Press digest – Ukraine

59th day of heroic resistance of Ukraine against Russian military invasion

#ArmUkraineNow

DESTRUCTION AND LOSSES
📌More than 595 children were injured in the full-scale armed invasion of Russia. The official number of child victims has not changed in the last two days — 208. The number of injured has increased — 387.

📌On April 20, a 5 -year-old child was injured in a shelling of civilian infrastructure by the Russian military in the Pologiy district of Zaporizhia region.

📌In the territory of Bucha, the collection and exhumation of the bodies of those killed by the hands of the invaders is coming to an end. Russians tortured and killed 412 people in the city. Every third victim in the Kyiv region is from Bucha.

📌Russian troops launched a missile strike on Odesa – 2 air targets were shot down by the Air Defense, 2 more, unfortunately, aimed at a military facility and 2 at residential buildings. The enemy’s cruise missiles were launched by Russia’s Tu-95 strategic aircraft from the Caspian Sea. As a result, 8 people died. Among those killed was a three-month-old baby.

📌In Kakhovka, the Russians set up a torture chamber in the police station, where they have been torturing illegally detained people. The ombudswoman Liudmila Denysova reported about it.

📌According to witnesses, there are more than 10 civilians in the Kakhovka police station, some of whom have been detained for several weeks. Men are tortured with electric shocks and beaten. The occupiers are the most cruel to those who are related to military agencies — territorial defence volunteers and former members of the ATO/OOS.

📌The satellite recorded another mass grave near Mariupol. According to satellite images, the excavated trenches in the cemetery of the occupied village appeared in late March. In the pictures on March 17, these excavations are not there yet. In the photo of Maxar as of March 29, trenches measuring approximately 38 by 4 meters are already visible. According to the satellite image of Planet as of April 20, the size of the mass grave increased (became 45 by 25 meters).

📌 The sports complex in Mariupol was destroyed by Russian invaders. In the photographs of Sport complex “Illichivets” are shown before and after the attack of the Russian occupiers. “You live, you dream, you make your plans. You know that you have one of the best indoor stadiums in Ukraine, and more than 300 young football players learn football here for free. And here the uninvited “Russian world” comes to you and kills your dream. Go to hell,”liberators”, — says the vice-president of the football club “Mariupol” Andriy Sanin.

📌The consequences of the night shelling in Mykolaiyv.

📌Russia could use tear gas mixed with chemicals in Mariupol, said US Permanent Representative to the OSCE Michael Carpenter.

📌The invaders cut off electricity the pumping station in Luhansk region — the center of Lysychansk, as well as the cities of Novodruzhesk and Privillya were left without water.

📌Two people were killed and another was injured in the shelling of Popasna by the Russian invaders.

📌Russians destroy evidence of their crime at the Mariupol Drama Theater. They have dismantled the debris and took the dead in an unknown direction.

📌The occupiers export Ukrainian grain from the temporarily occupied territories to Russia. The ombudswoman Liudmyla Denisova reports about it.

📌In the Kherson region, the occupiers emptied a grain storage in the village of Novooleksiyivka and took all the grain to the occupied Crimea. And the train with the inscription “grain” on its cars went across the Kerch bridge.

📌Local farmers are forced to start sowing. And those who refuse orders from the so-called authorities are threatened with confiscation of agricultural machinery, seeds and imprisonment.

📌 Photo of the day

Photo of the Azov military medic remaining in the blocked Mariupol

“Tell my mom — I’ve seen so much pain, but I will never break,” it reads.

RUSSIAN CONTEXT

⚠️Despite the intensification of the attacks, russian troops have not made significant progress in the last 24 hours, as Ukrainian counterattacks continue to hamper their efforts.

⚠️The Russian air force and navy were unable to gain dominance in the air and at the sea due to the effectiveness of Ukrainian defense.

⚠️Despite Moscow’s statements about the capture of Mariupol, fierce battles continue. This further slows down the desired advance of russian troops in the Donbas.

