Update on Russian military operations in Ukraine for March 6, 2023:

- Russian forces continue the encirclement of Bakhmut;

- Western media admits Russian operations around Bakhmut is exhausting Ukrainian forces and may diminish them ahead of an anticipated Ukrainian spring offensive;

- US announces another military assistance package for Ukraine with fewer items listed and absent of any specific quantities despite previous packages featuring such information;

- Ukraine has urgently asked the West for more artillery shells in particular, highlighting the inability for Western industry to match or exceed Russian military industrial output;

- German arms manufacturer Rheinmetall claims to be considering building a tank factory in Ukraine. Older articles claim only if approved by the German government and after the conflict is over, newer articles suggest the factory may be built sooner;

- Ukrainian pilots are in the US to assess their skills for potential training on US warplanes (likely the F-16);

- Training Ukrainian pilots on F-16s or other Western warplanes will admittedly take years, if F-16s arrive in Ukraine beforehand they will likely be Western operators posing as Ukrainian pilots;

References:

Wall Street Journal - Russia’s Wagner Troops Exhaust Ukrainian Forces in Bakhmut (March 5, 2023):
https://www.wsj.com/amp/articles/russias-wagner-troops-exhaust-ukrainian-forces-in-bakhmut-b58e726c
Donbass Devushka on Telegram:
https://t.me/DonbassDevushka
Alexander Mercouris - Bakhmut Ukraine Retreats; Outnumbered 10-1 Artillery, Kiev Begs Shells, Angry India Criticises US:
https://youtu.be/TJ3MbclGaLA
Voice of America - Russia-Ukraine Fighting Devolves Into Hand-to-Hand Combat (March 5, 2023):
https://www.voanews.com/a/russia-ukraine-fighting-devolves-into-hand-to-hand-combat-/6990568.html
US Department of Defense - Biden Administration Announces Additional Security Assistance for Ukraine (March 3, 2023):
https://www.defense.gov/News/Releases/Release/Article/3318337/biden-administration-announces-additional-security-assistance-for-ukraine/
Financial Times - Ukraine asks EU for 250,000 artillery shells a month (March 4, 2023):
https://www.ft.com/content/75ee9701-aa93-4c5d-a1bc-7a51422280fd
Reuters - Rheinmetall in talks on building tank factory in Ukraine - report (March 4, 2023):
https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/rheinmetall-talks-building-tank-factory-ukraine-report-2023-03-04/
Bloomberg - Rheinmetall in Talks to Supply Ukraine With Panther Battle Tanks (February 2023):
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-02-09/rheinmetall-in-talks-to-supply-ukraine-with-panther-battle-tanks
CNN - US evaluating Ukrainian pilots for possible F-16 training (March 5, 2023):
https://edition.cnn.com/2023/03/05/world/us-ukraine-f16-pilots-intl-hnk/index.html
Alex Christoforou - Trump, 24 hours to end conflict. US training 2 Ukraine F16 pilots. After Bakhmut, Chasov Yar. U/1:
https://youtu.be/FLnxlz7RSi0

ow to Support The New Atlas' Work (and thank you!):

Buy Me A Coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/TheNewAtlas
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/landdestroyer
PromptPay: 0851547235
PayPal: [email protected]

Cryptocurrency Donations:
Ethereum (ETH): 0xee6ed93c3adc474450011e9af22939a0b9b312c7
BitCoin (BTC): 1AfGnbmHxA6cy9YKUSxysXvpJPyecpBKrr
Monero (XMR): 845TCXx3pchSBXuDL7FHG679gbWD2wkHS6MJxuq7jFVsVFj7T6xsry747uhhGZUdkaRXbbrMfo5c8RnGfzGZ13KxQUdHVLR

Mirrored - The New Atlas