Ukraine-Russia news – latest: Putin and Wagner group reach ‘boiling point’ in Bakhmut rivalry

Tensions between the Russian ministry of defence and the rebel Wagner group have likely reached a “boiling point” in their rivalry over Bakhmut, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) has said.

The city in Donetsk Oblast, which has been the site of bloody contention for several weeks, serves as a symbolic stepping stone for Moscow to push forward in its invasion.

According to ISW analysis, the Russian MoD is trying to “deliberately expend both elite and convict Wagner forces in Bakhmut in an effort to weaken [Yevgeny] Prigozhin and derail his ambitions for greater influence in the Kremlin”.

The analysis continued: “The Russian MoD is currently prioritising eliminating Wagner on the battlefields in Bakhmut, which is likely slowing down the rate of advance in the area.”

Meanwhile, the Kremlin said on Monday it was not ruling out Russian President Vladimir Putin attending a summit of leaders of the Group of 20 (G20) developed and emerging economies on Sept. 9-10 in New Delhi.

Key points

• Putin and Wagner group reach ‘boiling point’ in Bakhmut rivalry

• Russia suffering ‘extremely heavy casualties’, says MoD

• Wagner chief ‘cut off’ by Putin over arms call

• IAEA chief makes plea for Zaporizhzhia safe zone after outage

• Russia unleashes barrage of missiles on many Ukrainian regions

Putin and Wagner group reach ‘boiling point’ in Bakhmut rivalry

11:38 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Tensions between the Russian ministry of defence and the rebel Wagner group has likely reached a “boiling point” in their rivalry over Bakhmut, the Institute of War has said.

The city in Donetsk Oblast, which has been the site of bloody contention for several weeks, serves as a symbolic stepping stone for Moscow to push forward in its invasion.

According to IoW analysis, the Russian MoD is trying to “deliberately expend both elite and convict Wagner forces in Bakhmut in an effort to weaken Prigozhin and derail his ambitions for greater influence in the Kremlin”.

The analysis continued: “The Russian MoD is currently prioritizing eliminating Wagner on the battlefields in Bakhmut, which is likely slowing down the rate of advance in the area.

“Prigozhin saw Bakhmut as an opportunity to gain leverage on the Russian MoD and likely in the Kremlin in pursuit of his own commercial and political aspirations.

“Putin used Wagner to protect his regime from detrimental societal ramifications of mobilization, which also continues to inhibit his war efforts in Ukraine.”

Volodymyr Zelensky awards highest military honour to soldier executed on video

10:53 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Volodymyr Zelensky awarded a top military honour to the Ukrainian sniper and prisoner of war Oleksandr Matsiyevsky who was shot down by Russian-speaking forces as captured in a widely circulated video.

The man was heard chanting “Slava Ukraini” or “glory to Ukraine” as his last words before multiple shots from an unseen shooter or shooters behind the video camera claimed his life, leading to widespread condemnation of the alleged war crime.

“I conferred the title of Hero of Ukraine upon Oleksandr Matsiyevsky. A Ukrainian warrior. A man who will be known and remembered forever. For his bravery, for his confidence in Ukraine and for his “Glory to Ukraine!” Glory to the Hero! Glory to the Heroes! Glory to Ukraine!” Mr Zelensky said late on Sunday in his nightly address.

Volodymyr Zelensky awards highest military honour to soldier executed on video

Kremlin doesn't rule out Putin attending G20 summit in India

10:40 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

The Kremlin said on Monday it was not ruling out Russian President Vladimir Putin attending a summit of leaders of the Group of 20 (G20) developed and emerging economies on Sept. 9-10 in New Delhi.

Putin has yet to travel beyond the borders of the former Soviet Union since sending his armed forces into Ukraine in February last year, and missed November’s G20 summit in Bali, Indonesia.

Asked whether Putin might attend the Delhi summit, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters:

“It can’t be ruled out. Russia continues to participate fully in the G20 framework. It intends to continue to do that. But no decision has been made yet.”

Patchwork fixes to Ukraine grain shortfall leave world vulnerable a year into war

10:24 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

A patchwork of fixes and increased crop plantings around the world to counter the impact of war in Ukraine on global grain supplies are not enough to ward off further risks of disruption.

Extensive damage to Ukraine‘s farm sector and uncertainty that the UN’s grain export corridor deal will be renewed this month suggest food prices may remain elevated, increasing the potential of hunger if other problems arise, agriculture experts warn.

Meanwhile, adverse weather, including a historic drought in No. 3 corn exporter Argentina, highlights the risks of increasingly severe weather around the world for food supplies.

A year after Russia‘s war on major grains producer Ukraine sent global crop values to decade highs on fears of shortages, prices of key crops have reverted back to pre-war levels, with benchmark corn futures down 10% and wheat futures more than 20% lower than the days before the invasion.

“The world has had some time to patch some holes,” said Dan Basse, president of AgResource Co in Chicago, citing larger-than-anticipated Russian wheat exports and the grain export corridor deal that allowed some 3 million tonnes of grain per month to be exported from Ukraine‘s Black Sea ports.

“If we don’t have another supply shock somewhere, the world can get by on the diminishment of Ukrainian grain. But it’s tenuous. Things have to go right,” he said.

UK boosts defense spending in response to Russia and China

10:00 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak pledged Monday to increase UK military funding by £5 billion ($6 billion) over the next two years in response to Russia‘s invasion of Ukraine and the “epoch-defining challenge” posed by China.

The increase, part of a major update to UK foreign and defense policy, is less than military officials wanted.

Sunak said the UK would increase military spending to 2.5 per cent of gross domestic product “in the longer term,” but did not set a date. Britain currently spends just over two per cent of GDP on defense, and military chiefs want it to rise to three per cent.

The extra money will be used, in part, to replenish Britain’s ammunition stocks, depleted from supplying Ukraine in its defense against Russia.

Some will also go towards a UK-US-Australia deal to build nuclear-powered submarines.

Sunak will meet US President Joe Biden and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in San Diego on Monday to confirm next steps for the military pact, known as AUKUS, struck by the three countries in 2021 amid mounting concern about China’s actions in the Pacific.

Russia suffering ‘extremely heavy casualties’, though country’s elite ‘left relatively unscathed’, says MoD

09:41 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Vladimir Putin continues to suffer “extremely heavy casualties” in Ukraine, though the impact of those losses varies “dramatically” across Russia’s regions, according to UK intelligence.

“In proportion to the size of their population, the richest cities of Moscow and St Petersburg have been left relatively unscathed,” the Ministry of Defence said in its daily update on Sunday.

“This is especially true for the families of the country’s elite,” it adds.

“In many of the Eastern regions, deaths are likely running, as a percentage of population, at a rate 30+ times higher than in Moscow. In places, ethnic minorities take the biggest hit; in Astrakhan some 75 per cent of casualties come from the minority Kazakh and Tartar populations.

