Summary of the Events of the Day
Russian forces have entered Mariupol and street fighting between Ukrainian and Russian forces have commenced. Russia has used a nuclear-capable missile for the first time in their invasion of Ukraine.
Battle for the Skies
US President Joe Biden promised to give Patriot air defense systems to Ukraine to gain control of the skies, but Ukrainian forces do not know how to use them. But they do know how to use the older Soviet S-300 missile systems that Bulgaria and Slovakia still use. Those two countries are willing to give their missile systems to Ukraine, but only if the US replaces them with the Patriot missile system. But that cannot happen until April at the earliest, so Ukraine will have to continue to be hammered from the air for several more weeks at least.
Battle for the Donbas (Donetsk & Luhansk regions)
A Ukrainian defender of Mariupol managed to get a video out to see the fate of the city after weeks of bombardment by Russian forces. Mariupol is needed to complete a land route from Russia to Crimea, and for Russia to fully control the Sea of Azov. The city started with a population of 500,000 but is now down to 350,000 with 80% of the city reduced to rubble. The only water source is puddles or moisture from circulation systems. All food is cooked on campfires throughout the city. 2,500 people have died, and the rest are starving or dehydrated.
Russian forces finally entered the city center of Mariupol but neither side controls the city as street fighting in the center continues. There was heavy fighting in the northwest as well in the Azovstal steel mill which has been destroyed and will be impossible to repair. The steel mill is owned by Rinat Akhmetov, the richest man in Ukraine.
Battle for Black Sea (Kherson, Mykolaiv, and Odessa)
Ukrainian forces pushed Russian forces back from Mykolaiv in the morning, but by afternoon Russian forces had retaken their position and reestablished their lines. Russia carried out a large-scale air strike on Mykolaiv hitting a Ukrainian barracks killing 40 soldiers.
Other Regions
Russia used its new Kinzhal hypersonic weapons for the first time attacking an underground missile storage site in Deliatyn, 30 miles south of Ivano-Frankivsk in the Carpathian Mountains. This is the closest bombing to us so far in this war only 100 miles away.
Peace Negotiations
Almost daily talks between Russian and Ukrainian diplomats via online teleconferencing happen daily. But the Ukrainian government feels it will take until April before Russia begins to accept their failure to conquer Ukraine. Ukraine is willing to give up membership in NATO but will not accept the other conditions laid out by Russia which include the recognition of Donetsk and Luhansk as independent countries and the recognition of Russian control of Crimea.
Other News
It is estimated that 3.3 million Ukrainians are now refugees in other countries and another 6.5 million are internally displaced. That is approximately 22% of Ukraine’s population.
International Support
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that relations with Russia cannot be restored until President Putin is removed from power. The West cannot normalize relations with Russia as they did after its annexation of Crimea and its invasion of Eastern Ukraine in 2014.
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki called for a complete trade blockade of Russia on both land and sea.