[Korrespondent] 23:13 If the West stops helping Ukraine, the war could expand to other countries, said John Kirby, coordinator for strategic communications at the White House National Security Council: "If we stop supporting Ukraine, what will be Putin's next conquest? How much more will you have to pay, including American blood?
22:47 New Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang today made extremely aggressive statements against the United States and spoke very warmly about Russia. In particular, official Beijing, for the first time since the start of a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, openly called Moscow its main partner and set a "militant tone" towards Washington. More details - in the material China chose the Russian Federation .
22:25 Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced increased support for Ukraine as part of efforts to train Ukrainian military personnel. In particular, according to him, Canada will extend the Unifier mission for engineering training in Ukraine until at least October 2023, and will also send instructors to train the Ukrainian military in combat medicine skills.
In addition, Ottawa will provide $3 million to support landmine and UXO clearance, in addition to the $32 million already allocated to mine action. The European Union will allocate 43 million euros for the same purposes, Ursula von der Leyen said at a joint press conference with Trudeau.
22:20 Germany and the United States urged to wait for the official results of the investigation into the sabotage at Nord Stream before talking about the likely involvement of certain parties in it, writes Reuters.
Thus, a representative of the German government noted that information about the alleged involvement in the explosions of a "pro-Ukrainian group" in Berlin was taken into account, but they would not comment. And White House National Security Council strategic communications coordinator John Kirby said that Washington is waiting for the completion of the investigations that are ongoing in Germany, Sweden and Denmark, and only after that it will be possible to talk about what further actions may or may not be appropriate.
22:13 The Constitutional Court of Bulgaria recognized military assistance to Ukraine as constitutional, rejecting the petition of pro-Russian deputies who demanded to block the parliament's decision to provide such assistance to Kiev.
21:46 At the next meeting of the Headquarters of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, issues of permits for men to travel abroad will be considered, Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council Alexei Danilov said. "We had an unfortunate example when the Ministry of Culture granted permission to six people to go to represent the country, but they did not return. Moreover, they boldly comment on social networks that someone should fight," he said. Danilov stressed that he supports the tightening of conditions for the departure of men of military age abroad.
21:08 An investigation in Germany has established that the yacht from which the Nord Streams were blown up was rented from a Polish company, allegedly owned by two Ukrainians. This is discussed in a joint investigation of the German publications ARD, Kontraste, SWR and Zeit. Despite the fact that traces of the sabotage, according to Zeit, “lead to Ukraine,” German investigators have not yet been able to find out who is behind its organization.
According to investigators, a secret operation was carried out by a team of six people: a captain, two divers, two assistants and a female doctor. The investigation did not establish their citizenship - they probably used fake documents.
21:01 The occupation of Bakhmut by the Russians will open the way for the enemy to other settlements in the Donetsk region, so Ukraine continues to defend and does not withdraw its troops, Zelensky said in an interview with CNN. "We understand that after Bakhmut they can go further. They can go to Kramatorsk, to Slavyansk - this will be an open road for Russians after Bakhmut to other cities of Ukraine in the Donetsk direction," the president explained.
At the same time, Zelensky stressed that Ukrainian motives in this sector of the front are very different from the goals of the Russian military: “We understand what Russia wants to achieve there. Russia needs at least some kind of victory - a small victory - even destroying everything in Bakhmut, just killing everyone there civilians."
20:42 Zaluzhny said that he had a "very important meeting for Ukraine" with Supreme Commander of the NATO Allied Forces in Europe Christopher Cavoli, Chief of the British Defense Staff Tony Radakin, Chief of the General Staff of the Polish Armed Forces Raimund Andrzejczak and Commander of the Ukrainian Security Assistance Group Antonio Aguto.
"I am grateful to them for a very informative and direct conversation. First of all, I informed about the situation on the battlefield. I focused on the Eastern direction in most detail. In particular, about the course of events in Bakhmut. We discussed the supply of military assistance - weapons and ammunition no less carefully. Issues of strengthening air defense, the provision of long-range weapons remain extremely important. We continued the dialogue on the training of the Ukrainian military," Zaluzhny said.