“As the Russian MoD seeks to address its continued deficit of combat personnel, insulating the better-off and more influential elements of Russian society will highly likely remain a major consideration.”

Russian advance stalls in Ukraine's Bakhmut, think tank says

09:34 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Russia’s advance seems to have stalled in Moscow‘s campaign to capture the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, a leading think tank said in an assessment of the longest ground battle of the war.

The Washington-based Institute for the Study of War said there were no confirmed advances by Russian forces in Bakhmut. Russian forces and units from the Kremlin-controlled paramilitary Wagner Group continued to launch ground attacks in the city, but there was no evidence that they were able to make any progress, ISW said late Saturday.

The report cited the spokesperson of the Ukrainian Armed Forces’ Eastern Group, Serhii Cherevaty, who said that fighting in the Bakhmut area had been more intense this week than the previous one. According to Cherevaty, there were 23 clashes in the city over the previous 24 hours.

Russian advance stalls in Ukraine's Bakhmut, think tank says

Indonesia's Bali wants to tighten visa requirements for Russian tourists

09:10 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Authorities in Indonesia’s popular holiday island of Bali have asked the central immigration agency to cancel a visa-on-arrival policy for Russian and Ukrainian nationals after tourists were found working illegally.

Russian nationals are among the biggest groups of foreign arrivals in Indonesia, according to official tourism data. At least four Russian citizens were deported this month for visa violations and immigration authorities have repeatedly warned foreigners in Bali against working on tourist visas.

Bali Governor I Wayan Koster said on Sunday he has asked the Ministry of Law and Human Rights to tighten visa requirements by cancelling the visa-on-arrival facility specifically for Russian and Ukrainian citizens due to a series of violations.

“Because they are at war, so they flocked to Bali, including those who sought comfort or came to work here,” he said, according to a post on the immigration agency’s Instagram account. He added these two countries were singled out because their citizens’ infractions were more “significant” than those of others.

He did not provide details on the violations.

The move comes as Indonesians take to social media to complain about some Russian tourists’ actions in Bali, including a model who posed nude at a sacred tree and a man who allegedly hit a pedestrian while driving under the influence of alcohol.

A spokesperson for Indonesia’s immigration agency, which is under the law ministry, declined to comment.

The embassies of Russia and Ukraine in Jakarta did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Indonesia allows nationals of certain countries to apply for a visa upon landing in the country, while others have to apply before departure.

More than 77,500 Russians arrived in the Southeast Asian country between September 2022 and January 2023 as COVID-19 restrictions were eased, compared with about 88,000 in the same period just before the pandemic.

About 8,800 Ukrainian visitors arrived between September 2022 and January 2023.

Russia adding IKEA, Lancome and other luxury goods to parallel import list

08:45 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Russia‘s industry ministry said on Monday it was expanding its list of brands that can be imported without the trademark owner’s permission to include goods from companies such as IKEA and American toy manufacturers Hasbro and Mattel.

Moscow has been pushing a so-called “parallel imports” scheme to help Russian consumers maintain access to a host of foreign products in the face of tough punitive sanctions imposed by the West over the conflict in Ukraine.

The mechanism allows Russian companies to buy goods from any company outside Russia, including from the country of the goods’ origin, provided they were purchased legally.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade’s expanded list includes luxury brands, such as Lancome, Giorgio Armani and Yves Saint Laurent, domestic goods brands Wahl and Zanussi, and Japan’s Nintendo. Brands of motor oils and agricultural equipment makers were also added.

The updated list was first reported by the Izvestia daily, which said that IKEA would be added towards the summer.

“Izvestia has the correct list and it is now being registered with the Ministry of Justice,” the ministry said in a statement.

Many goods of top brands that pulled out of Russia remain available, with parallel importing mechanisms having been consolidated and expanded in the past year, demonstrating the difficulty companies have in controlling supply chains when exiting a market.

The ministry said it was working on fine-tuning the mechanism, transitioning from including brand names to rights holders, a move it said would simplify the administrative procedure. (

China’s Xi plans Russia visit as soon as next week

08:18 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Chinese President Xi Jinping is planning to travel to Russia to meet his counterpart, Vladimir Putin, as soon as next week, people familiar with the matter said, which would be sooner than previously expected.

Plans for a visit come as China has been offering to broker peace in Ukraine, an effort that has been met with scepticism in the West given China’s diplomatic support for Russia.

Russia‘s Tass news agency reported on Jan. 30 that Putin had invited Xi to visit in the spring. The Wall Street Journal reported last month that a visit to Moscow could take place in April or early May.

China’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the possibility of Xi going to Moscow and the Kremlin declined to comment.

No other details were immediately available.

The sources briefed on the matter declined to be identified given the sensitivity of the issue.

China and Russia struck a “no limits” partnership in February of 2022, weeks before Russia invaded Ukraine, and the two sides have continued to reaffirm the strength of their ties.

Russia's Patrushev doubts pro-Ukrainian group blew up Nord Stream

07:55 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

One of President Vladimir Putin’s top allies said on Monday that he doubts that the Nord Stream pipelines were blown up by a pro-Ukrainian group, and said that Moscow still does not know who exactly was behind it, Interfax reported.

Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev said Ukraine had gained nothing from the destruction of the pipelines.

German and United States media have reported that the U.S. intelligence community believes that a pro-Ukrainian group was behind the September explosions that badly the pipelines. Russia has called the incident a terrorist attack, and suggested that Western countries were behind it.

What is the latest from Bakhmut?

07:26 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Here is the latest update from the battle in Bakhmut:

* The situation in Bakhmut was difficult, the commander of Ukrainian ground forces said, though adding that his troops were repelling all Russian attempts to capture it.

* The head of Russia‘s Wagner mercenary group, which has led the assault on Bakhmut, said the situation in the mining town was “tough, very tough ... But we are advancing and we will be advancing”.

* Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russian forces had suffered more than 1,100 dead in the past few days fighting along the Bakhmut section of the frontline. Russian forces also sustained 1,500 “sanitary losses” - soldiers wounded badly enough to keep them out of further action, he added.

* Russia‘s defence ministry said on Sunday its forces had killed more than 220 Ukrainian service members over the past 24 hours in the Donetsk direction.

* The Wagner chief said his army would begin to reboot once Bakhmut was captured. “In particular, we will start recruiting new people from the regions,” Yevgeny Prigozhin said in a clip posted on Telegram channels associated with Wagner.

Wagner chief likely lost access to Russian prisons for recruiting men – MoD

06:58 , Arpan Rai

The British defence ministry has claimed that Wagner Group owner Yevgeny Prigozhin has likely lost access to recruiting in Russian prisons due to his ongoing disputes with the Russian defence ministry leadership.

“Prigozhin is highly likely pivoting recruitment efforts towards free Russian citizens,” the ministry said today in its latest intelligence update.

