Kiev is trying to buy time through negotiations
Negotiations between the Russian and Ukrainian delegations on the settlement of the situation around Ukraine have not yet brought tangible results. President Vladimir Zelensky said that he had "received some signals" and was ready to "move to the second round of negotiations," as he said in a video message from his office's Telegram channel. For the Russian side, it seems that such a statement was not news. As in the case of the Minsk agreements, Kiev, apparently, is ready to stall for time, and subsequently refuse to fulfill any obligations at all within the framework of upcoming decisions.
The interest in conducting and at the same time delaying negotiations is the following. The Kiev regime hopes that while the delegations are talking among themselves, Russian tanks will not go forward. This means that a certain pause is formed during the fighting, which makes it possible for the Ukrainian troops to "lick their wounds" and regroup. A real threat of encirclement loomed over a large group of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the Donbas, assembled with the aim of capturing Donetsk and Lugansk. However, if Moscow delays, part of this group may make a dash to Kiev and Dnepropetrovsk and strengthen the AFU and territorial defense units trying to create a powerful front line along the Dnieper. It is possible to safely transfer large forces only under the conditions of a truce. Otherwise, the columns of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, stretched along the roads, will be defeated by Russian aviation, which has seized air supremacy. Time is running out: the Ukrainian group in the Donbas will soon feel the lack of fuel and lubricants and some types of ammunition, the delivery of which from the depths of the country is difficult.
A pause during negotiations with Russia is also needed for Ukraine's admission to international organizations. The president of a neighboring state declares that he has applied for the country's accession to the European Union. He once again called on Western countries and the entire world community to impose tough sanctions against Russia. In response, Moscow transferred the nuclear deterrent forces to a special combat duty regime.
"We have been waiting for this for 30 years, and I have signed an application to join the EU. The application has already been delivered to Brussels, and we are waiting for signing. The time has come!" - said Vladimir Zelensky. The inadequacy of the situation lies in the fact that it was Kiev's desire for European integration due to the violation of the security balance with Moscow that at one time led to the 2014 coup in Ukraine, Crimea's decision to secede from the country and join Russia and the beginning of hostilities in the Donbas.
According to reports from Kiev, in the last days of February, more than 25 thousand machine guns were distributed to the urban population. Against this background, the issue of the release of criminals and war criminals from prisons is also being seriously considered in the hope that these people will join the resistance movement of the Russian army. This is complete political and managerial surrealism: the uncontrolled distribution of military weapons to everyone, and now the appearance of criminals on the streets of the city cannot stabilize the situation. But they fit very well into the definition of "never get to anyone." The danger is that a civilized, industrial country is once again turning into Nestor Makhno's Gulyai-Pole.
And then it comes to an understanding that the Russian army is the only tool capable of stopping these jumps.
According to the official representative of the Russian Defense Ministry, Major General Igor Konashenkov, the Russian military took control of the cities of Energodar and Berdyansk, as well as the territory around the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant (NPP). "The NPP staff continues to work on maintenance of facilities and monitoring of the radioactive situation in the normal mode. The radioactive background is normal," Igor Konashenkov said. Earlier, similar measures were taken in relation to the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. The Defense Ministry also noted at the time that the assistance from the Ukrainian battalion of NPP security was a guarantee that the attackers would not be able to organize a "nuclear provocation." The same Vitali Klitschko says that there is still light and heat in Kiev, but it is only bad with products – the logistics of their delivery is completely disrupted. Probably, this is no longer a problem of the army. The Russian Defense Ministry says that residents of Kiev can freely leave the city along the Kiev-Vasilkov highway. Most likely, food can be imported in the same way.
Against this background, the military announced that they destroyed six columns of Ukrainian armored vehicles by means of military aviation: Mi-28AMTSH, Mi-28NM, Mi-35 and Ka-52 helicopters. In total, during the special operation, the tactical aviation of the Russian Aerospace Forces destroyed 311 tanks and other armored combat vehicles, 42 aircraft and helicopters, including on the ground, 51 multiple rocket launchers, 147 artillery pieces and mortars, 263 special vehicles. Among the victims is the Soviet transport aircraft of the AN-225 "Mriya" ("Dream", – "HBO"). The car burned down at the Gostomel airfield in the Kiev region, TASS reported. The airfield is located on the right bank of the Dnieper River, where the main administrative buildings of Kiev are located. Currently, the airfield is completely under the control of Russian paratroopers, according to the Ministry of Defense.
