February 28, 2022 Russia-Ukraine news

In a statement Monday, the Russian Foreign Ministry lashed out against the EU's plans to provide arms to Ukraine, adding that Russia will continue to ensure the realization of its national interests despite sanctions.

The statement went on to diminish Western sanctions, saying that Russia will continue to ensure the realization of its national interest.

“Another myth that had been propagated by the EU in the past — that their unilateral restrictions, which are illegitimate under international law, are not directed against the Russian people — has been finally dispelled. Brussels functionaries, who until recently portrayed themselves as our country's ‘strategic partner’, are not hiding any longer: they intend to inflict maximum damage on Russia, hit its weak points, seriously destroy its economy and suppress its economic growth,” the statement read.

The statement continued: “We want to assure you it will not. The actions of the European Union will not go unanswered. Russia will continue to ensure the realization of its vital national interests without regard to sanctions and their threats. It is time for Western countries to understand that their undivided dominance in the global economy is long a thing of the past."

A western official told CNN there was a “failure on the first day to destroy Ukraine’s air defenses” by Russia and that it was “well behind the schedule it set,” for the invasion. Russia has about half the forces it massed on Ukraine’s borders “forward and operating in Ukraine,” the source added.

Earlier on Monday a senior US defense official said that it is their assessment Russia has committed nearly 75% of its military power that it had arrayed around Ukraine ahead of the invasion.

The official said they were concerned with the “risks that come with a lack of Russian progress” especially the “use of rockets today and tube artillery — in Kyiv and Kharkiv — which risks being far more indiscriminate.”

The official said while there had been “some progress in the south” — with forces that come out of Crimea having some gains — “in other areas we have not seen a lot of progress in maneuver.”

The official declined to give a figure for Russian casualties but noted that in the first days Russia's defense ministry denied having any, but later had to admit to some. They said this was “what we would assess to be a significant number of casualties. Their ability to hide that is over. The impact of this operation will be seen and felt back in Russia itself.”

A missile strike earlier today on Vasylkiv, Bila Tserkva and Kalinovka in the Kyiv region destroyed a five-story dormitory and two five-story residential buildings, Ukraine’s Ministry of Interior said.

Three state emergency service units are on their way to provide assistance to the dormitory that was hit in Bila Tserkva.

Emergency service units are not en route to the two five-story residential buildings in Vasylkiv and Kalinovka because the shelling is ongoing.

After Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that Russia's deterrence forces — including its nuclear weapons — have been placed on high alert, the Pentagon responded by calling the announcement “as unnecessary as it is escalatory.” 

The response was issued by Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby during a briefing on Monday.

Kirby went on to note that the Pentagon is “reviewing and analyzing” Putin’s announcement.

Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin is “comfortable with the strategic deterrent posture of the United States, and our ability to defend our homeland and our partners,” Kirby also said.

Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby said the Russian forces are trying to move closer to Ukraine's capital of Kyiv, but still are outside of the city center.

Ukrainians are “resisting quite effectively around Kyiv,” Kirby added. “They’ve made it a tough slog for the Russians to move further south.”

Kirby could not say specifically that a Russian convoy that has been seen on satellite imagery is headed for Kyiv, but he said “it clearly appears to, just anecdotally, as just a piece of their desire to continue to move on the capital.”

Norway will provide $226 million in humanitarian assistance and military equipment to Ukraine.

The Norwegian government announced the support measures in a statement Monday, saying that this "extraordinary allocation to Ukraine is intended to enhance the efforts of humanitarian actors to help the most vulnerable groups, including children."

Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre condemned Russia's "military attacks in Ukraine," which he said were "causing widespread loss of life and suffering in the civilian population, destroying vital infrastructure and forcing people to flee their homes."

As far as military aid is concerned, Norway will send "military equipment such as helmets and bulletproof vests to Ukraine." The equipment was all requested by Ukraine and can be sent quickly, Norwegian Defense Minister Roger Enoksen added. 

He highlighted the plight of the Ukrainian people "fighting for survival against a superior military force."

Norway is joining the European Union to impose "harsh sanctions against Russia," according to the statement, adding that further sanctions announced Monday "will also target Belarus." 

Norwegian Finance Minister Trygve Slagsvold Vedum is also set to ask the Norway's sovereign wealth fund, the Government Pension Fund Global, to "freeze all its investments in Russia immediately" and divest from Russia. 

Norway's final move is closing its airspace to Russian airlines, joining a host of other European airlines in doing so. 

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson urged G7 and other world leaders to continue to provide Ukraine with defensive weapons and to keep up the pressure on Putin’s regime.

Following a call with world leaders Monday, a Downing St. spokesperson said the leaders all agreed that Ukraine’s “valiant resistance” to Russian troops is “truly inspirational.”

Johnson also “underlined the need for an international response to the emerging humanitarian crisis, including through supporting Ukraine’s neighbours to deal with large numbers of Ukrainians escaping violence in the country,” according to the statement.

The prime minister stressed the need to keep hitting Russia with trade restrictions and sanctions including SWIFT, a messaging service that connects financial institutions around the world.

The leaders agreed to “pursue every avenue to ensure that Putin fails in his ambitions,” the statement said.

A Russian military convoy that was outside of Ivankiv, Ukraine, on Sunday has since made it to the outskirts of Kyiv, satellite images show.

On Sunday, the convoy was roughly 40 miles northwest of the Ukrainian capital, according to images provided by Maxar Technologies.

Maxar said that roughly 17 miles of roadway is chocked full of the convoy, which consists of armored vehicles, tanks, towed artillery and other logistical vehicles.  

The private US company said the convoy was located on the T-1011 highway at Antonov air base around 11:11 a.m local time.

Antonov is roughly 17 miles from the center of the Ukrainian capital.

The Antonov air base was the site of intense fighting on Thursday. It's also the site where the largest plane in the world — the Antonov AN-225 Mriya — was kept. The Ukrainian government has said that Russian military destroyed the plane.

The Russian military claimed Monday that its armed forces have hit 1,146 Ukrainian military installations since the beginning of the “special operation,” Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov, the spokesperson for Russian Ministry of Defense, said in a statement.

Among the targets were “31 command posts and communication centers, 81 S-300, Buk M-1 and Osa anti-aircraft missile systems, as well as 75 radar stations. Operationally, tactical aviation of the Russian Aerospace Forces hit six columns of armored vehicles of the Ukrainian armed forces," he said.

Additionally, “311 tanks and other armored combat vehicles, 42 aircraft and helicopters (including on the ground), 51 multiple launch rocket systems, 147 field artillery pieces and mortars, 263 units of special military vehicles were destroyed,” Konashenkov added.

Konashenkov also said troops have advanced further in both pro-Moscow regions in eastern Ukraine.

“The grouping of troops of the Luhansk People's Republic during the day continued to conduct offensive operations in the direction of the settlement of Kremennoye, moving forward for another 3 kilometers. In the past day, the units of the Armed Forces of the Donetsk People's Republic advanced 16 kilometers and captured the settlement of Zamozhnoye,” Konashenkov said.

Over the past 24 hours, another 110 Ukrainian servicemen have voluntarily laid down their arms, the Russian Ministry of Defense spokesman concluded. 

CNN could not verify that statement, and the Russian military has made incorrect claims regarding its military operations in the past.