According to Oleksiy Danilov, the head of the National Security and Defense Council in Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin has fired around eight of his generals amid increasing losses for the Russian military in its ongoing invasion of Ukraine. That’s not to say that the Ukrainian side hasn’t also suffered substantial impacts — thousands of civilians in Ukraine have been killed, and the destruction wrought upon Ukraine’s infrastructure has been immense, but on the Russian side, Ukrainian forces say that they’ve wiped out somewhere upwards of 12,000 troops. Although exact numbers are difficult to pin down under current conditions, Western officials have tentatively backed up the notion that thousands of Russian soldiers have died. Ukrainians have also made serious dents in Russia’s equipment capacity, removing over 80 helicopters — and a Russian warship! –from the battlefield.
Zelensky tonight: “If you want to know what Russia is planning, look at what Russia is accusing others of planning to do”
(referencing the false accusations that Ukraine is building biological weapons and planning chemical weapons attack)
— Dmitri Alperovitch (@DAlperovitch) March 11, 2022
As Danilov commented, “We have a clear understanding of what plans the enemy has now… They have changed them a little since the beginning of the war, which they wanted to win in 2-3 days and march [into Kyiv]. It hasn’t happened and never will… They changed their leadership. They had about 8 generals removed from their posts because they did not complete the task. Now new ones have been appointed… We clearly understand what is happening in the Russian Federation. Moreover, I can say that they are desperate.” According to The Daily Mail, “Putin is also said to be infuriated with commanders of the FSB security service – which he used to run – for handing him intelligence suggesting that Ukraine was weak, riddled with neo-Nazi groups, and would give up easily if attacked.”
Morning from Ukraine to readers waking up all over.
Kyiv remains in Ukrainian hands.
However, strikes overnight hit cities in Western Ukraine, places far from the front lines and which have not been hit since the early days of the war.
— Tim Mak (@timkmak) March 11, 2022
Ukraine has essentially taken the route exactly opposite to a quick surrender — and as the fighting has continued, Russian military personnel have launched increasing attacks on civilians in the country. Locations where conditions are particularly precarious include Mariupol, where residents numbering in the range of hundreds of thousands have been essentially trapped amid repeated Russian attacks after having lost access to utilities such as running water — and where the Russian military recently bombed a maternity hospital, killing at least 3 people, including a child. Across Mariupol since the beginning of the war, over 1,100 people have died, according to the city’s deputy mayor; a CNN report citing officials who went anonymous put the city’s death toll at around 1,300. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called the hospital bombing “final proof, proof of a genocide of Ukrainians taking place.” He’s refusing to abandon the defense of his country, insisting this week that those involved in the fight have “already reached a strategic turning point. We are already moving towards our goal, our victory… We need time, patience, our wisdom, energy, we need to do our job to the best of our abilities.”
Photo drawn from Wikimedia Commons
