April, 11

The concentration of troops in the Donetsk, Luhansk, and Kharkiv oblast continues against the backdrop of incessant hostilities. According to Ukrainian officials, the safety of Kyiv and other major cities is contingent on developments taking place on the eastern front.

Troops of the Russian Federation (hereinafter: Russia) have shelled and bombarded cities and villages including:

Mykolayiv

Dnipro

Lysychansk – residential quarters

Velyka Oleksandrivka – residential houses, agricultural structures, and vehicles

Hostilities are taking place in Izyum and Rubizhne, where Russian forces are known to be seeking to break the line of defence of the Ukrainian army.

Approximately 15 000 civilian residents remain in Izyum. Evacuation operations are being carried out to the

city despite ongoing shelling.

Russian troops have seized the cargo ship SMARTA and detained its crew in the Mariupol port. The ship is sailing under the Liberian flag.

News and messages regarding the critical state of Ukraine’s defence capabilities in Mariupol, especially regarding marine defence, have been intensely circulated in the last 24 hours. Some of the messages have been deemed falsified.

Both Slovakia and Ukraine have refuted news regarding the destruction of the S-300 missile system handed to the Ukrainian forces by Slovakia. The news of the destruction of the missile system has mainly been spread by Russian sources.

Over 1600 large, multi-storey residential buildings in Kharkiv and over 800 km of roads in the Kharkiv oblast have been damaged or destroyed.

According to data provided by the Office of the President of Ukraine, approximately 940 educational institutions and nearly 300 hospitals have been destroyed or damaged since the beginning of hostilities. More than 180 children have been killed.

The State Emergency Services estimates that almost half of Ukraine’s territory will need to be demined.

The Russian army has reportedly mined residential quarters of the industrial district in Kharkiv. The mines

have been planted using remote-mining technologies.

According to preliminary assessments, the damage inflicted on the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant amounts to 18.3 billion UAH or 610 million USD. Apart from that, near the nuclear power plant fortifications are being erected with reactive artillery deployed.

Residents of the territories under Russia’s control continue to resist the invasion through peaceful means. Despite the non-violent nature of protests, reprisals against the civilian population continue, with, for example, Russian troops seizing control over a humanitarian centre in Kherson. The volunteers of the centre have been accused of storing weapons in its facilities.

Russian forces have conducted searches in residential houses in the Melitopol district of Kherson.

Russian troops have reportedly abducted a 28-year-old Crimean Tatar, Asan Ablyamitov, in the village of Yakymivka.

Local authorities of the Nyzhnyosirohoska community have rejected the offer to collaborate with Russian forces. The decision is feared to lead to attacks against the representatives of the community.

Russian educational organizations operating in Europe are reportedly attempting to access Ukrainian refugee children. The assumed goal of these activities is to disseminate pro-Russian sentiments to the children.

Ukrainians in the territories controlled by Russia continue to be deported to Russian territories. For example, nearly 33 000 citizens of Mariupol have reportedly been deported.

Religious institutions continue to exert their influence on the conflict parties. Approximately 300 priests of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church part of the Moscow Patriarchate have signed a letter calling for an international ecclesiastical tribunal against Patriarch Kirill, Patriarch of Moscow and all Rus’.

Russian sources continue to accuse the Ukrainian army of violating humanitarian and human rights law in Ukraine, and narratives claiming that the Ukrainian army ordered violations against civilians are being heavily circulated. Russia continues to deny that it has committed any crimes in Ukraine.

The Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sergei Lavrov, has made a statement claiming that the evidence published by Ukrainian sources regarding war crimes committed by Russian troops is staged with the aim of obtaining more western support.

Kremlin is disseminating narratives legitimizing the Russian aggression and has framed Russia as a peacekeeper against the forces of the United States of America and Ukrainian nationalists.

Russia is expanding its efforts to deny responsibility for the crimes committed by its forces in the Sumy oblast. Russian sources continue to spread information about humanitarian efforts undertaken by Russia to evacuate civilians from Mariupol to its territories.

Individuals opposing the war are being systematically denounced.

According to Russian sources, Russia’s actions in Ukraine are being conducted in response to the methodical extermination of the people of Donbas.

Russian sources continue to discredit Ukrainian political leadership by, for example, accusing politicians of drug abuse as well as disseminating information about laboratories manufacturing drugs found in the territories Russia has seized control of. News regarding drug abuse among the Ukrainian military has also been disseminated.

Russia has been reported to not attempt to storm the underground facilities of the Metallurgical Combine Azovstal in Mariupol. It is said that chemical weapons against the Ukrainian military can be used by the Russian army instead.