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2022-03-28 23:27:49 Photo of the day: A small city of Trostyanets liberated by the Ukrainian Army sustained substantial damage as a result of shelling, bombing and fires. Some residential buildings have been completely destroyed. Відкрити / Коментувати

2022-03-28 23:27:20 March 28, 2022. The 33rd day of the Russian-Ukrainian war.

Key news of the day.

Russians continue destroying critical civil infrastructure. Today, the oil reserve in Rivne oblast sustained another airstrike by missiles. The high-voltage line near Kyiv was damaged again.

There are more and more evidence that Russians started a covert mobilization conscripting various groups to the war in Ukraine, such as prisoners inmates (only those who got sentenced for serious crimes, such as murder, rape, or drug trafficking); residents of some autonomous republics within Russia or supported by Russia (for example, South Ossetia which “got independence” after the Russian-Georgian war of 2008, or residents of DNR/LNR, even though without any military experience);

According to estimates of the local administration, over 150,000 residents managed to leave Mariupol, another 170,000 people remain in the sieged city, and 30,000 more were forcefully transferred to Russia. At the same time, no single humanitarian corridor was open today.

Russians continue kidnappings of local officials. The elected mayor of Hola Prystan, a town near Kherson, was kidnapped today. Also, the local representative of Henichesk city council was interrogated by the occupants. President Zelensky claimed that some of these officials were found dead.

The city mayor of Irpin Oleksander Markushev announced today that his city was liberated from the Russian invaders. However, it is still dangerous for the local residents to return home.

Turkish Coast Guards reported at least two anti-ship mines in the Black Sea. Supposedly they were installed by Russians near the Ukrainian shore and got loose.

According to the Ukrainian Ministry of Internal Affairs, over 460,000 Ukrainians, primarily males, returned home from abroad Відкрити / Коментувати

2022-03-27 23:46:53 Photo of the day: A church in Yasnogorodka (56 km / 35 miles from Kyiv) was damaged by shelling, the first one in this direction since the onset of the war. Відкрити / Коментувати

2022-03-27 23:46:17 March 27, 2022. The 32nd day of the Russian-Ukrainian war.

Key news of the day.

During March 26, Russian troops fired at least 70 missiles in Ukraine. 62 missiles were shot down by the Ukrainian air defense, 8 missiles reached the target. The cost of all missiles is $340 million, and together with logistics up to half a billion dollars. Most missiles were launched from the ships in the Black Sea or from the territory of Belarus.

Today, the Russian army has reduced the number of areas in which it is conducting offensive attempts. The main fighting took place in Donbas. The Russian army has shifted its main focus towards establishing logistics for the troops.

In the Dnipropetrovsk oblast, Russian troops used prohibited cluster munitions to shell a residential area in one of the settlements.

Total 71,000 residents of Mariupol were evacuated through humanitarian corridors since they were open. The city had 450,000 residents before the war. However, neither the total count of residents at the start of the siege nor the number of residents who are still alive and remain in the city, are known. Over 90% of residential buildings are destroyed or badly damaged by constant shellings and airstrikes. The number of casualties among civilians is estimated to be thousands if not tens of thousands. The city does not have water, electricity, or heat supply since the beginning of March.

Over 2,000 children who lost their parents in Mariupol were transported to Donetsk without their consent by the Russian military. Later the children were sent to Taganrog in Russia if no relatives in Donetsk who could pick them up were found.

In the temporarily occupied cities, the Russian army continues to terrorize and intimidate the local population. They loot, kidnap people (especially local authorities) and steal property. Also, they often boast about their “loot” to their relatives, according to the intercepted phone talks.

In Kherson and Kakhovka, which are occupied by Russian troops, people again protested against the Russian occupation. In Kherson, the Russian military threw smoke bombs at participants and dispersed a rally.

British Ministry of defense shipped a number of Starstreak launchers, short-range man-portable air-defense system. Some Ukrainian soldiers have already been trained how to operate these weapons. Відкрити / Коментувати

2022-03-27 00:48:30 Photo of the day: Street of Mariupol turned into cemeteries: Dead bodies are buried near houses where they lived and died. Відкрити / Коментувати

2022-03-27 00:48:06 March 26, 2022. The 31st day of the Russian-Ukrainian war.

