Embassy of Ukraine in the USA
WAR BULLETIN
March 9, 6.30 pm EST
Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine and Russia will meet in Turkey.
Hospital and maternity house in Mariupol were destroyed during a Russian air raid.
Europeans must tighten sanctions against Russia so that it has no chance to continue the genocide in Ukraine.
At 11.22 am CET on March 9th, 2022, an emergency shutdown of the 750 kV-power line Chornobyl NPP occurred.
The Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine started collecting information on damage and destruction of cultural heritage sites committed by the Russian forces in Ukraine.
WAR ROOM
General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine
Operational information
The Defense Forces of Ukraine continue to conduct a defense operation within the Southern, Eastern and Northern operational zones.
In the East, Armed Forces of Ukraine are holding back the enemy in three operational districts at once - Donetsk, Slobozhansk and Tavriya.
In the North-Western direction, a part of Ukrainian forces is covering the state border with the Republic of Belarus. The defense operation in Polissya and Volyn operational districts continues.
During the offensive operations of the Ukrainian Armed Forces near the settlements of Borodyanka and Makariv, Russians suffered significant losses.
The city of Chernihiv has a strong defense.
The group of defense forces of the city of Kyiv holds its position.
Russian aggressors are demoralized; their psychological state is rapidly deteriorating.
At the same time, Russian units of the information warfare are preparing psychological attack to undermine trust in the representatives of the Ukrainian state authorities.
According to the available information, on March 8, 2022, the Armed Forces of the Republic of Belarus conducted an internal anonymous poll on their readiness to take part in Russian war against Ukraine on the side of the aggressor. The results show that the vast majority of personnel is not ready to take part in war against Ukraine.
Operational information as of 24.00 on 09.03.2022 regarding the Russian invasion
Ukraine's defense forces are repelling and holding back the offensive of the Russian armed forces in all directions.
In some of them, the occupying forces lost their combat capability and put reserves into operation. In order to increase its combat capabilities, the enemy moves units and military units from other strategic directions to the borders of Ukraine.
The Republic of Belarus provides support to the aggressor in ensuring the supply of fuel, the use of railway infrastructure and the airfield network.
The likelihood of sabotage of military and civilian infrastructure remains.
The Russian Federation is not abandoning plans to encircle Kyiv, continuing the offensive operation in the Polissya and Seversky directions.
In the Slobozhansky direction, the enemy attacked the settlements of Izyum, Petrovske, Hrushuvakha, as well as the cities of Sumy and Okhtyrka.
The enemy offensive also continues in the Donetsk and Tavriya directions.
The enemy increases grouping of troops in the Mykolaiv direction.
In the Black Sea and Azov operational zones, the aggressors continue to isolate the area of hostilities. Naval groups of the Russian Armed Forces are located in the areas of Cape Tarkhankut and Lake Donuzlav.
The Armed Forces of Ukraine, in coordinated cooperation with other components of the defense sector of the state and the forces of national resistance, are restraining the massive offensive of the occupying forces.
Air Force
Ukrainian fighter jets and anti-aircraft missile units S-300 and Buk-M1 destroyed 4 Su-25 fighter jets and two helicopters of the Russian aggressors. There is also evidence of two downed cruise missiles of the enemy.
Assault bombers and bomb carrier of the Air Force Command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine continues to support actions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in various strategic areas and inflict missile and bomb strikes on columns of the enemy equipment.
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine
Dmytro Kuleba: Petrifying war crime in #Mariupol. Russian air strike targeted a hospital and a maternity house. We could stop this barbarism by protecting our skies. For the sake of humanity, provide us with aircraft, now! Lives are being lost while this is being considered over and over again.
POLICY
President of Ukraine
Europeans must tighten sanctions against Russia so that it has no chance to continue the genocide in Ukraine.
Today is the day that defines everything. Defines who is on whose side. Russian bombs fell on a hospital and maternity house in Mariupol. Children's hospital. Maternity hospital that is functioning! Buildings are destroyed. As of now, there are 17 wounded. Disassembly of the debris is still ongoing. People were lucky to hide from the air threat in time.
