Press digest – Ukraine
26th day of heroic resistance of Ukraine against Russian military invasion
Every morning, starting March 17, a nationwide minute of silence has been declared throughout Ukraine at 9:00am Kyiv time.
“We will remember the Ukrainians who gave their lives, all the military, civilians, and children” (c) President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy
DESTRUCTION AND LOSSES
📌115 children have died since the beginning of the full-scale war by Russia against Ukraine, over 140 children have been injured. Unfortunately, the actual numbers are even higher. Setting the exact data is not possible right now because the occupying troops are actively running hostilities in Ukrainian cities.
📌Russian troops continue to deliberately kill civilians by purposefully attacking civilian targets. On March 20th, Russian aviation fired missiles at a shopping center in Podilsky district of Kyiv. The building of the shopping center is completely destroyed, among other damages – 6 high-rise residential buildings, temporarily in 3 of them it’s now not possible to live anymore. Preliminarily, eight people died.
📌During the day, Russian troops fired missiles and bombs, actively using the air attack tools. It’s worth mentioning that the occupants have focused their attacks on important civilian infrastructure and residential areas aiming to intimidate the civilian population and reduce the economic potential of Ukraine.
📌135 hospitals have been shelled since the beginning of the Russia’s war against Ukraine, 9 hospitals are completely destroyed and cannot be restored. “Besides, since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation into Ukraine, 3 ambulance vehicles have been shelled, 6 medical personnel people killed, 16 – have severe injuries”, – said Victor Lyashko, Minister of Health.
📌13 buildings were destroyed in Zhytomyr region in an air attack on March, 20. According to the preliminary data, 3 people were injured.
📌Russian occupants fired two missiles at a military training ground in Rivne region. Also 4 missiles were fired at Rivne region, three of them were destroyed. The fourth one stroke, details are being clarified.
📌An air strike by Russian forces on Sumykhimprom chemical plant resulted into ammonia leakage. Thanks to the fastactions of rescuers and favorable weather conditions, the affected area was limited to a radius of 2.5 km.
📌Russian occupiers started placing their personnel, weapons and technical vehicles on civilian infrastructural objects.
📌Russian invaders continue their forced mobilization in the temporarily occupied territories of Donetsk and Luhansk regions. State organizations of the Stanychno-Luhansk village have been officially informed that tall male employees aged 18-60 must arrive for registration to the local police department on April 1, 2022. The reasons for this “registration” have not been mentioned, although it is connected with another wave of mobilization to the 2nd Army Corps in order to be then sent to the areas of hostilities.
📌As a result of the morning shelling by Russian naval artillery in Odessa, several houses are destroyed. No one was injured or killed.
📌5 civilians killed, minimum 10 injured in Avdiyvka in shelling by russian occupants.
📌In Energodar, a temporarily occupied city, Russians brought 600 OMON policemen. After protests by local people on March 20, the chasteners equipped with police batons, shields and firearms were stationed across the city. They attack civilians.
📌 The UN Secretary-General has acknowledged that Russia’s attack on Ukraine can potentially bring a global food crisis, which will lead to another migration crisis for Europe.
📌Russian propaganda spreads fake news about Ukrainians in Europe. Police in Bonn, Germany, reported that there was a video on the Internet showing an alleged attack by Ukrainians on a 16-year-old Russian-speaking volunteer in the Euskirchen area. Experts say this was a fake video aimed to spread hate.
📌Russian occupiers cover with paint the names and board numbers on their warships. It can potentially be a preparation for provocations against civilian ships, to be followed by accusations of Ukrainian warships.
📌The Ministry of Infrastructure of Ukraine has informed that due to the Russian military aggression, Ukrainian sea ports of Mariupol, Berdyansk, Skadovsk and Kherson will be temporarily closed.
📌Russian occupants have kidnapped journalists in Melitopol. In a Russian-occupied city, gunmen abducted three employees of the Melitopolski Vedomosti newspaper and its publisher, Mikhaylo Kumok. The journalists were later released, but the whereabouts of Mykhailo Kumok still remain unknown. The publisher’s daughter Tatiana was also abducted. Melitopol journalists are being pressured because of the coverage of the war in Ukraine. The abductions, illegal detentions and degrading treatment of the population of the occupied territories violate Articles 3 and 34 of the Geneva Convention about the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War and Article 9 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
📌Russian occupants not only shell peaceful cities of Ukraine but also trying to completely destroy the cultural heritage of the Ukrainian people. By now, multiple architectural monuments have been either damaged or completely destroyed. Among them there were objects where museums, libraries, university faculties and other cultural and educational bodies were located.
