18th day of heroic resistance of Ukraine against Russian military invasion

DESTRUCTION AND LOSSES

📌In the Donetsk region, Russian troops bombarded the Svyatogorsk Lavra, while monks and refugees were inside the building. At the time of the shelling, more than 10,000 civilians were in Svyatogorsk, as well as 520 refugees, including 200 children, in the hotel at the Lavra. The bomb fell near the bridge that connects the right and left banks of the Seversky Donets and the Lavra with the city. There are no military and defense infrastructure facilities in Svetogorsk and its vicinity, it was a deliberate attack on a peaceful city and a shrine of Ukraine.

📌Russian invaders in the Zaporizhzhia region seized and looted a humanitarian convoy that was moving towards Zaporizhzhia.

📌Russian troops carried out an air strike on the International Center for Peacekeeping and Security near the Polish border. According to preliminary data, more than 30 missiles were fired at the center, and while most of them were shot down by air defense, some reached the target. As of 17:00 local time, 35 people are known to have died, about 150 were injured to various extent. The center, better known as the

“Yavorivsky military training ground”, is located 30 km from Lviv and 20 km from the border with Poland. Presumably, the missiles were fired from aircraft that flew from Saratov to the Russian Federation.

📌In the early morning of 13 March, the Russian military once again launched an airstrike on the Ivano-Frankivsk airport.

📌 As a result of the night and morning bombardments of Mykolaiv on 13 March, civilians were killed.

📌 On the night of 12 – 13 March, near the village of Brusin in the Donetsk region, during the shelling, a passenger train was damaged by debris. The train was heading to the city of Liman to evacuate the civilian population of the Lugansk and Donetsk regions. One of the conductors died on the spot, the second was taken to the nearest hospital with injuries. More than 100 children were among the residents waiting to be evacuated at the station in Liman.

 📌 Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, as a result of Russian military hostile actions, 85 children have died.

📌 On the night of 13 March, 3 air raids were carried out on Chernihiv. In addition, an attack took place around Chernihiv, where the Armed Forces of Ukraine continue to conduct defensive operations. 

📌 Active battles and the movement of Russian equipment also continued in the Bucha and Brovary directions in the vicinity of Kyiv.

📌Russian troops continued to actively use artillery, tanks, grenade launchers and mortars in the offensive in the Zaporizhzhia region, including against civilians and civilian infrastructure.

📌During the night of 13 March, more than 100 air alerts triggered throughout Ukraine. Alerts lasted more than 3 hours in Dnipro, Poltava, Khmelnitsky and Rivne regions.

📌Russian troops in Ukraine continue to use civilian infrastructure for military needs. Thus, in violation of the International Humanitarian Law, the aggressors troops of the Russian Federation continue to deploy units and equipment at high-risk facilities, carry out shelling of the civilian population, conduct illegal checks of personal belongings and searches among civilians, and also change into civilian clothes and uniforms of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

📌In connection with the significant losses of the personnel of the armed forces, the Russian Federation is forming new units. In particular, the command of the invaders plans to attract about 1,500 people from the 40th Separate Marine Brigade (Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, Pacific Fleet).

📌Russia has opened 14 recruitment centers in Syria for the war against Ukraine. It is assumed that the Syrians will use heavy artillery and sniper weapons against the Ukrainians. Intelligence also confirmed information about Russia’s training of mercenaries from Libya.

📌Russian invaders are trying to prepare reserves and go on the offensive to Severodonetsk, Vuhledar and Zaporizhzhia.

📌 Russian troops and Putin killed 2187 Mariupol residents in 17 days of the war. Attempts to storm Mariupol are also continuing – over the past 24 hours there have been at least 22 bombardments of the city, Russian aviation has already dropped about 100 bombs on the city.

📌 Around 18:00 local time, Russian aviation launched an airstrike on a school in the village of Zelenogai, Mykolaiv region. According to preliminary data, 2 people died, 2 more were injured, and the evacuation is ongoing

📌 In the city of Dneprorudny, Zaporizhzhia region, Russian troops kidnapped the mayor of the city, Yevgeny Matveev. This is already the second kidnapping of the mayor, who refused to resign and hand over the city to the Russian occupiers, earlier the mayor of Melitopol was kidnapped and is being held hostage.

