The time came to March 18, and in the blink of an eye, the Russian-Ukrainian conflict had entered its 23rd day. As far as the present is concerned, the war situation is still glued, Russia and Ukraine have won and lost against each other, and it is still the Russian army that occupies the initiative and advantage, but the advantage is not enough for the Russian army to win quickly.
Regarding the battle situation, there are at least 6 details worth noting.
Detail one, Chechen President Kadyrov has appeared in Ukraine, near Kiev. In addition to satirizing the "lack of strength" of the Ukrainian intelligence service, Kadyrov also revealed an important signal that the Chechen army has approached Kiev and may participate in street battles and launch an onslaught on Kiev at any time.
In addition, Kadyrov also held video talks with Putin. Putin thanked Kadyrov and called on Kadyrov to say hello to the Chechen soldiers who had gone to Ukraine on his behalf. Kadyrov said he thanked Putin on behalf of Chechen soldiers for his compliments, which were ready to "carry out any order."
In Mariupol, the Azov battalion, Chechnya's "nemesis," posted a video of a "sneak attack on a Russian chariot."
Earlier, Kadyrov had said that Chechnya would not accept the surrender of the Azov battalion, and that what awaited the Azov battalion would be completely annihilated.
The Azov battalion shouted to Kadyrov that it was waiting in Chechnya in Mariupol.
Detail two, the Russian army besieging Ukraine on all sides, only one way has made smooth progress. At present, the Russian army has dispatched all branches of troops except the "Strategic Rocket Force" and all types of fighters except the Su-57, but this does not mean that the Russian army can make a quick decision.
The Ukrainian army chose to fight with the Russian army to the end, and in the case of NATO and Japan and South Korea providing military assistance to Ukraine and a large number of mercenaries participating in the war, the Russian army and the Ukrainian army began to "repeatedly seize the target" confrontation.
On the northern front, the top priority of the Russian offensive was Kiev, and russian airborne troops had entered the suburbs of northwest and northeast Kiev, but they were met with stubborn resistance from the Ukrainian army, and the fighting was held on, and the Russian army failed to invade the center of Kiev. Most of these Russian troops entered Ukraine from Belarus.
On the northeast front, the Russians set out from Belgorod and launched an offensive against Kharkiv, the second ukrainian city, but had not yet invaded the center of Kharkov.
On the Eastern Front, Russian forces, in tandem with the Donbas civilian forces, have now surrounded Mariupol, where the headquarters of the Azov battalion of the extremist forces is located. Like Kharkiv, Mariupol was the most fiercely fought military town, and after being besieged by the Russians, the Azov battalion clashed with the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense and attacked the Ukrainian commander, who blew up the Azov battalion's command post in Mariupol with missiles.
Russia's Defense Ministry said the Azov battalion was deliberately trying to prevent the evacuation of the population in order to use the Ukrainian people as hostages to the Russian army.
On March 17, Russia's Foreign Ministry said 33,000 people had left Mariupol, most of them to Russia.
The smoothest progress for the Russians was on the southern front. At the moment, the Russian army has occupied Kherson and is launching an attack on the Nikolayev Oblast, and if the oblast is taken, the Russian army is likely to target Odessa.
On March 18, a train was attacked in the Nikolayev Oblast, and billowing smoke was emitted, and it is unknown who the attacker was, whether it was related to the Russian army, and whether it caused casualties.
Ukrainian soldiers and civilians are rushing to repair fortifications in Odessa, adding obstacles to Russian armored vehicles, which are not uncommon on the streets of Odessa, and most of the local Ukrainians have evacuated early.
Detail three, the Russian army began to attack the western part of Ukraine, Ukraine is facing a situation of war. On March 18, the Ukrainian military said that Russian submarines deployed in the Black Sea fired six cruise missiles at Lviv, 2 were intercepted, and Lviv sounded an air defense siren.
Lviv Mayor Andrei said Russian troops attacked an area near Lviv airport but did not hit Lviv airport.
As for the cost of Lviv, it is still unknown, and Russia has not yet expressed its position on the matter. Prior to that, the Russian military had blown up the military base in Lviv with cruise missiles, and the Russian Defense Ministry said it had killed at least 180 mercenaries.
Russia said that knowing the specific location of all the mercenaries, the Russian army will not be soft and will continue to attack.
