Summary of the Events of the Day
Russian forces have retreated from around Kyiv and Kharkiv and are repositioning themselves for the Battle for the Donbas. Ukrainian forces have liberated the entire Kyiv region bringing the Battle for Kyiv to an end. But in the first day of escalation in the Donbas, Ukraine inflicted heavy damage on Russian forces. And if the promised tanks come from the U.S. and European allies, Ukraine will be able to not only defend the Donbas but retake the region since one-third of it fell to Russia back in 2014.
Battle for Kyiv (Kharkiv, Sumy, Chernihiv)
Russia continued its strategic retreat from the suburbs of Kyiv to Belarus during the morning hours, while Ukrainian forces liberated all the communities in the Kyiv region. The Battle for Kyiv has been won. Chernihiv and Kharkiv are still under siege and heavy attacks from missiles and bombers. Although Kharkiv has been somewhat relieved as Russian forces to their south have turned their attention on the Donbas.
Battle for the Donbas (Donetsk, Luhansk, Mariupol)
Russia launched its new campaign to take the Donbas by moving troops attacking Kharkiv to attack the Ukrainian forces in the Izyum, Slovyansk, Kramatorsk, Rubizhne, Severodonetsk, and Popasna pocket. By moving its forces from Kharkiv, Russia threatens to attack Ukrainian forces in this pocket from all sides.
The heaviest attacks in the Luhansk region occurred on the positions around Rubizhne and Popasna, but Ukrainian forces held their ground claiming to have killed one hundred Russian soldiers. Russian forces were able to destroy the pipelines that supply gas to the region.
In the Donetsk region the main goal of Russian forces is to capture the strategic town of Izyum. Russian forces had occupied the city on Thursday, but Ukrainian forces have returned, and the fighting is now close-range house-to-house fighting. This maneuver allowed 4000 civilians trapped in Izyum to evacuate to safety.
All in all, Ukrainian forces repelled nine concerted attacks in the Donbas claiming to have destroyed 4 planes, 8 tanks, 44 infantry fighting vehicles, 16 trucks, and 10 artillery systems. It was a good day for Ukraine.
Battle for the Black Sea (Kherson, Mykolaiv, Odesa)
Ukrainian forces are liberating more and more communities from Russian control as they slowly and methodically march from Mykolaiv towards Kherson, the only major city that Russia has occupied.
Three missile strikes against civilians in Odesa were conducted.
Russia has begun mobilizing their troops in Transnistria, a region of Moldova that Russia has occupied since 1992. These forces can attack from the back into the Odesa region diverting Ukrainian forces from defending the Donbas.
Battle for Crimean Water Source (Melitopol, Zaporizhia)
The citizens of the Russian-occupied city of Enerhodar held a peaceful protest singing Ukrainian patriotic songs. As they began to disperse, Russian forces opened fire with grenade explosions and shelling injuring four civilians. Mass arrests of the protestors then took place reminiscent of lions attacking prey that in panic become isolated from the herd. The nuclear plant of Enerhodar was taken by Russian forces on March 4 creating panic of a nuclear explosion around the world. The city itself was occupied the following day.
Other Regions
In the early hours of Saturday Russia began firing missiles on Ukrainian cities that so far had been left alone.
Russian fired ten missiles on the citizens of Dnipro.
A Russian missile hit a gas station on the outskirts of the industrial city of Kryvyi Rih.
Missiles rained down on the cities of Poltava and Kremenchug targeting infrastructure, but several residential areas were hit as well.
Then as night approached on Saturday, Russia resumed its nightly missile attacks hitting an industrial facility in Shepetivka about forty miles north from where Marina was born and many of her relatives live. They also hit an airport in Myrhorod near Poltava. Most of the missiles that were fired upon Ukraine were destroyed before impact.
Other News
Russia is threatening to cut off food exports to countries that impose sanctions against Russia. In other words, they are demanding that the world not punish them for committing genocide against Ukraine or they will extend death by starvation to their country as well.
UNESCO has confirmed that 53 historically protected sites in Ukraine have been damaged or destroyed by Russian attacks.
Ukraine has nationalized all property in Ukraine owned by Russian citizens.
The 54 buses sent by the Ukrainian government to Mariupol has successfully evacuated 3000 civilians to the city of Zaporizhia. But the convoy that was organized and led by the International Red Cross turned back and did not evacuate any citizens.
Ukrainian hobby pilots in Lviv are retroverting their drones to carry Molotov cocktails and provide camera surveillance for Ukrainian forces.
Peace Negotiations
The next round of online peace negotiations between Ukraine and Russia have resumed, but Russia said that Ukraine’s attack on their fuel depot in Belgorod will severely hamper the talks.
Martin Griffiths, UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs will travel to Moscow and then Kyiv on Sunday to try and secure a humanitarian ceasefire.
International Support
The U.S. committed another $300 million to the already approved $1.6 billion in military assistance to Ukraine.
The U.S. government has agreed to work with its European allies to provide Soviet-era tanks to Ukraine finally giving Ukraine the heavy weapons it needs to defeat Russian forces.