Ihor Zhdanov, Olha Mashtaler, Information Defence

Informational Defence of Ukraine provides a daily review of the military-political situation in Ukraine, morning of March 15th, based on an analysis of open sources.

1. The russian occupiers have not achieved a success in any of the operational areas and have sustained heavy losses as a result of counterattacks by the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

According to the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine, the position and nature of the actions of the defence forces remain without significant changes. The Armed Forces of Ukraine are inflicting devastating blows on groups of troops and the rear infrastructure of the occupiers.

russian troops are accumulating reserves on their territory to wage war against Ukraine. Detachments of mercenaries are being formed of those who are ready to carry out criminal orders for a reward, for example, more than a thousand people have been recruited in Syria in recent days, and about 400 people have already arrived in russia.

The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine also reported that pre-trial inquiries are being carried out in the russian city of Belgorod with russian military refusing to take part in hostilities.

In the Polissia direction, russian troops continue to cross the barrier along the Irpin River and gain a foothold in the area of the settlements of Bucha and Irpin. They are trying to organise defence operations, so they are preparing sabotage and reconnaissance groups under the guise of service members of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

In the northern direction, the enemy did not provide active offensive operations and is regrouping in order to resume the attack in the direction of Kyiv. In the Volyn direction, the enemy continues measures to strengthen the protection of the Ukrainian-Belarusian border by units of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Belarus, and with the help of UAVs is conducting air reconnaissance of certain areas along the border.

Occupation troops have been stopped in Mykolaiiv and Kryvyi Rih.

In the Slobozhanskyi direction, the enemy is concentrating its main efforts on restoring the losses received because of the decisive repulse near Kharkiv and the counterattack of the Armed Forces of Ukraine near Izium.

In the Donetsk and Tavriia directions, the enemy continues to conduct active hostilities. Due to the numerical advantage in some areas it has had some success.

In the Pivdennyi Buh direction, the enemy is trying to continue the offensive attack in the direction of Kryvyi Rih. The troops were established on the achieved frontiers, regrouped themselves and replenished stocks. The enemy wants to surround Mykolaiiv.

In the Mariupol direction, the enemy is trying to capture Mariupol. Ukrainian soldiers successfully repulsed the attacks of the invaders. The total losses of the enemy were about 150 people, 2 tanks, 7 infantry fighting vehicles and one armoured combatant carrier.

Meanwhile, the Ukrainian military is demonstrating another success in the fight against the enemy. The total combat losses of the enemy from 24.02 to 15.03 were approximately: combatants - more than 13,500 people, tanks - 404 units, armoured combat vehicles - 1279 units, artillery systems - 150 units, MLRS - 64 units, air defence means - 36 units, aircraft - 81 units, helicopters - 95 units, automotive equipment - 640 units, ships / boats - 3 units, fuel tanks - 60, UAV operational and tactical level - 9.

Data are being updated. The calculation is complicated by the high intensity of hostilities.

With the help of Bayraktar, the Armed Forces destroyed the enemy artillery fire control point. On Monday morning, Ukrainian defenders took away the russian occupiers and returned the radar station and communications centre to the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Starlink global satellite systems have been delivered to Kyiv, they will work to help ensure the critical infrastructure of the city and the defence of the capital.

According to the former commander of the US Army in Europe, retired General Ben Hodges, in 10 days russia will run out of opportunities to conduct active hostilities in Ukraine.

Ukrainian citizens who have worked abroad continue to return to Ukraine to protect the country. In particular, more than 17,000 people arrived in Ukraine on March 13th, almost 14,000 of them are men.

2. The russian occupiers continue to violate international humanitarian law by killing civilians in Ukraine.

According to the World Health Organization, the previous number of victims in Ukraine is 18 million, of whom 6.7 million are internally displaced.

According to First Deputy Minister of Economy Denys Kudin, during the war, russia caused damage for more than $ 119 billion to Ukrainian infrastructure.

russia continues to launch missile and bomb strikes on peaceful towns and villages in Ukraine.

