Good morrning. We'll start the live blog today with this news item, which was filed last night by RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service.

Ukraine To Test Lawmakers For Coronavirus After Colleague Infected

The speaker of the Ukrainian parliament and other lawmakers will be tested for the novel coronavirus after one of their colleagues tested positive on March 18, local media has reported.

Authorities are trying to trace everyone who has been in contact with lawmaker Serhiy Shakhov of the Dovira (Faith) parliamentary group since he entered the legislature earlier in the week following a trip to an unspecified EU member state.

Shakhov appeared on Ukrainian television on March 12-13, according to deputy Yaroslav Yurchyshyn, and participated in a meeting of the parliament’s Environment Committee on March 13.

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said the infected lawmaker’s voter card was registered in parliament on March 17 and was used to vote, although Shakhov was absent.

“Unfortunately, his colleagues are guilty of multiple voting,” Zelenskiy said about the widespread phenomenon of multiple voting in parliament that is punishable by law.

Ukraine, which has confirmed 16 cases of the respiratory illness and two deaths in four regions and the capital city, Kyiv, closed its borders to foreigners for two weeks starting on March 16.

Authorities have also cancelled air, rail, and bus connections between cities and regions, and shut down the subway in all three cities where they operate, including Kyiv.

Amid worldwide travel restrictions, Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry said about 21,000 Ukrainian citizens had asked for assistance in returning home from abroad and that 57 flights were planned for their repatriation.

"Overall, the number of citizens planning to return to Ukraine is about 38,000," the ministry said, adding that more than 27,600 people had returned to Ukraine in the previous 24 hours.

With reporting by Hromadske and Ukrayinska Pravda

This ends our live blogging for March 18. Be sure to check back tomorrow for our continuing coverage.

U.S. senator criticizes Russia for rights abuses in "occcupied Crimea":

By RFE/RL

U.S. Senator Bob Menendez (Democrat-New Jersey) has criticized Russia for what he called "serious human rights" abuses in Crimea during the six years since Russia's "illegal occupation and annexation" of the peninsula from Ukraine.

"Today, as it was six years ago, Crimea remains Ukrainian territory. Period," Menendez, the ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said on March 18.

"On this somber day, I stand in solidarity with the Crimean people, who continue to face serious human rights abuses at the hand of their occupiers, including torture, arbitrary arrests, and the erosion of basic freedoms of expression and association," Menendez said.

Menendez's criticism came as Russian President Vladimir Putin began a two-day visit to Crimea, which Moscow seized in 2014.

Moscow deployed military forces across Crimea and secured control of key government buildings in February 2014. The following month, it carried out a hastily organized referendum on Crimea's status that is considered illegitimate by more than 100 countries.

In his statement, Menendez noted that Congress "has made clear" in several pieces of legislation that "the United States should never recognize Russia's illegal occupation of Crimea."

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on February 26 said Washington "does not and will not ever recognize" Moscow's annexation of Crimea.

On January 29, the U.S. Treasury Department joined the European Union and Canada in imposing fresh sanctions against Russia in response to Moscow's "continued aggression toward Ukraine and attempted occupation of Crimea."

Menendez urged other countries around the world to "adopt a policy of nonrecognition of Crimea as Russian territory."

"When world leaders do not speak out against Putin's use of violence to alter national borders, it only emboldens future illegal aggression," he said.

On March 16, the European Union said all 27 members of the bloc remained committed to "fully implementing" a nonrecognition policy, including through the use of sanctions, until Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity are restored. (w/Interfax)