UKRAINE WAR. Ukraine assures that the situation “is under control” in Kiev despite the ground and air assaults by Russian forces. Kharkiv, the country’s second city, is also resisting the offensives. Talks are due to take place between Ukraine and Russia at the Pripyat River.
The essential
- This Monday, February 28, Kiev is still under Ukrainian control but the assaults are raging. Three missile strikes targeted the capital overnight from Sunday to Monday and Belarusian troops would march towards Kiev to reinforce the Russian army according to Oleksiï Arestovitch, adviser to the Ukrainian president.
- Tension is rising in Kharkiv, the Russians are at the gates of the city in northeastern Ukraine. The governor of the region, Oleg Sinegoubov, indicates that the Ukrainian forces repel the Russian offensives and retain control of the city. In the rest of the country, bombardments and fighting also continue, in the south, where the Russian army said on Sunday that it had surrounded two major cities, Kherson and Berdiansk.
- Talks between Ukraine and Russia are to be held on Monday February 28 at the border between Ukraine and Belarus on the Pripyat River. Volodymyr Zelenksy says he does not expect an agreement after diplomatic exchanges. The day before, Vladimir Putin ordered the alert of the Russian “deterrent force” which includes a nuclear threat.
- Europe has decided to support Ukraine by financing the purchase and shipment of military artillery, including lethal weapons, to Ukraine.
- Follow the evolution of the situation live.
Live
08:57 – Nikolaev and Zaporozhye airports bombed
Airports remain prime targets for Russian forces. The army fired on the infrastructure of Nikolaev and Zaporozhye, located in the southern half of the country, overnight from Sunday to Monday.
08:48 – “Air supremacy” of Russia in Ukraine
The military boasts of Russia’s “air supremacy” over Ukrainian airspace but this information has not been confirmed by either the Russian government or Kiev.
08:44 – Ukrainians can leave Kiev “freely” according to the Russian army
Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov assured Monday morning that “all civilians in the city can leave the Ukrainian capital freely via the Kiev-Vassylkiv highway” which is located southwest of the capital. In Kiev, the curfew put in place last weekend has been lifted since 8 a.m. local time.
08:40 – 400,000 Ukrainians have left the country
In three days nearly 400,000 Ukrainians left the country. Many have taken refuge in neighboring countries such as Poland, Slovakia or Hungary. European countries have introduced a simplified procedure for granting refugee status to Ukrainians.
08:33 – The Russians control a nuclear power plant in Zaporizhiya
After Chernobyl, the Russian Ministry of Defense claims to have taken control of the “territory around” a nuclear power plant in Zaporizhiya, in the south of the country on the Dnieper River. “Plant personnel continue to service the site and monitor the radioactive situation as usual. Background radiation levels are normal,” the ministry said.
08:28 – Army encourages Ukrainian resistance fighters to take action
Many Ukrainian citizens took up arms against the Russian occupier. In the north of the country, in Teroboron, the anti-terrorist defense forces gave resistance fighters directions for organizing the troops. The Ukrainians are asked to set up patrols and block the roads and advances of the Russian army “in any way”. Once the Russian troops were arrested, the Ukrainian defense encouraged them to “throw Molotov cocktails and fire small arms”, capture prisoners to demoralize enemy troops and encourage Ukrainian forces. “Don’t be afraid, they are more afraid of you. We will win,” the soldiers added.
08:18 – Many sabotage teams in Odessa
In Odessa in the southwest of the country, numerous sabotage troops inform the Russian army and allow it to adapt its offensives to gain ground. The Ukrainian army reports about the saboteurs: “They transmit data on the movement and deployment of troops, apply tags, give light signals, launch drones in unauthorized places and take pictures of the area, transmitting all information to the enemy. Together with the military, the border guards and the National Guard, we detect and detain enemy saboteurs every day”
08:12 – Belarusian troops arrive to reinforce the Russian army
Several Ukrainian media report that troops of Belarusian soldiers are ready to enter Ukraine, particularly in the direction of Kiev, to reinforce the Russian soldiers. According to Independent Kyiv, a Belarusian transport plane of the Ilyushin Il-76 type, with paratroopers on board, could take off this Monday, February 28. The intelligence services also believe that a Belarusian deployment is imminent. Their information suggests that Belarus is ready to let Russia use its territory as a rear base.
08:05 – “The Russian occupiers have slowed the pace of the offensive”
The Ukrainian general staff indicates this Monday, February 28 in a press release that “the Russian occupiers have slowed the pace of the offensive, but are still trying to achieve success in certain areas”. This slowdown comes as the talks are due to start any minute.
08:01 – Berdyansk taken by the Russians
The Russians succeeded in imposing themselves in certain Ukrainian cities such as Berdiansk on the southern coast of Ukraine where the Ukrainian soldiers were unable to cope with the attacks. After this victory, the Kremlin troops move towards Mariupol.
