Ukraine/Russland/NATO – Sammler 1. März 2022 (Update: Pentagon)

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Der russische Angriffskrieg in der Ukraine geht unvermindert, nein eher intensiver weiter. Inzwischen scheinen zunehmend die großen Städte wie die Hauptstadt Kiew und die zweitgrößte Stadt Kharkiv im Viser der Angriffe. Ein Versuch, wenn auch unvollständig, die Meldungen am 1. März 2022 zu sammeln:

• Ein grundsätzlicher Hinweis: Die Informationen, die öffentlich zugänglich sind, stammen überwiegend von den beteiligten Kriegsparteien. Deshalb sind sie in allen (!) Fällen mit einer gewissen sachlichen Distanz zu betrachten. Dass mehrere voneinander unabhängige Quellen einen Sachverhalt bestätigen, ist derzeit kaum zu erreichen.

• Die Raketenangriffe auch auf zivile Ziele in den Städten zeigte das ukrainische Außenministerium beispielhaft in einem Video aus Kharkiv:

• Die Befürchtungen, dass Kiew ebenfalls Ziel solcher Raketen- und auch Luftangriffe wird, steigen.

• Der Informationskrieg ist ein wichtiger Bestandteil der aktuellen Auseinandersetzung – und nach allem, was wahrzunehmen ist (und auch von Experten auf diesem Feld so eingeschätzt wird), hat die Ukraine dabei bisher einen Vorteil. Dazu gehört auch diese – ebenfalls unbestätigte – Meldung ukrainischer Behörden:

The Centre for Defence Strategies has acquired the names of 120,000 Russian servicemen who are fighting in Ukraine.
Details: Among the data in the list are names, registration numbers and places of service of Russian servicemen.
It is noted that the Centre for Defence Strategies acquired this data from reliable sources.

• Vom Cyberwar ist in diesem Krieg auch immer wieder die Rede. Bislang scheint sich das vor allem auf die Blockierung von Internetseiten zu beschränken, aber eine Ausweitung auf einen Angriff auf die IT-Steuerung zum Beispiel kritischer Infrastruktur dürfte zu erwarten sein. Da wird dann die interessante Frage, ob z.B. von russischer Seite Rechner und Rechnersysteme (nicht nur) in der Ukraine bereits lange vor dem Angriff mit Schadsoftware infiziert wurden, die dann bei Bedarf aktiviert werden kann. Einen Hinweis auf ein solches Vorgehen gibt eine aktuelle Warnung von Microsoft:

The Microsoft Threat Intelligence Center (MSTIC) continues to investigate the attacks that are targeting Ukrainian networks and discovered that entities in Ukraine were targeted with a previously undetected malware, dubbed FoxBlade, several hours before Russia’s invasion.
“This trojan can use your PC for distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks without your knowledge.” reads the advisory published by Microsoft.
The IT giant immediately advised the Ukrainian government about the ongoing attacks and provided it with technical advice on how to detect and neutralize the malicious code. Microsoft pointed out that its experts have written signatures to detect the malware within three hours of this discovery.

(Das übrigens auch eine Erinnerung an Computer-User im Westen, ihre Systeme auf dem aktuellen Stand zu halten – auch wenn Otto Privatanwender nicht das Ziel einer solchen Attacke ist, so kann sein ungeschützter Rechner dennoch als Ausgangspunkt für verteilte Angriffe genutzt werden. Auch die Bundeswehr hatte am (gestrigen) Montag zu allgemeiner Wachsamkeit aufgerufen:

• Derzeit laufen wilde Gerüchte um, was eine mögliche Beteiligung der NATO an diesem Krieg angeht, zum Beispiel indem polnische Flugplätze für die ukrainische Luftwaffe zur Verfügung gestellt werden. Das hat der polnische Präsident Andrzeij Duda bei einem Besuch von NATO-Generalsekretär Jens Stoltenberg auf der polnischen Luftwaffenbasis Lask ausgeschlossen:

We are not sending any jets to Ukraine because that would open a military interference in the Ukrainian conflict. We are not joining that conflict. NATO is not a party to that conflict. However as I said, we are supporting Ukrainians with humanity aid. However, we are not going to send any jets to the Ukrainian airspace.

