THE RUSSO-UKRAINE WAR BRIEF
Day 1108
Slava Ukraini! In early 2022 I began a Telegram channel aggregating news from a number of sources daily on the war in Ukraine. In June 2023 I began providing a daily draft for the Ukraine War Brief Podcast collecting news from over 70 sources daily, which formed the basis of the script. While the Podcast no longer exists I have continued to make this Brief available for my followers here on Substack for those who wish to keep up with the news from the war.
All the latest news on the Russo-Ukraine War 6 days per week
ALONG THE CONTACT LINE
GSAFU Morning Report
The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in its Operational Information update at 08:00 on Mar 07 stated that day 1108 of the full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation against Ukraine had begun.
The situation on the line of combat remains tense in some sectors. Ukrainian defenders continue to actively counteract the Russian aggressor, causing them significant losses in personnel, equipment and technology. Exhausting the enemy along the entire front line and continuing to disrupt the plans of Russian occupiers to advance deeper into the territory of Ukraine.
During the past day, 146 combat engagements took place.
Over the past 24 hours, the enemy carried out 89 air strikes, used ,2729 drones and fired approximately 5,000 artillery shells across the positions of Ukrainian forces and civilians.
Air Force Daily Report
34 MISSILES AND 100 ENEMY UAVS SHOT DOWN, 86 DRONES FAILED TO REACH THEIR TARGETS (LOCATIONALLY LOST)
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On the night of March 7, 2025, the Russian occupiers carried out a combined strike using various types of air, ground, and sea-based missiles on critical infrastructure facilities. The main focus of the strike was on the facilities of Ukraine's gas production industry.
According to preliminary data, the Air Force radio-technical troops detected and escorted 261 enemy air attack vehicles — 67 missiles of various types and 194 strike UAVs and simulator drones of various types, including:
- 35 Kh-101/Kh-55cm cruise missiles;
- 8 Kalibr cruise missiles;
- 3 Iskander-M/KN-23 ballistic missiles;
- 4 S-300 anti-aircraft guided missiles;
- 8 Kh-59/69 guided aircraft missiles;
- 194 Shahed attack UAVs and other types of simulator drones.
The enemy air attack was repelled by anti-aircraft missile units, electronic warfare equipment and mobile fire groups of the Air Force and the Defense Forces of Ukraine. Fighter aircraft, in particular F-16 and Mirage-2000 aircraft, were also involved. It is worth noting that the French fighters, which arrived in Ukraine only a month ago, took part in repelling an enemy air attack for the first time.
As of 10:00, 134 air targets have been confirmed shot down:
- 25 Kh-101/Kh-55cm cruise missiles;
- 8 Kalibr cruise missiles;
- 1 Kh-59/69 guided aircraft missile;
- 100 Shahed attack UAVs (drones of other types).
In addition, up to ten enemy missiles (not included in the statistics of those shot down) did not reach their targets!
86 enemy drone simulators were lost in location (without negative consequences).
Combat Operations in the Kursk Sector, Russian Federation
The Institute for the Study of War (ISW), a US based think tank, in its Mar 6 Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment reported that Russian forces continued attacking the Ukrainian salient in Kursk Oblast on March 6 but did not make any confirmed advances.
The Ukrainian General Staff reported on Mar 6 that Ukrainian forces struck a Russian 177th Naval Infantry Regiment (Caspian Flotilla) command post in Plekhovo (south of Sudzha) on Mar 5 and stated that such Ukrainian strikes are part of a broader campaign to reduce Russian offensive capabilities.
The Khortytsia operational-strategic group
(Responsible for the northeastern part of Ukraine. )
Kupyansk Sector: Russian forces recently advanced in the Kupyansk direction.
Footage published on Feb 18 and geolocated on Mar 5 indicates that Russian forces advanced in southwestern Dvorichna (northeast of Kupyansk).
The Tavria operational-strategic group
(Responsible for the central-eastern and southeastern part of Ukraine.)