Everything that the invaders are doing to Mariupol is beyond atrocities. Europeans! Ukrainians! Mariupol residents! Today, we must be united in condemning this war crime of Russia, which reflects all the evil that the invaders brought to our land.
All destroyed cities. Russians did unthinkable to Volnovakha, Kharkiv, Izyum, Okhtyrka, Chernihiv, Borodyanka, Hostomel, Zhytomyr and dozens of other Ukrainian cities, which never posed any threat to the Russian Federation.
Destroyed hospitals. Destroyed schools, churches, houses. And all the people killed. All the children killed.
Europeans! You won’t be able to say that you didn't see what happened to Ukrainians, what happened to Mariupol residents. You saw. You know.
Therefore, you must increase sanctions against Russia so that it no longer has any opportunity to continue this genocide.
You must put pressure on Russia to force it to sit down at the negotiating table and end this brutal war.
We have not done and never would have done anything similar to this war crime to any of the cities of the Donetsk, Luhansk or any other region. To any of the cities on earth. Because we are people. And you?
I spoke today with European Council President Charles Michel and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. We also worked and spoke with Speaker of the United States House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi, with Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Boris Johnson. Thank you for your support, Boris.
The partners are fully informed about what is happening in our Mariupol. And about the situation in all other regions of Ukraine, where hostilities continue. We are working to make Russia feel the consequences of its actions. We are doing everything to finally secure our sky. I am grateful to the vast majority of Ukrainians who support this position. Those who collect signatures, who convince their acquaintances in the West, write on social networks, organize rallies.
Together we must return courage to some Western leaders. So that they finally do what they had to do on the first day of the invasion. Either close the Ukrainian sky from Russian missiles and bombs, or give us fighter jets so that we can do everything ourselves. A pause without a decision has become simply deadly.
Today we managed to organize the work of three humanitarian corridors. From the city of Sumy, from the cities and towns of the Kyiv region and from Enerhodar.
In total, about 35,000 people were rescued. We will continue tomorrow. We are preparing six corridors. We pray that people will be taken out of Mariupol, Izyum, Volnovakha, etc. Taken to safe cities of our free Ukraine.
And I am sure that every Ukrainian whose help is needed by this people will do everything possible to make them feel our care. Until they can return home.
And finally. Every year on March 9, the winners of the Shevchenko Prize are announced. Our national award for the most significant contribution to the preservation and development of the Ukrainian spirit, our national culture.
I believe that our traditions must be observed during martial law and the fierce battles for our freedom. We must not betray them so that we preserve all ours, Ukrainian, completely while we are heading to victory. While we are heading to peace.
The decree was signed. Now I look forward to meeting the winners. But after the victory. After the victory of Ukraine.
Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine and Minister for Reintegration of Temporary Occupied Territories
The ceasefire has not been in effect since March 5. Russian troops shell the evacuation corridors through Zaporizhzhia to Mariupol and other temporary occupied regions. More than 1300 civilians, including children, have died due to starvation, dehydration, and bombings.
The prospects for future rescue include operations through the land and the sea. More than 70 civilians held in Mariupol are Turkish citizens. President Erdoğan has suggested help to the Ukrainians and Turks, but Putin remains deaf to his demands.
Russia is offering "evacuation corridors" to people in Mariupol, offering them to go to Russia. The same "propositions" are made to the people of Kyiv.
Tomorrow Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine and Russia will meet in Turkey. We hope that we will finally agree on the parameters of the evacuation corridors and that the Russian troops will hold the protocol. Otherwise, we expect repercussions to Russia, which is responsible for the deaths of many civilians through the contract breach.
West media prognoses Russians' use of terror on Ukrainian civilians. The present crimes are not yet subjected to sanctions. We expect Russia to allow the humanitarian corridors if the global community condemns and penalizes Russia's misconduct.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine
Operational information on the diplomatic front as of March 9th, 7 p.m.
Ukraine and its partners are stepping up with unprecedented sanctions’ pressure on Russia to end its war against Ukraine. The European Union announced today a new package of sanctions against Russia and Belarus.
