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Ukrainian Perspective: Invasion of Ukraine: February 26th, 2023
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.[Korrespondent] 22:58 Zelensky dismissed the commander of the Joint Forces Eduard Moskalev - the corresponding decree is published on the president's website.  21:37 U.S. will never recognize Russia's illegal annexation of Ukrainian Crimea, State Department said: "Nine years ago, Russia invaded Ukraine and seized Crimea in clear violation of international law, Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity. The United States welcomes the Ukrainian Crimean Platform's efforts to to draw the attention of the world community to the ongoing Russian occupation. The United States does not and will never recognize Russia's alleged annexation of the peninsula. Crimea is Ukraine." 20:04 The head of BYPOL Alexander Azarov told Nasha Niva that Belarusian partisans were involved in the sabotage at the airfield in Machulishchi. 19:16 Zelensky said in an evening video message that he had signed three decrees on the introduction of new sanctions against the Russian Federation: against Russians involved in the abduction of Ukrainian children; against representatives of the Russian sports sector, "who are trying to put sports at the service of aggression"; against those who "help keep mercenary structures in Russia for the war against Ukraine." 18:52 According to preliminary data from the Belaruska Gayun monitoring group, the target of today's attack on the airfield in Machulishchi was a Russian A-50 early warning aircraft, which could have received some damage. We can talk about damage to the board by dropping an unidentified object from a height, analysts say. According to updated BYPOL data, the front and central parts of the AWACS A-50 aircraft were damaged by two explosions, avionics and a radar antenna were damaged. "The damage is serious, the plane will definitely not fly anywhere," the organization notes. 18:35 Saudi Arabia will provide Ukraine with a $400 million aid package, of which $100 million in humanitarian aid and $300 million in oil products, Yermak said following a visit by Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud. 18:22 Estonian Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur arrived in Kiev and announced a new package of military assistance. It will include, in particular, assault rifles, pistols, UAVs, thermal imagers, generators and chargers, as well as clothing. 18:16 Bulgaria will resume the production of Soviet 122-mm shells specifically for the Armed Forces of Ukraine, writes The New York Times. According to the newspaper, they will be produced at the shell factory in the city of Kostenets, which will start working after 35 years of inactivity. 17:31 In Berlin, they denied The Wall Street Journal's information that Germany, France and Great Britain allegedly plan to conclude a defense pact with Ukraine, writes Die Welt, citing a representative of the German government. 17:17 Zelensky held a meeting in Kiev with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Saudi Arabia, Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud. This is the first official visit of the Foreign Minister of the kingdom to Ukraine since the establishment of diplomatic relations. 15:59 The Belarusian opposition organization BYPOLV reported that two explosions thundered at the Machulishchi military airfield, as a result of which a military transport aircraft of the Russian Federation was damaged, as well as snow removal equipment. The area of the airfield, located 12 km from Minsk, has been cordoned off. 14:41 In the next hundred years, there will be no reconciliation, let alone cooperation between Ukraine and Russia, Shmyhal said in an interview with the German Focus: "Reconciliation, cooperation - no, not in the next hundred years. Russia must first change, be democratized, demilitarized and denuclearized ". 14:13 Chinese Ambassador to the EU Fu Kong said that European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Charles Michel could visit China in the first half of 2023. Preparations for such a visit are in full swing, he said, and "very frequent high-level reciprocal visits" between the EU and China are expected to begin soon. 13:39 British Defense Minister Ben Wallace believes that Russia's war against Ukraine could last at least another year. According to him, Putin will not stop, even despite the colossal losses: "When someone has crossed the line and thinks that it is normal to do this to their own people, in fact turning the army into a meat grinder, I think he will not stop." Russia has shown a complete disregard not only for the lives of people in Ukraine, but also for its own soldiers, Wallace said. More than 188,000 Russian soldiers have died or been wounded as a result of Putin's "catastrophic miscalculation," he said. 12:47 British intelligence writes that the Russian military near Ugledar suffered significant losses, and publishes a satellite image. It shows the amount of destroyed Russian military equipment, which belonged to the so-called "elite" 155th Marine Brigade. At the same time, analysts note that, unlike the airborne infantry, the 155th brigade was not deployed in Ukraine as a single grouping. Russian marines suffered huge casualties at Vuhledar, performing some of the toughest tactical missions. The Russian command then tried to make up for the losses with inexperienced mobilized. Intelligence believes that there is a real possibility that units of the 155th brigade will again be thrown into new attacks near Ugledar. 12:26 The Russian infantry is storming the Kremenskoe direction and Belogorivka already without heavy equipment, said the head of the Luhansk OVA Serhiy Gaidai. In the Svatovsky direction, according to him, it is now more or less calm. 11:55 Danilov said on the air of the Radio Liberty marathon that the war will not end with the cessation of hostilities: "As long as Russia is not fragmented, as long as we are in danger regarding this crazy neighbor, no war can stop. If someone thinks that the cessation of hostilities the use of weapons is the end of the war, I can say that it has already happened." At the same time, the Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council expressed confidence that the fragmentation of Russia will take place in the near future, and the West needs to prepare for this, because "there are nuclear weapons that may be under the control of one or another private military group." 