Pokrovsk Sector : Ukrainian and Russian forces recently advanced in the Pokrovsk direction.
Geolocated footage published on Mar 5 indicates that Ukrainian forces marginally advanced in eastern Pishchane (southwest of Pokrovsk).
Geolocated footage published on Mar 5 indicates that Russian forces seized Zelene Pole (east of Pokrovsk).
Kurakhove Sector: Russian forces recently advanced in the Kurakhove direction.
Geolocated footage published on Mar 6 indicates that Russan forces recently advanced southwest of Rozlyv (southwest of Kurakhove).
The Odesa operational-strategic group
(Responsible for Kherson, Qırım, (also known as Crimea) and the Black Sea.)
There have been no major changes to the combat environment since our last report.
TEMPORARILY OCCUPIED TERRITORIES
Nothing major to report.
THE HOME FRONT
Zelensky's approval rating jumps to 68% after Trump clash, poll shows.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's approval rating has risen to 68% following his heated exchange with U.S. President Donald Trump, according to a poll by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology published on Mar 7.
The most significant jump came after the Feb. 28 Oval Office meeting, which ended in a public dispute over security guarantees for Ukraine and the cancellation of the U.S.-Ukraine mineral agreement signing.
Before the diplomatic spat, a February 2025 survey showed that 57% of Ukrainians trusted Zelenskyy, while 37% did not, resulting in a trust-distrust balance of +20%.
Between Feb. 14 and March 4, trust in Zelensky increased to 68%, with the share of those who do not trust him dropping to 29%, improving his net approval rating to +38%.
Tech billionaire Elon Musk, a close ally of Trump, took to X on Mar 6 to claim that if Ukraine were to hold an election, "Zelensky would lose by a landslide."
Trump had earlier accused Zelenskyy of being a "dictator without elections" while blaming his administration for prolonging the war. Trump's claim ignores the fact that Ukraine's constitution prohibits elections during martial law, which has been in effect since Russia's full-scale invasion began in 2022.
As a result, Zelenskyy's term has been extended, which constitutional lawyers argue is permitted under Ukrainian law.
The poll, conducted via telephone interviews, surveyed 1,029 adult Ukrainian citizens residing in government-controlled territories.
Russia launches major Ukraine missile attack after US cuts off military aid.
Russian forces damaged Ukrainian energy and gas infrastructure overnight in their first major missile attack since the U.S. paused intelligence sharing with Ukraine, piling pressure on Kyiv as President Donald Trump seeks a swift end to the war, Reuters reports.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, seeking to shore up Western support for his country after Trump's diplomatic pivot towards Moscow, called for a truce covering air and sea, though not ground troops - an idea first mooted by France.
"The first steps to establishing real peace should be forcing the sole source of this war, Russia, to stop such attacks," Zelenskyy said on the Telegram messaging app, responding to the overnight missile attack.
Ukraine's air force said Russia had fired a salvo of 67 missiles and 194 drones in the overnight attack, adding that it had shot down 34 of the missiles and 100 of the drones.
Regional officials from the northeastern city of Kharkiv to the western city of Ternopil reported damage to energy and other infrastructure. Eight people were injured in Kharkiv and two more, including a child, were hurt in Poltava, officials said.
"Russia continues its energy terror," Energy Minister German Galuschenko said. "Again energy and gas infrastructure in various regions of Ukraine has come under massive missile and drone fire."
Russia targets Ukrainian cities and towns far from the front lines every night with drones, but Friday's attack was the first large-scale assault since the suspension of the U.S. military aid and intelligence this week.
In the northeastern city of Kharkiv, Russian forces struck a civilian enterprise and injured at least five people, according to its governor Oleh Syniehubov.
In the northern region of Chernihiv, an attack damaged one of the production facilities, according to its governor Viacheslav Chaus who did not provide additional details.
