RUSSIAN INVASION OF UKRAINE – SITREP 1700 HRS 2ND MARCH 2022

Here is a round-up of the main news today from various sources: The SITREP can be read in full here in summary format, divided for ease of reading into the following headings: Military operations; Casualties; Peace talks; Russian prisoners; Prime Minister Ukraine; Humanitarian Aid; Communications; Air industry; Cyber security; Portugal; UN Security Council; Financial; Sport, US President; Overseas:

https://www.safecommunitiesportugal.com/russian-invasion…/

MILITARY OPERATIONS

On the two main fronts in the east and north, Russia so far has little to show for its advance, with Ukraine’s two biggest cities, Kyiv and Kharkiv, holding out in the face of increasingly intense bombardment. (NDTV)

Ukraine’s south-eastern port of Mariupol was under constant shelling from Russia and unable to evacuate the injured while Kherson, on the Black Sea to the west, was completely surrounded by invading forces. A statement from the Mariupol City Council says the city is still under the control of Ukraine. However, they say civilians are being targeted by Russian shelling. (Reuters)

The Ukrainian military says Russian paratroopers have landed in Kharkiv, with the BBC reporting there were immediate clashes as the troops attacked a hospital.

Moscow claims control of the area of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant and the city of Kherson, but Ukrainian forces guarantee that this port on the Black Sea has not yet fallen into the hands of the invaders. (SIC)

Ukraine said it destroyed two Russian planes in an airborne battle over the capital. Kyiv’s mayor said Russia is gathering forces “closer and closer” to the Ukrainian capital after a long convoy of military vehicles stalled around 20 miles northwest of the city in the early hours of Wednesday. (SkyNews)

CASUALTIES

The Russian military on Wednesday announced the destruction of 1,502 Ukrainian military installations since the start of the “special operation” in Ukraine, without mentioning casualties on its side, with Ukraine saying that 5,840 Russian soldiers have already been killed in the first days of the conflict.

Ukraine has sharply raised the number of civilians killed in the Russian invasion to over 2,000.

Up to 15,000 people are currently hiding from bombs in the Kyiv metro stations. The figure was provided by Viktor Brahinsky, head of the Ukrainian capital’s metro, and says stations can accommodate up to 100,000 people. At the stations there is water, toilets, food and medicines available.

PEACE TALKS

Russia said it had sent delegates for a second round of peace talks in Belarus. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Russia must stop bombing if it wanted to negotiate.