Ukraine develops plans due to delay in US funds, Zelenskyy responds to Pope Francis: March 10 highlights

Ukraine is considering several budget scenarios

Due to the delay in financial aid from the United States, Ukraine has begun to consider alternative scenarios for financing its military needs. For this purpose, there is not only a "plan B" but also a "plan C", said Roksolana Pidlasa, MP and chair of the Parliamentary Committee on Budget. According to her, the Ukrainian government is negotiating support with other G7 countries, especially Japan and Canada. In addition, Ukraine may significantly reduce non-military spending and raise taxes.

Zelenskyy responds to the Pope

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that "Russian murderers and torturers are not going further in Europe" only because they are being held back by Ukrainians with arms and under the blue and yellow flag.

These words came against the backdrop of Pope Francis' call for negotiations, who believes that "the stronger will be the one who has the courage to raise the white flag."

In addition, Zelenskyy compared the church, which is on the front line with the soldiers, referring to chaplains, and those who, according to the president, are engaged in "virtual mediation between those who want to live and those who want to destroy you."

Before the speech, the head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, Sviatoslav Shevchuk, addressed "those who are skeptical about Ukraine's ability to withstand" Russia, emphasizing that there are no plans to surrender.

Polish farmers unblock the "Krakowiec"

Polish farmers have stopped blocking traffic leading to the Krakivets checkpoint, according to the spokesman for the State Border Guard Service, Andriy Demchenko.

However, this is a temporary measure: they promise to resume the strike on March 13, according to Polish border guards.

In total, five checkpoints with Poland remain blocked. In the morning of March 10, there were about 1,700 trucks in queues in all directions.

Attacks

On the night of March 10, the Russian occupation forces fired three S-300 missiles at the town of Myrnohrad, Donetsk Oblast. As a result of the attack, 12 people were injured. They were diagnosed with cut wounds, mine-blast injuries, multiple abrasions, closed head injury and concussion.

The Russian military also attacked the town of Dobropillia, also in Donetsk Oblast. Several buildings were destroyed, killing two people under the rubble.

In addition, in the morning, the enemy launched an artillery attack on Chasiv Yar, killing a 66-year-old man.

The winners of LIFT have been announced

The second LIFT short documentary film competition from hromadske has determined the winners. The screenings of the finalists' films and the award ceremony took place at the Kyiv Cinema House on March 9.

The first place was awarded to the film Hello, I'm on the Mountain by Liza Pyrozhkova. This is a study of the town of Izyum in Kharkiv Oblast, which suffered significant destruction during the fighting and was isolated even after the liberation.

Other important news of the day:

• Fighter pilot Andriy Tkachenko was killed in the sky over Donetsk Oblast.
• The New York Times reports that the United States was prepared for a "non-nuclear" response in the event of a nuclear strike by Russia on Ukraine.
• After the loss of the Sergei Kotov ship, Russians have not deployed their vessels to the Black Sea for almost a week.
• Russia claims to have destroyed Ukrainian Patriot launchers for the first time. ISW has found no evidence of this.