⚠️Russians have launched an information wave of fakes about chemical weapons. They claim an alleged attack by Ukraine to blame Russia. In their lies, the Russians call specific cities where provocations are allegedly possible. According to Putin’s propagandists: “The most probable option is provocation at chemical and biological facilities in Kharkiv and Kyiv, provocation at the Zaporizhzhya NPP is not excluded as well. Attacks on Kamyanske are also possible.”

DEFENSE UPDATES

📌 Estimated losses of the Russian Federation Army in Ukraine:

📌Ukrainian Armed Forces destroyed the command post of the Russian troops in the Kherson region: “It’s cooler than Chornobaivka”

“We hit an advanced army-level command post in the Kherson region. It’s cooler than Chornobaivka. There were about 50 high-rank Russian officers there. Their fate is unknown, but I think there’s nothing good about it. It was exploding for a long time. Advanced command post. I’m afraid there could be another army commander (killed – edit.)”, — said Oleksiy Arestovych.

📌The Armed Forces of Ukraine liberated the villages of Bezruky, Slatine and Prudyanka in the Kharkiv region from the Russian military and consolidated their positions.

📌 The Russian military refuse to go to fight in Ukraine, but criminal cases against them cannot be initiated due to the absence of the martial law in force, according to Mediazona. At the same time, according to the publication, commanders put pressure on their subordinates with exhortations, threats and dismissals.

📌In the territory of Donetsk and Luhansk regions for the past 24hrs, 8 enemy attacks were repulsed; 9 tanks, 18 units of armored and 13 units of motor vehicles, a tanker, 3 artillery systems were destroyed.

📌Since the beginning of the large-scale war, 3 million 640 thousand Ukrainians have left Ukraine, at the same time, 1 million 130 thousand people have already managed to return.

📌During the two months of the war, about 31,000 humanitarian aid vehicles were imported to Ukraine.

📌Negotiations on security guarantees for Ukraine will be completed within a week, said the adviser to the head of the OPU Podolyak. Consultations with partner countries are under way.

📌Life-guards rescued more than 1,200 people from the rubble. More than 70,000 ammunition were neutralized, including more than 2,000 air bombs. About 12 thousand hectares of territories have been surveyed.

HUMANITARIAN CORRIDORS AND EVACUATION UPDATES

📌Russian occupiers again disrupted the evacuation from Mariupol, said Mariupol Mayor’s Adviser Petro Andriushchenko. About 200 Mariupol residents were going to leave for Zaporizhzhia, but when they arrived at the assembly point, the Russian military told them to disperse because “there will be shelling now.” Instead, they brought other buses to the evacuation site, which were to go to the occupied territory, to Dokuchaevsk.

President Volodymyr Zelensky’s daily statements

🇺🇦 Today the President of Ukraine gave a press conference to Ukrainian and foreign media in the Kyiv metro. The main theses of Volodymyr Zelensky:

If our people in Mariupol are killed, if a pseudo-referendum is announced in the new pseudo-republics, Ukraine will withdraw from any negotiation process.

Ukraine expects 100% support from UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres.

“Today Ukraine is not ready for the military unblocking of Mariupol.”

Ukraine will return all Russian-occupied territories, but the speed of this will depend on the pace and volume of arms supplies from Western partners.

“Everyone will definitely stand in front of tribunal. The ones who gave these shameful orders to kill people, children…\ I believe in this. We know how the international process goes, the international court. It happens for years. We will wait, and if such as I will not wait, our children will certainly wait. I believe that this will be the last nail in the politics of this state.”

The President of Ukraine needs to meet with Kremlin leader Putin to end the war through diplomacy. “I don’t want to, but I have to meet with the President of Russia.”

“If the Russian leadership does not lose touch with reality, they will not use nuclear weapons. But could it happen? Maybe. Do I believe that? I do not want to believe in such things. If we had nuclear weapons, we would never use them… If we had nuclear weapons, the risks of war on the part of Russia would be minimized.”

