Russia-Ukraine updates: Putin makes surprise trip to Mariupol

These were the updates on the Russia-Ukraine war on Sunday, March 19. For more information, you can read our latest story on the war in Ukraine here.

United States drone flights over the Baltic Sea are a sign of direct US involvement in conflict with Russia, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has been quoted as saying.

Last week, a US drone crashed into the sea after being intercepted by Russian fighter planes.

“It is quite obvious what these drones are doing, and their mission is not at all a peaceful mission to ensure the safety of shipping in international waters,” Interfax news agency quoted Peskov as saying in a TV interview.

“And in fact, we are talking about the direct involvement of the operators of these drones in the conflict, and against us.”

The exiled city council of Ukraine’s Mariupol on Sunday blasted the visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin to the embattled port city, which fell under Moscow’s control last year after a long siege.

“The international criminal Putin visited occupied Mariupol. He watched the ‘rebuilding of the city’… at night. Probably in order not to see the city, killed by his ‘liberation’, in the light of day,” the city council said on its Telegram account.

Russia’s Gazprom has said it will ship 39.4 million cubic metres of gas to Europe via Ukraine on Sunday.

Partners caught on different sides of the yearlong conflict reflect on how it has affected their relationships.

Read more here.

As the Russia-Ukraine war enters its 389th day, here are the main developments in the conflict.

The United Kingdom will help Kazakhstan develop export routes bypassing Russia, UK Foreign Minister James Cleverly has said on a visit to the Central Asian nation, where he also signed a memorandum on supplies of critical minerals.

Cleverly said London valued the position of Astana — which has traditionally been closely allied with Moscow — on the Ukrainian conflict. Kazakhstan has refused to support Russia’s invasion or recognise its annexation of Ukrainian territories.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has visited Mariupol, a Ukrainian city in the Donetsk region occupied by his forces since last May.

Putin flew to the city by helicopter and travelled in several of its districts, the TASS agency reported on Sunday, citing the Kremlin.

It is the closest to the front lines Putin has been since the beginning of the more than year-long war.

A deal allowing the safe Black Sea export of Ukrainian grain has been renewed for at least 60 days after Russia warned any further extension beyond mid-May would depend on the removal of some Western sanctions.

The pact was brokered with Russia and Ukraine by the United Nations and Turkey in July and renewed for a further 120 days in November. The aim was to combat a global food crisis driven by the war in Ukraine.

The deal had been set to expire on Saturday.

Ukrainian forces outside the battered eastern city of Bakhmut are managing to keep Russian units at bay so ammunition, food, equipment and medicines can be delivered to defenders, according to the army.

In the latest claim of having inflicted heavy casualties, Kyiv said its troops had killed 193 Russians and injured 199 others during fighting on Friday.

Russia has made the capture of Bakhmut a priority in its strategy to take control of Ukraine’s eastern Donbas industrial region. The city has been largely destroyed in months of fighting, with Russia launching repeated assaults.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has met with the top command of his military operation in Ukraine, according to state media, including Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov who is in charge of Moscow’s war in Ukraine.

The meeting took place at the Rostov-on-Don command post in southern Russia, the TASS Russian news agency reported.