Ihor Zhdanov, Information Defence Project, Open Policy Foundation

Informational Defence of Ukraine provides a daily review of the military-political situation in Ukraine as of April 8th, based on an analysis of open sources.

1. The Armed Forces of Ukraine liberated the Kyiv, Chernihiv and Sumy regions and continue counterattacks.

According to the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the armed forces of the russian federation continue to conduct a full-scale armed aggression against Ukraine, and the enemy continues attacks in the east of our country.

In the Donetsk and Tavriia directions, the enemy continues to increase the number of troops. The occupiers did not abandon attempts of attacks in the direction of the settlements of Popasna and Severodonetsk; they were unsuccessful.

In the direction Pivdennobuzhskyi, the enemy fought in the area of the settlement of Oleksandrivka. The invaders tried to carry out fire in order to inflict damage on the units of the Armed Forces in the area. The enemy did not achieve their goal.

In the Slobozhanskyi direction, the enemy continued to blockade and encircle Kharkiv, shelling residential neighbourhoods using artillery, including multiple rocket launchers and large-calibre mortars.

According to available information, more than 80 percent of the combatants of some units involved in the war do not want to take part in further hostilities.

The total combat losses of the enemy from February 24 to April 8 were approximately: combatants - about 19,000 people, tanks - 700 units, armoured combat vehicles - 1,891 units, artillery systems - 333 units, MLRS - 108 units, air defence - 55 units, aircraft - 150 units, helicopters - 135 units, motor vehicles - 1361 units, ships / boats - 7 units, fuel tanks - 76 units, UAVs of operational and tactical level - 112 units, special equipment - 25 units, TBM / BRBM (tactical ballistic missile / battlefield range ballistic missile) launchers - 4.

In particular, on April 8th, Ukrainian defenders responsible for the operational and tactical group area "East" repulsed 4 enemy attacks. Our soldiers destroyed: combatants - up to 50; tanks - 4; BMP - 1; BBM - 1; artillery systems - 3, JSC - 4, helicopters - 1.

2. Information summaries and assessments of foreign and Ukrainian intelligence.

US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin has said that russian president putin "probably gave up" the attempt to seize Kyiv, as russia has shifted its focus to the east and south of Ukraine.

The UK military intelligence says that russian forces, which have been completely withdrawn from northern Ukraine, will need at least a week before being redeployed to combat elsewhere.

In the north, the russian troops are now completely withdrawn from Ukraine to Belarus and russia. At least part of these forces will be transferred to eastern Ukraine for hostilities in the Donbas.

According to the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine, a unit of russian special forces with experience of hostilities in Syria, in full, refused to participate in further attempts to storm Mariupol. In the battles against the Armed Forces of Ukraine from April 2nd to 4th, this unit lost about 30 servicemen.

3. The russian occupiers continue to violate international humanitarian law, and to carry out mass genocide of the Ukrainian people.

The killing of Ukrainian children and Ukrainians, the rape of women, and the abduction and torture of peaceful Ukrainian citizens continues. As of April 8th , 169 children had been killed and more than 306 injured, according to the Office of the General’ Prosecutor. In the last 24 hours, two children have been killed and nine children injured by the russian military.

According to juvenile prosecutors, most children were injured in the following regions: the Kyiv region- 88, the Donetsk region- 81, the Kharkiv region- 75, the Chernihiv region- 50, the Mykolaiiv region- 40, the Luhansk region- 35, the Zaporizhzhia region- 22, the Kherson region- 29, the Sumy region- 16, the Zhytomyr region- 15. 16 children were injured in Kyiv City.

One child was killed and two others aged 4 and 16 were injured in a shelling of a boat carrying 14 people in the Dnipropetrovsk region. On April 6th and 7th, two children were injured in shelling by the occupiers of Severodonetsk, in the Luhansk region.

Vilkul, the head of the Kryvyi Rih military administration, said the occupiers raped a pregnant 16-year-old girl and a 78-year-old grandmother in the Kherson region.

During the occupation of the village of Husarivka, in the Izium district (Kharkiv region), the russian military tortured and then set fire to three local residents.