In Ukraine, during the war with russia as of March 14th, 2022, 90 children died and more than 100 children were injured, according to the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine. The most affected children are in the Kyiv, Kharkiv, Donetsk, Chernihiv, Sumy, Kherson, Mykolaiiv, and Zhytomyr regions.

Also during the war, russian invaders damaged 379 educational institutions by shelling and bombing, 59 of which were completely destroyed.

According to the SES, on March 14th, 1,003 settlements in Ukraine remain without electricity.

The occupiers again damaged the line to the Chornobyl nuclear power plant, which was repaired by Ukrenergo specialists yesterday.

According to Energoatom, the russian military, which captured the Zaporizhzhia NPP, detonated some mines that did not explode at the nuclear power plant, but just near Unit G1. It is unknown at this time whether the radiation background at the Zaporizhzhia NPP has changed since the explosions.

As of March 14th, about 600 residential buildings in Kharkiv had been destroyed by the russian army due to constant shelling and could not be rebuilt; the city authorities also report that 535 houses will be able restore heating only after the end of hostilities and a large amount of work.

In Chuhuiiv, Kharkiv region, on March 14, Russian troops shelled a kindergarten. A fifteen-year-old boy was killed by shell fragments and a number of private houses were damaged.

Fifteen settlements in the Donetsk region were shelled, at least two people were killed.

In the Obolonskyi district in Kyiv, an artillery shell hit a nine-story building on Bohatyrska Street on the morning of March 14th, killing one person. Russian troops also fired on the Antonov plant, struck three high-rise buildings in Kyiv's Podilskyi and Sviatoshynskyi districts, and killed two others. An enemy shell also hit a two-story private house in Osokorki.

In addition, as a result of the fall of the wreckage from a russian missile, which was shot down by Ukrainian air forces, a five-story building in Kyiv Kurenivka was destroyed. One person was killed and six were injured.

In Chernihiv, the russian occupiers bombed one of the pumping stations of Chernihivvodokanal; according to preliminary data, 4 people died. The Chernihiv Polytechnic National University was also shelled and damaged in the city.

In the Zhytomyr region on the night of March 14th, there was a rocket attack on the village of Stavysche, as a result of which at least 4 people were injured and 7 buildings were destroyed.

On March 13th, the russian occupiers intensified their shelling of the administrative centre of the Luhansk region, Severodonetsk, causing fires in various parts of the city. In Rubizhne, the russian occupiers destroyed a boarding school for the visually impaired, a city hospital and three schools, killing four people as a result of enemy shelling.

In the morning on March 14th as a result of air attack of the city of Snihurivka of the Mykolaiiv area, five houses were damaged by the russian military, one person was lost.

Nine people were killed and 9 were injured in a missile strike by russian troops on a television tower in the village of Antopil near Rivne on the morning of Monday, March 14th .

3. War crimes of the russian aggressors become systemic, the occupiers provide looting.

On March 14th, the occupiers shot an experimental physicist in Vorzel in the Kyiv region, deputy director of the V.Ye. Lashkarev Institute of Semiconductor Physics of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine Vasyl Kladko.

According to available information today, the abducted mayor of Melitopol Ivan Fedorov is in occupied Luhansk, where he is accused of “terrorism”.

The Russian military searched the apartment of Oleh Nikolaiev, a priest at the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in occupied Berdiansk. He was arrested and taken in an unknown direction.

A British journalist (whose name is not provided) suffered a shrapnel fracture on both legs because of hostilities by russian occupation forces.

In the Vasilivskyi district of the Zaporizhzhia region, the russian military looted the castle "Popov's Estate" (“Sadyba Popova”), before the cultural institution was shelled with artillery. According to the director Anna Holovko, “everything that could be taken in hand and in bags was taken out.”

As previously reported by the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine, due to significant logistical problems and stretched communications, russian troops are unable to properly provide their units with fuel, food, equipment, ammunition and rotation. Because of this, they were instructed to move to “self-sufficiency” to the next orders - that is, to take everything necessary from the local population and rob warehouses, shops, etc. 

