What has happened in the last hours
On the 388th day of the war started by Russia against Ukraine, these are the key data at 8:00 p.m. this Saturday, March 18:
Black Sea grain export agreements extended. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced this Saturday that the grain export agreements through the Black Sea have been extended, without giving further details. Erdogan made the announcement at the inauguration of a highway in Gallipoli, in the Dardanelles, in the west of the country. “After discussions with both parties, we ensured the extension of the agreement that was to expire on March 19,” he guaranteed.
Russia and Ukraine clash over the deadline for the extension approved this Saturday. The Russian Foreign Ministry announced this Saturday that its agreements with Turkey and the UN for the export of Ukrainian grain through the Black Sea have been extended, but only for 60 days, as Moscow had requested, and in contradiction to the announcement by Kiev that the extension is 120 days, like the previous one. “Russia has notified all the signatory parties to the agreement that it has been extended for 60 days,” said the ministry’s spokeswoman, Maria Zajárova.
Putin visits Crimea on the ninth anniversary of the annexation of the peninsula. Russian President Vladimir Putin has made a surprise trip to Crimea on the ninth anniversary of the annexation of the Black Sea peninsula. The president, who had avoided setting foot in the region since his invasion of Ukraine began and only briefly toured his bridge, has arrived in the naval city of Sevastopol, where he is scheduled to participate in various tribute events. Putin has visited a children’s art center. “Our president knows how to surprise,” said the city’s governor, Mikhail Razvozháyev. According to the senior official, the Russian president has appeared at the wheel of a car himself.
Sánchez, on the arrest warrant against Putin: “No crime will go unpunished”. The President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, has assured this Saturday that “no crime will go unpunished” after learning of the arrest warrant issued this Friday by the International Criminal Court (ICC) against Russian President Vladimir Putin, for the deportation of children from Ukraine to Russia. “Any war is painful. This is doubly criminal, first because of its objectives, which are to crush the freedom and sovereignty of a country like Ukraine, but also because of its methods, as the International Criminal Court has just proclaimed” with the arrest warrant, Sánchez assured. during his speech at the meeting of the Federal Committee of the PSOE in Madrid.
Two dead and eight wounded after a shelling in Kramatorsk. Two people have died and eight have been injured after a bombardment in Kramatorsk, in the province of Donetsk (east), the governor of the province, Pavlo Kirilenko, has reported through his Telegram account. “Preliminary information indicates that a dozen residential buildings and several cars have been damaged,” he said.
The Russian group Wagner aims to recruit another 30,000 mercenaries by May. The head of the Russian Wagner group, Yevgeni Prigozhin, announced this Saturday that he plans to recruit another 30,000 mercenaries by the middle of next May. The founder of the militia has explained in a message on his Telegram channel that the group’s recruitment centers, which operate in 42 Russian cities, are hiring between 500 and 800 mercenaries a day.
