Russian invasion of Ukraine: tanks and rocket attacks on the cities. Breaking news

Public Broadcast Company of Ukraine chairman Mykola Chernotytskyi reports that local T2 broadcasts were disrupted across the region after an attack on Kharkiv television tower.
“The scum dropped 2 bombs,” he wrote.

After Sieverodonetsk was shelled, the roof and the heat supply system of the daycare center at 61 Tsentralnyi Ave. were damaged. Around ten people, including eight children, are sheltering in the basement. Action is being taken to evacuate them, Sieverodonetsk municipal military and civilian administration reports.

There is no official information that the Belarusian army is involved in combat operations in Ukraine yet. Individual signals are being verified. This was reported at a briefing by advisor to the Head of the Office of the President Oleksiy Arestovych. 

China welcomes the start of negotiations between Ukraine and Russia and hopes that the parties will continue the dialogue “to find a political solution matching legitimate security interests of both parties,” China’s Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin said during the press briefing.

The Russian forces fired another rocket toward the city council in Kharkiv’s downtown.

Residents of Konotop, Sumy Region, created a “corridor of shame” for the Russian military who came to announce their ultimatum to local authorities, Land Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reports.
“The invaders threatened to heavily shell the city if the Mayor’s Office refuses to concede. In turn, locals demanded that they go ‘the way of the Russian ship’,” the post reads.
Follow this link to watch the video.

Deputy Roman Kostenko showed a video of the interrogation of captured Russian occupiers.

Telegram channel Vertikal reports that the Armed Forces of Ukraine have destroyed a Russian command post in the village of Dityatki near Chоrnobyl. 

"The chief of staff of the 36th Army of the Eastern Military District, Major-General Serhiy Nirkov, fled during an Armed Forces of Ukraine special operation to the town of Mozyr in Belarus, leaving personnel who had been liquidated by our army," the report said.

Full briefing by Oleksiy Arestovych, Advisor to the Head of the President's Office.

Russia’s stockpile of Kalibr cruise missiles is almost exausted. They are now using less precise Iskander missile systems, according to Alexey Arestovysh, the advisor to the Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine.

At the UN General Assembly, the UK intends to ensure "the strongest condemnation of Russia". UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said during a phone call with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

The Defence Ministry's Main Intelligence Directorate posted photos on its official website "that reflect as accurately as possible the price of the 'Pax Russica' ('ruskiy mir') and how it is welcomed here".

ATTENTION! Shock content!

Serhii Haidai, the Head of the Luhansk Regional Administration, informs that the occupants are bombing the city of Popasna.

“They hit the train repair factory of Popasna. More data on casualties will follow.”

One of the brigades of the Armed Forces of Ukraine is being stationed on the outskirts of the temporarily occupied Horlivka, Donetsk region. For the first time since the Russian invasion, Ukrainian troops are launching an offensive, Oleksiy Arestovych, adviser to the head of the President's Office, said at a briefing.

On the night of March 1, a fierce air battle broke out in the Kyiv region between a pair of MiG-29 fighters of the tactical aviation brigade of the Air Force of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and two of Russian Su-35S, the Command of the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reports.

As a result of the air battle, both aircraft of the invaders were destroyed. Together with the air-to-air missiles from the MiG-29, guided anti-aircraft missiles of the S-300 complex of the local anti-aircraft missile brigade of the air command "Center" also worked against the occupiers.

Unfortunately, the Air Force lost one MiG-29 in this battle. They are looking for a pilot.

All men eligible for the military service who arrive in the Lviv region from other regions must register at the local military offices, according to Maxym Kozitsky, the head of the Lviv Regional Administration. They must do this within 24 hours after their arrival.

“All the owners of businesses and organizations of any kind or everyone who takes refugees must enforce taking these measures. They must also immediately provide local and regional military offices with any relevant information”, he said.

The Russian troops which attempted an advance on March 1 towards Mykolaiv were defeated. The destruction of the Russian airborne forces is underway. It was announced at a morning briefing by Oleksii Arestovych, the adviser to the Head of the Office of the President.

