Trump's intelligence freeze aids; Russian advances in Kursk

"As a result of this pause, there are hundreds of dead Ukrainians. It’s really causing an advantage for the enemy on the front line," a Ukrainian officer told the magazine. He stated that the Ukrainian Armed Forces have to fight without some basic weapon systems due to the "Americans' refusal" to honour their commitments, which is seriously affecting the morale of Ukrainian soldiers.

The most difficult situation is in the Kursk region, where the Ukrainian Armed Forces are attempting to maintain the territory gained during the August offensive. President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, views this region as an important asset in future peace negotiations with Russia and hopes to leverage it in exchange talks.

A source in the president's office confirmed that the loss of access to American intelligence data has indeed had a significant impact on operations in the Kursk region, because Ukrainians can no longer detect incoming Russian bombers and other military aircraft. As a result, the Ukrainian Armed Forces have almost no time to warn civilians and soldiers of an air raid or missile attack threat.

Previously, it was reported that the Russian army made significant advances in the Kursk region, reclaiming 17% of the territory held by the Ukrainian Armed Forces within a week. According to "The Telegraph," as a result of these actions, 10,000 Ukrainian soldiers found themselves at risk of encirclement.

By March 7, Russian forces had almost completely divided Ukrainian units and cut off the main group from a key supply line, which is a narrow land corridor approximately 1 kilometre long and about 500 metres wide, wrote the Deep State project associated with Ukraine's Ministry of Defence.

Russian troops also utilized the inactive Urengoy–Pomary–Uzhgorod gas pipeline to approach Ukrainian Armed Forces positions in the Sudzha area.

However, judging by reports from the Ukrainian General Staff and pro-Russian war channels, this attempt was unsuccessful. The Ukrainian Armed Forces stated that the Russian group was "detected in time" by air reconnaissance units of airborne-assault troops. Meanwhile, pro-Russian blogger Vladimir Romanov reported that some Russian soldiers simply suffocated in such a narrow passage (the pipe has a diameter of 1.4 metres, the route length is 14.5 kilometres) because they were not equipped with specialized gear.

The situation in the Kursk region remains tense. Chief Sergeant of the 47th Mechanized Brigade "Magura," Oleh Chaus, said that the road in the Sudzha area is about 5 kilometres long and that section is entirely controlled by Russian FPV drones.

"If we are talking about the number of them, then it should be said here that you can see 7-8 of these drones in the sky in 10-15 minutes. That is, they just swarm there," he told "Time" magazine.

The Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation reported that during the offensive, the Russian army captured the village of Lebedivka on the Loknia River, 5 kilometres from the border with Ukraine and 10 kilometres northwest of Sudzha, as well as the settlement of Novenke in the Sumy region.

On March 3, U.S. President Donald Trump ordered the suspension of all military assistance to Ukraine, including that which was already en route. By March 5, it became clear that this decision also encompassed intelligence data and satellite imagery. As a result, all Western specialists who were assisting in obtaining and analyzing such information at the military headquarters in Kyiv left Ukraine.

Commenting on his decision, Trump stated that he wants to "stop the killing." However, after the suspension of U.S. military aid, Russia launched massive attacks on Ukraine. Despite this, Trump said he still believes in Russian President Vladimir Putin's desire to end the war. He admitted that Russia is "bombing the hell out of Ukraine," taking advantage of the situation, but emphasized that Putin is "doing what anybody else would do," as he allegedly wants "to end the war."