 5 reasons the Biden-Xi call is so important

US President Joe Biden’s secure video call with Chinese President Xi Jinping started at 9:03 a.m. ET, a White House official said.

Chinese state media outlet CCTV also reported the call between the two world leaders was underway.

At least five Russian servicemen, including the commander of the Kostroma airborne forces, died in battle in Ukraine, Russian regional state TV network GTRK Kostroma reported Thursday.

During the special operation in Ukraine, according to the Regional Military Commissariat as cited by GTRK Kostroma, servicemen of the 331st Guards Airborne Regiment “gave their lives for the security of [Russia].”

Among those dead are the commander of the unit, Col. Sergei Sukharev, Senior Sgt. Sergei Lebedev, Sgt. Alexander Limonov, Corporal Yuri Dektyarev and Captain Alexei Nikitin.

Some background: The 331st Guards Airborne Regiment is considered one of Russia’s elite units. The regiment fought in both Chechen wars and some of its members were directly involved in the Donbas conflict in 2014 to 2015. It took part in the Victory Day parade in Red Square in May 2018.

A new shelling in Kyiv on Friday damaged a residential building, killing one person, according to Ukirainian authorities. A school and playground were also hit.

Here’s how some areas of Kyiv look now, as the Russian invasion of Ukraine continues:

A destroyed apartment building in a residential area after shelling in Kyiv, Ukraine, on March 18.

An injured woman receives treatment after shelling in a residential area in Kyiv, Ukraine, on March 18.

A picture shows a five-storey residential building that partially collapsed after shelling in Kyiv, Ukraine, on March 18.

A woman cries before starting to clean the site where a bombing damaged residential buildings in Kyiv, Ukraine, on March 18.

Ukranian servicemen stand beside a damaged building at a residential area after shelling in Kyiv, Ukraine, on March 18.

The United Kingdom on Friday revoked the broadcasting license of the Kremlin-backed propaganda network RT, according to a statement from regulators.

The statement from regulator Ofcom said its investigation into RT had found its licensee, ANO TV Novosti, was not fit and proper to hold a UK broadcast license.

RT was taken off the air in the UK two weeks ago after the country and the European Union imposed sanctions on Russia in response to its invasion of Ukraine.

Moscow denounced this decision and said it is part of “the anti-Russian madness that is happening in Europe and the US” and another step to “grossly restrict freedom of speech.”

“I have no doubt, RT will continue to share its voice and its point of view to those who want to see and hear it,” Kremlin spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, told reporters.?

Here’s what it’s like to spend a whole day watching RT:

A Russia's state-controlled Russia Today (RT) television broadcast van is seen parked outside the Luzhniki stadium ahead of an international friendly football match between Russia and Argentina in Moscow on November 11, 2017. / AFP PHOTO / Kirill KUDRYAVTSEV (Photo credit should read KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV/AFP/Getty Images)

Related article I spent an entire day watching Russia's propaganda network. Here's the warped reality I saw presented to viewers | CNN Business

The damage is shown after the bombing of the theater in Mariupol on March 16.

Officials from the Donetsk region and Kyiv said Friday they had no further update on how many people survived an attack on a Mariupol theater that was being used as a shelter.

Donetsk regional head Pavlo Kyrylenko said he would not be commenting until he had received official reports.

Ukraine’s human rights commissioner Liudmyla Denisova said there was no update on figures released Thursday, which reported 130 people rescued from a total of 1,300 people believed to have been sheltering in the building.

Some context: Hundreds of people were thought to have?taken shelter in the theater?in Mariupol amid the ongoing Russian siege of the city. Russian forces have bombarded the coastal city for weeks, trapping hundreds of thousands of people. Ukrainian officials estimate 2,500 civilians have died in the fighting.

The Drama Theater in Mariupol where hundreds were taking refuge sustained heavy damage in a bombing Wednesday.

Related article Survivors emerge from rubble of Mariupol theater bombed by Russia

Kyiv city council says 60 civilians, including four children, have died in the city since Russia began its attacks more than three weeks ago.

More than 160 Ukrainian military personnel and combatants have also died in the city. The council said 889 people have been injured, of whom 241 are civilians, including 18 children.

