February 28, 2022 Russia-Ukraine news

By Aditi Sangal, Jessie Yeung, Adam Renton, Rob Picheta, Ed Upright, Maureen Chowdhury, Jason Kurtz, Melissa Macaya and Meg Wagner, CNN

Updated 12:01 a.m. ET, March 1, 2022

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12:15 a.m. ET, February 28, 2022

The sun is rising in Kyiv. Here's what you need to know

As dawn breaks in Kyiv, all eyes are on a Russia-Ukraine meeting set to happen Monday, with tensions high as fierce fighting continues on the ground. If you're just joining us, here's the latest.

Talks set for today: Delegations from Ukraine and Russia will meet on the Ukraine-Belarus border, without preconditions, according to Kyiv's Interior Ministry. The announcement came Sunday, as Ukrainian and Russian forces faced off in multiple cities across Ukraine. Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a brief televised statement that he doesn't expect much from the meeting.
Nuclear forces on high alert: Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered his country's deterrence forces — which include nuclear arms — onto their highest state of alert on Sunday, citing NATO leaders making "aggressive comments about our country." US White House press secretary Jen Psaki said the move was part of a wider pattern of unprovoked escalation and "manufactured threats" from the Kremlin.
Closing airspace: The European Union is shutting down Russian access to EU airspace — meaning all Russian-owned, registered and controlled aircraft will no longer be able to land in, take off or fly over any territory of the EU.
Refugee crisis: More than 368,000 Ukrainians have fled the country, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Almost 200,000 refugees have crossed to Poland since the start of the invasion.
Death toll rising: A total of 352 civilians in Ukraine have died following the invasion, Ukraine's Interior Ministry said on Sunday. At least 14 of those killed are children, while another 1,684 people have been injured.
Russian casualties: For the first time since the beginning of the invasion, Russian authorities acknowledged a number of deaths and injuries among their forces in Ukraine, without providing precise numbers. Russia also claimed that the losses were “considerably lower” than those seen in Ukrainian forces.
Anti-war protests: Russian authorities have detained almost 6,000 people for participating in unsanctioned anti-war protests across the country over the past four days, an independent monitoring site reported.

12:12 a.m. ET, February 28, 2022

Ukraine's Air Force claims successful drone strike on Russian forces near Kherson

From CNN's Paul P. Murphy

A screenshot from a video shared by the Ukrainian Air Force shows a drone strike near Kherson, Ukraine. (Ukrainian Air Force)

The Ukrainian Air Force posted a video on Facebook on Sunday morning, claiming to show a successful drone strike by the military.

According to the Ukrainian Air Force, the purported attack took place in Chornobayivka, which is just north of Kherson. It's unclear when the strike took place.

In the video taken by the drone, a column of vehicles is seen on a road. An explosion is suddenly seen, appearing to hit the middle of the column, obscuring the view of the vehicles.

In recent days, Kherson has been the site of intense fighting between Ukrainian fighters and Russian forces attempting to advance across the Dnieper River.

12:00 a.m. ET, February 28, 2022

In Pictures: Buildings lit up and rallies held worldwide in support of Ukraine

The Sebitseom islets in Seoul are lit up in the colors of the Ukrainian flag on Feb. 28. (Seoul Metropolitan Government)

South Korea's capital has joined a number of cities around the world lighting monuments in blue and yellow in support of Ukraine, reflecting the colors of its national flag.

Four landmarks in Seoul — the City Hall, Namsan Seoul Tower, Sebitseom on the Han River and Seoullo Media Canvas — were lit up on Monday.

Meanwhile, Ukrainians and supporters protested against the Russian invasion outside Moscow's embassy in Seoul on Sunday and Monday.

The Empire State building in New York City is lit up with the colors of the Ukrainian flag on Feb. 25. (Gary Hershorn/Getty Images)

New York's Empire State Building was also lit up blue and yellow last week, with crowds gathering in Times Square on Saturday to protest the Russian invasion.

One protester, Olga Ladygima, told CNN she hadn’t slept for the past three nights. She is from the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, she said — and her friends in Ukraine have stayed up too, making homemade bombs to try to stop Russian tanks.

The Brandenburg Gate in Berlin is lit up in the colors of the Ukrainian flag on Feb. 24. (Paul Zinken/picture alliance/Getty Images)

Approximately 100,000 people in Germany's capital, Berlin, attended a protest this weekend against the invasion, police told CNN.

Crowds walked between the Russian embassy, Brandenburg Gate and the Victory Column on Sunday wearing blue and yellow, and holding up signs showing solidarity with Ukraine.

11:47 p.m. ET, February 27, 2022

Why Russia's invasion of Ukraine is being called the "TikTok war"

From CNN's Ramishah Maruf

Ukrainian Instagram influencers are now warzone witnesses and urban warfare experts are tweeting tips to Ukrainian fighters, CNN's chief media correspondent Brian Stelter said on Sunday.

But the onslaught of words and images is fueling a confusing media environment where disinformation is rampant.

Snapshots from the ground: David French, a senior editor at The Dispatch, said social media is showing Americans just how "incredibly brutal" this war is, but those platforms don't offer an overall strategic view, such as the positions of Russian forces or the real number of casualties.

"Each one of these TikTok videos is a tiny little snapshot of a tiny little moment of time, often without any other overlaying context," French said. "And so you really would have to spend an enormous time with some real background to begin to piece together the TikTok jigsaw puzzle."