The next negotiations in Turkey will take place only if Vladimir Putin agrees to be present.

Russia’s blockade of ports on the Black and Azov Seas could lead to world hunger, as it has halted exports, including agricultural products.

“We are not a country for tragic selfies. Come to us, but with the help we need, not empty-handed. We are waiting for help from the United States, and we are also negotiating with Germany. They have what we need and they don’t, because the war is in our country.”

Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi plans to visit Ukraine. “We feel his support. Relations with Italy have changed: they have been wonderful, but they have also become substantive. Italy supports us with weapons and talks about it. I am grateful to them for their clear position.”

“The most pressing issues of the talks are security guarantees and neutrality, the fate of Donbas and Crimea. I believe that there are no more questions. Everything else is political pomp.”

CYBER-RESISTANCE AND DIGITAL VICTORIES

📌 Ahrefs blocks all access from Russia and Belarus. Access for Russian IP is closed. Also the company raised $1.5 million for Ukraine. Most of the money went to the Return Alive Foundation.

📌 Satellite operator Bulgaria Sat EAD has switched off Russian TV channels. The company withdrew 4 Russian TV channels from the satellite: First Channel, NTV Mir, RT, RT Documentary. In addition, the company made free broadcasts of UA TV and Ukraine 24.

📌French corporation Atos has confirmed a controlled exit from Russia.

📌 Fujitsu terminates all new orders and deliveries of products and related services in Russia.

📌Omnicom Group Inc. confirmed its withdrawal from Russia and ceases to cooperate with local partners to implement all its investment plans.

📌 Lumen announced the impossibility to continue working in the Russian market. From now on, business services, as well as physical presence, will be significantly limited. In addition, the company is taking steps to immediately stop business activities in the region.

📌NCR Corporation has suspended the sale of all products in Russia. Also, given the scale of the refugee crisis, the NCR Foundation is providing UNICEF with $ 200,000.

📌 MongoDB will no longer sell its cloud services to customers in Russia and Belarus, as well as its software. The company also said it has no offices or employees in Russia.

PUBLIC AND BUSINESS SUPPORT

📌Belarusian photographer Pavel Krychko created a portrait of Putin from 1,500 photographs of the war in Ukraine.

INTERNATIONAL SUPPORT OF UKRAINE

📌Netherlands will completely abandon Russian gas and coal by the end of 2022, according to Minister of Climate and Energy Rob Jetten for NOS.

📌Official representatives of the United States, Germany, Japan, Canada, Italy, Norway and the United Kingdom left the joint meeting of the World Bank and the IMF when the Russia’s envoy began to speak.

📌Canada has delivered a consignment of long-range howitzers M777 to Ukraine, said Canadian National Defense Minister Anita Anand. According to CBC News, these are four 155-millimeter howitzers (range up to 30 km).

📌More than 20 countries have confirmed their participation in the conference, which will discuss support for Ukraine. It will take place on April 26 at the Ramstein Air Base in Germany, writes Bild.

📌US Department of Defense spokesman John Kirby said on Friday that about 40 countries were invited. He did not name which countries had already agreed. Earlier, he said that this is not only about NATO countries, and this meeting is not taking place under the auspices of the North Atlantic Alliance.

📌Russia has become the world leader in the number of sanctions imposed against one country. Thus, as of April 21, 9,741 sanctions and restrictions were imposed on Russian legal entities and individuals. By comparison, all rogue states combined managed to achieve less. Iran, Syria, North Korea, Myanmar, Venezuela and Cuba have accumulated 9,670 restrictions over decades of isolation.

📌Austria is ready to support “all anti-Russian restrictions” except the gas embargo, said Finance Minister Magnus Brunner.

📌 Tweet of the day

This was Mariupol before the invasion of Russian troops. A beautiful city of half a million people. There are currently virtually no undamaged buildings there. There is no Mariupol. And there is also no Viktor Dedov who took these photos.