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 9th, 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, on Tuesday, March 8th, the enemy reduced the pace of the offensive attacks, using mainly missile and bomb strikes on civilian infrastructure.

The main efforts of the enemy continue to focus on:

• encirclement and capture of Kyiv, Sumy, Kharkiv, Mariupol, Mykolaiiv, Chernihiv;
• creation of a land corridor between the temporarily occupied territories, the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the mainland of the russian federation;
• access to the administrative borders of Luhansk and Donetsk regions.

According to the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, from February 24th to March 9th, the total losses of russians are: combatants - more than 12 thousand people, tanks - 317, BBM - 1070, artillery systems - 120, MLRS - 56, air defence - 28, aircraft - 49, helicopters - 81, vehicles - 482, ships / boats - 3, fuel tanks - 60, UAV of operational and tactical level - 7.

Over the past 24 hours, the Armed Forces of Ukraine defeated two battalion tactical groups of the enemy and inflicted significant losses on the third.

According to available information, the occupiers are trying to provide their troops with fuel at the expense of the Ukrainian network of automobile gas stations and oil storage facilities. Also, the enemy plans to create a network of field pipelines in the temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine with the possibility of pumping fuel from the territory of the Republic of Belarus.

Ukrainian men continue to come from abroad to defend their country. In total, during the 12 days of the war in the western parts of the border, 167,000 of our compatriots returned to Ukraine, of which about 80 percent were men.

2. The russian occupiers continue to kill civilians in Ukraine, but peaceful protests against the aggressor are growing.

russian troops continue to shell peaceful cities in Ukraine. According to the UN, as of March 7th, there were 1,335 russian civilians among the civilians in Ukraine, including 474 killed.

During the past 24hrs, employees of the State Emergency Service went out 242 times to attend to the consequences of the shelling of the russian aggressor, rescuing 39 people.

There is enemy equipment in the courtyards of residential buildings in all the temporarily occupied territories where the troops of the russian federation are concentrated: the russians are using civilians as human shields.

As of the evening of March 8th, 170 civilians, including 5 children, died in Kharkiv and in the region. In the last 24 hours alone, 27 Kharkiv residents died.

The Prosecutor’s Office has launched a pre-trial investigation into the russian occupiers’ air strike on Sumy, which killed 22 civilians, including three children.

russian troops have completely destroyed the central city hospital in Izium, Kharkiv region, and the honorary consulate of Albania in the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv.

In Mariupol, for the first time in decades, for the first time since the Nazi invasion, a baby died of dehydration.

In the Mykolaiiv area, the Russian troops shot at a minibus with women teachers from an orphanage, at least three of them were lost and two were wounded.

As a result of the shelling of Okhtyrka, the Sumy region, on March 7th, a person was killed and 14 others were injured.

russian invaders bombed Malyn in the Zhytomyr region, killing five civilians, including two one-year-old children.

German Prosecutor General Peter Frank has launched an investigation of russia’s war crimes committed in Ukraine.

Despite the violation of the humanitarian law and terror against civilians, Ukrainians go on peaceful resistance rallies in the temporarily occupied cities.

Protests against the Russian aggressor continue in the Kherson region and in Kherson.

Residents of Kherson stand under Ukrainian flags and chant “Kherson is Ukraine!”. The participants of the action announced that they would walk across the streets of the city. They are supported by drivers sounding their horns as cars pass through the city.

In the city of Beryslav on the central square, there is a rally “Beryslav is Ukraine”. People came with state flags and homemade posters, they sang the anthem, called on the russian ship and soldiers to go in a certain (fu…ing) direction.

More than 3,000 people are protesting against the russian occupiers in Hola Prystan today. People are walking across the streets with Ukrainian symbols and posters with patriotic slogans. Protesters carried a large national flag to the square and chanted: “Hola Prystan is  Ukraine!”

Also, a peaceful action against the russian occupiers took place in the Nyzhni Sirohozy, thousands of people gathered for a rally in the city of Oleshky.

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

On March 8th, the people were successfully evacuated from Sumy by two columns along the agreed humanitarian corridor. Route for the humanitarian corridor, which was agreed for the evacuation of people: Sumy, Holubivka, Lokhvytsia, Lubny, Poltava. As of the morning of March 9th, an agreement was reached to continue the evacuation from Sumy.

During the day, those who were able to get to the gathering place were rescued in Irpin. About 3,000 people were evacuated.

Polissia, Dymersk, Ivankivsk communities are on the verge of humanitarian catastrophe. The district receives humanitarian medical and food aid, but the invader does not provide assistance to the occupied communities.

russian troops continue to siege the city of Izium, preventing the delivery of humanitarian aid and the evacuation of the population.

