UKRAINE: On February 28, the situation inside Ukraine began to take on the shapes of chaos close to what was happening in Libya.
The confusion on all sides, the mass distribution of weapons to the population, and the release of criminals from prisons took place amidst the bitterness of various groups in Ukraine against each other. This has led to a sharp increase in criminal activity in the country. Marauders were united in gangs, and attack any facilities, equipment, and people, regardless of their nationality, whenever they have an opportunity to do so.
The Russian military, in fact, continues to pursue tactics of inflicting minimal damage on civilians, which has come to be perceived as their weakness. Ukrainian propaganda calls for the destruction of all those who might be suspected of having sympathies for Moscow or even a neutral attitude. Russian propaganda labels locals who actively resist as Nazis. Both of these approaches are swinging the flywheel of violence among noncombatants.
Against the background of objective successes of Russian and LDPR forces on the fronts, the Kiev administration has focused on information warfare. In this arena, with the total support of NATO countries, Kiev is gaining an unqualified victory. These successes fuel the impunity of nationalist units against civilians in the eastern regions of the country, which are being used as human shields, literally, against the advancing hostile forces. The most striking examples of such activity can be seen in Kharkiv, Mariupol, and Volnovakha.
Russia is also losing out in military propaganda. Soldiers and officers of the Russian Defense Ministry have been ordered to refer to the entire civilian population of Ukraine as those who are eagerly awaiting liberation from the Nazi regime in Kiev. Moscow ignored the obvious fact that for at least eight years the inhabitants of Ukraine have been under massive informational anti-Russian pressure. It came as a surprise to the Kremlin that the billions of dollars spent by RT and talk show hosts on Russian channels yielded zero results.
On the battlefields of Ukraine, the situation is ambiguous: there are clear successes of the LDPR forces, while the successes of the Russian Armed Forces vary in different regions.
On February 28, DPR forces continued their successful offensive toward Mariupol from the northeast and east, while Russian units advanced from the west and northwest. DPR forces occupied the large settlement of Granitnoye and the settlements of Pavlopol, Staromaryevka, Nikolayevka, Mirne, Kamianka, Novoselovka, Novoselovka II, Kremeniyevka, Fedorovka, Zamozhnoye, Shirokino, Gnutovo and Talakovka. Thus, by the night of March 1, the DPR units had reached the urban area of Mariupol in this section of the front.
Damaged T-64BV tanks of the Ukrainian army near the village of Gnutovo in the vicinity of Mariupol.
The northern 40 km corridor towards Volnovakha remains conditionally free for movement as of the night of March 1, Mariupol had not been completely encircled.
The DPR units conducted a number of successful operations to the west of the Donetsk-Mariupol line in the direction of Volnovakha. Pischevik, Viktorivka, Bogdanivka, Novognativka, Mykolayivka, Rybynske, Trudivske, Vasylivka, Prohorovka, Starognativka, Svobodnoye, Donske, Anadol, Andreevka and Bugas were occupied. The H-20 road linking Mariupol and Volnovakha is under direct fire from DPR forces.
From the western direction, from Berdyansk to Mariupol, the advanced units of the Russian grouping are in 30 kilometers from the city of Mariupol. The occupation of the settlement of Mangush, 15 kilometers west of Mariupol, is not confirmed. Apparently seeking to encircle the entire AFU grouping in the region, Russian units are waiting for adjacent units to advance from Tokmak to the east and northeast.
Russian forces patrolling on the streets of Berdyansk:
The shelling of the port of Berdyansk after the Russian Armed Forces entered the city. The blow to the city was inflicted by the MLRS of the Ukrainian forces from Mariupol.
The Crimean grouping troops advancing on their northern section of the front took Energodar and Zaporizhzhya NPP. There is fighting south of Zaporizhzhya.
Movements of Russian forces near Kherson have been noted. Residents report a complete encirclement of the city, Russian forces has not been seen inside the city.
No movement of units of the Crimean grouping of Russian troops towards Mykolaiv has been noted. It remains unclear what caused the panic and shootings in Mykolaiv on February 27-28. Apparently, this is either the result of subversive actions by Russia or panic moods among the locals. A similar situation is unfolding in Odessa. Video evidence of shootings inside the cities or on their outskirts came from these two regions of Ukraine the day before.
Russian forces and units of the LDPR are advancing towards Sloviansk and Kramatorsk. Rocket and air strikes are being launched against AFU units in these regions. Russian troops are several dozen kilometers closer to the town of Izyum. Heavy fighting is taking place in this direction. The success of the Russian Armed Forces in blocking these settlements from the direction of the main strike is not evident. The shelling of Horlivka and residential areas of Donetsk by the AFU continues.
The Tochka-U missile intercepted over Zugres near Donetsk:
The most difficult direction for the Russians remains Kharkiv. There is no success of the Russian forces in this direction. The Russian grouping near Kharkiv is objectively insufficient to blockade the city or to storm it. The Russian Armed Forces are suffering losses, apparently as a result of ineffective command on this front lines. The situation seems to be stalemated in conditions when the Russian military is forbidden to strike the residential areas of the city, while the AFU units place their positions there and do not hesitate to strike the outskirts of the city. At the same time, it should be noted once again that Kiev’s competent information work has resulted in the virtual absence of the pro-Russian sentiment in Kharkiv that the Kremlin had pinned its hopes on.
On February 28 and the night of March 1, Russian units carried out a number of successful tactical operations in the Kiev direction. Russian forces occupied Nizhyn, with columns of troops advancing toward the city from the northeast. On the evening of February 28, missile strikes were launched against Ukrainian checkpoints on the Brovarskoye Highway. Russian tanks are advancing in the direction of the Kiev-Chernihiv highway. At the same time, some AFU forces are withdrawing from Chernihiv towards Kyiv. The counter-fighting is expected.
Kiev is partially blockaded. There is no combat in the western part of the city, a humanitarian corridor through Vasylkiv has been opened. From the north, northwest, the direction of Bucha-Gostomel, the city is blockaded, and Russian units are in close proximity to the urban areas.
The checkpoint of the Ukrainian army in Brovary destroyed by a missile strike:
The artillery of the Armed Forces of Ukraine from the residential quarters of Chernihiv is hammering at a supermarket, trying to hit Russian soldiers.
Explosions in Kiev:
The Russian Defense Ministry has shared a video of combat helicopters in Ukraine, the equipment destroyed by the strike:
In general, it seems that the Russian command overestimated the ability of its units to deliver crushing blows in several directions in the conditions of the total superiority of the enemy in the information space and, as a result, the hostile attitude of the population of the occupied areas.
On the other hand, despite the limited forces of the advancing Russian troops, the Russians manage to pull apart their opponent in various directions, which does not allow the AFU to concentrate means and measures for a decisive defense or counterattack in a separate direction.
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