📌A foreign journalist was transported to the Okhmatdyt hospital after being wounded in Russian shelling in Irpin. Earlier, his colleague, a former New York Times correspondent, had died.

📌More than 2.6 million Ukrainians were forced to leave the country due to Russian invasion and terror. This is the largest wave of refugees since the Second World War.

⚠️Russian special services are planning a special operation to discredit Ukrainians living in Russia. First of all, it is supposed to implement a series of provocations of a violent (terrorist) nature, which “will be organized” by ethnic Ukrainians. It is also expected that the protests related to the sharp deterioration in the living conditions of Russians will be given an ethnic “Ukrainian” color and propaganda measures will be intensified in order to prove that the Russian Federation had no alternative to the war with Ukraine.

INTERNATIONAL CONTEXT

📌The city of Erbil was fired with missiles in Iraq. Explosions were heard in the area of ​​the US Consulate, the airport and the Kurdistan 24 TV station. It is most likely that the missiles were fired from Iran.

📌Lithuania will be the next country that Putin wants to take over if he wins the war with Ukraine, stated the Secretary of the Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council, Oleksii Danilov.

📌The Serbian airline “Air Serbia” has increased the number of flights to/from Moscow. With sanctions and closed airspace for Russian aircraft over most of Europe, Serbia has become the only air corridor for Russians to travel to Europe. Serbia is not a member of the EU and has previously refused to impose sanctions against Russia in connection with the latter’s attack on Ukraine.

DEFENSE UPDATES

📌 Power supply has been restored at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. Ukrainian specialists of the National Energy Company “Ukrenergo” completed the repair work of the 330 kV Lesnaya – Chernobyl NPP and resumed power supply to the Chernobyl NPP and the city of Slavutych.

📌Estimated losses of the Russian Federation Army in Ukraine:

📌 During the war in Ukraine, Russia has already lost more than 12 thousand soldiers. This is the largest number of military casualties in the history of wars and armed conflicts over the past decades, in which Russia has taken an active part.

📌The division of the State Border Service eliminated 15 Russian invaders during the battle near Mariupol.

📌During the entire time since the beginning of the war, Russian occupiers have not achieved any of the strategic goals of their operation. Nevertheless, there remains a high probability of the direct participation of the armed forces of the Republic of Belarus in the war against Ukraine.

📌Near Mykolaiv, a column of invaders was blown up by mines, as reported by the Head of the Mykolaiv Regional State Administration, Vitaly Kim. 

📌 Skadovsk, Kherson region, has been liberated from Russian invaders, the work of civilian infrastructure has practically been restored in the city.

📌The combined forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, territorial defense, the National Guard, the police and the inhabitants of the city of Zaporizhzhia are heroically holding back the massive offensive of the Russian occupation forces.

📌44 Kherson deputies adopted an appeal that “Kherson region is Ukraine” and there will be no pseudo-republic on the territory of Kherson and Kherson region.

This was adopted in response to the event on 12 March, when the the mayor of the city of Melitopol, Ivan Fedorov, was abducted and held hostage by Russian occupiers. The enemy forces “appointed a mayor” in an attempt to create a Kherson People’s Republic (KhNR) on the territory of the Kherson region, following the example of the LNR and the DNR in Donbas. The appointed “mayor” is wanted for high treason.

📌Picture of the day

The rescue circle: a grandma saved the cat, Ukrainian fighters saved the grandma.

HUMANITARIAN CORRIDORS AND EVACUATION UPDATES

📌As of 12 March, more than 125,000 people have been evacuated from active hostility zones.

📌100 tons of humanitarian cargo sent to humanitarian crisis zones – Sumy, Mariupol, Kharkiv, Chernihiv and other regions. To help preserve and deliver the goods to their destination, they are accompanied by the clergy.

📌 A humanitarian cargo did not reach Mariupol again. The evacuation convoy remained in Berdyansk. This happened because Russian aviation fired at the humanitarian corridor from the air. “Unfortunately, there are many civilian casualties,” said Iryna Vereshchuk, Deputy Prime Minister for the Reintegration of the Occupied Territories.

