Kremlin: Russian troops resume advancing in Ukraine due to Kiev’s refusal to negotiate

On Friday afternoon, Russian President Vladimir Putin gave orders to stop troop advancement in Ukraine due to expected talks with Kiev yet because the opposite side refused to negotiate, this afternoon, troop advancement was resumed, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists on Saturday.

“Yesterday afternoon, over the expected talks with the Ukrainian leadership, the supreme commander-in-chief and Russia’s president gave an order to suspend the advancement of the main forces of Russian troops,” the Kremlin official said.

He explained that since “essentially, the Ukrainian side refused the talks, this afternoon, the advancement of the main Russian forces resumed in accordance with the plan of operation.”

 Putin’s press secretary specified that during the suspension of the advancement of the main forces, combat continued in some locations. “There were clashes with mobile groups of nationalists and Bandera followers who used light vehicles and trucks where they mounted strike weapons, using the principle of jihad mobiles, only there they are now called bander mobiles,” the spokesman explained.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a televised address on Thursday morning that in response to a request by the heads of the Donbass republics he had made a decision to carry out a special military operation in order to protect people “who have been suffering from abuse and genocide by the Kiev regime for eight years.” The Russian leader stressed that Moscow had no plans of occupying Ukrainian territories.

Russia’s Defense Ministry reported later on Thursday that Russian troops were not delivering strikes against Ukrainian cities. It emphasized that Ukrainian military infrastructure was being destroyed by precision weapons.

Sanctions

Peskov also told reporters that Russia is capable of taking measures to mitigate the damage from sanctions.

“Immediate measures are certainly being taken in order to mitigate the damage from sanctions and ensure the unhindered operation of all economic sectors and systems,” he noted.

Peskov stressed that Russia “has every possibility and potential to do that.” “It was created in advance for such situations,” the Kremlin spokesman added.

 “Analysis will be required to determine the retaliatory measures that would best serve our interests,” he said.

Russia closes airspace to Bulgaria, Poland, Czech Republic – aviation authority

Russia has closed its airspace to planes from Bulgaria, Poland and the Czech Republic in response to the unfriendly actions of their aviation authorities, Russia’s Federal Agency for Air Transport said in a statement on Saturday.

“In view of the unfriendly actions taken by the aviation authorities of Bulgaria, Poland and the Czech Republic, restrictions were introduced on their airlines and airlines registered in these countries at 3:00 pm Moscow time on February 26, 2022, which concern flights to Russian destinations and transit flights through Russia’s airspace,” the statement reads.

The Federal Agency for Air Transport pointed out that it was a retaliatory measure taken in accordance with international law. Flights from these countries can now only be carried out with special permission from the federal agency or the Russian Foreign Ministry.

According to earlier reports, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic and Poland moved to close their airspace to Russian planes in response to Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine. The United Kingdom also closed its airspace to Russia. In response, Russia banned British planes from using its airspace.

Moreover, Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev said that Russia may nationalize property of people registered in the US, the EU and other unfriendly jurisdictions amid new anti-Russian sanctions.

A number of states, including Western one, announced harsh sanctions against Russia. The EU imposed financial and technological sectoral restrictions against 64 key Russian agencies, including the Presidential Administration, Russian Defense Ministry, Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) and other state structures, as well as companies of military industrial, energy, plane building and financial sectors of Russia. These states also blacklisted a number of Russian politicians, including President Vladimir Putin, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and other Russian citizens.

Source: Itar Tass