The Association of Ukrainian Cities has asked international partners to join them in the release of Ukrainian community leaders abducted who are now being captured by the russian military, including: Volodymyr Karaberov, Manhush mayor, Vasyl Mitko , Nikolskyi mayor, Yevhen Mytveiev, Dniprorudnyi mayor, Mykola Tsikalenko, the head of Tsyrkunivska village, Oleksandr Babych - mayor of Hola Prystan, Oleh Yakhniienko – the head of Mylivska village, Iryna Lypka - mayor of Molochansk, Oleksandr Levechko – the head of Novooleksandrivska village, Mykola Rizak - mayor of Tavriia, Oleh Pylypenko – the mayor of Shevchenkivske, Oleksandr Shmyhol – the head of Vilkhivska village.

russian passports are being issued to abduct Ukrainian citizens. About 12,000 Ukrainians have been granted russian citizenship "as a matter of urgency," said Oleg Kadochnikov, the deputy head of the migration department of the russian Ministry of Interior Affairs.

As of the end of March, the russians forcibly deported 20,000 to 30,000 people from Mariupol. The media, citing residents of the occupied Donetsk, reported that russian invaders had taken orphans out of Mariupol and that they had later been found in a hospital in another part of the region.

According to the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, “the occupying authorities in the temporarily occupied territory of the Donetsk region received instructions from russian occupiers to return people to these territories who escaped to russia in January-February 2022.”

The russian invaders continue to shell peaceful Ukrainian towns and villages daily. The mayor of Chernihiv Vladyslav Atroshenko said that about 700 people died during the battle for Chernihiv.

Since the attack by russia, the occupiers damaged 208 houses, 46 schools, 29 kindergartens and 1 orphanage in Kyiv. They also damaged 13 administrative buildings, 2 sports facilities, 5 social facilities, 17 - health care centres, 10 - cultural organisations, 48 transport infrastructure facilities.

Last night, the russian invaders fired at  the Kharkiv region 48 times with artillery, mortars, tanks and MLRS, injuring 15 people.

On the morning of April 8th, the Avdijivka community in the Donetsk region came under attack by the russian army: one person was killed and one was injured, and 5 houses were damaged.

The russian occupiers fired multiple rocket launchers at Zolote in the Luhansk region, injuring at least five people.

In Makarov in the Kyiv area, 132 bodies were found, the settlement is destroyed by 40%.

Missile strike on the railway station in Kramatorsk. The russian occupiers fired rockets at the Kramatorsk railway station, killing 50 people, including five children and injured about 100.

Thousands of people were at the station during the rocket attack, as Donetsk residents were being evacuated to safer areas of Ukraine.

US President Joe Biden condemned the missile strike on Kramatorsk station by russian troops and promised further support for Ukraine.

CIT investigators believe that the missile that hit the Kramatorsk station could have arrived from the russian-occupied territories. They also consider the version of "provocation of Ukraine" unbelievable.

Bucha tragedy. In Bucha, liberated from russian troops, 163 locals were identified as killed by the occupiers. This is about half of the bodies currently found in the city.

In Bucha, near Kyiv, the exhumation of bodies buried in a mass grave began - these people died at the hands of the russian occupiers. The mass grave is located near the church, where communal workers buried the victims of war crimes of the russian occupiers, approximately 67 bodies.

It is noted that each victim will be identified. After that, with the consent of relatives, the bodies will be buried individually in the local cemetery in a specially designated sector.

President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, EU High Representative Joseph Borrel, and Slovak Prime Minister Eduard Heger visited Bucha, where hundreds of civilians were killed.

The EU will allocate 7.5 million euros to the investigation of Ukraine in connection with war crimes in Bucha and other Kyiv region cities.

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier has backed the idea that russian president putin and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov should be brought before a tribunal for war crimes in Ukraine.

4. The evacuation of civilians under attacks of the russian aggressors continues.

On Thursday, 3,256 people traveled to Zaporizhzhia by humanitarian corridors from Mariupol and Berdiansk in their own vehicles and buses for evacuation, including 1,205 people from Mariupol.

2,050 people arrived from the cities of the Zaporizhzhia region: Polohy, Vasylivka, Berdiansk, and Melitopol.