10:49 There is no shortage of power in the energy system of Ukraine and so far it is not predicted. All types of power plants operate, electricity imports are negligible. Network restrictions have been lifted in the Odessa region. 10:27 Putin said that the goal of the West is the collapse and liquidation of Russia. According to him, the West could accept Russia into the "family of civilized peoples" only in parts, and the Russian people, if the West succeeds in destroying the Russian Federation and establishing control over its fragments, may not be preserved - "there will be Muscovites, Urals and others." 10:24 Russia spent about 115 billion dollars on the war with Ukraine - this is a third of all budget revenues of the Russian Federation for 2021, Forbes calculated. During the year, from 40% to 70% of ground military equipment was destroyed. Analysts estimate the value of the destroyed and captured Russian equipment at $25 billion. 09:33 In the Kherson region over the past day, as a result of Russian shelling, two people were killed, seven were injured. Three civilians were killed in the Donetsk region - two in Bakhmut and one in Novopokrovsky. Four other people in the area were injured, according to the IVA. 09:28 The Ukrainian army will be ready to launch a counteroffensive in the spring, and one of its strategic goals will be an attempt to "drive a wedge into the Russian front in the south - between Crimea and the mainland of Russia," Vadim Skibitsky, deputy head of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense, said. At the same time, he did not rule out that Ukraine would strike at arms depots on the territory of the Russian Federation, in particular in the Belgorod region. "Attacks on Ukraine will start from there. This poses a threat, for example, to Kharkov," he explained. "We will stop only when we restore the country within the borders of 1991," Skibitsky stressed. 09:21 The American Institute for the Study of War (ISW) suggests that Lukashenko is flying to China to help Moscow and Beijing evade sanctions amid reports that China is seriously considering providing lethal assistance to Russia. Analysts point out that Lukashenka's announcement of his planned visit coincides with reports from CNN and The Washington Post that China is seriously considering selling combat drones, its own weapons, and 122mm and 152mm artillery shells to Russia. In addition, Russian and Chinese officials have already developed plans to deliver drones to the Russian Federation on fake shipping documents in order to avoid international sanctions. China may try to use agreements with Belarus to cover up sanctions violations, ISW believes. 08:54 The General Staff announced the approximate losses of the Russian Federation as of the morning of February 26.
08:46 The American Institute for the Study of War (ISW) notes that British, French and German officials are currently working on a Ukraine-NATO treaty, but this document will not provide the country with adequate protection and may push for unprofitable negotiations with Russia. Analysts refer to the publication of The Wall Street Journal, which reported on the preparation of an agreement on the rapprochement of Kyiv with NATO. The exact provisions of the agreement have not been determined, but officials have indicated that the pact will provide the Armed Forces of Ukraine with modern military equipment, weapons and ammunition. However, Ukraine will not receive Article 5 protection. According to the publication, officials familiar with the preparation of the document expressed reservations about the West's ability to provide weapons to Ukraine for a long time and maintain the ability of Ukrainian forces to fully recapture long-occupied territories, such as Crimea. 08:35 The Russian army is concentrating its main efforts on conducting offensive operations in the Kupyansky, Limansky, Bakhmutsky, Avdeevsky and Miner directions. Over the past day, the Defense Forces repulsed 71 enemy attacks in the indicated directions, the Geshtab reported in the morning report . According to the General Staff, the Russians are building up the defense of the Crimea - in particular, they are building fortifications. 150 Russian conscripts arrived from the Chelyabinsk region to perform engineering work. Meanwhile, the "city prosecutor" of Gorlovka in the Donetsk region, due to fears of the de-occupation of Ukrainian territories, resigned and is preparing to be evacuated to Russia. 04:18 Kazakhstan supports China's "peace plan", the country's Foreign Ministry said. "We consider that there is no alternative to a peaceful solution to this problem solely on the basis of international law and the principles of the UN Charter," the statement says. The department called on Russia and Ukraine "to show goodwill, stop hostilities and quickly sit down at the negotiating table." 03:24 Scholz criticized China's "peace plan". According to him, the document does not contain a clear position on the withdrawal of Russian troops from the territory of Ukraine. The chancellor stressed that "there can be no dictated peace in Russian." At the same time, Scholz welcomed Beijing's position on preventing the use of nuclear weapons. 02:26 CIA director William Burns confirmed that the Chinese authorities are considering the possibility of providing the Russian Federation with lethal weapons. According to him, Xi Jinping is very closely watching the Russian invasion of Ukraine, but has not yet made a final decision on the supply of weapons. 01:43 NATO should consider Ukraine's membership immediately after the end of the war on its territory, said the elected President of the Czech Republic, ex-NATO General Petr Pavel in an interview with Suspіlny. He believes that Ukraine meets the basic criteria of the alliance, and the Ukrainian military will be the most experienced of all. 00:45 Croatia plans to transfer 14 transport helicopters to Ukraine in March, Jutarnji list reports. In particular, 12 Mi-8MTV-1 helicopters and two Mi-8T helicopters, which were previously withdrawn from the country's armed forces, are currently undergoing technical training. Posted by: badanov 2023-02-27 |
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