what to remember from Monday March 18

Vladimir Putin on Monday welcomed the “return to the homeland” of the Ukrainian territories occupied by Moscow, the day after his unsurprising broad re-election.

Vladimir Putin greeted Monday March 18 the “return to the homeland” Ukrainian territories occupied by Moscow, cheered by a crowd gathered on Red Square after his very large re-election following an unopposed presidential election. On the front, Ukrainian strikes left four dead on Monday in Belgorod, bringing the number of deaths since March 12 to at least 16, according to local authorities. Franceinfo takes stock of the main news of the day relating to the Russian-Ukrainian conflict.

Re-elected, Vladimir Putin wants to move “forward” with the annexed Ukrainian territories

Vladimir Putin, in power for almost a quarter of a century, received 87.28% of the votes at the end of this election which was held from Friday to Sunday, including in the regions of Ukraine where Moscow claimed annexation. This score was denounced as “no connection with reality” by the opposition in exile. The 71-year-old president appeared in the evening on Red Square, where a concert was taking place celebrating the 10th anniversary of the annexation of the Crimean peninsula, the first act of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

Welcomed by the crowd with cries of “Russia! Russia!”Vladimir Putin, accompanied on stage by his three presidential opponents, assured that his country would go “forward, hand in hand” with the territories conquered from Ukraine. “The return to the homeland turned out to be more difficult, more tragic, but we succeeded and it is a great event in the history of our state”launched Vladimir Putin in a brief speech before singing the Russian anthem in unison with the crowd, at the foot of the Kremlin walls.

Russia annexed Crimea in March 2014 after an intervention by its special forces. In September 2022, it claimed the annexation of four other regions of Ukraine which it partially occupies: those of Donetsk and Lugansk in eastern Ukraine, and those of Kherson and Zaporizhia in the south of the country.

The West condemns a vote amid repression, Turkey offers mediation

Berlin, London, Paris and the head of European diplomacy for their part castigated a vote under constraint, without opposition and in full repression, while the United States denounced a “incredibly undemocratic process”. Recep Tayyip Erdogan, for his part, “felicity” his Russian counterpart for his re-election and once again offered to mediate with Ukraine, announced the Turkish presidency.

Volodymyr Zelensky calls on the United States to release a massive envelope “rapidly”

For his part, the Ukrainian president also said he saw in Vladimir Putin a man “drunk with power” wants “reign forever”. Volodymyr Zelensky once again called on the US Congress to unblock “quickly” the envelope of 60 billion dollars in military and economic assistance.

“It is critically important to us that Congress quickly completes all necessary procedures and makes a final decision” on aid blocked for months due to prevarication between Democrats and Republicans, declared the Ukrainian president during a meeting with Senator Lindsey Graham, according to a press release released by kyiv.

Four people died in the Belgorod region

Regarding the front, the whole week was marked by deadly bombings and incursions by armed fighters from Ukraine to show Russia that it is not safe on its territory.

In the Belgorod region, bordering Ukraine, these attacks have left at least 16 dead since March 12, according to local authorities. Four members of the same family were killed Monday after a Ukrainian strike, according to Russian authorities. “The terrorist attack by the Ukrainian armed forces cost the lives of almost an entire family: a grandmother, a mother, her partner and her son, a 17-year-old young man, were killed”the local Russian governor said on Telegram, adding that a little girl was able to be saved.

kyiv says it shot down 17 Russian drones, Sumy region under bombs

Ukraine assured Monday that it had shot down 17 combat drones out of a total of 22 drones and seven missiles launched by Russia during the night, and reported the intensification of Russian bombings on its border region of Sumy, in the north. is from the country. During the night from Sunday to Monday, Russia fired five S-300/S-400 missiles at the Kharkiv border region (east), two Kh-59 cruise missiles at the Sumy region (northeast) and 22 Shahed-type explosive drones, the Ukrainian Air Force said on Telegram.

North Korea sent 7,000 weapons containers to Russia, Seoul says

North Korea has shipped some 7,000 containers of weapons to Russia for its war against Ukraine since July, South Korea’s defense minister said Monday. Historic allies Russia and North Korea are both subject to global sanctions, Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine and Pyongyang over its nuclear weapons testing. Their leaders, Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong-un, held a summit in the Russian Far East in September, following which the United States claimed that Pyongyang had begun supplying weapons to Moscow.