📌At the same time, humanitarian corridors in the Luhansk and Kyiv regions were activated, thousands of people were evacuated.

President Vladimir Zelensky’s daily statements 

📌”I am grateful to everyone who does not give up, who protests, who rally and stand against demonstrates the aggressors and claims that Ukraine is our land. Kherson, Melitopol, Berdyansk and other cities. Ukraine will win!”

📌President Zelensky visited the wounded soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in a hospital in Kyiv.

🏆The National Paralympic Team of Ukraine earned 29 medals at the Paralympics in Beijing. This is an absolute record for the team. Thanks to this result, the team became the second in the overall standings. Ukraine is proud!

PUBLIC AND BUSINESS SUPPORT

📌 eBay online auction blocks all transactions with Russian addresses. “We support Ukraine and take a number of steps to support the Ukrainian people and our sellers in the region,” the company said.

📌Russian-American journalist Sergei Loiko came as a volunteer of the Foreign Legion to defend Ukraine. Sergey is 69 years old, and for the last 10 years he has been actively published in a number of American media.

📌The Wall Street Journal collected the stories of several foreigners who decided to join the Ukrainian International Legion. 

https://on.wsj.com/35QKUZG 

📌The Steering Committee of the International University Sports Federation (FISU) announced that Russian and Belarusian athletes will not participate in FISU competitions and events until at least the end of 2022.

📌The social network for athletes Strava decided to suspend their services in the Russian Federation and Belarus due to the war unleashed against Ukraine.

📌Barclays bank temporarily blocked the bank account of the Chelsea football club in connection with sanctions against club owner Roman Abramovich.

📌Vans, a popular shoes brand, is to suspend work in Russia from March 14.

📌Ukrainian writer and musician Serhiy Zhadan has been nominated for the 2022 Nobel Prize in Literature. The application was submitted by the Academy of Sciences of Poland. “Today the poet is in his native Kharkiv and he is fighting,” the statement said.

Tweet of the day

INTERNATIONAL SUPPORT OF UKRAINE

📌Volodymyr Zelensky appealed to Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett to assist in the release of the kidnapped mayor of Melitopol and local activists.

 📌 Refugees from Ukraine will be able to get a tax number, have access to medical care and work in Poland. Refugees will also receive one-time financial assistance in the amount of PLN 300. The consequent law regulating the stay of Ukrainian refugees was signed by Polish President Andrzej Duda.

📌Deutsche Bahn is launching a cargo “railway bridge” to Kyiv with humanitarian aid. On Friday, German railway operator Deutsche Bahn started delivering humanitarian aid and essential goods to Ukraine.

📌The French Public Opinion Institute conducted a large-scale survey on the war in Ukraine among the citizens of France, Germany, Italy and Poland. 71% of respondents favored Ukraine’s entry into the EU. This is unprecedented support, confirming that Ukrainians are members of a large European family.

📌The Russian economy continues to fall into the abyss. The Central Bank of Russia has decided not to recommence trading on the Moscow Stock Exchange until March 18. In Russia, they fear that the exchange rate of the ruble will fall again, further aggravating the economic crisis. 

📌According to Bloomberg, Russia’s GDP has already fallen by $30 billion. Another $5 billion Russia has lost in the form of military equipment. Bloomberg Economics forecasts a drop in Russia’s GDP for the 2022, by about 9%

📌Poland has already sheltered more than 1.6 million of Ukrainians. A law, supporting Ukrainian citizens, who were forced to flee abroad from Russian aggression, came into power in Poland. The document provides an opportunity for legal employment and access to free medicine. Ukrainian pupils and students will be able to continue their education at schools and universities

📌Lithuania allocated 3.94 million euros from the country budget to accept Ukrainians and simplified the employment procedure for them.

📌Czech public organizations have already collected 1.7 billion CZK to help the citizens of Ukraine. The Parliament of the Czech Republic adopted a law to simplify the procedure for obtaining residency documents, access to medical services, employment, social security and education in the Czech Republic for citizens of Ukraine

📌UK has developed an assistance program “Homes for Ukraine”, which will allow those Ukrainians who do not have relatives in the country to be accommodated in the country. The UK government will pay people £350 a month if they can offer refugees at least a private room or separate accommodation for a minimum of six months.