WAR IN UKRAINE Chechens prevented from liquidating Zelensky

(Patria) - It is the sixth day of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Yesterday, the first round of negotiations between the Russian and Ukrainian delegations was held on the Belarusian border, and their continuation was agreed upon at the border of Poland and Ukraine. Details of the negotiations are not known.

While the negotiations were beginning, the Russian attack on Kharkiv was ongoing, in which, according to the mayor of that city, nine civilians were killed, including three children.

19:58 Another round of talks between the Russian and Ukrainian delegations is scheduled for March 2, the Ukrainian media Zerkalo Nedeli announced on Tuesday, as reported by the Russian agency TASS.

19:53 The building housing the Slovenian consulate in Kharkiv has been destroyed, reports the Embassy of Slovenia in Ukraine. The honorary consul is safe, and the Slovenians say that this act "will not be without consequences".

19:48 - A team of elite Chechen forces, sent to kill Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, has been eliminated, said Oleksiy Danilov, head of the National Security and Defense Council.

He claims, as reported by the Kyiv Independent, that they received the tip from members of the Russian Federal Security Bureau. He added that another team is "in their sights".

18:32 - Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko addressed the public after the heavy shelling of the city. According to him, five civilians were killed in the shelling of the TV tower.

He called on citizens to stay in shelters, but also said that the morale of the fighters is high.

- The armed forces, the police, and volunteers are defending Kyiv. The enemy wants to demoralize us, but they will not succeed. Kyiv is the heart of Ukraine, we understand that. Let's unite and let's fight, said Klitschko.

18:20 - The European Parliament recommends that Ukraine be granted candidate status for EU membership.

The decision followed a speech by President Zelensky in which he called on the EU to "prove" that it is united with Ukraine. The resolution also calls for Russia to withdraw all its troops from Ukraine.

17:35 - The Russian Ministry of Defense announced that it will attack the center of the Ukrainian intelligence service in Kyiv with high-precision weapons, which they claim is carrying out "information attacks".

The Russian Ministry of Defense warned the residents of Kyiv to leave their homes as they plan to attack targets in the capital of Ukraine, reports the Russian state news agency TASS.
In a statement released on Tuesday afternoon, the Ministry of Defense stated that its forces are preparing to launch "high-precision attacks" against the "Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) and the 72nd Center for Information and Psychological Operations (PSO)" in Kyiv.

17:00 - Members of the European Parliament are discussing the situation in Ukraine at an extraordinary session, after which they will vote on the Resolution on Russian aggression against Ukraine.

The session began at 12:25 PM, and its start was accompanied by loud applause for the Ambassador of Ukraine to the EU, as well as for the citizens of Ukraine who were invited to the extraordinary session of the European Parliament. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky also addressed those present.

16:40 - Russian units and pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine have joined forces on the coast of the Sea of Azov, said Russian Ministry of Defense spokesman Igor Konashenkov.

The forces of the pro-Russian separatist territory of Donetsk "have joined with military units of the armed forces of the Russian Federation, which have taken control of Ukrainian territories along the Sea of Azov," he said, according to the statement.

On Tuesday, "the Russian army carried out long-range high-precision strikes from the sea," he added, without specifying the target area.

16:30 - Russians are preparing for an offensive on Kyiv, Ukrainian media report.

According to him, "two airports and three air defense radar systems were hit" in Ukraine. "No civilian infrastructure was hit," he said.

16:10 - The 385-meter Kyiv TV tower was hit by Russian missiles.

Watch the video

 

BREAKING: The 385 m Kyiv TV tower has been targeted by a Russian strike. pic.twitter.com/3GfVGcK27W

— Conflict News (@Conflicts) March 1, 2022

15:30 - Air raid sirens are echoing in Kyiv again, warning the population that the danger of Russian missiles has not yet passed.

15:10 - The Russian army shelled a residential area in Kharkiv, and a hospital was also hit. According to Ukrainian media, there are dead and wounded in the latest attack.

14:15 - The EU announced that it plans to block Russia Today from all platforms, including satellite and internet, writes The Guardian.

French Commissioner Thierry Breton said that "there is no place for Russian war propaganda in the information space".

13:45 - German Chancellor Olaf Scholz called on Russia to immediately cease hostilities, withdraw all troops from Ukraine, and return to dialogue.

12:30 - An extraordinary session of the European Parliament has begun due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The EP supported Ukraine in the fight against the aggressor, and the address by President Volodymyr Zelensky was met with great applause.

12:00 - The Ukrainian parliament announced on social networks that the Belarusian army has entered the territory of Ukraine,

"Belarusian troops have entered the Chernihiv region. The information was confirmed to the public by Vitaliy Kyrylov, spokesman for the Northern Territorial Defense Forces. More details later," the announcement reads.

11:15 - Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said that strikes are being carried out "only" on military targets and exclusively with high-precision weapons. President Zelensky pointed out that there are no military facilities in Kharkiv.

09:48 Power has gone out in the port city of Mariupol in eastern Ukraine following Russian attacks this morning, AFP reports.

