First, links to reports from Reuters, Tass, National Public Radio, Agence France-Presse, and the Associated Press; others are accessible by clicking on their names or initials below. Then, a TV report rare for this blog, broadcast on Feb. 28 by NBC News. — MCM
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Russia close to encircling Ukraine’s Bakhmut after months of fighting, by Leonardo Bennasatto and Lisi Niesner | Reuters * Russian mercenary chief says one route only out of Bakhmut * Ukraine national guard says situation ‘critical’ * Biden and Germany’s Scholz meet to discuss support for Ukraine | CHASIV YAR, Ukraine — Russian artillery pounded the last routes out of Bakhmut on Friday, aiming to complete the encirclement of the besieged Ukrainian city. A Russian victory in Bakhmut, with a pre-war population of about 70,000, would give it . . . READ MORE . . .
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U.S., Germany to impose costs on Russia as long as needed – White House. From Tass. WASHINGTON — U.S. President Joe Biden and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz expressed their readiness to continue the policy of sanctions against Russia “as long as necessary,” the White House’s press service said. The two “discussed ongoing efforts to provide security, humanitarian, economic, and political assistance to Ukraine and the importance of maintaining global solidarity with the people of Ukraine,” the White House said. “They . . . READ MORE . . .
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Ukraine prepares for an ongoing defense on its border with Belarus. Reported by Joanna Kakissis | NPR Along a quiet but unpredictable border, Ukrainian soldiers are digging in for a protracted war and training to help besieged forces in the east. Click HERE to listen and read.
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Russian defence minister inspects front, U.S. puts up new Ukraine aid. From AFP. MOSCOW — Russia’s defence minister has inspected the frontline in east Ukraine, after the United States offered More support to Kyiv, whose forces are struggling in eastern Bakhmut. Sergei Shoigu “inspected a command post on the front” in the direction of the southern Donetsk region, the defence ministry said, without specifying . . . READ MORE . . .
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Ukraine plant builds 6-person bunkers for war’s front lines, by Hanna Arhirova | AP KRYVYI RIH, Ukraine — At a steel plant in the central Ukraine city of Kryvyi Rih, some workers have switched from doing their usual jobs producing and repairing mining equipment to building metal bunkers for front-line troops. Ukrainian mining and metals company Metinvest . . . READ MORE . . .
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A view from Crimea, the Russian-annexed territory Ukraine is hoping to seize back. Reported by Keir Simmons, Natasha Lebedeva and Tatyana Chistikova | NBC News SEVASTOPOL — Crimea is a territory teeming with Russian forces. Nowhere is that truer than in Sevastopol, a city that has long embodied naval might in the Russian imagination. But this is not Russia, according to Kyiv, its Western allies and the United Nations. It was annexed by the Kremlin in 2014, with the U.N. calling on Russia to return to its “internationally recognized borders.” President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has vowed Ukraine will . . . Click HERE to read and to watch.
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TO BE CONTINUED