07:57 – Talks are preparing on the border between Ukraine and Belarus
On the fifth day of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Moscow and Kiev agreed to negotiate. Talks are to be held this morning between delegations from the Ukrainian and Russian foreign ministries at the Ukrainian-Belarusian border, along the Pripyat River and near the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. Volodymyr Zelensky has little hope that these negotiations will lead to an end to the invasion of Ukraine.
07:52 –
Kiev and Kharviv, main targets of Russian attacks are still under Ukrainian control according to the government. The cities were targeted by missile fire during the night, three bombings occurred in the capital but the ground military forces managed to repel the Russian troops.
02/27/22 – 6:26 p.m. – Belarusian missiles launched towards Ukraine
[Fin du direct] According to an adviser to the Ukrainian Interior Minister, missiles were launched from Belarus towards Ukraine in the late afternoon. The announcement comes after President Zelensky’s office announced today that Ukrainian and Russian officials were to meet for talks on the Belarusian border with Ukraine. A Ukrainian statement earlier said Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko had “taken responsibility to ensure that all planes, helicopters and missiles stationed on Belarusian territory remain on the ground during the trip, the talks and the return of the Ukrainian delegation”.
02/27/22 – 6:23 p.m. – The Russian army recognizes for the first time “dead and wounded” in Ukraine
For the first time, the Russian Ministry of Defense acknowledged losses in Ukraine, but did not give figures. “There were Russian servicemen killed and injured during the special military operation,” the Defense Ministry in Moscow said in a statement quoted by the TASS news agency.
02/27/22 – 6:11 p.m. – The Ukrainian delegation has arrived at the meeting point with the Russians
The Russian and Ukrainian delegations have arrived at their meeting point on the Ukraine-Belarus border, the Russian Foreign Ministry said, according to Reuters. Earlier, the presidency of Ukraine announced that it had agreed to participate in talks with Russia.
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After weeks of lying poker and an escalation not officially declared in recent days, Russia has therefore announced that it will go to war with Ukraine on Thursday, February 24, 2022. In a televised speech published early Thursday, Vladimir Putin announced a “special military operation” to “protect people who have been intimidated for eight years by the Kiev regime. And to that end, we will strive to demilitarize and denazify Ukraine.” The Russian president’s decision comes after the latter recognized the independence of the self-proclaimed People’s Republics of Donetsk and Lugansk, territories established in Ukraine ruled by pro-Russian separatists since 2014. “Treaties of friendship and mutual aid” had been signed on February 22 between Russia and these territories, paving the way for a military intervention by Russia, to which Vladimir Putin has therefore committed.
If for several years, tensions have been high in eastern Ukraine, where the conflict escalated in the days preceding the Russian invasion of February 24, war has been declared throughout the country. Indeed, although Russia only borders Ukraine to the east, it is all the main cities of the country, everywhere on the territory, which are under bombardment. Starting with the capital Kiev, and its surroundings, attacked by Russian forces. Yet located several hundred kilometers from the Russian border, the country’s first city is only 150 km by road from Belarus, a country friendly to Russia through which Vladimir Putin’s forces entered Ukraine. . Even further west, near Poland, Lutsk, Lviv or even Ivano-Frankivsk are targeted. The south of Ukraine is also the battlefield, on the shores of the Black Sea, particularly on the side of Odessa, near Moldavia and Transnistria, a self-proclaimed pro-Russian territory, Mykolaiv and Mariupol. In the east of the country, Dnipro is targeted, but also Kharkiv, in addition to Donetsk and Lugansk, which have concentrated tensions for eight years and the start of the war in Donbass.
The Russians took control of the Chernobyl power plant on the evening of Thursday February 24. A symbolic catch, but not only. Well known since the nuclear accident which affected it in 1986, the site saw the Russian and Ukrainian armed forces clash, before an adviser to the presidency, Mikhaïlo Podoliak, took the floor in the post- noon: “After fierce fighting, we lost control of the Chernobyl site.” Continuing, the adviser was particularly worried: “It is impossible to say if the plant is safe”, explaining that the state of the plant’s installations but also that of the tight screed isolating the damaged reactor and the deposit for the nuclear fuel “is unknown”. In this sense, the international energy agency expressed, in a press release, its concern and called for “maximum restraint to avoid any action that would put the country’s nuclear sites in danger”. Moreover, Mikhaïlo Podoliak believes that it is certainly one of “the most serious threats for Europe”. Indeed, the Ukrainian adviser fears that the Russians are using the Chernobyl nuclear site for provocative purposes.
On Friday February 25, the Ukrainian authorities expressed their concern. Worrying radiation data was reportedly picked up by the Chernobyl power plant’s automated control system. Thus, the Ukrainian Parliament reported an increase in “gamma rays” on the site, without specifying the level. Information refuted by Russia: “An agreement has been reached with a battalion of the Ukrainian atomic energy security force for joint securing of the energy blocks and the sarcophagus”, explains Igor Konashenkov, door -spokesman of the Russian Defense Ministry.