KYIV, March 20 - Russia plans to hold an informal meeting of the U.N. Security Council in early April on what it said is “the real situation” of Ukrainian children taken to Russia, an issue that has gained the spotlight following the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin for war crimes related to their abduction.

BRUSSELS, March 20 - European Union countries have endorsed a fast-track procedure aimed at providing Ukraine with sorely needed artillery shells to repel Russia’s invasion forces, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said Monday, as Moscow maintains its focus on attacking the industrial east of the war-ravaged country.

KYIV, March 18 – Ukraine and the World Bank have agreed on emergency assistance in the field of higher education in the amount of almost $100 million, which will allow the payment of academic scholarships for 172,000 students and social scholarships for 50,000 students of scholarship programs in the 2021-2022 academic year, the World Bank said on Friday night.

KYIV, March 18 – European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) President Odile Renaud-Basso, European Investment Bank (EIB) President Werner Hoyer, Governor of the Council of Europe Development Bank (CEB), Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Kristalina Georgieva and President of the World Bank Group David Malpass have met to develop a collective response to the crisis caused by Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

KYIV, March 18 – Mercenaries of the army of Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad and Hezbollah may take part in Russia's invasion of Ukraine on the side of Moscow, according to the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, which said some of the fighters are experienced.

KYIV, March 20 - President Volodymyr Zelensky on Saturday and Sunday invoked his emergency powers under martial law to suppress several pro-Russian opposition political parties and implement a "unified information policy," The Week reported.

WASHINGTON, March 20 - The Washington, D.C.-based Institute for the Study of War concluded that "Ukrainian forces have defeated the initial Russian campaign of this war," in an assessment published Saturday, The New York Times reported.

KYIV, March 20 - President Volodymyr Zelensky said Sunday that neither he nor his people can accept some of Russia's reported demands for ending its increasingly brutal invasion, which is now entering its fourth week, CNN reported.

KYIV, March 19 – Two new subway stations, Mostytska and Prospekt Pravdy (Pravda Avenue), in the Vynohradar microdistrict will open in December 2021, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko told President Petro Poroshenko during a visit to a subway construction site.

KYIV, March 20 – The U.S. State Department accused Ukrainian Prosecutor General Yuriy Lutsenko of an “outright fabrication” following his remarks the U.S. Ambassador had asked him not to investigate certain officials, The Hill reported.