[Korrespondent] 23:24 Prigozhin claims that in order to block the forces of PMC Wagner in the Bakhmut area, the Armed Forces of Ukraine created a number of groups: in Slavyansk, Seversk, Chasov Yar and Konstantinovka. "In order to securely unblock Artemovsk, the Armed Forces of Ukraine need to block the PMC Wagner. And you get a “pie": the filling is the parts of the Armed Forces of Ukraine surrounded by us (in the event, of course, if there is a complete environment of Bakhmut), and the shell is, in fact, the PMC Wagner."
The head of Wagner added that he was "knocking on all doors, sounding the alarm with ammunition and reinforcements, and also so that PMCs cover the flanks." “The Armed Forces of Ukraine will fight for Artemivsk to the end, and this is obvious. We must do our work to the end, too,” Prigozhin added and complained that his representative was expelled from the headquarters.
22:39 Zelensky said in an evening video message that today at Headquarters he directly asked both Syrsky and Zaluzhny about how they see the further defense operation in the Bakhmut direction: "Both generals answered: do not retreat and strengthen. And this position was unanimously supported Headquarters. There were no other positions. I told the commander-in-chief to find the appropriate forces to help the guys in Bakhmut." The president also stressed that Bakhmut "has given and is giving one of the biggest results during this war, during the entire battle for Donbass."
Zelensky also commented on the video with the murder of a Ukrainian soldier by Russians, who said “Glory to Ukraine” in the eyes of the invaders: “I want us all together, in unity, to answer his words: “Glory to the hero! Glory to heroes! Glory to Ukraine! "And we'll find the killers."
22:10 The Russians today published a video of the execution of a captured unarmed Ukrainian soldier, who, previously, refused to take off the chevron with the state flag and died with the words "Glory to Ukraine!". The event caused an incredible resonance in our society. About what is known at this moment - in the material Execution of a captured Ukrainian military man .
22:05 The Russians lost five times more soldiers in the battles for Bakhmut than the Ukrainians, CNN reports, citing Western intelligence estimates. At the same time, the NATO official added that Ukraine also suffers significant losses defending the city.
21:27 Kuleba called on the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court to investigate the circumstances of the execution of a Ukrainian prisoner of war.
20:33 The Office of the Prosecutor General has launched an investigation into the video of the murder of a Ukrainian prisoner of war by Russians, Prosecutor General Andrei Kostin said.
20:18 PMC Wagner is now recruiting people without certificates from a psychiatrist and narcologist, as well as a fluorogram - a corresponding announcement was posted in one of the PMC groups on social networks, writes The Moscow Times. Journalists of the publication claim that the group's recruiters confirmed the information about their readiness to recruit people who were treated in a psycho-neurological dispensary.
19:29 Ex-head of the SBU Ivan Bakanov turned out to be a defendant in criminal proceedings on the occupation of Ukrainian territories, writes NV citing sources. He is suspected of the failed work of the SBU on the eve of the Russian invasion and at the beginning of a full-scale war. Among other things, we are talking about the appointment of Russian agent Oleg Kulichin to the post of ex-head of one of the departments of the SBU.
18:45 In Stockholm on March 7-8, an informal meeting of the heads of the defense departments of the EU countries will be held, the participants of which will hear the information from the Ukrainian colleague Oleksiy Reznikov about the latest developments on the battlefield, about the needs of the Ukrainian army, and also discuss ways to accelerate the supply of ammunition and artillery to Ukraine.
18:27 Ombudsman Dmitry Lubinets said that he sent a video of the execution of a captured Ukrainian soldier to international partners and fellow ombudsmen from around the world as confirmation of another Russian war crime. Lubinets stressed that this is a violation of the Geneva Conventions, "this is a manifestation of baseness and meanness."
17:53 Lithuania is preparing a new aid package for Ukraine, Defense Minister Arvydas Anusauskas said. He noted that Vilnius has already provided assistance to Kyiv in the amount of almost 409 million euros. He did not elaborate on the details of the new package. According to the Lithuanian minister, most of Lithuania's assistance to Ukraine is military training. In particular, this year it is planned to train 1,600 soldiers. It is also planned to develop a demining course in Lithuania in cooperation with the Nordic countries.
17:26 Ukraine strongly opposes Russia's presidency of the UN Security Council for a month in April according to the schedule, Ukraine's permanent representative to the organization Serhiy Kislitsa said.
