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Ukraine war – latest: Ukraine has ‘practically stopped’ Russian advances in Bakhmut, analyst says; German tank factory could be built in Ukraine
Bakhmut continues to be bombarded, with the Wagner group claiming only one road is still open for Kyiv’s troops. Listen to the latest episode of the Ukraine War Diaries while you scroll.
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Ukraine says it has ‘practically stopped’ Russian advances in Bakhmut View post
Russian pilot sentenced to 12 years in prison for bombing TV station View post
German arms manufacturer ‘in talks’ to build tank factory in Ukraine View post
Professor Michael Clarke: Is Bakhmut about to fall – and who was involved in the Bryansk attack? View post
Alex Rossi: Inside the battered town of Vuhledar on the frontline View post
Live reporting by Sky News reporters, with Alex Rossi in Ukraine and Diana Magnay in Moscow
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1h ago
23:40
Russia blames Ukrainians for shelling Bakhmut ‘since May 2022’
Two stories reported by RIA Novosti overnight:
The Russian state-owned news agency says Ukrainian troops have been shelling residential areas of what it calls Artemivsk – the Ukrainian name is Bakhmut – since May 2022.
“Police forced local residents to write statements that they allegedly suffered from the actions of the Russian military.”
The quote is attributed to Alexander Brezhnev, who appears in a video on the news agency’s Telegram account, saying he was evacuated from the city.
The second story has a video of a Ukrainian soldier named as Evgeniy Kryklivy, who says that “after training at the military base of Workop in the UK, he went to the front, where he encountered a lack of weapons and a disregard for the command, and surrendered”.
Sky News could not confirm the existence of training programmes for Ukrainian troops at a place called “Workop”.
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1h ago
23:12
‘Russia’s slow and gradual advances don’t suggest they will soon encircle Bakhmut’
The Institute For The Study Of War in the US has some thoughts on the possibility of Ukrainian forces being surrounded in Bakhmut.
In a series of tweets, the ISW says: “The Russians have, rather, managed to push close enough to critical ground lines of communication from the northeast to threaten Ukrainian withdrawal routes from Bakhmut in a classical turning movement.
“The Russians may have intended to encircle Ukrainian forces in Bakhmut, but the Ukrainian command has signalled that it will likely withdraw rather than risk an encirclement.
“ISW assesses that Ukrainian forces are far more likely to withdraw than to become encircled and that the Ukrainians might still be able to hold their positions in Bakhmut if they choose to try.
“Russian forces have been suffering high casualties in these advances.
“Ukrainian commanders’ assessments of the likelihood that they can force Russian attacks to culminate near or behind their current positions balanced against the risk of losing access to essential withdrawal routes will likely guide the Ukrainian decision to stay or pull back.”
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3h ago
21:57
Russian troops trying but failing to surround Bakhmut – Ukrainian general staff
Russian troops are trying but failing to surround Bakhmut while Ukrainian defenders have repelled numerous attacks in and around the city, Ukraine’s armed forces’ general staff said in a Facebook post late on Saturday.
Oleh Zhdanov, a prominent Ukrainian analyst of military affairs, said on Saturday night that he could not detect any immediate signs Kyiv was going to order a retreat from the city.
“At the moment the situation is more or less stabilised. In terms of the advancement of Russian troops, we practically stopped (it),” he said in a YouTube interview.
The Ukrainian general staff also said Russian attacks had been foiled in the villages of Vasyukivka, Orikhovo-Vasylivka, Dubovo-Vasylivka and Hryhorivka, all of which lie just to the north of Bakhmut’s city centre.
Russia says Bakhmut would be a stepping stone to completing the capture of the Donbas industrial region, one of Moscow’s most important objectives.
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5h ago
19:47
Two Ukrainian pilots in US for training assessment on attack aircraft, including F-16s
Two Ukrainian pilots are currently in the US undergoing an assessment to determine how long it could take to train them to fly attack aircraft, including F-16 fighter jets, according to NBC News.
The Ukrainians’ skills are being evaluated on simulators at a US military base in Tucson, Arizona, two congressional officials and a senior US official said.
US authorities have approved bringing up to 10 more Ukrainian pilots to the US for further assessment as early as this month, the officials said.
The arrival of the first two pilots marks the first time Ukrainian pilots have travelled to the US to have their skills evaluated by American military trainers.
Read the full story
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12h ago
12:55
Russia’s total losses to date – according to Ukraine
Ukraine’s defence ministry has listed what it claims to be Russia’s losses in the conflict so far – just over a year since it began.
