[Korrespondent] 23:22 Washington does not consider China an objective mediator between Russia and Ukraine, said White House national security adviser John Kirby: "China is not at all a fair mediator between Russia and Ukraine. We clearly see it on the side of Russia, and the fact that tomorrow China hosts the President of Belarus, also proves it."
22:25 The situation in the Bakhmut direction is becoming more and more difficult, Zelensky said. According to him, the enemy is destroying everything that can be used to protect Ukrainian positions, to consolidate and defend.
21:58 Zelensky said in an evening video message that it will be possible to fully protect the sky of Ukraine only when "the aviation taboo in relations with our partners is removed." The President recalled the night attack by Iranian drones, as a result of which three employees of the State Emergency Service in Khmelnytsky were injured, two were killed.
"First of all, this is why we need the aviation component of air defense - modern combat aircraft, so that the entire territory of our state can be protected from Russian terror. Air defense is fully functional when it is provided, among other things, by aviation. Modern aviation," Zelensky stressed.
21:43 During his visit to China, Lukashenko said that Ukraine "has no other way than to conclude a peace treaty now, without preconditions," until Russia allegedly "put the economy on a military footing." Lukashenka also claims that last spring Kyiv abandoned negotiations under the influence of the West.
20:17 Deputy Defense Minister Anna Malyar said that the situation at the front is difficult: "The enemy army is increasing the intensity of assault operations. The most difficult situation remains in the Bakhmut direction. The enemy uses tactics of exhaustion and total destruction during offensive operations. At the same time, the enemy suffers losses , losing from 600 to 1000 people daily. The Ukrainian Defense Forces are conducting active defensive operations in the face of the quantitative superiority of the enemy."
19:21 Since the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion, US assistance to Ukraine in the field of security, economic, humanitarian and social support has amounted to about $ 50 billion, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said.
18:54 Zaluzhny said that he had a telephone conversation with the head of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley, discussed with him the supply of military equipment, weapons and ammunition, the situation at the front and further plans of the Ukrainian Defense Forces to de-occupy its territory. "Updated the need to strengthen the capabilities of the Ukrainian air defense system, including through the provision of F16 multi-purpose combat aircraft," the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine added.
18:50 The United States pledged to provide Ukraine with more than $10 billion in budget support by September. In addition, Washington allocated $1.5 billion for a speedy recovery and another $1.1 billion for the energy sector of Ukraine and Moldova, Shmyhal said after a meeting with US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen.
18:41 Zelensky held a meeting in Kiev with US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, the presidential press service reported.
18:38 Orban said that Hungary supports China's "peace plan": "Hungary calls for peace in all international forums, I see that most states support peace. Hungary cannot isolate itself from most of the world ... Therefore, we consider it important China's peace plan and support it."
18:32 The main efforts of the Russian army are focusing on conducting offensive operations in the Kupyansky, Limansky, Bakhmutsky, Avdeevsky and Miner directions, increasing the number of personnel. Up to 200 conscripts from the Rostov region have been deployed to the occupied territory of the Lugansk region, the Geshtab reported in an evening report .
The Russians continue their attempts to discredit the Ukrainian Defense Forces and intimidate the residents of the Kherson region. In particular, they again fired mortars at the residential areas of the Oleshki settlement and blamed the Armed Forces of Ukraine for this.
18:03 The Supreme Anti-Corruption Court has recovered in favor of the state 88.89% of the shares of PIN Bank of the Russian oligarch Yevgeny Giner within the framework of the law on sanctions "and generally accepted ideas of humanity about justice," Arakhamia said. He added that "next will be Ocean Plaza."
17:31 The first battalion of the Armed Forces of Ukraine has completed training in the operation of the M2 Bradley BMP at the American base in Germany, Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Pavlyuk said.
17:28 The PepsiСo company has resumed the work of its plant in the Nikolaev region, and the "world leader in the export of tomatoes" has also begun work in the region, OVA reported.
17:16 The damage to the Russian A-50 radar aircraft at the Machulishchi airfield in Belarus is good news, but this will not affect the ability of the Russians to attack Ukraine, Yuri Ignat, spokesman for the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, said. According to him, Russia still has about nine such aircraft, of which half are modernized. Ignat added that his own sources confirmed the damage to the aircraft.
16:47 A year after the start of the full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation, 18% of the territory of Ukraine remains occupied, while during this period the Armed Forces of Ukraine liberated 7% of the territory.
