The situation on the front line
On March 2, the Russian army launched rocket attacks on Zaporozhye. One of the rockets flew into a five-story residential building, as a result, three people were killed and six were injured. About ten apartments were destroyed in the house, located from the second to the fifth floor. According to the project of the "military correspondent" Semyon Pegov WarGonzo, Russia also conducted offensive operations near Novodanilovka in the Zaporozhye direction . The Armed Forces of Ukraine, in turn, attacked the Russian positions in Pologi.
In the Poltava direction, Russia fired on critical and civilian infrastructure in the Kremenchug region. There is no mention of casualties or destruction. In total, over the past day, the Armed Forces of Ukraine repulsed more than 170 Russian attacks on the Kupyansky, Limansky, Bakhmutsky, Avdeevsky and Shakhtyorsky directions, the Ukrainian General Staff reports .
In Bakhmut, the Ukrainian military is still in a critical situation. In the southern part of the city, fighting is taking place in the Ivanovsky area. According to the Def Mon analyst, the Armed Forces of Ukraine repelled attacks in the area of Orekhovo-Vasilyevka, Dubovo-Vasilyevka, Bogdanovka, Khromovo and Bakhmut itself. Russian forces, in turn, advanced from the captured Berkhovka and Yagodnoye to Khromovo. As Conflict Intelligence Team analysts emphasize , this advance closes the last known road connecting Bakhmut with Ukrainian-controlled territories – the road to Chasov Yar. CIT also claims that Bakhmut is in the operational environment. The distance between the "pincers" – the two sides of the open circle of capture – is only 5.5 km.
Alleged sabotage in the Bryansk region
The governor of the Bryansk region Alexander Bogomaz at 11:30 local time reported that a sabotage and reconnaissance group (DRG) from Ukraine had entered the village of Lyubechane in the Klimovsky district of the region and fired at a car. According to him, as a result, one person died, and a 10-year-old child was injured and was hospitalized. Propaganda media also wrote that in the border village of Sushany in the Bryansk region, a battle was going on between the fighters of the National Guard and a group of armed people. It was alleged that the "saboteurs" took the villagers hostage. There was no confirmation of this information, however, the Kremlin, the FSB and Kyiv gave comments regarding what happened.
So, Vladimir Putin called the events in the Bryansk region "another terrorist act" : “They entered the border area, where they opened fire on civilians. They saw that it was a civilian car, they saw that civilians and children were sitting there. "Niva" ordinary.
The FSB stated that “Ukrainian nationalists” were behind the incident: “In the border Klimovsky district of the Bryansk region, the FSB of Russia and attached forces of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation are taking measures to destroy armed Ukrainian nationalists who violated the state border.” Later , the department reported that the “saboteurs” were “squeezed out” into Ukraine: “In order to avoid civilian casualties and damage to civilian infrastructure, the enemy was squeezed into the territory of Ukraine, where a massive artillery strike was inflicted on him.”
The Ukrainian authorities, in turn, called the incident a “classic provocation” : “Completely conscious. Russia wants to frighten its own people in order to somehow justify an attack on another country and growing poverty in a year of war. Meanwhile, the partisan movement in Russia is becoming stronger and more aggressive. Be afraid of your partisans,” Mikhail Podolyak, adviser to the head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, wrote on his Twitter.
On February 23, the Ukrainian command warned about the impending provocation from Russia on the border with the Chernihiv region:
“The occupiers are preparing possible provocations for the anniversary of the full-scale offensive, most likely, the goal is to accuse the Ukrainian defenders of violating the territorial integrity. This is evidenced by intelligence data, which recorded the movement of columns of military equipment in the area of the border with the Chernihiv region without signs of recognition and manpower, dressed in a pixel, similar to the uniform of the Armed Forces of Ukraine,” wrote the joint command “North”.
The far-right Russian Volunteer Corps claimed responsibility for the alleged sabotage. The members of the association stated that the information about the taking of hostages was false. According to them, the goal is to show compatriots that "there is hope that free Russian people with weapons in their hands can fight the regime." Important Stories published an anonymous comment from one of the RDK fighters:
“I just came from there. There were 45 of us on this task. We went in, filmed, ambushed two BMPs. I didn't see any children. But there was one injured border guard. No hostages were taken."
It is noteworthy that the Russian authorities have repeatedly reported on the reliability of the border with Ukraine in the Bryansk direction. On February 9, they announced that they had completed work to strengthen the border. Shortly before that , Chairman of the Federation Council Andrei Turchak said that "a mouse will not slip through" on the border of the Bryansk region.
Spying on "Machulishchi"
The BYPOL project of the former Belarusian security forces reported that Belarusian partisans monitored the Machulishchi military airfield 12 km from Minsk for two weeks using drones for the civilian population bought in a store. In the video published by the members of the Peramoga power resistance plan, it can be seen that during the reconnaissance, the drone not only flew near the Russian military airborne early warning and control aircraft A-50U, but also managed to land on its radar station. Belarusian air defense did not shoot down partisan UAVs.
"Surveillance" of the airfield preceded two explosions, which, we recall, occurred there on the morning of February 26. As a result, the same A-50U filmed on video was damaged. The monitoring project "Belarusian Guyun" claims that on March 2 he went to the 325th Aircraft Repair Plant in Taganrog.
Increasing ammo production
The European Commission wants to dramatically increase the production of ammunition, writes Der Spiegel, citing a relevant document. According to the publication, this is planned to be done in three stages.
- The first provides for an immediate increase in the supply of ammunition to Ukraine. In particular, this applies to 155 mm artillery shells. To do this, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Josep Borrell is said to have to offer an additional €1 billion support package.
- The second stage is related to the joint purchase of 155 mm ammunition by the European Defense Agency EDA. This should fill the gaps in the reserves of European countries and ensure the supply of Ukraine in the long term.
- The third step is to ensure a long-term increase in European ammunition production capacity, taking into account the changed security situation.
Torture in Kherson
During the occupation of Kherson, Russia organized about 20 prisons in the city, where local residents were tortured. Wayne Jordash, a British lawyer and head of the Mobile Justice Team, told Important Stories about this. MJT is helping Ukraine investigate Russian crimes in Kherson. Jordash claims that the torture facilities were financed from the state budget. They were controlled by several structures at once: the FSB, the military and collaborators, among whom was the head of the occupation administration of the Kherson region Vladimir Saldo.
According to Jordash, about 400 people went missing in Kherson during the occupation, some of them died in torture centers: “We have evidence that the bodies of people were taken out of prisons in black bags. It is still difficult to estimate the total number of deaths.”
AliExpress and drones
The Chinese marketplace AliExpress has blocked the sale of drones for buyers from Russia. According to the Telegram channel Mash, the restrictions affected drones from Chinese companies DJI and Autel. Russian buyers are not only unable to access the product page, but have also encountered a limitation in the functionality of already purchased UAVs. So, DJI removed applications for controlling its drones from the Russian AppStore.
Drones from DJI can be used for military purposes. According to BYPOL, it was with their help that Belarusian partisans attacked the airfield in Machulishchi.
Limitation of the IAEA presence at ZNPP
According to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), Russia is likely trying to further limit the presence of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) at the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP). According to analysts, in this way the Russian authorities want to achieve recognition of the Russian ownership of the station. To do this, they may try to entrap IAEA personnel. In addition, through threats, Russia may try to contain a possible future Ukrainian counteroffensive in the south.
Read about the main events of the war on the first day of March in The Insider’s report “Ukraine defeated Putin’s “winter terror”, the Armed Forces of Ukraine attacked Crimea with drones, the United States raised the“ doomsday plane ”. What's going on at the front.