Clearly, it is impossible to verify these figures and Moscow is highly likely to disagree.
Kyiv claims Russia has lost more than 152,000 personnel.
It also says Vladimir Putin’s forces have suffered the loss of more than 3,400 tanks and almost 6,700 armoured combat vehicles.
It claims just over 300 military jets have been downed, and a slightly fewer number of helicopters.
The number of drones it says it has taken out is more than 2,000.
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12h ago
12:23
Ukraine could begin negotiations to join EU this year, says European Parliament president
The president of the European Parliament has suggested Ukraine could begin negotiations to join the EU this year.
Roberta Metsola met President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv on Saturday.
In a tweet on Friday, she wrote: “Ukraine’s future is in the European Union. We will walk all the way with you.”
The EU agreed in June to put Ukraine on a path towards membership.
In a press briefing with Mr Zelenskyy, she said “all those responsible” for suspected Russian war crimes in Ukraine, including Vladimir Putin, must be brought to justice before a durable peace is achieved.
She also voiced support for the EU’s announcement on Thursday that an international centre for the prosecution of the crime of aggression – the act of invading another country – would be set up in The Hague to investigate the Russian invasion.
Roberta Metsola meeting Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Lviv
Roberta Metsola meeting Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Lviv
Reuters
Reuters
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13h ago
11:46
Number of dead rises after Russian strike in Zaporizhzhia
The number of dead following a Russian strike in the southern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia has risen to 11.
A woman’s body was found in the debris on Saturday, emergency officials said.
A child was among those killed in Thursday’s early-morning strike on a five-storey apartment block, the state emergency service said on Telegram.
In another post, officials from the regional administration said a Russian S-300 missile had hit the building.
Writing on Telegram shortly after the attack, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy pledged to hold Russia to account.
“The terrorist state wants to turn every day for our people into a day of terror,” he said.
“But evil will not reign in our land.
“We will drive all the occupiers out and they will definitely be held accountable for everything.”
Reuters
Reuters
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13h ago
11:07
Flowers laid in Bucha to mark first anniversary of men’s deaths
People have gathered in Bucha, northwest of Kyiv, to remember eight men killed there by Russian forces a year ago.
They had set up a roadblock in the town in an attempt to prevent Russian troops from advancing – as they swept towards the Ukrainian capital at the start of their invasion.
Their bodies lay outside a building on Yablunska Street for a month, with relatives only able to collect them in April after Russian troops withdrew.
“My heart is torn apart and my soul is in such pain for everyone who died here,” said Oleksandr Turovskyi, whose 35-year-old son, Sviatoslav, was among the eight.
AP
AP
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14h ago
10:14
German arms company ‘wants to buy Swiss tanks’
We reported earlier (10.47 post) that German arms manufacturer Rheinmetall is negotiating with Kyiv to set up a factory in Ukraine to build Panther tanks.
Now, it has been reported that the same company wants to buy 96 Leopard 1 tanks from Swiss defence firm Ruag to send to Ukraine.
The tanks in question would be used and non-operational, Swiss newspaper Tages- Anzeiger reported.
Ruag apparently bought the tanks in Italy in 2016 and they are still there.
“Rheinmetall wanted to buy the vehicles and made it clear that they would be delivered to Ukraine after being reconditioned,” a spokesperson for Ruag told Tages-Anzeiger.
Ruag apparently ran the idea past Switzerland’s State Secretariat for Economic Affairs and received a negative answer, according to Tages-Anzeiger.
It is thought the deal could still go through, however. It is likely to be discussed by Switzerland’s Federal Council.
Leopard 1 tanks are lighter than the Leopard 2, with a smaller engine and a shorter firing range.
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15h ago
09:39
People killed, houses destroyed and power lines damaged: Southern city comes under attack
The southern Ukrainian city of Nikopol has come under attack, Ukraine’s Prosecutor General’s office has said.
In its latest Telegram post, the authority said at least two people have been killed in the Russian shelling attack.
It added that buildings, power lines and gas pipelines had been damaged.
“Prosecutors, investigators and experts are working at the scene of the incident and continue their work on fixing yet another crime of the Russian Federation,” the post read.
Moscow has been accused of targeting civilians and Ukraine’s critical infrastructure since the war began—but it has routinely denied this.
A building in Nikopol back in July after a Russian artillery strike
A building in Nikopol back in July after a Russian artillery strike
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15h ago
09:09
Woman killed and two men badly wounded trying to flee Bakhmut
A woman has been killed and two men have been badly wounded while trying to cross a makeshift bridge out of Bakhmut, according to Ukrainian troops.
