Ukrainian forces reportedly conducted another strike on a Russian personnel concentration in occupied Donetsk Oblast.
Re-surfacing concerns about Ukraine’s use of HIMARS systems. A Russian Telegram user who claims to be an employee of an unspecified branch of Russian special services reported that a Ukrainian HIMARS strike hit a gathering of personnel of the 155th Naval Infantry Brigade (Pacific Fleet) during a military awards ceremony in Olenivka, Donetsk Oblast on the night of February 27.[21] The Russian source claimed that the strike killed 19, including the deputy brigade commander, a major, and a captain, and wounded 12, including brigade commander Colonel Mikhail Gudkov. The Russian source accused the Russian command of being aware of Ukrainian drone reconnaissance activity in the area but ignoring the available information ahead of the strike. Ukrainian forces have conducted two similar HIMARS strikes against Russian troop concentrations over the past week, targeting a training ground near occupied Volnovakha, Donetsk Oblast on February 20 and a training ground in occupied Podo-Kalynivka, Kherson Oblast on February 22.[22]
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More than 65 #Russian occupiers🥓🥓 were eliminated as a result of #HIMARS strikes.
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Several members of Ukrainian special forces have died in an assault on the Tendra Spit in Kherson oblast, according to reports. Ukraine’s special operations forces confirmed the deaths, suggesting those who died had stayed behind to ensure the main contingent escaped.
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Ukraine’s forces shot down 10 Russian aircraft in as many days with the latest being two Russian Su-34 fighter-bombers on 27 February, according to the Ukrainian general staff.
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The UK government said on Wednesday that how Ukraine uses donated cruise missiles is “the business of the armed forces of Ukraine” after comments by Germany’s chancellor, Olaf Scholz, about possible UK and French involvement in targeting, and how Germany would not get involved in similar activity by sending its Taurus missiles.
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The Russian defence ministry claimed through state media on Wednesday that its forces had captured Petrovske, formerly renamed by Ukraine as Stepove, in eastern Ukraine.
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Ukraine’s foreign ministry on Wednesday cautioned against any meddling from Russia in Moldova’s neighbouring breakaway region of Transnistria, whose separatist leaders have supposedly appealed to Moscow for “protection” – a ploy that has previously been instigated by Russia to justify invading other countries.
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Moldova’s government has called the Transistrian separatists’ request a propaganda event. Transnistria is a primarily Russian-speaking region that is legally part of Moldova. In February 2022 leading up to the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Russian-backed militants in Ukraine also asked for Moscow’s “protection”.
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Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has promoted the idea of joint arms production at a summit of south-eastern European countries in the Albanian capital, Tirana. Zelenskiy proposed a Ukrainian-Balkans defence forum in Kyiv or a Balkan capital, similar to initiatives held last year with British and US weapons companies. A joint declaration signed by 10 countries at the summit said their leaders were ready to take part in a Ukrainian-led peace summit in Switzerland this spring to discuss Zelenskiy’s vision of peace.
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Albania, Bulgaria, North Macedonia, Montenegro and Romania are Nato members, have joined western sanctions against Russia, and sent arms and equipment to Ukraine. There are significant arms industries in parts of the Balkans left over from the former Yugoslavia. Serbia has not imposed sanctions on Russia, and neither Belgrade nor Kyiv recognise the independence of Kosovo, an Albanian enclave that claims independence, backs Ukraine and seeks EU and Nato membership.
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The EU should consider using profits from frozen Russian assets to buy military supplies for Ukraine, the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, said on Wednesday. Japan has backed the idea, saying the EU proposals appear to have a basis in international law.
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Poland’s prime minister, Donald Tusk, said his government was considering a “temporary” closure of the border with Ukraine for goods, amid tensions over low-priced Ukrainian grain. “We are talking with the Ukrainian side about a temporary closure of the border, the cessation in general of trade.” However, Oleksandr Kubrakov, Ukrainian deputy PM, said: “Ukraine is not going to close its borders with Poland. No one from the Ukrainian side is negotiating about this. Our people are fighting for their existence in a war with the Russian aggressor. For us, a stable border is a matter of survival.”
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Ensuring Ukraine’s success against Russia is “the biggest test of our generation”, UK Foreign Office minister Andrew Mitchell said on Wednesday. He added: “At the G20 foreign ministers meeting it was clear there are few illusions about what Russia is doing and that the UN and Britain underlined how dangerous Putin’s actions are for the entire world.”