20:28 Podolyak said that Ukraine has nothing to do with the Nord Stream explosions: "Although I like to collect interesting conspiracy theories about the Ukrainian government, I must note: Ukraine has nothing to do with the incident in the Baltic Sea and has no information about" Ukrainian groups on undermining". What happened to the Nord Streams? "They sank," as they say in the Russian Federation itself.
19:53 Zelensky said in an evening video message that a hero of Ukraine, a volunteer, a fighter of the 67th separate mechanized brigade, battalion commander Dmitry Kotsyubaylo with the call sign Da Vinci, died in the battle near Bakhmut today: "He has defended our independence, the dignity of our people since 2014. One one of the youngest heroes of Ukraine. One of those whose personal history, character, courage forever became the history, character and courage of Ukraine."
19:40 Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council Alexei Danilov said there would be no second "Minsk betrayal": "The Kremlin's plan:" Minsk-3 ". Induce a truce, stop assistance, cause a crisis, political turbulence, achieve a split. From the supporters of a compromise, form" another Ukraine", which is backed by Medvedchuk, the FSB, the SVR, the GRU. We understand, we analyze, there will be no repeated "Minsk betrayal".
19:14 On April 8, 2022, Russian troops launched a missile attack on the railway station in Kramatorsk, from where residents of the Donetsk region were evacuated to safer areas of Ukraine. At the time of the attack there were thousands of people, mostly women and children. The impact killed 61 people and injured 121 others. Nearly a year later, Human Rights Watch and SITU Research completed their independent investigation and named another location from which Russian troops launched missiles. For more details, see the material Investigation of the strike on the railway station in Kramatorsk .
18:49 The Russian army continues to focus its main efforts on conducting offensive operations in the Kupyansky, Limansky, Bakhmutsky, Avdeevsky and Miner directions. It continues unsuccessful offensive operations in the area of Orekhovo-Vasilyevka, Dubovo-Vasilyevka, Bakhmut, Kamenka, Avdeevka and Maryinka of the Donetsk region, the General Staff said in an evening report .
In the village of Strelkovoe, Genichesk district, Kherson region, in local primary education institutions, teachers and educators of the occupying "authority" force students and parents to stay after classes and study the constitution and legislative acts of the Russian Federation, as well as history and literature. During breaks, children are forced to learn and sing the Russian anthem.
18:37 The New York Times writes, citing US intelligence data, that the explosions in Nord Stream were carried out by a "pro-Ukrainian group." At the same time, there is no evidence that Zelensky or his assistants were involved in the operation or that the likely saboteurs acted on instructions from the Ukrainian authorities. Officials noted that Putin's opponents, who were most likely citizens of Ukraine or the Russian Federation, could have organized the explosions. Also, US officials say they have not found any evidence of Russia's involvement in the sabotage.
18:13 The Hungarian Defense Ministry announced that it is participating in the training of military doctors from Ukraine. At the same time, the department stressed that Budapest remains "on the side of peace" and does not support "any steps leading to an escalation of the war."
17:48 Russia lost between 20,000 and 30,000 people trying to take Bakhmut. In this case, the ratio of killed and wounded could be worse than one to three, The Guardian journalist Dan Sabbah said, citing unnamed officials. As for the losses of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, he noted: "No equivalent figure for Ukrainian defenders is given, except for" less ", but others talk about five Russians per Ukrainian and even more."
According to the journalist's sources, the battle for Bakhmut "may well last another month", or "Ukrainians may decide to leave within a week." "In short, no one knows whether Ukraine is worth fighting for a small city that does not have great strategic importance," Sabbah added.
17:07 Kiev categorically rejects Lukashenka's insinuations about the alleged involvement of the Ukrainian side in the events at the Machulishchi airfield, Foreign Ministry spokesman Oleg Nikolenko said. According to him, this is another attempt to create an artificial threat on the part of Ukraine to justify its support for Russian aggression.
"The threat should not be sought in Ukraine, which is fighting for itself and seeking peace. It lies in Russia, which is trying in every possible way to draw Belarus into the war even more, to deprive it of its independence and sovereignty completely. Alexander Lukashenko also allowed himself a rude personal attack on the President of Ukraine We will leave this act of impotence unanswered," Nikolenko said.