The defence ministry said that since the start of March 2023, Wagner has set up outreach teams based in sports centres in at least 40 locations across Russia.

“In recent days, masked Wagner recruiters also gave career talks in Moscow high schools, distributing questionnaires entitled ‘application of a young warrior’ to collect the contact details of interested pupils,” the MoD said.

tating that the new initiatives are unlikely to make up for the loss of the convict recruit pipelines, the ministry said that about half of the prisoners Wagner has already deployed in Ukraine have likely become casualties.

“If the ban endures, Prigozhin will likely be forced to reduce the scale or intensity of Wagner operations in Ukraine,” the ministry said.

Zelensky awards highest honour to Ukrainian man shot by Russia

05:49 , Arpan Rai

Volodymyr Zelensky has awarded the highest military honour posthumously to the Ukrainian soldier gunned down by Russian forces for chanting “Glory to Ukraine”.

“Today I conferred the title of Hero of Ukraine upon Oleksandr Matsiyevsky, a soldier. A man whom all Ukrainians will know. A man who will be remembered forever. For his bravery, for his confidence in Ukraine and for his ‘Glory to Ukraine!’,” he said in his nightly address.

Ukrainian journalists lauded the deceased soldier and the award by the Zelenksy administration, confirming that the man was killed in December last year.

“We now know the name of this man. Oleksandr Matsiyevsky, a sniper of Chernihiv territorial defence brigade. He went MIA in late December 2022, and according to Ukrainian officials, was killed by Russians just before New Year. He has been posthumously awarded Hero of Ukraine. RIP,” said journalist Olga Tokariak.

Wagner chief says Bakhmut situation ‘very tough'

04:59 , Arpan Rai

Wagner founder Yevgeny Prigozhin has described the situation in Bakhmut as “tough, very tough”.

The mercenary gorup’s chief said: “The closer we are to the centre of the city, the harder the fighting ... The Ukrainians throw in endless reserves. But we are advancing and we will be advancing.”

Last week, the Wagner chief had complained of “ammunition hunger” among his soldiers but confirmed yesterday that the Russian army members helped his troops with ammunition.

“Yesterday, we got 15 truckloads, today we got 12. And I think we will continue to receive them,” he said, and added that there was no conflict between his fighters and Russian troops.

In a previous allegation, the private military organisation’s chief had accused Russia’s top brass was deliberately starving his men of ammunition, an allegation the defence ministry rejected.

He added that Wagner “will begin to reboot” and start hiring once Bakhmut is captured, adding he wanted to turn his private military company into an “army with an ideology” that would fight for justice in Russia.

Russia downs four missiles in Belgorod region – official

04:23 , Arpan Rai

At least one person has been injuried in Russia after the country’s air defence forces shot down four missiles over the region and administrative centre Belgorod, regional governor said.

“At this time one person is known to have been injured. There is also damage from rocket debris in two residential buildings,” governor Vyacheslav Gladkov, said on the Telegram messaging app.

It is not immediately clear if the missiles were fired from Ukraine but officials in the past have accsued Ukrainian forces on the other side of the border of carrying out similar attacks.

Belgorod borders Ukraine‘s Kharkiv region and has repeatedly come under fire since the war began last year.

Russian and Ukrainian losses mount in Bakhmut

04:12 , Arpan Rai

Volodymyr Zelensky has said his forces had killed more than 1,100 Russian soldiers in the past few days as they battled for control of Bakhmut.

“In less than a week, starting from the 6th March, we managed to kill more than 1,100 enemy soldiers in the Bakhmut sector alone, Russia’s irreversible loss, right there, near Bakhmut,” Mr Zelensky said in his nightly video address.

Russian forces also sustained 1,500 “sanitary losses”, soldiers wounded badly enough to keep them out of action, he added.

Similar claims have been made by Russia’s defence ministry and said that more than 220 Ukrainian service members have been killed in the Donetsk direction in the past 24 hours.

Rishi Sunak pledges £5bn for defence as UK faces a ‘volatile’ world

03:51 , Arpan Rai

Rishi Sunak insisted the UK’s armed forces had the funding they needed for a “more volatile world” in the face of the growing challenges posed by China and Russia.

The prime minister promised an extra £5bn for the military over two years, but failed to meet Tory demands to commit to a goal of spending 3 per cent of the UK’s gross domestic product (GDP) on defence.

Significant sums of the promised new money will be swallowed up by replenishing ammunition stockpiles handed to Ukraine and work on the Aukus project to develop nuclear-powered submarines for Australia.

Read the full story here:

Rishi Sunak pledges £5 billion for defence as UK faces a ‘volatile’ world

Wagner chief admits Ukrainian forces are fiercely fighting in Bakhmut

02:25 , Martha Mchardy

Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of the Russian private military company Wagner, has admitted that Ukrainian forces are fighting fiercely in Bakhmut.

In a new audio message posted on his Telegram page on Sunday, Mr Prigozhin said Ukrainian forces are “fighting for every meter.”

He continued: “the situation in Bakhmut is very difficult, the enemy is fighting for every meter. The closer we are to the city center, the harder the battles, the more artillery works against us, and the more tanks.”

“The Ukrainians are throwing up endless reserves,” Prigozhin added.

Support will put Ukraine in ‘strongest position’ to negotiate ceasefire – Sunak

01:25 , Martha Mchardy

Rishi Sunak said new support measures for Ukraine agreed between the UK and France are designed to put Kyiv in the “strongest possible position” to negotiate a ceasefire.

The Prime Minister and French President Emmanuel Macron used the UK-France summit to sign off on jointly training Ukrainian marines and supplying weapons to the country in its fight against Russia’s invading forces.

Patrick Daly reports:

Support will put Ukraine in ‘strongest position’ to negotiate ceasefire – Sunak

Ukraine identifies PoW killed by Russians as Oleksandr Igorevich Matsievskyi

00:25 , Martha Mchardy

Ukraine has identified the Prisoner of War (PoW) killed by Russia as Oleksandr Igorevich Matsievskyi.

Ukraine’s security services identified the prisoner killed Russian soldiers in a clip that spread quickly across the world, bringing an end to the dispute over his identity.

Volodymyr Zelensky vowed to “find the murderers” of the unarmed Ukrainian prisoner of war. While Ukraine’s chief prosecutor announced a criminal investigation into the killing, and human rights chief Dmytro Lubinets said it was a violation of the Geneva Conventions.

The 12-second video, orginally posted on Telegram before being shared on Twitter, shows the man in uniform with a Ukrainian insignia on his arm, standing and smoking a cigarette in a wooded area. The man says “Slava Ukraini!” – Glory to Ukraine – before multiple shots are fired. The man then slumps to the ground.

Ukraine’s military originally named the man as Tymofiy Shadura, a member of the 30th Separate Mechanised Brigade, who has been missing since 3 February near Bakhmut, but cautioned a final confirmation could not be made until the body had been recovered from currently Russian-controlled territory.

