What to remember from Monday 18 March

Vladimir Putin welcomed the “return home” of Ukrainian territories seized by Moscow on Monday, a day after his surprise landslide re-election.

Vladimir Putin welcomed Monday March 18 “Return to Homeland” Ukrainian territories occupied by Moscow, cheered by crowds gathered in Red Square after his landslide re-election following an uncontested presidential election. On the front, Ukrainian strikes killed four people in Belgorod on Monday, bringing the death toll to at least 16 since March 12, according to local authorities. Francinfo takes stock of the day’s top news stories related to the Russian-Ukrainian conflict.

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

Vladimir Putin, who has been in power for nearly a quarter of a century, won 87.28% of the vote at the end of the election, which was held from Friday to Sunday, including in areas of Ukraine claimed by Moscow. This was condemned as a score “No relation to reality” By opposition in exile. The 71-year-old president appeared in the evening on Red Square, where a concert was being held to mark the 10th anniversary of the annexation of the Crimean peninsula, the first act of conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

was greeted by the crowd with shouts of “Russia! Russia!”Vladimir Putin, accompanied on stage by three of his presidential opponents, assured that his country would go “Forward, hand in hand” with territories conquered from Ukraine. “Returning to the homeland was more difficult, more tragic, but we succeeded and it is a great event in the history of our state”Under the walls of the Kremlin, launched Vladimir Putin in a brief speech before singing the Russian national anthem in unison with the crowd.

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

West condemns vote amid repression, Turkey offers mediation

Berlin, London, Paris and the heads of European diplomacy, for their part, condemned the vote under obstruction, without opposition and in total repression, while the United States condemned it. “Incredibly undemocratic process”. Recep Tayyip Erdogan, for his part, “joy” Turkey’s president announced, offering to mediate with his Russian counterpart and Ukraine once again for his re-election.

Volodymyr Zelensky called on the United States to “quickly” release a massive envelope.

For his part, the Ukrainian president also said that he saw a man in Vladimir Putin “drunk on power” wants to “Reign Forever”. Volodymyr Zelensky once again called on the US Congress to unblock “immediately” 60 billion dollar envelope in military and economic aid.

“It is critically important to us that Congress quickly complete all necessary processes and make a final decision.” On aid blocked for months by a rift between Democrats and Republicans, Senator Lindsay announced the Ukrainian president during a meeting with Graham, according to a press release issued by kyiv.

Four people were killed in the Belgorod region

About the front, the entire week was marked by deadly bombings and incursions by Ukraine’s armed fighters to show Russia that it is not safe on its territory.

In the Belgorod region, which borders Ukraine, at least 16 people have been killed in attacks since March 12, according to local officials. Four members of the same family were killed Monday after a Ukrainian strike, according to Russian authorities. “Terrorist attack by Ukrainian armed forces kills almost an entire family: a grandmother, a mother, her partner and her son, a 17-year-old youth”A little girl was able to be rescued, the local Russian governor said on Telegram.

kyiv says it shot down 17 Russian drones, Sumi region under bomb

Ukraine confirmed on Monday that it had shot down 17 combat drones out of a total of 22 drones and seven missiles fired by Russia overnight, and reported an intensification of Russian bombardment of its border region of Sumy in the north. . 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 in a telegram.

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

South Korea’s defense minister said Monday that North Korea has sent about 7,000 containers of weapons to Russia for its war against Ukraine since July. Both historic allies Russia and North Korea are subject to global sanctions, with Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine and Pyongyang over its nuclear weapons tests. 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 Moscow with weapons.