16:54 Another exchange of prisoners took place - 130 defenders returned to Ukraine , four of them were women, Yermak said. According to him, these are soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, National Guardsmen, border guards, representatives of the State Transport Special Service. Among them are 87 defenders of Mariupol, 71 of which are from Azovstal. Also returned were those taken prisoner in the area of Bakhmut and Soledar - a total of 35 people from the Donetsk direction. Most of those who managed to return are seriously injured.
16:35 Budanov personally participated in a special operation to liberate the village of Russkaya Lozovaya, Kharkiv region at the end of April 2022 and went on the assault, the commander of the Kraken special unit with the call sign Vito told the UP. "The first to enter Russian Lozovaya were soldiers of the special forces of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine Kraken. The cleansing lasted several days. The enemy tried several times to regain lost positions until he finally retreated and entrenched himself in the village of Pitomnik," he said.
16:24 The Russian Defense Ministry announced that 90 Russian servicemen have been returned from Ukrainian captivity.
16:11 The Cabinet approved the mechanism for the forced evacuation of children from active combat zones. According to the Ministry of Reintegration, the basis for mandatory evacuation from now on is the decision of the regional military administrations, agreed with the military command and the Coordinating Headquarters on the implementation of mandatory evacuation of the population.
Mandatory evacuation of children will be carried out under the accompaniment of one of the parents, a substitute person or other legal representative. Refusal of parents or guardians to evacuate the child is not allowed. Only Bakhmut currently falls under the relevant criteria for the application of forced evacuation of children from war zones.
15:46 In Russia, the traditional internal wars of different groups of influence, or, as they like to say, "Kremlin towers" continue. And one of the key towers may have serious problems due to the illness of the head of Chechnya. More details - in the material What is happening with Kadyrov .
15:27 Podolyak commented on Lukashenka's statements about the damaged A-50 aircraft: "We need to decide on definitions. A terrorist attack is when missiles are launched from the territory of Belarus at Ukrainian cities. Sabotage is when DRGs enter from the Belarusian border. An attack on an A-50 spotter aircraft - an anti-terrorist act committed, by the way, by local partisans."
14:48 In the coming days, ten more of the 14 promised Leopard 2 tanks will arrive in Ukraine, Polish Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak said. He recalled that four tanks are already in Ukraine.
14:44 UN Secretary General António Guterres will meet with Zelensky in Kiev on Wednesday, March 8, to discuss a grain deal, Reuters writes.
14:31 The arrival of Patriot systems in Ukraine is expected in the near future, and their receipt will be publicly announced after they are tested by Air Force Commander Mykola Oleshchuk or the first Russian aircraft is shot down, said Yury Ignat, speaker of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. "Patriot is capable of shooting down targets at a distance of up to 150 km, aerodynamic targets. Ballistics is less - 40 km. Therefore, we will be patient and wait for this news to be really already in Ukraine," Ignat said.
13:55 The Ministry of Defense of Poland denied the statement about the arrival of the first Patriot in Ukraine. Earlier, the head of the department, Mariusz Blaszczak, allegedly stated this in an interview with a Spanish publication, but later clarified in a comment to Ukrinform that this was a translation error. He meant that "thanks to the efforts of Poland, a decision was made to transfer the Patriot battery."
13:47 The Ministry of Internal Affairs will not publish the lists of ordinary fighters of the Offensive Guard, Ihor Klymenko, head of the department, said in an interview with Ukrinform. He said that more than 23 thousand applications have already been registered, about 5% - from women. At the same time, foreigners are not yet accepted into volunteer assault brigades, the minister added.
Klimenko assured that every such brigade would be duly armed, primarily with Western equipment and weapons. The minimum wage in the place of permanent deployment is now from 25 thousand hryvnia, then it will be determined by the area of residence and the conduct of hostilities.