Oleksandr Igorevich Matsievskyi, 42, was deployed to Bakhmut in November.

Russia claims it is continuing military operations in Donetsk region

Sunday 12 March 2023 23:25 , Martha Mchardy

The Russian Defence ministry says it is conducting military operations in Ukraine‘s eastern Donetsk region.

Moscow claims its troops have taken out 220 Ukrainian soldiers in the last 24 hours. Ukraine also claiks it has killed 200 Russian soldiers.

Russia‘s defence ministry said: “In the Donetsk direction... more than 220 Ukrainian servicemen, an infantry fighting vehicle, 3 armoured fighting vehicles, 7 vehicles, as well as a D-30 howitzer were destroyed during the day.”

Saudi state-owned oil giant sees record profit after Russia invasion of Ukraine

Sunday 12 March 2023 23:10 , Martha Mchardy

Saudi oil giant Aramco has announced record profits of $161billion (£133 billion) for 2022, equivalent to £134billion, after soaring energy prices and bigger volumes.

The increase represents a 46.5 per cent rise on last year for energy firm Aramco.

Aramco also declared a dividend of $19.5bn (£16 billion) for the October to December quarter of 2022, most of which will go to the Saudi government in the first quarter of this year, which owns nearly 95 per cent of the shares in the company.

It comes as energy prices spiked following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Martha McHardy reports:

Saudi state-owned oil giant sees record profit of $161bn

Ethnic minorities bear the brunt of the Kremlin’s war, according to Britain’s Ministry of Defence

Sunday 12 March 2023 22:25 , Martha Mchardy

Ethnic minorities bear the brunt of the Kremlin’s war, according to Britain’s Ministry of Defence.

Deaths are more than 30 times higher in many eastern regions in Ukraine than in Moscow, with the capital and St Petersburg “relatively unscathed”, said the Ministry of Defence.

“Insulating the better-off and more influential elements of Russian society” is likely a “major consideration”, the ministry said, adding that none of the officials in the two front rows of the audience at Mr Putin’s state of the union speech on 21 February are known to have children in the military.

Hundreds of Russians killed in Bakhmut battle as snipers ‘create killing zone’

Sunday 12 March 2023 21:40 , Martha Mchardy

Hundreds of Russian troops have been killed in Bakhmut as Vladimir Putin’s troops seek to wrest control of the frontline Donetsk city – with Kyiv’s snipers said to have set up a “killing zone”.

Some 520 Russian troops were killed and wounded in Bakhmut alone in one day’s fighting, Ukraine’s military said, claiming Russia had suffered 2,000 fatalities since Friday – marking some of the deadliest days of the war since the invasion began.

Andy Gregory reports:

Hundreds of Russians killed in Bakhmut battle as snipers ‘create killing zone’

Turkish defence minister says he believes Black Sea grain deal will be extended

Sunday 12 March 2023 21:25 , Thomas Kingsley

Turkish Defence Minister Hulusi Akar said on Sunday that he believes that a deal allowing Ukrainian grain to be exported via the Black Sea will be extended from its current 18 March deadline.

The Black Sea Grain Initiative, brokered between Russia and Ukraine by the United Nations and Turkey last July, aimed to prevent a global food crisis by allowing Ukrainian grain blockaded by Russia's invasion to be safely exported from three Ukrainian ports.

The deal was extended for 120 days in November and will renew on 18 March if no party objects. However, Moscow has already signalled it will only agree to an extension if restrictions affecting its own exports are lifted.

Turkey has said previously that it is working hard to extend the deal.

“In separate talks with the Russian and Ukrainian sides, we saw that both sides are approaching this positively. We believe it will conclude positively,” Akar said in an interview with state-owned Anadolu Agency.

“We have the opinion that the duration will be extended on 18 March,” he added.

Russia says forces continue attack in Ukraine's Donetsk region

Sunday 12 March 2023 20:55 , Thomas Kingsley

Russia's defence ministry said on Sunday that its forces continued to conduct military operations in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region, claiming to have killed more than 220 Ukrainian servicemen over the past 24 hours.

“In the Donetsk direction... more than 220 Ukrainian servicemen, an infantry fighting vehicle, 3 armoured fighting vehicles, 7 vehicles, as well as a D-30 howitzer were destroyed during the day,” the defence ministry said.

Both sides claim to have inflicted significant losses and the exact numbers are difficult to verify.

Ukraine said on Saturday that more than 500 Russian troops had been killed or wounded in a recent 24-hour period as they battled for control of Bakhmut.

The Independent has not been able to independently verify these claims

More than 1,100 Russian dead in less than a week in Bakhmut

Sunday 12 March 2023 20:25 , Thomas Kingsley

Russian forces suffered more than 1,100 dead in less than a week of battles near the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, the focal point of fighting in eastern Ukraine, president Volodymyr Zelensky said on Sunday.

“In less than a week, starting from 6th March, we managed to kill more than 1,100 enemy soldiers in the Bakhmut sector alone, Russia's irreversible loss, right there, near Bakhmut,” Mr Zelensky said in his nightly video address.

He said Russian forces had also sustained 1,500 “sanitary losses” - soldiers wounded badly enough to keep them out of further action. Dozens of pieces of enemy equipment were destroyed as were more than 10 Russian ammunition depots.

Images emerge from Donetsk region after Russian shelling

Sunday 12 March 2023 19:55 , Martha Mchardy

Ukraine will continue fight in Bakhmut, says Ukraine’s foreign minister

Sunday 12 March 2023 19:10 , Martha Mchardy

Ukraine will fight on in the city of Bakhmut, Ukraine’s foreign minister has said.

In an interview with Germany’s Bild newspaper Ukraine’s foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba said the country will continue to fight in the city of Bakhmut.

Mr Kuleba compared Russia’s advance to a thief breaking into one’s house and trying to “steal everything”.

He said: “When someone breaks into your house, you don’t ask yourself how long you can resist the guy who broke into your house and is trying to kill you and your family and steal everything in the house, right?

“You think what else can you do to evict him from your home and get the police to arrest him.”

Moldova police say they foiled Russia-backed unrest plot

Sunday 12 March 2023 18:25 , Martha Mchardy

Moldovan police said on Sunday they have foiled a plot by groups of Russia-backed actors who were specially trained to cause mass unrest during a protest the same day in the capital against the country’s new pro-Western government.

The head of Moldova’s police, Viorel Cernauteanu, said in a news conference that an undercover agent had infiltrated groups of “diversionists,” some Russian citizens, who had been promised $10,000 to organize “mass disorder” to destabilize Moldova during a protest in the capital, Chisinau. Seven people were detained, he said.

