Timeline: day 8 of Ukraine's defense against Russian aggression

Photo Reuters

Viktoriia Hubareva

Today, March 2, and it's the eighth day, Russia's military attack on Ukraine continues. We're telling about all the current news. The article will be constantly updated.

What happened yesterday?

According to the Center for Countering Disinformation, 30 enemy planes, 31 helicopters, 211 tanks, 862 infantry fighting vehicles, and 2 boats were destroyed. According to updated data from the Ukrainian Armed Forces, 9,000 Russian servicemen have already been killed, and the Center for Counteracting Disinformation reports that only 5,800 occupiers were killed.

For the first time, Russian war criminals have acknowledged the mass deaths and wounds of their own soldiers. During the next, evening briefing, the official representative of the Russian Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation published his own information about the losses of the Russian occupation forces in Ukraine: 498 dead and 1,597 wounded.

What today?

Key points

Yesterday, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed a decree on the establishment of the Coordination Headquarters for Humanitarian and Social Affairs, which will help citizens overcome difficult life circumstances in connection with the armed aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine. He also said that "green corridors" will be created in cities where there is a special need.

Arakhamia has already announced today that the operation with the "green corridors" will begin in two days.

Russia is preparing a provocation! The Security Service of Ukraine reports that in the Russian village of Popovka, which borders the Krasnopil district of the Sumy region, the Russian Grad missile systems were deployed towards the Russian Federation during the movement FROM the Ukrainian border. The SBU assumes the occupiers are preparing to provoke and shell their territory to accuse Ukraine of attacking the civilian population of Russia. And it doesn't look so absurd anymore, because…

Putin lies and doesn't blush: French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday had a telephone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin, and then called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Putin also told Macron that allegations of alleged missiles and the bombing of Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities were untrue, the Kremlin said. The Kremlin called the information "elements of an anti-Russian disinformation campaign."

The North Atlantic Council is meeting urgently: Finland and Sweden have been invited.

Russia has mobilized in the temporarily occupied territories of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions and is forming assault units from them, as most of these people have Russian passports, the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valerii Zaluzhnyi reports. The fact is that in the territories that were previously out of Ukraine's control, mobilization has been announced before, but not in the territory of the Russian Federation. This means that Russia lacks forces, and such conclusions are confirmed by the Pentagon: 90% of Russian troops are already in Ukraine, and additional troops to the border are not yet being withdrawn. The United States sees this as a sign of Russia's military weakness.

The Russians turned on their "lying machine." Fakes

As previously warned, Russia has begun to spread a bunch of fakes. Here's what they came up with:

• They hack the websites of territorial communities: Publications about the capitulation of Ukraine and the signing of a peace treaty with Russia on behalf of the President of Ukraine have appeared on the official website of the united territorial communities of the Volyn region. This is a fake.
• The websites of communities of the Cherkasy region were also hacked: the page of Korsun-Shevchenkivska and Drabivska united territorial communities. A cyberattack was also carried out on the websites of the united territorial communities of the Korosten district and the Korosten district state administration. They are currently not working.
• Russian media write that they allegedly receive appeals and phone calls from the Kherson region with a request to accept the region to Russia. This, of course, is not true, and this was confirmed by the head of the Kherson Regional State Administration Hennadii Lahuta.
• In Berdiansk, the occupiers are spreading fakes about the humanitarian catastrophe. Residents of the city report that in the Russian media there are fake reports that the Ukrainian authorities have banned the import of food into the city, and local civilians are waiting for a humanitarian convoy from Russia.
• In the messengers, the Russian occupiers are "dispersing" lists of personal data and photos of alleged members of the secret subversive group working against Ukraine. However, these lists are formed by the occupiers themselves! And they use the data of Ukrainian law enforcement officers for them, thus pretending to be saboteurs.
• On the second day, topographers receive "orders for the Armed Forces" topographic maps. Initially, people with pure Russian ordered them and didn't know the area. The last time the "customer" spoke Ukrainian and knew the area with the names of settlements. But the topography is military. Grid for artillery work. Now they are most interested in maps of the Piatihatok district and Cherkaska Lozova. In PDF.
• In Kherson, the occupiers have seized a local TV center and plan to spread Russian propaganda. T2 doesn't work all over the city. They also seized the premises of Public Broadcasting: Kherson.
• In Voznesensk, the phones of four heads of the united territorial communities and the deputy mayor were confiscated, Mykolaiv Mayor Vitalii Kim said. According to him, the Russian military can use their phones to throw fakes.
• Tags are also fake! The network is spreading information that new "marks" have allegedly appeared on Google maps, with the help of which the occupiers target artillery shelling, missiles, or airstrikes. The State Special Communications Service informs: the information is not true. Google in Ukraine has limited the ability to add new labels to maps. And Ukrainian special services are working on this. The emergence of new "narks" is an informational and psychological operation to sow panic and misinformation among the population.

