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 14th, 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 russian occupiers are trying to complete preparations for the attacks in the eastern regions of Ukraine. The aviation group and the command and control system are currently being expanded.

Ukrainian intelligence also has information on the training of additional units of the Northern Fleet of the russian federation and the eighth Military Army of the Southern Military District, which are given equipment and ammunition from warehouses and long-term storage facilities.

In the Donbas, the russian occupiers, with the support of aircraft and artillery, continue to attack certain areas. The enemy attempted to capture Popasna, Rubizhne, Severodonetsk, and Sloviansk. Ukrainian intelligence also noticed preparations for a russian attack near Barvinkovo in the Kharkiv region.

The total combat losses of the enemy from February 24 to April 14 were approximately: combatants - about 19,900 people, tanks - 753 units, armoured combat vehicles - 1968 units, artillery systems - 366 units, MLRS - 122 units, air defence - 64 units, aircraft - 160 units, helicopters - 144 units, motor vehicles - 1437 units, ships / boats - 7 units, fuel tanks - 76, UAVs of operational and tactical level - 134, special equipment - 25, TBM / BRBM (tactical ballistic missile / battlefield range ballistic missile) launchers - 4.

In the evening of April 13th, it was reported that Ukrainian anti-ship missiles “Neptune” hit the missile cruiser “Moscow”, the flagship of the Black Sea Fleet.

It was later reported that the cruiser sank due to the strike. After the Ukrainian defenders aimed at the missile cruiser “Moscow”, the total number of cruise missiles of the russian Black Sea Fleet ships in the Black Sea decreased from 72 to 56.

Forbes calculated the approximate cost by comparing “Moscow” with a cruiser of the same class "Ukraine", which in 1995 cost 720 million dollars.

Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, according to Forbes, russia has lost more than $10.8 billion in equipment. The Armed Forces of Ukraine turned it into scrap metal, valued by Forbes at $45 million.

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

According to UK intelligence on Twitter, russian president putin is interested in occupying the eastern regions of Ukraine and is preparing for a new attack.

Kramatorsk and Kostiantynivka are likely to be targeted for similar levels of violence by the russian authorities. It is noted that russia is trying to again combine massive missile and artillery strikes and concentrate forces for the attacks.

The UK Ministry of Defence reminded that a significant number of russian troops and equipment are now in Mariupol, which Ukrainian troops are defending.

The Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defence released two Ukrainian pilots who were held captive by the russian occupiers. Ivan Pepeliashko and Oleksii Chyzh were taken prisoners on March 8th near the village of Nova Basan in the Chernihiv region.

The Security Service of Ukraine claims that russia used crime to shake up the situation in Odesa region, and the leaders of the criminal group, including foreigners, introduced their people into the territorial defence for espionage - the criminals were detained.

4. The russian occupiers continue to violate international humanitarian law and carry out mass genocide of Ukrainians.

The Verkhovna Rada recognized the actions committed by russia during the military attack on Ukraine as genocide of the Ukrainian people.

The official recognition of russia's actions in Ukraine as genocide will take a long time, but it is likely that such a decision will be made. This statement was made in an interview with CNN by the US Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland.

She notes that President Biden, calling russia’s actions genocide, “spoke from the heart when he called what we see in Ukraine as genocide committed by the russian federation and its army.” The former US President Donald Trump has joined the opinion of President Biden, who called russia’s war in Ukraine genocide.

Prime Minister of Canada Justin Trudeau believes that it is “correct” to call russia's aggression against Ukraine “genocide.”

Colombian President Iván Duque Márquez has recognised russia's actions in Ukraine as genocide. It is also noted that Colombia is ready to play a central role in providing Western countries with energy resources after sanctions against russia.

russian aggressors continue to kill Ukrainian children. More than 548 children have been injured in Ukraine since February 24 because of armed aggression by the russian federation - 197 children have died and more than three hundred have been injured.

According to the data received by juvenile prosecutors, the most affected children were in the regions of Donetsk - 115, Kyiv - 105, Kharkiv - 81, Chernihiv - 54, Mykolaiiv - 40, Kherson - 38, Luhansk - 36, Zaporizhzhia - 23, Sumy - 16, Zhytomyr – 15, and Kyiv City – 16.

