Commentary by Russian military journalisy Boris Rozhin.
Highlights by direction:
1. LDNR - the positional nature of hostilities remains, with the attempts of the LDNR armies to advance to the borders of the territories occupied by the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
2. Southern direction - The RF Armed Forces retained control over the bridge across the Dnieper near Kherson, repelling counterattack attempts by the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The fighting in the area of the Antonovsky bridge continues.
New Kakhovka is also held. This morning Melitopol was taken and the advance began in the direction of Berdyansk.
3. Kharkov direction - fighting continues on the near approaches to Kharkov. Both sides suffer losses in men and equipment.
4. Sumy direction - the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation took Putivl and passing through Sumy (there continued the battle at the airport today), advanced to Konotop, surrounding the city.
Today, attempts continued to take Akhtyrka in order to reach Kharkov from the west. Russian checkpoints have been set up on the Sumy-Kyiv highway. There is an advance towards Kiev and Chernigov. (The Armed Forces of Ukraine repulsed the attack of the RF Armed Forces in the Chernihiv direction).
5. Kyiv - Gostomel airfield is held by paratroopers. The Armed Forces of Ukraine have not been able to knock them out of there. This morning, tank columns of the RF Armed Forces broke through to the nearest approaches to Kiev and are close to establishing a direct connection with the landing force.
The Armed Forces of Ukraine are preparing a counterattack, declaring that another landing will be thrown out in the Gostomel area today.
The Pentagon says that Kyiv will fall in the coming days. After 10 o'clock, shooting was heard in the city. Also, according to the statement of the Armed Forces of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, the landing was thrown to the west of Zhytomyr. The Armed Forces of Ukraine are actively undermining the bridges on the outskirts, trying to slow down the advance of the RF Armed Forces.
6. In the morning, attacks on military facilities of the Armed Forces of Ukraine throughout Ukraine continued. A Su-27 of the Ukrainian Air Force was shot down over Kiev - according to one version, by the Russian air defense system, according to another, by the Ukrainian ones. The downed "Caliber" fell on a residential building in Kyiv, but there were no casualties. During the shelling of Gorlovka, a school was hit - 2 teachers were killed.
7. The Armed Forces of Ukraine launched a missile attack on the Millerovo airfield in the territory of the Russian Federation. Damage is reported at the airfield, but there are no aircraft casualties.
From korrespondent.net:
Armed Forces of Ukraine destroyed IL-76 with troops - General Staff
Now heavy fighting continues in Vasilkovo in places where the occupiers are trying to land troops from the air.
Near Kiev, the Armed Forces of Ukraine on the night of Saturday, February 26, destroyed a Russian Il-76 aircraft with paratroopers on board. This is reported by the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
"Our Air Defense Forces shot down an IL-76 with an enemy landing in the Vasilkov area. This is revenge for Luhansk in 2014. Death to the enemies!" - informed the military.
As clarified in the command of the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, at about 00:30 a Ukrainian Su-27 fighter successfully attacked an enemy military transport aircraft Il-76MD. Now heavy fighting continues in Vasilkovo in places where the occupiers are trying to land troops from the air.
In turn, the head of the Servant of the People faction, David Arakhamia, informs that two helicopters were also shot down in the Vasilkov area, and in the JFO zone, the S-300 anti-aircraft missile system of the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine shot down two enemy targets - a helicopter and a Su-25 attack aircraft of the Russian occupation forces.
Recall, the day before, Russian Il-76 with paratroopers on board landed at the Belarusian airfield Gomel. Due to damage to the runway of the Gostomel airfield, the enemy decided to advance under its own power from the territory of Belarus in the direction of Gomel-Chernigov-Kiev.
Russian soldier spoke with residents of Sumy about surrender
Local residents tell the military of the Russian Federation that they will defend their land and discuss the conditions for the surrender of the military.
A video of a conversation between a military Russian army and local residents of Sumy has been posted on the social network. Video posted on Facebook.
"A representative of the occupying army of the Russian Federation is negotiating with the residents of Sumy about surrendering. The soldiers of the Russian Federation agree to lay down their arms, take off their bulletproof vests and ask local residents to call the soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine to be taken from their positions," the caption to the video says.
On the recording, you can hear how a local resident tells the military the terms of surrender.
Earlier it was reported that in the Chernihiv region, an entire reconnaissance platoon of the Russian military surrendered to the Ukrainian military.
Russian Defense Ministry: the military entered Melitopol without resistance after the march
[RIA Novosti] The Russian military, without meeting resistance, entered Melitopol, the Russian Defense Ministry said.
"On the evening of February 25, after the landing of an amphibious assault in the area of the settlement of Azov (Ukraine), Russian units marched and, without meeting resistance, entered Melitopol," the report says.