16:21 The Russians are now using Iranian Shahed drones to track down and deplete Ukrainian air defense systems, Yuriy Ignat, spokesman for the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, said: “Previously, they used it more in combination with missiles. Now they deplete air defense, detect its location. The same radar aircraft A -50 takes off when we are conducting combat work on the "Shaheds" - it fixes the places of launches from our anti-aircraft missile systems. In this way, they detect and develop an algorithm, where we launch from, how we move, etc."
Ignat added that, unlike previous launches, this night Russia launched Iranian drones not from the eastern coast of the Sea of Azov, but from the Bryansk region of the Russian Federation.
16:06 After a possible sabotage in Machulishchi, Lukashenka gathered representatives of law enforcement agencies and demanded to strengthen border security: “We must see the smallest aggressiveness against our state on the borders of our country in order to take response measures. They use any cases to stir up the situation in Belarus, and they will do it."
15:56 Poland will transfer ten Leopard 2A4 tanks to Ukraine, as well as 60 T-72 and PT-91 Twardy tanks within a few weeks after the completion of the training of Ukrainian crews, said Minister of the Office of the Polish Prime Minister Michal Dvorczyk.
15:51 The head of the organization of former Belarusian security forces ByPol Alexander Azarov told the Belarusian service of Radio Liberty the details of the alleged blowing up of the Russian plane in Machulishchi. According to him, the preparation of such an action takes 3-4 months, there are many options for sabotage, but not all of them succeed. Azarov confirmed that in the case of the Russian A-50 aircraft, it was a drone attack, but he did not specify their number. Only a few participants participated in the action, the most important and difficult was to prepare their evacuation, the head of ByPol added. He also stressed that the partisans act independently, they are not controlled by the special services of foreign states, as Lukashenka's representatives stated.
15:27 The European Council obliged all individuals and organizations included in the anti-Russian sanctions lists to notify national and European regulators of their assets in the EU countries. In addition, the Russians were ordered to cooperate with local authorities to block their assets. Individuals and legal entities from the sanctions lists must apply to the EU authorities no later than six weeks after the imposition of sanctions, and failure to comply with these requirements in the EU will be considered as a circumvention of sanctions.
15:02 The European Commission and Poland, with the support of the UN, are launching an initiative to search for thousands of Ukrainian children whom the Russian military illegally took out of the occupied territories of Ukraine, said EC spokeswoman Dana Spinant. She stressed that those responsible for the crimes must be punished. Detailed information about the initiative will be presented in a few days.
14:45 Foreign ministers of the G20 countries will gather in New Delhi on March 1-2, the main topics of the meeting will be Russia's war against Ukraine and the growing tension between the US and China, Reuters reports. The meeting comes shortly after G20 finance ministers in Bangalore failed to reach consensus on a joint statement condemning Russia for the war in Ukraine.
14:19 The Russians are shelling the village of Kurakhovka in the Donetsk region, it is known about one dead, the shelling continues, the Office of the President said.
13:51 Russia is trying to change the tactics of rocket attacks on Ukraine, Andrey Chernyak, a spokesman for the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense, said in a comment to RBC-Ukraine. According to him, the Russian Federation has less than 100 high-precision cruise missiles that are most often used in shelling - Caliber, Kh-101, Kh-555. Production volumes do not keep pace with the dynamics with which the Russians spent them until mid-February.
"They have not achieved a single strategic success, 95% of the Russian ground forces are involved in the aggression against Ukraine in one way or another - they have nothing and no one to fight with. Therefore, the Russians decided to increase their offensive potential by using aviation," Chernyak said. He added that the Russian Federation still has thousands of missiles, but they use them much more than they produce.
Also, Ukrainian intelligence emphasizes that the Russian army has not given up on the idea of destroying the energy system of Ukraine. Together with the energy sector, the Russian Federation seeks to destroy the fuel and energy sector in order to stop the supply of petroleum products.
13:36 In Russia, the military air defense was withdrawn from the subordination of the Ground Forces and reassigned to the main command of the Aerospace Forces of Russia, led by Sergei Surovikin, TASS reports, citing sources close to the Russian Defense Ministry.
13:09 The European Union has extended sanctions against Lukashenka and his entourage for another year - until the end of February 2024. Now the EU sanctions list for Belarus includes 243 individuals, including Lukashenka himself, and 32 legal entities. The sanctions concern visa restrictions and asset freezes.
12:57 The G7 countries , in a statement timed to coincide with the anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, announced their commitment to strengthen diplomatic, financial and military support for Kiev. They also stressed their determination to bring Putin and other perpetrators to justice.
