Putin appears at massive Moscow rally, praises Russian military: LIVE UPDATES
Russian President Vladimir Putin appeared Friday at a massive rally in Moscow as his invasion of Ukraine continues.
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Vladimir Putin is adjusting his rhetoric following his stalled invasion of Ukraine, touching on Stalinist nostalgia and patriotic themes to boost public support for the war, which he calls a "special military operation" and claims was launched as a defensive measure.
In a speech Thursday, he peppered his remarks with "Stalin-esque" dog whistling and warnings of a "fifth column" of Russian "scum and traitors" working to undermine his ambitions from within, according to a translation of his remarks.
"The West, collectively, is trying to fracture our society…to provoke a civil conflict in Russia, by means of the fifth column," he said. "The goal is Russia’s collapse."
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"Meaningful negotiations on peace, on security for us, for Ukraine - are the only chance for Russia to reduce the damage from its own mistakes," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy posted on Telegram Friday. "It’s time to meet. Time to talk. It is time to restore territorial integrity and justice for Ukraine. Otherwise, Russia’s losses will be so huge that several generations will not be enough to rebound."
Fox News national security correspondent Jennifer Griffin details a 2022 worldwide threat assessment on 'Special Report.'
Reps. Gregory Meeks and Mike Turner discuss sending MiGs to Ukraine and dealing with Putin on 'Special Report.'
Ukrainian and Russian citizens are depending on hotlines to gather information about loved ones during the war.
Ukraine's National Information Bureau has a hotline for those hoping to get information about the deceased, missing or prisoners of war, according to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's website.
"This hotline is designed for the initial collection of information and communication with victims," Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said in a Friday statement. "The line will also function in messengers. I ask those who have questions and who want information about the dead, missing, prisoners of war, illegally detained by Russia, including civilians to call and we will help."
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Former Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush visited a Ukrainian church in a show of support as the country enters its fourth week of combating an invasion by Russia.
"America stands in solidarity with the people of Ukraine as they fight for their freedom and their future," Bush posted on his Instagram page on Friday along with a video of the two presidents laying flowers at Saints Volodymyr & Olha Ukrainian Catholic Church in Chicago, Illinois.
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The Institute for the Study of War released a report Friday stating that Ukrainian forces have engaged in a successful counterattack around the city of Mykolayiv over the past several days.
The report also noted that Russian troops continued to secure territory around the city Mariupol on March 18 but also noted that morale among Russian troops appears to be deteriorating.
"Russian forces face growing morale and supply problems, including growing reports of self-mutilation among Russian troops to avoid deployment to Ukraine and shortages of key guided munitions," the report said.
The report adds that Russia did not conduct any offensive operations to the northwest or northeast of Kyiv on March 18.
Russian forces remain "largely stalled" across Ukraine after more than three weeks of fighting, a senior U.S. defense official said Friday.
Russian troops have launched more than 1,080 missiles at Ukrainian targets since the start of the invasion.
Despite weeks of continued attempts to encircle the capital city of Kyiv from three different directions, Russian troops still have "not made significant advances" from the north or northwest, the official said.
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More than 12 million people were stranded in areas affected by Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine, while over 6.4 million Ukrainians were displaced, but remain in the country, as of Wednesday, the United Nations-run Global Protection Cluster said Friday.
The staggering statistics were compiled via survey by the International Organization for Migration, or IOM, and shared in Friday’s "Update on IDP Figures in Ukraine." An "IDP" is an internally displaced person, or someone who was displaced from their home but remains in the country.
The IOM found that an estimated 6.48 million IDPs were reported in Ukraine as of Wednesday, according to the Protection Cluster, a coalition of non-governmental, United Nations and humanitarian organizations.
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The State Department on Friday refused to detail what "red lines" the U.S. would draw with respect to China’s support for Russia amid its deadly invasion in Ukraine.