Industry

The occupiers asked Enerhodar to take a photo in front of ZNPP for the report. This was announced by the head of Energoatom Petro Kotin. As a result of enemy shelling in the evening, the city was left without a water supply, and in some areas of the city, there is no electricity.

In Chernihiv, the shell hit an oil depot on the territory of the state enterprise, Astra Plant. Tanks with a total capacity of 3,000 cubic meters of diesel fuel caught fire. Information on victims and injured is being clarified. There are 25 employees and 5 units of SES equipment on site. The protection of adjacent tanks has been organized, some damaged by debris.

Ukraine offers the IAEA to take action against Russia through the seizure of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant because the fact of seizure of the world-famous Chernobyl nuclear power plant has all the hallmarks of an act of nuclear terrorism against Chernobyl nuclear facilities and its personnel. The IAEA must call on NATO to close access to the airspace over its nuclear facilities and intensify efforts to prevent acts of nuclear terrorism, such as the seizure of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant and the exclusion zone by Russian troops.

Second round of talks

11:49 – Negotiations with the Ukrainian delegation may begin at 15:00 (14:00 Kyiv time), the head of the Russian delegation Medinskyi reports. Later, the meeting was postponed to 16:00.

16:51 – the second phase of negotiations between Ukraine and Russia has begun.

19:43 – The Ukrainian delegation at the talks did not get the results it hoped for, Shmyhal said.

Russia's conditions:

• Ukraine must recognize the LDPR within the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
• Ukraine needs to go through "demilitarization" according to some "clear" parameters ("parameters that still need to be discussed"). Russia offers Ukraine an agreement that will ensure the legal rights of all the peoples of this country." That is, it should be considered "denazification." But it is difficult to imagine that the Ukrainian delegation would agree to discuss something like this at all.
• Crimea is a part of Russia

Ukraine's membership in the EU

Ukraine's application for EU membership has been registered, and the review procedure has begun. On average, the application procedure lasts from 3 to 10 years. The European Parliament has recommended that Ukraine be granted EU candidate status.

Who will go to Ukraine? 

About financial aid, weapons, and volunteers 

The other day, Romania, Italy, Turkey, Belgium, Japan, Norway, and Croatia decided to send military aid to Ukraine. So far, Germany has just promised to start supplying weapons. A foreign legion of volunteers has been formed to go to war in Ukraine, in particular from Croatia. We will have anti-tank grenade launchers from Norway, and even more Bayraktars from Turkey. NLAW and Javelin have already arrived to quickly send the occupiers to hell, and four hundred volunteers are rushing to us from Sweden to repel the invaders.

Today it became known:

• Spain will send a batch of offensive weapons to Ukraine: grenade launchers, ammunition, and light machine guns.
• This week, the United States delivered several hundred Stinger anti-aircraft missile systems to Ukraine.
• 2,700 Strela anti-aircraft missiles from the former reserves of the armed forces of the German Democratic Republic.
• The European Union has signed a Memorandum with Ukraine on providing 1.2 billion euros in macro-financial assistance.