13:19 Lukashenko said that more than 20 participants in the attack on the A-50 plane were detained in Belarus. According to him, the "Ukrainian saboteur", who allegedly organized the sabotage, was assisted by representatives of the Belarusian opposition. He also said that he had instructed throughout the country to carry out a "severe cleansing" of those who "nurtured terrorist plans."
Commenting on the sabotage, Lukashenka called Zelensky a "nit": "President Zelensky is just a nit. Just a nit! Such operations are not carried out without the consent of the head of the country and the commander in chief. I am telling you this as a president." He added that Zelensky "runs around Belarus" and asks to conclude a non-aggression pact, and at the same time agrees to sabotage in the country. "Well, the challenge has been thrown," Lukashenka added.
12:45 According to preliminary data, who died from Russian bullets after the phrase "Glory to Ukraine!" - This is a soldier of the 30th separate mechanized brigade named after. Prince Konstantin Ostrozhsky, OK Pivnich Timofei Shadura, said the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and added that the final answer would be given by the examinations.
12:38 Less than 4,000 civilians remain in Bakhmut, Donetsk region, of which at least 38 are children, Deputy Prime Minister Irina Vereshchuk said. She noted that before the hostilities, more than 70 thousand people lived in Bakhmut, of which 12 thousand were children.
12:27 PMC Wagner proved to be more effective at the front in Ukraine than the regular Russian army, Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin said: “They used convicts, prisoners, to regularly manage their offensive, but I don’t think they continue to recruit from prisons. But these methods were really interesting, frankly, unthinkable... You know, they are a little better than the Russian forces. We have not seen exemplary actions of the Russian troops on a large scale."
12:06 Peskov once again stated that "there are no prerequisites for the transition of the situation in Ukraine to a peaceful course, Russia is achieving its goals through a special operation."
11:39 Lukashenka announced the arrest of "a terrorist of the Ukrainian special services and his accomplices", who are allegedly involved in the "sabotage attempt" against the A-50 aircraft at the Machulishchi airfield. According to Lukashenka, "a Russian recruited by Kiev who lived in Crimea, he also had a Russian passport" was allegedly involved in the sabotage attempt. Minsk claims that the Ukrainian special services allegedly recruited a "saboteur" back in 2014, the SBU prepared him.
11:32 The first Patriot air defense systems are already in Ukraine, Polish Defense Minister Mariusz Balaszczak said: "I must emphasize that thanks to the efforts made by Poland, Patriot batteries or the first Leopard tanks, among other things, have already arrived in Ukraine."
11:11 The Ukrainian Air Force is already using Joint Direct Attack Munition-Extended Range, or JDAM-ER, high-precision bombs with a range of up to 72 km, said the head of the US Air Force in Europe, James Hecker. At the same time, he added that the total number of JDAM-ERs currently in Ukraine is limited: "They have enough to make a couple of hits."
10:39 The SBU announced that it had thwarted the plans of Russian intelligence to seize power in Ochakiv, Mykolaiv region. As a result of a large-scale special operation, an agent of the GRU of the Russian Federation was detained, who was collecting intelligence to capture a Ukrainian city. In particular, Russian military intelligence instructed him to persuade the leadership of the city authorities to cooperate with the occupiers. For this, the mayor of the city was offered to choose a "position" in the event of the capture of the southern region, but the mayor himself informed the SBU about the recruitment attempts and contributed to the exposure of hostile plans.
The agent turned out to be a former commander of one of the centers of special operations of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, who then got a job in the Ochakov City Council.
10:16 In the Luhansk region, the Russians withdrew to replenish reserves, the situation on the Lugansk front is stable and controlled, said the head of the OVA Serhiy Gaidai.
09:43 Crimean telegram channels write about explosions near the Belbek airport in the north-west of Sevastopol. The "governor" of the city, Mikhail Razvozhaev, said that this was a lie, that "ship crews are training in the outer roadstead."
09:20 In the Donetsk region over the past day, as a result of Russian shelling, one person was killed (in Maksimilyanovka), seven more people were injured. There are four wounded in the Kherson region, according to the IVA.
