Russia will respond with a “surprise” to the application of Finland to join NATO, the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation declares a thousand military who surrendered to Azovstal. The main thing by May 18

The Ministry of Defense of Russia and the authorities of the DPR said that about 1000 Ukrainian military had surrendered from the Mariupol plant "Azovstal". Finland and Sweden submitted applications for joining NATO, the Russian Foreign Ministry said that the Russian response "would be a surprise, but measures would be military." In the Belgorod and Kursk regions, new shelling, the authorities said. Russia sent dozens of diplomats of France, Italy and Spain.

Fighting

• Mariupol. Since May 16, about 1000 Ukrainian military, including the militants of the Azov nationalist unit, surrendered from the Azovstal Mariupol plant, the DPR territorial defense headquarters and the Russian Ministry of Defense said. Among the surrenders 80 wounded, of which 51 need inpatient treatment, so the prisoners are placed in the hospital of Novoazovsk.
  
  According to TASS, the head of the DPR Denis Pushilin said that the Azovstal would be demolished, and the Ilyich’s metallurgical plant will be restored. According to him, which is given by the agency, more than 60 % of houses are not subject to restoration in Mariupol. Pushilin also stated that the fate of the Ukrainian military who left the plant should decide the international tribunal, noting that the commanders of the highest level are allegedly still at the enterprise, writes TASS.
  
  The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the morning report of May 18 said that in Mariupol the main efforts of Russia are still focused on blocking Ukrainian units in the Azovstali area. “The Russian military continues to apply artillery and aviation blows,” the report said. Nothing is said about surrender or evacuation in this summary. Earlier it was reported that the Ukrainian authorities expect to exchange people who left the Mariupol plant at the Russian military who are captured.
• Melitopol. RIA Melitopol, referring to the words of one of the local residents and an unnamed source, claims that the Russian armored train was allegedly blown up in the city. According to the publication, in the area of ​​the meat processing plant they remotely undermined the composition of ten wagons. “The undermining was carried out under a car with personnel,” the publication said.
  
  As a result of the explosion, the damage received railway tracks. The armored train, as well as the locomotive followed with ten tanks of fuel and lubricants, are stopped. Information about the dead or wounded is specified.
  
  Earlier, the authorities of the Zaporizhzhya region reported in their summary that "in Melitopol, partisans eliminated Russian military high -ranking." The city is occupied by the Russian authorities who formed their administration. RIA Novosti writes that on May 18, Melitopol visited Russian Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin. The Russian authorities did not comment on the situation with the armored train.
• Dnieper . On the night of May 18, three people were injured in the city (two women and a man, everyone is in the hospital), the chairman of the Dnipropetrovsk Regional Military Administration Vadim Reznichenko suffered . According to him, one missile was shot down by the air defense systems, its fragments fell in the courtyard of a private house. “Another missile hit the object of transport infrastructure. He is destroyed, ” wrote Reznichenko.
  
  The Russian Ministry of Defense in the morning report of May 18 reported that the Russian military destroyed two Ukrainian Su-24 aircraft in the Dnepropetrovsk region.
• Nikolaev . As a result of a missile strike, a fire occurred in a private residential sector, writes the Main Directorate of the State Emergencies Ministry in the Nikolaev region. According to the agency, one person received fragmentation wounds. The Russian Ministry of Defense in the morning report of May 18 reported that "the high -precision air -based missiles of the Russian Air Force were amazed ... The location of foreign mercenaries from European countries in Nikolaev." According to the agency, also “destroyed ... the division of Ukrainian anti-aircraft missile systems S-300” in the Nikolaev area.
• Kharkov . On the night of May 18, the first large-scale shelling occurred in a week, after which there was a fire, writes the telegram channel “Politics of the country” with reference to local publics. The city authorities have not yet commented on this. The Ministry of Defense of Russia in the morning report of May 18 reported that the Russian military destroyed the pontoon crossing in the Kharkov region, "instituted by the Armed Forces of the Armed Forces to force the Seversky Donets river." In addition, the MiG-29 and drones were shot down in the region, they reported in the department.
• In a number of regions of Ukraine, air alarm was announced at night and on the morning of May 18, writes the Ukraine 24 television channel. Among these regions are Cherkasskaya, Kirovograd, Nikolaev, Odessa, Zaporizhzhya, Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk and Lugansk regions.
• Russian-Ukrainian border. As a result of the shelling from the Ukrainian side of the village of Solokhi in the Belgorod region, six houses, one passenger car and a power line received damage, said the governor of the region Vyacheslav Gladkov. According to him, nothing threatens the life of one victim. The Governor of the Kursk Region Roman Starovoit also announced a mortar shelling from Ukraine of the village of Alekseevka Glushkovsky district. “There are no damages and victims,” the head of the region added.