President Biden warned Chinese President Xi Jinping in a call Friday morning that there would be "consequences" if Beijing provides Moscow with "material support" while Russia continues its deadly campaign against its southern neighbor.
But when pressed by reporters as to what "red lines" the White House would draw the State Department was light on answers.
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French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday asked Russian President Vladimir Putin to lift the siege of Mariupol, allow humanitarian access and order an immediate cease-fire, Macron’s office said.
Macron spoke with the Russian leader on the phone for 70 minutes. Earlier in the day, Putin had a conversation with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who also pressed for an immediate cease-fire.
Macron, who has spoken numerous times with Putin, revisited complaints over repeated attacks on civilians and Russia’s failure to respect human rights in Ukraine, the presidential Elysee Palace said.
It said that Putin, in turn, laid the blame for the war on Ukraine.
French media reported that Putin accused Ukraine of committing "war crimes" and claimed that Russia has done everything it can to avoid civilian casualties.
Associated Press contributed to this report
In starkly contrasting readouts by the U.S. and China of the call Friday morning between President Biden and Chinese President Xu Jinping, the U.S. emphasized “imposing costs on Russia” while the Chinese called for an evenhanded approach that recognized “the security concerns of both Russia and Ukraine.”
The readouts were not only different substantively but notable for the totalitarian regimes lengthy, robust provision of detailed information about the relationship between China and the U.S. and an American report that included mostly well-known diplo-speak.
While China said generally it “stands for peace and opposes war” and hopes for a cessation of hostilities, it made no demand that Russia cease operations in Ukraine that have included horrific destruction and killing of civilians.
“All sides need to jointly support Russia and Ukraine in having dialogue and negotiation that will produce results and lead to peace,” the Chinese government said. “The US and NATO should also have dialogue with Russia to address the crux of the Ukraine crisis and ease the security concerns of both Russia and Ukraine.”
China also suggested it opposed sanctions on Russia.
“Sweeping and indiscriminate sanctions would only make the people suffer,” the Chinese statement said. “If further escalated, they could trigger serious crises in global economy and trade, finance, energy, food, and industrial and supply chains, crippling the already languishing world economy and causing irrevocable losses.
Biden issued a warning to China, the U.S. said, which “described the implications and consequences if China provides material support to Russia as it conducts brutal attacks against Ukrainian cities and civilians. The President underscored his support for a diplomatic resolution to the crisis.
“The conversation focused on Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine,” the White House said. “President Biden outlined the views of the United States and our Allies and partners on this crisis. President Biden detailed our efforts to prevent and then respond to the invasion, including by imposing costs on Russia.”
China added, “Biden reiterated that the US does not seek a new Cold War with China; it does not aim to change China’s system; the revitalization of its alliances is not targeted at China; the US does not support ‘Taiwan independence’; and it has no intention to seek a conflict with China.”
I arrived in Poland near the border with Ukraine a little over a week ago. I am the director of international disaster relief for the Virginia Beach-based humanitarian organization Operation Blessing International. My mission is to lead emergency relief efforts to help the untold numbers of refugees streaming across the border from Ukraine. Our team also includes a medical doctor, a logistics expert, a safe water expert and a media expert, so we can capture everything in images to show America what is transpiring here.
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United States Central Command (CENTCOM) Commander Gen. Frank McKenzie said there was "little evidence" that foreign fighters were traveling from Syria to Ukraine as Russia looks to ramp up recruitment for its war.
"We see little evidence of recruiting in Syria to bring people back to Ukraine," McKenzie told reporters Friday. "Not saying it couldn't happen, and I'm not saying that one or two, three or four haven't gone. But we haven't seen the large-scale effort to do that."
The general’s comments were in response to questions on Russian President Vladimir Putin’s reported efforts to have Syrians join the fight in Ukraine.
Earlier this month, Syrian news website DeirEzzor24 claimed that Moscow was offering six-month contracts with pay ranging between $200 and $300 a month in a push to increase its force posture in Ukraine.
