With slow progress on battlefield, Russia shifts to terror and sabotage in Ukraine

With slow progress on battlefield, Russia shifts to terror and sabotage in Ukraine by Tania Myronyshena March 2, 2026 4:10 PM 4 min read A Ukrainian police officer secures the area at the site of an explosion that struck Lviv, Ukraine, on Feb. 22, 2026, amid the Russian invasion. (Yuriy Dyachyshyn / AFP via Getty Images) War by Tania Myronyshena Over the course of 48 hours last week, three explosions targeting Ukrainian police officers in different cities raised the prospect of a chilling new front in Russia’s campaign of terror against civilians. On Feb. 22, two explosions hit the western city of Lviv near the Polish border after police responded to a call, killing a 23-year-old police officer and injuring 25 people. The next evening, an explosion occurred inside a police station in Dnipro, damaging the building. Later that same night in Mykolaiv, another explosion targeted patrol officers, injuring seven of them. "This is not a coincidence. The enemy is deliberately trying to kill Ukrainian police officers who stand every day in defense of people and the state," the National police said . "We have intelligence indicating that the Russians intend to continue carrying out such attacks — essentially attacks on Ukrainians. We need greater protection for our people," Zelensky added . Become a member – go ad‑free A campaign in the rear? Jamie Shea, a former NATO official and defense analyst at Chatham House, said the incidents are part of a broader effort to compensate for Russia's stalled battlefield progress. "This is clearly a strategic shift on the part of Russia rather than isolated incidents. Russia is trying to compensate for its slow progress on the battlefield in Donetsk by taking the war directly to the Ukrainian population, hoping to break its will to resist," he told the Kyiv Independent. According to Shea, striking cities far from the front line, such as Lviv, is intended to demonstrate that no region is fully protected from the war. "It’s a way of demonstr...