Ukraine Breaking News Today Live on 02-29-2024

Tsikhanouskaya met with the Kastus Kalinowski Regiment, a group of Belarusian volunteers fighting on the side of Ukraine.

In a recent post on “X,” Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, the Belarusian opposition leader, who is widely believed to have won the presidential election in her country in 2020, put up a photo of herself meeting with soldiers from the Kastus Kalinowski Regiment, a unit of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) composed of Belarusian volunteers fighting against Russia’s invasion.

“We discussed the vital support of drones safeguarding our brave volunteers. Currently, up to 1,500 Belarusians are fighting for Ukraine. You can contribute by donating to the drone fund. Every donation helps save lives,” she wrote on her X (formerly known as Twitter) account.

Sweden's Security Service (Sapo) said the Russian state was using the church “as a platform for gathering intelligence and other security-threatening activities.”

A Swedish agency for grants for faith institutions said Thursday it was cutting support to the Russian Orthodox Church, after Sweden's intelligence service warned the church was used for intelligence activities.

The Swedish Agency for Support for Faith Communities said in a statement that it was also cutting financial support for the church, also known as the Moscow Patriarchate, for not living up to its “democracy criteria.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s latest address to the nation was mostly a repetition of previous rhetoric and did not address Transnistria’s appeal for Moscow’s protection.

In his latest national address, Russian President Vladimir Putin reiterated Moscow’s anti-Western stance and boasted of domestic achievements, all while making no mention of Transnistria following the breakaway region’s appeal for Russian “protection” on Wednesday.

Putin’s address comes two weeks prior to the presidential election, the winning of which is likely a foregone conclusion.

Russia knew about the Ukrainian army’s plans for a counteroffensive last fall before the offensive began. Budanov, the head of military intelligence, called the leak a “serious problem.”

Ukraine’s spy chief, Kyrylo Budanov, called the leak of Ukraine's counteroffensive last year, in which Russia gained access to classified Ukrainian documents “a serious problem.”

 “We are taking some action,” Budanov said, CBC News reported Wednesday.

The French president had said after a conference of European leaders that while there was “no consensus” on the sending of Western ground troops to Ukraine, “nothing should be excluded.”

French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday said that all his comments on the war between Ukraine and Russia were carefully thought out, after he sparked an uproar by not ruling out sending Western troops.

Macron on Monday said that “everything that is necessary” must be done to ensure Russia's defeat after its invasion of Ukraine, alarming several European allies, including Germany.

Ukraine’s 73rd Naval Center of Maritime Special Operations had one of its worst days of the entire war as Russian sources claimed the commandoes were shot down as they tried to land on a beach.

Russian shore defenders in occupied Crimea scored a victory on Thursday, ambushing and killing nearly two dozen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine’s most highly trained and skilled special operations troops.

The early morning engagement took place near Tenderovsky Island, a narrow spit of land on the southeast coast of the Crimean Peninsula.

It seems that a new term has to be added to the panoply of acronyms and abbreviations that litter any report on the war in Ukraine – UAP (unidentified anomalous phenomenon), formerly called UFOs.

The Daily Mail and Newsweek report that a Mavic 3T thermal-imaging (TI) drone was being used by a unit of Ukraine’s 406th Artillery Brigade to carry out nighttime frontline surveillance on Wednesday when it captured images of a strange, silent, disc-shaped object.

The footage recorded by the drone was posted on X/Twitter by the milblogger @albafella, who regularly provides updates on the ongoing war in Ukraine, and the RealWar Telegram channel.

The attack reportedly caused 19 deaths, including the deputy commander of the Russian military unit, with the unit’s commander and 11 other Russian soldiers wounded.

The Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) launched a missile attack on Russian troops in Olenivka, in the Donetsk region, resulting in almost two dozen Russian casualties.

“The Armed Forces of Ukraine launched a missile attack on the concentration of Russian troops in Olenivka, Donetsk region, with the help of Ukrainian rocket salvo systems,” the report of the AFU’s General Staff announced on Facebook.

Ukraine’s spy chief, Kyrylo Budanov, said former Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valeriy Zaluzhny was not replaced due to a rift with President Zelensky.

