Updates on the Situation in Ukraine
March 18, 2026
War News
- Over the past week, russian forces occupied 47 km² of Ukrainian territory.
- Ukrainian forces halted the russian offensive in the Zaporizhzhia direction, helping stabilize defense along key positions.
- The most intense frontline directions remain Pokrovsk, Huliaipole, and Kostiantynivka.
Attack on Kharkiv
March 7
- The city of Kharkiv was targeted by russian drones and missiles, and 11 people, including 2 children, were killed.
- A ballistic missile slammed into a five-storey residential building.
Attack on Ukraine
March 14
- russia hammered Ukraine with 68 missiles and 430 drones on Saturday, killing 6 people and inflicting damage across several regions of the country.
- 5 of the dead were in Kyiv region outside the capital.
- russian forces targeted energy infrastructure, but also damaged residential buildings, schools and businesses. 15 people were injured.
- Sumy, Kharkiv, Dnipro and Mykolaiv regions were also targeted.
Attack on Ukraine
March 16
- russia launched an unusual morning drone attack on Kyiv
- They targeted the capital during rush hour with over 200 drones.
- Air defenses shot down 194 drones, but debris caused fires and minor damage in central and western districts, including near Maidan Nezalezhnosti.
Attack on Agricultural Enterprise
February 28
- In Sumy region, the enemy struck an agricultural enterprise. The strikes were carried out on the territory of the Yampil community.
- A two-story building of an agricultural company was destroyed, and the blast wave also broke out windows in 5 residential buildings of citizens.
- Two women were killed, another was injured.
Attack on Grain Lorry
March 16
- The russians used a drone to attack a lorry that was being loaded with grain in Sumy region on Monday 16 March, killing the driver.
Export
March 6
Total Ukrainian exports of grains and legumes in the 2025/26 MY reached 22.8 mln tons, which is 6.7 mln tons, or 23% less than in the previous season.
- Wheat: 9.2 mln tons – 2.9 mln tons less than last year (-24%).
- Barley: over 1.36 mln tons – 36% less than on the same date last season.
- Rye: 0.2 K tons – dozens of times less than last year’s 10.8 K tons.
- Corn: over 11.9 mln tons – 20% less than last season.
- Flour: 44.4 K tons – 9% less than last year.
Grain from Ukraine
March 12, 2026
- Stolychnyi Mlyn LLC shipped 504 tons of flour to Syria under the Grain from Ukraine initiative.
Export: ports
March 13
- Since the beginning of 2026, Ukrainian seaports have handled over 15 mln tons of cargo.
- The main volume was processed by the Greater Odesa ports, which handled 14.5 mln tons this year, including 8.5 mln tons of grain exports.
- Danube ports handled 1.1 mln tons of cargo, including 221 K tons of grain.
- Thus, total grain transshipment in Ukrainian ports since the beginning of the year exceeded 8.7 mln tons.
- Since September 2023, nearly 179 mln tons of cargo have been transported through the Ukrainian Sea Corridor, including 107 mln tons of grain. During this period, 7,087 vessels have been processed.
- russian forces continue systematic attacks on port infrastructure.
- Since the beginning of 2026, 63 port infrastructure facilities and 7 civilian vessels have been damaged.
- Since the start of the full-scale invasion, 726 port infrastructure facilities and 153 civilian vessels have been damaged or partially destroyed, while 238 civilians have been injured.
Photo: https://24tv.ua/
Planting
March 16
- Growers in Ukraine have launched a spring planting campaign.
- They planted 53.4 K hectares of spring grains and pulses.
- Planting has already begun in nine regions: Volyn, Dnipropetrovsk, Zakarpattia, Ivano-Frankivsk, Lviv, Mykolaiv, Odesa, Kherson, and Chernivtsi.
- The largest area so far has been planted with peas — 25.6 K ha, accounting for about 9% of the forecast.
Growers have also planted:
- barley — 16.9 K ha (2% of the forecast);
- wheat — 5.4 K ha (3%);
- oats — 5.4 K ha (4%).
In total, the area under spring grains and pulses in 2026 is projected at 6 million hectares, slightly down from 6.1 million hectares in 2025.