General Staff: Battle for Bakhmut continues

Russian forces are continuing their attempts to encircle Bakhmut in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk Oblast, the General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces reported in its nightly update on March 3.

According to the General Staff, the Ukrainian military successfully repelled numerous attacks around Vasyukivka, Dubovo-Vasylivka, and Bakhmut in Donetsk Oblast during the past 24 hours.

Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskyi, commander of the Ground Forces of Ukraine, visited Bakhmut on March 3 as Russia intensifies its assaults on the city, which it has been attempting to take since last summer. Ukraine's military is reportedly weighing the option of withdrawing as it becomes increasingly difficult to hold the front-line city.

Over the course of the day, Russia also conducted a total of 30 airstrikes, 6 missile strikes, and 20 attacks using multiple rocket launchers throughout the country.

The threat of missile strikes "remains high" throughout Ukraine, the General Staff said.

According to the General Staff, pensioners and other individuals in need of social services who reside in the mostly Russian-occupied Luhansk Oblast are unable to receive assistance from the Ukrainian state. This is because monetary aid is only disbursed on certain days, and the Russian occupants intentionally switch off the ATMs during those times, the General Staff said.

The Ukrainian Armed Forces also carried out five strikes on concentrated areas of Russian troops and military equipment and destroyed a Russian Su-34 fighter-bomber near the town of Yenakiieve in Donetsk Oblast, the General Staff said.

Ukraine war latest: Ukrainian military admits withdrawal from Bakhmut on the table, but only if 'absolutely necessary'

The Kyiv Independent