The head of Ukraine's military intelligence service (HUR), Kyrylo Budanov, dismissed rumors that the reason behind the replacement of former Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Valeriy Zaluzhny, was a conflict with President Volodymyr Zelensky.

In an interview with CBC News, Budanov said that there could hardly have been personal differences between Zelensky and Zaluzhny, as one of them was directly subordinate to the other.

The world in focus, as seen by a Canadian leading global affairs analyst, writer and speaker, in his review of international media.

In a pre-election State of the Nation address delivered today, Russian President Vladimir Putin threatened “disastrous “ consequences should the West send troops to Ukraine. Adds: “We did not start the war in Donbas…We will do everything to protect our citizens …and to root out Naziism.” (And yet Russia has been relentlessly bombing cities in Ukraine with predominantly Russian-speaking populations). He pledged the introduction of new weapons in the battlefield and showed no sign of backing down - even though Russia has been suffering humiliating losses in Ukraine

A thin sliver of land sandwiched between Ukraine and Moldova asked Russia on Wednesday to provide it with protection, repeating in miniature the highly flammable scenario played out by regions of eastern Ukraine now occupied by Moscow. The call for Russian protection by Transnistria, a self-declared but internationally unrecognized microstate on the eastern bank of the Dniester River, escalated tensions that date to the collapse of the Soviet Union. The territory, largely Russian-speaking, broke away from Moldova and, after a brief war in 1992, set up its own national government. The appeal to Moscow was made at a special session of Transnistria’s Congress of Deputies, a Soviet-style assembly that rarely meets. At its last session, in 2006, the assembly asked to be annexed by Russia, though Moscow did not act on that request. The latest appeal to Russia came a day before a state of the nation address in Moscow by President Vladimir V. Putin - NYT

Russia has arrested and imprisoned dozens of people for allegedly cooperating with Ukraine's army and intelligence agencies since it launched its full-scale military offensive in February 2022.

A court in a Russian border region on Thursday sentenced a Ukrainian man to 12 years in prison on espionage charges for passing military information to Ukraine's secret services.

Russia has arrested and imprisoned dozens of people for allegedly cooperating with Ukraine's army and intelligence agencies since it launched its full-scale military offensive in February 2022.

Scholz's repeated refusal to send German Taurus missiles to Ukraine comes despite domestic pressure and urgent calls from Kyiv to approve deliveries.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz reiterated Germany's refusal to send Taurus missiles to Ukraine on Monday, Feb. 26, stating that the country would not follow the UK and France in providing Ukraine with long-range missiles.

Scholz's repeated refusals to send German Taurus missiles to Ukraine come despite domestic pressure and urgent calls from Kyiv, which is struggling to fend off Russia's ongoing invasion.

A philanthropic organization founded by the former mayor of New York helps connect cities to each other to help solve common problems. Kyiv will now benefit.

Bloomberg Philanthropies is poised to help Kyiv.

On Feb. 16 the organization announced an investment in the city of Kyiv that will accelerate the digitization of public services to strengthen government delivery during wartime and address residents’ acute mental health needs.

Three more Russian Sukhoi Su-34 fighter bombers were downed, bringing a total of 12 SU planes brought down in the last 13 days and 13 Russian planes overall, including an A-50U radar aircraft.

The Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) brought down three more Russian Su-34 fighter bombers on Thursday, totalling 12 Su planes brought down in the last 13 days and 13 Russian planes overall, including an A-50U radar aircraft.

Early in the morning, Ukrainian Air Force commander Mykola Oleshchuk reported downing the first fighter bomber in the Eastern direction. 

Montreal’s Ukrainian Community and its friends came together in the freezing cold to “Stand With Ukraine” as part of a rally involving cities the world over.

On Feb. 21, 2024 the World Ukrainian Congress made an official announcement that over 400 cities would be joining in the Stand With Ukraine global rally. Montreal was just one of those cities and it did not disappoint, considering that temperatures were in the double-digit below zero range. This did not deter both members of Montreal’s Ukrainian community and those who support Ukraine, be they commoner, community activist or politician in making their presence felt.