The governor of the western region of Ivano-Frankivsk, Svitlana Onyshchuk, said the air defence repelled an attack on infrastructure facilities. She reported no damage or casualties.
Russia, which previously focused its missile and drone attacks on the Ukrainian electricity sector, has in recent months sharply stepped up its attacks on Ukrainian gas storage facilities and production fields.
RUSSIAN WORLD
Putin’s Party Criticized for Gifting Meat Grinders to Fallen Soldiers’ Mothers
The ruling United Russia party in Russia’s northern Murmansk region has sparked controversy after gifting meat grinders to the mothers of soldiers killed in Ukraine, the Moscow Times reports.
The kitchen appliance has become a grim symbol of the Russian military’s high-casualty assaults in the Ukraine war. The Wagner mercenary group had previously awarded “Bakhmut Meat Grinder” medals to its fighters.
United Russia’s local chapter in the town of Polyarnye Zori included meat grinders in gift packages to mothers whose sons died in the war, according to photos published on the party’s social media account Wednesday.
The post drew scathing comments from users who criticized the gift as insensitive.
United Russia’s Murmansk chapter pushed back against the criticism on Thursday, calling the interpretations “inhumane and provocative” and claiming that the women themselves had chosen meat grinders as gifts.
“The meat grinder was not part of the standard gift set, but one woman asked for it, and of course [party members] could not refuse her,” said Mayor Maxim Chengayev.
The party’s social media page later published a video of one soldier’s mother thanking members for what she called a “timely” gift.
“I wanted to buy [the meat grinder] for myself, but you gifted me one just in time,” the woman said on camera. “I asked you for it, in principle.”
RELATED INTERNATIONAL NEWS
EU leaders agree on defence surge, support Zelenskiy after US aid freeze.
European leaders on Thursday backed plans to spend more on defence and continue to stand by Ukraine in a world upended by Donald Trump's reversal of U.S. policies. Reuters reports.
The European Union's defence summit in Brussels took place amid fears that Russia, emboldened by its war in Ukraine, may attack an EU country next and that Europe can no longer rely on the U.S. to come to its aid.
"Today we have shown that the European Union is rising to the challenge, building the Europe of defence and standing with Ukraine shoulder to shoulder," the chairman of the meeting Antonio Costa told reporters.
EU leaders hailed the European Commission's proposals this week to give them fiscal flexibility on defence spending, and to jointly borrow up to 150 billion euros ($160 billion) to lend to EU governments to spend on their militaries.
In a joint statement agreed by all 27 member states, the leaders called on their ministers to examine these proposals in detail urgently.
"Europe must take up this challenge, this arms race. And it must win it," Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said at a special defence summit in Brussels.
"Europe as a whole is truly capable of winning any military, financial, economic confrontation with Russia - we are simply stronger," Tusk said.
French President Emmanuel Macron, who on Wednesday had told French voters that Russia was a threat to France and Europe, said all this was just a first step.
"Whatever happens in Ukraine, we need to build autonomous defence capacities in Europe," he said after the EU summit.
The EU leaders also voiced support for Ukraine, but that statement was agreed without Hungary's nationalist leader Viktor Orban, a Trump ally, who is also cultivating ties with Moscow.
In their statement, the 26 other EU leaders stressed that there can be no negotiations on Ukraine without Ukraine, and vowed to continue to give it aid, according to a recent draft.
Germany should reduce reliance on US arms amid geopolitical shifts, Airbus Defense and Space CEO says.
Germany should reduce its dependence on U.S. defense manufacturers amid shifting political signals from Washington, the CEO of Airbus Defense and Space, Michael Schollhorn, warned in an interview with Augsburger Allgemeine, published on Mar 7, the Kyiv Independent reports.
Schollhorn emphasized that Berlin should prioritize European defense companies, particularly as Germany's likely next chancellor, Friedrich Merz, has announced plans to raise hundreds of billions of euros for defense and infrastructure.
"If we continue to buy off-the-shelf products from the United States with this higher defense spending, we are cementing our dependence on others," Schollhorn said.