On Thursday, 1,420 people were evacuated from the cities of Lysychansk, Severodonetsk, Rubizhne, and Kreminna in the Luhansk region.

4,676 people were evacuated through humanitarian corridors on Thursday, April 7th.

On April 8th, the Ukrainian authorities confirmed the opening of 10 humanitarian corridors: from Mariupol, Berdiansk, Tokmak, Enerhodar, Melitopol to Zaporizhzhia; from Severodonetsk, Lysychansk, Popasna, Rubizhne, Hirske to Bakhmut.

5. Political and socio-economic situation in Ukraine, losses due to the russian aggression.

Ukrainian society demonstrates solidarity, patriotism, and faith in victory. The majority of Ukrainians - 80%, feel proud of Ukraine, and emotions of shame or indifference to the country are almost absent.

These are the results of a poll conducted by the sociological group "Rating" on April 6th.

In less than a year, the emotion of pride in the country has grown significantly. In August 2021, only 34% of Ukrainians felt proud, while the emotion of sadness prevailed.

Currently, in addition to pride, which is the dominant emotion, Ukrainians feel: sadness - 32%, joy - 20%, fear - 16%, anger - 11%, interest - 6%.

At present, 58% of those who had a job before the war continue to work, although a month earlier, in March, there were 46% people who continued their work.

In general, 29% work normally, 26% - partially or remotely, 3% - started working in a new job. During the war, 41% of Ukrainians lost their jobs, in March 53% people lost their jobs.

Ukraine's economy is suffering from war, the largest Ukrainian companies are sustaining losses due to russian aggression. Consumer prices in Ukraine accelerated to 13.7%, primarily due to higher food and energy prices.

220 enterprises from different regions of Ukraine were relocated to the western regions as part of an evacuation programme from the combat zone, 90 of which began their work.

As of April 8th, a total of 1,500 applications had been submitted, of which 471 had already been submitted for transportation.

6. International support and assistance to Ukraine.

Military assistance to Ukraine. The US Department of Defense has approved the transfer to Ukraine of thousands of Stinger and Javelin systems, Switchblade drones and 50 million rounds of ammunition.

The list of weapons for Ukraine includes: more than 1,400 Stinger anti-aircraft systems, more than 5,000 Javelin anti-tank systems, more than 7,000 other anti-tank systems, hundreds of tactical Switchblade unmanned aerial vehicles, more than 50 million rounds of ammunition, 45,000 sets of body armour and helmets, laser-guided missile systems, unmanned Puma air systems, night vision devices, thermal imaging systems and optics, satellite imaging services.

As reported by Reuters, US Army General Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the United States and its allies had already delivered 60,000 anti-tank systems to Ukraine. Ukraine has also received about 25,000 anti-aircraft weapons systems from the United States and its allies, which has helped to defend Kyiv despite russia's large number of air attacks.

Australia has handed over 20 Bushmaster armoured personnel carriers to Ukraine for $38 million.

The UK will send Ukraine arms worth a total of 100 million pounds, including Starstreak MANPADS. 

The Government of Canada has submitted to the Parliament a new budget for 2022-2023, which provides funding for the purchase of weapons and new loans for Ukraine.

It includes an additional $500 million in 2023-23 to provide further military assistance to Ukraine and up to $1 billion in new credit resources for Ukraine.

Despite pressure from several other high-ranking officials, the German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is postponing a final decision on whether to provide Ukraine with high-quality tanks for the war against russia. This was reported Politico with reference to four people familiar with the discussions.

Humanitarian aid to Ukraine. 24 EU mobile operators and 3 Ukrainian mobile operators have signed an application to ensure affordable and free roaming during EU-Ukraine international calls.

7. Provocations and fakes of the russian aggressors.

In his video, the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that the russian military was collecting the bodies of those killed to use them for propaganda purposes.

The head of state stressed that "more and more information is coming in that russian propagandists are preparing, speaking frankly, a" mirror response" to the shock of all normal people from what they saw in Bucha. They are going to show the victims in Mariupol, and allegedly Ukrainian defenders of the city. To do this, the occupiers collect corpses in the streets, take them out. And they can be used elsewhere in accordance with the developed propaganda scenarios.”