Additionally, 36 residential buildings, six schools and four kindergartens are among the buildings damaged in Russian strikes, the council said in a Facebook post.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz speaks during a press conference at the Chancellery in Berlin, Germany, on March 15.

Russian President Vladimir Putin accused Kyiv Friday of delaying the negotiation process during a call with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

According to the Kremlin readout, Putin outlined his assessments of the ongoing video talks between Russian and Ukrainian representatives.

“It was noted that the Kyiv regime is trying in every possible way to delay the negotiation process, putting forward more and more unrealistic proposals. Nevertheless, the Russian side is ready to continue the search for solutions in line with its well-known principled approaches,” the readout said.

The Russian President claimed that the Russian Armed Forces were doing everything possible to save the lives of civilians, including by organizing safe corridors for the evacuation of the population from cities in the combat zone.

The Kremlin said that the call was initiated by the German side.

During their hour-long call, Scholz repeated his call for a “ceasefire as quickly as possible,” as well as an “improved humanitarian situation and progress in the search of a diplomatic solution,” according to a tweet posted by Scholz’s spokesman Steffen Hebestreit on Friday.

This is the third time Scholz and Putin have spoken since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The last conversation took place alongside French President Emmanuel Macron on March 12.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists on a call the two leaders had a “difficult but business-like” discussion. “The conversation, of course, can hardly be called friendly. This was a tough conversation,” he said.

“But nevertheless, there is a need for such contacts, exchange of information, discussion of sensitive topics related to the special operation.”

The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) upheld a ban on Russian football teams taking part in FIFA competitions while the court deliberates on the case, it said on Friday.

On February 28, Russian national football teams and clubs were suspended from international competitions by global football governing body FIFA and European football governing body UEFA following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

“The Challenged Decision remains in force and all Russian teams and clubs continue to be suspended from participation in FIFA competitions,” CAS said in a statement.

The decision means Russia cannot take part in 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifying playoff matches scheduled to be played at the end of this month, so won’t play in the tournament itself in Qatar.

Russia had been due to face Poland on March 24, but the suspension means Poland progress through to the next round and will face either Czech Republic or Sweden on March 29 for a spot at this year’s World Cup.

CAS added that the arbitration proceedings continue and that a panel of arbitrators is currently being formed. No hearing date has yet been set.

Football is just one of a number of sports Russia has been suspended from. Read more here:

TOPSHOT - A 'Football Stands Together' message is displayed in Ukrainian colours ahead of the English League Cup final football match between Chelsea and Liverpool at Wembley Stadium, north-west London on February 27, 2022. - Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich handed over control of Chelsea to trustees of its charitable foundation on Saturday as Premier League players showed their support for war-torn Ukraine. - RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE. No use with unauthorized audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or 'live' services. Online in-match use limited to 120 images. An additional 40 images may be used in extra time. No video emulation. Social media in-match use limited to 120 images. An additional 40 images may be used in extra time. No use in betting publications, games or single club/league/player publications. (Photo by JUSTIN TALLIS / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE. No use with unauthorized audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or 'live' services. Online in-match use limited to 120 images. An additional 40 images may be used in extra time. No video emulation. Social media in-match use limited to 120 images. An additional 40 images may be used in extra time. No use in betting publications, games or single club/league/player publications. / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE. No use with unauthorized audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or 'live' services. Online in-match use limited to 120 images. An additional 40 images may be used in extra time. No video emulation. Social media in-match use limited to 120 images. An additional 40 images may be used in extra time. No use in betting publications, games or single club/league/player publications. (Photo by JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP via Getty Images)

Related article These are the sports that Russia has been suspended from

A Ukrainian serviceman walks past the vertical tail fin of a Russian Su-34 bomber lying in a damaged building in Kharkiv, Ukraine, on March 8.

Ukraine’s armed forces say about 14,200 Russian soldiers have been killed since Russia began its invasion more than three weeks ago. It added that 450 Russian tanks and almost 1,450 other armored combat vehicles have been destroyed, along with 93 Russian aircraft and 112 helicopters.