The organization of such global support requires the coordination of many individuals. A few days earlier, on one the “Ukrainians in Montreal” Facebook group pages, a table was posted showing 12 different community organizations which indicated who the “Corner Captains” were. These individuals are leaders within their own community organizations and would be easily recognizable to members of those different organizations. They were strategically placed at 12 different intersections along Montreal’s main thoroughfare, Ste-Catherine’s Street West. The precession started at the corner of Guy Street and Ste-Catherine’s West, would make its way to Phillips Square, gathering the members of the community organizations. The volume of souls grew as they made their way to what has become a habitual gathering point for such rallies by the Ukrainian community in Montreal.

The move from Transnistrian separatists raised fears that the landlocked territory could become a new flashpoint in Moscow's conflict with neighbouring Ukraine.

Ukraine's foreign ministry on Wednesday cautioned against any meddling from Russia in Moldova's breakaway region of Transnistria, whose separatist leaders earlier appealed to Russia for "protection".

The move from Transnistrian separatists raised fears that the landlocked territory could become a new flashpoint in Moscow's conflict with neighbouring Ukraine.

Even before the meeting opened, the war in Ukraine took centre stage. The Group of Seven countries held their own talks on the sidelines to discuss shoring up Western support for Kyiv.

Brazil called for a "new globalization" to address poverty and climate change as finance ministers from the world's top economies met Wednesday, but the Ukraine and Gaza wars risked overshadowing the plea.

"It is time to redefine globalization," Brazilian Finance Minister Fernando Haddad told his counterparts from the Group of 20 leading economies, opening their first meeting of the year in Sao Paulo.

Latest from the Institute for the Study of War.

Key Takeaways from the ISW:

• Pro-Russian Moldovan breakaway region Transnistria held the Seventh Congress of Transnistrian Deputies on February 28 and adopted a series of decisions that likely aim to provide the Kremlin with justifications for a wide range of possible escalatory actions against Moldova — actions the Kremlin can pursue both immediately and over the long-term.
• The Kremlin has yet to signal an immediate route for escalation following the Congress of Transnistrian Deputies, although Russian President Vladimir Putin may respond to the Transnistrian requests during his speech to the Russian Federal Assembly on February 29.
• The Kremlin can use the outcomes of the Congress of Transnistrian Deputies to justify a range of possible COAs that are not mutually exclusive.
• Ukrainian forces reportedly conducted another strike on a Russian personnel concentration in occupied Donetsk Oblast, once again sparking ire amongst Russian milbloggers and re-surfacing concerns about Ukraine’s use of HIMARS systems.
• Russia continues cracking down on actors it deems “foreign agents” to consolidate control over the Russian information space ahead of the March 2024 presidential election.
• A Financial Times (FT) investigation published on February 27, reportedly based on leaked classified Russian military documents from 2008-2014, outlines Russia’s purported criteria for the use of tactical nuclear weapons.
• Turkey and China appear to be pursuing their own negotiation platforms for a settlement in Ukraine, which the Kremlin will likely exploit to further its long-standing narratives regarding negotiations and the war.
• Russian forces made confirmed advances near Svatove, Avdiivka, and Donetsk City.
• Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu inspected the Tula State University’s Military Training Center and several defense industrial base (DIB) enterprises in Tula Oblast on February 28.
• Russian occupation authorities are using early voting for the Russian presidential election to cloak Russia’s illegal occupation of Ukraine in a veneer of fabricated legitimacy.

Ukraine has been operating big agricultural octo-copters as bombers for some time but now they are being used as flying repeater stations to control killer drones.

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV or drones) have been used to drop explosives for some time on Ukraine’s battlefields, but now, evidence is piling up that remote-controlled mother ships are helping smaller kamikaze drones to find and attack people.

According to state-controlled Russian media, Ukrainian pilots operating in the eastern Donbas sector in January were the first to field heavy agricultural drones, nicknamed Baba Yaga – after a character in Slavic folklore, a ferocious- old woman who fries and eats children. Previously used as a bomber dropping mortar-sized munitions onto their targets, the bombs have recently been replaced by electronics allowing distant operators to guide other, smaller aircraft in precision attacks deep behind Russian lines.