Igor Zhdanov, the Minister of Youth and sports in Ukraine (2014-2019), a public and political figure, Maidan commandant during the Revolution of Dignity, member of the Maidan Council, candidate of political sciences, ATO volunteer, analyst of the NGO "Open Policy Foundation"

Informational Defence of Ukraine provides a daily review of the military-political situation in Ukraine, morning of March 11h, based on an analysis of open sources.

1. The russian occupiers have not advanced in any of the operational areas and are suffering losses as a result of counterattacks by the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

According to the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the Ukrainian military liberated the settlement of Baklanova Muraviika (the Kulykiv district, the Chernihiv region). In the area of the village of Shestovytsia, the Chernihiv region, the occupiers are looking for a way to surrender. In general, the resistance forces operating in the Chernihiv region liberated five settlements from the russian military.

In the Polissya and Volyn directions, the Armed Forces of Ukraine forced the occupiers to retreat to unfavourable borders. The borders of Kyiv are steadily maintained, and the city’s critical infrastructure is being protected.

The total combat losses of the enemy from 24.02 to 11.03 were approximately: combatants - more than 12 thousand people, tanks - 353 units, BBM - 1165 units, artillery systems - 125 units, MLRS - 58 units, air defence - 31 units, aircraft - 57 units (According to the Air Force, 66 aircraft of Ukraine were hit by air defence equipment - ed.), helicopters - 83 units, automobiles - 558 units, ships / boats - 3 units, fuel tanks - 60, UAVs operational and tactical level - 7 .

Data are being updated. The calculation is complicated by the high intensity of the hostilities.

On March 10th, bomber and assault aircraft of the Air Force, with the fire support of helicopters of the Army of the Land Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, dealt a devastating blow to two large columns of equipment of the russian Nazi occupiers.

After successful strikes by the Armed Forces “Azov” and 72 brigades on a tank column of russian troops during the battle in the Brovary district in the Kyiv region, Ukrainian fighters managed to obtain documents from the destroyed occupiers.

The Ukrainian army destroyed the division of russian Iskander-M missile systems, which was shelling residential areas of the Chernihiv region. As a result of a successful battle with the russian occupiers, the Armed Forces of Ukraine also seized 10 tanks, one anti-aircraft missile system and an evacuation combat vehicle.

In addition, on Thursday, Ukrainian defenders recaptured from the russian invader self-propelled anti-aircraft missile and cannon complex “Pantsir-C1”. The territorial defence group of the Poltava region captured three tanks of the occupiers and handed them over to the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Over the past 15 days, between 500 and 700 russian soldiers who fought against Ukraine have been taken prisoner.

The russians have fired more than 775 missiles at Ukraine since the February 24 invasion of Ukraine.

Ukrainian citizens are ready to defend their country. According to the State Border Guard Service, since the beginning of the full-scale attack of the russian federation, 215,000 Ukrainians have returned to Ukraine from abroad, most of them (80%) are men.

According to a survey conducted by the Sociological Group "Rating”, on March 8-9th, more than 90% of Ukrainians surveyed believe that Ukraine will be able to repel the current attack by the russian federation.

2. The russian occupiers continue to violate international humanitarian law by killing civilians in Ukraine.

According to the SES, in Ukraine due to the russian attack, 312 critical infrastructure facilities were partially destroyed while 1,662 critical infrastructure facilities were completely destroyed. Among them are 40 educational institutions, 20 health care institutions, more than 1,300 residential buildings. In addition, 806 settlements were completely or partially cut off from their energy supplies.

According to The Minister of Defence of Ukraine Oleksii Reznikov, as of March 10th, russian interventionists had killed more Ukrainian civilians than our military in all branches of the defence sector.

According to Oleh Ustenko, the economic adviser to President Volodymyr Zelenskyi, on the 15th day of the war, Ukraine had already suffered at least $ 100 billion in damage from the russian attack. The war has caused a complete shutdown of 50% of Ukrainian enterprises, and the other half are working beyond their limitations as much as they can.

In total, since the beginning of the war in Kharkiv, according to the mayor of the city, the enemy army has destroyed about 400 high-rise buildings.

In the evening of March 10th, the occupiers fired on the Piatykhatka district, where the Kharkiv Institute of Physics and Technology is located, and cut off energy to the Nuclear Neutron Research Subcritical Unit (NPU). In the building of the institute, there are devices, the damage of which can lead to radiation pollution.

On the night of March 10-11th, russian invaders launched rocket and bomb attacks on Ivano-Frankivsk, the Dnieper, and Lutsk. The number of wounded and dead is being determined. Massive shelling of Mariupol still continued.

In the suburbs of Kherson in the Dnieper, the occupiers defeated the Institute of Irrigated Agriculture of the National Academy of Agrarian Sciences of Ukraine.

As a result of the shelling of Korosten on the night of March 9-10th, one person died and two received fatal burns. Among the dead were two citizens of Belarus.

Two rockets hit the airport in Lozovatka, the Kryvyi Rih district, the Dnipropetrovsk region; fortunately, there were no casualties.