• Update: Vom täglichen Pressebriefing im Pentagon zum Ukraine-Krieg liegt zwar noch kein Transkript vor, aber der Kollege Dan Lamothe von der Washington Post hat die wesentlichen Aussagen in einem Twitter-Thread zusammengefasst:

At the Pentagon, a Tuesday morning background briefing about the war in Ukraine with a senior U.S. defense official has concluded. Important updates:
The 40 mile-long column of Russian tanks and combat vehicles that has been spotted in satellite imagery has “stalled” north of Kyiv, the senior U.S. defense official said. Several possible reasons for it, and it could be more than one of them.
There are indications that Russian forces are „regrouping“ after their haphazard operation so far hasn’t yielded the results they expected. They continue to deal with fuel shortages, and the senior U.S. defense official said food shortages have come up, too.
The senior U.S. defense official said that the column effectively has not moved in a day. On Monday, he said that it was about 30 kilometers north of Kyiv city center.
About 80 percent of the combat power that Russia prestaged at the Ukrainian border is now committed to the war, up from just under 75 percent Monday, and the Russians are shelling Kyiv, the senior U.S. defense official said. We’ve seen many reports of that from the ground.
The United States has seen signs that Russian soldiers in the invasion force, especially young conscripted ones, did not know they were being sent to combat, the senior U.S. defense official said.
The Pentagon has seen Russia deploying multiple rocket launcher systems in Ukraine that could be used to launch thermobaric rounds, the senior defense official said. Such weapons are designed to ignite fuel while using oxygen in the air.
Airspace remains contested, the senior U.S. defense official said, despite the massive size advantage the Russian military has. The situation is „dynamic,“ he adds.
Russia has now launched about 400 missiles at Ukraine since the invasion began, senior U.S. defense official says. That’s up from about 380 on Monday.
In the southern portion of Ukraine, Russian and Ukrainian forces are fighting in the city of Kherson, and Russia has occupied Berdyansk and taken possession of Melitopol, a city of about 150,000, the senior U.S. defense official said.
Russia remains outside the major southern city of Mariupol, and is now close enough to attack it with artillery and other long-range fires, the senior defense official said.
Finally, a sobering note we’ve heard from several analysts, too: Russia is still expected to adjust and has combat power to do so, senior U.S. defense official said.

• Das entsprechende Statement des russischen Verteidigungsministeriums, auf Englisch auf der Facebook-Seite veröffentlicht (die Webseite mil.ru ist hier weiterhin nicht zugänglich):

Briefing by Russian Defence Ministry spokesperson
The grouping of troops of Lugansk People’s Republic, with fire support from the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, advanced from the beginning of the operation to a depth of up to 61 kilometers and blocked Svatovo village.
Novoborovoe, Barykino, Klimovka, Bulgakovka, Golubovka settlements were taken under control.
The troops of Donetsk People’s Republic conducted successful offensive operations, taking control of Ivanovka, Talakovka, Starodubovka, Berestovoe and Belotserkovka settlements. The depth of the group’s advance over the past day was 19 kilometers.
Advance detachments of the People’s Militia of the DPR reached the administrative border of the Donetsk region and joined the military units of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, which took control of the regions of Ukraine along the coast of the Sea of Azov.
The exit of the Armed Forces of Ukraine to the Sea of Azov is completely blocked.
On March 1, the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation carried out a strike with long-range air and sea-based high-precision weapons. Two airfields and three air defence radar posts were hit. The strikes excluded the defeat of civilian infrastructure and residential buildings.
In total, since the beginning of the operation, the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation have hit 1,325 objects of the military infrastructure of Ukraine.
Of these: 43 command posts and a communication centres of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
395 tanks and other armored combat vehicles, 59 multiple rocket launch systems, 179 field artillery and mortars, 286 units of special military vehicles were destroyed.

• Russische Atomstreitkräfte halten eine Übung ab, meldet AP:

Russian nuclear submarines sailed off for drills in the Barents Sea and mobile missile launchers roamed snow forests Tuesday in Siberia after President Vladimir Putin ordered his nation’s nuclear forces put on high alert over tensions with the West over the invasion of Ukraine.
Russia’s Northern Fleet said in a statement that several of its nuclear submarines were involved in exercises designed to “train maneuvering in stormy conditions.”  …
In the Irkutsk region of eastern Siberia, units of the Strategic Missile Forces dispersed Yars intercontinental ballistic missile launchers in forests to practice secret deployment, the Defense Ministry said in a statement.

(Weiter nach Entwicklung)