Developments on the ground as of 12:00 on March 2: an update from General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

The Armed Forces of Ukraine are seizing the initiative from Russian invaders in some directions. The enemies are trying to maintain combat capabilities of their detachments, seeing that the invasion is anything but “a walk in the park”. They are trying to avoid direct confrontation not only with Ukrainian military but also with civilians who block the advance of their convoys. Russian propaganda is wearing out in the Ukrainian territory, and the “liberators” are realizing that they are not welcome here.
In the Volyn direction, the enemies have lost their initiative and ceased any activity.
In the Polissya direction, Russian invaders keep moving toward Makariv, Brusyliv, and Fastiv as a part of their forces is heading to Kyiv.
In the Malyn–Irpin direction, the enemy has slowed down its offensive, suffered heavy losses, and was stopped at disadvantageous positions. 
In the Chernobyl direction, the occupiers were trying to push toward Demydiv and Irpin, but their offensive came to a halt.
In Zhytomyr Region, Russians are trying to position their forward detachments near Horenychi, Shpytky, and Petrushky. Meanwhile, they have been deploying field and logistic camps near Brodianka, Katiuzhanka, and Havronshchyna.
In the Sivershchyna direction, the enemy’s detachments of the 1st tank army and 20th combined arms army of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation heading to Krasnohrad and Izyum to help surround a Joint Forces’ group suffered losses and were stopped on Bohodukhiv, Chuhuiv, and Shevchenkove frontiers.
The enemy’s advance in the Chernihiv direction was stopped.
In the Nizhyn direction, the invaders moved towards Nova Basan and Kozelets.
In the Donetsk direction, the detachments of occupiers’ 1st and 2nd army corps and 8th army focused on pushing toward the administrative borders of Donetsk and Luhansk regions. However, they failed to fulfil the objective and could not block Mariupol.
In the South, the enemy keeps trying to advance toward Zaporizhzhia and move a part of its forces to Mariupol.
In the Black Sea operation zone, Russian occupiers keep preparing an amphibious landing operation on Ukraine’s Black Sea coast near Zatoka and Odesa. The deployment of naval groups has been spotted in the open sea.
The enemy is demoralized and keeps losing manpower and equipment. Russian propaganda is falling apart! Together, we will win! Glory to Ukraine!

President Volodymyr Zelensky tweeted about his cooperation with Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister of the UK.

“I’ve shared the details on how our forces defend Ukraine and on crimes against the civilians committed by Russia. We thank Britain for its assistance against the Russian aggression. Together with our partners, we keep defending Ukraine”, he said.

In Kherson, unknown persons with loudspeakers ask people to go outdoors under the pretext of handing out free bread, Head of Kherson Regional State Administration Hennadiy Lahuta reports.

“Regional and city authorities do not do anything like that. It could be the invaders’ provocation,” Lahuta wrote.

The Center for Countering Disinformation at the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine has confirmed the fact of bombardments Kharkiv Regional State Administration by the Russian invaders.

As evidence, there are photos that show that the outlines and overall size coincide with missile 3M54-1 Kalibr being in operational service with the Russian Army. Ukraine is not armed with these missiles!
Bellingcat's representative Christo Grozev has provided photographic evidence. This is another fact for The Hague where Russian terrorists are going to face the consequences of their actions.

NSDC’s Center for Countering Disinformation confirms that the International Legion of the Territorial Defence Forces is being assembled now from the foreign citizens volunteering to fight against Russia.

The Center has thus developed an algorithm for joining the International Legion of the Territorial Defence of Ukraine for all foreigners willing to defend our borders.

The occupying forces destroyed the railway bridge of strategic importance, which connects Zaporizhzhia and Energodar.

A new batch of Bayraktar TB2 arrived in Ukraine, according to the Ground Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. 

They are already prepared for combat use. 
"Beware the orcs! Bayraktar TB2 is like a gopher. You don't see it, but it's there! We are infinitely grateful to our partners!" - the message says.

Mayor of Konotop city Artem Semenikhin: "Konotop hasn't given up and will never give up. We have fought and will fight".

A Ukrainian journalist gave an emotional speech at a briefing by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

She believes that NATO has air defence systems and aircraft that can protect Ukraine so that Ukrainian children and women can cross the border instead of being afraid and crying.

Operational information from the head of the Kiev Regional State Administration Oleksiy Kuleba on the situation in the Kyiv region as of the morning of March 2. 

During the night, the town of Bila Tserkva and the village of Borodyanka were bombed. From the morning the towns of Irpin and Gostomel are being shelled. A large number of buildings were destroyed. The infrastructure is damaged. 
Ukrainian Army and territorial defense are fighting back. 
Difficult situation is in the directions of the village of Borodyanka, the Zhytomyr highway and the village of Dymer. The occupiers neither give a “green corridor” nor an opportunity for volunteers to pass through to help the civilian population. 
"We, in our turn, are doing our best to help the civilian population as soon as possible," Kuleba said.

