Ukrainian troops hit 7 Russian personnel concentration areas – AFU General Staff

The General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces shared the information in its report on Saturday, March 18.

The aviation of the Ukrainian Defense Forces launched 6 strikes on Russian personnel concentrations. In addition, the Ukrainian military shot down a Russian Shahed-136 UAV.

The Russian army continues to launch offensives in 5 directions

Russia continues to launch offensive operations in Lyman, Bakhmut, Avdiivka, Mariinka and Shakhtarsk directions. Bakhmut remains the epicenter of the fighting.

"The enemy launched 5 missile attacks over the last day, 4 of them were aimed at civilian infrastructure in Zaporizhzhia. The Russian forces also launched 12 air strikes and more than 20 MLRS attacks," the report said.

The threat of Russia launching missile attacks across Ukraine remains high.

Northern and northeastern border with Belarus and Russia: during the day, Russian troops shelled a settlement in the Chernihiv region, 2 more in the Sumy region, and 6 others in the Kharkiv region.

Kupiansk and Lyman directions: Russian troops fired artillery at 7 settlements in the Kharkiv region, 3 in the Luhansk region, and 2 more in the Donetsk region.

Bakhmut direction: 10 settlements in the Donetsk region were subjected to Russian attacks.

Avdiivka, Mariinka and Shakhtarsk directions: 9 settlements in the Donetsk region were under Russian fire.

Zaporizhzhia and Kherson directions: 7 settlements in the Zaporizhzhia region were shelled. The city of Kherson was shelled once again.

In the Luhansk region, local occupation "authorities" force people to obtain Russian citizenship

"In Rubizhne, Luhansk region, the local occupation authorities are forcing the population to obtain Russian citizenship. Ukrainian passports have not been taken away from people yet, but to get a job, you need to have a Russian passport," the post says.

In addition, Russian troops continue to use civilian facilities in the temporarily occupied territory of the Zaporizhzhia region for their own needs. In particular, they are using a school building in one of the settlements of the Polohy district as a field hospital with 50 beds. In this way, Russian troops are trying to shorten the time for returning to the service among the sanitary losses.

• On March 18, Russian troops attacked Kostiantynivka, Donetsk region, injuring 6 people and damaging houses and a shopping center.

• On March 18, Russian forces used cluster munitions to shell Kramatorsk: at least 2 people were killed, 8 injured, 3 of them in serious condition.