March 20, 2022 | Daily briefing

00:00

As of March 19, more than 273,000 consumers remain without gas supply. According to the Ministry of Energy of Ukraine, more than 1,327 settlements and 872,000 consumers are left without electricity.

00:30

On March 19, Russian invaders shelled Novi Petrivtsi with “Grads.” As a result of the shelling, the field caught fire, and the gas station was damaged. The fire has been extinguished. The National Police of the Kyiv region claimed there were no victims.    

Source: https://kv.npu.gov.ua/news/Informacziya/obstrili-iz-gradiv-novix-petrivcziv-policzejski-vishgorodshhini-fiksuyut-poshkodzhennya/

01:00

Russian military equipment is approaching the Belarussian border, said the adviser to the Minister for Internal Affairs Vadym Denysenko on Ukrainian TV channels.

“Russian military equipment is approaching the Belarussian border. The Russians are trying to enter again with certain, not-so-great forces, as it was three weeks ago; of course, with some forces, they will try to enter the territory of Ukraine. In general, we understand where they are going; we understand that the Russians don’t give up the idea of making another attempt to storm Kyiv. Well, let’s fight them.”

02:00

In Chernihiv, Russian troops fired shelled the hospital, the city is suffering from absolute humanitarian catastrophe — said Chernihiv Mayor Vladyslav Atroshenko on the telethon.

«The city is suffering from absolute humanitarian catastrophe. There is no electricity, heat, or water, the city’s infrastructure is completely destroyed. These bombings can be compared with the fascist bombings of 1943. The Russians aimlessly shell the entire city territory», – Atroshenko said.

The hospital is located on the city’s outskirts, and active fighting occurs nearby. The hospital windows were shattered, so the operated patients lie in the hospital’s corridors, where the temperature does not exceed 10-11oC.   

05:00

At present, we can say that the third part of Ukraine’s economy is not functioning, said the Minister of Finance Serhiy Marchenko on the air of the all-Ukrainian telethon. 

He noted that this figure is preliminary, based on the information on tax budget revenues, particularly on personal income, single social contribution, and others.

“Now the situation is that our tax revenues do not cover our needs. The main channel is borrowings, internal and external. The need for the army and other important sensitive things, which we finance from the budget” – the minister said.

07:00

Yesterday, on March 19, Russian troops destroyed 24 houses in Rubizhne and Sievierodonetsk. According to the head of the Luhansk Regional State Administration, seven people were saved. 

About 30 facilities were damaged or destroyed in both cities in one day. Twelve are apartment and private residential buildings and one educational institution in Rubizhne, warehouses, outbuildings, and infrastructure facilities.

As a result of shelling, three people died, including two children. Two people were injured, including the child.

08:00

The United Nations has claimed the deaths of 847 civilians and 1,399 injuries in Ukraine.

Most of the victims were due to high-impact explosive weapons, including heavy artillery and multiple rocket launchers, missiles, and airstrikes.

At the same time, the UN believes that the real numbers are much higher; many reports of dead and injured are still awaiting confirmation.

08:30

From the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion in Ukraine, 115 children have died, more than 140 have been injured, – the Prosecutor General’s Office reports. 

Most injured children are in Kyiv (52(, Kharkiv (36), Donetsk (29), Chernihiv (30), Mylokaiv (22), Zhytomyr (15), Sumy (14), and Kherson (14) regions.

Regular bombings and shelling of the Russian invaders damaged 489 educational institutions. Sixty-nine of them are completely destroyed.

09:00

In Mariupol, Russian occupation troops, dropped bombs on an art school yesterday, March 19, where about 400 people were hiding, the Mariupol City Council said.   

Women, children, and elderly people were hiding in the art school. The building is destroyed, and civilians are still under the rubble.

10:00

During the day from 19 to March 20 in Chernihiv, 13 fires broke out due to the shelling. Six of them were in the multi-story houses, 2 in private sector buildings and five on other sites, including a burning sawmill, woodworking plant, and warehouses – said the press service of the State Emergency Service in Chernihiv region.

Photo: Main Department of SES in Chernihiv region

11:00

On March 19, invaders shelled the village Mala Kostromka in the Kryvyi Rih region from “Grads” at least ten times. As a result, a private house, a garage, an automobile, and a commercial building were damaged.

According to preliminary data, there were no casualties. There are no military facilities in this area. The prosecutor’s office has already opened a criminal case for violating the laws and customs of war.

12:00

56 people died due to the shelling of a retirement house in the Luhansk region on March 11, informed the Head of the Luhansk Regional State Administration. According to him, people were shot point-blank from a tank.

Another 15 survivors were illegally imprisoned by infidels and taken to the temporarily occupied territory ㅡ in the city of Svatove. At present, the prosecutor’s office has launched an investigation.

Photo shared by the Head of the Luhansk Regional Military Administration, Sergii Haidai.

15:00

In the Sviatoshyno district of Kyiv, the 4th-floor balcony in a ten-story building caught fire due to the fall of shrapnels from the Russian shelling. Two private cars also caught fire. Fortunately, the fire was extinguished.

No casualties have been reported so far. However, five people were injured, and two were hospitalized. Paramedics and rescuers worked on the spot.

16:00

Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said that according to agent intelligence, along the route of the agreed humanitarian corridor Kharkiv – Mala Rohan in the temporarily uncontrolled territory, there are signs that Russians are preparing to seize a humanitarian convoy with a mined path.

17:59

A Ukrainian military officer published a photo with a downed Russian Tochka-U missile aimed, he said, at civilians.

Am missile complex has a 482 kg (1,063 lb) warhead and could be equipped with different warhead types, including nuclear. The missile range is 15-70 km(9.3 mi – 43 mi).

18:00

The Chernobyl nuclear power plant press service reported that their employees did a work shift of about 600 hours – tonight managed to conduct a partial rotation of staff.

Non-personnel people on the occupied station’s territory were also evacuated – the National Guard, one rescuer, and four “stalkers.”

Forty-six station volunteers went to replace the evacuated personnel of the Chernobyl NPP to perform their duties and ensure the plant’s functioning.

19:00

In Chernihiv, the shell hit the car, which delivered water to citizens. There are dead and injured.

“Peaceful people, they were going just to get some water. They were collecting it and giving it to people,” said an eyewitness who asked not to be named.

The car became uncontrollable and drove to the curb, according to the witness. Two people were killed, and several others were injured.

“We took two of the dead to a place where they will be buried. Two were rescued. People tried to calm down one guy since his father was there, who unfortunately died. I helped however I could. I won’t tell you exactly how people were hurt, but very badly,” says an eyewitness.

20:00

In the Zhytomyr region, as a result of airstrikes on residential areas, 13 buildings were damaged. According to preliminary information, three people were injured. According to the State Emergency Service, the fires caused by the shelling