The Kremlin has been torturing Ukrainian cities for 14 months. Some of them have been erased from the face of the earth. For example, Mariinka or Mariupol, Donetsk region. Due to the war, the official population of Marinka is 0 because Russia destroyed each building in the 13.74 km² town and killed most of the population. Reminiscent of Warsaw in 1945 or Fukushima after a nuclear disaster. Mariupol, under the control of the occupiers, remains destroyed, but Moscow begins to populate the city with "impure" Russians.
"Settlers from the Russian Federation have already made more than 40.000 compared to 80.000 Mariupol citizens. During stalinism, Mariupol was inhabited by residents of the central strip of Russia, now, the ethnic composition is surprising. Most of them (Russians – ed.) don't speak Russian," wrote a Ukrainian adviser to the mayor of Mariupol Petro Andryushchenko.
At the same time, the Russian army wants to turn Bakhmut and Avdiivka into similar ones. These territories remain the hot spots in Ukraine. However, the ISW recorded a new failure of the "second world army" – they believe that the Ukrainian armed forces conducted a successful counterattack in the Avdeevka direction and forced the invaders to retreat. Thus, the losses of Russian families and the Kremlin increased during the week of war:
- 177.110 — personnel;
- 3.633 — tanks;
- 7.016 — armoured personnel vehicle;
- 2.722/533 — artillery systems/MRS;
- 281 — anti-aircraft warfare systems;
- 306/292 — aircraft/helicopters;
- 2.291 — UAV operational-tactical level;
- 911— cruise missiles;
- 18 — warship/boats;
- 5.587 — vehicles, fuel tanks;
- 304 — special equipment.
Also this week, Ukraine strengthened its military positions and international relations. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited Poland. This visit will help strengthen the Ukrainian army and spring operations to liberate the territories from the occupiers.
