Day Eight of the Russian Invasion of Ukraine – Live Updates

Sources:

• Verkhovna Rada: the parliament of Ukraine and its social media (Facebook, Telegram)
• Presidential Office: the Official website of the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his social media (Facebook, Twitter, Telegram), advisers to the Office: Oleksiy Arestovych and Mykhailo Podoliak.
• MIA: the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine
• General Staff: the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine
• Air Force: the Air Force Command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine of Ukraine
• Ukraine NOW: ukraine.ua – the official website of Ukraine, administered by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine and Ukrainian Institute
• President Zelenskyy: the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his social media (Twitter, Facebook, Telegram)
• Ukrainian MFA: the Ministry of the Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, the Minister Dmytro Kuleba, and social media (MFA website, MFA Twitter, Kuleba Twitter, Kuleba Facebook)
• Special Communications Service: State Service of Special Communications and Information Protection of Ukraine official website and social media (Twitter, Telegram)
• State Emergency Service: the State Emergency Service of Ukraine on Facebook
• Stratcom Centre: Centre for Strategic Communications and Information Security of Ukraine – an establishment under the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine – website and social media (Facebook, Twitter, Telegram)
• NSDC of Ukraine: the National Security Defense Council of Ukraine website and social media (Facebook, Twitter)
• SSU: Security Service of Ukraine website and social media (Facebook, Twitter, Telegram)

Note: news are marked in accordance with the Kyiv time zone: Eastern European Time (EET), GMT/UTC+2

Read more: Aggression of Russia and Belarus in Ukraine

Latest news:

23:04 The ultimate goal of Putin's military campaign is to seize Kyiv, as well as the whole of Ukraine. White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said this in a briefing at the White House.

"The capture of Kyiv remains Putin's intention," she said.

Also, she emphasized, according to the Pentagon, 90% of the fighting force gathered around Ukraine has already crossed the border. They have also launched more than 480 missiles.

However, the White House does not see any signs of a weakening of aggression, but rather an escalation of it.

22:42 V.Zelensky: Close the sky or give us aircraft. During a press conference with foreign media, President Volodymyr Zelensky called on NATO to close the sky over Ukraine. He asked how many more Ukrainians have to be injured for this decision to be made. He said: “If you don’t have the strength to close the sky, give us aircrafts.”

22:04 A petition registered in the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine’s parliament, calling on NATO countries to completely close the skies over Ukraine to stop Russian airstrikes, has gained one million signatures, the Verkhovna Rada reported via Telegram channel on March 2.

21:45 During the second round of negotiations, the Russian and Ukrainian sides "reached an understanding" of the joint humanitarian corridors for the evacuation of civilians from the sites of the fighting. Adviser to the Head of the President's Office Mykhailo Podoliak said to journalists.

21:10 Ministry of Defense: Operational information on 18.00, 03.03.2022 regarding the Russian invasion/

In the Volyn direction, the Armed Forces of Ukraine maintain certain boundaries. On the territory of the Republic of Belarus, on the other side of the Ukrainian-Belarusian border, in the wooded area there are 38 separate assault brigades of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Belarus. According to available information, the command of the military unit received an order to cross the border with Ukraine. Command how to act according the combat order will be made after crossing the border.

The moral and psychological condition of the paratroopers is extremely low. Officers and soldiers do not want to play the role of Russian mercenaries. A significant number called for the termination of contracts, most of which expire in May. In the Siverskyi region, mechanized and tank units are stably defending the occupied frontiers around Chernihiv. In Slobozhanshchyna, mechanized units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine are effectively conducting defensive battles with the overwhelming forces of the enemy, and are successful in some areas. The enemy suffers heavy losses.

During heavy defensive battles, the Joint Forces thwarted the plans of the Russian invaders and prevented the enemy from entering the administrative borders of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts. The Ukrainian city of Mariupol remains an example of heroic resistance to the Russian invasion.

More detailes here

20:54 Suspilne media: the websites of Odesa region amalgamated territorial communities were hacked by Russian occupiers, they posted proposals of capitulation there, Berezivka city council press center reports.

Head of the Volyn regional state administration Yurii Pohuliaiko: the websites of Volyn region amalgamated territorial communities were hacked, too. The message posted on these websites was a fake address by President Zelenskyy about the "capitulation and peace treaty with Russia".

