Worth noting, korrespondent.net has compiled its Invasion of Ukraine series into separate months, beginning May 9th, 2023. Linked in the title.
[Korrespondent] 22:35 In Europe, voices are growing louder about the need to quickly strengthen defense capabilities and rearmament. Russia's war against Ukraine and the prospects of US President Donald Trump winning the election with his anti-NATO rhetoric are the factors that made the Europeans stir. The European Commission has unveiled a defense industrial strategy and proposed an "ambitious set" of new measures to maintain the competitiveness and readiness of the EU defense industry. Read more in the material The EU is arming itself.
22:26 The Biden administration is considering whether it can take $200 million from US Army funding for urgent assistance to Ukraine, Bloomberg writes.
21:53 The new bill on mobilization, which the Verkhovna Rada supported in the first reading and is being finalized, provides for the abolition of conscript service in Ukraine. In its place, compulsory basic military training will be introduced. All men from 18 to 25 years old will be sent to undergo training. Read more in the material Basic military training: how it will work.
21:40 Putin said that “the reunification of Russia and Ukraine on a spiritual level is inevitable”; this is allegedly hampered by “disgusting manifestations of nationalism.”
21:17 The third assault brigade states that Russian troops cannot break through the defenses of the Ukrainian Armed Forces near Avdievka, but continue to advance. Most of all, the Russian troops are “erased on Orlovka,” said deputy brigade commander Maxim Zhorin.
20:48 Victoria Nuland, the third-highest ranking American diplomat, will leave her post by the end of the month. Nuland has repeatedly provoked an angry reaction from the Russian leadership for her open support of Ukraine, especially after the annexation of Crimea in 2014. More details about her and her position towards Ukraine can be found in the article The Thunderstorm of Russia.
20:23 The Czech Republic has found almost all the funds to purchase 800 thousand shells for Ukraine, Bloomberg writes, citing sources. According to them, artillery shells can be delivered to Ukraine within a few weeks.
19:49 The Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense confirmed the liquidation of Svetlana Samoilenko, a collaborator and organizer of the “elections” of the President of the Russian Federation, in Berdyansk, Zaporozhye region. After the occupation of the city in 2022, the woman voluntarily cooperated with the Russians and was appointed “Deputy Mayor for Economics, Agricultural Sector and Finance.” Samoilenko’s husband and adult son also serve the occupiers. In preparation for the pseudo-elections, Samoilenko intimidated and terrorized the residents of Berdyansk, forcing them to participate in the “voting”.
19:26 IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi said that he met with Putin in Sochi: “The exchange of information with the Russian President on the nuclear safety of the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant and other global challenges in the field of non-proliferation is important.”
19:08 The Russians fired artillery at Nikopol, Dnepropetrovsk region - a fire broke out in a large store on an area of 4000 square meters. m, said the head of the OVA Sergei Lysak. No people were hurt. In addition, during the day the enemy struck the city with a kamikaze drone, one person was injured.
18:57 The commander of the Ground Forces of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Alexander Pavlyuk, announced plans to carry out counterattack actions this year: “Everything is being done in order to seize the initiative. Our task is to stabilize the front line, destroy the enemy as much as possible, regroup as much as possible to withdraw units that need restoration, create a strike force and carry out counterstrike operations this year. We are succeeding. The situation is stabilizing."
According to the commander, there are several hot directions left: Avdeevka, Chasov Yar, as well as Terny towards Liman. “I think that we will stabilize the situation in the near future and will do everything to ensure that the troops take active action and seize the initiative,” Pavlyuk added.
18:52 Latvia will join the Czech initiative to purchase 800 thousand artillery ammunition for Ukraine, Defense Minister Andris Spruds said.
18:45 The visit of the Ukrainian president and the delegation from Greece to Odessa took place in extreme secrecy, foreign media write. It was at this time that the Russian army attacked the city with ballistics. The strike hit the seaport when Zelensky was supposed to be giving a tour to the Prime Minister of Greece. According to unofficial information, five people were killed and five more were injured as a result of the attack. Everything that is known about this is in the material Russian Federation attack on Zelensky’s motorcade in Odessa.
18:28 The Russian Ministry of Defense stated that today at 11:40 am the Russian armed forces launched a missile attack on a hangar in the port area of Odessa, where allegedly “preparations were underway for the combat use of Ukrainian unmanned boats.”
17:53 Ukraine and Greece have begun preparing a bilateral agreement on security guarantees, Zelensky said. “We must record in it the already achieved level of cooperation and support for this year, as well as for the next ten years,” the president added.
17:40 Germany will allocate money for the purchase of shells for Ukraine as part of the Czech initiative, said German government speaker Steffen Hebestreit. He did not give an exact figure, but noted that it would be a “three-digit million amount.”
17:32 The police clarified that Russia hit the village of Borovaya, Kharkov region, with an Iskander-M missile. As a result of the strike, one person was killed and seven were injured. A woman and her five children were rescued from the rubble of a private house, and a resident of a neighboring house was also injured.
