Here’s what you need to know about Sunday, March 6, the eleventh day of the full-scale war that Russia started in Ukraine.
In Ukraine
Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal signed an appeal to the G7 countries to suspend the membership of Russia and Belarus in the International Monetary Fund and all World Bank organizations.
Oleksiy Arestovich, adviser to the Ukrainian presidential office, said that the Belarusian army is not being used against Ukraine.
The Ukrainian General Staff published updated figures for Russian troop losses. As of March 6, it was more than 11 thousand people.
The National Guard reported that since the beginning of the invasion of Russian troops in Ukraine, 100,000 Ukrainians have joined the territorial defense.
A curfew is imposed throughout the Kyiv region from March 6 to 7 from 8 p.m. to 7 a.m.
Evacuations from Irpin to Kyiv region continue despite the absence of a green corridor.
In Kharkiv, Russian troops fired “hailstones” at the Institute of Physics and Technology, which houses the neutron source research facility with 37 nuclear fuel elements loaded in its core.
The destruction of the nuclear facility and nuclear material storage facilities could lead to a large-scale environmental catastrophe.
On the evening of March 6, a Russian airplane was shot down over Kharkiv. The pilot failed to eject and died on the spot. The plane went down near Kulynychi.
Buses were sent to Mariupol to evacuate people. Despite the planned green corridor, shelling continues in the city.
At the same time, in the Mariupol direction, the Ukrainian defenders counterattacked and destroyed three enemy tanks, four BMPs, two Tigers and about thirty Russian occupants. Two invaders were captured, the Ukrainian Defense Ministry reports.
In the vicinity of Vinnytsia, there was a missile strike on the airport. Volodymyr Zelensky reported that the airport of Vinnytsia was completely destroyed with 8 rockets were fired at it. According to preliminary information, the airport was shelled from the territory of Transnistria, where there is a Russian group of troops.
A Russian military plane was shot down over the sea in Odesa. The Ukrainian military claimed they had already shot down 45 planes in 11 days of war.
In Akhtyrka, the Russians destroyed a thermal power plant. Five civilians were killed. There is no heating in the city. Partially, there is no water or electricity. Russian aviation destroyed the city’s food depot, a warehouse of building materials and a parking lot. A residential area was also bombed. Information about the number of casualties is being clarified.
Two Belarusian brothers were detained in Kyiv. According to the Security Service of Ukraine, there was evidence of their close cooperation with the intelligence services of Russia and Belarus. The SBU claims that the detainees are “propagandists with pro-Russian and pro-Belarusian views.
There are opinions that the brothers Mikhail and Alyaksandr Kananovich, who headed the Volyn regional association of Belarusians, are involved.
In Russia
Protests against the war in Ukraine were held all over Russia on March 6. More than 4,357 people have been detained at anti-war rallies in 56 cities across the country.
Vladimir Putin spoke with Turkish President Recep Erdogan. The Turkish leader said he was ready to contribute to a peaceful solution and that a general cease-fire was necessary to pave the way for peace. According to Russian state media, Putin responded that a suspension of the “special operation” would only be possible if Kyiv “ceased hostilities” and met the Kremlin’s demands. The war, Putin assured, “is going according to plan.”
It is also reported that on the same day Putin spoke with French President Emmanuel Macron.
Radio Liberty has officially suspended its activities in Russia. “This decision was imposed on us because of the Putin regime’s attack on the truth,” said Radio Liberty President Jamie Fly. Radio Liberty has operated in Russia since 1991.
Visa and Mastercard are suspending operations in Russia. It follows from the companies’ press releases that payment cards issued in Russia will stop working outside the country. And cards issued abroad will stop working in Russia.
In Belarus
On March 6, a photo of a letter written on behalf of First Deputy Defense Minister Viktar Hulevich appeared. There he files for his resignation because it is impossible to staff battalion groups due to the mass refusal to take part in combat operations.
Belarus Ministry of Defense called it a fake. According to him, the signature in the letter is not similar to the real one. There is also a mistake in the letter: Hulevich may ask only Lukashenka to fire him, not the Minister of Defense, as stated in the letter. Military formations are staffed one hundred percent, says the Defense Ministry, “and they are already carrying out tasks, only on their own territory”.
The company Olvi PLC which owns “Lidskoe Pivo” said it was shutting down its business in Belarus and ceasing exports to Russia. The company administration says the 840 employees of the brewery in Lida would still get their wages paid. The reason for this decision is the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which is also carried out from the territory of Belarus.
New investments in “Lidskoe Pivo” were stopped as of today, and the business shut down in Belarus will be carried out gradually. “Lidskoe Pivo” is one-fifth of the income of the entire Olvi company, which also owns breweries in Finland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.
In the world
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi said a million and a half refugees had left the country in the 10 days since Russia attacked Ukraine.
Meanwhile, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine calls on Grandi and the Red Cross to immediately create “humanitarian corridors” to evacuate children from hot spots. Those who are trying to leave Ukrainian cities are caught up in Russian shelling.
Sixteen thousand volunteers are ready to fight for Ukraine, three thousand of them from the United States. A representative of the Ukrainian embassy in Washington says that three thousand people from the States have responded to the call to serve in the Ukraine International Battalion, which will help counter the Russian invading forces.
