War in Ukraine / April 1

Sumy direction – the second attempt

Over the past week, the Russian leadership has withdrawn a significant part of its troops from Kyiv and Chernihiv regions. They were taken to Belarus. But, as expected, such actions are not about de-escalation. The Russian army has only changed the direction in which it will continue to fight.

Sumy will be one of such directions. The city, which managed to fight back at the beginning of the war, should prepare again for a potential attack. The enemy is transporting troops from Belarus to the Sumy region and, apparently, is preparing for a new attack here. At the same time – the attack and destruction of Mariupol, as well as the shelling of Kharkiv continues. This has been said before: the idea of ​​taking Kyiv has changed to the option of occupying eastern Ukraine.

At the same time, the enemy does not plan to leave other Ukrainian cities alone. Only in the last 24 hours, objects in Khmelnytsky, Poltava, Kirovohrad and Dnipro regions have been shelled. Targeted strikes destroy the enemy’s critical infrastructure. There is information that after withdrawing troops from Kyiv, they left missile systems on the territory of Belarus, and therefore the shelling of Kyiv and Chernihiv will continue.

Despite the negotiations, the war continues, and continues very actively.

Airstrike, missile and MRL damage

Donetsk region:

• Another 11 people were injured, including 5 children. Houses and schools were destroyed.

Odessa region:

• 3 rockets at the settlement were fired from Crimea, there are victims.

Dnipro region:

• A shell hit on the territory of a village in the Apostolivska community, windows in the building of a municipal institution were shattered. At night, another village in the district was shelled, the facades of the buildings were damaged, and part of the village was de-energized. Two civilians, one of whom was a child, picked up a cluster munition, which exploded and killed them.

Luhansk region:

• Shelling of Severodonetsk, Rubizhne, Lysychansk, Kreminna, Hirs’ke, Berezove, Toshkivka. 31 buildings were damaged or destroyed, incl. 27 residential buildings. The number of victims is being specified.

New laws

Ukraine:

• [Military service] Amendments to the list of specialities of women who are liable for military service have been published. From October 1, 2022, they must register with the relevant authorities. 
• [War] A law on the nationalization of the property of Russians and collaborators.
• [Health] A law on the rehabilitation of civilians and military victims during martial law at the expense of the state and another law on additional provision for such citizens.
• [Support for the economy] The law on the creation of the register of occupations. Also, it introduces the concept of the full and partial profession.
• [Military service] A law on the postponement of mobilization in the event of pregnancy or child care for one of the spouses liable for military service.
• [Military service] A law that allows enrolling in the territorial defense battalion only at the place of residence or registration in areas where hostilities are taking place during martial law.
• [War] The law on the voluntary surrender of usable military equipment by Russian soldiers, for which a monetary reward is available:

1. Fighter or ground attack combat aircraft – $1m;
2. Combat helicopter –$0,5m;
3. MRL – $25k in case of up to 122 mm caliber and $35k over 122 mm;
4. Tank, self-propelled artillery – $100k;
5. Infantry fighting vehicle, armored personnel carrier, armored reconnaissance and patrol vehicle– $50k;
6. Military vehicle / tractor unit / engineering vehicle for reconnaissance, demining, clearing, laying tracks – $10k;
7. Ship 1st or 2nd rank – $1m;
8. Ship 3rd or 4th rank – $0,5m;
9. Military support vessel – $200k;
10. Vessel of small-sized combat (reconnaissance) purpose – $50k.

• [Support for the economy] All deposits in banks are guaranteed by the state during martial law and 3 more months after it. After that, the maximum amount of reimbursement of funds on deposits will increase to UAH 600k
• [War] Tax increase by 50% for Ukrainian companies that work in Russia during wartime.
• [War] Removal of any restrictions to switch to a 2% tax system and import material for the manufacture of bulletproof vests and armored vehicles without VAT and duties.
• [Support for the economy] The VAT rate is also set at zero for alternative motor fuels and the wider use of biofuels.
• [War] Creation of a state register of property damaged and destroyed by the war and the procedure for its compensation from the state.
• [IP] Suspension of terms related to the protection of intellectual property rights.
• [Support for the economy] State assistance is allowed during wartime and a year after it.
• [Politics] Dismissal of members of the supervisory boards of state enterprises for failure to arrive within 48 hours at the place of registration of the enterprise.
• [War] The procedure for staffing specialized prosecutor’s offices with military personnel, their business trips to the prosecutor’s offices
• [Criminal law] Amendment to the existing law on the prohibition of dissemination of information on the movement of Ukrainian troops.
• [Propaganda] Prohibition of political parties that justify or deny Russia’s armed aggression against Ukraine
• [Support for the economy] Lease of state property, including land, under simplified procedures.
• [Propaganda] Recognition of the letters Z and V, when used in support of Russia, is prohibited. Russia has been declared a terrorist state.
• [Support for the economy] Creation of incentives for the lease of state property for the period of state property
• [Support for the economy] Government allocates funds for railway export insurance
• [Support for the economy] The Verkhovna Rada approved a law guaranteeing full reimbursement of the amount of bank deposits to individuals during martial law.
• [Support for the economy] Kharkiv Mayor Igor Terekhov said that Kharkiv residents would be written off the accrued amounts for utilities from February 24 until the end of the war.
• [Martial law] Minister of Education and Science of Ukraine Sergiy Shkarlet signed an order “On some issues of organizing general secondary education and the educational process in the conditions of martial law in Ukraine
• [Support for the economy] Parliament adopted bill No. 7192, which establishes a special procedure and conditions for renting during martial law – this will open up new opportunities for relocation and business operation.In particular, the Government now has the authority to provide benefits and amend the procedure and terms of the lease.
• [Martial law] Instead of the traditional EIT, applicants will take a simplified analogue – the national multi-subject test (NMT): this is a task in the Ukrainian language, mathematics, history of Ukraine.
• And those entering the master’s program will take the master’s comprehensive test (MKT), in certain specialties – the master’s test of educational competence (MTNK), in all other specialties – an exam at an educational institution.