17:09 Russia struck Odessa when Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Zelensky were visiting the city. The Greek publication Protothema writes that the target of the Russian Federation was Zelensky’s motorcade - the explosion occurred 150 meters from the location of the Greek delegation. The publication's sources say that no one from the Greek delegation was injured.
Zelensky, during a press conference, confirmed information about the Russian strike: “We saw this strike today. You see who we are dealing with, they don’t care where to hit. I know that there were casualties today. I don’t know all the details yet, but I know that there are dead and wounded."
In turn, Mitsotakis said that they did not have time to hide in a shelter: “President Zelensky and his headquarters showed us and explained the importance of the port and what is being done to restore and strengthen the Ukrainian maritime route, what damage it suffered during the attacks. Already in "At the very end we heard the sound of sirens and explosions that were very close to us. We did not have time to go to a protected place, it was a very impressive experience."
16:24 The SBU showed testing of the first registered sea drone Sea Baby called Avdiivka. This is an improved version - more maneuverable and with a larger warhead. The SBU says that the new generation Sea Baby is capable of delivering almost a ton of explosives over more than 1,000 km and is conceived as a universal platform for various weapons. In total, Ukrainians collected almost 300 million hryvnia for 35 such drones.
16:08 Russian troops attacked Berislav, Kherson region, from drones, two people were wounded, OVA reported. Also, the enemy shelled Kherson several times during the day, two people were wounded.
15:56 The number of victims as a result of the Russian strike on the village of Borovaya, Izyum district, Kharkov region, has increased to seven, one person died, said the head of the OVA Oleg Sinegubov. Among the wounded were three teenagers aged 12 to 16 years.
15:17 Bulgaria has begun sending the promised armored personnel carriers to Ukraine, BTV reports. According to the publication, the first armored personnel carrier was loaded onto the platform and departed from the base of the General Directorate of the Gendarmerie in Sofia to the railway station in Novi Iskari. A total of 110 armored personnel carriers will be sent to Ukraine.
15:09 Russian troops attacked the Sumy region for the first time with cluster bombs. From the air they mined two villages in the Shostkinsky district - Staraya Guta and Marchikhina Buda, said the head of the OVA, Vladimir Artyukh. According to him, since January 1, the number of strikes by drones and guided bombs has increased significantly.
14:51 The Russians struck Borovaya in the Izyum district of the Kharkov region - according to preliminary data, one person was killed, four were injured, three of them children, said the head of the OVA Oleg Sinegubov.
14:23 British Foreign Secretary David Cameron said that London is ready to provide Ukraine with a loan in the amount of frozen assets of the Russian Central Bank in Britain on the basis that Russia will be forced to pay reparations to Ukraine after the end of the war: “There is the possibility of using something like a syndicated loan or bonds "effectively using frozen Russian assets as a guarantee to get this money to the Ukrainians, knowing that we will get it back when Russia pays reparations. This may be the best way to do it."
13:58 One of the organizers of pseudo-elections was blown up in Berdyansk, local publics write. The Russians announced a terrorist attack in the city related to the organization of “elections.” It is known that the woman died as a result of the explosion.
13:16 Russian media report an explosion near an oil storage facility near Voronezh.
12:27 The Greek publication Newsit writes that Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis is on a short visit to Ukraine. According to information not confirmed by the government, he is scheduled to meet with Zelensky in Odessa. Social networks, meanwhile, report a strong explosion in Odessa during an air raid raid. Monitoring publics write that there was a ballistic strike. There is no official information yet.
11:59 The IT coalition has already united 11 states and has accumulated enough contributions for the first purchases according to the priority requests of Ukraine, said Defense Minister Rustem Umerov. According to him, “Estonia and Luxembourg are demonstrating true leadership and partnership as countries presiding over the coalition and helping us bring in new members.”
11:24 As a result of a night drone attack, regional power supply networks were damaged in the Khmelnitsky and Odessa regions, Ukrenergo reported. In the Khmelnitsky region, 30 settlements and 14,425 consumers were cut off. As of this morning, seven settlements and 2,506 consumers remain without power, and emergency restoration work continues.
In the Odessa region, 234 consumers were de-energized due to hostilities; repair crews plan to restore power supply during the day. In general, the night attack did not cause critical consequences for the operation of the energy system, Ukrenergo noted.
11:06 As a result of the destruction of the Russian ship Sergei Kotov, at least 27 crew members were injured, seven were killed, the Main Intelligence Directorate reported. The information is being clarified.
10:51 Governor of the Kursk region Roman Starovoyt announced the second drone strike on the fuel and lubricants warehouse of the Mikhailovsky Mining and Processing Plant in the Zheleznogorsk district, no casualties.
10:42 In Sumy, as a result of a night drone attack, seven people were injured, including a ten-year-old child, the prosecutor’s office reported. 11 apartment buildings, a preschool building, and about 20 cars were damaged. Secretary of the City Council Artem Kobzar clarified that one of the drones hit a critical infrastructure facility, and two more hit civilian objects.