20:37 Suspilne media: Russian invaders have captured a TV tower of Suspilne media in Kherson. According to Hennadiy Lahuta, the Head of the regional state administration, Russians allegedly plan to use the facility for sharing misinformation. He warned that they might spread a fake message about the "capitulation and peace treaty with Russia" and cautioned not to believe those fakes.

20:22 Special Communications Service: civilians went out to the block posts near Enerhodar city, near Zaporizhzhia. Russian occupiers opened fire on them. A few minutes before that the Enerhodar Mayor warned that over a hundred armored vehicles approach the city.

Stratcom Centre: the power and water supply in Enerhodar turned off because of shelling. A school was hit by a missile. The fighting continues.

20:14 State Emergency Service: as a result of shelling a private residential building caught fire in town Hatne, Kyiv region.

20:03 Center for Countering Disinformation at the NSDC: Russian occupiers set mine traps in Kyiv and Kherson. Tripwires were detected near civilian facilities.

Ukraine NOW: Gennady Laguta, the Head of the Kherson Regional State Administration wrote:

“Eyewitnesses report that they installed “stretch marks” in the city center — near the building of the Skifia shopping mall".

19:53 Verkhovna Rada citing The Independent media: an Estonian-owned cargo ship HELT sank off the coast of Ukrainian port Odesa after an explosion. Two crew members fleed the ship in a life raft while four others are unaccounted for. The ship could have hit a mine.

18:14 Stratcom Center citing SSU: Russian BM-21 "Grad" multiple rocket launchers stationed in Popovka village turned away from Ukraine towards the Russian Federation.

Security Service of Ukraine warns of a possible Russian attack on their own territories in order to make a provocation. Allegedly, this way Russians plan to accuse Ukraine of attacking the Russian civilians.

Later the information was shared by the foreign affairs minister Dmytro Kuleba: "Knowing the barbaric nature of Russian actions we fear a false flag operation might be prepared in order to accuse Ukraine," the official wrote on Twitter.

18:03 The second round of Ukraine-Russia negotiations started. The "program minimum" for Ukraine is to agree on providing "green corridors" for humanitarian cities, that were cut off from the rest of Ukraine. Minister of Defense Oleksii Reznikov and Adviser to the Head of the Presidential Office Mychailo Podoliak once again represent Ukraine as members of the Ukrainian delegation, while the Russian one is headed by the former Minister of Culture Vladimir Medinsky.

17:02 Ministry of Energy of Ukraine via Ukraine NOW: the personnel of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant has been held for 7 days by the Russian military forces without rotation. People experience psychological pressure and are morally exhausted. This poses a danger to people's lives, as well as the operation of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant.

Ukraine asked the International Nuclear Security Agency (IAEA) to apply to NATO with a demand to close access to the airspace over its nuclear facilities and to intensify actions to prevent acts of nuclear terrorism.

Ukrainian MFA: IAEA Board of Governors adopted a resolution on condemning Russian aggression against Ukraine and demanding it to immediately cease all illegal activities threatening Ukraine’s nuclear facilities, said Dmytro Kuleba, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine.

IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi made an appeal to the IAEA’s 173 Member States. He called on all countries to uphold international law and fulfill their obligation provided by the 2009 resolution stating that “any armed attack on and threat against nuclear facilities devoted to peaceful purposes constitutes a violation of the principles of the United Nations Charter, international law and the Statute of the Agency.”

16:10 National Police of Ukraine: "Today, missile strikes hit residential areas of Chernihiv city, where there are no any military objects. As a result of the attack, several high-rise buildings were damaged (one caught a direct shot), two schools, and other buildings.

The number of casualties is being calculated. The police help rescuers to handle the outcome of the airstrikes and record war crimes," written in the statement by the NPU on Facebook.

14:30 The losses of the Russian army for the day on March 2 amounted to 2,500 servicemen and about 1,700 units of equipment, adviser to the head of the President's Office Oleksiy Arestovych said.

"Approximately 2,500 [Russian military] killed yesterday. Some 217 units of tanks, some 900 units of armored vehicles (infantry fighting vehicles and armored personnel carriers), some 90 units of artillery systems, some 42 units of multiple launch missile systems (Hurricane, Hailstones, Tornado), some 11 units of air defense systems, some 30 units aircraft (information to be confirmed), some 31 helicopters (information to be confirmed), some 374 units of automotive equipment, two units of boats, some 60 units of fuel tanks, three units of UAV," Arestovych said during a briefing on Thursday.

