WAR IN UKRAINE: March 6, 2033
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS: Day 376
In order to repel Russian planes, Ukraine needs modern fighters, in particular F-16, - Air Force spokesman Ignat. Meanwhile, Latvian Prime Minister Krisjanis Karins spoke out in favor of supplying fighter jets to Ukraine.
Ukraine's military said on March 5 that it had repelled more than 130 enemy attacks in 24 hours and claimed to be inflicting massive Russian casualties but gave no definitive word on the fate of Bakhmut, where Russian forces were said to have nearly surrounded the devastated city. Five to 10 people are being evacuated each day from frontline Bakhmut, the Ukrainian city's deputy mayor says, with up to 4,500 still there. The city has lost 95 percent of its pre-war population. People remaining behind have no gas, power or water, the deputy mayor said. Ukraine says the Russian side has lost seven times as many men as its own in the battle for Bakhmut.
The death toll of Thursday's early rocket strike on the southern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia has risen to 13, according to a Ukrainian official. "(There are) 13 dead, including a little child, as a result of a rocket strike at Zaporizhzhia on March 2," Anatoliy Kurtiev, secretary of the Zaporizhzhia Regional Council, said in an update on Telegram Sunday. Following Russia's shelling of the high-rise residential building, the Ukrainian president’s chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, posted on Telegram Thursday that "people were sleeping at home, but for terrorists, residential buildings are also 'military targets’” - CNN
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on March 5 that Ankara is working hardto extend a UN-backed initiative that has enabled Ukraine to export grain from ports blockaded by Russia following its invasion - RFE/RL
Required reading…
Ukraine’s women are playing a key role in the fight against Russia
As the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine enters its second year, the remarkable resilience of the Ukrainian people continues to amaze the watching world. One of the most striking aspects of Ukraine’s fight back against Russian aggression has been the prominence of the country’s women. From frontline soldiers to unofficial ambassadors, Ukrainian women are playing a key role in the struggle to defeat Vladimir Putin.
Ukrainian parliamentarian Mariia Ionova believes the contributions being made by Ukraine’s women are worth sharing with international audiences. “It’s such an asset for our country, the success stories of women who have done so much to meet very urgent needs,” she says. Ionova highlights the efforts of Ukrainian women to fill crucial humanitarian gaps during the early stages of the war at a time when many of the largest international aid organizations were struggling.
Read the full Atlantic Council analysis here