Additionally, 205 Russian artillery systems have been destroyed, along with 72 multiple launch rocket systems and 43 anti-aircraft weapons systems, it said.

CNN is unable to verify these claims. Information from Russia is rarely forthcoming, and officials rarely report on its losses. The most recent figure seems to have been released on March 2,?when Russia said 498 of its servicemen had died since the start of the campaign.

What we know: US estimates of Russian casualties range from between 3,000 to 10,000, according to information from US and NATO officials speaking to CNN. US and allied intelligence assessments vary widely as to exactly how many Russian forces have been killed to date, sources familiar with the intelligence tell CNN. But even the lowest estimates are in the thousands.

Ukraine says it is still waiting to hear a request from Russian authorities for the repatriation of the bodies of those killed.

Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister said the issue of collecting and identifying the bodies had been discussed in a meeting between Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal and the President of the International Committee of the Red Cross, Peter Maurer, on Thursday.

Smoke rises after an explosion in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv on March 18.

Russia fired six missiles at Lviv on Friday, the western city near the Polish border which has previously been relatively untouched by Russian attacks.

“There were some explosions. I looked away and then I saw a column of smoke rising,” Lviv resident Roman Demko told CNN.

Asked if he felt safe now bombing had started in the city, Demko said: “I don’t know. Where would I go?”

Some context: The projectiles aimed at Lviv were most likely cruise missiles fired from warplanes over the Black Sea, according to Ukrainian armed forces, two of which were intercepted by air defense systems.

Lviv’s mayor said missiles hit an aircraft repair plant near the airport. Work at the plant had stopped before the missiles hit and there were no reports of casualties at this stage, he said.

A CNN crew in Lviv heard?multiple explosions?at about 6:30 a.m. local time and smoke was seen rising from the direction of the Danylo Halytskyi?International airport to the west of the city.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has said he talked about a new round of sanctions on Russia with the European Union’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell, on Friday.

“We discussed the preparation of the 5th EU sanctions package on Russia,” Kuleba said on Twitter.

The EU enforced a fourth round of sanctions on March 9, which involved targeting another 160 oligarchs,?Russian politicians and three Belarusian banks.

“Pressure will keep mounting as long as it is needed to stop Russian barbarism,” Kuleba said. According to his post, the two officials also talked through measures to help Ukrainian refugees fleeing to the EU.

Western sanctions are beginning to have a “real impact” on Russia, French government spokesman Gabriel Attal said in an interview with CNN affiliate BFMTV on Friday.

“This is the point of our action, all the measures we are taking are aimed at ensuring that this war costs him (Russian President Vladimir Putin) so much that in the end he will be forced to give it up,” Attal said, defending France and the West’s decision to send weapons and aid to Ukraine while not engaging in the war directly.

He cited the depreciating ruble, Moscow’s stock exchange remaining closed for nearly three weeks and the decision by Lukoil, Russia’s second biggest oil company, to call on Putin to end the conflict as evidence of the impact.

“I understand that it’s a fine balance,” Attal said.?

Leaders of the 27 members of the European Union will gather for a summit in Brussels, Belgium, next week to discuss, among other issues, the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Firefighters work at the site of a fire at the?Barabashova?market in Kharkiv, Ukraine, on March 17.

A fire that broke out at?Kharkiv’s giant Barabashova market after Russian shelling on Thursday is still being extinguished, Ukraine’s regional emergency service said.

Authorities received the call about the fire at the market, billed as one of the largest in the world, at about 2 p.m. local time on Thursday.

In addition to trade pavilions, two residential buildings were also partially damaged, the?regional emergency service?said, adding that emergency teams were trying to prevent the spread of the flames to other residential buildings.

More than 10 residential buildings have so far been saved and the area of the fire is about seven hectares, the regional emergency service?said.

Two rescuers received “numerous shrapnel wounds” and were immediately sent to a medical facility, it added, while one of the rescuers died because of his injuries.

Huge plumes of black smoke emanated from several parts of the market after the attack on Thursday, with 70 people involved in efforts to extinguish the fires, emergency services said.

Drive slower, work from home, and share rides – these are some of the measures the International Energy Agency (IEA) has proposed amid what it calls a “global energy crisis” following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The IEA has announced a 10-point plan to cut oil use after countries – including Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia – banned imports of oil from Russia.