13:23 On Wednesday, March 2, the Russians killed a Bangladeshi citizen on the Banglar Samriddhi ship, which was on a roadstead near Mykolaiv, and the day before they took the HELT cargo ship hostage, the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine has reported.

"Yesterday, the Russians killed a citizen of Bangladesh on the Banglar Samriddhi ship, which was on the roadstead near Mykolaiv, and the day before they took the HELT dry cargo ship hostage. At the same time, the Russians use the HELT ship as a shield to hide behind it from Ukrainian anti-ship weapons, because Ukrainians do not shoot at civilian objects," the State Border Guard Service said on Facebook on Thursday.

On Wednesday, ships of the Russian Navy repeatedly dictated illegal demands and threats through an open channel for the safety of navigation.

12:30 Mykolaiv has already repelled two attacks of the Russian army, 40 people have been killed, reports the Mayor of Mykolaiv.

12:00 Unable to conquer Mariupol, Russian invaders have resorted to a blockade, creating a humanitarian disaster. They are preventing the supply of food, water, electricity, stopping evacuation of women and children. The Mayor of Mariupol describes the actions of Russia’s forces as genocide (more details here )

11:43 Russian SU-34 fighter has been shot down by the Joint Forces Air Defense Unit near VOLNOVAKHA (Donetsk region). The pilots of this aircraft carried out a barbaric bombardment of the civilians and infrastructure of the city.

10:46 “Ukraine doesn’t want to be covered by the dead bodies of soldiers. Go home.” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy tells Russian soldiers to retreat saying nearly 9,000 Russians have been killed in the past week

10:33 Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Lieutenant General Valerii Zaluzhnyi: "We have just shot down a russian SU-30 fighter aircraft over Irpin. The combat crew of the air defence complex worked perfectly!"

10:06 March 3 at 08:10 the shell hit the oil depot on the territory of SE "Kombinat Aystra" (Chernigiv). After that, the fuel tank on 5 thousand cubic meters' diesel fuel was exploded. Information on victims and injured is being clarified.

09:58 The Moldovan government's Commission for Emergency Situations adopted a decision on Wednesday to suspend the rebroadcasting of Russian television channels' information and analytical programs in the country during the state of emergency (Interfax).

"The rebroadcasting of news and analytical programs of countries that have not ratified the European Convention on Transfrontier Television [Russia has not ratified this convention] has been temporarily prohibited," the commission said in its decision.

07:40 General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine spread operational information on 06.00, 03.03.2022 regarding the Russian invasion

According to it, the occupying forces, having failed in almost all areas in which they were advancing, resorted to tactics of night shelling of residential areas of large cities.

The Armed Forces of Ukraine continue to steadfastly defend certain borders and counterattack and block the occupiers' forces in various directions.

In the Volyn direction, the enemy continues to hold demonstrations along the state border.

In the Polissya direction, the enemy is trying to carry out offensive operations in the area of the settlements of Kozarovychi, Vyshhorod, Fastiv, and Obukhiv. Further deployment of field logistics camps in the Borodyanka, Katyuzhanka and Gavronshchyna districts was noted.

In the northern direction, the russian occupiers are without success in the Ukrainian cities of Chernihiv, Nizhyn and Sumy, Lebedyn and Okhtyrka, trying to avoid clashes with the Armed Forces of Ukraine, are trying to reach the northern outskirts of Kyiv.

Enemy units and subdivisions were concentrated in the areas of the settlements of Baryshevka, Nova Basan, and Lyubech. Part of the forces to the BTGr from the 200th SMBr 14th Army Corp of the Northern Fleet of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, which has actually lost combat capability, is regrouping and trying to attack in the direction of Brovary and Kyiv.

In the Slobozhansky direction, the enemy is conducting an offensive operation in the areas of Zolochiv, Kharkiv, and Balakliya, trying to continue the offensive in the direction of Lozova, and catastrophically in need of replenishment of lost equipment and personnel.

In the Donetsk direction, the occupiers of the 1st and 2nd Army Corps, with the support of artillery, continue their offensive operations in the areas of the settlements of Novy Aidar, Volnovakha and Mariupol. The enemy did not achieve the main goal of capturing Mariupol and reaching the administrative border of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts.