International politics

• Finland and Sweden officially submitted applications for joining NATO at the headquarters of the Alliance. In the near future they will be considered by a special council, after which the membership agreement must ratify 30 NATO participants.
  
  However, Turkey has already made objections with reference to the source of Financial Times. According to the publication, the official representative of the country allegedly confirmed that Ankara slowed down the process. “We do not say that they [Sweden and Finland] cannot be NATO members. It’s just that we must [come to an agreement] regarding the threat that we are faced with, ”he said, noting that Türkiye wants to“ reach an agreement ”.
  
  The official representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Maria Zakharova said that the Russian Federation’s response to the entry of Finland to NATO “will be a surprise, but measures will be military” (quote for RIA Novosti).
• Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Poland asked NATO to deploy more military forces on their territory due to fears about a potential threat from Russia, reports The Washington Post. “It is impossible to exclude the direct military aggression of Russia against NATO allies,” the Baltic statements said in a statement by the newspaper. It is also reported that the decision on the expansion of the presence of the alliance in Eastern Europe will allegedly be made by the end of June at the summit in Madrid.
• The Russian Foreign Ministry sent dozens of diplomats of France , Italy and Spain . As explained in the ministry, this was a response to the announcement of employees of Russian diplomatic institutions by persons Non Grata. The measure also touched the Consulate General located in St. Petersburg.

Anti -Russian sanctions

• The sixth package of anti -Russian EU sanctions is blocked , said the European Commissioner for Economics Paolo Gentloni. “We have accepted five sanctions very quickly and unanimously, but the sixth package for some reason is still standing. I am optimistic about the prospects for finding a compromise, ”he told the Rai News 24 channel ( quote for TASS).
  
  The sixth EU sanctions package included the embargo on Russian oil, the disconnection from SWIFT three more Russian banks, the ban on consulting and PR services for Russian companies.
• Australia has expanded sanctions against a number of Russian journalists, civil servants and organizations. Dmitry Kiselev CEO Dmitry Kiselev, RT Director General of RT Alexei Nikolov, Russian FSB, the first deputy head of the FSB Sergey Korolev, the temporarily acting head of the Ministry of Emergencies, Alexander Chupyan, the first deputy head of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation Nikolai Bogdanovsky and others, got into the updated list.
• Russia will introduce response to Canada. According to the official representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, Maria Zakharova, the Russian Federation will close the CBC Canadian case in Moscow, and will also cancel the accreditation and visa of journalists. Previously, the Canadian authorities banned the entrance to the country about a thousand Russians who fell under sanctions. Among them is also Vladimir Putin.
• Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said that “the first shock for the economy from the sanctions passed,” TASS writes . According to the official, the Russian Federation will not be able to quickly overcome technological restrictions and is not going to announce the default on duty. In addition, the Ministry of Finance expects from the Central Bank of the Russian Federation decisions on the further reduction of the key rate. Read more about other statements by the head of the department here .

What else to read:

• The export of the military from Azovstal, a pause in negotiations and the refusal of Finland to pay for gas in rubles. The main thing by May 17 .