Ihor Zhdanov, Information Defence

Informational Defence of Ukraine provides a daily review of the military-political situation in Ukraine, morning of March 25th, based on an analysis of open sources.

1. The russian occupiers have not achieved 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 General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the combined forces are conducting a sustained defence operation in the Donetsk, Slobozhanskyi and partly Tavriia directions in the designated operational zone, focusing on preventing the enemy's breakthrough.

During the previous day, Ukrainian soldiers repulsed 9 enemy attacks, destroyed 12 tanks, about 20 units of armoured and automotive equipment and 9 artillery systems.

The enemy lost more than 200 servicemen. Air defence units shot down two enemy planes and 2 UAVs.

The large landing ship "Saratov" of the Black Sea Fleet of the occupiers was destroyed in the captured russian port of Berdiansk. The fire spread to other ships, fuel, and ammunition.

The Ukrainian authorities exchanged prisoners of war with representatives of the russian federation in the format of “ten for ten”.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy awarded the title of “hero-city” to Okhtyrka, Bucha, Irpin, and Mykolaiiv.

The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine stated that according to the information received, the military-political leadership of the russian federation has decided to adjust plans for further hostilities on the territory of Ukraine because the goals set before the war with Ukraine were not completed in a timely manner.

According to Information Defence experts, the main strategic goals of military aggression after their adjustment are the following: 1) the capture of Kyiv and the creation of a pro-Russian puppet government; 2) creation of a land corridor: at least from Mariupol to the Crimea, providing the peninsula with Ukrainian water. As a maximum - the creation of such a corridor to Transnistria, the blockade of maritime trade routes of Ukraine; 3) access of russian troops to the administrative borders of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.

2. The russian occupiers continue to violate international humanitarian law.

russian aggressors continue to kill Ukrainian children. During the month of war in Ukraine, the russian occupiers took the lives of 128 children, seven of whom died in the past day. The Office of the Prosecutor General provided tragic statistics. At the same time, the number of injured increased to 172 children.

The highest number of victims was recorded in the Kyiv region - 64, the Kharkiv region - 43, the Donetsk region - 43, the Chernihiv region - 32, the Mykolaiiv region - 24, Kyiv City - 16, the Zhytomyr region - 15, the Kherson region – 15, and the Sumy region - 14.

According to UNICEF, one month of the war in Ukraine has led to the resettlement of 4.3 million children - more than half of the country's 7.5 million children. More than 1.8 million children have moved to neighbouring countries as refugees, and 2.5 million children have become internally displaced people within Ukraine.

russian invaders continue to attack civilians on a daily basis. About 200 civilians have been killed since the russian invasion in Chernihiv. 

In the Kyiv region, the police received more than 100 reports of shelling of civilians in just one day.

In the Donetsk region, 200,000 people have no access to drinking water due to the fighting of the russian occupiers. At the moment, there is a threat that in the coming weeks the Donetsk region may be cut off from water supply altogether, said Liudmyla Denisova, Commissioner for Human Rights of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine.

On the night of March 24th, the russian troops fired rockets at residential areas in the city of Okhtyrka in the Sumy region, killing the local people.

In Kharkiv, the russians fired long-range weapons at the Nova Poshta checkpoint, where Ukrainians were receiving humanitarian aid, having killed six and wounded 15 people.

As a result of an attack by the russian occupiers of the village of Yavkine in the Mykolaiiv region, three people were lost and 13 were wounded.

During the past 24 hours, 5 people were killed and 8 wounded in the Luhansk region, during the night the russian military destroyed houses in Rubizhne, and at least two people were killed.

Peaceful resistance of Ukrainian citizens continues. In Kherson, captured by the russian military, the flag of Ukraine was raised again on the city council building.

russian occupiers forcibly deport Ukrainian citizens to russia. The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reports that in the districts of Kreminna and Rubizhne, instances of forced evacuation of Ukrainian citizens by the occupiers and their deportation to the territory of the Voronezh region of the russian federation have been confirmed.

In occupied Dokuchaievsk (ORDO), the russians have set up a filtration camp for civilians trying to leave Mariupol.

The abduction of civilians and their hostages continue. In the part of the Kharkiv region occupied by racist troops to terrorize locals, the invaders persuade collaborators to kidnap children.

According to the operative units of the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine, people who agreed to work for the invaders kidnapped children from a resident of one of the cities of the Kharkiv region.

In Kherson, the russians abducted Dmytro Afanasiev, a deputy of the Ship District Council and head of the EU faction.

3. Under attacks by the russian occupiers, evacuation through humanitarian corridors continues.

On March 24th, 7 humanitarian corridors were confirmed between the Ukrainian authorities and the russian occupiers for residents of Mariupol, the Donetsk region, and residents of Zaporizhzhia and Kyiv regions.

