The War Room:  Russian forces have seized Europe’s largest nuclear power plant that produces a quarter of Ukraine’s electricity. Shelling started a fire last night that was put out by Ukrainian firefighters. The plant now operates at gunpoint.

  The Russians have pounded the city of Mariupol on the Sea of Azov near the Crimean Peninsula.  Mayor Serhiy Orlov told the BBC  his city is “near to a humanitarian catastrophe.”  He said, “The Russian army is working through all their weapons here – artillery, multiple rocket launch systems, airplanes, tactical rockets. They are trying to destroy the city.”  

  The Russians have targeted  pump stations and electrical transformers. Orlov said food shortages are developing. 

  Russian President Vladimir Putin told his Security Council that his campaign in Ukraine is on schedule. He said he is convinced that Russians and Ukrainians are one people, claiming that some Ukrainians have been intimidated or “duped by Nazi propaganda”.

  In a counter message, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky demanded that Russia pay Ukraine for the trauma and damage of the invasion. “You will reimburse us for everything you did against our state, against every Ukrainian, in full.”

  Negotiators for  Ukraine and Russia yesterday agreed to establish some humanitarian corridors for civilian evacuation

The Body Count: Ukraine President Volodomyr Zelensky claimed yesterday that the Russians are not sending home their bodies, but cremating them in the field instead. “They have brought a cremation chamber,” Zelensky said. Like all claims in the heat of war, it’s impossible to know what to believe, but Zelensky said,  “They’re not going to show bodies to their mothers, their families. They’re not going to tell mothers that their children died here.”

War Diary: Earlier this week, Ukraine’s ambassador to the UN read aloud before the General Assembly what he said were text messages recovered from the phone of a dead Russian soldier:  “Mama, I’m in Ukraine,” the ambassador read. “There is a real war raging here. I’m afraid. We are bombing all of the cities together, even targeting civilians. We were told that they would welcome us and they are falling under our armored vehicles, throwing themselves under the wheels and not allowing us to pass. They call us fascists. Mama, this is so hard.”

  The website for AGNI, a literary magazine, has been publishing citizen dispatches from Ukraine. Here are a few:

March 2, Tamara Hundorova, Ukrainian literary critic:  “I am a refugee. It’s frightening to even say it. I feel embarrassed and ashamed, like I was made to stand naked in front of others. I never imagined this, not even in my worst nightmare … 

  Today at one p.m. we left Kyiv. Right now, we are 200 kilometers away. We are spending the night in a city I’ve never been to. I am not a tourist. We have no plans. We are simply drifting along like tumbling weeds. Sirens wail here, too. They wail all over Ukraine.”

Feb 28, Unknown: “Kharkiv—rockets hit city center. They’re shelling civilians. The Russians are not an army—they’re criminals. People in Kharkiv, be careful. If you can, help those who need help. Food, medicine, transportation. Let’s stick together. They can bomb our buildings, but can’t destroy our scorn. Or our hatred.”

Feb. 28, Unknown: “We drove out to the circle road, people are setting up block-posts, local guys with hunting rifles. The Russians have no idea what awaits them here. We brought two loads of ammunition for our guys. Local businessmen donate everything in their warehouses. They’ve nothing good to say about Russians. Grad rocket launchers are pounding the city of Kharkiv, killing civilians. The Russians are a horde, not army.”

Economic War: Russia’s state-controlled airline Aeroflot has been cut off  from Sabre, the global airline ticketing system, making it near to impossible for Aeroflot to fill seats.  Both Britain and the US have banned Aeroflot from their air space.

  The US will impose sanctions on eight members of Russia’s elite, including President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman, and place visa restrictions on 19 oligarchs and their family members, the White House said.

  Britain has announced new sanctions including a freeze on assets and a travel ban on two men with links to Putin, Alisher Usmanov and Igor Shuvalov. 

  Usmanov, an Uzbek born billionaire, owns estates worth tens of millions of dollars and has held major ownership in English Premier League soccer clubs. Igor Shuvalov, the former Russian deputy prime minister, is part of Putin’s inner circle and owns a multimillion dollar apartment in central London.

Information War: The Russian population is being lied to and kept ignorant about the war. Yesterday  Russia’s parliament passed a law criminalizing “fake” news.

The words “war,” “invasion” and “attacks,” have been banned from news reports.

Criminal Intent: In a major  development in the investigation of the January 6^th insurrection and the attempt by President Donald Trump to overturn the 2020 election, a court filing in a civil case in California lays out  the investigating committee’s belief that Trump and his allies could be charged with crimes.

  A filing by the January 6^th Committee says, “The President and his associates persisted in making ‘stolen election’ claims even after the President’s own appointees at the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security, along with his own campaign staff, had informed the President that his claims were wrong.”

  The committee argues  that Trump and his people were pushing for an illegal overthrow of the election results, trying to get Vice President Mike Pence to void the Electoral College vote.

  The lawsuit in question was brought by Trump’s friend John Eastman, a lawyer who says his communications with Trump about the election are protected by attorney client privilege. The Committee argues that Eastman was not really acting as Trump’s lawyer, but if he was, “Communications in which a ‘client consults an attorney for advice that will serve him in the commission of a fraud or crime’ are not privileged from disclosure.” 

-30-