As of today, fugitive President Viktor Yanukovych is in Minsk, where the Kremlin is preparing him for a special operation. This was reported by the UP, citing a source in the Ukrainian intelligence service. One of the scenarios reportedly involves an attempt to declare Yanukovych "president of Ukraine" there.

Konotop has not agreed to the Russian army's terms. The locals will not give up their town.

Russians fled, leaving their undamaged equipment behind, after a firefight with the 128th Separate Mountain Zakarpattia Brigade - the Zakarpathian Legion. It is reported that two tanks, two armoured personnel carriers and three trucks with ammunition became the trophies of Ukrainian military.

Rescue works continue in Kharkiv's administrative buildings after enemy shelling of the city this morning, the State Emergency Service reports.

Currently, 10 people have been rescued from under the rubble.  Preliminary four people are dead and nine are injured. Twenty-one vehicles of the State Emergency Service and 90 personnel are working at the site. The work continues.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyi appointed new heads of Odesa and Cherkasy Regional State Administrations. The appointments are detailed in the president’s decrees of March 1.

Serhii Hrynevetskyi has been replaced by Maksym Marchenko as the Head of Odesa Regional State Administration, and Ihor Taburets will now be at the helm of Cherkasy State Regional Administration instead of Oleksandr Skichko.
In 2015–2017 Marchenko was the commander of the 24th independent assault battalion Aidar, and in 2018–2021 of the 28th independent mechanized brigade.

Taburets is a professional military man with a rank of Major General. He was a longtime staff member at the Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine.

The government of Ukraine is relaunching the 1545 hotline for the prompt collection of requests on humanitarian issues.

You can contact this number if you encounter:

• problems with water supply, drainage, heating;
• damage to infrastructure: gas pipelines, railways, utility infrastructure;
• evacuation and return of citizens forced to go abroad due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine;
• needs for food and essential goods; issues of selling goods at higher prices;
• drug needs;
• fuel needs;
• issues of social payments, receiving pensions;
• issues with heads of communities and other representatives of local government;

The government hotline is open 24/7. Calls from the territory of Ukraine are free.

Rescue operations are underway in Kyiv region. Houses in the city of Irpin on Hostomel highway were damaged by enemy shelling.

The International Monetary Fund will consider Ukraine's request for $1.4 billion in emergency financing next week, Vladyslav Rashkovan, Deputy Executive Director for Ukraine at the IMF, said. He added that in cooperation with the World Bank, a $3 billion support package will be prepared in the upcoming months. According to the IMF statement, the first tranche shall be $350 million.

Zaporizhzhia NPP staff and locals have walked out against the Russian army.

FEDOROV

Forwarded from HONCHARENKO

Locals and Zaporizhzhia NPP staff are blocking the invaders!

Russian Ivans shall not pass! No vodka here, go home!

The 95th air assault brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine entered the occupied Horlivka and inflicted significant damage on the enemy. It was reported to LIGA.net by an interlocutor at the headquarters of the JFO.

According to him, the Ukrainian military, unfortunately, failed to gain a foothold, so the brigade was forced to withdraw.
However, the military intends to re-enter Horlivka and gain a foothold, the source assures.
Since April 2014, Horlivka has been occupied by Russian troops.

In Konotop, Russian troops came to 'negotiate' with the city authorities. It was reported by the head of the Sumy Regional State Administration Dmytro Zhyvytskyi.

According to him, the Russian military came and told the mayor to give the city under their control. They threatened that artillery has been brought to the city.

“They were sent to the right place. At the same time, the townspeople circled the enemy equipment under the City Council exclaiming “Shame!”, Zhivitsky wrote.

Dnipropetrovsk Regional State Administration reports:

• All roads in the region are passable with no restrictions for movement.
• Bridges, overpasses, road junctions are not destroyed.
• Curfew from 20.00 to 6.00.
• On state roads, documents will be checked. You need to have a passport, driver's license and car documents.

In Starobilsk, people took to the streets and are stopping Russian military equipment.

On the night of February 1-2, Russian troops fired on the surgical and sanitary departments of the Vasylivka Multidisciplinary Intensive Care Hospital, the Zaporizhzhia Regional State Administration reports. The shelling of the roof set fire to the roof, interior decoration and medical equipment. There are no victims.

The Russian Black Sea Fleet is trying to hide behind civilian ships. Thus for the sake of civilian navigation safety, the Ukrainian Navy has closed shipping in the northwestern region of the Black Sea. Read more here.

Anonymous, the hacker group, stated on Twitter that they intervened a stable operation of more than 1,500 Russian and Belarusian sites in 3 days. The statement noted that the number of disrupted by Anonymous websites includes banks, media, businesses and others.