The evacuation of Mariupol was thwarted again. russian occupation forces launched an attack on the city at a time when an evacuation was announced.

4. International support and assistance to Ukraine.

The largest countries in the Western world - the United States, the UK and Japan - continue to increase their assistance and support for Ukraine.

The British Parliamentarians sincerely welcomed and supported the speech of the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi, who delivered a speech to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom via video link. All Members of the Parliament and guests applauded President Zelenskyi for almost a minute.

Speaker of the House of Commons Lindsay Goyle, opposition leader Keir Starmer and several other prominent politicians wore blue and yellow ribbons on their chests, while The Prime Minister Boris Johnson and cabinet members wore badges with Ukrainian and British flags.

The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Boris Johnson called on the leaders of the Visegrad Group to develop a “Marshall Plan for Ukraine”, to be financed in part by the appropriated wealth and property of russian oligarchs.

UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said the UK would support Poland if it decided to provide Ukraine with fighter jets, but warned that it could have direct consequences for Poland.

The potential US aid package for Ukraine, which will soon be considered by the US Congress, has been increased from $ 10 billion to $ 12 billion.

On March 8th, an intergovernmental agreement was signed between Ukraine and Japan on the provision of free protective equipment for the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, - bulletproof vests, helmets, tents, winter clothing, medicines, generators, cameras and various tools for use in emergencies.

$ 1.4 billion to support Ukraine, which is suffering from the war with Russia.

In the last six days, almost 3,000 trucks carrying 20,000 tons of humanitarian aid have crossed the Ukrainian border. These are mainly food, clothing, medicines and medical supplies that the government is already sending to the regions.

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

A ban on russian oil imports to the United States and other European countries will cause painful losses to the aggressor country's economy.

The United States is imposing a ban on all imports of russian oil and gas. At the same time, according to President Joe Biden, the decision to ban imports of russian oil and gas will hit the United States itself, but Washington believes it should take this step.

The United States has also banned its citizens from making new investments in russia’s energy sector and financing foreign companies that make such investments as part of an “energy” package of sanctions.

On March 8th, the British government decided to stop importing russian oil by the end of 2022. This transition will give the market, businesses and supply chains more than enough time to replace russian imports, which account for around 8% of the entire needs in the UK.

The European Commission plans to replace more than 70% of russian gas imports this year by increasing liquefied natural gas purchases, clean energy, and gas storage. The European Commission on Tuesday proposed a plan to make Europe independent of russian fossil fuels “long before 2030” amid russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Japan has approved a new package of sanctions against russia and Belarus due to the russian-Ukrainian war, which includes blocking the assets of 32 people and companies, as well as banning the export of oil refining equipment and technology.

According to Moody’s, the rating agency Fitch downgraded Russia’s credit rating from B to C – i.e. to the pre-default state. A rating of “C” reflects Fitch's view that a sovereign default is inevitable.

The world’s largest companies are leaving the russian market, leading to shortages of goods, technology, and rising unemployment.

McDonald's has announced that it will temporarily close 850 restaurants in russia, almost two weeks after russian troops invaded Ukraine.

McDonald's could suffer a major financial blow due to the closure. In a recent report to regulators, the company informed that the restaurants in russia and Ukraine generate 9% of their annual revenue, or about $ 2 billion.

OBI Group of construction and hardware stores is shutting down in russia.

The world largest record company Universal Music Group is stopping their work in russia and closing offices there.

Swiss watch brand Rolex has stopped exporting their products to russia.

The world’s largest cryptocurrency Binance will no longer support Mastercard and Visa cards issued in russia from March 9th. In addition, all transactions initiated with Mastercard and Visa cards by financial institutions outside russia will also be unavailable in russia on Binance.

Yum! Brands (that owns brands Taco Bell, KFC, Pizza Hut) has suspended investment and development in russia – the proceeds will be redirected to humanitarian efforts.

OBI Group ceases operations in russia: OBI Group is deeply concerned about the tragic development and consequences of the war in Ukraine.

Russia’s largest carmaker, KamAZ, has faced a shortage of truck parts due to sanctions.

As predicted by Information Defence experts, the oil and gas giant Shell has completely stopped buying oil from russia on the spot market. The company said “that our decision last week to buy russian crude oil for refining products such as gasoline and diesel fuel – despite the fact that we thought about security of supply – was wrong, and we apologise for that”.

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The Armed Forces of Ukraine are steadily defending our country. The enemy is demoralized and bears losses. Western countries continue to impose sanctions on russia and increase their aid to Ukraine.