The victims were trying to flee the embattled city when they were caught in a shelling attack, the soldiers, who had been assisting them, said.
A Ukrainian army representative told The Associated Press (AP) that it is now too dangerous for civilians to leave the city by vehicle, with people fleeing on foot instead.
Bakhmut resident Hennadiy Mazepa and his wife Natalia Ishkova both chose to remain in Bakhmut, even as fierce battles reduced much of the city to rubble.
Speaking to the AP, Ishkova said: “Humanitarian (aid) is given to us only once a month. There is no electricity, no water, no gas,” she said.
“I pray to God that all who remain here will survive.”
For months, Bakhmut has been a key target of Moscow’s eastern offensive, with Russian troops, including large forces from the private Wagner Group, inching ever closer to Kyiv’s key eastern stronghold.
An AP team near Bakhmut saw a pontoon bridge set up by Ukrainian soldiers to help the city’s few remaining residents reach the nearby village of Khromove.
Ukrainian units over the last 36 hours destroyed two key bridges just outside Bakhmut, including one linking it to the nearby town of Chasiv Yar along the last remaining Ukrainian resupply route, according to UK military intelligence officials and other Western analysts.
The UK Ministry of Defence said the destruction of the bridges came as Russian fighters made further inroads into Bakhmut’s northern suburbs, ratcheting up the pressure on its Ukrainian defenders.
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16h ago
08:45
African Olympic committees back Russian athletes to compete in 2024 Games
African Olympic committees have passed a resolution supporting the participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes at the Paris 2024 Olympics as neutrals.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) set out a path in January for Russian and Belarusian athletes to earn Olympic places through Asian qualifying events and to compete as neutrals, with no flags or anthems.
Athletes from those countries were banned from many international competitions following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, but some international federations are now allowing them back following the IOC’s guidance.
The Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa (ANOCA) passed its resolution following a meeting, with the body’s president Mustapha Berraf saying it “aligns with the position of the IOC”.
“The members came out unanimously in favour of the participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes in all international competitions,” ANOCA said in a statement.
“It will thus be a question of allowing Russian and Belarusian athletes to participate in complete neutrality without any sign of identity in the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
“The athletes must in no case pay the heavy price of a conflict, whatever it is and wherever it is.”
Ukraine and its Eastern European and Baltic neighbours are leading the call for Russian and Belarusian athletes to be banned from Paris 2024 as long as Russia’s troops maintain their invasion of Ukraine.
Belarus has been a key staging area for the invasion.
In February, more than 30 countries including the US, Britain and France pledged their support for banning Russian and Belarusian athletes from international competitions.
Ukraine has also threatened to boycott the Olympics over Russia’s participation.
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16h ago
08:10
Watch: Are Ukrainian troops under pressure?
Russian forces say they’ve encircled the Ukrainian-held city of Bakhmut, as the UK’s Ministry of Defence warns that Kyiv’s troops are coming under “severe pressure”.
The eastern city has been the site of fierce fighting for several weeks now, despite it having little to no strategic value, according to some experts.
So how much pressure are Ukrainian troops under?
Former senior military intelligence officer Philip Ingram has been assessing Russia’s claim to find the answer.
He says Ukraine is still holding Russian forces in position.
While he agrees there is not much strategic significance in taking the area, he notes that there are some “lines of communication that would help the Russians”.
“There is just this psychological piece… and over the last seven and a half months the Ukrainians have been running a very successful fixing operation,” he adds.
He explains that this has led to Moscow and the Wagner group throwing in lots more troops, and Ukraine trapping and killing them.
“We’ve got the Russians now attacking in from the south, attacking from north, and they are circling it. There is one road in and that is now in direct fire from the Russians and that makes it difficult for Ukraine to resupply the troops in there,” Mr Ingram said.
You can watch his full analysis below…
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17h ago
07:47
Wagner boss releases video of coffins ‘containing dead Ukrainian soldiers’
The founder of the Russia’s mercenary Wagner group has released a video claiming to show coffins containing the bodies of Ukrainian soldiers.
Yevgeny Prigozhin said the dead servicemen were being repatriated to territory by Kyiv.
“We are sending another shipment of Ukrainian army fighters home. They fought bravely, and perished. That’s why the latest truck will take them back to their motherland,” he said in the clip, clad in full military gear.
In the video, men in uniform nail wooden coffins shut and load them onto a truck as blasts are heard in the background.