8. Political and socio-economic situation in russia, the impact of international sanctions on it.

According to the russian Center for the Study of Public Opinion, 78% of russians support putin's actions, and 74% of russians support his decision to attack Ukraine. At the beginning of April, 78% of citizens has approved of the activities of the president of the russian federation, 13% have not approved this.

The EU has imposed a fifth package of sanctions, including a coal embargo. On the second day, the European Union managed to approve the fifth package of sanctions against russia after evidence of russian atrocities in Ukraine's Bucha, which includes, inter alia, a coal embargo.

The package consists of six parts.

First. From August 2022, a ban on the purchase, import or transportation of coal and other solid fossil fuels in the EU if they originate in russia or are exported from russia. Coal imports to the EU now amount to 8 billion euros a year.

Coal is the smallest part of the EU's energy imports from russia. At the same time, a number of countries, including Germany, are blocking decisions on the gas and oil embargo.

Second. Prohibition of granting access to EU ports to vessels registered under the russian flag. Exceptions are agricultural and food products, humanitarian aid and energy.

Third. A ban on the work of russian and Belarusian road transport operators, which will block their freight transport by road within the EU, including transit. Exceptions: pharmaceutical, medical, agricultural and food products, including wheat, humanitarian goods.

Fourth. Prohibitions on the export of jet fuel and other goods, such as quantum computers and high-tech semiconductors, high-quality electronics, software, sensitive machines, and transport equipment.

New bans on imports of products such as timber, cement, fertilisers, seafood and alcohol are also being introduced. Confirmed bans on exports and imports are estimated at €10 billion and € 5.5 billion.

Fifth. Elimination of loopholes in already imposed sanctions. For example, a ban on the participation of russian companies in public procurement in EU member states, the exclusion of any financial support to russian government agencies.

The ban on cryptocurrency deposits, as well as the sale of banknotes and securities in any official currency of the EU member states to russia and Belarus, or any natural or legal person in these countries, has been extended.

Sixth. The EU has imposed sanctions on companies whose products or technologies played a role in the invasion, key oligarchs and businesspersons, kremlin officials, propagandists and family members of people already subject to EU sanctions.

As for the banks, sanctions have been imposed on four key russian banks, which account for 23% of the market in the russian banking sector. Following the denial of access to the SWIFT system, these banks are now subject to asset freezes, thus being completely cut off from EU markets.

443 diplomats of the russian federation go back to their country.

Austria – 4

Bulgaria – 10

Belgium – 21

Greece – 12

Denmark – 15

Estonia – 17

Ireland – 4

Spain – 25

Italy – 30

Latvia – 16

Lithuania – 5

Luxemburg – 1

The Netherlands – 17

Norway – 3

The Northern Macedonia –   5

Poland – 45

Portugal – 10

Romania – 10

The Slovak Republic –38

Slovenia – 33

Germany – 35

France – 35

The Czech Republic – 1

Montenegro – 4

Sweden – 3

Japan – 8

The EU – 19

The UNO –12

 

 

New sanctions and restrictions are being imposed on russia, which has a negative impact on the russian economy. The UK has imposed sanctions on the daughters of the russian president putin and the daughter of russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Lavrov. This is stated in the updated sanctions list of the UK from April 8th.

The United States has imposed sanctions on russia's diamond mining company Alrosa and 28 subsidiaries of the United Shipbuilding Corporation (USC). This is stated in a statement by the US Treasury Department.

Thus, the world's largest diamond mining company Alrosa, which is responsible for 90% of diamond production in russia, was blocked.

russia's Sberbank banned all transfers abroad in foreign currency on April 7th “due to sanctions and restrictions coming into force”

The russian banks recorded a sharp increase in balances on the accounts of legal entities in Chinese Yuan - in March, business customers actively transferred funds in yuan from accounts in euros and dollars, as well as opening new accounts in the Chinese currency. This is due to Western sanctions against several large public and private banks, which have restricted the transfer of funds to foreign banks. And also with the need to find new business partners who could become an alternative to European suppliers.

46 UNESCO members will boycott the meetings of the World Heritage Committee while it is chaired by russia. The parties to the Convention signed an open letter refusing to participate in the meeting due to the systematic violation of international humanitarian law by the russian federation during the war in Ukraine.