See more: https://t.me/spravdi/3097
RUSSIAN CONTEXT
⚠️ It’s been the fourth week of the Russian war against Ukraine – people die, children die, maternity houses and schools are bombarded, people are shot. Meanwhile, international companies sponsor all that: every dollar in russia’s economy – it’s a bullet into the heart of a Ukrainian child. Companies that finance the terrorist military regime: Nestle, who announce in public that they do not see anything wrong in sponsoring Russia and war. American Pringles, Spanish Chupa Chups, German BSH (Bosch & Siemens), Bayer, D-Basf, British Tesco, French-Turkish LC Waikiki, French Credit Agricole, BNP Paribas, Leroy Merlin, Auchan, Austrian Raiffeisen Bank International, Japanese Yamaha and Toshiba.
⚠️Russia has agreed to postpone the payment of Belarus’s state credit debt to Russia for 5-6 years. Putin’s conditions in return are unknown.
⚠️ Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation issued an official address to Ukraine, where they state an ultimatum: Ukrainian defenders lay down their arms and leave Mariupol. Only then they propose the “evacuation of civilians” and promise to allow the corridor. The answer of the deputy mayor of Mariupol was quite unambiguous and very similar to the phrase about a russian warship.
⚠️ Facebook and Instagram in Russia are now blocked for “extremism”. Russia’s Prosecutor General’s Office said that “extremist information is a threat for both individuals and whole society.” They believe that the company allegedly violates its own rules, “allowing calls to kill the Russian military.”
DEFENSE UPDATES
📌Estimated losses of the Russian Federation Army in Ukraine:
📌Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, Ukrainian Armed Forces shot down almost 100 planes and 120 helicopters, destroyed almost 500 tanks and 1,500 armored combat vehicles of Russia. That is why Russia is hiring mercenaries all around the world and making desperate attempts to push Belarusian troops into the hell of war with Ukraine.
📌The Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant managed to partially evacuate people and rotate personnel – 46 volunteers-nuclear specialists replaced their colleagues who protected Ukraine from the nuclear disaster for 600 hours.
📌All four nuclear plants in Ukraine continue operating safely.
📌The initial tasks of the occupiers to defeat the Ukrainian Armed Forces of Ukraine, get access to the administrative borders of Donetsk and Luhansk regions, to encircle Kyiv and set control over the left bank of Ukraine have not been done.
📌As there is no significant progress in the ground operation, disinformation and propaganda continue to be actively spread among the population of the Russian Federation – a basis is being prepared to justify prolonging the war and creating a misconception about the effectiveness of international sanctions.
📌More than 40 Ukrainian enterprises have been relocated from the zone of active hostilities, according to the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine. 18 of them have already resumed their work in the new place. In the nearest future, 299 more companies will be transferred to a new location of their operation.
📌Photo of the day
Damaged Retroville Shopping and Entertainment Center in Kyiv. The area of the fire was 1,500 square meters.
HUMANITARIAN CORRIDORS AND EVACUATION UPDATES
📌On March 20, another 2,000 Mariupol residents were evacuated from Berdyansk. Everyone will receive food, necessary medical care, and then – temporary accommodation. Overall, within five days, more than 41,000 people came to Zaporizhia from Mariupol.
📌On March 20, only 4 out of 7 agreed humanitarian corridors worked, 3 were blocked by Russian occupation forces. 7,295 people were evacuated.
📌Buses with Maruipol children went under fire from Russian artillery. There are children in severe condition there.
PUBLIC AND BUSINESS SUPPORT
📌David Beckham gave his Instagram account for 1 day to Iryna Kondratova, a Ukrainian doctor at the Kharkiv Perinatal Center. Thus, 71 million people around the world saw the heroic work of Kharkiv physicians.
📌The new season has been released by the mega-popular online game Fortnite, and it’s developer Epic plans to donate all its income for the first two weeks to humanitarian aid to Ukraine.
📌Hollywood star Julianne Moore in collaboration with designer Alessandra Brunialti has produced hats in the colors of the Ukrainian flag. All income from the sale will be used to help Ukraine.
📌 Rallies in support of Ukraine took place in many cities around the world yesterday! In particular, in Hamburg, Yerevan and New York. In Berlin, Russian singer Boris Grebenshchikov performed during a rally supporting our country. Spanish actor Javier Bardem, winner of the Oscar and dozens of other awards, also supported Ukraine – he came to protest in front of the Russian Embassy in Madrid.
📌A girl from Japan, who is very worried about the fate of Ukraine, wrote us a letter! We will definitely make the world peaceful!
📌Pope Francis published an anti-war Twitter post in Ukrainian.
📌The newborn rhino in the Safari Park Dvůr Králové zoo in Dvůr Kralove nad Labem (Czech Republic) was named Kyiv in honor of Ukrainian heroes.
📌American actress Hillary Duff slammed Putin for the military operation in Ukraine: “F**king Putin. I hope his existence is so LONELY and TORTURED and EMPTY. Money doesn’t make people happy. It can make your life easier but my only hope is by the grace of god his life is a miserable one.”
📌International Federation of Associations of Film Producers has revoked the accreditation of the Moscow International Film Festival.