12:51 In Belarus, after the alleged sabotage in Machulishchi, border guards have tightened checks at the exit from the country, the Belarusian service of Radio Liberty reports. Earlier, a representative of the Bypol organization said that the participants in the possible sabotage in Machulishchi had already left Belarus and were now safe.
12:18 Russians are dismantling the Chumak plant in the Kherson region, deputy of the regional council Sergei Khlan said. According to him, the invaders tried to resume the work of the enterprise and handed it over to some company from the Crimea. This company tried to get the plant up and running, but without the software, it failed.
12:14 Last year, Ukraine unblocked political decisions regarding six out of seven types of weapons, Kuleba said: "Each discussion about the supply of a new, fundamentally important type of weapon to Ukraine began with "no" and ended with "yes." Last year, we unblocked political decisions on six of the seven types of weapons that change the rules of the game. Only combat aircraft remain."
11:47 Peskov said that the Chinese "peace plan" requires careful analysis, "it is a long and intense process." At the same time, there are currently no prerequisites for negotiations on Ukraine, and the "special operation" is moving "in the direction of its goals," the Kremlin speaker added.
Peskov also said that the situation around Transnistria is allegedly "provoked from outside", and for the Kremlin the situation in this region is "the subject of the closest attention and cause for concern."
11:38 OK Pivden warns of a high probability of missile strikes. This, in particular, is evidenced by the analysis of aviation activity and previous night drone attacks. The Russian ship grouping in the Black Sea keeps a safe distance from the Ukrainian-controlled coast. Now there are six ships, among which one submarine launch vehicle, launched in the morning, equipped with four Caliber missiles. Russia also continues aerial reconnaissance.
11:04 Biden's national security adviser Jake Sullivan explained Washington's position regarding the provision of fighter jets to Ukraine: "In the first stage, when they defended Kiev, it was Javelin and Stinger. And that helped protect Kiev. In the second stage, there was heavy artillery to help them defend from the Russians in the east. At this stage, the critical element is the ability to maneuver on the ground. And that means tanks, armored personnel carriers, infantry fighting vehicles ... F-16 is a question for later."
10:57 The SBU neutralized the FSB agent network in Odessa, among the detainees is an assistant to the sanctioned deputy from Crimea Konstantin Malchikov. The attackers reconnoitered the locations of strategically important objects of the military-industrial complex of Ukraine, corrected Russian missile strikes. One of the participants in the network of agents turned out to be the pro-Kremlin blogger Alexander Sinitsyn, who has been hiding in Ryazan since 2014.
10:50 In Khmelnitsky, another rescuer died in the hospital, who was injured during a night attack by drones, said the head of the OVA Serhiy Gamaly. Thus, the death toll rose to two.
10:44 The head of the Lugansk OVA, Serhiy Gaidai, announced the escalation: “An escalation is already underway, a full-scale offensive is already being partially implemented. A huge amount of heavy equipment was brought to the occupied part of the Lugansk region. in the offensive in different directions with different compositions, that is, there is a probing of weak points in the defense of Ukraine.
At the same time, Gaidai added that the Russian troops would not attack with a large number of equipment and troops: "Their offensive is a lot of attacks in small groups."
10:31 There is no shortage of power in the energy system of Ukraine and is not predicted yet. All types of power plants are operating, electricity imports are approaching zero, Ukrenergo reported. However, with the beginning of the working week and an increase in consumption in the Odessa region, the consequences of enemy shelling affected: there was an emergency shutdown of individual elements of the transmission system in the region.
10:12 British intelligence writes that since February 21, at least 14 explosions have been reported in the Mariupol region. Incident sites include an airport ammunition depot, two fuel depots and a steel plant that Russia uses as a military base. At the same time, Mariupol is located at a distance of at least 80 km from the front line, and Russia was sure that the city was beyond the reach of conventional Ukrainian strike weapons.
Despite significant destruction at the start of the war, Mariupol is important to Russia because the largest city it captured in 2022, which it still controls, is also located on a key logistical route, analysts say.
09:35 North African countries have begun to massively import Russian oil products, which may indicate their use to circumvent EU sanctions, writes The Wall Street Journal. Moroccan imports of Russian diesel fuel rose to 2 million barrels in January against 600,000 barrels in all of 2021, according to Kpler. At least 1.2 million barrels are expected to arrive in the country in February. Algeria and Egypt are also seeing growth.
09:13 The American Institute for the Study of War (ISW) notes that Putin is trying to concentrate all Russian forces under the leadership of the Russian Ministry of Defense. This is evidenced by a number of decisions, including the appointment of Gerasimov instead of Surovikin, the integration of the 1st and 2nd army corps of the "DNR" and "LNR" into the Russian armed forces, the restriction of the Wagner PMC in obtaining ammunition, etc.