In Nizhyn, the Chernihiv region, two people were killed and eight were injured in a shelling by “Hurricanes”. Because of the explosion, 40 meters of the heating mains supply were damaged, repair works are being carried out; 4 houses remain without light.

Near Svitlodarsk in the Donetsk region, the russians cut off a high-pressure gas pipeline on Thursday night, causing a fire. Shortly before that, russian troops also launched an air strike on the village of Rubtsi in the Lyman community. The boiler room at the school and several houses were destroyed, the windows of the kindergarten were broken.

The russian occupiers, who seized the Zaporizhzhia NPP, mined the shores of the Kakhovka Reservoir, which borders the nuclear power plant.

On Thursday, there were also attempts by russian military and armed groups “LPR” (“ЛНР”) to enter the territory of compressor stations in Novopskov, the Luhansk region, Kupyansk in the Kharkiv region, as well as to interfere in the work of GTS facilities. Such interference poses significant risks to the safety of continuous gas transportation to consumers in Ukraine and Europe and could lead to a technological catastrophe in the region.

The enemy continues to purposefully launch air strikes on peaceful towns and villages of Ukraine, killing people, children, and destroying civilian infrastructure. Creating a no-fly zone over Ukraine or supplying our country with the contemporary air defence weapons remains the main request for our Western allies.

3. There was a partial evacuation of the Ukrainian population through humanitarian corridors, despite the provocations of the russian invaders.

On March 10th, it was agreed to open humanitarian corridors for evacuation from Sumy, Trostianets, Krasnopillia, Izium, Volnovakha, Bucha, Irpin, Hostomel, Borodianka, Stoianka, Belhorodka, as well as from Mariupol and its road which had been cleared of landmines.

More than 12,000 people (2,664 cars and 54 buses) were evacuated from the cities of Sumy, Trostianets and the village of Krasnopillia along the “green corridor”.

44 evacuation buses carrying more than 1,600 people left Izium in the Kharkiv region. The evacuation was carried out under fire from the occupiers - the russian side did not comply with the conditions of the “green corridor”.

More than 2,000 citizens and a home for the elderly were evacuated from Bucha, the Kyiv region, and a total of more than 30 buses arrived from the occupied city.

The occupiers completely blocked Mariupol, there is no water, food, light, heat, communication in the city. Several attempts to evacuate civilians from the city through humanitarian corridors were unsuccessful, and the russian military continued shelling, also denying humanitarian aid access to Mariupol.

The russian army is currently creating the same situation for Ukrainian cities and their inhabitants as the siege of Leningrad during World War II, stated US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

The russian occupiers seem to have decided on a real siege of the city, expecting that constant shelling, thirst and hunger will break the will of Mariupol and they will capitulate. However, the aggressor miscalculated such an unprecedented violation of international humanitarian law can only lead to increased resistance to the invaders.

The evacuation of the foreign students continued. Citizens of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Egypt, Ecuador, Zimbabwe, Jordan, Lebanon, Mongolia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Palestine, Russia, Syria, Somalia, Sudan, Singapore, Tunisia, Tajikistan, Tajikistan, Tajikistan, Tajikistan, Tajikistan, and Italy - 768 foreigners - all students of Kharkiv universities from 26 countries have been evacuated to the EU.

According to the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, aggressive Russian propaganda is beginning to work actively in the temporarily occupied territories. By spreading pro-Russian messages, the occupiers are trying to reach an agreement with the local population.

In the Kherson region, the enemy is trying to introduce an administrative-police regime, creating a system of commandant’s offices to maintain “order” in the temporarily occupied settlements.

However, the Ukrainian citizens continue to take part in peaceful resistance against the russian aggressors, demonstrating their civic stance.

On March 10th, hundreds of Melitopol residents went out with yellow and blue flags to show the russian occupiers that they were not happy here. 

Residents of Berdiansk captured by the russian army went on a protest action against the occupiers with the slogan “We are Ukrainians, and putin is bad.”

The head of the Mykolaiiv regional military administration Vitalii Kim initiated the organization of a “green corridor” for the russian soldiers who stand on the border of area and don’t want to advance.

An appropriate “green corridor” will be provided for those russians who have not yet shot at civilians and will not apply themselves to gunners and rocket launchers.

4. International support and assistance to Ukraine.

The process of discussing the procedure for granting Ukraine the status of a candidate for EU accession continues.

The Lithuanian Seimas (The Parliament) unanimously supported a resolution calling on the European Union to grant Ukraine immediately a candidate status and open membership talks. 123 deputies voted for the resolution.

In the evening of March 10th, an informal meeting of the European Council (EU Summit) took place, which took place on Thursday night and ended with the approval of a declaration containing ambiguous recognition of Ukraine’s EU membership prospects.

At present, two positions on Ukraine have been formed in the EU. One of them, supported by the so-called countries of “old” Europe, was vividly presented by the President of France Emmanuel Macron. He said it was unrealistic to negotiate the EU accession with a country at war.

