Russia has begun launching loitering munitions (kamikaze drones) from a new base in the Bryansk region, which helps to reduce flight time and complicate the work of the Ukrainian air defense system, previously launches were carried out only from the Krasnodar Territory. This is reported by the Ministry of Defense of Britain with reference to its intelligence.
On the night of February 27, the Armed Forces of Ukraine shot down 11 out of 14 Shahed-136 UAVs launched near the airspace of Kyiv and in the Chernivtsi region, the authorities reported. Prior to this, the last reports of a drone attack were on February 15, which likely indicates that the Russian Federation has exhausted its current stocks and will look for ways to replenish it, the Ministry of Defense notes. At the same time, judging by the direction, the "Shaheds" were most likely launched from the Bryansk region.
Russia is not only using new points to launch drones, but is also looking in other countries for those who can control them. According to The Media Line, citing a source in the Lebanese intelligence services, some Russian organizations are recruiting young Palestinians to fight in Ukraine. First of all, they are looking for those who can operate drones, and also have experience in guerrilla warfare in urban areas. According to the publication, about 300 people are already fighting on the front line, all of them have undergone express training. Another hundred people are preparing to send.
The United States at that time deployed an E-6B Mercury "doomsday aircraft" to Iceland as part of an "operation in the area of responsibility of the command of the US Armed Forces in Europe." This is stated in the message of the US Command in Europe. The E-6B Mercury was created on the basis of the Boeing 707-320 and is designed to control the aircraft in a nuclear war. The Russian Federation also has similar aircraft, but they are made on the basis of the Il-86.
Russian troops are suffering "huge losses" in the battles for Bakhmut , spokesman for the Eastern Group of Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Sergey Cherevaty told CNN. Wagner PMC fighters are trying to storm the city, but the situation in the city itself has become calmer compared to previous days, shootings are taking place on the outskirts, Cherevaty notes. Anonymous OSINT specialist Def Mon claims that the Ukrainian Armed Forces repelled Russian attacks in the Bakhmut area, and also publishes an up-to-date map.
Military expert Alexander Kovalenko told The Insider that it is actually possible and expedient to keep the defense of Bakhmut until the main logical arteries function. According to him, these are highways 04 and 05 through Ivanovskoye, as well as the road through Khromovo to Chasov Yar. Now they are under artillery and mortar fire control of the Russian troops, in principle, all roads to the city are already under fire. At the same time, logistics, the transfer of forces and means to Bakhmut, as well as the withdrawal of forces, if necessary, are still being carried out, Kovalenko emphasized.
“As long as at least one of these arteries functions in the same mode as today, the defense of Bakhmut is expedient. As soon as there is a threat of cutting this artery or one of them, it will certainly be necessary to deal with the withdrawal of the main group of troops from Bakhmut, or rather, almost the entire group of troops. How long can this last? Kleshcheevka, if I'm not mistaken, was seized by Russian units more than a month ago and tried to advance in the direction of Ivanovsky to cut highways 05 and 04. And for a whole month they stomp across the field 4 km from Kleshcheevka and, in fact, got stuck there.
It all depends on how artillery will work, units with mortars, how much ammunition will be enough to suppress these offensive actions. Due to the fact that the Russian invaders have the opportunity to enter Bakhmut from the north and start hostilities in urban conditions, this can drag on for a long time. Since earlier Severodonetsk, Popasnoye and Mariupol demonstrated that the Russian army in urban combat is unprofessional. In Mariupol, superiority in urban combat was not achieved, despite several times the advantage in a number of areas, until the entire block where the resistance was located was destroyed by artillery and aircraft. Only by erasing the defending quarter from the face of the earth, it was possible to knock out the defending side from it. Therefore, urban combat can become quite a serious and long-lasting nightmare. The main thing is that the logistical arteries remain under the control of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.”
In the Vuhledar direction, the Russian group, which includes the 155th Marine Brigade, motorized riflemen and tankers, is trying to storm Ugledar and break through the echeloned defense of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, according to the Voin DV propaganda Telegram channel. Now aviation and artillerymen are hitting targets, but on the ground the Ukrainian Armed Forces have a significant tactical advantage, propagandists admit.
In social networks and Telegram channels, a video has been published with Russian servicemen who lie in a "gap" near Vuhledar. On it, one of the military says that next to him is a colleague wounded two days ago, he has a tourniquet on the upper part of his leg. At the same time, shelling is heard around, the author describes the situation itself with the words “f*ck here”.
Later, the military commander-propagandist Alexander Garmaev reported that the servicemen present in this video were pulled from the battlefield, everyone is alive, the wounded soldier is in the hospital. The evacuation was carried out by scouts of the 5th tank brigade and infantry of the 37th motorized rifle brigade of the 36th combined arms army. According to Garmaev, their tank was blown up by a mine near Ugledar, after which the crew continued to fire, but in the end, the servicemen left the car. A photo with the fighters appeared in the pro-Russian media, allegedly taken after they were pulled out.
shelling
The Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine shot down all four kamikaze drones launched on the night of March 1, the General Staff reports.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba summed up on the first day of spring that Ukraine had survived the "winter terror" organized by Russian President Vladimir Putin. He wrote about it on his Facebook page.