In addition, Ukraine wants to receive fundamentally new air defense systems from NATO countries.

By the way, the equipment that will serve Ukraine also came from Russia. At first, the Russian occupiers were mistakenly inside, but they were politely "asked" to leave, and now the first units have already been accepted by the Ukroboronprom enterprises, which will repair it and supply it to our service.

And most importantly, Zelenskyy said that "Ukraine meets the first foreign volunteers," the first 16 thousand are coming to the country!

The EU Council agreed to activate the Temporary Protection Directive for citizens and residents of Ukraine fleeing the war launched by Russia. Temporary protection is provided, in particular, by the right to reside, access to the labor market, medical services, and social assistance in EU countries. It will be available to citizens of Ukraine, third-country nationals who have a residence permit in Ukraine, and refugees or asylum seekers in Ukraine. Refugees from Ukraine received the right to live in the EU for 3 years.

SWIFT blocking and international community reaction

The UN International Court of Justice has set a date for the first trial against Russia. The first hearing is scheduled for March 7 and 8, as confirmed by Boris Johnson, who said that 38 countries had passed data on Russia's crimes in Ukraine to the International Criminal Court. This is the most numerous appeal in history to the International Criminal Court in connection with the barbaric Russian invasion of Ukraine. As of today, the European Union has disconnected seven Russian banks from SWIFT! These are VTB, Rossiya and Otkrytie, as well as Novikombank, Promsvyazbank, Sovcombank and VEB.

More than 120 human rights, environmental, and other NGOs are calling on governments to ban imports of Russian and Belarusian timber. This should be a significant sanction for both countries.

What about Russians?

The Iron Curtain is already here. The crisis will be three times worse than in 1998, said Russian billionaire Oleg Deripaska.

And immediately confirming Deripaska's words: Canada imposes new sanctions on Russia; the list includes 10 key employees of Gazprom and Rosneft and other occupiers.

And Russia is actively trying to hide the fact of the death of its military, they resort to the most absurd measures: Roskomnadzor demands from Telegram to remove services that collect information about Russian servicemen, prisoners or dead in Ukraine.

Leaving soon until the Iron Curtain falls:

• According to Ukrainian intelligence, most members of the Russian elite are currently evacuating their relatives from Moscow to Georgia, Israel, and the UAE.
• Russian entrepreneurs Mikhail Fridman and Pyotr Aven will voluntarily transfer their shares in Alfa-Bank (Ukraine) to residents of Ukraine approved by the National Bank

More than 70 global companies have protested Russia's large-scale invasion of Ukraine and stopped working with the aggressor.

• Left or leaving: Apple, Audi, Chevrolet, Cadillac, Coca Cola, Danone, Dell, DHL, Ericsson, Ford, HP, Harley Davidson, General Motors, Jaguar, Lenovo, LinkedIn, Maersk (goodbye Ali express and ASOS), Nike, Scania, Porsche, Renault, OnlyFans, AMD, Adobe, BMW, Dropbox (in a few days), FedEx, Intel, Mercedes, Nestle, Lego
• Banned Russia: Apple Pay, Amazon, Cex Io, Etsy, Facebook (banned Russian media accounts), Google Pay, Google Maps, Instagram (propaganda blocking), Paysera, Samsung pay
• Russia's participation canceled: Cannes Festival, Eurovision, Formula 1, FIFA, IOC, Mobile World Congress, NHL. Adidas refused to work with the national football team
• Stopped broadcasting or made unavailable: BBC, Cinema 4D, Disney, Netflix, Sony, Pornhub, Paramount
• International payment systems introduced restrictions: Mastercard, PayPal

What about Belarusians?

Bolt has suspended operations in Belarus, withdrawn all Russian products from delivery, and will transfer 5% of every order in Europe to non-governmental organizations that help Ukrainians.