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Russian forces struck 11 communities along the Sumy oblast border in 42 separate attacks on Wednesday, the regional military administration reported according to the Kyiv Independent. No casualties or damage to local infrastructure were reported.
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A court in southern Russia jailed a Ukrainian man for 11 years and six months after convicting him of espionage for trying to procure secret missile components for Ukraine, Russian news agencies reported on Wednesday.
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- Pro-Russian Moldovan breakaway region Transnistria held the Seventh Congress of Transnistrian Deputies on February 28 and adopted a series of decisions that likely aim to provide the Kremlin with justifications for a wide range of possible escalatory actions against Moldova — actions the Kremlin can pursue both immediately and over the long-term.
- The Kremlin has yet to signal an immediate route for escalation following the Congress of Transnistrian Deputies, although Russian President Vladimir Putin may respond to the Transnistrian requests during his speech to the Russian Federal Assembly on February 29.
- The Kremlin can use the outcomes of the Congress of Transnistrian Deputies to justify a range of possible COAs that are not mutually exclusive.
- Ukrainian forces reportedly conducted another strike on a Russian personnel concentration in occupied Donetsk Oblast, once again sparking ire amongst Russian milbloggers and re-surfacing concerns about Ukraine’s use of HIMARS systems.
- Russia continues cracking down on actors it deems “foreign agents” to consolidate control over the Russian information space ahead of the March 2024 presidential election.
- A Financial Times (FT) investigation published on February 27, reportedly based on leaked classified Russian military documents from 2008-2014, outlines Russia’s purported criteria for the use of tactical nuclear weapons.
- Turkey and China appear to be pursuing their own negotiation platforms for a settlement in Ukraine, which the Kremlin will likely exploit to further its long-standing narratives regarding negotiations and the war.
- Russian forces made confirmed advances near Svatove, Avdiivka, and Donetsk City.
- Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu inspected the Tula State University’s Military Training Center and several defense industrial base (DIB) enterprises in Tula Oblast on February 28.
- Russian occupation authorities are using early voting for the Russian presidential election to cloak Russia’s illegal occupation of Ukraine in a veneer of fabricated legitimacy.
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Russian Subordinate Main Effort #1 – Luhansk Oblast (Russian objective: Capture the remainder of Luhansk Oblast and push westward into eastern Kharkiv Oblast and northern Donetsk Oblast)
Russian forces recently advanced northwest of Svatove amid continued positional fighting on the Kupyansk-Svatove-Kreminna line on February 28. Geolocated footage published on February 28 shows that Russian forces advanced into Tabaivka (northwest of Svatove).[34] Positional fighting continued northeast of Kupyansk near Synkivka; west of Kreminna near Terny and Yampolivka; and south of Kreminna near Bilohorivka and the Serebryanske forest area.[35] Ukrainian military observer Kostyantyn Mashovets reported that elements of the Russian 25th Motorized Rifle Brigade and 138th Motorized Rifle Brigade (both of the 6th Combined Arms Army (CAA), Western Military District [WMD]) are attacking northeast of Kupyansk on the Synkivka-Petropavlivka line to bypass Synkivka from the west towards Kupyansk.[36] Mashovets stated that elements of the Russian 15th Motorized Rifle Regiment reinforced with elements of the 1st Tank Regiment (both of the 2nd Motorized Rifle Division, 1st Guards Tank Army, WMD) are attacking along the Kupyansk-Svatove line.[37] Mashovets also reported that Russian forces transferred “Storm” assault companies of the 254th Motorized Rifle Regiment (144th Motorized Rifle Division, 20th CAA, WMD) to the Terny area.[38]
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Russian Subordinate Main Effort #2 – Donetsk Oblast (Russian objective: Capture the entirety of Donetsk Oblast, the claimed territory of Russia’s proxies in Donbas)
Note: ISW is restructuring its coverage of the Donetsk Oblast axis to include activity in the Donetsk-Zaporizhia Oblast border area. During the 2023 Ukrainian counteroffensive, ISW assessed that Ukrainian activity in the border area was a supporting and related effort to Ukrainian activity in the south. As Russian forces have seized the battlefield initiative following the end of the counteroffensive, Russian troops appear to be trying to drive southwest of Donetsk City while simultaneously driving northeast from the Velyka Novosilka area on the Donetsk-Zaporizhia Oblast border. This Russian effort appears to include settlements along the O0532 Marinka-Pobieda-Vuhledar route. ISW will further restructure the Donetsk Oblast axis if Russian operational objectives in this area appear to change in the future.
