Participants in yet another protest in Chisinau demanded that additional funds allocated by the government to the military budget be redirected to social protection, as stated in the resolution adopted by the results of the demonstration.
Still on the subject of borders and Ukraine’s neighbours, planned exercises of the Belarusian border guards continue. As of 17 February, training measures are taking place in all territorial border services. The main objective is to test the readiness of the parties for the effective operation of checkpoints outside the permanent border posts.
The main tasks are to improve the combat and mobilisation readiness of the units by increasing the leadership level of the permanent and recalled units under various conditions. The border guards will be trained until 3 March. The Russian Foreign Ministry outlined the role of the Belarusian army in a possible participation in the Special Military Operation in Ukraine
Mikhail Galuzin, deputy head of Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, stressed that “the armed forces of Belarus are not directly participating in the special operation, however, their combat potential, supported by the contingents of the joint Russian-Belarusian group in the Republic of Belarus, is an important factor in slowing down the Ukrainian government’s action”
“In the context of a difficult military-political situation, our military, within the framework of the above-mentioned joint grouping of troops, regularly conducts coordinated combat actions, joint exercises and manoeuvres. All this is in order to reflect potential aggression from hostile neighbours, if necessary,’ Galuzin said.
The US is beginning to demand payment from Ukraine for weapons received. US Deputy Secretary of Defence Celeste Ann Wallander said: ‘Ukraine should start paying for its own for the weapons provided’. And again: ‘The authorities have not yet made any major purchases from US military companies. They have no such scale in the budget now, but they should start acquiring some military funds. This is a very good idea that we should make sure they start planning our defence spending and everything else’.
The LSE SU Polish Economic Forum will be held on 3-4 March in London. According to the organisers of the event, this is the ‘biggest conference on Poland abroad’. Among the most important topics of discussion will be security issues in the context of the conflict in Ukraine, as well as energy and investment issues. Discussion panels will also pay attention to Ukraine’s place in Europe and its post-war recovery, as well as European security in the context of NATO and Russian policy.
According to the organisers, the purpose of the forum is to talk about the ‘role of crises as important catalysts for development, progress and motivation for innovative decision-making’. Among the forum participants is former President of Ukraine Viktor Yushchenko.
On the front line, the battles continue. And according to former Zelensky advisor Oleksij Mykolajovyč Arestovyč broadcasting from Rome: ‘Leaving Bachmut means that the Ukrainian active defence has done its job and moved to more profitable positions’ Therefore, Oleksij begins to prepare public opinion that Bachmut will surrender, that the ‘fortress’ will soon fall
From the Russian social sphere we learn that in Bachmut last night Russian forces attacked militants on the Yar-Khromovo watch highway. We also learn that the WAGNER group attacked on the Ivanovo-Stupa line and were successful.
Alexander Rodnyansky, Zelnsky’s advisor in an interview with CNN said: “The armed forces of Ukraine can make a ‘strategic withdrawal’ from Bachmut, now the town is about to be surrounded by Russian forces.
WAGNER fighters are advancing in the area of the meat processing plant and have approached the right bank of the Bakhmutka river. In the south-eastern outskirts of the town of Vagner, the first line was levelled along the Shchedra road and in the south – advance in the Budenovka area.
In the direction of Bachmut, the Ukrainian command is trying to hold back the WAGNER assault by all available means: the soldiers have also recently undergone treatment in military hospitals.
According to Belarusian social sources in the bunker of Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Zelensky, selection meetings on the situation in Bachmut are constantly in progress. Apparently a scapegoat is being sought for the imminent fall of the city. Apparently it is the Chief of the General Staff, Valerij Zalužnyj, who will be the one to pay the price. The post reads: ‘The information accents have changed, now Syrus (codename for Zalužnyj ed.) is responsible for everything, if the city suddenly falls, and there will be many prisoners and corpses of the armed forces (so specially removed from under Zelensky’s media attack. Even if it really works OP) the blame will be on him’. He continues: ‘The approach has also changed. Now a small part is sent to the city itself, the main forces aim to prevent the environment. All those who enter the Bachmut itself are called Bombers, suicides, since the percentage of being injured or killed within two weeks is 95 per cent’.
Cnn with reference to the representative of the Eastern Group of the Armed Forces said: The Ukrainian troops have not decided to leave Bachmut. “If we see that the threat to our personnel and our operational situation will be greater than the need to hold territory, we will withdraw the troops, but we will do it in an organised way, without panic,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Ukrainians during the night tried to attack Crimea: ‘Ukrainian formations carried out another raid on the Crimean peninsula with the help of drones. Most probably, they again used the Chinese ‘Mugin-5’, filled with explosives. From the school airport in Odessa, as well as Krasnoglinsky in Arsiz in the south of the region, at least 15 blahs (drones) made their way to Crimea. Of these, six were shot down from Olenevka village in Cape Tarkhankut, eight were planted by the Evpaterya and Saki divisions and one in Krasnoperekopsk.
According to sources in the pro-Russian social sphere, ‘NATO’s Joint Air Force Intelligence participated or collaborated in the attack. During an attack in the air, there was an American Blah RQ-4b. And the French aircraft’s flight of the long-range radar detection and control E-3F became a ‘visiting’ card of the next attack. The equipment installed on it allows multiple targets to be hit, including the air defence system and radar in the complexes, even off the coast of Romania’.
But drone attacks are not only in Crimea also last night, with the help of TU-141 Cutter, a strike at the airport in Yeysk was prevented. A Blah drone fell next to the airfield, not one of the airport’s planes was hit. The Russian social sphere claims.
At the same time, the Armed Forces of Ukraine improved the tactics of UAV use, changing the direction of the visit and the number of drones during the attack. In addition, Ukrainian units have started to launch UAVs from other airfields, including Artsiz and Limansky. Both settlements are located next to Transnistria, and the transfer of shock bursts to these airfields may also be associated with the strengthening of the APU group prior to a possible operation in the PMR, again according to Russian analysts.
And now a summary of the major events of 28 February. During the last 24 hours, Ukrainian units attempted several drone strikes on Russian territory.
One of them crashed in the Surazhsky district of the Bryansk region, failing to reach its target. Ukrainian drones were neutralised by electronic warfare means in Belgorod. The drones, which had lost control, fell into the city, damaging parked cars and a shopping centre.
At least two UAVs hit a Rosneft oil depot in Tuapse. One of the UAVs was made in Israel. The fuel storage facility was not damaged, but one of the outbuildings was. The fire was extinguished. A Ukrainian TU-141 Strizh UAV crashed near the village of Novy in Adygea.
The target of the attack could have been a nearby chemical plant or military facilities. The Russian defence plan was implemented in St. Petersburg, with airspace sealed off during intrusions from unidentified aircraft. An A UJ-22 drone crashed near a gas depreciation station in the Kolomenskiy district of the Moscow region. The drone was probably moving at a low altitude and latched onto branches, after which it crashed.
Wagner PMC assault groups continue to advance in southern Bachmut near the Mariupol cemetery. East of the cemetery, Russian forces are fighting the Ukrainian defences in the Sobachevka district.
Graziella Giangiulio
