Press digest – Ukraine
46th day of heroic resistance of Ukraine against Russian military invasion
#BRAVEUKRAINE
Bravery is Ukraine’s newest export. We tell the world: Be Brave like Ukraine 🇺🇦💪
DESTRUCTION AND LOSSES
📌After the liberation of the settlements from the Russian occupiers, hundreds of tortured Ukrainians are found. In the village of Makariv in the Kyiv region, an 80-year-old man had his hands cut off in front of his daughter. In Irpen, a 20-year-old pregnant woman was raped by two racists. She lost her child. In the Kherson region, a 60-year-old man was tortured in front of his daughter.
📌More than 400 Ukrainian citizens are being kept in the Penza region in a camp for Mariupol residents who were forcibly deported from Ukraine. Most of them are women and 147 children of all ages, including infants. Their ID documents are taken from them. They do not have the necessary living conditions and are in a difficult and depressed state.
📌Since the beginning of the large-scale Russian invasion, more than 513 children have become war casualties. 177 killed. Over 336 injured. The figures are not finalized yet, the exact number is still being clarified in places of active hostilities, in the temporarily occupied and liberated territories.
📌In Dnipro, Russian troops attacked the airport for the second time. The airport and the infrastructure nearby are destroyed. Six SES officers were injured.
📌Within the last two days, Kharkiv region has been constantly bombarded with the weapons that include new types of bombs prohibited by international conventions. The Russian aggressor parachutes them. Experts note that these are 9M55K cluster munitions. They are possibly launched by the Smerch multiple rocket launcher.
📌As a result of the shelling of Balakliya in Kharkiv region on April 10, there are dead, including a child. This was reported in the Izyum district state administration. The exact number of casualties is being clarified.
📌Russians hit two houses and a private clinic in Severodonetsk, the city’s infrastructure is almost completely destroyed.
📌Ukrainian law enforcement officers confirmed the deaths of 1,222 residents of Kyiv region who died because of shelling and tortures by the Russian military. This was reported by Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova.
📌 According to the latest data, 57 people were killed and 109 were injured in the shelling of Kramatorsk railway station on April 8. All the severely injured have already been evacuated to safer regions
📌The Putin’s Tribunal initiative has documented more than a thousand Russian war crimes committed in Ukraine.
- These are at least 414 deaths, 392 cases of injuries, 868 artillery shelling and bombings, 559 attacks on civilian objects, 349 cases of destruction or damage to property.
- In total, 25 types of war crimes were recorded in Ukraine, in particular, in the Kharkiv region alone, during the first month of a full-scale war, the Russian occupiers committed 12 types of war crimes.
- The initiators of the project were the Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union, the Kharkiv Human Rights Group, and the Center for Civil Liberties. Later, 17 more human rights organizations joined them. They will submit their work to the International Criminal Court.
📌 On the city beach “Gold Coast” in Chernihiv, pyrotechnics SES seized 6 missiles from the rocket system of volley fire “Uragan”. Some of them were in the river, others on the beach.
📌Three volunteers of the charity fund “Everything will be Ukraine”, who went on April 5 with humanitarian aid from Odessa to Kherson, have been out of touch for the fifth day by now. The driver, according to the foundation, was taken prisoner by Russians.
📌In Mariupol, a Ukrainian border guard blew himself up surrounded by Russians along with a radio station so that the invaders would not capture it. The last words on the radio station were “Glory to Ukraine!
📌 Photo of the day
Borodianka Photo: Paula Bronstein
RUSSIAN CONTEXT
⚠️According to British intelligence, Russia is trying to recruit soldiers in Transnistria (occupied part of Moldova).
⚠️Russia has started issuing passports to citizens of Ukraine who were forcibly deported to different regions of the aggressor country – Ombudswoman Liudmyla Denisova.
⚠️ Russia intensifies mobilization in ORDLO (the uncontrolled portions of the Donetsk and Luhansk Oblasts). From now, people with childhood disabilities and employees who maintain electrical networks and strategic enterprises are subject to conscription.
⚠️The fourth (and the largest one) mobilization has started at the Alchevsk Iron and Steel Works. Before, the enterprise got the orders for five hundred people, while a recently received order is for 1,700 people. Employees of the military recruitment offices of the Luhansk People’s Republic and the military police of the Russian Federation conduct apartment-by-apartment searches to find males of conscription age. Employees of the “LPR” traffic police issue summonses at traffic police posts.
⚠️ The DNR has declared the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission’s activities on its territory illegal and requires that representatives of the Mission leave the territory of the pseudo-republic by April, 30.
⚠️Due to possible provocations by “Ukrainian nationalists”, a yellow “elevated” level of terrorist threat will be introduced in the Kursk region in Russia from April 11, Governor of the region Roman Starovoit reports.