Among the proposals is to reduce highway speed limits by at least 10 kilometers per hour (6 miles per hour), make public transport more accessible, and introduce car-free Sundays in large cities.

According to IEA executive director Fatih Birol, the actions are designed to ease strains on the energy market and reduce the pain of oil price rises for consumers.

In advanced economies, Birol said, the actions could help cut oil demand by 2.7 million barrels a day ahead of peak demand season.

Some context: The IEA warned this week that potential large-scale disruptions to oil production were “threatening to create a global oil supply shock” in light of sanctions imposed on Russia and as buyers increasingly avoid Russian oil purchases.

Russia could soon be forced to curtail crude oil production by 30%, the IEA said, subjecting the global economy to the biggest?supply crisis?in decades unless Saudi Arabia and other major energy exporters start pumping more.

Refugees from Ukraine wait for further transportation at the railway station in Przemysl, Poland, on March 17.

At least two million refugees fleeing the war in Ukraine have now crossed the border into Poland, the Polish Ministry of the Interior said Friday. The number of refugees still in Poland is considerably lower, with many of those fleeing the conflict continuing their journey to other European countries.

More than 3.2 million people have now fled Ukraine since the Russian invasion in late February, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

US President Joe Biden’s remarks about his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin amount to personal insults, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Friday.

Speaking at the annual Friends of Ireland Luncheon on St. Patrick’s Day in Capitol Hill on Thursday, Biden said Putin was “a murderous dictator, a pure thug,” who is waging an immoral war against the people of Ukraine.”

Peskov added that he didn’t want to react harshly to these statements in view of Biden’s “irritability, fatigue and forgetfulness” and so as “not to cause more aggressiveness.”

“Taking into account President Biden’s irritability, fatigue and forgetfulness, which lead to such aggressive statements, we will not give sharp assessments of his words, so as not to cause more aggressiveness,” he said.

Biden’s comments Thursday came a?day?after?he?first called Putin a?war?criminal?– a significant escalation in his rhetoric condemning the Russian leader’s actions against Ukraine.

Peskov told reporters on Thursday?Biden’s comments were “absolutely unacceptable and inexcusable.”

Read more here:

Related article Biden calls Putin a 'murderous dictator' and 'pure thug'

An apartment building damaged by an airstrike in?Kramatorsk, Ukraine, is seen in this handout picture released March 18.

At least two people have died and six were wounded after a missile strike in the city of?Kramatorsk in eastern Ukraine, according to?Pavlo Kyrylenko, the?head of the Donetsk regional administration.

Kyrylenko said other details of the attack were currently being clarified.

Kramatorsk was one of the first cities to be targeted by the Russian military when the invasion of Ukraine was launched more than three weeks ago.

Civilians follow an evacuation corridor from the embattled city of?Mariupol, Ukraine, on March 17.

Nine corridors to evacuate civilians from towns and cities badly hit by Russian attacks have been agreed for Friday, according to the Ukrainian government.

For the second day running, one of the agreed corridors links the besieged southeastern city of Mariupol to Zaporizhzhia, which remains under Ukrainian control.

Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said there were plans to deliver humanitarian aid to the towns of Balakleia and Izium to the southeast of Kharkiv.

Some context: According to Vereshchuk, almost 800 private cars left Mariupol on Thursday, with more than 2,000 people making it through Russian-occupied territory to the city of Zaporizhzhia by mid-evening.?

It is the first time in many days that a corridor out of Mariupol had been agreed, though Vereshchuk made no mention of whether a planned humanitarian convoy destined for the besieged city had been allowed to leave Berdiansk by Russian forces.??

Elsewhere, 36 tons of food and medicine were delivered to the towns of Hostomel and Bucha to the northwest of Kyiv, as well as three villages to the northeast of the capital – areas which have seen some of the worst Russian artillery and rocket fire.?

One planned corridor between Kharkiv and Vovchansk, close to the Russian border, failed to operate due to shelling by Russian forces, Vereshchuk said.?