Due to the russian military’s fixation with carrying out criminal attacks in Hostomel and Bucha, in the Kyiv region, the bodies of children aged 4 and 10 were found with injuries, as well as the burnt body of a 17-year-old boy.

russian invaders fire on civilians every day. Since the beginning of the war, russian shells and missiles have damaged 324 hospitals in Ukraine, 24 of which have been completely destroyed.

On the night of April 14th, russian troops continued to fire on the Kherson region, Kharkiv and Izium, in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions - under constant fire, civilians were not released from the blockaded Mariupol.

The occupiers continue to fire on the civilian population of Chernihiv with weapons prohibited by international law. According to the military, on April 14th, the invaders aimed at one of the private houses in the Horodna area.

On April 14th, some border settlements in the Sumy region were shelled with artillery or mortars. 120-mm mines were dropped, private houses were damaged. One mine destroyed a private house, flying straight into the house where the people were.

Abduction of peaceful Ukrainian citizens, hostage-taking and torture. There is a threat of illegal adoption of Ukrainian children by russian citizens without following all the necessary procedures set by the legislation of Ukraine, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.

Such actions of the russian occupiers can be qualified as kidnapping and require a decisive reaction of the international community and relevant international organisations.

According to Mariupol Mayor's Adviser Petro Andriushchenko in the Telegram, in Mariupol, the russian occupiers are urging civilians to wear a white ribbon, which is a hostile symbol - they want to make people “bait” for Ukrainian snipers.

On April 13th, the russian forces in temporarily occupied Melitopol stole money from Ukrposhta to pay pensions, benefits, and subsidies to elderly citizens and vulnerable people in need of state support.

5. The evacuation of civilians continues under the attacks from the russian aggressors.

As of April 14th, 9 humanitarian corridors were confirmed in the regions of Ukraine, some of them only for private transport:

• from Mariupol, Berdiansk, Tokmak and Enerhodar to Zaporizhzhia by own transport;
• from Severodonetsk, Lysychansk, Popasna, Rubizhne, Hirske to Bakhmut.

According to Iryna Vereshchuk, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories of Ukraine, 2,332 people arrived in Zaporizhzhia from Mariupol and Berdiansk on April 14th. 289 of them are from Mariupol; 2043 people are residents of cities of the Zaporizhzhia region (Polohy, Vasylivka, Berdiansk, and Melitopol).

225 people were also evacuated from Lysychansk, Severodonetsk, Rubizhne, Kreminnaб and Popasna in the Luhansk region. The occupying forces did not confirm that a ceasefire was in place again.

2,557 people were evacuated on April 14th.

The Ukrainian authorities held a fourth exchange of prisoners, 22 Ukrainian servicemen and 8 civilians are returning home.

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

Ukraine's economy is suffering from war, the largest Ukrainian companies are sustaining losses due to the russian aggression. Again, the National Bank has not changed the discount rate to 10% and is recording increased inflationary pressures due to the war, as a result of which prices may rise by 20% for the year.

Small and medium business owners cut a third of their employees and sent another third on vacation. This is stated in the results of a study of the 4th wave of the Advanter Group.

In general, micro-business owners cut 42% of their employees, small businesses - 24%, medium - 18%.

Of those who remain employed, 42% receive a reduced salary. 21.6% of enterprises completely stopped working, another 34.3% - almost completely.

Kyiv and the Kyiv region are returning to normal life. Kyiv's road services have begun pothole repairs in the city, and fundamental and current repairs have been postponed due to the war.

Uber taxi service resumes its work in Kyiv after receiving a positive decision from the city authorities.

Two universities destroyed in Mariupol will continue their work in other cities. Mariupol State University temporarily "moved" to Kyiv, and Azov State Technical University “moved” to Dnipro.

Electricians managed to restore power supply to 7,579 families in 35 settlements of the Kyiv region. In Bucha, tin he Kyiv region, water supply has been restored, electricity and gas supplies will soon be restored to homes, and power is now being supplied to vital facilities.

7. International support and assistance to Ukraine.

The political support for Ukraine. Ukraine expects the new German government to pursue a new Ukrainian policy. This was stated by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba, commenting on the story of the German president's visit to Kyiv.

