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There is not a single undamaged hospital in the Luhansk region. Since the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion, every medical facility in the Luhansk region has been shelled, said Luhansk Regional State Administration Head. Dnipro Mayor Borys Filatov recommended evacuating women, children, and the elderly from the city due to the aggravation in Donbas. Missiles hit infrastructure objects in Odesa once again. Russians bombed the road in Donetsk region, blocking evacuation trains from Slovyansk and Kramatorsk. As of 10 am on April 8, the trains were evacuating people to the west of Ukraine. Russian troops tortured and set on fire three local residents during the occupation of Husarivka village, Kharkiv region, according to the Prosecutor’s office. To hide the traces of their crimes, the occupiers covered the bodies of civilians with car tires before burning them. And some good news also: no Russian troops remain in the Sumy region anymore.
The situation in the Kherson region is nearing a humanitarian catastrophe, local authorities and local activists warn. Local activists report about the deteriorating situation in the villages where people are starving and without necessary medical supplies. People who had some provisions saved thanks to small farming might have some limited provisions remaining. Those who still have cash to purchase anything face high risks and challenges to obtain it. There are no evacuation corridors there and Russian troops encircle the settlements to keep people as hostages. There are disruptions with the electricity and water supply. Mayors of some of the local settlements are forced to leave due to the ongoing threats to their lives and prosecutions. The most critical situation concerns the lack of medicine. On Thursday, Russian troops shelled an evacuation boat on the Kakhovka Reservoir with the BM 21 Grads β 14 civilians, including 3 children who tried to escape the village of Pervomaivka were on board β three adults and a 13-year-old child were killed, 7 are hospitalized, and 2 are missing.
UN. βWe held the Russians accountable todayβ, said the US Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield on Thursday. Let there be more decisions taken that will be concluded with this phrase. On Thursday, the UN General Assembly suspended Russia from its Human Rights Council over allegations of war crimes committed by Russian soldiers in Ukraine. Russia is the second country, after Libya in 2011, to have its Human Rights Council membership rights stripped since the Councilβs establishment in 2006. After the vote, Russian UN Ambassador Gennady Kuzmin announced that Russia had decided to quit the Human Rights Council altogether. Oh well.
EU. The European Parliament has adopted a resolution calling for additional punitive measures, including βan immediate full embargo on Russian imports of oil, coal, nuclear fuel and gasβ. Members of EP also call for a plan on EU energy security and supply diversification, the exclusion of Russia from the G20 and other international organizations, the closure of Russian ports, the disconnection of all Russian banks from SWIFT and the seizure of assets of Russian officials and oligarchs linked to the Putin regime.
NATO. During the NATO Foreign Ministers meeting, NATO announced that it will strengthen support to Ukraine. Ukraine will be given protection from chemical or biological attack, and get support for the country’s cybersecurity. Minister Kuleba addressed the audience with a threefold agenda βweapons, weapons, weaponsβ and warned that the war in Donbas will be like World War II. So far NATO nations have provided an increasing array of arms, including anti-aircraft missiles, tanks and kamikaze drones. However, they still refuse to provide fighter jets and to establish a no-fly zone over Ukraine to protect from Russian attacks.
On Friday, the president of the European Commission Ursula Von der Leyen,High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell together with Slovak Prime Minister, Eduard Heger, will visit Kyiv.
Diplomats are returning to Kyiv. Lithuania became the first country to return the ambassador to Kyiv. Six Lithuanian diplomats and several other staff will work there. Latvian and Estonian Amabassadorts are to return to Kyiv soon. Currently, Turkish and Slovenian Embassies have already resumed their work.
Sanctions. The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine outlined 10 main blows to the Russian economy as a result of the sanctions imposed during the last three days. Some of them are: the US, Britain, the EU, and G7 banned all new investments in Russia; the US, the EU, and G7 imposed sanctions against the biggest Russian banks (Sberbank and Alfabank), which compose two thirds of the whole banking market; 318 Russian diplomats were expelled from the 18 EU Member States; family and allies of Putin regime we sanctioned including freezing some of their assets.
The US Congress supported a ban on Russian oil and gas imports following atrocities in Bucha. Additionally, all trade relations with Russia and Belarus are suspended now. Another unanimous decision included stripping Moscow of its preferential trade status and banning the import of Russian energy into the United States, moving to further penalize Russiaβs economy in response to the invasion of Ukraine. Therefore, higher tariffs on Russian goods will be imposed and it will respectively cut off a significant revenue stream to Russia.
Health security. The World Health Organization is preparing for potential chemical attacks or accidents in Ukraine. βWHO is considering all scenarios and making contingencies for different situations that could affect the people of Ukraine, from the continued treatment of mass casualties to chemical assaultsβ, said Hans Kluge, Europe Director-General for the WHO. The WHO warned that people in Ukraine are at risk of dying from common causes, like diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases, and children β from measles, pneumonia and diarrhea, due to the lack of access to basic medical care and humanitarian aid.
Digital security. Microsoft reported about recently observed attacks targeting Ukrainian entities from Strontium, a Russian GRU-connected actor. This week, Microsoft managed to disrupt some of Strontiumβs attacks by taking control of seven internet domains that were used to conduct these attacks. Strontium was using this infrastructure to target Ukrainian institutions including media organizations. It was also targeting government institutions and think tanks involved in foreign policy in the United States and the European Union.
A group of Ukrainian hackers, CyberPan Ukraine, says it has found ways to disrupt Russian military unitsβ navigation and is working on ways to disrupt artillery fire at least from systems that employ precision guidance systems, reports Defenceone.
Disinformation. Along with a military offensive, Russia is maintaining an active disinformation campaign. The spike of fakes particularly comes each time when some new evidence of Russian crimes is revealed. Our experts collected a list of five fakes most actively promoted by Russia in March. Here it is in our new leaflet: β5 Main Disinformation Fakes from Russia about the War in Ukraineβ.
Reading corner.
- The whole world would benefit from a Ukrainian victory over Russia | Atlantic Council
- The Myth of the Missing Cyberwar | Foreign Affairs
Pink Floyd released a new recording, βHey Hey Rise Upβ, after a 30-year break. It is a reworking of a protest song βOy u Luzi Chervona Kalynaβ (Oh, the Red Guelder Rose in the Meadow) from World War I, recently performed by the Ukrainian rock star Andriy Khlyvnyuk from Boombox on the street of besieged Kyiv.
Get to know more about Ukraine’s music scene and watch the video about 18 Underground Bands From Ukraine.
Statistics:
- General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine announced the total estimated losses of the Russian military as of 10 a.m., April 8, 2022: personnel β around 19 000, tanks β 700, APV β 1891, artillery systems β 333, MLRS β 108, anti-aircraft warfare systems β 55, fixed-wing aircraft β 150, helicopters β 135, soft-skinned vehicles β 1361, boats and light speed boats β 7, fuel tankers β 76, operational-tactical level UAV β 112, special equipment β 25, mobile SRBM system β 4. Also follow the interactive counter of Russian losses.
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