Aurel Obreja and Stephen McGrath report:

Moldova police say they foiled Russia-backed unrest plot

Zelensky holds talks with Czech Republic president

Sunday 12 March 2023 17:40 , Martha Mchardy

President Zelensky has tweeted about holding talks today with the Czech Republic’s new president Petr Pavel.

Russian advance stalls in Ukraine's Bakhmut, think tank says

Sunday 12 March 2023 16:55 , Martha Mchardy

Russia’s advance seems to have stalled in Moscow‘s campaign to capture the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, a leading think tank said in an assessment of the longest ground battle of the war.

The Washington-based Institute for the Study of War said there were no confirmed advances by Russian forces in Bakhmut. Russian forces and units from the Kremlin-controlled paramilitary Wagner Group continued to launch ground attacks in the city, but there was no evidence that they were able to make any progress, ISW said late Saturday.

The report cited the spokesperson of the Ukrainian Armed Forces’ Eastern Group, Serhii Cherevaty, who said that fighting in the Bakhmut area had been more intense this week than the previous one. According to Cherevaty, there were 23 clashes in the city over the previous 24 hours.

Karl Ritter reports:

Russian advance stalls in Ukraine's Bakhmut, think tank says

Moldova police say they foiled Russia-backed unrest plot

Sunday 12 March 2023 16:10 , Emily Atkinson

Moldovan police said on Sunday they have foiled a plot by groups of Russia-backed actors who were specially trained to cause mass unrest during a protest the same day in the capital against the country’s new pro-Western government.

The head of Moldova’s police, Viorel Cernauteanu, said in a news conference that an undercover agent had infiltrated groups of “diversionists,” some Russian citizens, who had been promised $10,000 to organize “mass disorder” to destabilize Moldova during a protest in the capital, Chisinau. Seven people were detained, he said.

Separately, police said they arrested 54 protesters on Sunday, including 21 minors, who exhibited “questionable behavior” or were found to be carrying prohibited items, including at least one knife.

More on this story here:

Moldova police say they foiled Russia-backed unrest plot

Russia’s mounting casualties ‘reflected in loss of government control’, says think tank

Sunday 12 March 2023 15:25 , Emily Atkinson

Russia’s mounting casualties are reflected in a loss of government control over the country’s information sphere, the Institute for the Study of War has suggested

The think tank said Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova confirmed “infighting in the Kremlin inner circle” and that the Kremlin has effectively ceded control over the country’s information space, with Mr Putin unable to readily regain control.

The ISW sees Ms Zakharova’s comments, made at a forum on the “practical and technological aspects of information and cognitive warfare in modern realities” in Moscow, as “noteworthy” and in line with the think tank’s longstanding assessments about the “deteriorating Kremlin regime and information space control dynamics”.

Images show damage after recent shelling in Donetsk

Sunday 12 March 2023 14:40 , Emily Atkinson

Russia says forces continue attack in Ukraine's Donetsk region

Sunday 12 March 2023 13:55 , Emily Atkinson

Russia’s defence ministry said on Sunday that its forces continued to conduct military operations in Ukraine‘s eastern Donetsk region, claiming to have killed more than 220 Ukrainian servicemen over the past 24 hours.

“In the Donetsk direction... more than 220 Ukrainian servicemen, an infantry fighting vehicle, 3 armoured fighting vehicles, 7 vehicles, as well as a D-30 howitzer were destroyed during the day,” the defence ministry said.

Watch: Edward shares message for Ukrainians in Scotland after being made Duke of Edinburgh

Sunday 12 March 2023 13:10 , Emily Atkinson

Russian advance stalls in Ukraine's Bakhmut, think tank says

Sunday 12 March 2023 12:25 , Emily Atkinson

Russia’s advance seems to have stalled in Moscow‘s campaign to capture the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, a leading think tank said in an assessment of the longest ground battle of the war.

The Washington-based Institute for the Study of War said there were no confirmed advances by Russian forces in Bakhmut. Russian forces and units from the Kremlin-controlled paramilitary Wagner Group continued to launch ground attacks in the city, but there was no evidence that they were able to make any progress, ISW said late Saturday.

More on this story from The Associated Press here:

Russian advance stalls in Ukraine's Bakhmut, think tank says

Ankara says it believes Black Sea grain deal will be extended

Sunday 12 March 2023 11:39 , Emily Atkinson

Turkish defence minister Hulusi Akar said on Sunday that he believes that a deal allowing Ukrainian grain to be exported via the Black Sea will be extended from its current March 18 deadline.

The Black Sea Grain Initiative, brokered between Russia and Ukraine by the United Nations and Turkey last July, aimed to prevent a global food crisis by allowing Ukrainian grain blockaded by Russia’s invasion to be safely exported from three Ukrainian ports.

The deal was extended for 120 days in November and will renew on March 18 if no party objects. However, Moscow has already signalled it will only agree to an extension if restrictions affecting its own exports are lifted.

Turkey has said previously that it is working hard to extend the deal. “In separate talks with the Russian and Ukrainian sides, we saw that both sides are approaching this positively. We believe it will conclude positively,” Akar said in an interview with state-owned Anadolu Agency.

“We have the opinion that the duration will be extended on March 18,” he added.

Hundreds of Russians killed in Bahkmut battle as snipers ‘create killing zone’

Sunday 12 March 2023 10:00 , Emily Atkinson

Hundreds of Russian troops have been killed in Bakhmut as Vladimir Putin’s troops seek to wrest control of the frontline Donetsk city – with Kyiv’s snipers said to have set up a “killing zone”.

Some 520 Russian troops were killed and wounded in Bakhmut alone in one day’s fighting, Ukraine’s military said, claiming Russia had suffered 2,000 fatalities since Friday – marking some of the deadliest days of the war since Russia’s invasion.

Seeking to replenish its heavy losses, Russian mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin said his Wagner private army had opened recruitment centres in 42 cities – as the UK asserted that the impact of casualties “varies dramatically” across Russian regions.

My colleague Andy Gregory reports:

Hundreds of Russians killed in Bahkmut battle as snipers ‘create killing zone’

Russia suffering ‘extremely heavy casualties’, though country’s elite ‘left relatively unscathed’, says MoD

Sunday 12 March 2023 09:15 , Emily Atkinson

Vladimir Putin continues to suffer “extremely heavy casualties” in Ukraine, though the impact of those losses varies “dramatically” across Russia’s regions, according to UK intelligence.

“In proportion to the size of their population, the richest cities of Moscow and St Petersburg have been left relatively unscathed,” the Ministry of Defence said in its daily update.

“This is especially true for the families of the country’s elite,” it adds.

“In many of the Eastern regions, deaths are likely running, as a percentage of population, at a rate 30+ times higher than in Moscow. In places, ethnic minorities take the biggest hit; in Astrakhan some 75 per cent of casualties come from the minority Kazakh and Tartar populations.

