Ukraine military image of the naval drone strike on the Russia warship Sergey Kotov off the coast of occupied Crimea, March 5, 2024

Tuesday’s Coverage: UK to Germany — Provide Taurus Cruise Missiles to Kyiv

Map: Institute for the Study of War

UPDATE 1851 GMT:

Five people have been killed in a Russian missile strike on port infrastructure in Odesa in southern Ukraine.

Ukrainian Navy spokesperson Dmytro Pletenchuk said several others were wounded.

The attack took place as Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis were visiting the city.

UPDATE 1643 GMT:

Russian journalist Roman Ivanov has been sentenced to seven years in prison for his articles about alleged war crimes during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Ivanov, who reports for the independent site RusNews, was convicted of publishing “fake news” about the Russian army under laws passed soon after the February 2022 invasion.

The journalist wrote about the mass killing of civilians in Bucha, near Kyiv; a UN war crimes report; and Russian missile strikes on Ukrainian civilian infrastructure.

He also published the articles on the social media accounts of “Chestnoye Korolyovskoye”, a news channel run by Ivanov where he wrote about local issues in Korolyov, the small city outside Moscow where he lives.

In his closing speech in court, Ivanov spoke about the “crime” of the invasion. He had written abouot Bucha so Russians could see that war “brings nothing but fear, pain, grief, destruction, and loss”.

Our country has simply turned into an avalanche of grief and misfortune….

We must understand that everything that happened [in Ukraine] is our fault.

Ivanov’s RusNews colleague Maria Ponomarenko was sentenced last month to six years in prison for accusing Moscow of bombing the Drama Theatre in Mariupol in southeast Ukraine, killing up to 600 civilians, on March 16, 2022.

Another RusNews journalist is on trial on charges of public calls for “extremism” in encouraging street protests on Telegram more than three years ago.

UPDATE 1514 GMT:

Yulia Navalnaya, the widow of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, is calling on Russians to gather at polling stations at 12 noon on 17 March to show opposition to Vladimir Putin on Presidential election day.

Asking them to do so in memory of Navalny, she said: “Putin will not be a legitimate president … but we can come out…and see that we are many and we are strong.”

I want to do what [Alexei] thought was right. There are many people around you who are anti-Putin and anti-war, and if we come at the same time, our anti-Putin voice will be much louder.

UPDATE 1504 GMT:

The British Government is ready to loan Russian Central Bank assets in the UK to Ukraine.

Foreign Secretary David Cameron said the assets will be used as security for payment of reparations by Russia after the end of its invasion.

The EU has rejected handover of assets, considering only the provision of windfall profits, estimated at $4 billion. US legislators have tabled a bill for asset seizure.

Cameron told Parliament on Tuesday night:

There is an opportunity to use something like a syndicated loan or a bond that effectively uses the frozen Russian assets as a surety to give that money to the Ukrianians knowing that we will recoup it when reparations are paid by Russia….

We are aiming for the maximum amount of G7 and EU unity on this, but if we cannot get it, I think we will have to move ahead with allies that want to take this action.

UPDATE 0952 GMT:

Ukrainian drones have twice struck the Mikhailovsky GOK iron ore refinery in the Kursk region in southwest Russia.

Video on Russian Telegram channels showed black smoke rising into the sky and damage at the refinery, one of Russia’s largest.

Russian officials and the owner of the plant insisted it is still working as normal.

UPDATE 0849 GMT:

French President Emmanuel Macron has reiterated that all options, including the deployment of European and NATO troops, must be kept open for the support of Ukraine against Russia’s invasion.

On a visit to the Czech Republic, Macron “fully stood behind” his comments last week: “We are surely approaching a moment for Europe in which it will be necessary not to be cowards.”

Most European Government, the US, and NATO distanced themselves from the statement, putting an emphasis instead on escalation of support to Kyiv through weapons, equipment, and financial and economic assistance.

See also Ukraine War, Day 735: Allies Knock Back Macron’s Suggestion of Troops

Macron said, after a meeting with Czech President Petr Pavel:

Is this or is it not our war? Can we look away in the belief that we can let things run their course? I don’t believe so, and therefore I called for a strategic surge and I fully stand behind that….

We want no escalation, we’ve never been belligerent.

But Pavel, a former general who served in NATO, said its members would not cross “the imaginary red line” with an involvement in combat training. Instead, the countries could train Ukrainian soldiers in Ukraine, which would be “no violation of international rules”.

And German Defense minister Boris Pistorius responded sharply to Macron, “We don’t need really, from my perspective at least, discussions about boots on the ground or having more courage or less courage.”

UPDATE 0823 GMT:

Ukraine air defenses downed 38 of 42 Iran-type “kamikaze” drones fired by Russia overnight.

The UAVs were intercepted over the Dnipropetrovsk, Odesa, Kherson, Khmelnytskyi, Cherkasy, Kharkiv, Vinnytsia, and Sumy regions.

The Russians also attacked with 5 S-300 anti-aircraft guided missiles.

ORIGINAL ENTRY: Continuing their attrition of Moscow’s naval power, Ukraine’s forces sank another Russian warship early Tuesday.

Ukrainian military intelligence said the 1,300-ton patrol vessel Sergey Kotov was struck early Tuesday by Ukrainian Magura V5 naval drones. Suffering damage to its stern and left and right sides, it submerged off the coast of occupied Crimea.

The intelligence service said seven Russian sailors were killed and six injured. Another 52 may have been evacuated.

Ukrainian sources said a Russian Ka-29 transport and combat helicopter was destroyed. In an intercepted conversation intercepted by HUR, a Russian commander confirmed that a helicopter was on board.

The Sergey Kotov was one of four specially-designed patrol vessels in Russia’s Black Sea Fleet. Ukrainian spokesperson Andrii Yusov said Russian forces were planning to place an anti-aircraft missile system on it.

“This is a new ship worth more than $60 million. Ships of this type entered the service in 2017, and the enemy had plans for them,” Yusov said.

While Russia is threatening to capture territory in eastern Ukraine, largely because of Kyiv’s shortage of artillery shells, the Ukrainian military has been striking the Russians hard behind frontlines.

A series of Russian warships have been destroyed or damaged, including three large landing ships, inside Russia and in Russian-occupied Crimea. The strikes have damaged a significant part of Moscow’s Black Sea Fleet, breaking its grip on the waters and allowing exports to resume from Ukrainian ports.

Ukraine has also stepped up its attacks on Russia’s air forces, knocking out 15 warplanes in February and one earlier this week.

In his nightly address to the nation, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy praised Ukraine’s armed forces for the successful operations.

There are no safe harbors for Russian terrorists in the Black Sea. And there will be none. Just as there will be no safe space in the skies for them if Ukraine has sufficient strength.