Day 18 of Russian attack on Ukraine: 35 dead, Pope's 'barbarianism' remark, and 8 other developments

From Russia's escalated attacks, US award-winning video journalist's killing to Pope Francis calling the war "Barbarism," here is a look at the key developments from the last 24 hours.

Kyiv: Russia has escalated attacks in Western Ukraine with a deadly airstrike on a military base where its troops had trained with NATO forces, bringing the conflict closer to Poland and other members of the bloc. Ukrainians said that at least 35 people were killed and 134 wounded when over 30 cruise missiles were fired at the base, just 25 kilometres from the Polish border.

As the Russian invasion of Ukraine entered 18th day on Sunday, here are the latest developments in the conflict:

1. White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said Russia will face a response from NATO should any of its attacks in Ukraine cross borders and hit members of the security alliance. He said a military attack on NATO territory would cause the invocation of Article 5, which requires other countries in NATO to come to the defence of the attacked nation.
2. Brent Renaud, an award-winning video journalist from the USA, who had also contributed to The New York Times, was shot dead in Ukraine on Sunday. Local reports quoting the police in Kyiv say that Renaud was shot dead in Irpin, just outside the capital. Renaud was a Peabody and DuPont Award winning filmmaker, best known for producing humanitarian stories from conflict zones. He had been a journalist for over two decades.
3. Israel’s foreign minister Yair Lapid has condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, calling on Moscow to halt its attacks and end the conflict. This is the strongest attack to have come from Israeli officials since the war began.
4. Russian forces carried out an airstrike on a military range near Lviv in western Ukraine, expanding its offensive closer to the border with Poland. Ukraine says at least 35 have been killed while 100 others are wounded. Now in its third week, the war on Ukraine has forced more than 2.5 million people to flee Ukraine according to UN.
5. Pope Francis has decried the “barbarianism” of the killing of children and other defenceless civilians in Ukraine and pleaded for a stop to the attacks “before cities are reduced to cemeteries.” He also said that "there are no strategic reasons that hold up" in the face of such aggression. Francis prayed for an end to the bombings and other attacks and for ensuring that humanitarian corridors “are safe and secure.”
6. Turkey’s foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu says his country is trying to evacuate Turkish citizens who were sheltering in a mosque in Mariupol. Though the FM did not specify the number of people sheltering there, he said the Russian shells hit near the Mosque they were sheltering in.
7. Tens of thousands of people are expected to gather Sunday in cities across Europe to protest against the ongoing war in Ukraine, with small rallies taking place in Russia as well despite a crackdown by authorities against such demonstrations. Meanwhile, Trade unions called a protest in Berlin where sunny weather was expected to boost the turnout. Many participants carried flags in blue and yellow colours of Ukraine, while others carried banners reading “Stop the War” and “Peace and Solidarity for the people in Ukraine.” Protests were also planned in Warsaw, London, Madrid, Frankfurt, Hamburg and Stuttgart.
8. In Russia, where protests against the war in Ukraine have typically met with heavy police response, rights group OVD-Info said more than 200 people had been detained in 23 cities as of Sunday afternoon. Meanwhile, Ukrainian nationals in Taiwan and supporters staged a march Sunday in Taipei to protest the Russian invasion.
9. US President Joe Biden is sending his national security adviser for talks with a senior Chinese official in Rome on Monday as concerns grow that China is amplifying Russian disinformation in the Ukraine war and may help Russia evade punishment from economic sanctions. The White House has accused Beijing of spreading false Russian claims that Ukraine was running chemical and biological weapons labs with U.S. support.
10. The office of Ukraine's Prosecutor General says a total of 85 children have been killed since the start of the Russian offensive in Ukraine while more than 100 have been wounded. Mayor of occupied Dniprorudne has been kidnapped by Russian troops according to Kyiv Independent. Yevhen Matviiv is the second mayor Russian soldiers kidnapped since the war broke. Reacting on this, “War crimes are becoming systemic,” said Zaporizhzhia Oblast Governor Olexandr Starukh.