The situation at the front
According to the Ukrainian General Staff, Russia launched 30 air and six missile strikes on the territory of Ukraine, and also fired more than 20 rocket launchers. Shelling was carried out, including on civilian infrastructure. Aviation of the Armed Forces of Ukraine over the past day delivered five strikes on the areas of concentration of Russian military and military equipment. Ukraine also shot down a Russian Su-34 aircraft and one drone.
According to the WarGonzo project, in the Donetsk direction, Russian troops are conducting assault operations in the city and on the outskirts of Maryinka. At the same time, the author of the project, “military commander” Semyon Pegov, emphasizes that their intensity has decreased. However, according to the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, all the assault actions of Russia did not bring success. The same situation is near the settlements of Krasnogorovka, Kamenka, Avdeevka and Pobeda, the agency reports in its daily report.
Russian troops do not stop storming Bakhmut. At the same time, they probably suspended the operation to encircle the city. Instead of encircling him, they may try to put pressure on the Ukrainian military and force them to leave Bakhmut. However, according to the Ukrainian commander with the call sign Magyar, the aerial reconnaissance unit “Magyar Birds” headed by him is asked to urgently leave Bakhmut by the Ukrainian authorities themselves. He spoke about this in a video posted on his Telegram channel.
After some time, Z-channels showed a photo of the destroyed bridge across the reservoir of the Eighth Rates in Khromovo. This was the last route available for the Armed Forces of Ukraine from Bakhmut to Chasov Yar. The Conflict Intelligence Team believes that the bridge was blown up by the Ukrainian military during the retreat.
Ukrainian military expert Roman Svitan, in a conversation with The Insider, said that the Armed Forces of Ukraine are holding the Chasov Yar-Bakhmut line. He calls the city a "keystone", without mastering which the efforts of the Chief of the General Staff of the RF Armed Forces and the commander of the "Northern Military District" Valery Gerasimov to reach new frontiers – beyond Chasov Yar, to Kramatorsk and Slavyansk – are doomed to failure. That is why all the efforts of the Russian troops are still concentrated on Bakhmut. There, according to Svitan, thousands of Russian soldiers have already died.
“The Wagnerites did not run out of steam and did not get blown away – if there is a dynamic in their actions, then it is connected with the alignment of their supply and material and technical equipment in comparison with the regular army. Before the arrival of Gerasimov, they had a significant priority, and now they have the same means and resources as all other Russians, ”Svitan emphasized.
The Wagner PMC itself continues to announce its successes. On the evening of March 2, the head of the militants, Yevgeny Prigozhin, published a video in which mercenaries allegedly stand with their flag near the center of Bakhmut. Later it turned out that the video shows the eastern outskirts of the city, which have been captured by Russian troops for a long time.
For the second time in a week, Bakhmut was visited by the commander of the Eastern Group of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Colonel-General Alexander Syrsky. Prior to that, he came there on Saturday, February 25, and following the results of the visit, he described the situation in the city as “difficult”. “In Bakhmut, the commander heard reports from commanders on the state of affairs in subordinate units, got acquainted with the problematic issues of increasing the defense capability of our units on the front line,” the Ground Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said in a press release.
Downed Su-34
A Russian Su-34 fighter-bomber was shot down over the annexed part of the Donetsk region in the Enakievo region. Pro-Kremlin media wrote that both pilots managed to eject. The command of the Air Force of Ukraine stated that the plane was shot down by the Ukrainian military:
“For a long time, anti-aircraft gunners of the Air Force have not pleased with such a downed target! On March 3, 2023, in the Yenakiyevo area, at about 13:30, anti-aircraft gunners of the Nikopol anti-aircraft missile regiment "Vostok" destroyed a Russian Su-34 fighter-bomber. One of the pilots has died, the second is preparing to keep him company!
Z-channels write that the plane was indeed Russian, but it was not Ukraine that shot it down, but “friendly fire”. So, the Rybar Telegram channel of Mikhail Zvinchuk, who is part of the presidential working group on mobilization, reports that the Russians most likely shot down the Su-34, confusing it with a Ukrainian fighter. The same point of view is shared by the Gray Zone Telegram channel, which is close to the Wagner PMC. Its author believes that this is indicated by the crash site, which is located 25 kilometers from the front line deep into Russian-controlled territory.
