Bakhmut defense continues, new NABU head appointed, Russia’s UN Security Council chair
• Ukraine’s top army commanders still support the continued defense of the Donetsk Oblast town of Bakhmut.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy held a meeting of the Ukrainian High Command, at which further actions of Ukrainian army in the Bakhmut area were discussed. The meeting was attended by the Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces Valery Zaluzhnyi and the Commander of Ukrainian Ground Forces Colonel-General Oleksandr Syrskyi.
• Ukraine’s government has appointed Semen Kryvonos as new head of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU).
According to Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, with the appointment of NABU head, Ukraine has fulfilled all seven recommendations of the European Union following the acquisition of the candidate status. The prime minister added that Ukraine had gained a fully formed working and independent anti-corruption infrastructure.
• Ukrainian special forces conducted raids deep into Russia’s Bryansk Oblast as early as June 2022.
“I won’t reveal a secret by saying that our Special Operations Forces have been operating in the Bryansk, Kursk, and Belgorod regions for a very long time,” said the former commander of Ukraine’s 24th Separate Assault Battalion, Yevhen Dykyi. “Our Special Forces are walking the Russian rear, blowing up things that need to be blown up.”
• Polish oil refining company PKN Orlen will demand compensation from Russia's Tatneft after oil deliveries via the Druzhba pipeline had been suspended.
“The Russians have stopped pumping oil to Poland,” said Orlen CEO Daniel Obajtek. He declined to specify how much Orlen will seek to get from Tatneft in the lawsuit, saying he could not discuss the details of the contracts.
• Russia should not be allowed to assume its scheduled April presidency of the UN Security Council.
That’s according to Ukraine’s Permanent Representative at the UN, Serhiy Kyslytsya. “This will be the saddest day in the history of the UN until April 1, 2023, if justice doesn’t prevail and the Russian Federation takes over the chairmanship of the Security Council,” he stated.
• Ukrainians bought 413 new electric cars in February 2023, which is three times more than in February 2022.
Compared to January 2023, the market of new electric cars in Ukraine has grown by 40%, Ukravtoprom reported. The Volkswagen ID.4 was the most popular model on the Ukrainian market. Ukrainians bought 134 new cars of this model in one month.
• After suffering huge equipment losses, Russia is redeploying to Ukraine mothballed tanks and infantry vehicles that are not suited for the modern battlefield.
The Russian military is deploying 60-year-old T-62 battle tanks, the UK’s Ministry of Defense reported. It is very likely that even the elite First Guard Tank Army (1 GTA) will be re-equipped with T-62s to replace lost tanks.
• The National Commission for the State Regulation of electronic communications, or NCEC, has blocked more than 700 illegal gambling websites.
The list includes many Russian and international online casinos, in particular the world’s largest online poker platform Pokerstars.com, as well as 1Xbet, MelBet, FonBet, FanSport, Joker, BetWinner, etc.
• The Russian cargo ship Sparta IV, sanctioned by the U.S. government slipped quietly through the Bosporus Strait into the Black Sea during the hours of darkness with a suspected load of war supplies for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
As noted by Naval News, the ship was loaded in Syria and sailed with a Russian Navy escort. It is expected to unload in the city of Novorossiysk, Russia, a base heavily involved in the invasion of Ukraine. According to Naval News, the Sparta IV is one of four ships owned by SC South LLC, a Russian shipping company which is involved in transporting military equipment.
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MP Serhiy Rakhmanin shares his thoughts on the ongoing battle of Bakhmut, and clarifies the combat situation in the area.
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