Weekly Russia-Ukraine war summary: Fighting in “borrowed” Toretsk, the AFU seizes the initiative at Pokrovsk, scandal in Washington

Ukrainian military observer Kostiantyn Mashovets believes (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) that the Russian Armed Forces have not abandoned their plans to envelop Pokrovsk from the west and cut logistical routes to Mezhova and Pavlohrad, since Russian attacks in this direction continue. However, AFU counterattacks have “significantly weakened” the enemy's offensive potential in the area. According to Mashovets, the Russian Armed Forces' offensive southwest of Pokrovsk has been halted, but Ukrainian troops are not yet capable of launching a large-scale counterattack here. Mashovets believes that in order to resume the advance, the Russian command will need to divert forces from other sectors, namely South Donetsk and Toretsk. DeepState, in turn, states that the initiative in the defense of the sector has shifted to the AFU, and attributes this to the appointment of Mykhailo Drapatyi as commander of the Operational and Strategic Group of Forces Khortytsia.

In the South Donetsk sector — the section of the front running from Andriivka south of the Pokrovsk sector to the administrative border of Zaporizhzhia Region — the Russian Ministry of Defense reported the capture of the village of Ulakly west of Kurakhove. The Ukrainian serviceman running the Telegram channel “Ofitser ✙” claims that the Ukrainian Defense Forces are holding individual positions in Ulakly and fully control neighboring Kostyantynopil, having knocked Russian stormtroopers out of the village. DeepState recognizes the capture of Novoocheretuvate by Russian forces and their advance in the vicinity of Burlatske and Pryvilne north of Velyka Novosilka. Russian self-styled “war correspondent” Kotenok claims Russia's full capture of the latter two settlements; however, on the line of contact map published by his colleague Vladimir Romanov, the settlements are marked as AFU-controlled. Overall, unlike in the Pokrovsk sector, Ukrainian forces have yet to stabilize the situation in this area, and the offensive actions of the Russian Armed Forces continue, albeit without operational success so far.

Donald Trump held talks in Washington this week with French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. European leaders tried to convince Trump to pledge support for a future European peacekeeping contingent in Ukraine, but Macron’s efforts failed to produce such a result. In turn, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov spoke out against the deployment of foreign peacekeepers in Ukraine and resisted calls to freeze the conflict along the current line of contact, reiterating Russia's previous claim to the entire territory of Ukraine's four partially occupied regions. The meeting between Trump and Zelensky ended in a verbal altercation that resulted in the Ukrainian president leaving the White House early, and the proposed U.S.-Ukrainian agreement on the development of natural resources remains unsigned.

Mutual strikes and sabotage

The AFU Air Force reported (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7) downing 773 Shahed-type and other unidentified UAVs out of the 1,378 launched against Ukraine during the week. Another 579 UAVs were “radar lost” under the influence of electronic warfare. In addition, the Air Force reported intercepting six out of 10 Russian missiles of various types.

Russian pro-war channel Fighterbomber complains that FAB aerial bombs with UMPK kits are losing accuracy due to Ukraine’s widespread use of electronic assets, rendering FABs ineffective against small targets on the line of contact. The author believes it necessary to increase the number of bombs per target, but the command of the Russian Armed Forces does not intend to change anything. The author of the Telegram channel “Aviahub⚪️🟠,” associated with the Russian Armed Forces, writes that FAB bombs with UMPK kits remain effective despite local irregularities with electronic warfare, but the Ukrainian source Militarnyi confirms Fighterbomber's assessment. Russian serviceman Svyatoslav Golikov has also noted a decrease in the accuracy of Russian glide bombs.

The Russian MoD, for its part, reported the destruction of 304 fixed-wing drones over Russia and occupied Crimea. Ukrainian forces hit the following targets during the week:

According to CIT volunteers' calculations (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6), between 20:00 on Feb. 20 and 20:00 on Feb. 27, strikes against civilian infrastructure on both sides of the front killed at least 40 civilians and wounded 274 more.

Losses

By the end of 2024, the war had claimed more than 165,000 lives on the Russian side. Independent publications Mediazona and Meduza provide this estimate based on Russia's register of inheritance cases. This number reflects only losses of military personnel. In addition, Mediazona published for the first time a database of killed combatants, with 95,323 names on the list.

The Russian military filmed the execution of two wounded AFU fighters after interrogation, purportedly in Russia's Kursk Region. One of the victims was Oleksiy Zhukov, a 40-year-old resident of Dnipro.