Kyiv

On March 3, a blue and yellow Ukrainian flag was hoisted over the town of Bucha in the Kyiv region, hoisted over the city administration. Since the morning, rescuers from the Bucha district, together with volunteers, have been evacuating more than two hundred residents of Borodianka: pulling people out of the rubble and extinguishing the flames.

However, fighting near Bucha has not subsided. As of 18:00, they have been going on for 4 hours. The mayor Anatolii Fedoruk says that Chechens came out. The enemy broke through in some directions; street fighting continues. The Armed Forces of Ukraine are putting up a decent resistance. They are pushing the enemy out of the city into the open field to destroy them there, he added.

As a result of today's shelling, a private house caught fire in the village of Hatne, Fastiv district. 1 victim and 1 victim were found on the spot.

The enemy is attacking Kyiv from the Zhytomyr direction. Mary Key warehouses are on fire, smoke rises in a black pillar into the sky, and the village courtyard is covered in ashes.

Kyivteploenerho today, as promised, repaired the damage that occurred yesterday as a result of the explosion near the Central Railway Station in Kyiv.

Possible terrorist attack! Residents of Borodianka report that discrediting actions by the Russian Federation are planned for March 4. A "humanitarian convoy" is being formed to "evacuate" the population, which is planned to be destroyed, and the Armed Forces are to be accused of this. They are trying to drive residents, including women and children, to the convoy under machine gun barrels. In no case, don't leave homes and shelters. No humanitarian convoy is planned in Borodianka.

Chernihiv

In the Chernihiv region, our defenders burned a whole column of enemy equipment. It will not get anywhere, but it is possible that in the Chernihiv region there will be an environmental catastrophe due to the fire in the oil depot.

11:21 – Elimination of fire of tanks with diesel fuel on Chudinova street proceeds.

15:21 – The occupiers fired on high-rise buildings and schools in Chernihiv

The death toll in Chernihiv has risen to 33, but rescue operations have been suspended due to shelling. Earlier it was reported that the bodies of 22 people killed in Russian airstrikes were removed from the rubble in Chernihiv. Many apartment buildings were damaged, windows were broken, walls, roofs, balconies were damaged, walls and ceilings were destroyed in some places.

Kharkiv

The city is in ruins and on fire, Kharkiv is experiencing the darkest days. The OSCE Secretariat in Vienna said that Marina Fenina of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine was killed in the shelling in Kharkiv.

In his morning address, Kharkiv Mayor Terekhov reassured the citizens that they would be given humanitarian aid. We hope that there will be no humanitarian catastrophe in the city.

As at night, occupants continue to bomb the city of Izium every 90 minutes. At the same time, the SES continues to eliminate the blockages and release people from Okhtyrka.

10:17 – Ukrainian forces near Kharkiv defeated the military of Russia's first tank army. Senior officers are in the captivity of Ukrainians.

13:32 – The Russians bombed the village of Yakovlivka in the Kharkiv region, destroying 30 houses. It happened last night, around 11 pm, but the SES officially told about the Lasha tragedy today. It is already known that 7 people were injured, 10 people were rescued from the rubble. Unfortunately, 3 Ukrainians died, but search and rescue operations are still ongoing.

After lunch in the Kharkiv direction, the enemy is forced to move to the defense but is likely to make another attempt to surround Kharkiv from the south.

15:40 – in the residential district of Pivnichns Saltivka in Kharkiv, as a result of the shelling of multi-story residential buildings, structures were destroyed. 140 people and 48 pieces of SES equipment were involved in the search, rescue, and firefighting.

Russian troops again struck at the civilian population in Kharkiv. As of 18:00, 140 people and 48 SES equipment pieces were involved in the search, rescue, and firefighting in the Pivnichna Saltivka district of Kharkiv.

Sumy

In the Sumy region, the units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine advanced on the border along the State Border in the Sumy region. In the Sumy direction, the enemy continues to besiege the settlements of Sumy, Lebedyn, and Okhtyrka.

The Russian convoy burned down in the village of Moskovskyi Bobryk, not far from the border with the Poltava region.