In the Tavriya direction, the enemy does not abandon attempts to conduct an offensive operation. After regrouping and introduction of a part of operational reserves, I concentrated the main efforts in the direction of Mykolayivv - Voznesensk.

In the Black Sea Operational Zone, naval groups of the Black Sea Fleet continue to fire on civilian ships and capture sailors.

For the first time, russian war criminals have acknowledged the mass deaths and wounds of their own soldiers. During the evening briefing, the official representative of the Ministry of Defense of the russian federation published his own information about the losses of the russian occupational forces in Ukraine: 498 dead and 1,597 wounded.

More detailes here

05:54 Russian aircraft again struck at civilians. According to the deputy mayor of Izyum (Kharkiv region) Vadym Matsokin, the bombs fell on a multi-story and private house. The 6 adults and 2 childrens were killed under the attack in Izium. All are civilians. There is significant destruction in the city center.

04:47 March 3 is the eighth day since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Russian troops are shelling Kharkiv massively, and heavy fighting continues around Kyiv, which also comes under fire from time to time.

In this regard, the mayor of Irpin announced on March 3 the evacuation of women and children from the city. And the mayor of Kyiv, Vitaliy Klitschko, stated that Russia is pulling the military occupation forces closer to Kyiv.

04:37 Al Jazeera media via Verkhovna Rada: International Criminal Court at Hague is to begin their investigation into Russian war crimes against Ukraine. The prosecutor said they would start acting immediately and would look into all events since 2013 Revolution of Dignity in Kyiv.

04:29 Kyiv Independent media: Germany delivers 1000 anti-tank weapons and 500 FIM-92 Stinger to Ukraine, wrote Ilia Ponomarenko, defense reporter at Kyiv Independent.

02:27 Stratcom Centre: Russian invaders bombed civilians in Izium, Kharkiv region. Eight people were killed, including two children (preliminary data). The attack began around 23:59 PM. A high-rise building and a private house were hit.

01:50 NSDC of Ukraine: according to the Ukrainian intelligence, Russia is to impose martial law

"These are data of our intelligence that starting from March 4, the Russian Federation is willing to impose martial law in its country. I want to see how Moscow, St. Petersburg, other cities will react, where more intellectuals, who realize what is going on in Russia," said Oleksii Danilov, the Secretary to National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine.

01:15 Air Force Command: during March 2, Ukrainian air defense systems took down three jets and two helicopters. Fighter jets Su-24 and Su-25 supported the Land Forces, destroying columns of Russian occupiers' military equipment and manpower.

00:47 The petition to close the airspace over Ukraine has received the required one million votes, and the number keeps growing. The petition had been registered on February 26, two more days remained until the deadline.

This petition was launched on the 26th of February. With it, people around the globe are asking NATO states and Ukraine's allies to not only close the airspace but also deploy peacekeeping troops in Ukraine and provide military assistance to Kyiv.

00:43 OSCE: one national Mission member was reported killed by shelling in Kharkiv, according to the Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine (SMM) Daily Report.

00:31 Ministry of Infrastructure: on March 2, around 17:25, Russia attacked a foreign merchant ship. The BANGLAR SAMRIDDHU carrier under the flag of Bangladesh was in the port of Olvia when it got fired on by the Russian Navy. A rocket hit the superstructure, a fire broke out on the ship. One person, a Bangladesh citizen, was killed. The fire was put out.

"The Olvia port administration is doing everything possible to provide help to the crew," written in the statement.

00:12 Verkhovna Rada via Reuters: Romanian MIG-21 aircraft disappeared in mission. More details to follow.

Background:

February, 24 – Russian President Vladimir Putin authorized a "special military operation" against Ukraine, Reuters report. A number of cities of Ukraine suffered a missile attack. Missiles hit several military facilities in Kyiv, Kharkiv, Dnipro cities. "Putin has just launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Peaceful Ukrainian cities are under strikes. This is a war of aggression," wrote Ukrainian MoF Dmytro Kuleba on Twitter.

"Today, on 24 of February, at 5.00 AM the armed forces of the Russian Federation launched an intensive shelling of our units on east, delivered missile/bomb strikes on airfields in Boryspil, Ozerne, Kulbakino, Chuhuiv, Kramatorsk, Chornobaivka, as well as on military infrastructure of the Armed Forces of Ukraine," the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine wrote on Facebook: "At the same time the aggressor started artillery shelling of the areas and settlements along the state border and administrative boundary with the temporarily occupied territory of Crimea."