Russian forces reportedly made gains west of Bakhmut on February 28, but there were no confirmed changes to the frontline in the area. ... Positional fighting continued northwest of Bakhmut near Bohdanivka; west of Bakhmut near Ivanivske; southwest of Bakhmut near Klishchiivka and Andriivka; and south of Bakhmut near Pivdenne and Niu York.[40] Elements of the Russian 200th Motorized Rifle Brigade (Northern Fleet) and the Volunteer Corps are reportedly operating near Bohdanivka, elements of the 98th Airborne (VDV) Division and the 102nd Motorized Rifle Regiment (150th Motorized Rifle Division, 8th Combined Arms Army [CAA], Southern Military District [SMD]) are reportedly operating near Ivanivske, and elements of the 11th VDV Brigade are reportedly operating near Ivanivske and Klishchiivka.[41]
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Russian forces recently advanced west and northwest of Avdiivka and reportedly continued to advance in the area on February 28. Geolocated footage published on February 28 indicates that Russian forces recently advanced southeast of Orlivka (west of Avdiivka).[42] Additional geolocated footage published on February 27 indicates that Russian forces recently advanced near windbreaks south of Stepove (northwest of Avdiivka).[43] The Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) claimed on February 28 that elements of the Russian Central Grouping of Forces seized Stepove.[44] Ukrainian Tavriisk Group of Forces Spokesperson Dmytro Lykhovyi stated on February 27 that Ukrainian forces withdrew from Stepove after fierce battles overnight on February 26-27.[45] ... Positional fighting continued northwest of Avdiivka near Novobakhmutivka, Stepove, and Berdychi; west of Avdiivka near Orlivka and Tonenke; and southwest of Avdiivka near Pervomaiske and Nevelske.[47] Elements of the Russian 15th and 30th motorized rifle brigades (both of the 2nd CAA, Central Military District [CMD]) are reportedly attacking in the direction of Berdychi, and elements of the 114th Motorized Rifle Brigade (1st Donetsk People’s Republic [DNR] Army Corps [AC]), the 35th and 55th motorized rifle brigades (both of the 41st CAA, CMD), and the 21st Motorized Rifle Brigade (2nd CAA, CMD) are reportedly attacking along the frontline between Orlivka and Vodyane (southwest of Avdiivka).[48] Elements of the 9th Motorized Rifle Brigade (1st DNR AC) are reportedly operating near Pervomaiske and elements of the 74th Motorized Rifle Brigade (41st CAA, CMD) are reportedly deployed to rear Russian areas in the Avdiivka direction as a reserve force.[49]
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Russian forces recently advanced west of Donetsk City amid continued positional fighting west and southwest of Donetsk City on February 28. Geolocated footage published on February 28 indicates that elements of the Russian 5th Motorized Rifle Brigade (DNR 1st AC) with armored vehicle support recently advanced into the southern outskirts of Krasnohorivka (west of Donetsk City).[52] The DNR People’s Militia claimed that elements of the 5th Motorized Rifle Brigade were now attacking Ukrainian positions in the center of Krasnohorivka.[53] A Russian milblogger claimed that Russian forces advanced up to 200 meters deep near Novomykhailivka (southwest of Donetsk City).[54] Positional fighting continued west of Donetsk City near Krasnohorivka and Heorhiivka and southwest of Donetsk City near Novomykhailivka and Pobieda.[55] Elements of the 155th Naval Infantry Brigade (Pacific Fleet) are reportedly operating in eastern Novomykhailivka, elements of the 255th and 242nd motorized rifle regiments (both of the 20th Motorized Rifle Division, 8th CAA, SMD) are reportedly operating near Pobieda, and elements of the 39th Motorized Rifle Brigade (68th Army Corps [AC], Eastern Military District [EMD]) are reportedly operating south of Novomykhailivka.[56]
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How much modern Hegel discourse can we stand if Dugin is an exemplar.