Military aid:
Canada will send another batch of highly specialized military equipment to Ukraine.
Financial Aids:
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development has announced an initial € 2 billion package of measures for Ukraine, in particular, for war-torn citizens and companies;
Canada will allocate about $ 2.5 million to counter Russian disinformation.
Sanctions against Russia:
The EU Council approved new sectoral sanctions against Russia and Belarus for armed aggression against Ukraine. The new restrictions include restrictions on access to SWIFT for three Belarusian banks and the import of the euro into Belarus. In addition, the EU has expanded the list of sanctioned legal entities and organizations subject to restrictions on investment, securities and financial instruments. The list includes another 160 people linked to the Putin`s regime.
International isolation
Members of the Venice Commission Bureau, the Council of Europe's advisory body on constitutional law, initiated the termination of Russia's right to be represented on the commission. The Committee of Ministers of the European Council will make a decision on this issue on the 10th of March.
Informational and economic isolation
The French machine-building company Alstom, which manufactures railway warehouses and transport systems, has announced a halt of their operations in Russia;
The American media company Discovery is suspending broadcasting of its cable TV channels in Russia due to its invasion to Ukraine. 15 channels were excluded from Russian air, including Discovery Channel, Discovery Science, Eurosport;
Latvia has banned broadcasting of 18 Russian TV channels that are directly or indirectly owned by Gazprombank;
The American service Amazon Prime Video has restricted access to movies and series for Russian subscribers.
Humanitarian aids
In Latvia, almost 6 million euros have already been raised through the ziedot.lv portal for the needs of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and civilian population;
Ukrainian organizations of foreign Ukrainians in Germany have already donated more than 330 tons of medical supplies, food and basic necessities;
The Government of the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste has decided to allocate $1.5 million to help the people of Ukraine through the UN World Food Program.
The Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine
The Ministry started collecting information on damage and destruction of cultural heritage sites committed by the Russian forces in Ukraine.
Russia's aggression is accompanied by the movement of heavy military equipment, missiles and air strikes, artillery shelling of Ukrainian cities and villages.
The Ministry urge`s witnesses of the destruction of cultural heritage from all regions of Ukraine to send photo or video evidence to the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy through the resource: https://culturecrimes.mkip.gov.ua
Available for public data will be published on the separate portal created specifically for the evidence collection purposes. Provided and verified materials are to be transferred to the International Criminal Court in the Hague for investigation.
ENERGY
Ministry of Energy of Ukraine
Minister of Energy of Ukraine H.Galushchenko requested the support of the European Commission due to the outage at the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant.
Uniper writes off Nord Stream 2 and wants to sell "Unipro" in Russia: losses amount to 987 million euros.
The world's largest manufacturer of wind turbines, Vestas, has suspended projects in Russia.
At 11.22 am CET on March 9th, 2022, an emergency shutdown of the 750 kV-power line Chornobyl NPP occurred. As a result, all facilities of the SSE Chornobyl NPP are de-energized. Emergency diesel generators will provide power for safety-critical systems. In case of trouble-free operation, the containers of diesel fuel will be enough for 48 hours. De-energization of the SSE Chornobyl NPP makes it impossible to control the parameters of nuclear and radiation safety at the facilities enterprise.
Minister Galushchenko, held a telephone call with the European Commissioner for Energy Kadri Simson. He announced a potential threat to Europe as a result of de-energizing of the Chornobyl nuclear power plant, which is now fully controlled by Russian troops.
UGS facilities are secure and continue to operate normally, except for the Krasnopopivske underground gas storage facility in Luhansk region (stopped due to hostilities in the immediate vicinity of the facility).
"Donetskoblgaz" continues to eliminate damages to gas networks caused by constant shelling.
Gas supply company "Naftogaz Trading" for the past day delivered 75 million cubic meters of natural gas to their consumers. Due to the cold weather, heating systems have increased fuel consumption. However, the company is provided with the necessary resources to satisfy all applications.
Employees of "Kharkivmiskgaz" emergency services restored gas supply for 500 consumers.