Will Bachmut soon fall to Kremlin chief Putin’s military? Moscow accuses Kiev of shooting down drones over Russian soil. Ukraine war ticker.
- battle around Bachmut: Russia relies on Wagner mercenaries – Volodymyr Zelenskyy alarmed
- bombardment in nuclear power plant-Region: Concern about Zaporizhia nuclear power plant
- drones in the Ukraine war: military from Wladimir Putin uses new starting place
Update from March 2, 6:10 a.m.: According to reports from the Ukrainian general staff, the Russian military continued its attacks in eastern Ukraine unabated on Wednesday. The city of Bakhmut, which had been fought over for weeks, was once again the focus of the heaviest fighting, as the Ukrainian army command announced in its daily situation report. Russian units are already pressuring the city from three sides.
A series of Russian artillery and air strikes were also reported from around the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv. There were also civilian casualties in rocket attacks, it said. No further details were given. The Ukrainian air defense shot down two Iranian-made kamikaze drones in the region.
Ukraine News: “We have every area on the front line under control”
Update from March 1st, 9:40 p.m.: According to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the Ukrainian armed forces have the situation on the country’s fronts under control. “We have every area on the front line under control,” said Zelenskyj in his nightly video speech on Wednesday. However, the people behind the fronts would continue to suffer from the Russian attacks. “Deliberate terror,” Zelenskyy said of Russian artillery attacks on towns and villages behind the fronts in southern and eastern Ukraine.
“In most of our country, where we have managed to provide relative safety, they (residents) may not understand what life is like for people living in the border areas with Russia and in the south of our country,” said Zelenskyy. Although the people there are not at the front, they are still directly involved in the war. “There where Russia is constantly trying to destroy everything the people have, constantly – and that’s no exaggeration.”
Update from March 1, 9:19 p.m.: According to reports from the Ukrainian general staff, the Russian military continued its attacks in eastern Ukraine unabated on Wednesday. The city of Bakhmut, which had been fought over for weeks, was once again the focus of the heaviest fighting, the Ukrainian army command said in its daily situation report. Russian units are already pressuring the city from three sides.
Update from March 1, 8:34 p.m.: Explosions have reportedly been heard near a military airport used by Russia near the Ukrainian border. According to the news portal Newsweek Ukraine launched a counteroffensive against the Kremlin. It is unclear what the offensive is all about.
Ukraine News: Scholz speaks out
Update from March 1, 7:33 p.m.: Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) made a government statement on Thursday (9:00 a.m.) about the “turning point” that he stated a year ago. At the time, Scholz announced the special fund of 100 billion euros to make the Bundeswehr, which had been saved over the years, fit again for national and alliance defense.
Ukraine News: Lukashenko supports China’s peace plan for the Ukraine war
Update from March 1, 6:01 p.m.: China and Belarus celebrated shoulders during a state visit by Belarusian ruler Alexander Lukashenko to Beijing on Wednesday. At a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, Lukashenko made clear his unreserved support for the Chinese position paper on the Ukraine war. Belarus “fully supports the initiative on international security that you put forward,” Lukashenko told Xi.
Ukraine News: Heavy fighting for Bakhmut
Update from March 1, 3:15 p.m.: In the Ukraine war, the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut is currently at the center of clashes between Russian and Ukrainian troops. While the Ukrainian army continues to resist, the Russian military intensifies attacks to finally take the city after months. Nevertheless, the Ukrainian army does not want to withdraw just yet, the spokesman for the eastern combat group, Serhiy Cherevatji, told US broadcaster CNN.
There is currently no corresponding decision, he emphasized. However, if a dangerous situation for soldiers is identified and if it is necessary in view of the military situation, the decision to withdraw will be made, he underlined. A Ukrainian soldier confirmed this to CNN: “No one is retreating. We stand. Bakhmut is Ukrainian.” The situation is calmer compared to the previous days, he said.
The head of the Wagner mercenary troupe, Yevgeny Prigozhin, known as “Putin’s cook”, made the statement, according to the British newspaper The Guardians also about Bachmut. The Ukrainian military is throwing “extra reserves into the fight and is trying to hold the city with all its might”. The clashes were “getting bloodier every day,” he said in an audio message.
Ukraine-News: Ukraine rejects drone allegations from Russia
Update from March 1, 12:19 p.m: The drones that recently crashed in Russia have attracted international attention. Russia accuses Ukraine – which now rejects it: Kiev is waging a defensive war and is not attacking anything on Russian territory, Mykhailo Podoliak, an adviser in the Ukrainian presidential office, tweeted.
In addition, Zelenskyi adviser Podoljak wrote: “Processes of panic and disintegration are increasing in the Russian Federation”. This is reflected in “an increase in domestic attacks by unknown flying objects on infrastructure objects”. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov only said about Podoljak’s statements: “We don’t believe him.”
Since the beginning of the week, drones have crashed in several Russian regions – both near the Ukrainian border and in the Moscow area.
Ukraine-News: US institute publishes current figures on Russia’s losses
Update from March 1, 10:59 a.m: Russia has so far recorded up to 70,000 dead in the fighting in the Ukraine war. That is significantly more than in any other violent conflict since the Second World War. This is the result of a recent analysis by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).
“The average number of soldiers killed per month is at least 25 times higher than in the Chechen war and 35 times higher than in the Afghan war,” it says CSIS report. The US analysts also note that the Ukrainian fighters have done “remarkably well”. The portal Nexta tweeted a chart accompanying the report:
Ukraine news in the live ticker: More than 8,000 civilians died – at least 500 children died
First report from March 1st: Kiev – The Ukraine war has already cost the lives of more than 8,000 civilians (among them a good 500 children); at least 13,000 civilians were injured in the fighting. At least that is the latest estimate by the UN Commissioner for Human Rights from Friday (February 24). However, the agency assumes that the actual numbers are significantly higher.
Ukraine news on the battle for Bakhmut: Russia relies on Wagner mercenaries in the Ukraine war
The Battle of Bakhmut is one of the bloodiest battles. Volodymyr Zelenskyy is now sounding the alarm: “Russia does not count its men at all and sends them into battle to constantly attack our positions,” said the Ukrainian President in his video address on Tuesday (February 28). “The intensity of the fighting is only increasing.”
According to the Ukrainian side, Russia is relying on the “best stormtroopers” of the Wagner mercenary group, which is considered to be particularly brutal. The information could not be checked independently. According to observers, the capture of the city in eastern Ukraine is primarily of symbolic value for Moscow.
Shelling in the nuclear power plant region: News about the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant in the Ukraine war
Observers are also alarmed by the situation around the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant. The site of Europe’s largest nuclear power plant has been hit several times during the Ukraine war – Ukraine and Russia blame each other. Now the fighting in the region has once again forced the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to issue a warning.
Experts from the authority stationed there registered a good 20 detonations near the nuclear power plant, said IAEA chief Rafael Grossi on Tuesday and warned: “This is a worrying trend that shows the urgency and importance of establishing a nuclear safety and protection zone in the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant.”
Drones in the Ukraine war: Vladimir Putin’s military uses a new launch site
Meanwhile, Moscow is now using a second launch site for its drone attacks, which opens up a “different attack axis, closer to Kiev,” according to British intelligence. This was announced by the Ministry of Defense in London on Wednesday (March 1).
The launch site is located in the western Russian region of Bryansk. Previously, only one location in the southern Russian region of Krasnodar had been used since mid-December. “This will likely shorten the time in the air over Ukraine,” it said (AFP/dpa/frs)
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