16:58 On March 5, Commander of the Ground Forces Alexander Syrsky again visited the units defending Bakhmut, Military Media Center reports. According to the general, the battles for Bakhmut have reached the highest level of tension: "The enemy threw additional Wagner forces into the battle. Our soldiers courageously defend their positions in the north of Bakhmut, trying to prevent the encirclement of the city."
Syrsky stressed that the Ukrainian forces "inflicted significant losses on the enemy, destroyed a large amount of equipment, forced the best Wagner assault units to be thrown into battle and reduced the offensive potential of the enemy."
16:53 Russian oligarchs chipped in for awards to the military for the offensive in Ukraine, writes The Moscow Times. According to journalists, we are talking about four major businessmen, among them the "Orthodox" oligarch Konstantin Malofeev. The soldiers recruited into the assault detachments are promised 50,000 rubles per 1 km of advancement on the front line.
The publication notes that initially the units recruited prisoners from colonies for former security officials. In February, contract soldiers and mobilized people who were already in the combat zone began to be recruited into the assault detachments. Now they make up the majority in the assault battalions.
16:47 Residents of the Dnipropetrovsk region must return firearms and ammunition to them within ten days, which they received at the beginning of a full-scale invasion, said the head of the OVA Serhiy Lysak. According to him, when the situation in the region stabilized, some people returned their weapons, while others kept them. Lysak stressed that the lists of these citizens are known to the local authorities.
16:29 In the Kherson region, in the village of Zeleny Gai, during field work, a tractor was blown up by explosives left by Russian invaders. One person died on the spot and another was injured, the IVA said.
15:53 Activists Sergei Sternenko and Igor Lachenkov published a video of the Russians shooting a captured Ukrainian soldier. He was executed after he answered the invaders "Glory to Ukraine". Yermak recalled that the murder of a captured person is another example of war crimes cultivated in Russia and whitewashed by their propaganda and myths about "Nazis".
15:41 Now the main attack of the Russian army is not on Bakhmut itself, but from the north, bypassing the settlement. At the same time, there are attempts by the enemy to enter the center of the city. But Ukrainian defense forces continue to hold most of it. Read more in the material The situation in Bakhmut .
15:22 The Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation recognized the activities of the human rights organization Transparency International as "undesirable on the territory of Russia," since it allegedly "interferes in the internal affairs of Russia."
15:13 At the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant, the Russians are calculating possible exit scenarios and marking equipment that can be stolen from the plant, Energoatom reports. In particular, the Special attention of the occupiers was attracted by the Training Center for maintenance and management personnel of NNEGC Energoatom, created on the basis of the ZNPP training center. Inspecting the UTC building, the Russians, who came to the station as "specialists in the nuclear industry," made lists of equipment that "should be dismantled" in case of retreat.
14:54 The Financial Times writes, citing sources, that Russia is refraining from buying Iranian ballistic missiles because of fears that the West will in return transfer ATACMS long-range missiles to Ukraine. That said, officials interviewed admit that Moscow may change its stance and buy Iranian missiles amid shortages of its own precision-guided munitions and falling production.
According to the sources, Tehran and Moscow have considered exchanging advanced Russian weapons for ballistic missiles, but those talks have stalled, in part because of the potential ramifications of such a deal for both sides.
14:09 Last year, Bulgaria exported weapons worth at least $1 billion to Ukraine through other countries, Euractiv reports citing sources.
13:47 At a meeting of the Headquarters of the Supreme Commander, a decision was made to continue the defense operation and strengthen Ukrainian positions in Bakhmut. According to the presidential press service, Zelensky asked Zaluzhny and Syrsky about further actions in the Bakhmut direction, and they spoke in favor of continuing the defense operation.
13:29 After Turkey closed the Bosphorus to warships due to the war in Ukraine, Russia began using auxiliary and merchant ships to transport military cargo through the straits, Bosphorus Observer group experts found out. In particular, according to observers, the Russian container ship Sparta IV brought a cargo of humanitarian aid to Syria for the victims of the earthquake, after which it took out military cargo from the Russian naval base, which is to be unloaded in Novorossiysk.
This is not the first time Russian container ships have carried military cargo. According to experts, in August 2022, Russian S-300 air defense missiles were also loaded at Tartus in Syria and delivered to Novorossiysk.
13:02 Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin believes that Bakhmut has more symbolic significance than strategic and operational, and his fall will not necessarily mean that Moscow has restored the momentum of its military efforts.