⚠️Bloomberg: Russia’s first external default in a century now looks all but inevitable. It is suggested that there is a 90% chance that a default will happen this year, according to the latest figures from ICE Data Services.
⚠️Russian media announce the meeting of the Presidents of Russia and Belarus on April 12.
DEFENSE UPDATES
📌 Estimated losses of the Russian Federation Army in Ukraine:
📌 During the day, the air defense of the Armed Forces of Ukraine hit at least 13 air targets of the Russian occupiers: three planes, one helicopter, five unmanned aerial vehicles, four cruise missiles.
📌Within the past 24 hours, 8 enemy attacks, 4 tanks, 8 armored units and 7 units of enemy vehicles were repulsed in Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts.
📌According to the Oryx portal, the Armed Forces of Ukraine have seized more than 1,000 units of heavy military equipment and vehicles of the Russian Federation since the beginning of the war.
📌Russia has already started the first stage of the offensive in Donbass, now they are waiting for reinforcements from the Far East, the adviser to the Head of the President’s Office Arestovich said.
📌The enemy is trying to break through the defenses of the Armed Forces of Ukraine near the city of Izyum, to get a full control over the city of Mariupol and to improve the tactical position of its units in the Mykolayiv direction. But, the occupier’s forces were defeated.
📌Due to the numerous sanitary losses in personnel and equipment, the occupiers deployed military hospitals and repair sites for military equipment in the temporarily occupied territories of Kharkiv, Zaporizhia and Kherson regions. However, the occupiers do not have enough qualified medical staff and there are problems with replenishing the stocks of medicines.
📌In the city of Nova Kakhovka, the occupiers use the capacity of local printing houses to prepare campaign materials (brochures, booklets, posters, forms) to hold a “referendum” on the so-called “Kherson People’s Republic”. Besides, the occupiers held a pro-Russian “rally” in Nova Kakhovka. 30 people with Russian flags gathered on the main square.
📌A 12-kilometer column of Russian military equipment is moving towards Kharkiv — satellite images of Maxar Technologies. Photographs taken on April 8 show the movement of the column to the south near the village of Velykyi Burluk in the Kharkiv region. Armored vehicles, artillery trucks and auxiliary equipment were recorded on them.
📌Russian troops have been shelling civilian foreign ships in Mariupol’s seaport for a few days. They are urging the crews, many of whom are foreigners (including Turkey and Bulgaria) to evacuate and to bring the available food supplies to Russian militants.
📌In Irpin, the water supply is being laid from Kyiv, the Red Cross allocated 20 million hryvnias for this — the mayor of the city Oleksandr Markushin. In addition, the construction of a river crossing is being completed, and another group of volunteers arrived to clean up the city today.
📌Within the last three days, road workers have cleared 67 kilometers of the Kyiv-Chop highway (Zhytomyr highway). In the near future, after all security measures, the Kyiv-Zhytomyr route will be opened.
📌A record number of Ukrainians returned home from Poland – 22.9 thousand people crossed the border on April 9. This was reported by the Polish Border Guard Service. This is the largest number of trips to Ukraine since the beginning of the war on February 24 and this number continues growing.
📌At the same time, more than 7.1 million Ukrainians became internally displaced citizens, 4.5 million went abroad.
📌NATO plans a permanent military presence on the eastern border. The Alliance plans a “reset” after which the troops’ presence in Eastern European countries will be a full-fledged deterrent if Russia decides to move on.
📌“It’s time for the NATO countries to make their choice of which bloc they gravitate towards. You can’t sit in two chairs — you still have to make up your mind. Do you wish your people what the people of Ukraine are going through now? If not, then join us as brothers in arms, help us, accept us. Now is the time for responsible decisions and decisive action. And that means it’s time for big wins,” said the Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada Ruslan Stefanchuk at the spring session of the standing committees of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly.
📌 Hero of the day
Oleksandr Bryzhalo, major, pilot of the MiG-29 fighter. Died in battle against 12 enemy planes over Kyiv
HUMANITARIAN CORRIDORS AND EVACUATION UPDATES
📌 As of April 10, 2,824 people were evacuated through the humanitarian corridors.
📌 2,622 people arrived in Zaporizhia from Mariupol and Berdyansk in their own transport and evacuation buses.
📌 Columns of buses that left Zaporizhia this morning to evacuate people from Berdyansk, Tokmak and Energodar are being held by the occupying forces at a checkpoint in Vasylivka.
📌 Today, despite the constant violations of the peace regime by the occupiers, 202 people were evacuated from the cities of Lysychansk, Severodonetsk, Rubizhne, Kreminna and Popasna in Luhansk region.
President Volodymyr Zelensky’s daily statements
📌President Volodymyr Zelenskyi had a telephone conversation with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz about the need to identify and punish everyone responsible for Russia’s war crimes against Ukraine.
📌“The inhuman crimes of the Russian forces, our indestructible Mariupol, negotiations and peace, which is so important for every Ukrainian.” Volodymyr Zelensky said in his interview to APNews.