Andrey Chervonets said that Wagner units performed as a covering party of the advance.
Local residents greeted the military, some pensioners took to the streets with red flags, the Defense Ministry added.
On Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a special military operation in the Donbass . He assured that Moscow's plans do not include the occupation of Ukraine, only its demilitarization and denazification.
The Ministry of Defense emphasized that the Russian Armed Forces do not carry out any missile, air or artillery strikes on Ukrainian cities: military infrastructure is disabled by high-precision weapons, nothing threatens the civilian population.
The latest:
3:15. Fierce battles in Vasylkiv. The occupiers in police uniforms drove up to the checkpoint with flashing lights and shot at the defenders of Ukraine. The death toll is unknown.
As of 02:00. About 60 saboteurs were killed in Kyiv on Friday, February 25.
| NatsecJeff’s Twitter feed is liveblogging events — lots of videos. |
For 2nd straight night, hundreds take to streets in St. Petersburg to protest Putin’s invasion
[IsraelTimes] For the second straight night, hundreds of Russian protesters have taken to the streets of St. Petersburg to protest President Vladimir Putin
...President-for-Life of Russia. He gets along well with other presidents for life. He is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing something like the rule of law, which occasionally results in somebody dropping dead from poisoning by polonium or other interesting substance. Under Putin, a new group of business magnates controlling significant swathes of Russia's economy has emerged, all of whom have close personal ties to him. The old bunch, without close personal ties to Putin, are in jail or in exile or dead from poisoning by polonium or other interesting substances...’s decision to invade Ukraine.
Last night, some 1,800 people were arrested, according to the Guardian, and additional arrests are already being reported at tonight’s demonstration as well.
| Courtesy of Omomolet Phutch9064: |
| Info Wars’ content ranges from QAnon-level conspiracy to things that should be reported in the respectable media, but the Democrats With Bylines block lest the received wisdom be undone. I’m not sure which this is. |
Blinken says Putin has set his sights BEYOND Ukraine as Russian artillery is seen massing on Polish border with Belarus: Claims he's 'convinced' Kremlin wants regime change Kyiv
Ukraine says it has inflicted one of Russia’s heaviest ever day of losses with more than 1,000 casualties: Putin’s losses now stand at 2,800 troops, 80 tanks and 516 armoured vehicles as fightback continues.
The view from America. We’ll see if it still looks the same in the morning.
US says Russian forces lose momentum in face of stiff Ukraine resistance[IsraelTimes] Defense figure says Moscow’s troops are meeting fiercer opposition than they expected. ‘No population centers have been taken. None’
Russia’s drive to seize control of Ukraine quickly has lost momentum amid resistance from Ukrainian fighters on the ground and in the air, a senior US defense official said Friday.
“Their momentum, particularly as it comes to Kyiv, has slowed over the last 24 hours,” the official said.
Russian forces, which entered Ukraine early Thursday, have yet to seize any major cities, or gain control of airspace, the official said.
“They have not achieved the progress that we believe they anticipated they would,” the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
“A good indicator of that is no population centers have been taken. None,” the official said.
The Pentagon believes that Moscow wants to seize control of Kyiv and replace the Western-leaning government with allies of the Kremlin.
And many worry that the powerful Russian force, with massive backup still awaiting on Ukraine’s border, could conquer Kyiv within days. But so far, while Russian forces have focused on military targets, they have not been able to disrupt the Ukrainian military structure.
“As we see it right now… Ukrainian command and control is intact,” the official said.
Nor have they been able to command air space. The Pentagon says that Ukrainian air defense systems are still working and the country’s air force is still able to fly and threaten Russian aircraft.
“They’re meeting more resistance than they expected,” the official said.
“We continue to have indications that it’s not going quite the way that they had anticipated.”
Starting with a massive missile barrage, Russia launched its invasion along three axes: the first a push from Belarus directly north toward Kyiv; the second from Russia’s Belgorod region toward the major city of Kharkiv in northeast Ukraine; and the third, from Crimea in the south towards Kherson.
While Russian forces have reached the outskirts of Kyiv, they have not been able to enter, and fighting remains heavy around Kharkiv, which also has not fallen.
In the south, Russians continue to push to Kherson but are also widening the front, landing amphibious forces to Crimea’s east to threaten Mariupol. Russians have also sought to take control of the Kakhovka hydroelectric plant on the Dnieper river north of Crimea, launching cyberattacks on the plant, the official said.
The Pentagon would not estimate how many Russian forces had entered Ukraine, after having amassed more than 150,000 along the country’s borders before attacking. The official said that they had moved “about a third of their combat power” into Ukraine, and the rest remain in place just outside.
