“The intensity of the fighting is only increasing” near Bakhmout, in the east of the country, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his daily address.
“The biggest difficulties, as before, are in Bakhmout.” The deadline dreaded by kyiv of a capture of the city of Bakhmout by Russian forces seems to have approached, Tuesday, February 28, as suggested by the Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelensky. The day was also marked by incursions by Ukrainian drones into Russia, according to Moscow, which also saw its Finnish neighbor launch the construction of a fence on its border. Here is what to remember from the news of the last hours of this end of February.
“Intense” fighting around Bakhmout
In the evening, during his daily address, Volodymyr Zelensky said that “the intensity of the fighting is only increasing” near Bakhmout, in the east of the country. “Russia does not count its men at all, constantly sending them to attack our positions”, he added. In the morning, the Ukrainian army had mentioned a situation “extremely tense”as a result of attempts by the Russian paramilitary group Wagner to “break through the defense of our troops and encircle the city”.
Despite a strategic importance disputed by experts, Bakhmout has become a symbol of the struggle for control of the industrial region of Donbass. During a visit there in December, the Ukrainian president had sworn to defend this fortress city “as long as possible”.
Russia hunts Ukrainian drones
Russia said a Ukrainian drone crashed on Tuesday about 100 km from Moscow, not far from a gas compressor station. “The target was probably a civilian installation, which was not damaged”, in Goubastovo, according to the local governor, Andrey Vorobyov. Several incidents involving drones have occurred in recent months on Russian territory, sometimes very far from the front in Ukraine, but this is the first time that a drone has been reported near the capital.
Three other drones were shot down elsewhere in the country, without causing any damage. “The kyiv regime attempted to attack civilian infrastructure sites in the Krasnodar region and the Republic of Adygea with drones”said the Russian Ministry of Defense in particular.
The Kremlin announces the suspension of the New Start treaty
Russia has formally suspended, by a law signed by President Vladimir Putin, its participation in the New Start treaty on nuclear disarmament. A week earlier, the Russian Parliament had given the green light to this measure, unveiled by the Russian president during a speech addressed to the Duma the day before. Signed in 2010, the New Start treaty is the last bilateral nuclear disarmament agreement between Russians and Americans. However, Moscow has promised to respect the limitation of its nuclear arsenal despite the suspension of New Start, until the effective end of the treaty in 2026.
NATO stalls on Ukraine’s membership
Ukraine will become a member of NATO but “long-term”affirmed the secretary general of the Atlantic Alliance, to which this country at war with Russia wants to join. “NATO countries agree that Ukraine should become a member of the alliance but, at the same time, it is a long-term perspective,” said Jens Stoltenberg during a visit to Finland. He called for building a “cadre” to prevent Ukraine from being attacked again by Russia in the future.
Finland launches the construction of its iron curtain
Finland has started construction of its new 200 kilometer long fence on part of its border with Russia, a project decided after the invasion of Ukraine. The work concerns a three-kilometre pilot project near the town of Imatra in southeastern Finland. The construction of an additional 70 kilometers is planned between 2023 and 2025, on the densest part of its 1,340 kilometer border with Russia.
The three-meter-high metal barriers will be covered with barbed wire, with night vision cameras, lamps and loudspeakers in places deemed sensitive. Fearing that Moscow will use the migrants to exert political pressure, NATO candidate Finland amended its law on border guards in July to facilitate the construction of stronger barriers. Finland’s borders are currently mainly secured by light wooden barriers, mainly designed to prevent livestock from moving.