Worth noting, korrespondent.net has compiled its Invasion of Ukraine series into separate months, beginning May 9th, 2023. Linked in the title.
[Korrespondent] 22:25 The United States is not going to send its troops to participate in hostilities in Ukraine, said White House National Security Council Strategic Communications Coordinator John Kirby: “Zelensky never asked for foreign troops to fight for his country. He and his troops want to do that, but they need funds, and that’s where we need to help them.”
22:08 France invited the foreign and defense ministers of Ukraine and its main allies, as well as the NATO Secretary General, to take part in a video conference on March 7 to demonstrate a “united front” and develop concrete proposals to strengthen support for Ukraine, writes Reuters. The invitation says that the meeting, in particular, will consider ways to speed up the supply and production of artillery shells and missiles.
21:27 In the Liman-Kupyansk direction, the Russians are holding more than 100 thousand military personnel - this figure has not changed for several months, said the head of the Kharkov OVA Oleg Sinegubov. According to him, the Russian army continues to press daily near Sinkovka and Tabaevka, trying to realize its offensive potential, but to no avail. “In Tabaevka, the enemy is conducting active military operations in order to achieve tactical success, but the Ukrainian Armed Forces are giving a worthy rebuff. The goal of our military is to occupy the heights from which the enemy is advancing,” said Sinegubov.
He also said that out of hundreds of thousands of concentrated enemy military, there are about 40 thousand attack aircraft, the rest are support and logistics. “And it is these 40 thousand that constantly need to be replenished, because their losses are huge. The enemy is so demoralized that the Russian military leadership on the ground resorts to the practice of barrage detachments,” Sinegubov noted.
19:31 Zelensky, in an evening video message, thanked the International Criminal Court for arrest warrants for two military leaders of the Russian Federation: “In particular, they carried out and are carrying out a terrorist campaign against our state and people - strikes against our energy sector, our civilian infrastructure. These are obvious crimes - war crimes "Russia's crimes and crimes against humanity. And it is in this regard that there is a fundamental movement in the International Criminal Court. Once international justice begins to work, it can no longer be stopped. Justice for Ukraine, for Ukrainians and for the international community as a whole will definitely be restored."
19:24 Macron supported the Czech plan to supply Ukraine with 800 thousand artillery shells from non-EU countries. In his opinion, funds for this initiative could be obtained through bilateral funding or cooperation with third parties. “It could also be European funding, funding from the European Peace Fund, which could be partially mobilized for this initiative,” the French President added.
19:08 Czech President Petr Pavel called on EU countries to expand assistance to Ukraine, including the possible dispatch of foreign troops. At the same time, he clarified that we are not talking about sending combat units, but about “non-combat participation.” According to the Czech president, it makes no difference whether Ukrainian soldiers, for example, undergo training with Western instructors abroad or directly in Ukraine. “Ukraine, although it was attacked, still remains a sovereign country,” Pavel emphasized, adding that a possible training mission is not a violation of international rules.
18:20 Ukrainian unmanned boats on the Black Sea have proven to be a very effective means - especially in conditions where Russia does not have the ability to track their movements in advance. This time the patrol corvette Sergei Kotov suffered from them. Everything that is known about the ship and its destruction is in the material New attack on a Russian ship.
17:41 The US State Department announced new sanctions against Russia. The restrictions included, in particular, the Russian Aerospace Forces, Wagner PMC, the Eltechnord company from St. Petersburg, and two individuals - citizens of Russia and the DPRK. They are accused of violating national legislation on the non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear weapons, in relation to Iran, North Korea and Syria.
17:25 The Russian Ministry of Defense still cannot cope with the consequences of a cyber attack by Ukrainian specialists - as of March 5, the official website of the law enforcement agency is still not working, the Main Intelligence Directorate reported. IP telephony, domains of the Russian Ministry of Defense, as well as servers that provided electronic document flow for the Russian department also remain blocked.
16:47 The meeting between Orban and Zelensky will not take place until Ukraine “returns the rights” to the Hungarian national community, said Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjártó.
16:08 US Deputy Secretary of State Victoria Nuland announced her intention to resign within the coming weeks. Secretary of State Antony Blinken confirmed her resignation and said Nuland's efforts "have been essential to countering Putin's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, to forging a global coalition to ensure his strategic failure, and to helping Ukraine reach the day when it can stand on its own two feet." - democratically, economically and militarily." Nulland will be replaced temporarily by Deputy Secretary of State for Management John Bass.