After the Russian army took action against mercenaries, in the past few days, many mercenaries who traveled from the United States, Britain, France, and Germany to Fight in Ukraine chose to flee to Poland and then returned.
Detail four, despite Russia's warnings, Japan, South Korea and Australia provided military aid to Ukraine, and Russia once again knocked Japan. Russia has made it clear that whether it is providing arms assistance to Ukraine or sending mercenaries to fight, it is a provocation to Russia, and sanctioning Russia is similar to declaring war on Russia.
Japan, South Korea and Australia did not take care of Moscow, and while sanctioning Russia, they also continued to send charcoal to Ukraine.
On March 17, Russia warned Japan that it had not prevented "external forces from recruiting mercenaries from Japan" and that these Japanese citizens had chosen to go to Ukraine to fight the Russians, and that Japan would be responsible for the life and death of Japanese mercenaries.
On the 16th, four Russian warships crossed the Tsugaru Strait and then entered the Sea of Japan.
Japan announced sanctions against 15 Russian individuals and 9 Russian entities. Previously, Japan had sanctioned Putin and Lavrov, frozen the assets of a number of Russian banks, and banned Japanese companies from exporting to 49 Russian entities.
Not surprisingly, Japan will continue to impose additional sanctions on Russia and provoke Russia on the issue of ownership of the South Kuril Islands.
For now, Japan would like to add fuel to the fire, escalate the situation, and then take the opportunity to expand its military.
Detail five, the scale of the war may be expanded. On March 17, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said that two missiles had flown from Ukraine to Belarus and had been successfully shot down, and that Belarus would be forced to respond if Ukraine continued to launch provocations.
Lukashenko stressed that Ukraine has plans to attack Belarus, the United States and its allies have always wanted to drag Belarus into the war, but Belarus will not be involved in the conflict, and the Belarusian army has not entered Ukraine to fight.
Lukashenko said Belarus supports a peaceful resolution of the crisis, but Belarus will not be patient all the time.
So far, Ukraine has not responded to Lukashenko's statement.
Detail six, the United States for the first time admitted that "U.S. citizens were killed in a bombing in Ukraine." On March 17, the United States said it was deeply saddened that a U.S. citizen had been hit by a missile in Chernihiv and had died.
In addition, the Donetsk civilian armed forces have said that 3 U.S. officers may have been killed when attacking Ukrainian strongholds.
On March 17, the Pentagon said it had no information about it. Earlier, after the Russians bombed the training ground in Lviv, the Pentagon stated that "there are no American personnel there."
It is not difficult to see from the US statement that the United States does not want to be directly involved in the Russian-Ukrainian conflict.
On March 17, Putin held telephone talks with Erdogan, and Erdogan said he was willing to provide a place for Putin and Zelenskiy to negotiate, either in Ankara or Istanbul. Ukraine said on the 17th that next, the Russian-Ukrainian president may hold a meeting, and the two sides may soon reach a ceasefire agreement.
On the surface, Russia and Ukraine have released a friendly signal of "willing to sit down and talk", but in fact, on many issues, it is difficult for Russia and Ukraine to talk. On March 16, the International Court of Justice said it demanded that Russia immediately cease its military operations in Ukraine, and on March 17, Russia responded by "refusing to accept it."
In addition, Ukraine has also offered Russia three terms of negotiation.
1, Russia must immediately cease fire, and then withdraw its troops, otherwise there is no talk. Note the key word, must, immediately, means that Ukraine will not back down on this matter.
2, in addition to Russia and Ukraine, there should be other countries involved in the negotiations, Ukraine should ensure future security through specific mechanisms, Russia should clarify the specific withdrawal plan in the agreement, and the peace agreement should become the basis for establishing a European security system.
3, Ukraine can discuss with Russia any issue that should be discussed, but Ukraine will never accept the so-called ultimatum.
Obviously, Ukraine wants to use the strength of the United States and Europe, at least the European Union, to ensure that the Russian military will not make a comeback.
The conflict is still continuing, the war has not yet dissipated, and the result of Russia and Ukraine continuing to fight can only be a lose-lose situation in which the US arms dealers reap the benefits, but it is Russia, Ukraine and the European Union that suffer.
In any case, I still hope that Russia and Ukraine can solve the problem through negotiations, after all, the war is merciless, and the shells are not long-sighted.