Press digest – Ukraine
36th 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
📌 According to Ombudsman Lyudmila Denysova, as of March 31, 148 children killed because of the Russian attack on Ukraine. 232 children were injured during full-scale hostilities in Ukraine by Russia. It is also known that as of March 27, 210 children died in the blockade of Mariupol. These data are not final, as it is not possible to inspect the sites of shelling in the areas of active hostilities and in the temporarily occupied territories.
📌 Russia attacked the city of Maryinka, Donetsk region, with illegal phosphorous bombs munitions, and about a dozen fires broke out in the city. There are injured people there. Children killed.
📌 Russian troops are conducting chaotic fire on Kharkiv with various weapons to destabilize the situation in the city. According to the head of the Kharkiv Regional State Administration Oleh Synehubov, 47 shellings from artillery, mortars and tanks and another 380 shellings from Grad and Smerch were recorded during the day. The occupiers are also moving artillery units towards the Izyum area.
📌 Russian aviation destroyed the industrial facility in Novomoskovsk and the oil depot in the Dnipropetrovsk region with missiles.
📌 Russian troops are accumulating to run new strikes in Donbass. “The withdrawal of Russian troops from Kyiv and Chernihiv declared by the occupiers is not a withdrawal, but the consequences of expulsion,” – President Zelensky said.
📌 In Mariupol, the occupiers continue to carry out their assault operations. The city is completely destroyed. As of now, there are around 100K civilians who need urgent help.
⚠️ Withdrawal of units of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation from the territory of Kyiv and Chernihiv regions continues. By all indications, the enemy is regrouping units to focus the main efforts on the East. “Withdrawal of troops” is a deception and a misconception about the refusal of the occupiers from the plan to surround the city of Kyiv. Probably, rotation of separate divisions is carried out.
📌 At midnight, Ukraine was covered with sirens – there were airstrikes in a number of cities. Air defense worked effectively in Kyiv. In the Khmelnytsky region, locals reported explosions.
📌 Russia mines the Black Sea using naval mines seized from Ukrainian military depots in 2014, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine. Thus, Russia wants to discredit Ukraine in front of international partners.
📌 In Velyka Bilozirka, the Russians placed military equipment between residential buildings. In Melitopol, the occupiers have equipped checkpoints on the outskirts of the city and strengthened the bypass regime. Also, they continue to rob and detain people.
📌 On the morning of March 30, the Russian occupiers fired on a residential area of Lysychansk. According to preliminary data, there are no victims. However, the rocket hit the playground and miraculously did not explode.
📌 In the town of Dergachi in the Kharkiv region, Russian troops attacked the City Council. One person was killed and three were injured.
📌 In the Black Sea, the Russian Black Sea Fleet has placed their warships equipped with Caliber naval cruise missiles. At the Sevastopol naval base, the occupiers refilled the Caliber anti-aircraft missile system on the Admiral Makarov frigate.
📌 According to the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, on March 31, the Russians are trying to create a new group of troops in the Slobozhansky direction to establish control over parts of Kharkiv, Luhansk and Donetsk regions, including the blockade of Slovyansk and Kramatorsk.
📌 In the territories of the Kyiv region left by the Russian troops, there are frequent cases of mining of the territory and buildings of local residents.
📌 Russian troops destroyed 90% of the infrastructure of the city of Trostyanets in Sumy region. The city was liberated on March 24 by the Holodny Yar unit; its occupation lasted for 30 days.
📌 During the day on March 31, Russian troops fired on Luhansk region with all kinds of heavy weapons. In the city of Severodonetsk, a school caught fire due to the shelling, and in the city of Lysychansk, an oil depot caught fire. Also, in Lysychansk, a family was injured in the Russian shell that hit the house, a girl under 2 died, and doctors are fighting for her elder brother’s life.
📌 As a result of the shelling of Russian troops in Kharkiv, a medium-pressure underground gas pipeline was destroyed, and about 34,000 families were cut from the gas supply.
📌 The death toll after the shelling of the Mykolaiv Regional Council on March 29 has gone up to 20 people now.
📌 The Russian occupiers fired missiles at a military unit in the Dnipropetrovsk region. As a result of the shelling, 2 people were killed and 5 were injured. The administrative building and the fuel depot were destroyed.