“As the Russian MoD seeks to address its continued deficit of combat personnel, insulating the better-off and more influential elements of Russian society will highly likely remain a major consideration.”

Ukrainian president denied permission to speak at Oscars - report

Sunday 12 March 2023 08:30 , Emily Atkinson

Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky’s request to speak at the Oscars has been rejected for the second year in a row, reported Variety Magazine.

Mr Zelensky has participated virtually in mega-cultural events like the Grammys, Golden Globe Awards, Cannes Film Festival and Berlin Film Festival since the war in Ukraine.

A request was reportedly sent to the Academy to include Mr Zelensky by WME power agent Mike Simpson. However, the request was turned down, it reported.

Last year, Oscars executive producer Will Packer was vary of giving Mr Zelensky airtime because “everyone involved in the conflict is white and previous tragedies involving people of colour did not receive the same level of attention”.

The Oscars that year showed solidarity with Ukraine by observing a moment of silence during the ceremony.

Over 40 missiles hit Kharkiv since beginning of 2023, Ukrainian president says

Sunday 12 March 2023 07:45 , Emily Atkinson

An onslaught of 40 missiles has hit the northeastern city of Kharkiv since the beginning of the year, Volodymyr Zelensky said in his nightly address.

“Ruins, debris, shell holes in the ground are a self-portrait of Russia, which it paints where normal life reigns without Russia,” he said.

He said Russian shelling has killed three Ukrainians in Kherson who simply “went to a store to buy groceries”.

Russia has “become a synonym for terror” and “will be an example of defeat” as well as fair punishment for its acts in Ukraine.

“The punishment that the Kremlin cannot stop,” he said.

Hundreds of causalities in Russian and Ukrainian forces in 24 hours in Bakhmut

Sunday 12 March 2023 07:00 , Shweta Sharma

More than 500 Russian and Ukrainian troops have been killed over the previous 24 hours as the battle in Bakhmut continued to rage.

Serhiy Cherevatyi, a Ukrainian military spokesperson, said 221 pro-Moscow troops were killed and more than 300 wounded in Bakhmut.

While Moscow did not specify Bakhmut casualties, the defence ministry said up to 210 Ukrainian soldiers were killed in the broader Donetsk part of the frontline.

Ukrainian forces are fending off unabating attacks in Bakhmut and a small river that bisects the town now marks a new front line as the Wagner mercenary group made advances in most of the eastern part of the city.

Moscow says capturing Bakhmut would punch a hole in Ukrainian defences and be a step towards seizing all of the Donbas industrial region, a major target. Kyiv says the battle is grinding down Russia’s best units.

Aerial view of Lviv Oblast as Russian missiles strike Ukraine

Sunday 12 March 2023 06:00 , Eleanor Noyce

Aerial footage reveals the extent of destruction in Lviv Oblast after Russia launched a barrage of missile strikes against Ukraine.

This video, shared by the region’s governor, shows the state civilian houses were left in after the shelling hit the area.

It was the first such missile attack in weeks, with Volodymyr Zelenskiy reporting a total of 81 strikes across the country.

He said it has “been a difficult night” and offered his condolences for the families of the dead and injured.

Kyiv, Kirovohrad, Dnipro, Odesa, Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk, Zhytomyr, and Vinnytsia regions were hit.

Watch:

Aerial view of Lviv Oblast as Russian missiles strike Ukraine

The turmoil in Georgia over a ‘foreign agents’ bill raises fresh questions over Russia’s influence

Sunday 12 March 2023 05:00 , Eleanor Noyce

In case you missed it...

Georgia’s ruling party has shelved a controversial “foreign agents” law that critics called a Russian-inspired authoritarian move that could have hit hopes of the country joining the European Union.

The bill, which had been given initial parliamentary approval, has sparked several nights of protest, with tens of thousands of on the streets. Demonstrations were dispersed by police using water cannons and tear gas.

Given Georgia’s status as former Soviet state situated at Russia’s south-west border, any suggestions of influence from Moscow will carry significant weight. Vladimir Putin has long seen Georgia as part of Moscow’s sphere of influence. Since his invasion of Ukraine, the Russian president has also upped his rhetoric about Western institutions, such as the EU and the Nato military alliance, seeking to erode Russia’s standing in the world. Georgia is not a member of Nato, but has sought to join.

My colleague Chris Stevenson reports:

Ukraine’s leading campaigner against Russian fossil fuels refused entry to top US energy conference

Sunday 12 March 2023 04:00 , Eleanor Noyce

In case you missed it...

A Ukrainian lawyer, who founded the war-torn country’s leading campaign against Russian fossil fuels, has been refused entry to the world’s most prominent energy summit.

Svitlana Romanko travelled from her home in Ivano-Frankivsk, western Ukraine, in late February to Houston, Texas to attend CERAWeek, an annual summit which attracts the heads of major oil and gas companies and industry bodies along with senior government officials.

CERAWeek speakers this year included both John Kerry, the special presidential envoy for climate, ExxonMobil chief executive Darren Woods, and the Cop28 climate summit president, Dr Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, who is also CEO of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company.

Read the full story:

Ukraine’s leading campaigner against Russian fossil fuels barred from US energy event

Support will put Ukraine in ‘strongest position’ to negotiate ceasefire – Sunak

Sunday 12 March 2023 03:00 , Eleanor Noyce

In case you missed it...

Rishi Sunak has said new support measures for Ukraine agreed between the UK and France are designed to put Kyiv in the “strongest possible position” to negotiate a ceasefire.

The Prime Minister and French President Emmanuel Macron used the UK-France summit to sign off on jointly training Ukrainian marines and supplying weapons to the country in its fight against Russia’s invading forces.

During a press conference in Paris, the leaders said the immediate priority was to bolster Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s forces and allow them to “mount a successful counter-offensive”.

Mr Sunak announced in February, during Mr Zelensky’s visit to Britain, that the UK would start to train Kyiv’s marines as well as pilots.

Friday’s declaration from the summit at the Elysee Palace will see France join Britain in preparing marines for the drive to purge Ukraine of Russian troops.

Patrick Daly reports:

Support will put Ukraine in ‘strongest position’ to negotiate ceasefire – Sunak

Vladimir Putin: What is driving Russian leader’s relentless assault on Ukraine?

Sunday 12 March 2023 02:00 , Eleanor Noyce

In the year since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine, Vladimir Putin has been the figurehead of what he initially termed a “special military operation”. Russia’s president might have prepared the political ground with a show of collective responsibility – few will forget how he solicited the support of key ministers live on TV just hours before ordering the invasion – but he has fronted the invasion ever since, often alone, and it is he who will answer to history.

From the start, Russia’s military action tended to be seen as an old-fashioned war launched by an old-fashioned autocrat. As such, it was as surprising as it was shocking to all those who believed such wars to be over, at least in Europe. The scenes that have dominated our television screens ever since have been tragically reminiscent of black-and-white newsreel showing battles for the very same cities during the Second World War.

