Victory Chronicles-DAY 1107

A Russian projectile struck a five-story hotel in Kryvyi Rih in the southern Dnipropetrovsk region on March 5, igniting a fire and damaging civilian infrastructure, Ukrainian officials say.

The city is Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s hometown and he said a group of foreign humanitarian volunteers had checked into the hotel moments before the attack. “Just before the strike, volunteers from a humanitarian organization — citizens of Ukraine, the United States and Britain — check in.”

First responders subsequently evacuated survivors from the hotel. The Prosecutor General’s Office and Interior Ministry report that four people were killed and 32 had sustained injuries, including a 13-year-old girl and a 17-year-old boy. The strike came as Washington has paused sharing intelligence with Ukraine on March 5, including satellite imagery.

Trump administration may cancel temporary legal status for nearly 250,000 Ukrainians. Some 1.8 million migrants in the U.S., including 240,000 Ukrainians, who have humanitarian parole status, are in danger of being deported on a fast-track basis, CBS News, Bloomberg, and Reuters news agency reports. 

The fast-track deportations could start as soon as April, according to multiple media reports. The cancellation would affect migrants who entered the U.S. under temporary humanitarian programs launched by the Joe Biden presidential administration, Reuters said, citing a high-ranking Trump administration official and three unnamed sources.

The current administration also plans to cancel residency permits for about 530,000 migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela this month, a Trump official and one source said. Migrants losing their legal status may face expedited deportation regardless of the duration of their legal stay, according to an internal email from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

During Trump’s first term in 2017-2021, approximately 1 million undocumented immigrants were deported. In the first month of his second non-continuous term, 37,600 people were deported, according to Reuters. Recent studies and data indicate that recent immigrants and migrants, including new arrivals, contribute positively to the U.S. economy and have lower crime rates in comparison to native-born citizens. 

Russian airborne strike on frontline village in Kharkiv region, kills1 civilian, injuring 2, Ukraine officials say. Russian forces on March 6 launched a massive strike with guided air bombs on a frontline village in the eastern Kharkiv region, the Emergency Ministry Services said on social media. A guided air bomb completely destroyed a private residential building in the settlement of Slatine of theDerhachiv community. Preliminary reports indicate that a man was killed and two women had sustained injuries as a result of the attack.

In addition, structural elements and a passenger car in the yard caught on fire, with dry grass over an area of 500 square meters igniting. The blast wave damaged nearby private residences, outbuildings and vehicles.

Drone pilots destroy Russian military vehicles in Lyman direction, military unit says. Along the Lyman axis in the easternmost Donetsk region near the Siverskyi Donets River, 

drone pilots from a military unit of unmanned aerial systems destroyed two armored vehicles, two Kamaz trucks, two cannons, an anti-aircraft unit and four mortars, Ukraine’s 63rd Mechanized Brigade says. The brigade adds that pilots had a large quantity of Russian equipment over the past several days as part of ongoing combat operations.

Key Takeaways:

• US President Donald Trump ordered a pause on US military aid to Ukraine on March 3, suspending the delivery of critical warfighting materiel.
• The United States had been providing Ukraine with artillery ammunition, armored vehicles, towed howitzers, Patriot air defense batteries, and long-range rocket and missile systems such as HIMARS and ATACMS — many of which are sophisticated systems that only the United States can supply.
• The frontline in Ukraine does not risk imminent collapse, but the effects of the US aid pause will become more acute over time.
• The European Commission proposed a plan on March 4 that would enable EU member states to increase defense spending to support Ukraine and strengthen European security. European rearmament is vital for Europe’s short- and long-term security, and Europe should pursue these efforts regardless of the status of US aid to Ukraine.
• Ukraine has significantly expanded its defense industrial production capabilities throughout the war in an effort to eventually meet its military needs independently, but Ukraine’s ability to become self-sufficient in the long-term is contingent on continued support from partner states in the short- and medium-term.
• The Ukrainian Parliament (Verkhovna Rada) and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky reiterated on March 4 Ukraine’s commitment to work with the Trump Administration to achieve a sustainable and lasting peace in Ukraine.
• The high casualties in Russia’s war in Ukraine are the direct result of Putin’s determination to conquer all of Ukraine using horrific and costly tactics, and Putin can dramatically reduce this killing any time he chooses.
• The Kremlin continues to express cautious optimism about the pausing of US military aid to Ukraine and advanced several narratives as part of efforts to impose additional demands on the United States.
• Russian forces recently advanced near Lyman, and Pokrovsk and in western Zaporizhia Oblast, and Ukrainian forces recently advanced near Pokrovsk.
• The Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) is reportedly developing a plan to partially demobilize a limited number of mobilized personnel no earlier than July 2025, likely to address growing societal backlash over the lack of rotations and demobilization of Russian mobilized troops for over two years.

Volyn region native Staff Sergeant Harbar killed in Russian captivity. Thirty-six year old Staff Sgt. Yaroslav Harbar, known by the pseudonym of Prapor, was killed in Russian captivity on July 14, 2022. Russian forces captured him in June and transported him to their controlled territory. 

His body was repatriated after 2.5 years. Born in Budky, Volyn region, Yaroslav graduated from his local school and then servedcompulsory military service in 2004-2005. In 2006, he enlisted in the unit 3045 and fought during Russia’s initial invasion in 2014. A year later, he was discharged and worked as a construction worker.

When the full-scale war began, he rejoined the army in March 2003 and fought in the 95th Assault Landing Brigade as a senior rifleman. His wife, Anastasia, says, “He is very kind, sincere, real, brave, loving man, good father of three wonderful boys: Artem, Matviy and Tymofiy. We miss him very much.” Harbar was buried in his native village in October 2024. He is survived by his mother, brother, wife and three sons. His youngest son is born one month after his death.

*Yaroslav’s story on the Heroes Memorial – a platform for stories about the fallen defenders of Ukraine.

• France says its intelligence for Ukraine not affected by US freeze
• Belgium postpones delivery of F-16s to Ukraine until 2026
• EU defence summit: Leaders hold emergency meeting on support for Ukraine
• Trump to revoke legal status for 240,000 Ukrainians as US steps up deportations
• Reuters: Turkey ready to send troops to Ukraine if necessary
• Netherlands discusses new aid package of €3.5bn for Ukraine in 2026