12:33 Operational command Pivden warned of the highest possible probability of missile attacks, as evidenced by the readiness of launch vehicles at sea. Thus, the ship grouping of the Russian Federation in the Black Sea is kept at a missile-safe distance from the coast controlled by Ukraine. Among the 15 ships, three rocket carriers remain, two of which are underwater. The total number of Calibers is up to 16. At the same time, the enemy continues aerial reconnaissance and the search for new tactics of missile strikes.
11:51 The situation in the energy system of Ukraine has stabilized, Ukrenergo said. At the same time, the company reminded that the war continues, and the situation may change. Ukrenergo will continue to inform about the state of the energy system three times a week, and in case of a change in the situation, it will return to operational information.
There has been no shortage of capacity in the power system for the 23rd day in a row and so far it is not predicted. In the next week, a sharp increase in consumption due to weather conditions is not expected, which could affect the stability of electricity supply. Electricity generation is sufficient to cover consumption, and minor imports of electricity also continue.
11:37 Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban intends to visit the capital of Ukraine after all preconditions are met, Foreign Minister Peter Szijarto said. "While the technical details of the preparations for the visit are being specified. As soon as they see that all the prerequisites are met, the visit can take place," he added.
11:16 Reznikov called himself an "informed optimist" on the issue of possible Chinese assistance to the Russian Federation: "I watched the speeches of the leaders of China and India. They said quite clearly that today war is not a way to solve problems between countries. There are other priorities. This is a thoughtful and a conscious position. Therefore, I hope that there will be no direct open assistance to Russia. From the good. The fact that the Russians are looking for support there gives us a signal that everything is starting to get much worse for them than it used to be. They are looking for where to sew body armor, where to order shells. They are looking for armored vehicles, looking for guns, looking for shells."
10:52 Ukraine needs to prepare for changes in the legal plan and in the culture of the nation's behavior after the victory, Reznikov said in an interview with LIGA: "Unfortunately, a physically hostile country that is our neighbor will not fly into space. And it will dream of revenge. Therefore, the only guarantee that such an invasion will not be repeated is a strong security and defense sector, as well as a clear concept of a reserve army. This is how Switzerland lives."
The minister is convinced that the culture of the military profession in Ukraine should become a trend - for example, as in Israel: “Perhaps, we no longer need military service. But at the age of 18, every young person begins to take special training courses: medicine, shooting, trenches, coordination. Then he studies for whomever he wants, but once a year he takes monthly specialization courses. If you want to be a machine gunner, develop as a machine gunner. If you want to be a drone operator, go ahead."
Reznikov also believes that Ukrainians need a culture of going to shooting ranges: “There should be shooting galleries so that everyone knows how to use firearms. We need to complete the reform, and the population should have officially registered firearms. Of course, with the passage of checks from a psychiatrist, drug specialist and law enforcement agencies ".
10:24 The authorities of the Kursk region of the Russian Federation said that Ukrainian troops were allegedly shelling the Khomutovsky district, power supply facilities were damaged, and the village of Iskra was de-energized.
09:59 The UK-led £520m international arms fund for Ukraine is constantly facing delays despite being set up to curb supply bureaucracy, writes The Guardian. According to the publication, only 200 million pounds allocated from the total. Bidders complain that the process being conducted by the UK MoD in cooperation with six other European countries is frustrating due to missed deadlines, and the MoD acknowledged that the execution of contracts "inevitably takes time".
09:43 British intelligence writes that the Russian military is transferring obsolete equipment to Ukraine, which has many vulnerabilities on the modern battlefield. In particular, they continue to use 60-year-old T-62 battle tanks. There is a real possibility that even units of the 1st Guards Tank Army, which is considered the main tank formation of Russia, will be re-equipped with T-62s to make up for losses.
It was previously planned that the 1st Guards Tank Army would receive the main battle tanks of the new generation T-14 Armata in 2021, reconnaissance recalls. Instead, in recent days, Russian BTR-50 armored personnel carriers, which entered service in 1954, were first seen in Ukraine.
Since the summer of 2022, about 800 T-62 tanks have been removed from storage, some of them have received upgraded sighting systems that will most likely increase their nighttime performance. However, these vintage vehicle types will have many vulnerabilities on the modern battlefield, including the lack of modern explosive reactive armor.
09:22 In the Luhansk region, the Russians are increasing the number of offensives, said the head of the OVA Serhiy Gaidai. According to him, now there are no "easy" directions in the Luhansk region, but the situation is more stable in the Svatovsky direction. Most of the Russian military in the Lugansk region are newly mobilized, but personnel units are thrown into battle in the Kremensky and Svatovsky directions. “Most likely, they tried to build on their success somewhere, but to date nothing has come of it,” Gaidai added.