But the supposedly old-fashioned autocrat who gave the orders for this war is a more complicated figure than many think.

He sold the invasion as a collective decision with his military chiefs, but it is the president alone who will have to answer to history, writes Mary Dejevsky:

What is driving Putin’s relentless war on Ukraine?

How British eels could be helping Putin in his war with Ukraine

Sunday 12 March 2023 01:00 , Eleanor Noyce

Wildlife groups are calling for Britain to ban the transportation of eels to Russian conservation projects because of fears they are being sold on to China for food.

The alarm was sounded after a consignment of half a million eels were moved to Kaliningrad. Charities have said that the profits Russia has made from these sales could be funding the Ukraine war.

Multi-member organisation Wildlife and Countryside Link (WCL), which represents the RSPCA, CPRE and the Marine Conservation Society, has called for action from Defra (Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs).

Conservation has been required with the European eel population falling by 90 per cent in the past four decades despite hundreds of millions of baby, or glass, eels arriving each year.

Read more:

How British eels could be helping Putin in his war with Ukraine

What are hypersonic missiles and why is the west developing them amid Russia’s war in Ukraine?

Sunday 12 March 2023 00:01 , Eleanor Noyce

Russia launched its first large-scale missile assault on Ukrainian cities for several weeks in the early hours of Thursday 9 March, firing at least 81 missiles and killing at least five people.

The capital Kyiv, Kharkiv and the Black Sea port of Odessa were all struck as air raid sirens rang out across the nation while explosions were also reported in the northern city of Chernihiv and the western Lviv region, as well as in Dnipro, Lutsk and Rivne.

Among the projectiles fired were six Kinzhal (Dagger) hypersonic ballistic missiles, according to the Ukrainian Air Force, which are difficult to intercept because they reportedly travel at up to ten times the speed of sound, which is around 8,000mph.

Russia has used hypersonic missiles since the earliest stages of the conflict, claiming to have destroyed a fuel depot in the Black Sea city of Mykolaiv and an underground ammunition store in western Ivano-Frankivsk in the opening skirmishes.

Ukraine has confirmed that those targets were struck but did not specify what weapons were used.

Joe Sommerlad reports:

What are hypersonic missiles?

Why did Russia invade Ukraine?

Saturday 11 March 2023 23:00 , Eleanor Noyce

Russia’s “special military operation” in Ukraine has been raging for one year now as the conflict continues to record devastating casualties and force the mass displacement of millions of blameless Ukrainians.

Vladimir Putin began the war by claiming Russia’s neighbour needed to be “demilitarised and de-Nazified”, a baseless pretext on which to launch a landgrab against an independent state that happens to have a Jewish president in Volodymyr Zelensky.

Ukraine has fought back courageously against Mr Putin’s warped bid to restore territory lost to Moscow with the collapse of the Soviet Union and has continued to defy the odds by defending itself against Russian onslaughts with the help of Western military aid.

Battle tanks from the US, Britain and Germany are now being supplied for the first time and Mr Zelensky toured London, Paris and Brussels in early February 2023 to request fighter jets be sent as well in order to counter the Russian aerial threat, a step the allies appear to have reservations about making, although Joe Biden has since visited Kyiv in a gesture of solidarity.

Joe Sommerlad and Thomas Kingsley report:

Here’s why Putin really invaded Ukraine

Russia’s first missile barrage against Ukraine in weeks knocks nuclear plant off grid for hours

Saturday 11 March 2023 22:00 , Eleanor Noyce

In case you missed it...

Russia has launched a huge wave of missile strikes across Ukraine, killing a number of civilians and forcing Europe’s largest nuclear power plant off the electrical grid for hours.

It is the first search mass attack in weeks, with the strikes including the use of hypersonic cruise missiles – one of Moscow’s most valuable weapons which travel at such speed they can evade air defences.

“The occupiers can only terrorise civilians. That’s all they can do. But it won’t help them,” said Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky. They won’t avoid responsibility for everything they have done.”

In all Russia was said to have fired 81 missiles, with Ukraine’s military saying that 34 cruise missiles were successfully shot down, as well as four of the eight Iranian-made Shahed drones that were sent. Eight guided missiles did not reach their target. Ukraine said six hypersonic missiles had been fired, with Russia’s Defence Ministry confirming their use.

My colleague Chris Stevenson has the full story:

Russia missile barrage knocks Ukraine nuclear plant off grid for hours

China denies hidden motives after hosting Iran-Saudi talks

Saturday 11 March 2023 21:00 , Eleanor Noyce

After hosting talks at which Iran and Saudi Arabia agreed to reestablish diplomatic relations, China said Saturday it has no hidden motives and isn’t trying to fill any “vacuum” in the Middle East.

The agreement announced Friday to reestablish Iran-Saudi ties and reopen embassies after seven years was seen as a major diplomatic victory for China, as Gulf Arab states perceive the United States as reducing its presence in the Middle East.

The Foreign Ministry quoted an unidentified spokesperson as saying China “pursues no selfish interest whatsoever” and opposes geopolitical competition in the region.

Following Friday’s announcement, China’s senior diplomat Wang Yi said the agreement showed China was a “reliable mediator” that had “faithfully fulfilled its duties as the host.”

Notably, Wang also stated that “this world has more than just the Ukraine question and there are still many issues affecting peace and people’s lives.”

China has been heavily criticized for failing to condemn Russia’s invasion and for accusing the U.S. and NATO of provoking the conflict. A Chinese proposal calling for a cease-fire and peace negotiations between Russia and Ukraine went nowhere, largely because of China’s perceived backing of Russia.

Read the full story here:

China denies hidden motives after hosting Iran-Saudi talks

UK: Russian advance in Bakhmut could come with heavy losses

Saturday 11 March 2023 20:00 , Eleanor Noyce

Russian forces have made progress in the front-line hotspot of Bakhmut, a key target of Moscow’s monthslong campaign in eastern Ukraine that has resulted in staggering casualties, but their assault will be difficult to sustain without further harsh losses, U.K. military officials said in an assessment Saturday.

The U.K. defense ministry said in the latest of its regular Twitter updates that units from the Kremlin-controlled paramilitary Wagner Group have captured most of eastern Bakhmut, with a river flowing through the city center now marking the front line.

However, the update added, it will be “highly challenging” for Wagner forces to push ahead, as Ukraine has destroyed key bridges over the river, while Ukrainian sniper fire from fortified buildings further west has made the thin strip of open ground in the center “a killing zone.”

At the same time, Ukrainian troops and supply lines in the mining city remain vulnerable to “continued Russian attempts to outflank the defenders from the north and south,” as Russian forces try to close in on them in a pincer movement, the ministry said.