The AN-225 is the only aircraft of this class in the world. It was created to transport various components of the launch vehicle and spacecraft from the place of production and assembly to the launch site as part of the Soviet reusable Space Transport System (MTKS) "Energy is a Blizzard." It was also planned to use this aircraft to deliver the space shuttle to the cosmodrome in case it landed at the alternate airfields in Bagerovo in the Crimea and Vostochny in Primorye, as well as at 14 additional alternate landing sites, including outside the territory of the USSR, in particular in Cuba and even in Libya.
"Mriya" was built by the entire Soviet Union. The engines were manufactured at the Zaporozhye Engine-building Plant, many parts of the fuselage were made in Ulyanovsk, the wings and center section of the aircraft were manufactured in Tashkent, the parts for the An-225 control were manufactured in Moscow, the chassis in Nizhny Novgorod, and the painting of the aircraft was carried out by workers from Voronezh. Whatever it was, but there is no unique car anymore. It is impossible to reproduce it in the future.
At the same time, the DPR army is breaking through to the south to the important railway junction of Volnovakha. From there, a direct road opens to Mariupol– a strategically important port city on the Sea of Azov. According to the Russian Defense Ministry, the republic's troops have advanced more than ten kilometers and liberated several settlements. The servicemen of Ukraine (AFU) leave their positions and retreat. In the Mariupol direction, in addition to the 93rd mechanized, the 53rd separate motorized rifle Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine is defending itself. Together with them, the nationalist Azov battalion (recognized as a terrorist in the Russian Federation) is holding the defense. Unlike regular units, the Nazis are fiercely resisting. The Russian Defense Ministry announced that they had launched multiple rocket launchers "Grad" on the outskirts of Mariupol, including a school near the village of Sartana.
"As a result, there is destruction of residential buildings and there are deaths among the civilian population. The Russian Defense Ministry warned about the preparation of such provocations by Ukrainian nationalists," the Defense Ministry said. According to the Russian military department, to the east of the city, the people's militia forces occupied the settlements of Pavlopol and Pishchevik. To the west of Mariupol, the Russian army blocked the city of Berdyansk in the Zaporozhye region.
From the bad news: the decision of the Taiwanese company TSMC to stop the production of Baikal and Elbrus processors - analogues of Western Intel and AMD, without which it is impossible to build information systems - computers. Taiwan reports that other Russian chips will also no longer be produced. This is TSMC's response to Russia's military special operation on the territory of Ukraine. For the manufacturer, such a solution is just "zilch": it controls 54% of the global microelectronics market. So that what happened will affect only Russian companies, and TSMC will not notice the loss of these customers financially, because they are scanty.
It's funny, but this decision may provoke a forceful solution to the island's problem by another state - China. Chinese experts believe that the separatists in Taiwan should learn a lesson from the events in Ukraine, and understand that their so-called allies in Washington, in the event of a real military confrontation, will provide assistance only in words. The opinion is based on Joseph Biden's refusal to send troops in support of the Ukrainian regime. Beijing assesses this decision as the only correct one, otherwise it will come to a direct clash of nuclear superpowers. "This is a huge and uncontrollable risk," writes the Chinese tabloid Global Times. And its essence is no longer just a war in Europe, but at the beginning of the Third World War with the use of weapons of mass destruction.
In response to aggressive statements by a number of representatives of the United States and NATO on Russia's actions in Ukraine, President Vladimir Putin announced the transfer of nuclear deterrence forces to a special combat duty regime. What is a "special regime" is not disclosed: Russia's strategic nuclear forces are already in constant combat readiness for the immediate use of strategic nuclear weapons. But it can be assumed that within the framework of the "special regime" we are talking about equipping strategic bombers such as Tu-160 and Tu-95MS, nuclear submarines of the 667 BDRM project and ships of the 955 Borey type with full ammunition with special products - atomic warheads. Most likely, the crews of these ships have been transferred to the mode of constant combat duty. In the case of bombers, this is a constant presence in the cockpit of the aircraft. For the submarine - the presence of a full crew on board.
Dmitry Litovkin