Resistance going viral: French added that the immediacy of these social media feeds may have prompted Western nations to "fall into line quickly" on stricter sanctions.

"The inspirational nature of Ukrainian resistance that is shaming a lot of Western governments, quite frankly, into action," French said.

But so is disinformation: Stelter cited a prime example of misinformation being spread on social media — a video of Russian paratroopers shared widely on TikTok and Twitter with millions of views, that turns out to have been filmed in 2015.

Jane Lytvynenko, an investigative reporter and researcher specializing in disinformation, said few people understand information warfare as well as most Ukrainians.

"Propaganda is a part of every war," Lytvynenko said. "And the point of propaganda coming out of Russia right now is to undermine Ukrainian narratives and to scare Ukrainian people."

Read the full story:

Here's why Russia's invasion of Ukraine is being called the 'TikTok war'

12:19 a.m. ET, February 28, 2022

Satellite images show more than 3-mile-long Russian military column on roadway to Kyiv

From CNN's Paul P. Murphy

New satellite images show a more than 3-mile-long Russian military convoy on a roadway that heads toward Kyiv. (Satellite image ©2022 Maxar Technologies)

As Ukrainians continue to repel Russian advances around Kyiv, new satellite images show a more than 3-mile-long Russian military convoy is on a roadway that heads toward the capital city.

According to Maxar, the convoy was seen on satellite images on Sunday around 10:56 a.m. local time on the P-02-02 road near Ivankiv, which is about 40 miles (60 kilometers) northwest of the Ukrainian capital. The P-02-02 road goes toward Kyiv.

Maxar identified fuel and logistical trucks, in addition to tanks, infantry vehicles and self-propelled artillery moving in the convoy.

9:11 a.m. ET, February 28, 2022

Ukrainian President says he doesn't expect much from Monday's meeting but "let them try"

From CNN's Tim Lister in Kyiv and Chris Liakos

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a brief televised statement that he doesn’t expect much from a meeting between Ukrainian and Russian delegations on Monday.

“I will say frankly, as always: I do not really believe in the result of this meeting, but let them try. So that no citizen of Ukraine would have any doubt that I, as President, did not try to stop the war when there was even a small chance,” Zelensky said.

“And while our guys are there, the President is here, the chief of staff is here, the prime minister is here, the army is here, the commander-in-chief is here. We will all defend our state and our borders,” he added.

Earlier Sunday, Ukraine’s Deputy Interior Minister Evgeny Yenin said talks between Russian and Ukrainian delegations will take place Monday morning local time.

12:20 a.m. ET, February 28, 2022

Ukraine claims successful drone attacks against Russian forces

From CNN's Tim Lister in Kyiv

The Ukrainian military has claimed successful attacks by its Turkish-made force of drones against Russian forces.

On Sunday, the Armed Forces of Ukraine released footage showing the destruction of armor by a drone, and said it was carried out against a Russian BUK surface-to-air missile system.

Valerii Zaluzhnyi, the Armed Forces Commander-in-Chief, said the drone attack took place near the town of Malyn, 100 kilometers (about 62 miles) northwest of Kyiv.

The Ukrainian government began receiving the Bayraktar TB2 drones from Turkey last year.

10:14 p.m. ET, February 27, 2022

White House: Russia putting deterrence forces on alert is part of a pattern of "manufactured threats"

From CNN's Sam Fossum, Arlette Saenz and Devan Cole

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Sunday that Russian President Vladimir Putin's decision to put Russia's deterrence forces, which includes nuclear arms, on high alert are part of a wider pattern of unprovoked escalation and "manufactured threats" from the Kremlin.

"This is really a pattern that we've seen from President Putin through the course of this conflict, which is manufacturing threats that don't exist in order to justify further aggression — and the global community and the American people should look at it through that prism," Psaki told ABC's George Stephanopoulos on "This Week."

Additionally, a senior administration official told CNN on Sunday that Putin's move was "yet another escalatory and totally unnecessary step," a senior administration official said Sunday.

"At every step of this conflict Putin has manufactured threats to justify more aggressive actions — he was never under threat from Ukraine or from NATO, which is a defensive alliance that will not fight in Ukraine," the official said.

"The only reason his forces face a threat today is because they invaded a sovereign country, and one without nuclear weapons. This is yet another escalatory and totally unnecessary step," they added.

Putin's move comes in the face of universal condemnation from Western powers over Moscow's unprovoked assault on Ukraine.

Read more:

White House responds to Russia's decision to put deterrence forces on high alert

10:52 p.m. ET, February 27, 2022

BP says it will offload its 19.75% stake in state-owned Russian oil firm Rosneft

From CNN's Anna Stewart and Niamh Kennedy in London

Oil giant BP will offload its 19.75% shareholding in Russian state-owned oil firm, Rosneft, according to a statement from the company.

"The BP board today announced that BP will exit its shareholding in Rosneft. BP has held a 19.75% shareholding in Rosneft since 2013," the statement published on Sunday said.

Chief Executive Officer Bernard Looney will also resign immediately from Rosneft's board, according to the statement.

The British company had faced calls from the UK government to offload its ownership stake following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Looney said he “like so many" others was "deeply shocked and saddened by the situation unfolding in Ukraine," which prompted the company "to fundamentally rethink BP’s position with Rosneft."

"I am convinced that the decisions we have taken as a board are not only the right thing to do, but are also in the long-term interests of BP," the CEO added.

BP chair Helge Lund added that "the Rosneft holding is no longer aligned with BP’s business and strategy."