Karl Ritter has the full story:

UK: Russian advance in Bakhmut could come with heavy losses

Russia’s use of hypersonic missiles poses a difficult challenge for Ukraine’s air defences

Saturday 11 March 2023 19:00 , Eleanor Noyce

The Russian airstrikes across Ukraine are the latest in a series aimed at damaging infrastructure and are part of a pattern to emerge in the last five months.

They are, however, the largest attacks for a while and included hypersonic as well as cruise missiles in their number. The former, in particular, poses great challenges for the Ukrainian air defences which have become increasingly adept at coping with swarms of drones used in previous raids.

Hypersonic missiles can travel at nine times the speed of sound or more, are extremely difficult to track, can only by tackled by counter-hypersonic systems, and can destroy an aircraft carrier even without a warhead.

The Kinzhal – or Dagger – was among the supposedly “invincible” weapons which Vladimir Putin first spoke about in a national address five years ago. Russia’s defence minister, Sergei Shoigu, announced the deployment of the hypersonic missile system in Ukraine at the end of last year and US officials have subsequently charted their use in combat in the country.

Read the full story:

Analysis: Russia’s use of hypersonic missiles poses a challenge for Ukraine

Norway to donate air defence systems in cooperation with US

Saturday 11 March 2023 18:00 , Eleanor Noyce

Norway is to provide Ukraine with new air defence systems, cooperating with US aid.

The country’s defence minister announced that two complete NASAMS air defence systems would be utilised as Ukraine continues to push back in Bakhmut, with its Colonel-General revealing that a counter-offensive is “not far off.”

Norwegian defence minister Bjorn Arild Gram visited Kyiv this week, holding meetings with Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Ukrainian defence minister Oleksii Reznikov.

“The devastation is difficult to comprehend. Seeing this with my own eyes makes a deep impression”, Mr Gram stated.

An anti-government protest in Czech capital draws thousands

Saturday 11 March 2023 17:00 , Eleanor Noyce

Thousands of people in the Czech Republic rallied against the government Saturday, protesting high inflation and demanding an end to the country’s military support for Ukraine.

A new political group, PRO, organized the rally at Prague‘s Wenceslas Square as an anti-poverty event. As participants called on the coalition government to resign, party leader Jindrich Rajchl said they want “a government to care first of all about the interests of the Czech citizens.”

His group, whose name translates in English to Law, Respect, Expertise, blames the European Union for soaring energy prices. Inflation slightly dropped to 16.7% in Czechia in February from 17.5% a month earlier.

PRO also wants the Czech government to stop taking actions that are intended to reduce misinformation and fake news.

Ukraine was a key issue at Saturday’s demonstration, where the crowd called for a peaceful solution to the war. Some people had the letter “Z,” a symbol of the Russian military, on their bags.

Read more:

An anti-government protest in Czech capital draws thousands

Ukraine’s counter-offensive “not far off”, says commander of ground forces

Saturday 11 March 2023 16:00 , Eleanor Noyce

Colonel-General Oleksandr Syrskyi - the commander of Ukraine’s ground forces - has said that its counter-offensive is “not far off.”

“The real heroes now are the defenders who hold the eastern front on their shoulders,” his statement - communicated by the Ukrainian Army Land Forces’ Telegram account - read.

He remarked that holding Bakhmut - the area at the centre of Russian efforts for months now - is necessary to buy Ukraine extra time.

“It is necessary to gain time to accumulate reserves and start a counteroffensive, which is not far off.”

Three civilians killed in Kherson

Saturday 11 March 2023 15:00 , Katy Clifton

Three civilians were killed in Russian shelling of Kherson in southern Ukraine on Saturday, and one more died in the eastern Donetsk region, regional officials said.

Regional governor Oleksandr Prokudin said three people, including an elderly woman, were also wounded during the artillery shelling of the city.

“Today the Russian occupiers have hit Kherson again. On a Mykolayivsky road near a shop debris from a shell killed three people...,” Prokudin told Ukrainian TV, adding that a car, several buses and a commercial property were damaged.

Russia claims to have entered metal processing factory in Bakhmut

Saturday 11 March 2023 14:00 , Katy Clifton

Russian military bloggers and other pro-Kremlin Telegram accounts on Friday claimed Russian forces have entered a metal processing factory in north-west Bakhmut.

A Washington-based think tank late on Friday also referenced geolocated footage showing Russian forces within 800 metres of the heavily built up and fortified Azom complex.

The Institute for the Study of War said Moscow’s apparent focus on capturing the factory, rather than opting for a “wider encirclement of western Bakhmut” by attempting to take nearby villages, is likely to bring a further wave of Russian casualties.

‘Highly challenging’ for Wagner forces to push ahead

Saturday 11 March 2023 12:58 , Katy Clifton

Russian forces have made progress in the frontline hotspot of Bakhmut but their attack will be hard to sustain without further harsh losses, UK military officials say.

Bakhmut is a key target of Moscow’s campaign in eastern Ukraine, which has resulted in staggering casualties.

The Kremlin-controlled paramilitary Wagner Group has captured most of eastern Bakhmut, which a river flowing through the city centre now marking the frontline, the Ministry of Defence said.

But, its assessment added, it will be “highly challenging” for Wagner forces to push ahead because Ukraine has destroyed key bridges over the river - while Ukrainian sniper fire from fortified buildings further west has made the thin strip of open group in the middle a “killing zone”.

At the same time, Ukrainian troops and supply lines in the mining city remain vulnerable to “continued Russian attempts to outflank the defenders from the north and south” as Russian forces try to close in on them in a pincer movement, the ministry said.

Russia plotting ‘insurrection’ in Moldova, White House says

Saturday 11 March 2023 11:30 , Shweta Sharma

Russia is trying to destabilise Moldova’s government and replace it with leadership more friendly toward Moscow, the White House has said.

National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said the US believes Russia “is pursuing options to weaken the Moldovan government” to prevent it from more closely integrating with Europe, and “with the eventual goal of seeing a more Russian-friendly administration in the capital”.

Mr Kirby said “Russian actors” with ties to Moscow’s intelligence services are “seeking to stage and use protests in Moldova as a basis to foment a manufactured insurrection against the Moldovan government”.

Russia plotting ‘insurrection’ in Moldova, White House says

Saturday 11 March 2023 10:40 , Katy Clifton

An aide to president Volodymyr Zelensky has said Ukraine’s troops are focusing on disrupting Russia’s offensive by making them focus their efforts of a “few key wearisome battles”.

“Russia has changed tactics,” Mr Podolyak said in an interview published by Italy’s La Stampa newspaper. “It has converged on Bakhmut with a large part of its trained military personnel, the remnants of its professional army, as well as the private companies.”

“We, therefore, have two objectives: to reduce their capable personnel as much as possible, and to fix them in a few key wearisome battles, to disrupt their offensive and concentrate our resources elsewhere, for the spring counter-offensive. So, today Bakhmut is completely effective, even exceeding its key tasks.”