One of the most combat-ready Ukrainian groups is surrounded in the city
On Tuesday, March 1, the Donbass troops joined with the Russian group advancing from the Crimea and closed the ring around Mariupol. According to experts, this deprives the Ukrainian command of the strongest and most combat-ready part of its armed forces, which will eventually have a positive impact on the timing of the special operation. The headquarters of the operational-tactical group "North" of the AFU lost most of its officers as a result of the strike. The head of the Russian Defense Ministry said that the operation will continue until the goals are achieved.
Access to the sea is blocked
On March 1, the advanced detachments of the Donetsk People's Republic reached their administrative border and joined with Russian units that took control of areas along the coast of the Sea of Azov. After that, the access of the Ukrainian armed forces to the Sea of Azov was completely blocked, the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation reported.
According to the military department, on March 1, the DPR troops conducted a successful offensive, taking control of the settlements of Ivanovka, Talakovka, Starodubovka, Berestove, Belotserkovka. The depth of the group 's advance over the past day was 19 km .
"The encirclement of the Russian group near Mariupol means that Ukraine has lost the most important and combat-ready part of its armed forces," Vasily Kashin, director of the HSE Center for Integrated European and International Studies, told Izvestia. - These troops will no longer be able to retreat, go somewhere deep into the country and continue to resist. Now they will be blocked, and their fate is sealed. In the future, this will allow you to transfer forces to other sectors of the front and accelerate the advance.
Photo: RIA Novosti/Ivan Rodionov
Image source: iz.ru
With each such boiler, when the Ukrainian army loses a significant part of its well-trained, shelled, pre-trained troops in peacetime, the further advance of Russian forces will accelerate, the expert added.
Mariupol is actually blocked. The People's Militia of the DPR, together with Russian troops, organizes two humanitarian corridors for the evacuation of civilians from the City. It will be possible to leave it until March 2, the head of the DPR Denis Pushilin said on Tuesday. He spoke about the difficulties he had to face in Mariupol.
- The situation there is close to critical. Terbats, nationalists use the maximum of their arsenal in relation to the civilian population and, in fact, they hide behind a human shield, do not allow departure," he said.
According to the deputy head of the People's Militia Department of the Republic Eduard Basurin, the commander of the group "North" of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Brigadier General Dmitry Krasilnikov and many officers of his staff were killed. In addition, according to him, the commander of the Vostok group, Lieutenant General Yuri Sodol, was seriously wounded and the commander of the 53rd brigade of the AFU, Colonel Dmitry Titenko, was killed.
According to Basurin, after that, the nationalist units in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions were left without control.
Pillboxes in the Luhansk direction
The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation reported that the grouping of the People's militia of the LPR, with the support of Russian troops, advanced to a depth of 61 km and blocked the settlement of Svatovo. Novoborovoye, Barykino, Klimovka, Bulgakovka and Golubovka were taken under control.
The People's Militia of the LPR continues to expand the bridgeheads behind the Seversky Donets and restore control over the settlements of the Stanichno-Lugansk district of the former Luhansk region. The day before, the Ukrainian stronghold, known since 2014, which was called "Stalingrad" in Kiev propaganda, was also occupied.
In 2014-2015, this place was the scene of violent artillery duels between the AFU and the People's Militia of the LPR, but then, despite serious damage, it remained impregnable. Now the enemy left the position without a fight. Located at the crossroads near the village of Makarovo, 6 km north of Stanytsia Luhanska, it was part of the second line of defense, to which Ukrainian troops could retreat in case of failure on the front line.
Photo: RIA Novosti
Image source: iz.ru
A whole underground town has been built in the soft sandy soil. Three powerful pillboxes have been erected near the road from large reinforced concrete blocks, equipped according to all the rules of fortification science.
An additional roll of logs was laid on top of thick concrete floors and more than a meter of earth was poured to create even stronger protection. Inside there is a pair of ten-centimeter thick steel doors at the entrance. The embrasures are covered with thick armor plates.
Such a fortification is a difficult target even for 152-mm howitzer shells, it is invulnerable to mortar mines. If necessary, this could withstand even the most powerful shelling. But in this direction, the enemy rolled away rapidly, leaving only fresh bonfires and abandoned dry rations.
In the northern direction, after taking control of the city of Happiness, the villages of Novoaidar, Shirokiy and Gorodishche were liberated. But the decisive battles for the major cities of Severodonetsk and Lisichansk are still ahead. According to the military of the LPR, a 20,000-strong grouping of the Ukrainian army and National Guard, as well as nationalist units, is being strengthened there. According to local residents, they dig right in the residential sector. In the LPR, they fear that the fighting could lead to heavy destruction. Therefore, they are now trying to create an encirclement threat in order to force the enemy to retreat from populated areas.