4. Residents of the temporarily occupied cities continue peaceful protests.

On March 14th, the residents of the village of Bilozerka, near Kherson, went on a peaceful rally against the russian occupiers, which was attended by several hundred people. People walked down the street, carrying yellow and blue flags and chanting “Ukraine is above all” “Russian soldier is a Nazi occupier”, “Glory to Ukraine - glory to heroes. Glory to the nation - death to our enemies!”, “Putin - hu*lo” (“Putin is a fu…ing shit”).

The previous day, residents of the town of Hola Prystan in the Kherson region held an action during which they were singing together the National Anthem of Ukraine and chanting that “Hola Prystan and the entire Kherson region is Ukraine”.

In Melitopol, on March 14th, the russian occupiers surrounded the central square of Melitopol and prevented residents from holding a daily anti-occupation rally. According to eyewitnesses, the occupiers humiliated and intimidated people, and two activists were abducted and taken away in the unknown direction.

5. The evacuation of the Ukrainian people through humanitarian corridors continues, despite provocations by russian invaders.

On March 14th, Ukraine approved the work of 10 humanitarian corridors in the Kyiv and Luhansk regions, of which only 7 actually worked.

In the Kyiv region, 2,028 people were rescued on Monday (from Hostomel, Nemyshaievo, Vorzel, Dmytrivka, Peremoha) and 1,780 people from the Luhansk region (from Severodonetsk, Popasna, Horskyi, Rubizhne, Kreminna, and Lysychansk).

On March 14th, 20 tons of humanitarian aid were delivered to Balaklia in the Kharkiv region. It was not possible to deliver humanitarian aid to Izium, as active hostilities continue there.

On March 14th, the russians missed 160 private cars from Mariupol to Berdiansk and Zaporizhzhia. Approximately 800 people were evacuated, while 300,000 civilians are expected to be evacuated in besieged Mariupol. Thus, the occupiers pretend that they are allegedly opening humanitarian corridors, at the same time holding hostage 300,000 of Mariupol residents.

At the same time, the blocking of humanitarian cargo and buses for the residents of Mariupol, who have been staying in Berdiansk for two days, continues, as the russians no longer allow them to arrive. 

The russians violated the ceasefire agreement in Brovary district of the Kyiv region. Evacuation buses could not pass to the villages of Bohdanovka, Nova Bohdanovka, and Bobryk.

During the evacuation from Hostomel on a column of 4 buses, russian troops fired mortars.

Clashes in the towns of Popasna and Rubizhne were provoked along the corridors in the Luhansk region during the evacuation of people by the occupying forces, despite the ceasefire.

According to Iryna Vereschuk, The Deputy Prime-Minister and Minister for Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories of Ukraine, almost 150,000 people were able to use humanitarian corridors during the hostilities. In particular, approximately 4,000 people were evacuated on March 14th.

6. The Ukrainian government, business, and citizens are demonstrating solidarity and consolidating their efforts to confront the enemy.

The National Bank stated that more than UAH 11.8 billion has already been raised to support the army and humanitarian aid; funds came from both citizens and businesses in Ukraine and from the international community.

Kyiv infrastructure works as it should; communal services, doctors, public transport work (from 8 am to 7 pm). Pharmacies, shops, gas stations and service stations are opened. At the same time, residents of the capital are urged to be careful and not to ignore air raids.

At the same time, the International Monetary Fund estimates that Ukraine needs about $ 4.8 billion in external financing this year, and the country's GDP will shrink by 10% if the war ends soon.

Internally displaced people, territorial defence fighters and service members can receive assistance and temporary housing in the CNAPs, which operate as Care Centres in 14 regions of Ukraine – approximately 120 settlements, this list is constantly expanding.

The Verkhovna Rada’s (Ukrainian Parliament) Tax Committee on Monday approved a draft law on business support, which includes tax breaks for small and large businesses, regulating the taxation of donations, and credit vacations.