China's Foreign Ministry spokesperson?Zhao?Lijian?speaks during a news conference in Beijing on March 18.

China respects “the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries,” Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Zhao Lijian told reporters in Beijing on Friday.?

He was speaking ahead of a 9 a.m. ET call between US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping that is expected to focus on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

“China always stands for respecting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries, abiding by the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, attaching importance to the legitimate security concerns of all countries, supporting all efforts conducive to the peaceful settlement of the crisis and promoting peace talks and easing the humanitarian situation,” Zhao said.?

China’s friendship with Russia: Since a February meeting between Xi and Russian President Vladimir Putin, China has talked up its “no-limits partnership” with Russia.

US officials believe Russia has asked China for military and economic support to wage its unprovoked war in Ukraine and that Beijing has indicated its openness to helping Moscow. Both Russia and China have denied the allegation.

The US has indicated that China would pay an economic price if its support for Russia goes beyond rhetoric.

Speaking Friday, Zhao repeated China’s public rebuke, saying “some people in the US have been spreading disinformation to smear and put pressure on China, which is extremely irresponsible and will not help solve the issue. China is firmly opposed to this and will never accept it.”?

Zhao said Ukraine needs food rather than weapons, and the US sending military assistance to the country will not bring peace.

Why leaders’ meeting matters: The call comes at a potential turning point for ties between the United States and China. White House officials are watching with growing concern the budding partnership between Xi and Putin, and China’s response to?Russia’s invasion of Ukraine?has proved troubling to Western observers.?

White House officials said they expected the call could turn intense; a preliminary meeting between the two leaders’ aides stretched for?seven hours earlier this week.

A view of the damage after shelling hit a building in the Kamianets-Podilskyi district of Kyiv, Ukraine, on March 18.

One person died and four others were injured in a fire at a residential building in?the Podilskyi district?of Kyiv on Friday, Ukraine’s Emergency Service said.

The blaze broke out after the remains of a downed rocket hit the five-story building, the service said.?

The initial report about a fire was received at 8:04 a.m. local time, it said.?Upon arrival, firefighters saw there was a fire from the first through the third floors. The blaze is being extinguished at the moment.

According to preliminary information, 12 people were rescued and 98 people were evacuated,?the service said.

On Tuesday, a 10-story apartment building in the Podil neighborhood of the district?was hit in a strike, causing a fire in the first five floors of the building, according to emergency services.

Smoke rises after an explosion in the Ukrainian city of Lviv on March 18.

Russia launched six missiles toward the western city of Lviv on Friday morning, according to the Ukrainian armed forces.

The projectiles were most likely cruise missiles fired from warplanes over the Black Sea, it said in a statement on Facebook.

Two of the missiles were intercepted by air defense systems, the statement added.

Where the missiles hit: Lviv’s mayor said missiles hit an aircraft repair plant near the airport. Work at the plant had stopped before the missiles hit and there were no reports of casualties at this stage, he said.

A CNN crew in Lviv heard multiple explosions?at about 6:30 a.m. local time and smoke was seen rising from the direction of the Danylo Halytskyi?International airport to the west of the city.

Blunt US rhetoric heading into?President Joe Biden’s?call with?Chinese President Xi Jinping?suggests that a meeting of the minds on?Russia’s brutality in Ukraine?is unlikely, and reflects the current bitter tensions between Washington and Beijing.

Biden and Xi are?due to speak at 9 a.m. ET Friday, with the US setting the stage for a stern warning that Chinese firms would pay a serious price if the Beijing government heeds Russian President Vladimir Putin’s?pleas for military and economic aid.

The call will find the US surmounting one of its deepest-set foreign policy fears — risking an open clash with China while simultaneously facing down Russia — in another extraordinary geopolitical shuffle triggered by the Ukraine war.

It also puts Biden in the odd position of seeking the tacit cooperation of the nation seen as America’s most powerful rising foe to suppress its historic Cold War rival of the second half of the 20th century.

Given that China is known for ruthlessly pursuing its own interests and has no interest in shoring up the Western-led world order that Putin is seeking to buckle, it seems fanciful that Xi will choose what the US sees as the right side of history on the Ukraine conflict — at least until its own economic self-interest dictates a change of course.