09:07 British intelligence notes that the battle for Bakhmut continues to deplete the forces of both Ukrainian defenders and Russian invaders. Ukrainian forces likely stabilized their defense perimeter this weekend after previous Russian advances north of the city, analysts said. At the same time, a Russian strike on March 2 destroyed a bridge on the only asphalt road for supplies to Bakhmut, which is still under Ukrainian control. Swamp conditions are likely to hinder Ukrainian forces' resupply efforts as they increasingly resort to using dirt roads.
Meanwhile, public disagreements between the Wagner group and the Russian Defense Ministry over ammunition shortages highlight the complexity of the supplies needed to advance under current Russian tactics.
08:59 The American Institute for the Study of War (ISW) believes that Ukraine will continue fighting for Bakhmut in order to deplete the elite units of the PMC Wagner. According to analysts, the fight for Bakhmut has become strategically important for Ukraine because of the composition of the Russian forces that are deployed in the area of the city. ISW draws attention to the fact that the Russian forces near Bakhmut have recently changed tactics and brought more high-quality special forces and elements of regular troops into the fighting.
Analysts are also convinced that a major degradation or destruction of Wagner's elite combat forces will have positive consequences beyond the battlefield. In particular, serious damage to the influence and reputation of Prigozhin, one of the most radical Russian nationalists, would be an important achievement in terms of the long-term prospects for "restoring sanity" in Russia, ISW experts say.
08:48 Ukrainian volunteer and paramedic Yulia Paevskaya with the call sign Tyra has become a laureate of the International Women of Courage (IWOC) award from the US State Department.
08:43 Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang said that the conflict in Ukraine has reached a critical moment and the situation could get out of control: "Either the fire will stop, peace will be restored, embarking on the right path of political settlement, or oil will be added to the fire, The crisis will worsen, the situation will get out of control.
"It is necessary to launch peace negotiations as soon as possible. It is necessary to respect all the legitimate security concerns of the relevant parties, thus achieving long-term security in Europe," the Chinese Foreign Minister said. He also warned against "reproducing" a similar crisis in Asia, where "a cold war should not start."
In addition, Qin Gang said that the West provokes an armed conflict and "ignites the fire" of war by providing Ukraine with weapons. He stressed that Beijing takes a neutral position in the war, and its friendship with Moscow allegedly does not threaten third countries.
08:34 The General Staff announced the approximate losses of the Russian Federation as of the morning of March 7.
- personnel - about 154,830 (+1060) people liquidated,
- tanks - 3432 (+9),
- armored combat vehicles - 6714 (+11),
- artillery systems - 2456 (+23),
- MLRS - 488 (+0),
- air defense systems - 253 (+3),
- aircraft - 303 (+1),
- helicopters - 289 (+0),
- UAV operational-tactical level - 2095 (+9),
- cruise missiles - 873 (+0),
- ships/boats - 18 (+0),
- automotive equipment and tankers - 5323 (+16),
- special equipment - 236 (+2).
08:26 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 140 enemy attacks on them, the General Staff said in the morning summary . In particular, in the Bakhmut direction, only near the village of Dubovo-Vasilyevka, the Russians made 37 attacks. They also launched an offensive in the areas of the settlements of Belogorovka, Fedorovka, Zaliznyanskoye, Yagodnoye and Ivanovskoye - they were not successful.
Aviation of the Defense Forces over the past 24 hours inflicted 15 strikes on enemy concentration areas, as well as a strike on an anti-aircraft missile system in a firing position. Over the past day, Ukrainian defenders have destroyed nine Shahed drones and eight more drones of various types, as well as an enemy Su-25 aircraft. Missile troops and artillery units hit the command post, eight enemy concentration areas, two air defense systems, an artillery unit in firing positions, an ammunition depot and a radar station of the invaders.
01:46 After many hours of debate, the Upper House of the Swiss Parliament rejected a petition that would allow the re-export of Swiss-made weapons to Ukraine.
00:21 Ukraine is asking the United States to provide it with cluster munitions that it wants to use to drop from drones, Reuters reports. We are talking about anti-armor bombs contained in MK-20 cluster projectiles, which the Armed Forces of Ukraine intend to drop from drones on Russian forces in order to stop the "human wave" tactics.