According to the Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk, all 7 planned humanitarian corridors from settlements where active hostilities are taking place were successful.

Today 2,717 Mariupol residents arrived from Mariupol by their own transport to the city of Zaporizhzhia. Once again, a convoy of humanitarian aid and evacuation buses was not allowed to enter the city.

From the town of Polohy in the Zaporizhzhia region, 117 people could have  been evacuated, including 35 orphans from a local boarding school.

It was not possible to evacuate from the temporarily occupied Melitopol. Humanitarian cargo was delivered to Polohy and Melitopol.

509 people were evacuated from the villages of Velyka Dymerka, Bohdanivka, and Bervytsia to Brovary in the Kyiv region.

In general, 3,343 people were evacuated from 7 humanitarian corridors during the day on March 24th from settlements where active hostilities are taking place.

4. Political and socio-economic situation in Ukraine.

The total direct losses of small and medium-sized businesses during the four weeks of the war are estimated at $80 billion and the estimated reduction in Ukraine's GDP in 2022 due to declining business activity is 21%. This is stated in the Advanter poll Group together with business clubs of Ukraine and the Center for Economic Recovery.

Minister of Social Policy Maryna Lazebna has stated that UAH 5 billion a month is a sum that should be paid to the refugees.

In particular, this is a monthly housing assistance program, which will pay 2-3 thousand hryvnas. It is estimated that about 2 million people who have been forced to flee their homes due to active hostilities will apply for housing assistance.

Conditions for doing business in Ukraine are being simplified. The Verkhovna Rada implemented a law on exemption from customs duties and value added tax on imports of goods imported by enterprises.

The Verkhovna Rada passed a bill on criminal liability for illegal photography and video of the movement of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and international military assistance during martial law.

Ukraine has simplified external independent evaluation, abolished state certification, and entrance exams due to hostilities.

5 . International support and assistance to Ukraine.

NATO Summit. President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy appealed to the North Atlantic Alliance to provide weapons to protect against the russian attack, disclosing details of the Ukrainian request.

The head of state stressed that he asked NATO to provide Ukraine with one percent of Alliance aircraft, tanks, as well as volley fire systems, anti-ship weapons and air defence equipment.

The President of Ukraine stressed that Ukraine is grateful to all allies for the military assistance already provided, but it is not enough to effectively stop the russian offensive.

The heads of state and government of 30 NATO countries issued a statement following a summit in Brussels on Thursday, in which they expressed their position on russia's war against Ukraine. Leaders called on president putin to immediately end the war and withdraw troops from Ukraine, and for Belarus to stop its co-participation in the war.

NATO members say Ukraine has a fundamental right to self-defence, so they have stepped up their support and will continue to provide further political and practical support to Ukraine.

The leaders said that any use of chemical or biological weapons by russia would be unacceptable and would have serious consequences.

The leaders stressed that large-scale sanctions had been imposed to end the war against russia, and said that Allies remained determined to maintain coordinated international pressure on russia.

They specifically called on China to maintain international order and refrain from supporting russia's military efforts in any way, as well as refraining from any action that helps russia circumvent sanctions.

In response to russia's actions, the Alliance decided to establish four additional multinational battle groups in Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania, and Slovakia.

Meeting of the G7 member countries. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy calls on the G7 countries to create an effective system of security guarantees for Ukraine and the region, capable of stopping any aggressor in 24 hours.

The head of state also appealed to the G7 to disconnect russia from GPS services and completely block russia's financial system.

Leaders of the G7 (Germany, the UK, the US, Canada, France, Italy, and Japan) are set to hold president of the russian federation putin as a person responsible for the war against Ukraine. It is noted that to this end, the G7 leaders will continue to work with allies and partners around the world.

In addition, G7 leaders are committed to working closely with other governments to implement similar sanctions already in place by the G7, as well as to prevent sanctions from being evaded or circumvented, which could reduce the impact of sanctions.

The US President Joe Biden is in favour of excluding russia from the G20, and if it fails, to invite Ukraine to the summit.

European Union Summit. The leaders of the EU member states have pledged to support Ukraine and help with post-war reconstruction, according to the EU summit.

Given the devastation and enormous losses that Ukraine has suffered as a result of russian military aggression, the EU is committed to supporting the Ukrainian government in an emergency. And after the war, to help rebuild the country.

In order to assist, the European Council is immediately launching a Solidarity Trust Fund in Ukraine.

In addition, the European Council calls for a timely international fundraising conference within the Solidarity Trust Fund of Ukraine.

A landmark visit in support of Ukraine. The speakers of the parliaments of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania arrived in Kyiv on a visit, despite fighting in the capital and the threat of shelling.

Ukraine is negotiating security guarantees with the United States, the UK, Germany, France, and Turkey.

The Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba noted that Moscow demands unacceptable concessions from Ukraine during the talks, while Ukraine is interested in only three things. These are security guarantees, recognition of territorial integrity within the Crimea and Donbas, and a ceasefire and withdrawal of enemy troops.

According to Dmytro Kuleba, Ukraine should receive security guarantees not only from russia, but also from other countries. At the same time, security guarantees should be similar to Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, i.e. in case of an attack on Ukraine, its security guards must provide our country with all necessary military, economic, and other assistance within 24 hours and impose sanctions on the aggressor country.

Most Belarusians are in favour of the immediate withdrawal of russian troops from their country.

According to the Chatham House poll, only 3% of Belarusians believe that their country should fight against Ukraine together with Russia. At the same time, the majority of respondents are against the shelling of Ukraine from the territory of Belarus (67%) and in general against the use of the territory of Belarus as a springboard for war with Ukraine (52%).

6. Provocations and fakes of russian aggressors.

On March 24th, a group of russian propagandists arrived at the occupied Chernobyl nuclear power plant to make a new fake "movie" about the station.
In this way, the invaders want to convince the IAEA of the "normality" of nuclear terrorism and hide the real state of affairs with radiation leaks and environmental pollution.

russia spreads misinformation in the IAEA about the alleged detention of russian nuclear power plants at the Rivne nuclear power plant.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine emphasizes that there were no russian nuclear specialists at the Rivne NPP. Four armed citizens of the russian federation accompanied the cargo of nuclear fuel, which arrived at the nuclear power plant by February 24th, 2022. After handing over the cargo to the Ukrainian side on March 23rd, disarmed russian citizens left the territory of Rivne NPP

The Ministry of Defence of russia said that the fund of the son of US President Hunter Biden and philanthropist George Soros were involved in the financing of "biolabs" that no one in Ukraine has seen, except the kremlin propagandists.

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

Sanctions against russia continue to expand. The UK has added 26 legal entities from russia and Belarus to the rehabilitation list, including Alfa Bank and russian Railways.

The UK Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation has issued a 30-day license to curtail UK-sanctioned banks.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has announced new sanctions against 160 members of the russian federation Council for facilitating the invasion of Ukraine.

Japan will freeze the assets of another 25 russians and ban exports to 81 russian organizations.

The Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba said that if EU states agreed to russia's demand to pay for russian gas in rubles, they would help the aggressor killing Ukrainians.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has rejected russia's demand that the EU and the US pay for russian gas in rubles, as most existing gas purchase agreements require payment in euros or US dollars. The German Ministry of Economy intends to reduce its dependence on gas from russia from 55% to 30% in 2022.

The Polish oil and gas company PGNiG has stated that it does not see the possibility of switching to the ruble in the calculations for the supply of russian gas.

The largest Japanese oil refineries, Eneos and Idemitsu, will stop buying russian oil after fulfilling current agreements.

The possibilities of using russia's gold and foreign exchange reserves are significantly limited. The United States has clarified that the sanctions it has previously imposed also apply to transactions involving gold from the Central Bank of russia, the National Wealth Fund or the russian Ministry of Finance.

Sanctioned russian funds frozen in Switzerland have reached 5.75 billion Swiss francs - 6.2 billion US dollars, and this figure may increase.

The russian stock market continues to stagnate and fall. International rating agency Fitch Ratings has cancelled ratings of all russian companies and their subsidiaries that have come under EU sanctions.

The index of the Moscow Stock Exchange on the first day of trading after a month's break rose by 4.43%. The RTS index ended the day falling by 9.11%. Trading on the russian stock market has not been held for three weeks. According to the decision of the Central Bank, the Moscow Stock Exchange on February 28th suspended trading in securities after the collapse on February 24th on the day of russia's declaration of war against Ukraine.

Sanctions continue to negatively affect the russian economy. The russian company Severstal has not been able to pay its debts to Eurobonds before the end of the grace period due to the blocking of funds by the bank. This was reported by Bloomberg.

This could be the first russian company that has experienced a technical default since the russian invasion.

More than 20 enterprises of the russian military-industrial complex have suspended their activities totally or in parts due to lack of components and parts, according to the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Tour operators have begun to offer russians tours abroad to obtain Visa and Mastercard bank cards from foreign banks. Apple e-wallet Pay does not allow russians to add new Mir banking cards. The wallet also disabled the ability to pay from previously added cards.

The devaluation of the ruble and logistical problems could lead to a drop in alcohol imports to russia by 20-40% year on year. In particular, Dmitry Isachenkov, the director for development of the alcohol company Ladoga, gives such an assessment. According to him, this can be compared with the consequences of 2014.

Italian enterprise for alcoholic beverages Davide Campari-Milano NV will limit to the required minimum business in russia.

Philip Morris board of directors and top managers are working on options for an orderly exit from the russian market.

Swedish company Postnord Sweden has not received or sent postal items to and from russia and Belarus since March 24.