And US-China relations are so toxic that many analysts had been predicting a new Cold War in the Pacific between the rivals, before the original version reignited in Europe with Putin’s invasion of Ukraine at the end of last month.

The theatrics of a call that will be closely watched around the world cannot be dismissed. Just by holding the conversation, and publicizing it heavily beforehand, Biden is sending a signal to Putin that his “no limits” friendship forged with Xi in Beijing shortly before the invasion may not be as significant as the Russian leader had hoped. The conversation also fosters an impression that Washington sees China as the key global power other than itself — instead of Moscow.

Read the full analysis:

Related article Analysis: US sets the stage for contentious Biden call with China's Xi

Rescuers and medical teams are working in the Podil area of Kyiv after an attack on the residential neighborhood in the north of the capital on Friday morning, the city council said.

There was no word on any casualties or damage to buildings.

Russian missiles struck an aircraft repair plant in Lviv on Friday morning, according to Mayor Andriy Sadovyi.

He said several missiles hit the site, which is close to Lviv airport.

In an update on his Facebook page, the mayor said work at the plant had stopped before the missiles hit and there were no reports of casualties at this stage.

Some context: Until Friday, the picturesque city in western Ukraine has largely been spared from the relentless bombardment of Russian forces. But at about 43 miles (70 kilometers) from the Polish border, Lviv is at NATO’s doorstep — any attack here could have international repercussions.

Smoke rises above buildings near?the airport in?Lviv, Ukraine, on March 18.

At least one Russian missile hit a location in Lviv early Friday, according to the city’s mayor.

Mayor Andriy Sadovyi said on Facebook he was unable to confirm the location of the strike but it was not the city’s airport.

So far, the picturesque city in western Ukraine has largely been spared from the relentless bombardment of Russian forces.

Here’s why Lviv is so important:

Last Sunday, Russia expanded its offensive to western Ukraine, firing missiles?near Lviv and hitting a large military base close to the Polish border, reportedly killing dozens of people and drawing the war closer to the borders of a NATO country. The attack came the day after the Kremlin threatened to attack Western weapons shipments to Ukraine.

Smoke rises from a factory building near?the airport in?Lviv, Ukraine, on March 18.

At least one Russian missile hit a location in Lviv early Friday morning, the mayor’s office told CNN.

In a post on his Facebook page, Mayor Andriy Sadovyi said he was unable to confirm the location of the strike but said it was not the airport.

There was no word on any casualties.

The mayor also asked people not to share photos of the location that was attacked.

Multiple explosions were heard at about 6:30 a.m. local time and smoke was seen rising from the direction of the Danylo Halytskyi?International airport to the west of Lviv, according to a CNN team in the Ukrainian city.

A number of videos posted on social media also seem to show smoke rising from the same location, but CNN has not verified this footage.

It is not yet known what caused the explosions, or their exact location.

Watch: New video from Lviv shows smoke rising in distance

- Source: CNN " data-fave-thumbnails="{"big": { "uri": "https://media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/stellar/prod/4c0c0426-ce2d-482e-8f7c-b47088f31997.png?c=16x9&q=h_540,w_960,c_fill" }, "small": { "uri": "https://media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/stellar/prod/4c0c0426-ce2d-482e-8f7c-b47088f31997.png?c=16x9&q=h_540,w_960,c_fill" } }" data-vr-video="false" data-show-html="" data-byline-html="" data-timestamp-html="" data-check-event-based-preview="" data-is-vertical-video-embed="" data-network-id="" data-publish-date="2022-03-18T06:23:59.114Z" data-video-section="" data-canonical-url="" data-branding-key="" data-video-slug="" data-first-publish-slug="" data-video-tags="" data-details="">

Video Ad Feedback

e1f7c711-ab76-42aa-a9c2-a059c0b8b6e3.mp4

00:42 - Source: CNN

CNN’s team in Lviv filmed footage of smoke rising from the direction of the city’s airport after they heard explosions Friday morning.?

Multiple unverified social media videos appear to show smoke rising from the same location.

Some context: Lviv is located about 43 miles (70 kilometers) from the Polish border and has been relatively untouched by Russian attacks to date.

