News And Information From Ukraine

Dispatches from Kyiv, Ukraine, provided by Forbes Ukraine’s editorial team.

As Russia’s attack on Ukraine continues and the war rages on, reliable sources of information are critical. Forbes Ukraine’s reporters will continue to gather information and provide updates on the situation. We will be sharing them here as they come. Live coverage from Forbes Ukraine’s site can be found here.

By Daryna Antoniuk

National.

A fire has broken out at a the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant after a shelling in Energodar, in the Zaporizhzhia region, according Energodar mayor Dmytro Orlov.

Nearly 875,000 people fled Ukraine over the past week – most of them went to Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, Romania, and Moldova.

President Volodymyr Zelensky has called on NATO to enact a no-fly zone in the sky over Ukraine. “How many more Ukrainians have to be wounded for this decision to be made,” he asked. Another option, according to Zelensky, is to give Ukraine an aircraft.

Ukraine is dissatisfied with the outcome of the second round of talks with Russia, according to Ukraine’s presidential advisor Mykhailo Podolyak. The sides will meet for a third round.

Ukraine and Russia have decided to provide humanitarian corridors to evacuate civilians and to deliver food and medicine to the areas with the most violent battles. 

Ukraine’s comedy TV series “Servant of the People,” starring Volodymyr Zelensky, has become a global hit. Countries are increasingly snapping up the rights to the series, according to Bloomberg.

Russia has hacked websites of some regional authorities, posting a fake message about Ukraine’s alleged “surrender and signing of a peace treaty with Russia.”

Russian troops shelled a hospital in Zaporizhzhia – three Ukrainians died.

Nearly 55% of Ukrainians blame the Russian government for the war against Ukraine, while 38% blame the government and the people of Russia, according to a poll by the social group Rating.

Ukraine will receive a total of $15 billion in assistance from international organizations and foreign countries, according to the National Bank head Kirill Shevchenko.

Ukraine’s air defenses shot down a Sukhoi Su-30 Russian fighter aircraft  near Kyiv. 

Business

The Ukrainian National Bank will not change the key policy rate due to war. As of Jan. 21, 2022, the NBU’s key policy rate is 10% per annum. The key policy rate determines all other interest rates in Ukraine’s economy, which, in turn, impacts economic growth and inflation.

Regional news

About 3,000 people remain in the frontline town of Volnovakha in the Donetsk region, heavily attacked by Russian troops on March 3. In 2021, the population of Volnovakha was nearly 21,000 people.

The city was severely damaged by fighting, airstrikes, and artillery shelling by the Russian military. It has no water or electricity.

Russian troops are moving in the direction of a nuclear power plant in the eastern Zaporizhzhia region.

The Russian military attacked a television studio and TV center in Kherson and turned off the television signal.

At least 33 people were killed and 18 were injured in air strikes in Chernihiv on March 3. Many apartment buildings were damaged—windows broken, walls and ceilings destroyed.

Russian troops are shelling Kharkiv again; they have destroyed houses and an airfield.

Russia

Russia will likely impose martial law on March 4, according to the Ukrainian Center for Defense Strategies, in the hope of preventing possible mass anti-war protests. The Kremlin, however, denies planning to declare martial law in the country.

Nearly 90% of the Russian troops that had been stationed around Ukraine have now entered Ukraine – they still want to take control of Kyiv, according to the White House. Since Feb. 24, Russia has launched more than 480 missiles.

The Russian invasion could lead to the largest wheat shortage in history and nothing can be immediately done to prevent it, according to Scott Irwin, an agricultural economist at the University of Illinois. 

As of the morning of March 3, Russia’s losses in the war with Ukraine increased to 9,000 troops, 217 tanks, 900 armored combat vehicles, 30 aircraft and other equipment. 

Meanwhile, Russian president Vladimir Putin said that the war with Ukraine “is going according to plan.”