📌A march in support of Ukraine with a few thousands participants took place in Austria. People went out to the streets calling to end Russia’s war and to help Ukraine protect its skies.
📌A multimedia project about the tragic realities of the war waged by Russia against Ukraine has started in Riga.
📌A charity concert “Together with Ukraine” took place in Poland. The funds raised will be donated to the Polish Humanitarian Action, which is conducting large-scale assistance to Ukraine.
📌Tweet of the day
INTERNATIONAL SUPPORT OF UKRAINE
📌Brussels has started reviewing Ukraine’s membership application to join the European Union. Oliver Warheli, EU Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement wrote about it on Twitter.
📌In the run-up to a meeting of the EU Council of Foreign Ministers, Latvian Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics called on the EU to strengthen sanctions against Russia and Belarus, including closing European ports to Russian ships.
📌Legislative bodies of a number of states in the United States, including California, Indiana, Iowa, Maryland, Minnesota, North Carolina, North Dakota, New Mexico, Washington, Kentucky, West Virginia, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, have approved resolutions in support of Ukraine.
📌France has frozen more than 22 billion euros of assets of the Central Bank of Russia.
📌American IT company Netcracker is leaving the Russian market. The company stops sales and investments in Russia, as well as closes training centers and stops hiring people.
📌The Swiss oil service company Weatherford has announced a halt to supplies and new investments in Russia.
📌Australia will provide Ukraine with 70,000 tons of coal to strengthen energy security.
📌The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations is ready to provide support to almost 23,000 Ukrainian agricultural producers.
📌The second batch of Starlink satellite communication equipment has arrived in Zhytomyr.
📌UNICEF has raised $ 50 million in aid for Ukraine.
📌Slovenia returns its diplomatic mission to Kyiv. The employees themselves came up with such an initiative to their government, said the Prime Minister of Slovenia. This is an important signal to the world and the aggressor.
📌US President Joe Biden will visit Warsaw on March 25 to meet with Polish counterpart Andrzej Duda to discuss “the humanitarian crisis and the human rights crisis caused by Russia’s unjustified and unprovoked war against Ukraine.”
📌Three large Belarusian banks under EU sanctions have been disconnected from the SWIFT system.
📌Chinese Ambassador to the United States Qin Gang denied reports that China is helping Russia in the war with Ukraine. He assured that the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries, including Ukraine, should be respected. China does not supply weapons or ammunition to either side – it’s only food, medicine, sleeping bags and baby food.
📌Latvian Transport Minister Tālis Linkaits announced the preparation of a decision to ban Russian ships from entering Latvian ports.
📌Russian criminals are on their way to get behind the bars. Six European countries have launched investigations into Russian war crimes in Ukraine: Estonia, Lithuania, Germany, Poland, Slovakia, and Sweden.
📌The Australian government has announced a new aid package for Ukraine. The new package will include $ 16 million in military aid and $ 23 million in humanitarian aid to support Ukrainian women, children and the elderly.
📌 Estonian companies Kaupmehe and Kishenkeri sent 4 trucks (about 80 tons) of food products to Ukraine within the period of March 14-20.
📌Latvia sent two trucks with humanitarian aid to Kherson.
📌In France, students of medical assistants’ educational collected 43 pallets of aid for children from Ukraine who are in Poland.
📌Germany Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock: EU will increase funding for arms supplies to Ukraine up to 1 billion euros. “Ukraine needs additional weapons, and we, on the part of Germany, support this,” Baerbock said. According to Baerbock, the German government will ensure that German companies quickly fulfill the relevant orders. At the same time, the minister refused to talk about any details of providing weapons to Ukraine to secure these supplies.
📌Parliaments of more than 10 countries have signed a joint statement in support of the modernization of Ukraine’s air defense. The Chairman of The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Ruslan Stefanchuk said that on March 21, 2022, the Friends of Ukraine – Parliamentarians of the Czech Republic, Estonia, Poland, France, Georgia, Germany, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Sweden, Great Britain and the United States signed a joint statement “About the urgent need of modernization of Ukraine’s air defense.”
The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba’s daily statements
📌 Dmytro Kuleba announced that new sanctions will be imposed against Russia, which attacked Ukraine, next week. A separate stream of work these days is the expulsion of those international companies from Russia that have not yet realized that they have to leave.
📌 On March 19, Russian occupation forces illegally deported 2,389 children from the temporarily occupied areas of Donetsk and Luhansk regions. Such a forced transfer of civilians, including children, to the territory of the aggressor state shows signs of abduction.
We are fighting for our survival against one of the largest armies in the world. Against missiles, bombs and rocket artillery. Against the occupiers who shoot refugees on the roads. Who kill ordinary civilians, create artificial famine for entire cities, burn residential areas. This is the worst war in Europe since World War II.
Photo: Heidi Levine, Aris Messinis, Pavel Petrov, Salwan Georges, Shant Khatcherian.