15:51 The International Criminal Court in The Hague issued arrest warrants for the commander of long-range aviation of the Russian Federation Sergei Kobylash and the commander of the Black Sea Fleet Viktor Sokolov.
The ICC statement said that this decision was made “for probable crimes committed between at least October 10, 2022 and at least March 9, 2023.” The court notes that there are “sufficient grounds” to believe that both suspects are responsible, in particular, for missile attacks on Ukrainian energy system facilities.
15:49 Syrsky said that together with Umerov he had a telephone conversation with the Norwegian Minister of Defense Bjorn Arild Gram. We discussed the situation at the front, the urgent needs of Ukraine, in particular in artillery and air defense, as well as expanding cooperation in the defense industry.
15:45 According to preliminary data, as a result of the attack on the patrol ship Sergei Kotov, the crew losses were: seven irrevocable and six sanitary, the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense reported. Another 52 crew members on the ship were probably evacuated.
15:38 The Russians fired at the village on the evening of March 4. Senkovo, Kurilov community, Kharkov region, the driver of the emergency medical care center was injured, the prosecutor's office reported.
14:56 Ukrainian drone manufacturers can already produce up to 150 thousand UAVs per month, and by the end of the year Ukraine can reach a total figure of 2 million drones, said Deputy Minister of Strategic Industry Anna Gvozdyar.
14:14 The European Commission presented the first ever European Defense Industrial Strategy at the EU level. The document identifies the challenges facing the European defense technological and industrial base, the opportunities for exploiting its full potential and the directions for development over the next decade. The document also emphasizes the need for closer ties with Ukraine, in particular cooperation between the EU and Ukrainian defense industries.
The strategy aims to “create a culture of constant readiness in the defense industry.” It is based on the principle of “producing more, faster and together”. According to the document, within three years the EU intends to invest 1.5 billion euros in defense industry programs from the general budget.
13:35 Canada will consider sending military instructors to Ukraine if “certain conditions” are met, Defense Minister Bill Blair said. At the same time, he emphasized that the Canadian military can only be sent to Ukraine to perform non-combat functions: “Currently, circumstances do not allow training in Ukraine, but we are going to continue training... We have held a number of discussions with the Ukrainians, who say that When conditions are right, we can return... The Canadian Armed Forces cannot play any combat role or what could be perceived as a combat role."
12:56 Russian public pages write that during the attack on the ship Sergei Kotov, the Ka-29 onboard helicopter was destroyed and the AK-176 artillery mount was blown up. Information about the destroyed helicopter was also confirmed by Ukrainskaya Pravda sources. The ship was attacked by five naval drones. After the impact, they tried to tow it to the port of Feodosia, but during the movement it sank.
12:49 Chinese special envoy for Ukraine Li Hui has already visited Moscow and Brussels. He was given the task of “testing the waters” regarding the prospects for peace negotiations, writes the South China Morning Post. He must also find out "how Europe's view of the situation has changed." At negotiations with EU representatives, he also called for a refusal to impose sanctions against Chinese companies. Next, the special envoy will visit several European capitals and Ukraine.
12:17 After months of disputes, the European Union is gradually making progress in the case of the seizure of excess profits received from frozen Russian assets blocked in Belgium, writes the Financial Times. According to officials, in the coming weeks the European Commission will come up with a proposal to seize future income from Russian assets.
11:36 German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said that the leak of a conversation between officers about Taurus missiles was not due to hacking of communication systems, but due to the connection of one of the participants via an unsecured connection.
11:25 In the morning, the Russians shelled the village of Kurilovka, Kupyansky district, Kharkov region, one person was killed, said Oleg Sinegubov, head of the OVA. In addition, today a woman who was wounded on February 15 as a result of Russian shelling of the village of Chernoye, Kupyansky district, died in the hospital.
11:01 The attack on an oil depot in the Belgorod region was a GUR operation, Ukrainskaya Pravda reports, citing an intelligence source. According to the interlocutor, the oil depot is used for military purposes.
10:53 In the Samara region of the Russian Federation, another “foreign object” was found on a stretch, train traffic was suspended, the local railway reported.
10:46 The Main Intelligence Directorate showed a video of the operation to destroy the ship. Sergei Kotov:
10:28 Russian media write, citing emergency services, that three tanks are burning at an oil depot near Belgorod after the “fall” of the UAV. At the same time, the Ministry of Emergency Situations claims that one tank was allegedly damaged, and the open fire has already been extinguished.