The business executive added that Denmark may already realize that purchasing U.S.-made F-35 fighter jets was a questionable decision, mainly "if they actually had to defend Greenland."
Schollhorn's remarks follow U.S. President Donald Trump's controversial statement on Mar 4, in which he once again expressed interest in acquiring Greenland through purchase or force.
Schollhorn argued that Europe's defense industries must collaborate more closely instead of competing individually.
"We need not only an increase in defense spending at the national level but also a coordinated approach among key European countries," he said.
The comments come amid growing scrutiny of Trump's foreign policy, as the U.S. president has echoed Kremlin narratives, sidelined Kyiv and Europe in direct talks with Moscow, and accused President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of prolonging Russia's war.
On Mar 6, Trump also cast doubt on Washington's commitment to defending its NATO partners, saying that the U.S. will not protect those that fail to meet defense spending targets.
During a meeting with Zelensky on Feb. 28, Trump said that Europe should take responsibility for Ukraine's security and refused to offer U.S. guarantees.
Washington has since frozen all military aid and intelligence sharing with Ukraine, a move widely seen as an attempt to pressure Kyiv into negotiations with Moscow.
MILITARY & TECH
Maxar Technologies reportedly restricts Ukraine's access to satellite imagery.
U.S. aerospace company Maxar Technologies has restricted Ukraine's access to its satellite imagery, the Ukrainian media outlet Militarnyi reported on Mar 7, citing unnamed users of the service.
Kyiv has relied on high-resolution satellite images for defense and strategic planning, tracking Russian troop movements, assessing battlefield conditions, and monitoring Russian infrastructure damage.
The alleged move follows the U.S. decision to halt intelligence sharing with Ukraine, a shift confirmed by CIA Director John Ratcliffe on Mar 5.
According to Militarnyi, the restriction was imposed under an order from U.S. President Donald Trump's administration, with the State Department allegedly prohibiting U.S. companies from providing satellite data to Ukraine.
The Kyiv Independent was unable to verify the claims and has contacted Maxar Technologies for confirmation but has yet to receive a response.
Ukraine's cyber community Cyberboroshno also reported the restriction, claiming that free access to satellite reconnaissance had been cut off.
"According to our information, at least private companies can buy already ordered (satellite) images through the provider," Cyberboroshno wrote on Telegram.
Washington has also frozen military aid to Kyiv as part of a broader effort to pressure President Volodymyr Zelenskyy into peace talks with Russia.
Ukraine's Defense Minister Rustem Umerov said on Mar 6 that Kyiv is working on alternatives to counter the loss of U.S. intelligence, including potential cooperation with European partners.
French Mirage 2000 Jets Help Repel Russian Air Attack on Ukraine for the First Time.
Just a month ago, French Mirage-2000 fighter jets arrived in Ukraine. They have already taken an active part in repelling a new Russian air attack on Ukraine, Defense Express reports.
On March 7, Russia deployed missile carriers to the Black Sea, launched strategic aviation, and fired missiles at Ukrainian territory while also attacking Ukrainian cities with drones.
According to the Ukrainian Air Force, the main target of the combined strike was gas production facilities.
The Ukrainian Air Force reported that Russians used 261 airborne weapons in the attack - 67 missiles of various types and 194 drones. Ukraine's air defense managed to shoot down 34 missiles and 100 attack drones, and another 86 drones were "lost in location" without negative consequences.
According to the Ukrainian Air Force, anti-aircraft missile units, electronic warfare systems, and mobile fire groups took part in repelling the latest enemy attack. At the same time, aviation was also used, in particular, American F-16 fighters and French Mirage-2000 aircraft.
"It is worth noting that the French fighter jets, which arrived in Ukraine just a month ago, took part in repelling an enemy air attack for the first time," the statement reads.
That’s it for today’s Brief folks if you would like to keep up with events in Ukraine daily please consider subscribing, it’s free!