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People walk as a cloud of smoke raises after an explosion near the airport in Lviv, western Ukraine, on Friday. (Ismail Coşkun/IHA via AP)
A barrage of missiles on Friday struck parts of Lviv, a western Ukrainian city that thousands of people have passed through on their way to the safety of Poland or to enter more dangerous Ukraine territories to provide aid amid Russia's ongoing onslaught.
Russian forces on Friday launched an attack against an aircraft repair installation at an airport just outside Lviv, close to the border with Poland. At least one person was reported wounded.
Satellite photos showed the strike destroyed a repair hangar and appeared to damage two other buildings. A row of fighter jets appeared intact, but an apparent impact crater sat in front of them.
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The Ukraine Ministry of Defense said Friday that its troops have "eliminated [the] commander of 331st airborne regiment of [the] russian army, colonel Sergei Sukharev.
"He took part in the Battle of Ilovaysk in 2014, where he committed a war crime," it added.
Sukharev's death reportedly has been confirmed by Russian state media.
KelTec employee Bobby Cormier looks through lines of rifles, similar to ones being shipped to Ukraine, at their manufacturing facility on Thursday in Cocoa, Fla. (AP/Phelan M. Ebenhack)
Gun companies like Adrian Kellgren’s family-owned business in Florida are helping Ukrainians fight back against Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Kellgren’s company was left holding a $200,000 shipment of semi-automatic rifles after a longtime customer in Ukraine suddenly went silent following the start of the war, the Associated Press reports.
Fearing the worst, Kellgren and his company KelTec decided to put those stranded 400 guns to use, sending them to Ukraine's nascent resistance movement to help civilians fight back against a Russian military that has been repeatedly shelling their apartment buildings, schools, hospitals and hiding places.
"The American people want to do something," said Kellgren, a former U.S. Navy pilot. "We enjoy our freedoms, we cherish those things. And when we see a group of people out there getting hammered like this, it’s heartbreaking."
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Fox News reporter Mike Tobin reports live from Lviv, Ukraine as attacks have moved west and another American was killed.
President Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping spoke on a secure video call for nearly two hours Friday morning, discussing Russia's war against Ukraine and "other issues of mutual concern."
Biden took the call, which started at 9:03 a.m. ET, in the White House Situation Room. The call concluded at 10:53 a.m. ET.
The White House previewed the call as part of the administration’s "ongoing efforts to maintain open lines of communication" between the United States and the People’s Republic of China (PRC).
The White House said Biden and Xi would discuss "managing the competition" between the U.S. and China. and "Russia's war against Ukraine and other issues of mutual concern."
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A residential building in Kyiv after it was hit by shelling early Friday. (Photo by Maxym Marusenko/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Russian troops launched a new round of attacks on parts of the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv as forces also launched missiles at the outskirts of Lviv, a city that had been seen as a refuge for those trying to escape the war-torn country.
Chilling photographs show the devastating aftermath of the attacks against a residential district in Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital. Russian forces, led by President Vladimir Putin, also launched a series of missiles strikes targeting the western city of Lviv.
The United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights reported Thursday that 780 civilians had been killed in Ukraine and 1,252 were injured between Feb. 24, 2022 – seen as being the start of the war – and midnight Wednesday.
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in a tweet Friday, said he spoke with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and that an application to join the European Union "will be prepared within [a] few months."
"Moving to our strategic goal together," he added.
President Biden spoke for two hours Friday morning with Chinese President Xi Jinping, the White House says.
Russian President Vladimir Putin waves to people gathered at a rally in Moscow on Friday. (Evgeny Biyatov/Sputnik Pool Photo via AP)
Russian President Vladimir Putin appeared at a massive rally in Moscow Friday, applauding his troops as they continued pounding Ukrainian cities with shelling and missiles.