10:23 Ukraine had previously attacked the Russian ship Sergei Kotov, but after that it was restored. This time the ship was definitely destroyed, said GUR representative Andrey Yusov. According to him, the ship not only served as a patrol boat, but the enemy planned to place anti-aircraft missile systems on it. As a result of the attack, there were dead and wounded; part of the crew was able to evacuate, Yusov added.
In turn, the speaker of the Naval Forces, Dmitry Pletenchuk, said that the patrol ship Sergei Kotov guarded the Kerch Strait. In total, the Russian Black Sea Fleet has four vessels of this design, and two of them are already out of commission. Such ships can perform different tasks at sea, and their destruction has a significant impact on the performance of these tasks, Pletenchuk noted.
09:42 The European Commission will today offer the EU ways to stimulate its defense industry so that it can move into a “war economy mode” in response to Russia’s war against Ukraine, writes Reuters.
09:04 The governor of the Kursk region, Roman Starovoyt, claims that the Glushkovo railway station was allegedly fired upon from the Ukrainian side, but there were no casualties. And the governor of the Belgorod region, Vyacheslav Gladkov, announced an “emergency” in the Gubkinsky urban district: there was an explosion, after which a fire started at an infrastructure facility. Public accounts write that drones attacked an oil depot in Dolgy.
08:49 Ukraine destroyed the Russian Black Sea Fleet patrol ship Sergei Kotov near the Kerch Strait. The ship was attacked by the special unit of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense Group 13 in cooperation with the Ukrainian Navy and with the support of the Ministry of Digital Development, intelligence reported. As a result of a strike by Magura V5 naval drones, the Russian Project 22160 ship Sergei Kotov received damage to the stern, starboard and port sides. The cost of the sunken ship is about $65 million.
08:32 The General Staff announced the estimated losses of the Russian Federation as of the morning of March 5:
- personnel - about 419,020 (+1070) people,
- tanks - 6657 (+9),
- armored combat vehicles - 12,688 (+28),
- artillery systems - 10,258 (+48),
- MLRS - 1007 (+3),
- air defense weapons - 700 (+2),
- aircraft - 347 (+0),
- helicopters - 325 (+0),
- UAV of operational-tactical level - 7863 (+18),
- cruise missiles - 1917 (+1),
- ships/boats - 25 (+0),
- submarines - 1 (+0),
- automotive equipment and tank trucks - 13,423 (+49),
- special equipment - 1630 (+9).
08:07 Over the past 24 hours, 74 military clashes took place at the front, the General Staff reported in its morning report. In particular, the enemy tried 22 times to break through the defenses of Ukrainian troops in the Novopavlovsk direction (in the areas of Georgievka, Novomikhailovka, Vodyanoye, Prechistovka and Urozhaynoye in the Donetsk region). Another 28 enemy attacks were repulsed in the Avdeevsky direction - in the areas of the settlements of Novoselovka, Berdychi, Tonenkoye, Pervomaiskoye, Nevelskoye in the Donetsk region.
In the Kupyansky direction, seven attacks were repelled in the Sinkovka and Tabaevka areas of the Kharkov region; in Limansky - four attacks in the areas of Ternov, Donetsk region and Belogorivka, Lugansk region; in Bakhmutsky - six attacks in the Andreevka, Ivanovsky and Kleshcheevka districts of the Donetsk region; on Orekhovsky - one attack in the Rabotino area of the Zaporozhye region; on Kherson - two attacks.
07:16 In the Odessa region, as a result of a night attack by drones, the building of a recreational facility that has not been functioning since the beginning of the full-scale invasion was damaged. A fire broke out and was quickly extinguished. A private house was also damaged in the recreational area, but no people were injured, the Southern Defense Forces reported.
07:05 Air defense at night destroyed 18 of the 22 Shahed-type attack drones that Russia attacked from the Crimean Balaklava, the Air Force command reported. The drones were destroyed within the Odessa region.
02:43 The Russian Ministry of Defense in its magazine Military Thought published an article about a possible scenario of an attack on Russia. According to the “estimates” of the Russian military, the air-ground or air-sea operation “will begin with a quick global strike and simultaneously with several massive missile and air strikes.” The authors of the article believe that “before the start of the active phase of the operation, the enemy will act aggressively and provocatively: conduct all types of reconnaissance, regular flights of aircraft and drones near the borders of the Russian Federation, including flights of strategic bombers.”
“In this regard, it is necessary to develop new views on the organization of the combat use of aviation forces both in peacetime and in wartime,” the article says.