⚠ The Russian Federation is thinking about setting the occupation authorities in the temporarily occupied territories, they do the selection of law enforcement officers, prosecutors and courts which will be sent to the territory of Ukraine.
⚠To implement the scenario of creating another pseudo-republic in the Kherson region, the work of the Federal Security Service, the 652nd group of information and psychological operations and officers of the 12th General Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Federation is noted. The main activity of these units is the so-called “explanatory work” with local authorities and the population.
📌 The Russian militaries kidnapped and brought to the occupied Donetsk a 12-year-old girl Kira – the daughter of the Ukrainian water polo champion, ex-captain of the National Team of Ukraine Yevhen Obedinsky, who was killed in Mariupol.
📌 According to the President’s Office, 24 Ukrainian officials are in Russian captivity. Among them there are mayors, their deputies, and other representatives of state institutions. Data on two more people are now being clarified.
📌 Photo of the day
Soldier Volodimir holds the hand of his girlfriend Tanya while saying goodbye at the train station in Lviv, Ukraine. He departs to Kramatorsk, to fight in the war.
RUSSIAN CONTEXT
⚠️ After the start of the full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation in Ukraine, the support of Russians for Putin’s actions rose to 83% — the results of a poll by the Levada Center.
⚠️️ The Republic of Belarus continues providing its territory for the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, airfield and transport networks, as well as locations for cruise and ballistic missile launchers. In addition, Belarus provides its hospitals and doctors to the Russian occupiers.
⚠️ Russian oil tankers are disappearing increasingly frequently from surveillance systems. This indicates that they are engaged in “dark activities”, deliberately turning off the transmission to circumvent sanctions. According to the intelligence company Windward, dark activity among crude oil tankers affiliated with Russia has increased by 600% since the beginning of Russia’s war with Ukraine, CNN says.
⚠️️ Putin told Mario Draghi, Italian Prime Minister, that conditions for a ceasefire in Ukraine have not yet been ready.
⚠️ Operating activities by of the Special Monitoring Mission of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe in Ukraine was not continued because of the veto of a single country – Russia
⚠️ The head of self-proclaimed South Ossetia Anatoly Bibilov said that in the near future the so-called republic plans to join Russia.
DEFENSE UPDATES
📌 Estimated losses of the Russian Federation Army in Ukraine:
📌 Azov Regiment destroyed Russian special forces near Mariupol. In total, Azov fighters destroyed 3 tanks and more than 64 items of Russian infantry over the past 24 hours.
📌 On March 30, the Joint Forces units repulsed 5 enemy attacks in the Donetsk and Luhansk directions. Our soldiers destroyed 10 tanks, 18 armored and 13 automobile vehicles, and 15 artillery systems. The enemy experienced casualties.
📌 The UA Armed Forces liberated the settlements of Zatyshshya, Malynivka, Vesele, Zelenyi Hai and Chervone in the Zaporizhia from Russian troops.
📌 Almost 1,500 Ukrainian manufacturers have already applied for relocation to continue working in safe areas. Several hundred have already moved or are currently moving from combat areas to continue their work.
📌 According to the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine, cultural and arts institutions will gradually start operating in safe regions in April. Part of the ticket sales revenue will go to help Ukrainian defenders or humanitarian support.
📌 The State Emergency Service of Ukraine became the front line of defense of Ukraine along with the Armed Forces. Since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale war in Ukraine, rescuers from the State Emergency Service have responded to more than 28,000 calls and eliminated almost 10,000 instances of the consequences of Russian missiles.
📌 The Russian militaries who occupied the Chornobyl Nuclear Power plant and held personnel hostage since February 24 have left the Chornobyl site, together with their equipment, and now they are heading towards the Belarusian border. During the exit, the Russian military robbed the premises, stole equipment and other valuables, and forced the station staff to sign “official” documents, saying that the Russian Federation had been “guarding” the facility since February 24.
CYBER-RESISTANCE AND DIGITAL VICTORIES
📌 American Express suspends trading operations in Russia and Belarus.
📌 Webmoney – all transactions with rubles are prohibited.
📌 Streaming television provider Roku has removed Russia’s state-owned RT television network in the United States.
📌 GeForce graphics cards, which are often used in mining farms for cryptocurrency mining, may disappear completely in Russia. AMD also left Russia with its Radeon cards.