Russia:

• [Support for the economy] The State Duma adopted a law that allows the Ministry of Finance, on the basis of separate government decisions, to acquire shares of credit organizations at the expense of the National Wealth Fund (which is a part of the pension of Russians).
• [Military service] The Government of the Russian Federation approved the rules for obtaining a deferment from the army for IT specialists.
• [Support for the economy] The government is considering a two-year delay in the modernization of refineries under investment agreements concluded with the Ministry of Energy due to a delay in the supply of equipment and problems with financing.
• [Support for the economy] The government is considering the issue of suspending for six months tax requirements for the regularity and uniformity of sales of petroleum products (gasoline and diesel fuel) on the stock exchange
• [Support for the economy] The Bank of Russia intends to shorten the time range for calculating the official dollar/ruble exchange rate by an hour and use the results of trading on the Moscow Exchange foreign exchange market to determine the official euro and Chinese yuan rates.
• [Support for the economy] The Bank of Russia softened certain currency control rules by abolishing the 30% limit on advance payments for a number of contracts with non-residents for the provision of services, performance of work, transfer of information and results of intellectual activity. Restrictions lifted for contracts worth up to $15,000

Video of Russian prisoners:

• [03/22/2022] POW officer of the RF Armed Forces. During the interrogation, he refuses to take responsibility for his actions during the war in Ukraine, pointing out that “not the one who executes, but the one who gives these orders is guilty.”
• [03/24/2022] Russian POW pilot of the Su-35 aircraft, which was shot down by Ukrainian air defense near the city of Izyum, Kharkiv region. I received the order to fly to Ukraine from the top leadership. The coordinates were sent to the phone. The flight took off from the airfield in Kursk, Russia. Task: escort of columns of equipment, flights by coordinates.
• [03/28/2022] POW soldier of the RF Armed Forces, reports that he crossed the border with Ukraine on February 24, 2022 from the Crimea, was heading towards Gulyai-Pole, Zaporozhye region. Indicates that some of the colleagues, realizing that they are participants in the war, and not the so-called. “special operations”, were going to refuse to participate, and according to the prisoner, “they made a piece of paper. But the elder arrived and said that there was no war there, you just had to go through…”. The unit of the prisoner was not on the front line, but the Armed Forces of Ukraine were defeated, “out of 30 people who arrived, 9 people remained alive.” He also says that there were conscripts with them, who signed a contract only a week before the start of hostilities. Those who refused to fight were given 13 years in prison. He assesses the actions of his command as follows: “We were simply abandoned. If there was an ordinary army, they would have pulled us out, our bodies would have been taken away from here. But our bodies are lying on the field.” He claims that he did not kill anyone, and does not know how to use a machine gun at all.
• [03/29/2022] POW occupier is from Yakutsk, the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia). He reports that he is better off in captivity at the SBU than in the Russian army. He also claims that “if I had the opportunity to fight for Ukraine, take the oath, move my family and stay here to live, I would do it with pleasure.” The unit of the prisoner came to the war in Ukraine from the other end of the Russian Federation, the journey took 4-5 days. He also reports that “when they crossed the border, they saw corpses, about 50 pieces of broken equipment, and then they realized: this is not a special operation, but a real war. They wanted to turn around and leave from there, but they threatened to shoot me.” In addition, he indicates that 14 people from his unit deserted towards the Russian Federation, but were taken prisoner.
• [03/31/2022] POW is one of two surviving tankers of a tank regiment destroyed by the Armed Forces of Ukraine near Kharkov. According to him, “I am very ashamed of the actions of our army. I didn’t shoot myself. Excuse me, please. When I saw all this horror, I did not understand how such a war could take place in the 21st century”
• [03/31/2022] Press conference of POW who are students who were forcibly drafted into the army of the so-called “DPR”, and who previously lived on the territory of ORDLO. They report that they were sent to the war in Ukraine under the pretext of exercises in the Russian Federation.
• [04/01/2022] An exchange of POWs took place between the Russian Federation and Ukraine. 86 Ukrainian soldiers were released, including 15 women.

War in Ukraine. Weekly digest of the key events