What has happened in the last few hours
On the 371st day of the war against Ukraine that Russia started, these are the key dates at 8:00 p.m. this Wednesday, March 1:
Ukraine claims there are 4,500 civilians in Bakhmut. Despite the severity of the attacks on Bakhmut, the city in Donetsk province that is the nerve center of Russia’s offensive in the Donbass region, there are still 4,500 civilians in the city, Mayor Oleksiy said on Wednesday. on her Facebook account. “We provide them with food, water and hygiene items,” he said. “We continue to provide the city with bread: 5,000 loaves a day.”
Russia claims it has repelled a massive Ukrainian drone strike in the Crimean peninsula. Russia’s Defense Ministry reported Wednesday that it had repelled a “massive” drone attack by Ukrainian forces on the Crimean peninsula, according to Russian news outlets. According to Moscow, the attack did not claim any casualties.
Finnish parliament approves NATO membership in advance. The Finnish Parliament this Wednesday approved in advance and by an overwhelming majority its future membership of the Atlantic Alliance and is waiting for support for the candidacy also from two other member countries of the organisation, Turkey and Hungary. Finnish MPs approved a law that would allow Finland to join the western military alliance by 184 votes in favor and seven against.
Russia claims it will only renew the grain deal with Ukraine “if its interests are taken into account”. Russia’s Foreign Ministry has claimed that Moscow would only agree to an extension of the Black Sea Grains Agreement, which allows grain to be safely exported from Ukrainian ports, if the interests of its agricultural producers are taken into account. “A continuation of the agreement on Ukrainian grain is possible only if the interests of Russian agricultural and fertilizer producers are taken into account in terms of unhindered access to world markets,” the Russian ministry said.
Scholz promises to increase ammunition production after storage shortages due to aid to Ukraine. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz promised this Wednesday that German industry will increase ammunition production in order to have enough stocks to keep their levels at reasonable levels after more than a year sending military material to Ukraine because of the Russian Aggression began on February 24, 2022. “This will be an ongoing task because we have said that we will support Ukraine for as long as it takes,” said the Chancellor in Berlin after a meeting with Latvian Prime Minister Krisjanis Karins.
The Russian parliament is considering a proposal to sentence those who “discredit” Wagner to up to seven years in prison. One of the key pieces in the hardening of Russia’s repressive machinery after the invasion of Ukraine was the law imprisoning those who “discredit” the Russian armed forces. This Wednesday, Russia’s parliament began considering a project that would extend this protection to “those voluntary associations, organizations or individuals who support the tasks entrusted to the armed forces.” It is understood that this implies that those dealing with the actions of the growing paramilitary groups that arose during the war, particularly the Wagner mercenary group, can be tried in the same way.
In the photo by Sergei Bobok for AFP, a destroyed tank in Tsupivka, Kharkiv province.