February 28, 2023 - Russia-Ukraine news

Our live coverage of Russia's war in Ukraine has moved here.

Ukrainian forces, engaged in a months-long brutal fight with Russian forces around the city of Bakhmut, could "strategically pull back" if needed, an advisor to President Volodymyr Zelenksy said Tuesday.

“Russia is trying to encircle it right now and they’re using their best Wagner troops, apparently, the most well trained and the most experienced to do that,” economic advisor Alexander Rodnyansky said, referencing the Wagner mercenary forces.
“Our military is obviously going to weigh all of the options. So far, they’ve held the city, but, if need be, they will strategically pull back – because we’re not going to sacrifice all of our people just for nothing,” he told CNN's Isa Soares.

When questioned further about the timeline, Rodnyansky told CNN it was up to the military to decide if a withdrawal was needed.

He added that the region west of Bakhmut has been fortified. "If we were to pull back, that wouldn’t necessarily mean that the Russians would be able to advance very quickly, afterward," Rodnyansky said, adding:

Some context: The battle around Bakhmut has been Ukraine's biggest military challenge. Ukrainian soldiers have described a worsening situation on the ground as Russian forces apply pressure. "The most difficult situation, still, is in Bakhmut and the battles that are essential for the defense of the city," Zelensky said in his nightly video message Tuesday. 

Ukraine's biggest challenge is defending the city of Bakhmut, President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his nightly video message Tuesday.

"The most difficult situation, still, is in Bakhmut and the battles that are essential for the defense of the city," he said.

Zelensky added Russia was suffering heavy losses around the eastern city, based on an update from his commanders. "Russia is not counting people at all, continuously sending them to attack our positions. The intensity of the fighting is growing," he said.

Here are the latest headlines:

• Dire situation in Bakhmut: Ukrainian soldiers in Bakhmut describe a worsening situation on the ground as Russian forces continue to apply pressure to capture the eastern Ukrainian city. A soldier who didn’t want to be named refuted Russian claims that Ukrainian forces in Bakhmut had been cut off and were unable to get supplies into the city. Ukrainian commanders also noted that Russians have not seized control of the embattled city. There has been an uptick in Russia's use of combat planes to target Ukrainian defenses around Bakhmut, according to social media videos and accounts of Ukrainian troops in the area.
• Putin admits to losses in ranks during speech: Russian President Vladimir Putin admitted to "losses in our ranks" while thanking members of the Federal Security Service (FSB) for fighting extremism inside the country, as well as working in claimed Russian-occupied territories. He claimed "the FSB units were directly involved in the special military operation, they were solving complex, non-standard operational tasks here, covering the state border, actively fighting terrorism, organized crime, corruption, and extremism." Putin's "special military operation" is the euphemism the Russian president and leadership uses to describe the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
• Russia formally suspends participation in nuclear treaty: Putin signed a law Tuesday that formally suspends Russia's participation in the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START). He said last week that Russia was suspending participation in the START, but it was not withdrawing from it. Russia’s Foreign Ministry also said Moscow will continue to respect the caps established in the treaty and reiterated that Putin’s suspension of the treaty is “reversible.” The Russian president is the one who can make the decision to resume the country's participation in the agreement. 
• Officials concerned that China will provide lethal aid to Russia: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday reiterated the Biden administration’s concern that China is considering providing lethal aid to Russia for its war in Ukraine and warned that Beijing would face consequences for such a move.
• Pentagon official makes case against sending F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine: Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Colin Kahl said it would take 18 months to provide F-16s to Ukraine and train their pilots on flying the fourth-generation fighter. The cost of doing so would quickly drain the authorized money for providing US aid to Ukraine, Kahl said, when F-16s are not one of the top three priorities for Kyiv right now. 
• UN nuclear watchdog concerned about Ukraine nuclear power plant: The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, expressed concern on Tuesday about Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, citing delays in staff rotations, an increased security presence on-site and nearby fighting.
• Finland begins construction of barriers along frontier with Russia: The Finish Border Guard said in a statement the pilot phase of the eastern border barrier fence project began on Tuesday.The project, launched at the end of 2022, includes plans to build a 130 to 260-kilometer (80 to 161 miles) fence along the country's 1,300-kilometer eastern border. The Finnish border was one of the few entry points for Russians after many Western countries shut their air space and borders to Russian planes in response to the Ukraine invasion. Helsinki closed its border at the end of September 2022.

Ukraine's biggest challenge is defending the city of Bakhmut, President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his nightly video message Tuesday.

Zelensky said Russia was suffering heavy losses around the eastern city, based on an update from his commanders. "Russia is not counting people at all, continuously sending them to attack our positions. The intensity of the fighting is growing," he said.

His account tallies with what commanders on the ground have reported about the intensity of Russian assaults and the casualties they have sustained.

There were also over 30 Russian attacks on the Kherson region in the south, the president said.

Russian forces are pounding the eastern city of Bakhmut, but they have not seized control, Ukrainian commanders said Tuesday.