"We know what we need to do, how to do it and at what cost. And we will absolutely accomplish all of our plans," Putin told the crowd gathered in and around Luzhniki Stadium. Approximately 200,000 people were in attendance, many waiving Russian flags, according to Russian police and state-run media.
Putin praised his soldiers at the celebration to mark the eighth anniversary of Russia's seizure of the Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine in 2014. "Shoulder to shoulder, they help each other, support each other and when needed they shield each other from bullets with their bodies like brothers. Such unity we have not had for a long time," he said.
He called the Feb. 24 invasion necessary to defend against the "genocide" of Russian-speaking people in Ukraine – a claim flatly rejected by the West.
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The ‘America’s Newsroom’ co-host discusses the killing of civilians and the missile strike just outside the Lviv refugee haven.
The aftermath of an attack on a theater in Mariupol on Wednesday. (Donetsk Regional Civil-Military Administration Council via AP)
A Ukrainian official said Friday that rescue crews combing through the rubble of a theater that was bombed earlier this week in Mariupol have freed 130 people, the Wall Street Journal reports.
The official said about 1,300 people remain trapped in the basement of the facility.
A woman looks at residential buildings damaged by a bomb in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Friday. (AP/Rodrigo Abd)
Ukraine's food supply chain is "falling apart" with trains and bridges destroyed and supermarket shelves empty amid a swelling refugee crisis, according to a U.N. official and data from the agency.
"The country's food supply chain is falling apart. Movements of goods have slowed down due to insecurity and the reluctance of drivers," Jakob Kern, U.N. World Food Programme (WFP) Emergency Coordinator for the Ukraine crisis, told a Geneva press briefing Friday from Poland.
Meanwhile, 3,270,662 refugees have fled Ukraine as of Friday since Vladimir Putin invaded the country Feb. 24, according to the U.N. Nearly 2 million of those have landed in Poland as the crisis in Ukraine becomes increasingly more dire.
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Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a rally Friday in Moscow. (Reuters)
Russian President Vladimir Putin appeared Friday at a huge flag-waving rally in Moscow and praised his country's military as the invasion of Ukraine is ongoing.
Moscow police claimed more than 200,000 people were in and around the Luzhniki stadium for the rally and concert marking the eighth anniversary of Russia's annexation of the Crimean peninsula, seized from Ukraine.
The event included singer Oleg Gazmanov singing “Made in the U.S.S.R.,” with the opening lines “Ukraine and Crimea, Belarus and Moldova, It’s all my country.”
As Putin prepared to take the stage, speakers praised him as fighting “Nazism” in Ukraine, a claim flatly rejected by leaders across the globe, the Associated Press reported.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
An image posted on Twitter Friday by a photographer with Sweden's Expressen newspaper appears to show rescuers pulling a Ukrainian soldier out from rubble after a military base was attacked in the city of Mykolaiv.
"This soldier alive but in pain," the post read. "At least 45 dead."
Ukraine's deputy prime minister says the country has set up a "National Information Bureau" in order to "collect and to summarize data on Ukrainian prisoners of war , dead or missing people, and people illegally detained by the Russian Federation, including civilians."
Iryna Vereshchuk said the database will also track Russian prisoners of war and losses of Russian troops on its soil so their families will know what happened to them, according to the Ukrayinska Pravda newspaper.
"The losses of the invaders’ personnel already exceed 14 thousand people, according to official data obtained by the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces," she reportedly said. "Our defense forces have been capturing those who have illegally invaded our territory every day since 24 February this year. Therefore, we will also set up lists of both the dead and prisoners. Their families will know where their husbands, children and brothers were sent by the Russian authorities."
All four countries that expelled diplomats Friday are part of NATO. (Fox News)
The countries of Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania and Bulgaria have expelled a combined 20 Russian diplomats Friday because of Moscow's ongoing war with Ukraine, according to reports.