ISW believes that Putin, in trying to prepare his people for a long and painful war, has realized that only the Russian Defense Ministry can realistically maintain the large mechanized forces he needs to achieve his ambitions in Ukraine.
09:01 CIA director William Burns said that the alliance between Russia and Iran is developing rapidly, and this is "alarming." According to him, Moscow is offering assistance to the Iranians in their missile program and is considering providing Tehran with fighter jets in exchange for military assistance. Burns noted that the Iranians had already provided the Russians not only with attack drones, but also with ammunition for artillery and tanks.
08:43 In the Donetsk region over the past day, as a result of Russian shelling, two people were injured, in Kharkiv - one person, in Kherson one person was killed, two were injured, according to the OVA.
08:22 The General Staff announced the approximate losses of the Russian Federation as of the morning of February 27.
- personnel - about 148,690 (+560) people liquidated,
- tanks - 3385 (+4),
- armored combat vehicles - 6621 (+6),
- artillery systems - 2380 (+0),
- MLRS - 475 (+0),
- air defense systems - 247 (+0),
- aircraft - 300 (+1),
- helicopters - 288 (+0),
- UAV operational-tactical level - 2048 (+11),
- cruise missiles - 873 (+0),
- ships/boats - 18 (+0),
- automotive equipment and tankers - 5248 (+6),
- special equipment - 230 (+0).
08:14 The Russian army is focusing its main efforts on conducting offensive operations in the Kupyansky, Limansky, Bakhmutsky, Avdeevsky and Miner directions. Over the past day, Ukrainian defenders repulsed 81 attacks in these areas, the General Staff said in the morning report .
Due to fears of de-occupation of Ukrainian territories in Oleshki and Skadovsk, Kherson region, the Russian occupation "authority" is preparing to flee to Crimea. In particular, from February 21, the departure of local collaborators to Bakhchisaray, Simferopol and Kerch continues, and from February 24, the invaders announced the so-called "evacuation" to everyone. Military trucks are used to transport collaborators, only hand luggage is allowed.
07:45 On the night of February 27, the Russians fired 14 Shahed strike drones from the northern direction across Ukraine, 11 of them were destroyed, the command of the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported.
07:39 At night, nine Shahed UAVs were shot down over Kiev. The attack was carried out in two waves, maximally stretched in time. Thus, the Russians tried to deplete the Ukrainian air defense, so the air raid in the capital lasted five and a half hours, said the head of the KGVA, Sergei Popko. According to preliminary data, there were no casualties or hits on infrastructure facilities.
07:33 At night, the Russians launched three strikes with drones on the city of Khmelnitsky. According to preliminary information, one person died, four were injured, said the head of the OVA, Sergei Gamaly. Firefighting continues, civilian homes have been damaged.
07:08 The Russians hit Zaporozhye with S-300 missiles at night, one of the infrastructure facilities was damaged, people were not injured, the OVA reported. One of the launched Russian projectiles probably fell into the water.
04:04 Putin underestimates US resolve to support Ukraine, CIA Director William Burns said. According to him, the Russian president believes that Americans have an "attention deficit disorder", and therefore they will eventually "move to another issue." He added that now Putin "is too confident in his ability to deplete Ukraine."
Burns also said that during the meeting in November, Russian intelligence chief Sergei Naryshkin showed "impertinence and pride", which reflected Putin's own beliefs that "he can make time work for him, and believes he can despise the Ukrainians and exhaust our European allies." The conversation, the CIA director noted, was "pretty sad."
02:47 The "DPR" announced that they created a "volunteer battalion" named after Bogdan Khmelnitsky - it was formed from Ukrainian prisoners of war.
00:36 Decrees on new Ukrainian sanctions against Russia have been published on the President's website . Thus, the National Security and Defense Council imposed restrictions against the daughters of the head of PMC Wagner Yevgeny Prigozhin Veronika and Polina, as well as against Dmitry Utkin with the call sign "Wagner", who is considered the founder of the PMC of the same name. In total, the sanctions package includes 164 individuals and 85 companies.
In addition, sanctions have been imposed against a number of organizations for facilitating the deportation of Ukrainian children to the Russian Federation. Sanctions were imposed against 109 individuals and seven organizations. Among them are the Gulfstream Charitable Foundation, the all-Russian public organization Russian Red Cross and others. Sanctions were also imposed on four representatives of the sports sector, including track and field athlete and Olympic champion Yelena Isimbayeva.
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