The fourth day of the war saw a slowing down in the pace of Russian Federation attacks in the north and east of Ukraine, with continued rapid RF advances in the south, on the Black Sea shore. Fierce, close-in fighting was reported inside the cities of Kharkiv and on the outskirts of Kyiv and Kherson. Social media and official images showed RF forces using artillery and rocket launcher systems against civilian structures, often apartment buildings, at most locations.
Ground combat in most sectors appeared to dwindle during the afternoon, followed by widespread reports that Russian and Ukrainian diplomats would meet in Belarus overnight. In the early evening President Putin said he had ordered Russian nuclear forces to an increased level of readiness – a move immediately matched by the US.
At 0600 28 February a UAF statement claimed that Ukraine Armed Forces (UAF) defenses were holding in all sectors and that Russian forces were suffering serious losses, particularly from UAF artillery strikes against RF vehicle columns stopped on roads. Images of demolished trucks, jeeps, trailers, air defense systems and armored personnel carriers from battle sites across Ukraine flooded social media over the day. The UAF claimed over the day it caught five RF vehicle columns in major strikes, the most spectacular a unit of 56 RF fuel trucks, which the UAF said it burned completely.
Overall, according to UAF estimates, Russian losses from Feb. 24-26 are 4,300 men killed, more than 200 prisoners, 146 tanks, 706 APCs, 49 cannon, 4 Grad rocket systems, 2 drones, 2 naval cutters, 27 planes and 26 helicopters.
A Health Ministry statement on Feb. 27 said 352 Ukrainian civilians, of whom were 14 children, have died since 24 Feb. from war-related injuries.
The Kremlin has fired at least 70 cruise and ballistic missiles at targets in Ukraine since the war began, and close to a third appear to have missed, often striking civilian homes or apartment buildings, UAF statements said. President Aleksandr Lukashenko said he sanctioned RF missile launches from his country’s territory because Ukraine, allegedly, positioned missiles near Belarus. Overnight missiles struck again in and around Kyiv, and also in the vicinity of Zaporizhzhia and Zhytomyr airports – both targeted by Russia for the first time.
In the early hours of Feb. 27 a Russian missile scored a dramatic hit on a civilian fuel depot near the Vasylkiv air base, south-west of Kyiv, touching off a massive explosion, a huge fire, with black smoke rising to the clouds.
According to UAF reports, Russian paratroopers dropped a day ago were battling for the airfield against UAF regular army and local defense forces. Local officials said firefighters were unable to approach the blaze because of continuous shooting. The fire appeared still to burning by dawn of Feb. 28.
The city of Kharkiv saw vicious street fighting at times between Russian armored and infantry units and UAF fighters. Images, official statements, social media and news reports told of small arms, artillery and even rocket fires smashing into houses and apartment buildings. Social media images showing Russian dead and POWs appeared in the afternoon.
By the morning of Feb. 28 it was not fully clear which side held the city. Oleh Sinehurov, head of Kharkiv Region State Administration said in a public statement that Feb. 28 claimed UAF forces destroyed an RF light infantry unit that drove into the center of the city. He claimed 20 Russian troops took up defenses in a school before being wiped out. He said the city was fully under UAF control.
Between the villages Bucha and Irpin, to the north of Kyiv, UAF engineers blew up a key river bridge to block RF forces attempting to push their way south from a concentrated area around the town Hostomel. According to a Hosspetssvyaz statement, a UAF artillery strike hit this concentrated area, destroying vehicles and inflicting casualties. Earlier reports had placed Chechen national guards fighters riding soft-skinned vehicles in the vicinity.
Other media showed UAF anti-tank teams moving past burnt RF tanks and armored personnel carriers in pine woods around Irpin. Some were armed with British NLAW missiles. A morning UAF statement said Kyiv’s defenses were solid in all sectors and that RF forces had broken off attacks. A statement from the Presidential Office said the threat to Kyiv was over. The city was still under martial law and Kyivites reported hearing explosions of various sizes both in the center and on the outskirts of the city.
In the south, news reports said RF armored columns had reached the western suburbs of the Azov port city of Mariupol, threatening to cut it off. A statement from the Azov National Guard Regiment, originally a volunteer formation fighting in the area since 2014, said the city was fully under control and that “we promise that every Russian soldier who came to Ukraine to murder and destroy, will be destroyed himself.” Official and citizen sources showed images of the city under UAF control by the morning of Feb. 28.
A nighttime statement by the mayor of Mykolaiv said the city expected an attack by Russian forces in the next few hours.
To the west of Mariupol, the mayor of the seaside resort of Berdyansk said Russian forces had taken the city. Social media and news reports showed images of RF vehicles and soldiers in Berdyansk’s center, taking control of government buildings. Media also criticized him for caving in too easily.
In the east, see-saw fighting was reported with town Volnovakha, near the old line of contact, becoming a focus of intense combat. Volnovakha by the morning of Feb. the 28th was in UAF hands, but, it is heavily damaged and civilian distress is severe, a city government statement said.
By evening Ukrainian news platforms were widely reporting Ukrainian and Russian diplomats would meet on the Belarus-Ukraine border for talks. Lukashenko told Belarusian state media he was trying to act as a “good faith” broker for peace.
As evening approached, the Kremlin announced it was placing its nuclear forces on increased alert.
The US responded immediately, with Washington’s UN ambassador saying “This means that President Putin continues to escalate this war in a completely unacceptable way, and we must continue to stop his actions in the strongest possible way.”
Within hours the US had raised the readiness of its own nuclear forces.
