Live From Ukraine, March 18: Kharkiv On Fire

Valentyna Zakharchuk is a Ukrainian citizen who will provide daily on-the-ground updates of the Russian invasion for Benzinga.

Rescuers are doing their best at the cost of their own lives. 

The market in Kharkiv was shelled. The fire spread to residential buildings, where there is a victim. The Russians shelled the Academy of Public Administration in Kharkiv.

Northeast Ukraine: At about 3:30 a.m. on March 17, Russian troops shelled Merefa, as a result of which a general education school and a cultural center were destroyed.

"21 people were killed. 25 people were injured, 10 of them are in serious condition. The debris is being cleared," according to the prosecutor's office.

• "The Russian army fired cluster bombs at Kozacha Lopan. As a result, at least six people were killed, data on the number of injured are being investigated," Vyacheslav Zadorenko, head of the Derhachiv community, said on his Facebook page on Thursday, March 17.

According to Zadorenko, the railway station, shops, pharmacies and other civilian buildings in the center of the village were hit. Zadorenko said that the use of cluster bombs is prohibited by the 2008 Dublin Convention.

• On March 17 in Kharkiv, a 31-year-old rescuer was killed as a result of repeated Russian shelling of the Barabashovo market. This was reported by the State Emergency Service. Also, another rescuer with shrapnel wounds was taken to the hospital.

According to the State Emergency Service, the fire area is about 7 hectares. "All the efforts of the rescue service units are aimed at preventing the spread of flames to the housing sector and other related facilities. In total, more than ten residential buildings have been saved," the service said. 

"The fire in Barabashovo is localized. In addition to Barabashovo, we had hits on administrative residential buildings both at night and in the morning. In total, more than 700 buildings were destroyed in Kharkiv. The shelling does not stop. But despite this, Kharkov was, is and will be Ukrainian," Kharkiv Mayor Igor Terekhov said on March 18.

• In Kharkiv, the Russian military shelled the premises of the Kharkiv Regional Institute of Public Administration of the National Academy of Public Administration under the president of Ukraine. Roman Semenukha, deputy head of the Kharkiv Regional State Administration, spoke about this. One of the sections of the academy was destroyed. A residential building across the street also caught fire. According to Kharkiv residents on social networks, rescuers quickly coped with the fire.

In Kyiv, two people were killed during shelling and fires broke out.

Since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, more than 200 civilians have died in Chernihiv. A shelter for mothers with children came under fire.

Russians fired six rockets from the Black Sea at the Lviv airport.

The military of the Russian Federation launched an airstrike on Kramatorsk.

Severodonetsk and Rubizhne were shelled all night; there were casualties.

Northern Ukraine: Russian invaders fired on evacuation columns with tanks in the Buchansk region. This was stated by the head of the Main Directorate of the National Police of the Kiev region, Andrii Nebytov, on Thursday, March 17. Nebytov said the streets of the cities of the Kyiv region are littered with the corpses of civilians.

In Bucha, the Russian military commited property and violent crimes against the civilian population. They also fired on the evacuation columns with tanks.

Northern Ukraine: Russian troops launched an airstrike on one of the dormitories in the city of Chernihiv. During the analysis of the structures, a family of five people was found dead. This was reported by the State Emergency Service on Thursday, March 17. 

It is indicated that among the dead are three children — a boy and a girl, twins of three years old; their older sister, 12 years old; and their parents.

Eastern Ukraine: "The situation in Mariupol is critical. The city has been under blockade for 16 days already, more than 350,000 Mariupol residents continue to take shelter in shelters and basements from continuous shelling from the Russian occupation forces. On average, from 50 to 100 air bombs are dropped on the city a day," the Mariupol City Council said Thursday, March 17. 

Eastern Ukraine: During the evening of March 17-18, Russian troops shelled Severodonetsk and Rubizhne using artillery and multiple rocket launchers. At the moment, it is known that there are two dead and four wounded, said the head of the Lugansk Regional State Administration, Serhiy Gaidai. 

Eastern Ukraine: In Severodonetsk, invaders shelled a shelter for mothers with children. This was announced by the head of the Lugansk Regional State Administration, Serhii Gaidai, on Thursday, March 17.

"Residents and employees of the institution are safe. In this institution, many mothers with babies were hiding from enemy shelling, but Russia caught up with them there too. There are no safer places in the Lugansk region!" 

Eastern Ukraine: "According to the investigation, on March 18, 2022, servicemen of the RF Armed Forces carried out artillery shelling of the village of Zavody (Kharkiv region). As a result, a residential building was destroyed. At that moment there was a family in it. A man, two women and an 11-year-old boy died on the spot. More than one resident of the house received bodily injuries,"  the regional prosecutor's office said on Friday, March 18. 

Western Ukraine: The Russian military fired six cruise missiles in the area of Lviv airport from the Black Sea. This was reported by the Air Command of the West of the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on March 18. It is noted that the Ukrainian military managed to destroy two missiles.