10:27 In the Odessa region, during a night attack, air defense forces destroyed 18 enemy drones. The drones were aimed at populated areas and industrial facilities in the coastal zone, said head Oleg Kiper. As a result of falling debris in the Odessa region, a recreational facility, a gas pipeline and residential buildings in the private sector were damaged. No people were hurt.
09:58 The British edition of The Times writes, with reference to the speaker of the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War, Pyotr Yatsenko, that Chechen paramilitary groups are ransoming Ukrainian prisoners of war from other Russian military units in order to then exchange them for Chechen prisoners held by the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
09:22 Russian public pages write that in the Kursk region, after a drone attack, a fuel tank is burning on the territory of the Mikhailovsky mining and processing plant. The enterprise is one of the largest in Russia and the CIS for the extraction and processing of iron ore.
09:07 In the Khmelnytsky region, an infrastructure facility was damaged during a night attack by drones. Several settlements were cut off and one private house was damaged. No people were injured, the OVA reported.
09:03 The General Staff announced the estimated losses of the Russian Federation as of the morning of March 6:
- personnel - about 420,270 (+1250) people,
- tanks - 6678 (+21),
- armored combat vehicles - 12,728 (+40),
- artillery systems - 10 308 (+50),
- MLRS - 1008 (+1),
- air defense systems - 701 (+1),
- aircraft - 347 (+0),
- helicopters - 325 (+0),
- UAV of operational-tactical level - 7921 (+58),
- cruise missiles - 1918 (+1),
- ships/boats - 26 (+1),
- submarines - 1 (+0),
- automotive equipment and tank trucks - 13,479 (+56),
- special equipment - 1642 (+12).
08:56 Over the past 24 hours, 86 military clashes took place at the front, the General Staff reported in its morning report. In particular, the enemy tried 39 times to break through the defenses of Ukrainian troops in the Novopavlovsk direction - in the Georgievka, Novomikhailovka, Prechistovka and Krasnohorivka areas of the Donetsk region. Another 23 attacks were repelled in the Avdeevsky direction - in the areas of the settlements of Berdychi, Tonenkoye, Pervomaiskoye, Vodyanoye, Nevelskoye, Semenovka and Orlovka in the Donetsk region.
The enemy did not conduct offensive actions in the Kupyansk direction. In the Liman direction, six enemy attacks were repelled in the Verkhnekamensky and Ternov areas of the Donetsk region; in Bakhmutskoye - two attacks in the Ivanovo and Belaya Gora areas of the Donetsk region; on Orekhovsky - five attacks in the areas of Gulyai-Polye, Malinovka and Rabotino of the Zaporozhye region; on Kherson - three attacks.
08:45 First lady Elena Zelenskaya refused to attend Biden’s address to Congress on Thursday, March 7, where she was invited by the White House, The Washington Post writes. According to the newspaper's sources, the reason is that Zelenskaya was going to be put next to Navalny's widow Yulia. The White House's plan was that the image of both women, each a symbol of resistance to Putin, "would provide a powerful backdrop to President Biden's speech." But Navalnaya's presence "caused discomfort among Ukrainians" due to her husband's comments about the "Russian" status of Crimea, sources said.
08:31 Governor of the Kursk region Roman Starovoyt said that after the drone attack, a warehouse of fuels and lubricants caught fire.
08:16 Russian public pages write about an attack on an airfield and oil depot in the Voronezh region. In particular, the drone attempted to attack the Baltimore military airfield in Voronezh, but was allegedly “shot down by air defense systems a few kilometers from the airfield.” Two more drones tried to attack an oil depot in the Anninsky municipal district of the region. The drones were allegedly shot down, but the debris of one of them fell into the tank, the second also fell on the territory of the oil depot.
07:28 Air defense at night destroyed 38 of 42 Shahed attack drones, which Russia attacked from four directions - Chauda, Balaklava, Kursk region and Primorsko-Akhtarsk, the Air Force command reported. The drones were destroyed within the Dnepropetrovsk, Odessa, Kherson, Khmelnitsky, Cherkassy, Kharkov, Vinnytsia and Sumy regions.
In addition, the enemy attacked with five S-300 anti-aircraft guided missiles from the occupied territory of the Donetsk region.
05:24 Argentine President Javier Miley said that he intends to visit Ukraine and meet with Zelensky. According to Infobae, the trip is planned for June. Miley will become the first leader of Latin America to come to Ukraine during the large-scale military aggression of the Russian Federation.
02:37 The Russians attacked Sumy with strike drones, three hits were recorded in different parts of the city. There were casualties, the results of the attack are being clarified, the OVA reported.
02:19 Orban will discuss with Trump the issue of establishing peace in Ukraine on March 8, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjártó said. According to him, in Budapest they believe that “peace in Ukraine is President Trump.” “And without his election, we see much less hope for peace in the foreseeable future in Ukraine than in the case of his election. We understand that with our position we do not represent the majority in Europe. But nevertheless, we are convinced of this,” - Szijjártó explained.