📌 LetyShops, the largest cashback service in the CIS, froze accounts and stopped paying money on cards of Russian banks.
📌 Bet365, a leading foreign bookmaker, has left the Russian market.
📌 BTC-Alpha – suspended work with rubles and blocked Russian accounts.
📌 CEX IO – forbade Russians to create new accounts.
📌 Kuna – stopped working with rubles.
NEGOTIATIONS PROCESS UPDATES
🖇 Negotiations with the Russian delegation resume on April 1 online. The parties have to prepare for the meeting of the presidents in a week, David Arahamia said.
HUMANITARIAN CORRIDORS AND EVACUATION UPDATES
📌 On March 30, the Russian occupiers again blocked the movement of the column through the green corridor from Energodar to Zaporizhia, preventing the evacuation of children and women.
📌 Russian militants shot a column of volunteers near Chernihiv. Five buses of civilian volunteers came under fire as they tried to drive into the besieged city to evacuate people. One person was killed and four were seriously injured in the shelling. One of the buses managed to escape even on the punctured tires.
President Volodymyr Zelensky’s daily statements
📌 March 30 was a very active diplomatic day. Three permanent priorities were reiterated: weapons for Ukraine, new sanctions against Russia, financial support for Ukraine.
📌 During an hour-long conversation with US President Biden, the President stressed that this is a turning point. If Ukraine and the United States really fight for freedom and protection for democracies together, then Ukraine has the right to demand help at this crucial moment. Tanks, planes, artillery systems. Freedom must be armed definitely no worse than tyranny.
📌 Norway has strongly supported Ukraine. During his speech, the President called for even more help – weapons, sanctions against Russia.
📌 On March 30, President Zelensky held talks with the President of Egypt and the Crown Prince of the United Arab Emirates.
📌 The President expelled the Ambassadors of Ukraine to Morocco and Georgia. “There are those who work together with everyone to defend the state, and there are those who waste time and work only to stay in office. If there are no weapons, no sanctions, no restrictions for Russian business – go look for another job,” – he said in an evening address to the nation.
📌 “It is often said that any unpunished evil comes back. I would add: unpunished evil returns winged, with a sense of omnipotence. Should the world punished Russia for what it did in 2014, there would be no invasion of Ukraine in 2022.” – President Zelensky said in his address to the Australian Parliament.
PUBLIC AND BUSINESS SUPPORT
📌 Canadian gold mining company Kinross Gold is negotiating the sale of all its assets in Russia.
📌 £ 12.2 million was raised during the Concert For Ukraine charity event in Birmingham, UK.
📌 The New York Museum of Contemporary Art (MoMa) has opened a gallery of works by the Ukrainian-born artists in solidarity with Ukrainian people. The museum’s collection includes works by Kazimir Malevich, Louise Nevelson, Sonny Delaunay, Weegee (Arthur Fellig), Janet Sobel, David Burliuk, Ilya Kabakov and other artists. An excerpt of Serhiy Zhadan’s poem both in English and Ukrainian was also added to the exhibition.
📌 A portrait of a wounded resident of Chuguyev was sold at an American auction for
$ 100, 000. The funds will be sent to the Armed Forces and the National Guard of Ukraine. The picture was painted by portrait artist Eugenia Gershman.
📌 The cover of the April issue of Polish Vogue shows a girl in a blue and yellow dress with a dove of peace. It was created by Ukrainian fashion photographer and artist Olena Yemchuk.
📌 The online charity auction raised $ 106,000 for the Ukrainian children’s hospital Okhmatdyt. The funds were raised from the sale of a painting by English street artist Banksy.
📌 British actor Jeremy Irons, who starred in the film “Gucci House”, will take part in a charity event for Ukrainians who have been forced to leave the country. He was joined by actresses Sinéad Cusack and Greta Bellamacina.
📌 English actor Benedict Cumberbatch once again expressed his solidarity with the people of Ukraine. This time the actor mentioned the war at the 2022 Oscars: “And it’s happening on our doorstep. I would like to call myself a citizen of the world. But as a father and a man, to see children under the rubble of theaters, to see pregnant women injured in maternity wards, I just can not believe that this is happening.”
