Here is all you need to know about last two days of the full-scale war that Russia started in Ukraine. Read about the main events of March 10 and 11 in our review.
In Ukraine
As of March 11, more than 2.5 million people have left Ukraine since the Russian invasion began, according to the UN. UNICEF reports that 1 million of these are children. Another two million have moved within the country as a result of the war.
At the same time, Lyudmila Denisova, Ukrainian parliamentary commissioner for human rights, reported that as of the morning of March 10, 71 children had died in Ukraine and more than 100 had been injured.
Since the start of the war, more than 215,000 citizens have returned to Ukraine, 80% of whom are men.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky signed a law on the compulsory seizure of property of the Russian Federation and its residents.
Oleh Ustenko, an economic adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, said that the invasion of Ukraine by Russian troops destroyed at least $100 billion worth of infrastructure, buildings, and other material assets. The war resulted in a complete shutdown of 50 percent of Ukrainian businesses, and the other half are operating on the edge of their capacity.
The Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry reports that Putin gave the order to prepare a terrorist attack at the Chernobyl nuclear plant. According to the source, the responsibility for the terrorist attack will be attributed to Ukraine. At the moment, the Chernobyl nuclear power plant is completely disconnected from the monitoring systems of the International Atomic Energy Agency IAEA.
The mayor of Kyiv, Vitaly Klitschko, said that 50 percent of the city’s residents had left.
Kharkiv Mayor Igor Terekhov said that the Russians destroyed 400 multi-story apartment buildings in the city. Kharkiv authorities will temporarily cut the supply of hot water. All resources will now be directed to the preservation of heat in the apartments.
The mayor of Mariupol, Vadim Boychenko, said that the situation in the city was disastrous: Russian troops were shelling residential areas and preventing the delivery of humanitarian aid. According to him, the occupiers “cynically hold captive 400,000 Mariupol residents, who hopefully wait every day for a humanitarian corridor,” claiming that they allegedly have one.
On March 10, the Russian military seized the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant and mined the coast of the Kakhivka reservoir bordering the nuclear plant.
On the same day, Belarusian truckers Dzmitry Shylets and Ivan Rohau were hit by a Russian airstrike in the Ukrainian town of Korosten, Zhytomyr region. Both men were killed.
There were three airstrikes in the city of Dnipro, namely on a kindergarten and an apartment building, as well as a two-story shoe factory.
On March 11, three men who identified themselves as pilots of the Russian Air and Space Forces spoke to journalists. The men admitted that they were carrying out criminal orders, destroying peaceful Ukrainian cities. The pilots also said that Russian aviation bombed Ukrainian cities with high-explosive bombs weighing from 250 to 500 kilograms. The range of such bombs was 60 meters.
Resistance forces in the Chernihiv region liberated five settlements from the Russian occupants, operational command “North” reported.
Anton Herashchenko, the adviser to the Ukrainian Interior Ministry, said that a group of Russians kidnapped the mayor of Melitopol, Ivan Fedorov, who refused to cooperate with the enemy.
In Russia
On March 11, another meeting between Putin and Lukashenka was held in Moscow. The latter said that he had brought a map with plans of Ukraine to attack Belarus. According to Lukashenka, this did not happen because Russia had struck first. Putin, for his part, called the current situation a time of opportunity to move toward strengthening its technological and economic sovereignty.
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu suggested handing over weapons, including air defense equipment, to the DNR and LNR. He also said that there were about 16,000 applications from the Middle East for voluntary participation in special operations in the ORDLO.
Anonymous hackers hacked and leaked the database of Roskomnadzor, which is responsible for monitoring, control, and censorship of Russian media. As a result, more than 360,000 files totaling 820 gigabytes were made public.
In Belarus
At least eight Belarusians were detained on suspicion of trying to disrupt the schedule of Russian trains with weapons and involved in damaging railroad infrastructure in Belarus after the start of the war in Ukraine. The “rail guerrillas” are charged with preparation for an act of terrorism and face up to 15 years in prison.
On March 10th , Alyaksandr Lukashenka warned the Ministry of Defense about possible military escalation. In this regard, he instructed to strengthen the protection of the state border in order to prevent stabbing the Russian troops in the back.
It is reported that on the evening of March 10, a Russian plane was shot down near Luninets and fell in Ukraine. The pilots ejected and survived.
Worldwide
On March 10, foreign ministers of Russia and Ukraine held a meeting in Turkey. According to Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, the sides have not yet been able to agree on a cease-fire because the Russian representative was not authorized to discuss the issue.
For his part, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that Russia had not attacked Ukraine and had no plans to attack other countries. Additionally, he confirmed that Russian troops deliberately bombed a maternity hospital in Mariupol. According to Lavrov, the place was a military target because the Azov battalion was stationed there.
The U.S. Congress finally approved $13.6 billion in emergency aid to Ukraine. The House of Representatives passed an emergency aid bill for Ukraine on March 9, and the Senate overwhelmingly approved it on March 10. Now the document goes to President Joe Biden for his signature.
U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris announced that the country would allocate $50 billion for humanitarian aid to Ukrainians affected by Russian aggression.
French President Emmanuel Macron said that it was unrealistic to negotiate Ukraine’s accession to the EU while the country was at war.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi called Russia’s invasion of Ukraine a war for the first time. He hopes the war will end soon.
Estonian Foreign Minister Eva-Maria Liimets announced that the country would stop issuing Schengen visas to Russians and Belarusians. The reason is the illegal invasion of the Ukrainian territory by Russian troops, as well as the consequences of the sanctions, as a result of which the Russian citizens will not be able to pay the visa fee. An exception will be made only for those who have relatives living in Estonia and for those who will apply for a humanitarian visa.