In Bulgaria, where 10 of the diplomats have been given 72 hours to leave, the Russian officials were accused of carrying out "activities incompatible with their diplomatic status," Reuters reported, citing comments that Russia's ambassador made to state media.
"We take this as an extremely unfriendly act and reserve the right to retaliate," Russian Ambassador Eleonora Mitrofanova was quoted as saying.
Latvia Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics tweeted that his country has expelled three Russian workers "in connection with activities that are contrary to their diplomatic status and taking into account ongoing Russian aggression in Ukraine."
Police stand guard at a site where a bombing damaged residential buildings in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Friday. (AP/Rodrigo Abd)
Kyiv City Council said Friday that out of the 222 people that have been killed in its city since the beginning of Russian's invasion of Ukraine, 60 are civilians.
Four children are reported to be among those dead, while 889 also have been injured, the council added.
Fox News' Aishah Hasnie reports from the Poland-Ukraine border on the struggles facing aid groups trying to help Ukraine refugees.
Where refugees are fleeing after escaping Ukraine. (Fox News)
The United Kingdom's Ministry of Defence said Friday that Russian forces have made "minimal progress this week" in Ukraine as "Ukrainian forces around Kyiv and Mykolaiv continue to frustrate Russian attempts to encircle the cities."
"The cities of Kharkiv, Chernihiv, Sumy and Mariupol remain encircled and subject to heavy Russian shelling," the agency added.
Russian President Vladimir Putin is now accusing Ukraine of attempting to stall negotiations aimed at ending the war.
During a phone call between Putin and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Friday, "it was noted that the Kyiv regime is attempting in every possible way to delay the negotiation process, putting forward more and more unrealistic proposals," the Kremlin said in a statement, according to Reuters.
"Nonetheless the Russian side is ready to continue searching for a solution in line with its well-known principled approaches," the statement added.
The messaging from the Kremlin stood in contrast to what Putin said on this topic one week ago -- that there were "certain positive shifts" happening in the negotiations.
A theater in Mariupol that was destroyed by the Russian military earlier this week. (Photo by Ukrainian Interior Ministry/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Russia's defense ministry said Friday that its military and separatists in eastern Ukraine are "tightening the noose" on the city of Mariupol, which has been under frequent attack in recent days, Reuters reports, citing Russian state media.
The report added that fighting is currently ongoing in the center of the besieged city.
A hospital is seen damaged by shelling in Sievierodonetsk, Ukraine. (Luhansk Regional Civil-Military Administration/Reuters)
The World Health Organization says it has now verified 43 attacks on hospitals and health facilities in Ukraine during the Russian invasion, leaving 12 killed and 34 injured.
In a virtual briefing to the U.N. Security Council Thursday, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said “the disruption to services and supplies is posing an extreme risk to people with cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes, HIV and TB, which are among the leading causes of mortality in Ukraine.”
More than 35,000 mental health patients in Ukrainian psychiatric hospitals and long-term care facilities also face severe shortages of medicine, food and blankets, he said, adding that “the life-saving medicine we need right now is peace.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
A cloud of smoke raises after an explosion in Lviv, western Ukraine, Friday, March 18, 2022. The mayor of Lviv says missiles struck near the city's airport early Friday. (AP)
Russian troops launched an airstrike Friday morning that destroyed airplane and bus repair facilities near Lviv's international airport in western Ukraine, the city’s mayor said.
The mayor said the airplane facility was empty and there are no reported casualties so far.
The Russians launched six missiles from the Black Sea, two of which were shot down, according to the Ukrainian Air Force’s western command.
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The U.S. and leaders in other countries are repeating calls to investigate Russia for war crimes in Ukraine in the wake of a number of fatal attacks on civilian infrastructure, including hospitals, schools and a theater.
On Wednesday, President Biden called Russian President Vladimir Putin a "war criminal" and Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday agreed, saying that "intentionally targeting civilians is a war crime."
