2 MARCH

The Ukrainian military reported a Russian paratrooper assault on northwest Kharkiv, where a military hospital came under attack. Zhyvytskyi stated that Russian forces had captured Trostianets after entering it at 01:03.

Ukrainian advisor Oleksiy Arestovych stated that the Ukrainian forces had gone on the offensive for the first time during the war, advancing towards Horlivka. Russia claimed to have captured Kherson, though Arestovych denied their claim. It was later confirmed by Ihor Kolykhaiev, the mayor of Kherson, that the city had fallen.

Valerii Zaluzhnyi, the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, stated that Ukrainian forces had recaptured Makariv. Vadym Boychenko, the mayor of Mariupol, reported that the residential areas in the city were being “relentlessly” shelled by the Russian military, with “scores of” casualties among civilians.

The Bangladeshi bulk carrier Banglar Samriddhi was struck by a missile at 17:25 at the port of Olvia in Mykolaiv Oblast, setting it on fire and killing a Bangladeshi engineer.

A US report citing unnamed high-ranking Chinese officials, that Russia was told by China to not start an invasion before the end of the 2022 Winter Olympics on February 20. This was subsequently called speculation by Chinese spokepersons. According to a VK post picked up by some Russian and Ukrainian media outlets, a top Russian officer, Major General Andrei Sukhovetsky, deputy commander of the 41st Combined Arms Army of the Central Military District, was killed in unspecified circumstances in Ukraine.

Ukrayinska Pravda reported that Ukrainian intelligence sources believed that the former president of Ukraine, Viktor Yanukovych, was currently in Minsk, Belarus and that it was Russia’s intention to declare him as president in the event of Russian forces gaining control of Kyiv.