These are the key developments on day 1,102 of Russia’s war on Ukraine.
Here is the situation on Sunday, March 2:
Fighting
The head of Russia’s Investigative Committee says Ukrainian attacks on Russian regions on and near the border have killed at least 652 civilians so far, Russian news agency TASS reported.
Moscow said it downed three Ukrainian drones targeting the Russkaya gas compressor station in the southern Krasnodar region, part of the TurkStream pipeline network.
A new monitoring mission from the International Atomic Energy Agency arrived at the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine for the first time through Russian territory, a Russia-installed head of the plant said.
Odesa regional governor, Oleh Kiper, said a Russian missile struck port facilities, injuring two workers and damaging infrastructure and a vessel.
The Russian Ministry of Defence said its forces captured the villages of Sudne and Burlatske in the south of the eastern Donetsk region.
Diplomacy
Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer told Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy he was “very, very welcome” in London a day after Zelenskyy clashed with United States President Donald Trump.
British Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves and Ukraine’s Finance Minister Sergii Marchenko signed a 2.26-billion-pound ($2.84bn) loan deal on Saturday, according to a statement from the Treasury. Zelenskyy said the loan would be used to manufacture weapons in Ukraine.
The Ukrainian leader said Kyiv was still willing to sign a rare earth minerals deal with the US following his clash with Trump in the “first step toward security guarantees”.
NATO chief Mark Rutte said the US, Ukraine, and Europe need to work together to end the war and bring “durable peace”; he called for Zelenskyy to mend his relationship with Trump.
Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban has urged the European Union to open direct talks with Russia to end the war.
Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Maria Zakharova said Moscow’s goals in Ukraine, including its “demilitarisation and denazification”, remain unchanged and accused Zelenskyy of being “obsessed with continuing” the war.
Germany’s Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock called for more “flexibility” in the EU and German budget rules to facilitate more support for Ukraine.
