On March 5, the Russian Defense Ministry announced a one day ceasefire to evacuate civilians from Mariupol and Volnovakha. These are the key strongholds of the Ukrainian Army and nationalist battalions in Donetsk Region. Both of them are now encircled by joint forces of Russia, the Donetsk People’s Republic and the Lugansk People’s Republic.
According to the representative of the Russian Ministry of Defense, Major General Igor Konashenkov, humanitarian corridors and exit routes have been agreed with the Ukrainian side.
Kiev authorities claim that 200,000 civilians want to leave Mariupol and 20,000 civilians – Volnovakha. It is obvious that members of Kiev forces will try to leave the areas via the opened humanitarian corridors. Nonetheless, they will not be able to do this with weapons and in military uniforms.
Work of Russian military helicopters:
Meanwhile, the Russian Defense Ministry released an update on the situation on the frontline:
- Troops of the Lugansk People’s Republic, with fire support from the Russian Armed Forces, continued offensive operations and reached the Boguslavka-Telmahovka-Kalinovka line.
- The units of the armed forces of the Donetsk People’s Republic advanced 27 km overnight. The settlements of Novogrigorovka, Novonikolaevka, Vishnevatoe, Volnoe, Listvyanka and Antonovka were taken under control.
- Units the Russian Armed Forces are conducting offensive operations on a broad front. They took control of the settlements of Preobrazhenka, Komsomolskoye, Zagornoye, Dorozhnyanka, Reshetilovskoye, Konstantinovka, Shevchenko, Chubarevka, Proletarskoye, Lyubimovka.
- Servicemen of the Donetsk People’s Republic continued to tighten the encirclement around Mariupol.
- Members of the Ukrainian national battalions “Azov” and “Aidar” are firing at DPR and LPR forces that have entered Mariupol from positions set in schools, hospitals and kindergartens.
- The Russian Armed Forces delivered a new round of strikes on the military infrastructure of Ukraine. One of the recent strikes destroyed an ammunition depot on the territory of the Zhytomyr military unit, where Javelin and NLAW anti-tank missile systems were stored.
- A total of 2,037 Ukrainian military infrastructure facilities were targeted during the operation. Among them: 71 control points and communication centers of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, 98 air defense missile systems (S-300, Buk M-1 and Osa) as well as 61 radar stations.
- Russian forces destroyed: 66 aircraft on the ground and 16 aircraft in the air, 708 tanks and other armored combat vehicles, 74 multiple launch rocket systems, 261 field artillery and mortars, 505 units of special military vehicles, as well as 56 unmanned aerial vehicles.
Forward observer of artillery units of the Ukrainian Army acts from a civilian building:
Life are being restored in Melitopol city controlled by Russian forces. Humanitarian aid is being delivered to civilians:
A Russian journalist reports from the area of movement of Russian forces near Kyiv:
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