In his daily update, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy spoke of an “increasingly complicated” situation for his troops around Bachmout.
No glimmer of hope at the beginning of this second year of conflict. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy spoke on Monday, February 27, of an “increasingly complicated” situation for his troops in the east of the country, near the fortified town of Bakhmout, which Russian forces have been attacking for weeks. Farther west, drone strikes killed at least two people, authorities said, while battles over sanctions raged on on the diplomatic front. Here’s what to remember from this new day of conflict.
The Russian noose tightens around Bakhmout
Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Monday evening acknowledged his troops’ growing difficulties over Bakhmout, a symbol of the struggle for control of the Donbass region in the east of the country. “The situation is getting more and more complicated,” he said in his daily message. “The enemy is systematically destroying everything that can be used to protect our positions,” he added, calling the Ukrainian soldiers involved in this battle “true heroes.”
Moscow-appointed head of the Donetsk region, Denis Pushilin, assured pro-Russian forces that all access routes to the fortified town of Bakhmout were “within gun range”. The latter have been trying to encircle Bakhmout for several weeks and have managed to cut off several important supply routes for the Ukrainian troops.
Two dead in Russian drone strikes
Two people were killed and three injured in a Russian attack in Khmelnytsky in western Ukraine that targeted several regions overnight Sunday and involved more than 10 manufactured combat drones, Iranian authorities said.
According to the mayor and governor of Khmelnytsky, the two dead are rescuers on duty. While employed at the scene of an initial drone strike, they fell victim to another Russian attack “deliberately for our defenseless heroes,” aged 21 and 31, Ukraine’s Interior Minister Igor Klimenko reports on Facebook.
The Kremlin denounces the “absurd” European sanctions
The Kremlin on Monday “absurdly” imposed the new sanctions that the European Union imposed on Russia on Friday, a year after the start of its offensive in Ukraine. “We can see that they put everyone under sanctions (…) just to create new lists,” said Russian Presidency spokesman Dmitry Peskov, assuring that these measures would not “not hinder” the sanctioned people . He considered it “obvious” that the EU would continue its sanctions policy and that “absurdly new legal and moral persons would be found” on its lists.
EU extends sanctions against Belarus
The European Council, representing the 27 EU member states, has announced that it is extending its sanctions against Belarus by a year over the ongoing repression by Alexander Lukashenko’s regime and its support for the Russian-led war in Ukraine.
Since August 2020, the EU has imposed several rounds of sanctions against those responsible for political repression and human rights abuses. President Alexander Lukashenko and 194 other figures close to the regime were denied entry to the EU and their assets frozen. In addition, 34 entities have been sanctioned and all European funding is banned.
Washington will pay Kyiv $1.2 billion
During a visit to Ukraine, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen announced the transfer of $1.2 billion in budget support to Ukraine. “This is the first installment of nearly $10 billion in budget support that the United States will provide in the coming months,” she said during a speech. According to her, this support “enables the Ukrainian government and key public services to remain operational,” particularly by continuing to pay teachers and firefighters, or by supporting the country’s millions of displaced people.
According to Janet Yellen, the United States provided nearly $50 billion in “security, economic, and humanitarian” assistance to Ukraine in 2022, making Washington the “largest bilateral donor” to Kiev. Washington hailed “President Zelenskyy’s passionate commitment to managing these funds in the most responsible manner.”