Key news of the day.

Russians changed tactics and now intensified shelling of public infrastructure. Today there were reports from Dubno about the shelling of an oil reserve, Lviv, also about the shelling of the oil reserve, and Boyarka, Kyiv region, where residential houses were damaged. Also, the Russians shelled a high-voltage line that supplies electricity for Kyiv. No casualties have been reported. The damages are being fixed, though the trend to destroy critical infrastructure all over Ukraine is becoming clear

Ukrainian Army has liberated a small city of Trostyanets, 60 km (40 miles) south of Sumy.

The International Committee of the Red Cross is suspected of assisting the human trafficking of Ukrainian residents from temporarily occupied territories (such as Mariupol) to Russia. The head of ICRC announced the decision to open an office in Russian Rostov to assist Russians in the illegal deportation of Ukrainian citizens. In comparison, the president of the Red Cross did not mention such steps when he was in Ukraine. While Russians continue to send Ukrainian citizens to Russia without their consent and deprive them of Ukrainian IDs, all humanitarian corridors for evacuation of the population from Mariupol remain inaccessible for buses or trucks, as well as for humanitarian aid delivery. Only slightly more than 5000 people have been evacuated from all problem sites today. Over 100 thousand civilians still remain in occupied and destroyed Chernihiv and another 150 thousand in Mariupol.

Poland gave shelter to over 2.3 million Ukrainian refugees, as of today.

Standard Russian approach in occupied cities, namely, arresting the legally elected officials, putting a colorant into a mayor’s chair, and gathering a “meeting” that shows “support” to the new rule, have failed in Melitopol. No one came to the meeting, and residents openly refused to support the collaborators’ administration. At the same time, occupants started hunting down residents who support Ukraine, hold Ukrainian flags, or refuse to recognize the Russian occupational administration.

The Russians shelled and damaged a Holocaust memorial Drobitsky Yar on the outskirts of Kharkiv. This is ironic in the view of their declared “denazification” goals.

Over the last months, Russians have destroyed 4500 residential buildings, 100 enterprises, 400 educational institutions, and 150 health care facilities.

Ukrainian skaters Oleksandra Nazarova and Maksym Nikitin performed at World Championships competing in the rhythm dance, received minutes-long standing ovations and 16tth place in the qualifiers. The pair was not able to train before the World Cup because of Russia's war against Ukraine. Oleksandra and Maksym managed to escape the Russian shelling in Kharkiv after having spent several days in the city, and changed their dance only three days before the competition. The two pieces they chose for the rhythm dance are very familiar to Ukrainians. The program opens with the haunting words of a song, “1944” with which Ukrainian singer Jamala won the 2016 Eurovision song contest. The second piece in the latter part of the program is a rousing national folk song performed by Ukraine’s Andriy Khlyvnyuk, the lead singer of the band Boombox, who canceled a tour of the U.S. to help defend his homeland. (Andriy was reported wounded today!). Following the rhythm dance, Nazarova and Nikitin withdrew from the competition. Video:

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2022-03-25 22:33:34 Photo of the day: 19-year-old Maria and her son Bohdan (born a week after the war started) have been living in a subway car at a metro station in Kharkiv since the beginning of the war. Her husband is fighting Russians at the front line, while she hopes he will see his child soon. Відкрити / Коментувати

2022-03-25 22:33:09 March 25, 2022. The 30th day of the Russian-Ukrainian war.

Key news of the day.

According to Oryx analytics, the Ukrainian army has lost at least 73 tanks in the battles. On the other hand, they captured 117 Russian tanks abandoned by Russians. In this sense, Ukraine has more tanks than when the war started.

Last night, the Russians shelled Kharkiv again. 6 civilians were reported dead, 17 were wounded. Russians shelled a local hospital that served as a center for humanitarian aid at the moment, four civilians were killed.

About 100 thousand civilians are still in the danger zone in Mariupol that is seized by the Russian army (local government estimation). The commander of the local police, General Aroskin, offered to surrender to the Russians in exchange for a guarantee that all the remaining children would be released. There was no answer from Russians yet.