He said American officials were evaluating potential war crimes and that if Russia's intentional targeting of civilians is confirmed, there will be "massive consequences."
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A Russian airstrike hit near Lviv's airport Friday morning, Mayor Andriy Sadovy said.
The mayor said the airport itself was not hit. He said an airplane repair facility was destroyed but no one was inside because worked had stopped at the building for the day.
China's Xi Jinping will not condemn Russia's invasion of Ukraine, says David Martosko, Daily Mail TV political correspondent.
The state-run Indian Oil Corp. bought 3 million barrels of crude oil from Russia earlier this week to secure its energy needs, resisting Western pressure to avoid such purchases, an Indian government official said Friday.
The official said India has not imposed sanctions against buying oil and will be looking to purchase more from Russia despite calls not to from the U.S. and other countries.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to talk to reporters.
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Chinese President Xi Jinping meets with U.S. President Joe Biden via video link, in Beijing, capital of China, Nov. 16, 2021. (Photo by Yue Yuewei/Xinhua via Getty Images)
President Biden will speak with Chinese President Xi Jinping Friday morning as the U.S. has warned Beijing that military or economic support for Russia could trigger sanctions.
"This is part of ongoing efforts to maintain open lines of communication between the United States and the PRC.," the White House said. "The two Leaders will discuss managing the competition between the two countries as well as Russia’s war against Ukraine and other issues of mutual concern."
White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Biden would question Xi about Beijing's “rhetorical support” of Putin and an “absence of denunciation" of Russia's brutal invasion of Ukraine. “This is an opportunity to assess where President Xi stands,” Psaki said.
The meeting is scheduled to take place at 9 a.m. ET.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Lt. Col. Daniel Davis tells Laura Ingraham there is nothing in providing these MiGs that is worth the possibility that the U.S. could be in war.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked President Biden for an additional $800 million in military aid in his nightly address to the nation Thursday.
The White House says the aid includes anti-aircraft equipment, anti-armor missile systems, guns, grenades and drones, according to NPR.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Former CIA intelligence officer Ryan Hillsberg discusses reports the CIA secretly trained Ukrainians after Russia's 2014 invasion and annexation of the Crimean Peninsula.
U.S. intelligence officials believe Vladimir Putin may threaten to unleash Russia’s nuclear arsenal increasingly as Ukrainian defense forces continue to thwart his invasion of their country.
Lt. Gen. Scott Berrier, director of the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency, revealed the concerns in a new report on global threats dated March 15 and obtained by Fox News Thursday.
"As this war and its consequences slowly weaken Russian conventional strength, Russia likely will increasingly rely on its nuclear deterrent to signal the West and project strength to its internal and external audiences,” he wrote.
U.S. officials believe Putin intends to “overturn the U.S.-led rules based post-Cold War international order” and reclaim former Soviet territories.
“Russia views a powerful, survivable nuclear force as the foundation of its national security, and its modernized general purposes forces as critical to meet any conventional military threat and project Russian power abroad,” Berrier wrote.
Additionally, Russian forces are using “indiscriminate methods” of attack that are leveling cities, killing civilians and damaging infrastructure in retaliation for Ukraine’s effective resistance, according to the report.
The DIA also called into question Putin’s credibility on his claims to have “modernized” the Russian military.
"Russia’s modernization is intended to ensure Russia can field a military capable of engaging in the full spectrum of warfare to deter or defeat a wide scope of threats, but initial setbacks in Ukraine call some of Putin’s narrative into question,” Berrier wrote.
At the same time, Russia claims it has updated more than 85% of its nuclear weapons and is working on developing missiles that are capable of circumventing Western defenses in order to “ensure that Russia can credibly inflict unacceptable damage on the West.”
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Secretary of State Antony Blinken confirmed that an American citizen was killed in Ukraine on Thursday.
"We offer our sincerest to the family on their loss," a State Department spokesperson said. "Out of respect to the family during this difficult time, we have no further comment."
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