Gitanas Nausėda defends another position that unites Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Poland, and the Baltic states. Nausėda was satisfied with the decision of the EU summit on Ukraine's European perspective. After the end of the negotiations, which lasted until late at night, the President of Lithuania wrote on Twitter that the summit supported Ukraine’s European integration.

According to Information Defence experts, the prospects for granting Ukraine the status of a “candidate for EU membership” are not as clear-cut as it was a few days ago.

However, Western leaders continued to negotiate with putin. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron called the russian president on Thursday morning. In the conversation, Scholz and Macron demanded that putin immediately calls a cease fire in Ukraine.

Negotiations in Turkey ended in vain. The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba informed that there was no progress in negotiations with the russians in Turkey, there were no agreements regarding the ceasefire, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of russia Sergei Lavrov did not promise any humanitarian corridors to evacuate Mariupol residents.

Financial assistance to Ukraine continues. The United States will provide additionally about $ 53 million to support civilians affected by russia's invasion of Ukraine. This was announced by the Vice President of the US Kamala Harris during her visit to Poland.

Demonstrators around the world, from Moscow to New York and Tokyo, are marching through the streets protesting against the brutal war against Ukraine.

For several days, people were standing near Russian embassies or government buildings and holding Ukrainian flags, demonstrating global solidarity with the people of Ukraine. 

In Warsaw, billboards are full of yellow and blue colours and eloquently express “where to go” to the occupier.

International survey of companies Cygnal, Gradus Research, Response demonstrates the desire of the population of Western countries to increase the support for financial assistance and arms assistance to Ukraine, but limited desire for the “closed sky” or total war.

It is important that in Western countries twice as many respondents support (fully or to some extent) the decision to use military capabilities and “close the sky” over Ukraine. Supporters of this idea in the US, the UK and the EU are of 45%, 46% and 46%, while against it, respectively, 20%, 20% and 17% of the respondents.

75% of European respondents support financial assistance to Ukraine, 62% support the provision of weapons, 46% support a ban on flights and 38% are in favour of joining the military response. Almost 37% are oppose any military involvement .

5. Fakes of russian propaganda.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of russia Sergei Lavrov confirmed that the bombing of the hospital and maternity hospital in Mariupol was a planned and purposeful decision of the russian army.

Lavrov admitted that he had seen reports from Mariupol that the mothers had been and were injured, but considered them manipulations because “there was no attention to the other side” in media reports.

The Ministry of Defense of russia has provided another fake about the existence of biolaboratories in Ukraine, which are allegedly funded by the Pentagon. In this regard, the Minister of Health of Ukraine Viktor Liashko called on representatives of the World Health Organization to refute the fakes spread by russia. According to the head of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine, russia also accuses Ukraine of breeding new strains of diseases.

russia is deliberately producing fakes, but this is more of a misinformation for domestic use. After all, after putin's pre-war statements about peace and de-escalation in the world, no one believes him anymore.

6. Sanctions against Russia are intensifying, and more and more companies are leaving the russian trade market.

The UK has imposed new sanctions on seven russian oligarchs and added to the list, including Roman Abramovich, Oleg Deripaska and Gazprom chairman Alexey Miller.

The income of these oligarchs is in general $ 15 billion. Under the new sanctions, they are all subject to a freeze on all assets in the United Kingdom and a ban on crossing the border. British citizens are prohibited from engaging in any financial activities with them.

Big international business continues to leave the russian market.

JPMorgan, the largest bank in the United States, is closing down in russia and closing existing commitments in the country.

Shell has announced the write-off of assets of the russian refining industry in the amount of $ 400 million.

On February 28th, the oil company announced its exit from russia with Gazprom and related organizations, including Sakhalin-2 flagship liquefied natural gas plant and the Nord Stream-2 gas pipeline project.

German manufacturer of clothes and accessories Hugo Boss AG temporarily closed its stores in russia on March 9th, suspending all retail operations and online sales.

Japanese printer company Epson has informed it is suspending supplies to Belarus and russia.

Rio Tinto became the first major mining company to announce the severance of all ties with the russian business.

Google has announced the suspension of payments from russia to Google Play, in connection with which russian consumers will not be able to buy new programs or renew subscriptions.

American shoe manufacturer Crocs has suspended business operations and imports of goods in russia.

The Walt Disney has announced that it will close all its business in the russian federation

Japan Tobacco International (JTI), a major global manufacturer of tobacco products, has suspended new investments and marketing activities in russia, as well as the launch of new products.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. stated that plans to curtail its operations in russia. Investbank became the first large Wall Street bank to leave russia over the war against Ukraine.

Burger King has suspended support for the russian restaurant chain at the level of operations, marketing and supply chain. In russia, the Burger King network unites about 800 catering establishments.

“Formula 1” has cancelled all legal ways to watch competitions in russia due to the russian attack on Ukraine.

Auto concern Stellantis (Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and PSA Group) suspended the export of cars from russia and the supply of cars to the local market from abroad.

Western Union has decided to temporarily suspend work in russia and Belarus.