Bryansk region and the boy Fedor
Recall, on March 2, it was reported that fighters of the far-right "Russian Volunteer Corps" crossed the Russian border. Russian authorities and propaganda media reported that they entered the territory of the Bryansk region and staged a "sabotage" there. On March 3, Kommersant, citing the Investigative Committee , reported that in the Klimovsky district of the region “not one, but two groups of Ukrainian militants, supported by a battery of 120-mm mortars, could operate.” The Russian Foreign Ministry stated that "the killings in the Bryansk region were committed with NATO weapons." The ASTRA Telegram channel reports that two Russian border guards were wounded during a shootout with RDK members. According to the sources of the publication, these are Lieutenant Colonel Renat Ts. and Ensign Andrei V. from the border department of the FSB in the Bryansk region. They allegedly received shrapnel wounds and contusions. Also, according to ASTRA, during the events in the Bryansk region, two civilians were killed: 63-year-old Leonid Golovanov from the village of Klimovo and the driver of a VAZ 2107, whose identity has not been established. A 10-year-old boy from the village of Brakhlov and a 35-year-old resident of the village of Sushany were also wounded.
The wounded 10-year-old boy in question became in one day a new red-flagged grandmother, the boy Alyosha and Daria Dugina. His name is Fyodor, and according to Russian authorities, he was wounded by the very same "Ukrainian militants." Propagandists, Z-channels, and pro-Kremlin outlets circulated a video of a child's mother coming to the hospital. The woman begins to cry, but the governor of the region Alexander Bogomaz calms her down.
Not only news about Fedor began to appear , but also supposedly folk art and flash mobs in support of him. At the TV tower in Bryansk, the backlight was turned on with words dedicated to the heroism of a child. Chairman of the Investigative Committee Alexander Bastrykinawarded Fedor with the departmental medal "Valour and Courage".
Irkutsk mobilized died
Almost all the Irkutsk mobilized, who complained three times that they were thrown into battle without assault training, died. Their relatives told about it. According to them, they were killed during the assault on the Avdeevsky fortified area. The wife of one of the surviving mobilized said that her husband called her from the hospital, where he was sent with a shrapnel wound: “He says there is nothing left of the regiment. So far, only two of the wounded are known, the rest either died or were left there in a difficult situation. According to her, her husband said that in a week he was again promised to be sent to the front line.
Drone in Machulishchi
Another reconnaissance video of a Russian A-50U military aircraft at the Machulishchi airfield in Belarus has been released. As in the previous video published by BYPOL, the air defense did not notice the UAV, and it flew up to the aircraft without hindrance, landing on the radome of the satellite radio link antenna that provides the aircraft's communications. The Military Observer Telegram channel emphasizes that if a drone blows up in this place, the aircraft will need factory repairs, as it will not be able to perform its main functions.
The Belarusian publication "Zerkalo" contacted the Taganrog 325th Aircraft Repair Plant, and found out that the damaged Russian A-50U aircraft had indeed arrived to them. The Belarusian authorities have not commented on the incident. On the facade of the Galeria shopping center in Minsk, allegedly as a result of a hacker attack, a video appeared with a damaged aircraft flying. At the end – the "crying" head of the organization of former Belarusian security officials BYPOL Alexander Azarov.
Arms supplies
The United States will provide another $400 million military aid package to Ukraine. It will include ammunition for HIMARS and howitzers, ammunition for Bradley infantry fighting vehicles, maintenance and training. To allocate these funds, US President Joe Biden does not need the consent of Congress.
Ukrainian public figure Serhiy Prytula showed the armored personnel carriers acquired by his foundation, decommissioned by the British army. Among them are vehicles of the CVR (T) family based on Scorpion: FV103 Spartan armored personnel carriers, FV104 Samaritan ambulances, FV105 Sultan command and staff vehicles, FV106 Samson armored personnel carriers and armored personnel carriers of the FV432 family. A total of 24 armored personnel carriers out of 101 planned – donations for them can be made here.
Read about the situation at the front on March 2 in The Insider’s report “Bakhmut in the operational environment, AliExpress against Russia, ultra-right “sabotage” in the Bryansk region. What's going on at the front.