The troops of Lugansk People's Republic, with fire support from the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, advanced from the beginning of the operation to a depth of up to 75 kilometers and blocked Svatovo village. Five more residential areas were taken under control.
The troops of Donetsk People's Republic conducted successful offensive operations, taking control of five populated areas. The depth of the group's advance over the past day was 58 kilometers.
Advance detachments of the People's Militia of the DPR reached the administrative border of the Donetsk region and joined the military units of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, which took control of the regions of Ukraine along the coast of the Sea of Azov.
The Russian Armed Forces took Kherson, South Ukraine. This regional center is under full control. Civil infrastructure, life support facilities for the population and urban transport operate on a daily basis. The city does not experience shortages in food and essential goods. Negotiations are ongoing between the Russian command, the administration of the city and the region to address issues of maintaining the functioning of social infrastructure facilities, ensuring law and order and the safety of the population.
The exit of the Armed Forces of Ukraine to the Sea of Azov coast is completely blocked. The city of Mariupol has been encircled completely by Russian Armed Forces. Two humanitarian corridors have been opened to give a chance the civilians to escape. Ukrainian troops and nazi battalions are preventing people to leave the area, especially foreign students. In some cases Ukrainian troops and nazi battalions used civilians as a human shield. Donbass is still being shelled by them violently. Main targets are as before: houses, hospitals and key supply systems.
The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation continued to strike at the military infrastructure of Ukraine.
On March 1 and 2, the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation carried out a strike with long-range air and sea-based high-precision weapons. Two airfields and three air defense radars were hit. The strikes excluded the defeat of civilian infrastructure and residential areas.
In total, since the beginning of the operation, the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation have hit 1,502 targets of the military infrastructure of Ukraine.
Of these: 51 command and control centers and a communication posts of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, 38 S-300, Buk M-1 and Osa anti-aircraft missile systems, 47 aircraft on the ground and 11 aircraft in the air, 46 drones, 482 tanks and other armored combat vehicles, 62 multiple rocket launch systems, 206 field artillery and mortars, 336 special military vehicles were destroyed (note: all these are accumulative figures counted from the beginning of the operation).
Russia’s ministry of defense has confirmed that the country’s military had struck a television tower in Kiev on March 1st, in what it called a bid to thwart “information attacks.” The broadcasting equipment of the TV tower was disabled.
The technological facilities of the Security Service of Ukraine and the 72nd Main Center for Psychological Operations were hit with high-precision weapons in Kiev.
2. The second round of talks between Russia and Ukraine was to take place March 2nd. However, Ukrainian team informed that it would come to Belarus only March 3rd. The delay by Kiev is intentional: to buy time for military regrouping and to persuade Moscow to agree to a ceasefire and to withdraw Russian troops from Donbass and Ukraine – with the aim to gain military victory and retain ultra-nationalist status of Ukraine. Moscow insists on recognition of Crimea as a part of Russia, and DPR & LPR as independent states, to make Ukraine demilitarized, denazificated, as nuclear-free and non-aligned state, not hostile to Russia.
Written by Vladimir P. Kozin