The Minister stressed that Ukraine has a great respect for Germany and its presidency: “We do not always agree with German policy, but we respect Germany as a country, as a partner.”

He insisted that Ukraine was not interested in aggravating bilateral relations. According to him, Ukraine stands for relations based on mutual respect and the creation of a new German policy towards Ukraine in the current circumstances.

President of France Emmanuel Macron on Thursday justified his decision not to use the word "genocide" in relation to russia's actions, arguing that "verbal escalation" would not "help Ukraine."

Military assistance to Ukraine. The new package of weapons handed over to Ukraine by the US government includes 200 American armoured personnel carriers, 11 helicopters, 18 howitzers, 500 missiles for Javelin anti-tank systems and several hundred Switchblade drones.

France has already provided 100 million euros in military aid to Ukraine and is planning new supplies.

Humanitarian aid to Ukraine. Fuentes de Andalusia in southern Spain was renamed “Ukraine” for a week to express solidarity with Ukrainians.

UkrZaliznytsia received 10 first-generation Starlink devices and 5 second-generation ones. These systems were provided to the railways by the IT company N-iX.

8. Provocations and fakes of the russian aggressors.

At a briefing, the russian Defence Ministry announced a new theory about the “US biolabs” in Ukraine. After reports that such laboratories were developing a plan to infect russians with dangerous diseases of the air, now russia has seen a water threat.

russia attributes to Ukraine and the United States the joint development of a project that could be used to infect russian water with particularly dangerous pathogens, including cholera, typhoid fever, hepatitis A and E.

The reason for such accusations was that in Ukraine water samples were taken in large rivers, including the Dnipro, the Danube, the Dniester, as well as in the North Crimean Canal. It is alleged that this activity was carried out by Ukrainians "under the control of American scientists."

The russian military did not specify in what way an investigation of water quality in rivers can pose a threat to russia.

russia's special services have begun implementing a plan to carry out terrorist attacks on their territory to fuel anti-Ukrainian hysteria.

So, in the morning on April 14th it was reported that the Armed Forces allegedly fired at the border checkpoint.

By noon, they changed their testimony - it turned out that “two houses” were damaged. The russians claim that seven people were allegedly injured, including a “pregnant woman and a child.”

The governor of the Belgorod region of the russian federation, Vyacheslav Gladkov, allegedly claimed that Ukraine had shelled the village of Zhuravlyovka, from which the residents had previously been evacuated, as well as the village of Spodaryushino

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

New sanctions and restrictions are being imposed on Russia. The world's major trading companies plan to cut purchases of oil and fuel from russian state-owned oil companies on May 15th to avoid violating European Union sanctions against russia.

Australia has imposed another package of sanctions against russia due to the invasion of Ukraine - in particular, the sanctions list of Gazprom and Transneft.

13 companies are blacklisted. In addition to the oil and gas sector, Australia has imposed sanctions on russia's largest telecommunications company, Rostelecom, russia's largest electricity producer, RusHydro, shipping companies and ports, and the diamond mining company Alrosa.

The 25th World Energy Congress, to be held in St. Petersburg in October 2022, has been officially cancelled.

Ireland supports the imposition of an oil embargo on russia in the sixth package of EU sanctions.

Payment for russian gas in rubles. The European Union has warned member states that russian president putin's demand that "unfriendly countries" pay for russian gas in rubles would violate sanctions imposed after the invasion of Ukraine.

The negative impact of sanctions on the russian economy. In March, the russians spent 160% more on medicine than last year, with demand for drugs rising amid sanctions and other restrictions on russia because of the war in Ukraine.

In russia, operators in the market for storage containers expect a serious shortage of containers after international lines leaving russia complete the evacuation of their fleet.

The font owner of the Times New Roman, Arial, Verdana, Tahoma and Helvetica - the American company Monotype - blocked access to their catalog on the site for russian users.

Against the background of the departure of foreign companies, the russians are buying up home appliances of russian and Belarusian production - in March, sales increased by 50-70%.

The world's leading manufacturer of disposable tableware and food packaging - Finland 's Huhtamaki - has initiated a process to close its activities in russia.