‘We’re Not Sending Boots on the Ground’ – War in Ukraine Update for Feb. 28

Overview:

• AFU shoots down two more of Moscow's top fighter-bombers
• Biden administration says Ukraine's victory path is in US House of Representatives, not US troops 
• Ukrainian troops withdraw from two contentious settlements in Donetsk
• Two more civilians killed by Kremlin artillery, many wounded

Ukraine shoots down ninth and tenth Sukhoi jets in about as many days

Going into Tuesday, Ukrainian forces reportedly had knocked down eight Russian Su-34s in about ten days. Add two more to that tally. The Ukrainian General Staff reported that the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) downed two more on Tuesday, at least one of which came down in eastern Ukraine, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) reported. 

Tuesday’s kills “are likely connected with Russian glide bomb strikes in Donetsk Oblast, particularly near Avdiivka as Russian forces use heavy glide bomb strikes in an attempt to exploit gains in the Avdiivka area. Ukraine’s downing of a Russian A-50 long-range radar detection aircraft on Feb. 23 has likely constrained Russian strategic reconnaissance capabilities,” the think tank wrote.

Biden administration says the path to Ukraine's victory rests with the US House of Representatives, not troops

“Fundamentally, we think that the path to victory for Ukraine right now is in the United States House of Representatives,” State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said.

Miller added in his State Dept. briefing that Ukrainians have ammunition presently to fight the Russians but “they’re having to ration it because Congress has failed to act.”

“We’re not sending boots on the ground in Ukraine. The president’s been very clear,” Miller told reporters.

Other Topics of Interest

NATO, Ukraine to Meet Tuesday Over Russian Missile Strike

Vladimir Putin said on Thursday Moscow had hit Ukraine using a new-generation intermediate-range missile -- which he hinted was capable of unleashing a nuclear payload.

A spokesperson for the White House said Tuesday that the US would not send soldiers to fight in Ukraine, responding to French President Emmanuel Macron’s comments that he “would not exclude” sending Western troops there. The message was echoed by many Washington officials.

National Security Council (NSC) spokesperson Adrienne Watson said in a statement on Tuesday that President Joe Biden “has been clear that the US will not send troops to fight in Ukraine.”

Her colleague from the NSC, spokesperson Admiral John Kirby, added that, in contrast to the suggestions by France, troops could be sent for “demining, arms production or cyber operations.” He said this would be a “sovereign decision” for any NATO country, but the US would not be participating, AFP reported.

Germany and Poland both said they, too, would not be sending troops.

Two civilians killed by Russian strikes in Donetsk and Kherson regions

Russian artillery shelled the city of Kurakhove on Tuesday, killing one civilian and injuring five others, state media Ukrinform reported. That same day, Moscow’s artillery units killed an elderly woman in the Kherson region.

 “On Feb. 27, 2024, the enemy fired on the Kurakhove urban territorial community with cannon artillery. A private enterprise was hit. A 32-year-old employee died on the way to a medical facility due to his injuries. Three other men and two women aged 55 to 70 were hospitalized with shrapnel wounds to the limbs and neck, a fracture, a torn artery, and penetrating wounds to the chest,” a statement from the Donetsk regional prosecutor’s office read.

At about the same time, Russians shelled the town of Bilozerka in the Kherson region, killing an 83-year-old woman.

Kherson regional prosecutors announced that at about 3:20 p.m. on Tuesday, the occupying forces fired on a residential area, destroying homes, and that the deceased senior citizen was found in the rubble.

Operations: Donetsk region

Russian forces on Tuesday again advanced west of Avdiivka, as troops from the AFU again withdrew from two important towns in the area, the ISW reported.

The spokesperson for Ukraine’s Tavriisk Group of Forces, Dmytro Lykhoviy, stated on Tuesday that Ukrainian forces had withdrawn from Sjeverne (west of Avdiivka) and Stepove (northwest of Avdiivka) after fierce battles overnight on Feb. 26-27. The Kremlin then claimed that Russian forces had completely captured Sjeverne.

Geolocated imagery posted on Tuesday shows a Russian soldier of the 15th Motorized Rifle Brigade (2nd CAA, Central Military District [CMD]) in western Stepove, confirming that that news, while additional confirmed footage posted that same day seems to show Russian forces advancing “along a windbreak northwest of Avdiivka,” the ISW wrote.