📌 Miley Cyrus sang for Ukraine at the Lollapalooza festival in Argentina and dedicated her hit Nothing Breaks Like a Heart to “Ukrainian friends”. She shot her music video to that track in Kyiv in 2018.
INTERNATIONAL SUPPORT OF UKRAINE
📌 Following a conversation between President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky and US President Joe Biden, the United States has decided to provide $ 500 million in direct budget assistance to our country.
📌 In an address to the Norwegian Parliament, Volodymyr Zelensky called for assistance to strengthen the state’s defense capabilities and close ports for Russian ships.
📌 Slovakia decides to expel 35 Russian diplomats.
📌 Norway is allocating around € 20 million to support Ukraine’s ability to pay salaries and social benefits.
📌 Swedish Minister of Education Lina Axelsson presented a government mandate to help scientists coming from Ukraine.
📌 On March 30, the Prime Minister of Slovenia, Janez Janša, stated that he supported the sending of S-300 air defense systems to Ukraine.
📌 The US Department of Defense handed over the first consignment of cargo to the Armed Forces to increase combat capability. Ukrainian fighters will receive Javelin and Stinger.
📌 Ukraine is negotiating the complete closure of Poland’s border with Belarus, – Ambassador of Ukraine to Poland Andriy Deshchytsia.
📌 Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Boris Johnson said that Western countries should tighten the economic loop around Russia until it withdraws all its soldiers from Ukraine. He thinks it’s feasible to provide the armored carriers to help the Ukrainian military escape from the blockade of Mariupol. As for the possibility of Britain becoming one of the guarantors of security for Ukraine, he ruled out giving Kyiv the equivalent of NATO’s fifth article, but Ukraine could benefit from another concept of security “based on the idea of deterrence by denial.”
📌 The Government of Lithuania has included Russia and Belarus in the list of hostile states and territories, based on that it is possible to exclude companies registered in these countries from public procurement tenders or to terminate already concluded agreements.
📌 Japan returns to the wording “Kuril Islands – the original territory of Japan, which is under the illegal occupation of Russia.” For decades, Russia has occupied the territories of other countries, destroying peoples and cities. Almost every neighbor of Russia has experienced information war, occupation or economic attacks. So, other countries have something to fight with the Russians. And if every country starts a fight now, Russia will not be able to stop these processes. And by joint efforts, the world will be able to stop the Russians and save the annexed lands.
📌 After the speech of President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky in Australian parliament, Australia rejects Russian oil and gas. The government has also decided to impose a 35% duty on all goods originating from Russia, according to Andriy Yermak, Head of the President’s Office.
📌 Negotiations with the IAEA are in progress to ensure that its representatives are present at Ukrainian nuclear power plants. In addition, the organization will provide Ukraine with equipment for nuclear facilities as international assistance.
📌 On March 31, 2022, the Board of Governors of the World Association of Nuclear Operators (WANO) supported the request of Energoatom (Ukraine) and decided to transfer the Company together with all its stations and nuclear power units under WANO Paris Center.
Now the following stations are transferred underWANO Paris Center:
⚡️ Zaporizhzhya NPP (6 WWER-1000 units)
⚡️ Rivne NPP (2 WWER-440 units, 2 WWER-1000 units)
⚡️ South Ukrainian NPP (3 WWER-1000 units)
⚡️ Khmelnitsky NPP (2 WWER-1000 units)
📌 US citizens trust President Zelensky more than Biden, Macron or Scholz — Pew Research Center survey states.
72% of US citizens trust the President of Ukraine, and 48% trust Biden. Around seven-in-ten Americans have a lot or some confidence in Zelensky, higher than any other international leader asked about in a new Pew Research Center survey. “Trust” in this Pew Research Center survey was defined as “confidence that a leader will do the right thing in international relations.”
The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba’s daily statements
📌 “Negotiations are in progress, but there should be more sanctions, weapons and support for Ukraine’s damaged economy. All Ukrainian diplomacy, from the President to the Ambassador, works 24/7 every day with partners to continue providing Ukraine with more weapons and constantly increasing sanctions on Russia”, Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said.
📌Tweet of the day
Russian missiles and air bombs hit our cities and civilian infrastructure every day. There are no forbidden targets for Russian troops. They attack everything from hospitals to airports, from grocery stores to residential areas.