"Over the past 24 hrs the enemy is raging, shelling with all they have," Col. Yurii Madyar, Commander of Ukraine's highly experienced 28th Brigade, said on Telegram "They don’t really have success on the ground — hence they’re making it up from the skies. They are just breaking this city into molecules."

There has been an uptick in Russia's use of combat planes to target Ukrainian defenses around Bakhmut, according to social media videos and accounts of Ukrainian troops in the area.

"There were no significant success for enemy in any directions, they are constantly trying though," Madyar said. "It’s complicated in the northern flank. The enemy is dreaming to cut the entrance to Bakhmut and take part of the road known as the road of life under their fire control."
"Bakhmut is not surrounded," Madyar said, echoing claims from other Ukrainian sources. "The entrance road remains dangerous. It is not under enemy fire control but under possible fire exposure/impact. This means that there are sections of road that may potentially be exposed to fire at targets moving in those sections."

Russian ground forces are trying to break through Ukrainian positions using groups of up to 20, according to Mykyta Shandyba, head of the press office of the 10th separate mountain assault brigade. "We are repelling all attacks," he told Ukrainian television.

In its operational update, the military's General Staff said Tuesday that Ukrainian forces had repelled attacks in a number of settlements to the north and west of Bakhmut (Dubovo-Vasylivka, Bohdanivka, Chasiv Yar).

The war in Ukraine must end with strategic failure for Russia, a top Pentagon official said Tuesday.

“[W]hat I will say is our position is that this has to end in a strategic failure for Russia, that no aggressor looking at this across the world thinks, ‘Oh that’s a good idea, I’m going to get what I want and not pay any price,’” Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs Celeste Wallander told the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense, adding that any negotiations must be “a Ukrainian-led process because they’ve earned it.” 

The US has not found any evidence that weapons it has provided to Ukraine have been found outside of Ukraine, according to the assistant secretary of defense for international security affairs.

"Instead, we see Ukraine's frontline units effectively employing security assistance every day on the battlefield,” Celeste Wallander told the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense.

The US has adapted its accountability practices for combat environments to avoid the risk of illicit diversion, she added.

Another top Pentagon official, Lt. General Douglas Sims, stated that there are no reports that weapons have gone missing from Ukraine, and it would not be in the interest of the Ukrainians to get rid of them.

Finland has begun construction of barrier fences on its eastern border with Russia. 

The Finish Border Guard said in a statement that the pilot phase of the eastern border barrier fence project began on Tuesday.

“In Pelkola, the construction of a pilot fence of approximately three kilometres has started on both sides of the Imatra border crossing point,” according to the statement.
“Work on the terrain begins on 28 February 2023 with forest clearance and will proceed in such a way that road construction and fence installation can be started in March, followed by the construction of a technical surveillance system. The pilot is expected to be completed by the end of June,” it added. 

The project, launched at the end of 2022, includes plans to build a 130 to 260-kilometer (80 to 161 miles) fence along the country's 1,300-kilometer eastern border. 

Remember: The Finnish border was one of the few entry points for Russians after many Western countries shut their air space and borders to Russian planes in response to the Ukraine invasion. Helsinki closed its border at the end of September 2022, around the time traffic over the frontier intensified as Russians tried to flee President Vladimir Putin’s “partial mobilization” of hundreds of thousands of citizens to fight in the war. More than 8,500 Russians crossed the border in one day alone.

In an earlier statement, the Finish Border Guard said the fence would not be built along the entire length of the border but instead would focus on border crossing points and other riskier areas.

Funding has been granted for the project’s pilot phase, as well as the implementation of the most important target areas, which are set to be constructed between 2023 and 2025.

CNN’s James Frater and Xiaofei Xu contributed reporting to this post.

Correction: A previous version of this post stated that Finland is part of NATO. It is currently seeking to join the alliance, along with Sweden.

A senior Defense Department official argued against providing F-16s and the necessary training to Ukraine at this time because of how long it would take, its cost and Ukraine’s most urgent priorities as the war passes the one-year mark. 

Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Colin Kahl said it would take 18 months to provide F-16s to Ukraine and train their pilots on flying the fourth-generation fighter. The cost of doing so would quickly drain the authorized money for providing US aid to Ukraine, Kahl said, when F-16s are not one of the top three priorities for Kyiv right now. 

“It's just hard for me to tell any member of Congress or the American people that the best use of that dollar spent right now is on F-16s,” Kahl told Tuesday’s House Armed Services Committee hearing on the oversight of US aid to Ukraine.

Kahl said Ukraine’s top three priorities remain air defenses, artillery and armor, which he said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky emphasized to President Joe Biden during their meeting in Kyiv last week. 

The cost of sending 36 older F-16s to Ukraine, which is approximately half of what the US Air Force estimates Ukraine will ultimately need to replace its Soviet-era fighters, will cost about $2-3 billion, Kahl said.

He added that providing Ukraine with new F-16s would take between three to six years.

Kahl also said Ukraine may receive different fighter jets, such as the British Tornado or Swedish Gripen, which require completely different training. He said it "doesn't make sense" to train Ukrainians on the F-16 system if they might not receive it.