09:46 Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba called for additional international sanctions against Russia after what he called a barbaric attack on Kharkiv.

"Barbaric Russian missile strikes on Freedom Square in the center and residential areas of Kharkiv. Putin is unable to break Ukraine. In his rage, he commits more war crimes, killing innocent civilians," Kuleba wrote on social media.

"The world can and must do more. Increase pressure, completely isolate Russia," he wrote.

09:34 According to CNN, six people were injured in a Russian airstrike on the main square in Kharkiv, including a child.

09:22 Ukraine has successfully tested SpaceX's Starlink satellite internet system. Speeds reached over 200 megabits per second. SpaceX CEO Elon Musk provided Ukraine with the system to ensure that Russian forces would not be able to cut off Ukraine's internet connectivity.

09:16 People living near the easternmost point of Poland were woken up this morning by a missile attack carried out near the Ukrainian city of Volodymyrivka, which is less than 15 kilometers from the border. This is the closest attack to the Polish border so far.

Three explosions "that shook the windows" were heard around 6:30 AM, a man living a few kilometers from the border told the portal Notes from Poland. Explosions were also reportedly heard in the town of Hrubieszów.

09:02 Great Britain has released a new intelligence report on the Russian invasion of Ukraine. According to it, the Russian attack on Kyiv has made little progress in the last 24 hours, mainly due to ongoing logistical difficulties.

The report also states that Russian forces have increased their use of artillery north of Kyiv, as well as in Kharkiv and Chernihiv, which greatly increases the risk of civilian casualties, and concludes that Russia has failed to gain control of Ukraine's airspace and has switched to night operations.

08:38 Sirens are heard in Kyiv, a new air raid alert has been announced, which means residents should go to shelters. Sirens were also heard earlier this morning.

08:33 The Ukrainian government announced that it plans to sell bonds starting today to pay its armed forces as they defend the country from the Russian invasion.

The Ukrainian Ministry of Finance announced on Twitter that each one-year bond will have a nominal value of 1,000 Ukrainian hryvnias (£24.80; $33.27) and that the interest rate offered to investors will be determined at auction.

08:05 This morning, the Russian army apparently carried out a fierce airstrike on the main square in Kharkiv, Freedom Square. Kharkiv is, as a reminder, the second largest city in Ukraine.

A video of the airstrike was published on social media and shared by BuzzFeed correspondent Christopher Miller and Financial Times Moscow bureau chief Max Seddon.

⚡️ Russian forces have struck Independence Square in central Kharkiv with a powerful explosion.

According to a video of the event, the blast detonated right in front of the headquarters of the Kharkiv Oblast government.

Video: Ukraine NOW/Telegram pic.twitter.com/poZjYcjRjD

— The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) March 1, 2022

 

07:24 Ukrainian authorities have officially confirmed that at least 70 soldiers were killed in a Russian missile attack on their military base. The attack occurred in Okhtyrka, in the Sumy region, which is currently under siege by Russian forces.

This morning, rescuers and emergency services are still clearing the rubble, trying to find survivors.

06:55 A Russian shelling hit a maternity hospital near Kyiv, said the hospital's general director Vitaliy Girin on Facebook.

The maternity hospital is located in the village of Buzova on the Zhytomyr highway, where heavy fighting is taking place. Everyone has been evacuated from the building.

06:55 Journalist Alyona Panina said on the TV channel Ukraine 24 that Kherson is almost completely surrounded by Russian troops.

"The city is actually surrounded, there are a lot of Russian soldiers and military equipment from all sides, they have set up checkpoints at the exits," she said.

06:54 According to satellite images, Russian troops have advanced towards the capital. The Russian military convoy moving towards Kyiv is now almost 64 kilometers long. This is shown by images from the American satellite company Maxar. According to Maxar's calculations, the convoy stretches for about 64 kilometers and is approaching the capital Kyiv, which is still under the control of the Ukrainian government.

The situation around Kyiv remains tense, stated the Ukrainian military general staff on Facebook.

06:53 Russian forces shelled a rehabilitation center of the Ukrainian Ministry of Veterans Affairs in the village of Borodyanka near Kyiv.

06:50 Russian attacks on the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv and the capital Kyiv continued overnight, while both sides suffered losses in an attack on the northeastern Sumy region.

In Kharkiv, the Russian army blew up power substations, said Mayor Ihor Terekhov, as reported by the Ukrinform news agency. The attacks reportedly caused problems with electricity and water supply.

The UNIAN news agency reported that the upper floors of two apartment buildings were destroyed. The information could not be independently verified, writes Dpa.

06:48 More than 70 Ukrainian soldiers were killed after the Russian army hit a military base in Okhtyrka, a city between Kharkiv and Kyiv, with missiles, the head of the region wrote on Telegram.

Dmytro Zhyvytskyy posted photos of the charred shell of a four-story building and rescuers searching the rubble. In a later Facebook post, he said that many Russian soldiers and some local residents were also killed during fighting on Sunday, which has not been independently verified so far.

06:30 Air raid alerts have been sounded in Volyn, Ternopil, and Rivne.