Kherson

13:00 – Russians occupied the building of the Kherson regional state administration. The regional operational headquarters continues to work and resolve urgent issues regarding assistance to the residents of the region, the city is waiting for humanitarian aid.

In the evening, the Ministry of Internal Affairs reported at once about two criminal intentions of occupiers:

• First, the enemy occupied the TV tower and TV and radio and will spread news and information in Kherson. Of course, this is a huge amount of fakes, misinformation, and propaganda. The government will never give away a piece of our land. Everything that will be said by terrorists is a lie!
• Second, the occupiers don't provide an opportunity to create a green corridor to further develop the city's humanitarian catastrophe. The enemy is vile: he plans to bring a humanitarian convoy from Russia and journalists, to film stories about how the Russian military provides the townspeople with food and medicine. As a result, another propaganda for the Russian consumer.

Russian occupiers rape women in Kherson. Women are asked to stay at home and not go outside!

Zaporizhzhia

For the third day in a row, locals in Melitopol are protesting against the Russian military.

In Enerhodar, the Russians fired on a Ukrainian military checkpoint and began using weapons against civilians. At around 5 pm, more than 100 enemy vehicles arrived at the city. Authorities urged people to leave the streets.

22:26 – The mayor of Enerhodar reports that the column of the Russian military equipment left in the direction of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. Loud shots are heard in the city.

In the afternoon, Russian troops intensified attempts to capture the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. Two tanks and 2 armored personnel carriers approached the city, trying to break through the defenses. Chaotic shooting with small arms begins. The occupiers are also trying to break down engineering barriers to gain access to the road leading to the station.

In the last two days, the invaders fired twice at a hospital in Zaporizhzhia. As a result of the shelling of Vasylivka Hospital, 3 people were killed and 4 servicemen were injured. Four people were seriously injured and three died from their injuries," the statement said.

Donetsk and Luhansk regions

11:40 – An enemy SU-34 fighter was shot down near Volnovakha.

12:17 – A large fire is reported in Mariupol, surrounded by the enemy. Epicenter shopping center and Silpo store are on fire.

At noon, the Armed Forces of Ukraine said that Mariupol was holding on steadily and that the administrative borders of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions were out of reach for the enemy. However, Russian troops are choosing tactics of the constant bombing of the city to destroy its infrastructure, including by rail.

As a result of the shelling in Toretsk, Donetsk region, on March 3, the low-pressure gas pipeline was damaged, 2 gas distribution points were cut off, gas supply to all 19 boiler houses in the city was cut off, leaving 400 houses (over 15,000 subscribers), 8 secondary schools9 children's educational institutions and 10 medical institutions without heating.

Cities of Ukraine. Evening

Arestovych summed up the success of the day:

• Near Mykolaiv, Ukrainian drove them away all day today, waiting for grouping. In the evening, they gathered near the village of Pisky in the region's east. And there, our people covered them with Grad missile systems.
• In Kherson, the airport was completely covered: there were about 1000 aircraft, 20 helicopters, +200 cars.
• Remains: how many are left there, is being clarified.
• In Hostomel, the second time, they caught in street fights, beat BMD, and then covered the concentration with Grad.
• Their ammunition was torn so that the door to the bomb shelter next door was jammed.

Enemy strategy. Advancement

At night, the occupying forces moved forward again resorted to tactics of night shelling of residential areas of large cities.

The occupiers continue to use civilians as human shields: Grad, Smerch, and Uragan are being actively used.

In the Volyn direction, the enemy continues to hold demonstrations along the state border.

The occupiers focused their main efforts on the Kyiv direction and did not stop trying to block the capital from the northern and north-western directions.

In Slobozhanshchyna, enemies were stopped at the borders in the districts of Okhtyrka, Bohodukhiv, Chuhuiv, and the village of Shevchenkove.

In the Tavria direction, the enemy is trying to continue the offensive in the direction of Zaporizhzhia, part of the forces, in Mariupol.