National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, headed by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, imposed martial law across the country, the decision was approved by the Ukrainian government during an emergency session.

Earlier Putin recognized the Russia-backed regions of Eastern Ukraine as "independent" entities, the so-called Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics. The executive order on the recognition of those illegal formations included a point on military cooperation and "peacekeeping" functions of the Russian Army in those regions. The next day Putin ordered his military to enter Donbas and asked the government for permission to use Russian Forces outside the country – and received it shortly after.

Since the very first day of the invasion, Russia has been struggling to achieve any significant success. Ukrainian Army effectively repels attacks on the land, but Russia has an advantage in the sky. Because of that one of the acute issues is to make NATO shelter the Ukrainian sky from Russian missiles and aircraft.

Nevertheless, Russian forces haven't managed to capture a single major city. When they do get into smaller ones, witness rejection and rebellion from civilians, they are not welcome. Common people gather and face the tanks. According to the Ukrainian Armed Forces Command, the Russian servicemen are demoralized, they are in shortage of fuel and food. The Presidential Office of Ukraine said, that Vladimir Putin's plan to quickly take control over the key objectives and take down the Ukrainian government is ruined. Ukrainian officials suggest that Kyiv, the capital, is the primary aim of the Russian invasion. It is being shelled daily.

Ukraine united and swiftly established defense. Thousands of people voluntarily joined Territorial Defense, servicemen were mobilized across the country. Curfew was imposed. National Police along with Territorial Defense hunt for Russian saboteur-reconnaissance groups.

Russia uses terroristic methods, targeting civilians and shelling non-military facilities of ecological significance. The aggressor has already caused an ecological disaster – a major oil processing and storage facility was hit by a Russian missile. The radioactive background is heightened due to Russian activities in Chornobyl.

Fightings in Hostomel, where a strategically significant Antonov Airport is situated, were one of the toughest of the first days. Over 30 Russian helicopters and other aircraft were engaged in the attack, but Ukrainian Army managed to regain control of the area.

The fourth day showcased the terror of Russian attacks on civilians. Kharkiv and Chernihiv were shelled by BM-21 "Grad" multiple rocket launchers. On March 1, the sixth day, a cruise missile hit the central square in Kharkiv. As a result, at least ten people were killed, more than 20 were injured. State Emergency Service is continuing to rescue people from the rubble. Kyiv TV Tower, a civilian object for broadcast was hit by a missile. Five people were killed, five Tower personnel were injured. A few hours before that happened, the Ukrainian Minister of Defense warned that Russia was preparing an info&psycho attack, and for that, they would try to cut off the information network.

The war crimes of Russia will be investigated by the International Criminal Court in Hague. The ICC Prosecutor, Karim A.A. Khan QC, has personally launched an investigation into the Situation in Ukraine.

Many Russian occupiers surrender, unwilling to fight. They claim to have been deceived by Russian authorities – they were had been deployed under the pretext of military drills but then forced to participate in war. The whole reconnaissance platoon of the Russian 34th Motorized Rifle Brigade surrendered to Ukrainian Armed Forces.

The whole world condemns Russian President Vladimir Putin's actions. 38 countries closed their skies to Russian aircraft. Even Switzerland deviated from its traditional neutrality to impose European sanctions on Russia.

The European Commission of the European Union has approved cutting off Russian banks from SWIFT – the global provider of secure financial messaging services. Private companies also show their support: SpaceX, Google, Meta, and many other giants have expressed their support and offered their help.

The President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy received a proposal of negotiations. The first round of them resulted in no decisions yet. Meanwhile, the Ukrainian President has signed the Ukrainian Government's application for the membership of Ukraine in the European Union and urges for the special procedure of accepting Ukraine to the EU.

The next day the European Parliament held an extraordinary plenary session in Brussels to assess Russia’s military assault on Ukraine. Ukrainian President Zelenskyy held a speech, greeted with standing applause. After a vote by the EU Parliament Ukraine got a recommendation on being granted a candidate status for EU membership.

Numerous protests have happened across the world, and even more to happen.

Read more: Day Seven: The Russian Army Continues to Destroy Ukrainian Cities