On May 18, 2001, at 0500, Russian units cordoned off the entire perimeter of the village of Serzhen-Yurt in the Shali district. Armored vehicles were posted near each intersection in the village. Having finished the preparations, the military began to enter in advance, apparently, the planned houses and grab their tenants. At the same time, weapons were used at least once.

On May 18, the human rights project “Support for political prisoners. Memorial recognized as political prisoners the Ossetian Covid-dissidents Vadim Cheldiev, Ramis Chirkinov and Arsen Besolov, convicted in the case of the rally on April 20, 2020 in Vladikavkaz.

A former soldier, a native of Dagestan, Askhabali Alibekov (known on YouTube as the blogger "Wild Paratrooper") was beaten by the staff of the pre-trial detention center. This was reported by his wife.

The Southern District Military Court in Rostov-on-Don sentenced three Muslims from Bakhchisarai to 12 to 17 years in a strict regime colony in the Hizb ut-Tahrir case.

The United States called on the Georgian authorities to protect the rights of former President Mikheil Saakashvili and provide him with adequate medical care. He has been imprisoned in Tbilisi for more than a year and a half, his health condition is critical and constantly deteriorating.

In April, an ex-policeman from North Ossetia, Vadim Tekhov, who killed his ex-wife, was pardoned by presidential decree as having served in Ukraine for six months in the Storm Z unit. This explains the fact that the relatives of the victims saw him walking freely on the streets of Vladikavkaz.

At the European summit in Iceland, Georgia joined in the creation of a damage register for Ukraine. This agreement will allow accumulating information about the damage inflicted by the Russian authorities on Ukraine and demanding compensation and reparations in the future.

Azerbaijan supported the sovereignty of Ukraine and continues to provide humanitarian assistance to it. This was announced by Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov at the Council of Europe summit in Iceland.

At night, Russia again fired cruise missiles at Kyiv. The Ukrainian Armed Forces reports 29 missiles shot down by air defense forces.
The Russian Ministry of Defense announced the defeat of the American Patriot anti-aircraft missile system during the shelling of Kyiv. The Ukrainian military does not confirm this information.
In Crimea, a train carrying grain derailed as a result of sabotage.
Prominent Chinese diplomat Li Hui visited Kyiv.

On May 18, 1944, a criminal operation began in the USSR to forcibly deport Crimean Tatars from their historical homeland to Central Asia. In the first years of deportation, from 20% to 46% of the settlers died from hunger and disease.