09:16 Russian media write that Shoigu visited Mariupol. Piotr Andryushchenko, an adviser to the mayor of the city, said referring to the Mariupol resistance that the Russian defense minister was indeed in Mariupol on March 3, although this was reported only today. His helicopter was fixed on the route Mariupol Airport - Nevsky, after which he quickly flew back. "That is, de facto courage was enough only to sign to the city," the partisans said.
09:09 The FSB announced the prevention of an assassination attempt on the head of the board of directors of the Tsargrad group of companies, the sanctioned Russian oligarch Konstantin Malofeev. According to the "data" of the Russian special services, the organizer of the assassination attempt is allegedly "acting under the control of the SBU" founder of the so-called Russian Volunteer Corps, citizen of the Russian Federation Denis Kapustin.
The FSB claims that the "attempt" on Malofeev was allegedly planned according to the same scheme that was used in the murder of Darya Dugina - the attackers intended to detonate a bomb attached under the car. The FSB also claims that Kapustin was the organizer and participant in the attack by members of the Russian Volunteer Corps on villages in the Bryansk region.
08:58 At night, the Russians released 15 Shahed-131/136 drones from the Bryansk region of the Russian Federation through the territory of Ukraine, 13 of them were destroyed, the command of the Air Force reported.
08:40 The General Staff announced the approximate losses of the Russian Federation as of the morning of March 6.
- personnel - about 153,770 (+650) people liquidated,
- tanks - 3423 (+9),
- armored combat vehicles - 6703 (+11),
- artillery systems - 2433 (+7),
- MLRS - 488 (+0),
- air defense systems - 250 (+2),
- aircraft - 302 (+0),
- helicopters - 289 (+0),
- UAV operational-tactical level - 2086 (+15),
- cruise missiles - 873 (+0),
- ships/boats - 18 (+0),
- automotive equipment and tankers - 5307 (+8),
- special equipment - 234 (+2).
08:24 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, the Defense Forces repulsed more than 95 enemy attacks in the indicated directions, in particular, in the areas of Belogorovka and Nevsky of the Lugansk region and Zaliznyansky, Dubovo-Vasilyevka, Orekhovo-Vasilyevka, Bakhmut and Ivanovsky of the Donetsk region, the General Staff reported in the morning report.
To mislead the Defense Forces of Ukraine, the enemy is maneuvering by moving columns in the areas of the settlements of Novaya Kakhovka (Kherson region) - Armyansk (Crimea). This causes dissatisfaction among the personnel - mainly due to the lack of sufficient fuel and even a hint of the effectiveness of such maneuvers.
In Volnovakha, Donetsk region, the invaders set up a base for the restoration of damaged equipment in a local vocational school - students are forcibly involved in repair work.
07:58 The American Institute for the Study of War (ISW) writes that Ukrainian forces are likely to conduct a limited tactical withdrawal of troops in Bakhmut, but it is too early to assess Ukraine's intentions to completely withdraw from the city. In particular, the Ukrainian Armed Forces may be withdrawing from their positions on the eastern bank of the Bakhmutka River.
At the same time, analysts believe that Ukrainian troops are unlikely to leave Bakhmut immediately. They may continue to gradually withdraw to exhaust the Russian forces in urban combat. Russian forces are unlikely to quickly gain significant territorial gains in urban warfare, which is usually beneficial to those on the defensive and could allow Ukrainian forces to inflict significant casualties on advancing Russian units.
ISW concludes that urban fighting in Bakhmut could further deplete Russian forces, as happened after Ukrainian forces withdrew from the Severodonetsk-Lysichansk line, effectively ending Russian offensive operations in Luhansk and Donetsk regions in the summer of 2022.
07:46 At night, the Russians attacked the Dnipropetrovsk region with four drones, presumably Shahed - they were all shot down, the head of the OVA, Serhiy Lysak, said.
06:23 Belgorod authorities said that the air defense system worked in Novy Oskol, three missiles were allegedly shot down, one person was injured.
00:19 The Ukrainian military continues to defend Bakhmut, Russian troops suffer heavy losses, said Serhiy Cherevaty, spokesman for the eastern group of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. He added that it remains possible to deliver ammunition, provisions, medicines to Ukrainian defenders, and it is also possible to take the wounded from there. According to him, the Russians are trying to hit the bridges to disrupt the supply, but the Ukrainian units "provide the opportunity to deliver everything you need using different methods."