Smoke is seen on the horizon in Lviv.

CNN’s team in the city of Lviv, western Ukraine, heard multiple explosions minutes after sirens went off Friday morning.

As Chinese President Xi Jinping prepares for a phone call with his US counterpart on Friday, the war in Ukraine looms large — with Beijing’s position on Russia’s invasion under increasing international scrutiny.

Russia-China friendship: Though not military allies, China and Russia have in recent years burnished their partnership in trade, technology and coordination of military exercises, while becoming increasingly vocal about what they view as Western interference into their domestic affairs – pushing back on US-led sanctions and often voting as a bloc in the United Nations.

The war began just weeks after Beijing declared?a limitless partnership?with Moscow. In February, Xi met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Beijing — the Chinese leader’s first in-person?summit with another head of state in nearly two years.

The meeting saw the two leaders sign a 5,000-word joint statement that included an expression of their shared disapproval of NATO expansion — an issue that’s been key to Putin’s rationale for his assault on Ukraine.

Days before the invasion, Beijing continued to?publicly dismiss US intelligence?that a Russian attack on its neighbor was imminent. Views diverge on how much Xi may have known about Putin’s true plans.

Precarious position: Since the war began, China has tried to project a neutral stance. It has not condemned Russian actions, and has refused to label the attack an invasion. Chinese diplomats have criticized NATO expansion and accused the United States of fueling the conflict. But they have also called for a diplomatic solution.

As the war drags on, experts believe Beijing’s position is growing increasingly untenable — for two main reasons:

Potential consequences: Russia has asked China for military and economic support, according to conversations CNN had with two US officials — and the US has intelligence suggesting Beijing has expressed some openness?to this request, a Western official and a US diplomat told CNN.

It is not yet clear whether China intends to provide Russia with that help, US officials familiar with the intelligence tell CNN — but according to the White House, Biden will lay out the potential ramifications of such an action during the call with Xi.

Relentless Russian strikes on Ukrainian cities including Chernihiv and Mariupol have caused widespread damage, according to officials, while Russia’s advance on Kyiv appears to have stalled.

Here’s the latest:

James Whitney Hill is seen in this 2013 Facebook photo.

Months before Russian troops?attacked Ukraine, American Jimmy Hill went there to be with his Ukranian partner, Ira, who has multiple sclerosis. When war broke out, Hill stayed, despite the deteriorating conditions in the northern Ukrainian city of Chernihiv.

Hill was among dozens of civilians killed by the Russian onslaught Thursday in Chernihiv.

Ukrainian police said he died during artillery fire. His sister told CNN the family didn’t get specifics about his death from the US Embassy.

Chernihiv, to the northeast of Kyiv and close to the Russian border, has seen?some of the most intense shelling?from Russian forces since the war began more than three weeks ago.

Hill often traveled to Ukraine yearly to visit his partner, according to his longtime friend Karin Moseley. They had been together for around 13 years, she told CNN.

His Facebook posts throughout March chronicled the worsening situation in Chernihiv, detailing air raid sirens, daily explosions and an “orange sky over the city” amid fires. His final entry read: “Bombing has intensified noway (sic) out.”

A school in the Czech Republic where Hill taught posted a statement on Facebook expressing their loss.?

“Jimmy was a passionate teacher in our Summer School on Crime, Law and Psychology program since 2014 and was loved by the students from all over the world. We will miss Jimmy very much,” the Prague Summer Schools said in the post.

Read more:

James Whitney Hill is seen in this 2015 Facebook photo.

Related article American killed in Ukraine described increasing hardships for civilians in city near Russia

Former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger made an impassioned appeal to the Russian people in a video posted on social media, asking them to resist their?country’s disinformation?as the devastating?invasion of Ukraine?continues.

Schwarzenegger said he was “sending this message through various different channels” for Russian citizens and soldiers, and hoped his message about the atrocities committed by its government and military would break through. The?video posted on Twitter?has more than 16 million views.

“Ukraine did not start this war. Neither did nationalists or Nazis,” he said. “Those in power in the Kremlin started this war.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin and government officials have made?false accusations?toward Ukraine as their motivations for the invasion, baselessly saying the country must “deNazify.”

