Thursday, March 7

Russia’s war against Ukraine

Ukrainian divers from the Special Purpose Unit conduct training exercises off the coast of Odesa, on March 6, 2024. Combat divers are trained to lay mines, overcome artificial obstacles, and study underwater navigation. (Kostiantyn Liberov/Libkos/Getty Images)

Russia attacks Odesa during Zelensky, Greek PM visit, killing 5. Russia launched a missile at Odesa during a visit of Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, President Volodymyr Zelensky told reporters on March 6.

Military intelligence: Attack on Russian Sergey Kotov vessel injures at least 27. A day earlier, the agency reported that seven Russian sailors were killed, six injured and 52 crew members who were on board the ship could have been evacuated.

Official: Ukraine open to restrictions on EU trade to defuse tensions. Kyiv is open to trade restrictions with the EU to defuse tensions with Warsaw but urges bloc-wide import bans on Russian grain, Ukraine’s Deputy Economy Minister and Trade Representative Taras Kachka told the Financial Times (FT) in a comment published on March 6.

WSJ: Ukrainian commandos fight Russian influence in Sudan. Small Ukrainian army teams took part in hostilities in Sudan, helping the country’s leader fend off Wagner Group-backed rebel forces, the Wall Street Journal reported on March 6, citing Ukrainian and Sudanese military officials.

Military: Ukraine aims to stabilize front line, conduct counteroffensive in 2024. The main goal of the Ukrainian forces is to stabilize the situation on the front line and create an offensive grouping to conduct counteroffensive actions in 2024, Ukraine’s Ground Forces Commander Oleksandr Pavliuk said on national television March 6.

Energy minister rules out deals on transiting Russian gas through Ukraine. Kyiv and the EU have previously said they would not seek the prolongation of the transit deal for Russian gas, signed in 2019 and currently set to expire in December 2024.

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Moscow dismisses ICC arrest warrants for Russian military commanders. Lieutenant General Sergei Kobylash and Admiral Viktor Sokolov “are each allegedly responsible” for a number of war crimes, including “directing attacks at civilian objects,” the ICC said.

Kursk Oblast mining plant damaged in drone strike, Russia claims. The fire broke out in a lubricant warehouse in Kursk Oblast’s Zheleznogorsky district, said Roman Starovoyt, the regional governor.

Exiled official: Russian election organizer killed in explosion in occupied Berdiansk. A woman who was helping the Russian government organize elections in occupied Berdiansk was killed in an apparent car bombing, Viktoriia Halitsina, the exiled head of the Berdiansk City Military Administration, reported on Telegram on March 6.

Russian court says it confiscated assets allegedly linked to oligarch Kolomoisky. The court claimed Kolomoisky is a member of the British mining company JKX Oil & Gas Limited, which it labeled as a part of an “extremist group whose actions were clearly anti-Russian in nature.

SBU detains man suspected of joining military to spy for Russia. The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) detained a man who was attempting to escape to Transnistria after allegedly joining the Ukrainian military to spy on the front line for Russia, the SBU’s press service reported on March 5.

Read our exclusives

Ukraine war latest: Russia launches missile strike at Odesa during Zelensky, Greek PM visit, killing 5

Greek cabinet member Stavros Papastavrou confirmed to Greek media earlier in the day that there were no injuries among the Greek delegation, but the blast occurred approximately 150 meters away, according to the newspaper Kathimerini.

Photo: Ukrinform/NurPhoto via Getty Images

The Ukrainians whose lives were turned upside down by Russia’s war, twice

Everyone in the 40-million nation of Ukraine has had their lives disrupted by Russia’s 2022 invasion, with millions fleeing the country or moving to safer areas. But some have now endured a decade of hostilities and trauma inflicted by the Kremlin’s war.

Photo: Francesco Pistilli / IRC

Ukrainian soldiers near Kupiansk prepare for potential Russian offensive

“I think that (Russian troops) are preparing for a breakthrough (in the Kupiansk direction). The ground will dry up, and they will gather all forces, all equipment,” said 47-year-old infantryman Ruslan with Ukraine’s 43rd Separate Mechanized Brigade deployed on the Kupiansk axis. “I think something not great (for us) will happen.”