Mr Prigozhin, whose Wagner Group has spearheaded Russia’s months-long assault on the eastern city of Bakhmut, has repeatedly praised the Ukrainian army as a worthy and capable adversary.
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17h ago
07:26
‘Russia must pay for its crimes’
“Russia must pay for its crimes” – that’s the latest message from the president of the European Commission.
In a video address, Ursula von der Leyen announced an agreement has been signed for the International Centre for Prosecution of the Crime of Aggression to be set up in The Hague.
She said Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine has caused “unspeakable suffering” and the West must do “everything” it can to bring the perpetrators to justice.
She described witnessing the “atrocities” committed by Russian forces in Bucha – an area where mass graves, dead bodies with their hands tied behind their backs and evidence of torture were found after Moscow’s troops retreated.
“There is increasing evidence of direct attacks against civilians as well as on energy and other infrastructure,” von der Leyen said.
“Torture, ill-treatment, sexual violence and summary executions are known to have been committed by Russian forces – not even children are being spared.”
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18h ago
07:04
Ukrainian army suffered heavy losses in last 24 hours, claims Russia
The Ukrainian army has suffered heavy losses in Donetsk over the last 24 hours, according to Russia’s defence ministry.
Speaking in Moscow, the ministry’s spokesman said up to 490 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed or wounded in the eastern region during that time.
Igor Konashenkov also claimed that Russian forces destroyed several pieces of military equipment, including:
One tank
Three infantry fighting vehicles
Four pickup trucks
Nine cars,
Two Msta-B howitzers
Three D-30 howitzers
One D-20 gun
One US-made M777 artillery system
His comments come after Ukraine’s National Police said Donetsk had been hit by 38 Russian strikes in the same time period.
“Russian troops hit the civilian population with aircraft, S-300 air defence systems, Grad anti-aircraft missiles, artillery, mortars and tanks,” it reported.
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18h ago
06:43
In pictures: Ukrainian soldiers in Bakhmut
Near the front line of the embattled city Bakhmut, Ukrainian soldiers have been photographed riding in a military vehicle.
Packed in the back of a truck, the five servicemen hold onto their guns and other supplies as they drive through muddy terrain.
The region has been the site of fierce fighting for weeks, and Russian and Ukrainian troops continue to battle for control.
Earlier today, the UK’s Ministry of Defence said Ukraine’s defences in the area were coming under “increasingly severe pressure”.
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18h ago
06:09
Russian pilot sentenced to 12 years in prison for bombing Ukrainian TV station
A Russian pilot has been sentenced to 12 years in prison after being found guilty of bombing a radio and TV station in the northeastern city of Kharkiv.
Colonel Maksim Krishtop launched the strike last year and was captured by troops after his plane was shot down by Ukraine’s national guard, the State Service of Special Communications and Information Protection of Ukraine (SSSCIP) said.
He bombarded the tower with eight FAB-500 air bombs, before ejecting himself from the plane as it came under attack, the SSSCIP added.
The broadcasting station, which was only used for “civilian functions” and as a “public alerting system”, was destroyed.
“We hope there will be more and more cases like that, and all the Russian military criminals will get what they deserve,” the SSSCIP said.
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19h ago
05:47
German arms manufacturer in talks to build tank factory in Ukraine – reports
A German arms manufacturer is reportedly in talks with Ukrainian officials about building a tank plant within the war-torn country.
According to German news website, Der Spiegel, Rheinmetall is negotiating with Kyiv to set up the production facility, which would primarily make Panther tanks.
The company’s boss, Armin Papperger, told the Rheinische Post newspaper that a plant could be built for “around 200 million euros” and it would produce up to 400 Panther-type main battle tanks annually.
Mr Papperger said talks with the Ukrainian government are “promising” and he is hoping for a decision in the “next two months”.
He also stressed Ukraine’s need for weaponry, telling the newspaper the country requires “600 to 800 tanks for a victory”.
Western allies have been scraping together tanks for Ukraine for months now, with the first Leopard 2 tanks arriving from Poland on the war’s one-year anniversary.
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19h ago
05:28
More than 460 children killed in Ukraine so far
At least 462 children have been killed in Ukraine so far, the country’s prosecutor general’s office has reported.
A further 930 children have been injured, it claimed.
The stark figures come as the Ukrainian authority released its latest update on the number of war crimes committed since Russia’s invasion started.
It claims a total of 72,620 crimes of aggression and war crimes have been reported so far, as well as 16,855 offences against national security.
It added that 639 suspects have been identified, which are made up of Russian ministers, deputies, military command officials, heads of law enforcements, and “Kremlin propagandists”.