He heavily criticized the Russian government for the invasion, saying they “lied not only to its citizens but to its soldiers” for the reasons behind the war.

Read more:

FILE - Arnold Schwarzenegger, founder of the "Austrian World Summit", talks about his dreams and actions to fight the climate crisis in Vienna, Austria, on July 1, 2021. The film icon told Russians in a video posted on social media they're being lied to about the war in Ukraine and accused President Vladimir Putin of sacrificing Russian soldiers' lives for his own ambitions. Schwarzenegger (AP Photo/Lisa Leutner, File)

Related article Arnold Schwarzenegger urges Russians to overcome government disinformation

A column of Russian military vehicles is seen abandoned in a forest near Kharkiv, Ukraine on March 6.

The Russian military continues to face logistical problems in its “faltering invasion of Ukraine,” Britain’s Ministry of Defence said in a statement on Thursday.?

In its latest intelligence update, the ministry said Russian forces were being prevented from resupplying “forward troops with even basic essentials such as food and fuel,” due to their inability to control Ukrainian airspace and challenges on the ground.

Russian forces have been reluctant to maneuver across the country, the ministry said, but did not provide additional details on its knowledge of Russia’s strategic moves.?

Ukrainian Ambassador to the United Nations?Sergiy Kyslytsya?

Ukrainian Ambassador to the United Nations?Sergiy Kyslytsya?directly addressed his Russian counterpart at the UN Security Council on Thursday about civilians killed by Russians in Ukraine.

He continued, “If they do, we may consider how to sponsor a decision to help you deal with perpetration-inducted traumatic stress. But now, have some decency and stop the egregious manipulation of the Security Council. It is obscene.”

Russian Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia did not respond to the comments during the meeting, but later told reporters he does not “engage in personal exchanges” with?Kyslytsya.?

Kyslytsya also spoke to reporters after the meeting, saying there has not been any improvement in the situation in Ukraine.?

“No, there is no improvement. The actions of the Russian Federation continue to be very brazen and the atrocities are taking place every day, unfortunately,”?Kyslytsya?said.

Residential buildings damaged by rocket and air strikes are seen in Mariupol, Ukraine on Thursday, March 17.

Mariupol is being hit by between 50 to 100 artillery shells daily, according to the council of the besieged Ukrainian city.?

It continued: “About 80% of the city’s housing stock has been hit, almost 30% of which cannot be restored.”?

The statement, released early Thursday evening, said information about casualties from the attack on the theater being used as a shelter was still being clarified.?

Thousands of Russian troops have been killed in Ukraine since?Russia’s invasion?began nearly one month ago, US and NATO officials told CNN this week, and Russia is now struggling to resupply those forces as it faces sagging troop morale and?fierce Ukrainian resistance.

Russia’s offensive to capture Kyiv has largely stalled, NATO officials said, and on Thursday Ukraine said it launched a counteroffensive aimed at gaining decisive control of the city’s suburbs.

US and allied intelligence assessments vary widely as to exactly how many Russian forces have been killed to date, sources familiar with the intelligence tell CNN. But even the lowest estimates are in the thousands.

One such assessment found that approximately 7,000 Russian troops have been killed so far, said one of the sources. But that figure, first?reported?by The New York Times, is on the higher end of US estimates, which vary because the US and its allies have no precise way of counting casualties. Some estimates place the number of Russian troops killed in Ukraine at about 3,000, whereas others suggest more than 10,000 have been killed.

So far, the number has been calculated largely via open source reporting from non-governmental organizations, the Ukrainian government, commercial satellite imagery, and intercepted Russian communications. US officials have also extrapolated numbers of dead based on the number of Russian tanks that have been destroyed, the sources said.

Regardless of the precise number, US and western intelligence officials have observed that Russia is having difficulty replacing its forces, which is having a significant impact on Russian troop morale, senior NATO officials said on Wednesday.

Read more:

A destroyed tank sits on a street after battles between Ukrainian and Russian forces on a main road near Brovary, north of Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, March 10, 2022.

Related article Mounting Russian casualties in Ukraine lead to more questions about its military readiness