Photo: Jose Colon/Anadolu via Getty Images

Human cost of war

Navy spokesperson: Russian attack on Odesa port kills 5. A Russian attack on the port of Odesa killed five people, Navy spokesperson Dmytro Pletenchuk told Ukrainian media outlets on March 6.

Russian attack on Kharkiv Oblast kills man, injures 7, including children. As a result of the strike, a fire broke out on the territory of the household, destroying cars, a garage, and outbuildings, the governor reported.

Death toll of Russian Feb. 7 attack on Kyiv rises to 6. The death toll of a Russian missile attack against Kyiv on Feb. 7 has risen to six as a man died in the hospital, the Suspilne news outlet reported, citing his relatives.

General Staff: Russia has lost 420,270 troops in Ukraine since Feb. 24, 2022. This number includes 1,250 casualties Russian forces suffered just over the past day.

Opinions and insights

Ignatieff: The threat to American hegemony is real

“The United States is divided against itself and stretched to the limits of its capabilities. Europe is waking up to the possibility that, come November, America may no longer fulfill its collective defense obligations under Article 5 of the NATO treaty,” writes Michael Ignatieff, a history professor and former leader of the Liberal Party of Canada

Photo: Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images

International response

Cameron: London ready to loan Ukraine all frozen Russian assets in UK. The assets will be used as a surety for the payment of the reparations, U.K. Foreign Secretary David Cameron said.

Media: Argentina’s president plans visit to Kyiv in June. Argentina’s President Javier Milei may visit Kyiv this June as part of a broader European tour in a sign of his support for Ukraine.

Hungarian FM: Orban to discuss ‘achieving peace in Ukraine’ with Trump during upcoming visit. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban plans to discuss how to “achieve peace” in Ukraine during an upcoming visit with former U.S. President Donald Trump, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto told the Russian state-controlled news agency RIA Novosti on March 6.

Bloomberg: Biden considers tapping into US Army funds for temporary Ukraine aid. Drawing on the Pentagon reserves would free up about $200 million in immediate military aid to Ukraine.

US State Department, German Marshall Fund want to rebuild sustainable Ukrainian cities. The U.S. State Department and German Marshall Fund established a public-private initiative to assist in rebuilding up to three Ukrainian cities, with a focus on sustainability.

Bloomberg: Ukraine’s allies have almost finished collecting funds to purchase shells through Czech-led allied initiative. Ukraine’s allies have nearly raised the required funding to buy 800,000 artillery shells through a Czech-led allied initiative, Bloomberg reported on March 6, citing a government official familiar with the matter.

Moldova warns of Russian interference in elections, EU accession. Alexandru Musteata, the head of the Moldovan intelligence agency (SIS), said that the SIS possesses “certain information” about Russia’s destabilization campaign in the next two years designed to compromise Chisinau’s European integration and draw the country back into the Kremlin’s orbit.

Latvian government approves list of banned agricultural goods from Russia, Belarus. The Latvian government on March 5 approved a list of Russian and Belarusian agricultural and food products that will be banned from importing into the country since March 8.

In other news

Polish farmers stage general strike in Warsaw. Polish farmers, agrarian workers, foresters, and hunters staged a general strike in Warsaw on March 6 in protest against Ukrainian agricultural imports and EU environmental policies.

Police launch investigation into suspected arson at Kyiv wetland park. The Osokorky Ecopark has been the center of a decades-long struggle between property developers and civil society activists, who campaign against illegal construction on the reserve.

Media: Sweden to officially become NATO member on March 11. Sweden’s flag will be raised at the NATO headquarters in Brussels on March 11 around noon, marking the official start of the country’s membership in the alliance, the Swedish TV4 channel reported on March 6.

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Today’s Ukraine Daily was brought to you by Katya Denisova, Martin Fornusek, Elsa Court, Kateryna Hodunova, Lili Bivings, Abbey Fenbert, Sonya Bandouil, and Rachel Amran.

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