Achieving the set goals
On the eve of the Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said that the Russian armed forces will continue to conduct a special military operation in Ukraine until the goals are achieved.
"The main thing for us is to protect the Russian Federation from the military threat posed by Western countries that are trying to use the Ukrainian people in the fight against our country," Sergei Shoigu said on a conference call.
He drew attention to the fact that the Russian military does not occupy Ukrainian territory and takes all measures to preserve the lives and safety of civilians. Stressing that the strikes are carried out only on military facilities and exclusively with high-precision weapons.
— On the first of March, the armed forces of the Russian Federation struck with high-precision long-range air and sea-based weapons. Two airfields and three radar air defense posts were hit. The strikes excluded the destruction of civilian infrastructure and residential buildings—" said Major General Igor Konashenkov, a representative of the Russian Defense Ministry.
Also on March 1, the Russian Defense Ministry warned that it was going to stop information attacks on Russia by striking high-precision weapons at the technological facilities of the Security Service of Ukraine and the 72nd main center for Information and Psychological operations of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in Kiev. Citizens of Ukraine, attracted by nationalists to carry out provocations against Russia, were offered not to visit the site of the attack, and civilians living near the relay nodes to leave their homes.
Photo: RIA Novosti/Vadim Savitsky
Image source: iz.ru
The military department stressed that this center is responsible for information attacks on Russia together with the cyber operations units of the SBU, using hardware and software complexes and communication facilities in Kiev.
According to the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, with the beginning of a special military operation, the number of information attacks on state institutions of the Russian Federation has increased many times. There are continuous calls to Russian citizens with threats, as well as false reports about the mining of schools, kindergartens, train stations, and social infrastructure facilities. On the evening of March 1, there were videos of a rocket hitting the hardware room, which is located next to the Kiev TV tower.
In total, since the beginning of the operation, the Russian armed forces have hit 1,325 objects of the military infrastructure of Ukraine. Among them are 43 control points and communication centers of the APU. 395 tanks and other armored vehicles, 59 multiple rocket launchers, 179 field artillery and mortars, 286 units of special military vehicles were destroyed.
Meanwhile, the artillery of the Armed Forces of Ukraine continues to purposefully hit residential areas of settlements of the republics. Only in the DPR on March 1, four civilians were killed, and 23, including one child, were injured.
The enemy continues to use Tochka-U tactical missile systems. On the eve of the APU tried to strike at the territory and Russia, the attack
was reflected. Russian air defenses shot down a Tochka-U missile fired from Ukraine near the airfield in Taganrog. The strike did not reach the target — none of the employees were injured, the fragments did not touch the IL-76 aircraft located on the runway. In addition, the DPR air defense destroyed two such ammunition.
Kharkiv "Alder"
On the morning of March 1, an explosion occurred in the building of the Kharkiv Regional State Administration. The Ukrainian media blamed the Russian Aerospace Forces for the incident. The Russian Defense Ministry does not comment on this situation.
The blow was probably inflicted by the Smerch multiple launch rocket system, which is in service with the AFU or its modern Ukrainian version of the Alder MLRS, military expert Dmitry Boltenkov believes.
Photo: REUTERS/Vyacheslav Madiyevsky
Image source: iz.ru
- There is freely available information about the tests and ammunition of the "Alder", - said the expert. - Judging by the video of the system tests, the explosions of "Alder" and "Tornado" are identical, and their missiles have virtually complete similarity. "Alder" is a more modern Ukrainian version of the Smerch MLRS, which is in service with the AFU. The version that the strike was inflicted by the Armed Forces of Ukraine is also confirmed by the trajectory of the missile, indicating that the launcher was located west of Kharkov. Now the Ukrainian Armed Forces are launching fire strikes from the West, preventing the blocking of Kharkov by Russian troops.
MiGs did not take off
On March 1, the Ukrainian Armed Forces posted a message on Facebook that some Western countries plan to transfer MiG-29 fighters to Kiev. Poland promised to transfer 28 fighters, Slovakia - 12, Bulgaria — 16 MiG-29 and 14 Su-25 attack aircraft. Later, Poland, Bulgaria and Slovakia denied the data on the supply of combat aircraft to Ukraine.
— We are not sending our planes, as this would mean military intervention in the conflict that is being waged in Ukraine, and thereby the inclusion of NATO in this conflict. NATO is not a party to this conflict—" Polish President Andrzej Duda said.
Photo: IZVESTIA/Zurab Javakhadze
Image source: iz.ru
The Bulgarian Defense Ministry said that sending aircraft to Ukraine is not being considered, but it is ready to provide Kiev with other military equipment. Slovak Defense Minister Jaroslav Nagy called the reports on the supply of aircraft disinformation.
Roman Kretsul
