Russia plans to recruit about 1500 people from the 40th Marine brigade (Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskyy, Pacific Fleet) to the war against Ukraine.
The enemy is forming new units because of their significant losses; the General Staff reported in their briefing as of 6 a.m. on day 18th of the full-scale Russian war against Ukraine.
Many wounded Russian soldiers are being treated in Belarus in the hospitals of the Southern-Eastern region. There are not enough blood supplies for surgery.
“Reserves accumulated for the citizens of Belarus Republic are used. Around 2/3 of the reserve is used for the needs of the Russian military. There is an active campaign to collect blood from the state employees and civilians,” the General Staff reported.
In general, the current state, position, and nature of the actions of Ukraine's defense forces remain unchanged.
“Ukrainian Armed Forces, in cooperation with other departments of the defense forces, decently repel the enemy forces. In the last day, two helicopters, two fighter jets (one of which Su-34), and two unmanned aircraft vehicles were destroyed,” the General Staff said.
The enemy continues to use civilian infrastructure for their needs and deploys units and equipment to high-risk facilities, shells civilians, conducts illegal searches of personal belongings and searches among residents and disguises itself in civilian clothes and uniforms of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
"The moral and psychological condition of the enemy's troops, who took part in the battles with the Armed Forces of Ukraine, continues to deteriorate, the number of cases of desertion and refusals to carry out orders is growing," the statement said.
Yesterday President Volodymyr Zelenskyy talked about the losses of Ukrainian service members since February 24 - around 1300 people. The enemy has lost about 12 000. However, apart from the military, Russians are killing civilian Ukrainians. In Mariupol alone, 1500 people died in 12 days of the siege.