Tuesday, February 28

Russia’s war against Ukraine

U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen (R) and U.S. ambassador to Ukraine Bridget Brink look at destroyed Russian military vehicles displayed in an open air exhibition during Yellen’s visit to Kyiv on Feb. 27, 2023, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (AFP via Getty Images)

US treasury secretary visits Kyiv, meets Zelensky. According to the press release, Yellen and Zelensky discussed the role of the private sector in rebuilding destroyed Ukrainian infrastructure and Ukraine’s relationship with the International Monetary Fund.

Ukraine receives $1.25 billion tranche of $9.9 billion in aid from US. According to the Finance Ministry’s press statement, the financial assistance will be directed towards reimbursing the state budget expenses incurred for various purposes, including pension payments, housing subsidies, support for internally displaced persons (IDPs), and payment to employees of first response services.

Zelensky: Ukraine’s allies need to move past their ‘aviation taboo.’ “Our pilots, our anti-aircraft fighters, all the soldiers and specialists of our Air Force are already doing a great job. But we will be able to fully protect the sky when our partners move past the aviation taboo,” he said.

General Staff: Russian proxies in Kherson Oblast preparing to leave. Moscow-installed occupying authorities in Kherson Oblast’s towns of Oleshky and Skadovsk prepare to “escape” to the Russian-occupied Crimea, fearing a Ukrainian counteroffensive, the General Staff reported on Feb. 27.

Intelligence: Russia stills wants to destroy Ukraine’s energy system. Russia has not given up on the idea of destroying Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, Ukrainian Defense Ministry’s Main Intelligence Directorate reported on Feb. 27. Besides the electricity grid, Moscow wants to wreck the country’s fuel and energy complex “to stop the supply of petroleum products,” the intelligence directorate wrote.

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Ukrenergo restores electricity to Odesa after unexpected power outages. Ukrenergo restored electricity to Odesa on Feb. 27 following an unexpected outage, Ukraine’s private energy company DTEK reported. Nearly all of Odesa experienced a temporary power outage on the morning of Feb. 27 when a high-voltage line was unexpectedly disconnected, causing an emergency situation.

UN chief: Russian invasion caused ’the most massive violations of human rights.’ Guterres added that Russia’s war has “unleashed widespread death, destruction, and displacement” and that the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has already documented numerous cases of Russian soldiers using sexual violence against Ukrainian men, women, and children.

International commission to track down Ukrainian children illegally brought to Russia. “Since the start of the invasion, it is estimated that Russian forces have sent thousands of Ukrainian children to Russia. The abduction of Ukrainian children is a great social problem, a tragedy, and a crime,” said Dana Spinant, deputy chief spokeswoman for the European Commission.

Media: Belarus increases border control on exits following alleged partisan attack. A day after the alleged explosions at the Machulishchy airfield near Minsk, Belarusian border guards significantly increased exit control from the country, RFE/RL’s Belarusian service reported on Feb. 27, citing several eyewitnesses.

Media: Wizz Air to suspend all flights to and from Chisinau over security risks. Wizz Air is suspending all flights to and from Chisinau beginning March 14, invoking “recent developments in Moldova and a high risk in the air space”, Romanian news site HotNews reported.

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Agriculture Minister: Russia’s grain corridor sabotage could lead to higher food prices

The Kyiv Independent spoke with Agriculture Minister Mykola Solskyi about the export of agricultural products, the grain deal, damages and losses suffered by farmers due to Russia’s all-out war, and Ukraine’s current needs.

Photo: Thierry Monasse/Getty Images

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Can Ukraine maintain and optimally use its modern Western tanks?

Future Ukrainian counterattacks using modern Western combat vehicles are being discussed everywhere, from Washington news conferences to Ukrainian military expert circles.

Photo: Polish Chancellery of Prime Ministry / Krystian Maj / Handout / Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

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The human cost of Russia’s war

Russian attacks across 10 Ukrainian oblasts kill 3, injure 8 over past 24 hours. Russian attacks were reported in Khmelnytskyi, Kyiv, Donetsk, Kherson, Kharkiv, Sumy, Mykolaiv, Zaporizhzhia, Dnipropetrovsk and Luhansk oblasts in the west, east, south, and north of Ukraine.

General Staff: Russia has lost 148,690 troops in Ukraine since start of full-scale war. Ukraine’s General Staff reported on Feb. 27 that Russia had also lost 3,385 tanks, 6,621 armored fighting vehicles, 5,248 vehicles and fuel tanks, 2,380 artillery systems, 475 multiple launch rocket systems, 247 air defense systems, 300 airplanes, 288 helicopters, 2,048 drones, and 18 boats.

International response

US says China will face ‘real costs’ if it supplies Russia with lethal aid for war in Ukraine. “From our perspective, this war presents real complications for Beijing. And Beijing will have to make its own decisions about how it proceeds, whether it provides military assistance,” U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan told CNN. “But, if it goes down that road, it will come at real costs to China.”

US, Germany and Poland may hold joint maneuvers. Washington is negotiating with Berlin and Warsaw on conducting joint military exercises in Poland in response to the Russian threat to NATO’s eastern border, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said on television.

Japan sanctions head of concern Kalashnikov, Rosbank. Japan introduced additional sanctions against 39 Russian individuals, including the head of Russian weapons maker Concern Kalashnikov, 73 Russian companies, and Rosbank, according to a Japanese Foreign Ministry statement published on Feb. 28.

In other news

CEO of Ukraine’s railway monopoly Ukrzaliznytsia resigns. Oleksandr Kamyshin, CEO of Ukraine’s state-owned railway monopoly Ukrzaliznytsia, announced his resignation on Feb. 27. Kamyshin said that he would go on to head Ukrzaliznytsia’s European Integration Office.

EU submits statement of protest calling for Saakashvili’s release. The EU Ambassador to Georgia Pawel Herczynski said on Feb. 27 that he had submitted a statement of protest to Georgia calling for the release of imprisoned former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili so that he can receive medical treatment in Poland.

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Today’s Ukraine Daily was brought to you by Toma Istomina, Dinara Khalilova, Kate Tsurkan, Oleg Sukhov, Olena Goncharova, and Lili Bivings.

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