PUBLIC AND BUSINESS SUPPORT
📌 In support of Ukraine, the tulip country Netherlands has released a new sort of tulips – yellow-blue.
📌European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said that a global fundraising campaign in Stand Up for Ukraine managed to raise 10.1 billion euros in Warsaw.
📌 “Ruska kurwa” and a huge banner with Putin in a rope loop. That was the atmosphere of today’s match of the Polish Ekstraklasa between Poznan’s Lech and Warsaw’s Legia.
📌Names of the Hero-Cities instead of surnames. Shakhtar’s footballers came out for a charity match with Greek Olympiacos wearing T-shirts with the names of the cities most affected by the war: Mariupol, Irpin, Bucha, Gostomel, Kharkiv, Volnovakha, Chernihiv, Kherson, Okhtyrka and Mykolaiv.
📌American singer Cher once again supported the Ukrainians. The musician reposted an article entitled “How Western Offensive Weapons Can Help Ukraine Defeat Russia.” The singer added: “Putin is already responsible for millions of refugees, women and children and the future famine of up to 500 million people in the world due to the lack of wheat harvest.”
📌Hollywood actress Sharon Stone lit a yellow-blue candle in solidarity with Ukrainians. The actress posted a video on Instagram and added: “We light this candle in honor of the Ukrainians and dedicate it to President Zelensky and the people of Ukraine, because we want you to know:“ You are so loved. ”We regret your losses, and we are with you in our hearts”.
📌British band Portishead will perform at a charity concert in support of Ukraine on May 2 in Bristol. For Portishead, it will become the first performance within the last seven years: “We are very happy to support the people of Ukraine by performing a few songs at this event.” All proceeds from ticket sales will be transferred to the War Child Charitable Foundation, which helps children affected by the war.
📌Olivia Dabrowska, who played a role of a girl in a red coat in Steven Spielberg’s “Schindler’s List”, works together with her mother as a volunteer on the Polish-Ukrainian border.
📌Julian Lennon broke his long standing vow and performed the most iconic solo song by his father, the founder of The Beatles, John Lennon, for the first time. And all because of the war in Ukraine. “I had always said that the only time I’d ever consider singing “Imagine” would be if it was the “End of the world.” — Lenon wrote. However, his lyrics (John Lennon — Ed.) reflect our collective desire for world peace. Because in this song, we are transfered to a place where love and unity become our reality, even for a moment. The song reflects the light at the end of the tunnel for which we all hope.”
📌Billie Eilish is singing in support of Ukraine.
📌On April 9, hundreds of Ukrainians marched on Rynok Square in Krakow, having tied their hands and painted themselves red with blood-like paint. Protesters staged the Bucha killings to show how many victims, pain and fear Russia is inflicting.
📌Wise, an electronic money transfer company, can make it easier for refugees from Ukraine to keep, replenish and pay in different currencies.
📌 Booker Prize winner DBC Pierre wrote a letter to Ukrainian people.
“There have been many military actions in the world but today we all feel attacked. This was always going to be the century of psychology. Of the small man with a small, failing penis against a free and fair human future. It’s a battle for much more than physical territory. Please know that we know. Know that we stand with you.”
📌 The British newspapers today after Boris Johnson’s visit to Kyiv.
INTERNATIONAL SUPPORT OF UKRAINE
📌The Estonian government has banned the public display of symbols used by Russia in the war against Ukraine. The symbols include the Latin letters “Z”, “V” and “O”, as well as “georgievska” ribbons.
📌Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar has stated that they will not allow warships of countries at war in accordance with international law.
📌Latvian border guards did not allow 152 trucks with Russian and Belarusian license plates into the country on Saturday, April 9, due to the new EU sanctions on transportation.
📌Israel has launched a humanitarian air bridge. Six cargo flights will bring food, medicines and other things to Ukraine within a few weeks. The first flight has already arrived in Ukraine.
📌 Training for the Ukrainian instructors will be held in Lithuania to get the Ukrainian Army prepared to work with Western equipment.
📌German manufacturer of military equipment Rheinmetall offers Ukraine to buy Marder infantry fighting vehicles, – BILD. According to journalists, the concern plans to build 35 units for the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine by the end of 2022.
📌Bratislava and Kyiv are negotiating a possible sale to Ukraine of 16 Zuzana 155mm self-propelled howitzers, which can hit targets over 30 kilometers away.
📌Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, known for his strong ties to Vladimir Putin, has condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“I am saddened by Putin’s decisions, war crimes have been committed in Bucha, and Russia cannot deny this. We must end the brutality of the war, and Italy must work to reach a compromise that is acceptable to all,” he said.
📌 Tweet of the day
Hatred must lose. Freedom must win. First – in Ukraine, and then – wherever tyranny will try to raise its head.