Three hundred people were estimated to have died at the Drama theater in Mariupol that was bombed on March 16. Over a thousand pregnant women and mothers with children used it as a refuge at the moment of the blast.

Russian troops blocked the distribution of humanitarian aid in Melitopol by the order of the self-proclaimed “mayor” Halyna Danylchenko who collaborated with the enemy. 13 tons of food and two tons of child nutrition and medicine were delivered to the city. According to Ivan Fedorov, the elected mayor of Melitopol, Russians intend to sell a part of the aid, and also to use it to feed the soldiers who occupy the city.

According to estimates of Kyiv School of Economics’ project “Russia will pay”, Ukrainian economic losses in the war have already reached at least USD 63 billion.

For the second time since the onset of the war, Russians recognized their direct losses today: The Russian estimated are 1351 dead and 3825 wounded. These numbers are drastically smaller than estimates announced by the Ukrainian side (over 14,500 dead) and those estimated by British and US intelligence (between 7,000 and 14,000 dead). Відкрити / Коментувати

2022-03-24 23:18:12 Photo of the day: Mariupol is almost destroyed, people keep dying of hunger and dehydration, as the city has been blocked by Russian troops for several weeks. They do not allow humanitarian aid into the city and do not provide any assistance themselves. Almost 90% of buildings are damaged by shelling or fire. People bury the dead right on the streets. Відкрити / Коментувати

2022-03-24 23:16:54 March 24, 2022. The 29th day of the Russian-Ukrainian war.

Key news of the day.

Video of the day: Today is one month since Russia invaded Ukraine. Washington Post presented a story with videos on the events of this bloody month: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/03/24/videos-ukraine-russia-war-month-zelensky/

You may support Ukraine by making a donation: for the army - https://bank.gov.ua/en/about/support-the-armed-forces or for humanitarian aid - https://bank.gov.ua/en/about/humanitarian-aid-to-ukraine.

Over half of Ukrainian children had to leave their homes: out of 7.5 million children, 1.8 had to leave the country and another 2.5 million became internally displaced persons - UNICEF. Over a month of the war, 128 children were confirmed dead, and 172 more wounded.

In Kharkiv, Russians shelled a local post office where civilians gathered to get humanitarian aid. Six people are reported dead, 15 wounded.

Thousands of residents of Mariupol were forcefully displaced to Russia. First, they were taken to the filtration camps near the border where they were deprived of their Ukrainian IDs and then dispersed across far Russian cities. The city administration reported at least 15,000 cases at the moment. This is considered an act of state-supported terrorism, unseen from the times of the second world war.

Russians killed an 11-year old gymnast, Katia Diachenko. She was a very promising athlete, according to her trainer, Anastasia Meschanenkova who told about her death. The girl died after her house was shelled by a missile.

Russians shelled the center of Kharkiv with “Caliber” ballistic missiles from the ships in the Black Sea.

Evacuation train #43 "Kyiv-Ivano-Frankivsk" came under fire near Vasylkiv (Kyiv oblast). Windows were smashed in three cars. According to preliminary data, no one was injured.

In Berdyansk port, at least one Russian Navy ship was destroyed by the Ukrainian missile “Tochka U”. Various sources report that at least two more vessels caught fire.

In occupied settlements in Chernihiv oblast, Russian troops confiscate agricultural machinery (tractors) to pull their damaged tanks to repair stations.

In the occupied areas Russians confiscate and destroy (burn) books on Ukrainian literature and history. They are especially interested in books about Maidans (Ukrainian revolutions in 2004, 2013-2014), the war with Russia since 2014, the history of the Ukrainian liberation struggle in the XX century, as well as books on the history of Ukraine in general and even school textbooks. The first country to burn the books en masse was Nazis Germany in the 1930s. Besides, in occupied regions Russians visit schools and announce that starting April 1, they should start education in Russian.

Ten Ukrainian cities and a number of smaller settlements do not have access to drinking water as a result of shelling or damage to the water mains. Mariupol, Kharkiv, Chernihiv, Okhtyrka, Izium, Trostianets, Makariv are among them. Відкрити / Коментувати