On March 2, 2022, Anonymous also claimed that the NB65 hacker group, which is associated with them, disabled the Roscosmos satellite control centre. According to them, control over satellites that monitor ground objects has been lost.

The State Emergency Service of Ukraine has published pictures of the aftermath of the missile attack on the SSU building in Kharkiv Region, the National Police department in Kharkiv Region and the building of Kharkiv National University named after V.N. Karazin.  Preliminary 3 people were injured.

 Photo: State Emergency Service of Ukraine

US oil & gas behemoth ExxonMobil discontinues its oil and gas operations in Russia. The statement has already been published on the company website.

“ExxonMobil supports the people of Ukraine as they seek to defend their freedom and determine their own future as a nation. We deplore Russia’s military action that violates the territorial integrity of Ukraine and endangers its people.”
ExxonMobil operates the Sakhalin-1 project on behalf of an international consortium of Japanese, Indian and Russian companies. In response to the aggression of Russia against Ukraine, ExxonMobil decided to discontinue operations and developing steps to exit the Sakhalin-1 venture. Also, the company will not invest in new developments in Russia.

German carmaker BMW has announced it halts vehicle assembly at the Avtotor plant, Kaliningrad, and stops exports of its cars to Russia, The Wall Street Journal reports.

“Due to the current geopolitical situation, we will stop our local production and export for the Russian market,” BMW’s statement reads.

Over the entire duration of the company’s partnership with Kaliningrad’s Avtotor, 2.5 million BMW cars were assembled at the plant. Previously, the German automotive group considered launching full-scale car production in Kaliningrad instead of assembly from semi-knockdown kits.
US automotive corporation Ford also reconsiders its presence in Russia.
“In recent years, Ford has significantly wound down its Russian operations, which now focus exclusively on commercial van manufacturing and Russian sales through a minority interest in the Sollers Ford joint venture. Given the situation, we have today [March 1] informed our JV partners that we are suspending our operations in Russia,”- Ford announced.
The decision was effective immediately after the announcement’s publishing.
Ford Fund also made a $100,000 donation to the Global Giving Ukraine Relief Fund for humanitarian aid to assist Ukrainian refugees.
Another American manufacturing giant—Boeing—said it stopped supplying airplane parts to Russia and providing maintenance and technical support services to Russian airlines.
The announcement came the day after Boeing announced the shut-down of its training center in Moscow and temporary closure of the office in Kyiv.

Units of the National Guard of Ukraine together with the Armed Forces of Ukraine hold the line in Mariupol. Ukrainians with an accurate artillery strike destroyed an armored car "Lynx" and a truck "Kamaz" in the village Old Crimea, near Mariupol.

Quick update about the Russian invasion

The battles for Mariupol continue.

Units of the National Guard of Ukraine together with the Armed Forces of Ukraine hold the defense of the city. In particular, equipment and units of the Russian army on the outskirts are being destroyed. Air reconnaissance is actively used, which makes it possible to detect the movement of the occupiers' equipment. Our defenders destroyed an armored car "Lynx" and a truck "Kamaz" in the village of Old Crimea, near Mariupol.

A group with Russian paratroopers has headed to Voznesensk, Interior Minister’s advisor Anton Gerasnchenko has reported.
"Information has been received from the National Guard of Ukraine that a group of more than 20 invader helicopters with paratroopers has flown from the Mykolaiv region towards Voznesensk, where the South Ukrainian nuclear power plant is located. There might be an attack on the nuclear power plant," Gerashchenko said.

The General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces has provided information on the total estimated losses of the enemy as regards period from 24 February to 2 March.  This was reported by the General Staff on Facebook.
The first figure stands for the actual data, the figure in inverted commas is the data for the past 24 hours.

• Personnel - 5,840 (5,710)
•  Aircrafts - 30 (29)
•  Helicopters - 31 (29)
•  Tanks - up to 211 (198)
•  Armoured combat vehicles - 862 (846)
•  Artillery systems - 85 (77)
•  Air defence systems - 9 (7)
•  MULTIPLE ROCKET LAUNCHERS - 40 (24)
•  Tankers 60 (60)
•  Operational/tactical level UAVs - 3 (3)
•  Boats - 2 (2)
•  Vehicles - 355 (305)

The General Staff added that the figures are being refined as the count is exacerbated by the high intensity of the fighting.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky addressed Ukrainians:

"I wish you health, united country! I did not say united by accident.  The seventh day of a terrible war has begun. A war that we feel the same way. We have more unity in this time than we have had in thirty years. At first we felt the same fear, then we felt the same pain. And now everything is the same. Except victory. Except truth.  Except peace. Except the peace we want to come to.  Except for the lives of our people that we are experiencing. Except Ukraine. In this time, we have become a unitary whole. We have forgiven each other a lot. We have fallen in love with each other.  We help each other.  We are afraid for each other. Yesterday morning on Freedom Square we were all Kharkiv citizens. Then the enemy blew us all away with strikes on residential buildings in Borodyanka. Last night we were all bombed in Kyiv.  And we all died again in Babyn Yar - from a missile strike. Although the whole world promises, promises all the time - never again. For any normal person who knows history, Babyn Yar is a special part of Kyiv. A special part of Europe. A place of prayer. A place of remembrance of the hundred thousand people murdered by the Nazis. The place of the old Kyiv cemeteries. What do you have to be to make such a place a target for missiles?  You are killing Holocaust victims a second time. During the Soviet regime, a television centre was built there on the bones. And a sports complex. Outbuildings. They created a park there. To erase the true history of Babyn Yar.  But why was it bombed? That's beyond humanity. Such rocket attack shows that for many people in Russia our Kiev is completely alien. They know nothing about our capital. About our history.  But they have an order - to erase our history.  To erase our country. To wipe us all out.  On the first day of the war, Uman was brutally bombed, where hundreds of thousands of Jews come every year. To pray. Then Babyn Yar, where a hundred thousand Jews were shot. I appeal now to all the Jews of the world - do not you see what is happening?  So it is very important that now millions of Jews around the world do not keep silent.  Nazism is born in silence.  That is why it screams about the killing of civilians. It screams about the killing of Ukrainians.Last night and this night they continued to hit our cities.  Bombs.  Rockets. Artillery. Machine guns. On civilians.  Again. On residential neighbourhoods.  Again.  Mariupol, Kharkiv, Kyiv, Zhytomyr and other cities and villages in Ukraine.  This cannot be explained by any human reason. No God's reason. Then what's next for Babyn Yar? What other military facilities threaten Russia?  What other "NATO bases"? St. Sophia Cathedral? Lavra? Andriyivska Church?  Whatever they dream of - To hell with them! For GOD is with us!
In this time we have united the EU on a new level. Higher than formal. Higher than the inter-state level. On the level of ordinary people. Millions and millions of Europeans. From the Atlantic to the suburbs of Kharkiv, where fierce fighting continues. When the European Parliament gave us, our struggle, a standing ovation, it was an appraisal of our efforts.  Our unification.  In six days of war - like thirty years. That is why the European Union is saying yes to us. We have initiated a special fast-track accession procedure. Our diplomats and our friends are uniting the world for Ukraine and peace even more.  Neutral Switzerland has supported EU sanctions against Russian oligarchs, officials, the state itself and companies.  Once again: neutral Switzerland! What then are some other countries waiting for?  Our anti-war coalition has been joined by those countries that Moscow was counting on just a week ago. This is an extraordinary result.  Now we cannot remain neutral!
And what is the outcome for Russia? The flag of this state will no longer be seen at sporting tournaments.  Modern world culture will now be closed.  Russian goods are being removed from shop shelves around the world. Russian banks are being disconnected from the global system.  Russian citizens are losing their savings, losing any prospects.  Russian mothers are losing their children in a country completely foreign to them.  Think about this number: about six thousand dead Russians.  Russian military.  In six days of war.  That's without counting enemy casualties from the previous night.  Six thousand.  To get something?  To get Ukraine?  That's impossible.  You can't change that with missiles.  Bombs.  Tanks.  Any kind of strikes.  We are on our own soil.  And there will be an International Tribunal for war against us - for them. 
Ukrainians!  Another night of Russia's full-scale war against us, against the people, has passed.  A hard night.  Some spent that night in the underground - in hiding.  Someone in the basement.  Those who were more fortunate slept at home.  Others were sheltered by friends and relatives.  For seven nights we hardly sleep.  Or we sleep, but very anxiously.  My dears, the time will come when we'll be able to sleep.  But that's after the war.  After the victory.  In the peace we need.  Which we have always treasured.  And which we have never destroyed.  I ask all of you to take care of your loved ones.  Take care of your fellow men.  I admire you!  The whole world is fascinated by you.  From Hollywood stars to politicians.  Today you Ukrainians are a symbol of indestructibility. A symbol of the fact that people in any country can become the best people on earth at any time.  Glory to Ukraine!".

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky addressed Ukrainians: "Today Ukrainians are a symbol of strength. A symbol that people in any country can become the best people on earth at any moment".