“On March 1, 2023, Putin suffered his fifth major defeat since the day of the full-scale invasion – Ukraine defeated his winter terror. We survived the hardest winter in our history. We were cold and dark, but we were indestructible. The partners stood side by side with us, and the EU also won, which, despite Moscow’s laughter, also did not freeze without Russian gas.”
Kuleba specified that Putin's first defeat was when Ukraine from the first minutes of the offensive did not allow him to paralyze the country with fear. The second defeat, according to Kuleba, took place when the plan of the Russian blitzkrieg (short-term war) was thwarted, and Ukraine did not surrender "not in three days, not in seven, not in a month, not in a year." The third defeat is a global coalition in support of Ukraine, including a resolution, isolation, arms supplies, sanctions, financial and humanitarian assistance. Fourth, the loss by Russia of a significant part of the occupied territories of Ukraine as a result of effective counteroffensives of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
Earlier, the company "Ukrenergo" reported that in the energy system of Ukraine for 18 days there is no observed and no power shortage is predicted.
On the night of March 1, the Armed Forces of Ukraine launched drones into Russian-occupied Crimea, probably using Chinese Mugin-5s equipped with explosives. Their photos are published by Telegram channels specializing in military topics. "Military Observer" notes that in the afternoon the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation reported on the prevention of a massive attack by drones on the Crimea.
According to the Ministry of Defense, six UAVs were shot down, four more were disabled with the help of "electronic warfare equipment." The Rybar Telegram channel claims that at least 15 UAVs took off from the Shkolny airfield in Odessa, as well as Krasnoglinsky in Artsyz. Of these, six were shot down near the village of Olenevka on Cape Tarkhankut, eight were planted by EW units near Evpatoria and Saki, and one near Krasnoperekopsk. According to him, an American RQ-4B UAV was in the air during the attack.
The increased activity of reconnaissance aircraft of the joint air forces of NATO is a sign of preparation for an attack and a Ukrainian offensive, the propaganda channel claims.
“The Armed Forces of Ukraine are improving the tactics of using UAVs, changing the direction of approach and the number of drones during an attack. Also, Ukrainian units began to launch UAVs from other airfields, including Artsyzsky and Limansky.”
As a result of the shelling of the Donetsk region, two civilians were killed and five were injured, a pre-trial investigation was launched into violations of the laws and customs of war, the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine said .
On February 28, the Russian Armed Forces fired artillery at Bakhmut, Chasov Yar and the village of Lastochkino, Pokrovsky District. Elderly spouses died in their own house, rescuers pulled out the body of a 73-year-old woman from under the rubble, and the search for her 68-year-old husband continues. In addition, the explosions damaged and destroyed residential buildings, some houses and outbuildings burned to the ground, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine specified.
Also, the Office of the Prosecutor General's Office reported that the Russian Federation fired artillery at the Nikopol district in the Dnipropetrovsk region, a pre-trial investigation has also been launched on this fact. Five private houses and outbuildings, an agricultural enterprise, a shop, a car, power lines and a gas pipeline were damaged. In Nikopol, three industrial and transport enterprises were damaged.
On the evening of March 1, an air raid alert was announced in most regions of Ukraine. The head of the office of the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky, Andriy Yermak, urged not to ignore her.
The Glavred publication reported that explosions thundered in Kremenchug, Poltava region, and Kh-22 missiles could have been previously launched.
Losses
The Russian army lost 9441 pieces of equipment in Ukraine, including tanks, armored personnel carriers, MLRS and military aircraft, which is three times more than the losses of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. This was reported by the Oryx OSINT project. This number includes destroyed, damaged, abandoned and captured equipment. 6007 units of military equipment of the Russian Federation were destroyed and more than 2.7 thousand were captured by the Armed Forces of Ukraine. This list includes 1782 tanks, 2135 infantry fighting vehicles, 299 armored personnel carriers, 349 self-propelled artillery units, 178 MLRS, 2311 trucks and SUVs. Aviation lost 75 aircraft, 78 helicopters and 187 drones.
At the same time, the losses of Ukraine amounted to about three thousand pieces of equipment, 1919 were destroyed and cannot be restored. The list of losses of the Armed Forces of Ukraine includes 470 tanks, 265 armored vehicles, 494 infantry fighting vehicles, 228 armored personnel carriers, 59 aircraft, 31 helicopters.
In the Luhansk region, SBU special forces destroyed six Russian tanks overnight, the regional military administration (OVA) said in a statement.
Read also about the main events of the war on the last day of February in The Insider report: “Large-scale drone attack on Russian cities, withdrawal of the Armed Forces of Ukraine from Bakhmut, new German air defense for Ukraine. What's going on at the front .