Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy greets US Senator Lindsey Graham in Kyiv, March 18, 2024

EA on UK’s Talk TV and India’s News 9: War and Bloodbath — The Threats of Putin and Trump

EA on Times Radio: Week in Review — Ukraine-Russia, UK Politics, Tik-Tok Turmoil in US, Tucker Carlson Pranked, and Rugby in Ireland

Monday’s Coverage: 10,000s of Russians Protest Putin’s Stage-Managed Presidential Election

Map: Institute for the Study of War

UPDATE 1903 GMT:

Since March 1, Russian forces have fired 130 missiles, more than 320 Iran-type “kamikaze” drones, and almost 900 glide bombs in “a terrorist war against our people, against ordinary Ukrainian cities and villages”, according to President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.

Zelenskiy said Ukraine has demonstrated that it is capable of downing missiles and drones and also of destroying Russian warplanes.

However, we require more protection, specifically a fully realistic number of air defense systems that our partners possess.

Patriots and other systems must do what they were designed for: protect lives, not collect dust in storage. And I want to thank everyone in the world who understands this and helps us save lives.

Russian terror must lose.

UPDATE 1438 GMT:

Yulia Navalnaya, the widow of the Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, has said that the official results of Russia’s managed Presidential election have no meaning.

She said of “Noon Against Putin” protests at polling stations on Sunday:

We proved to ourselves and others that Putin is not our President. We did not elect him….

We will ensure that no one in the world recognizes Putin as the legitimate president. That no one sits down with him at the negotiating table.

UPDATE 1123 GMT:

Russia has recruited about 2,000 Nepalese men to fight on the frontline in Ukraine.

The recruitment has been confirmed by Russian immigration data, the testimony of returning soldiers, and campaigners supporting the soldiers’ families.

One of the Nepalese recruits who returned, Ganesh, 35, said he and the other men were “treated like dogs”: “Once we were sent to Ukraine we didn’t have enough food and were beaten by the Russians.”

Nepal stopped issuing work permits for its citizens to work in Russia in January, after some were reportedly killed on the frontline.

Two weeks ago, seven young men from India appealed for help from Indian authorities, saying they were deceived into fighting for Russia’s invasion.

UPDATE 1104 GMT:

The Kremlin has confirmed that it is replacing the head of the Russian Navy, Nikolai Yevmenov, after Ukraine’s destruction of about 1/3 of Moscow’s Black Sea Fleet.

Adm. Alexander Moiseyev, Commander of the Northern Fleet for the past five years, has been named as acting head of the navy.

Russian channels on Telegram announced the change of commander earlier this month, after Ukrainian sank yet another large landing warship.

UPDATE 0825 GMT:

Russian attacks across Ukraine killed four civilians and wounded six on Monday.

Homes and civilian infrastructure were damaged as Russia targeted nine regions.

Three people were killed in the Kherson region in southern Ukraine. The assaults on residential areas damaged two apartment buildings.

One person was killed and another injured in attacks on the village of Ocheretyne in the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine, about 15 km (9 miles) from the frontline. Four people were wounded in the town of Selydove by S-300 missiles that damaged more than 20 houses.

In the neighboring Kharkiv region, a 62-year-old man was injured near Kupyansk. Around 20 settlements were struck, with damage houses, a business, and a cultural center.

ORIGINAL ENTRY: Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Monday that Congressional approval of US aid is essential for Kyiv to maintain its resistance against Russia’s 25-month invasion.

Hosting Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, Zelenskiy explained, “It is critically important for us that the Congress soon completes all the necessary procedures and makes a final decision…which will strengthen the Ukrainian economy and our armed forces.”

The continued support of Ukraine by international partners, particularly the United States, is now more important than ever in implementing plans to de-occupy our territories and protect our people. Democracy and freedom must prevail—now and always.

Since October, a Trumpist and hard-right Republican faction in the House has blocked the approval of $60.1 billion in aid to Ukraine.

Last month, the Senate passed the measure as part of a package also including funds for Israel and Taiwan and for border security. However, House Speaker Mike Johnson — installed by the Trumpist/hard-right group last autumn — has prevented a vote in the lower chamber.

Despite posing as a stalwart defender of Ukraine’s cause, Graham voted against the Senate package. Instead, he is echoing Donald Trump in the demand that any assistance to Kyiv is in the form of a loan.

Graham maintained the position on Monday, putting an emphasis on the US-Mexico border despite the House’s refusal to consider a measure linking Ukraine and border security.