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Ukraine war – latest updates: Bakhmut ‘slaughter-fest’ sees Russia suffer ‘huge casualties’
A months-long “slaughter-fest” in the key eastern city of Bakhmut has seen Russia suffer “huge” losses, but Ukraine has admitted Vladimir Putin’s troops have achieved a “degree of success”. Listen to a Daily podcast special on supersonic missiles as you scroll.
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Russia achieving ‘degree of success’ in ‘slaughter-fest’ Bakhmut View post
Russia prepares for major military recruitment campaign to sign up ‘400,000 troops’ View post
Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant ‘can’t be protected’ View post
‘Huge Russian casualties’ due to ‘deep systemic problems’ View post
Live reporting by Lucia Binding
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1m ago
06:10
Russian National Guard chief arrested in possible ‘sweeping corruption probe’ – thinktank
The head of the naval department of Rosgvardia (the Russian national guard) has been arrested in what could be a “sweeping corruption probe” into the internal security service, a US-based thinktank has reported.
Colonel Sergey Volkov, chief of the National Guard Naval Service Corps, was arrested on Wednesday on charges of abuse of authority in connection with the sale of low-quality radar systems at heavily inflated prices, according to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).
An official investigation reportedly found that Volkov’s actions cost 395.5m roubles (roughly $5m).
It comes after a criminal case was launched on 20 March against another national guard commander, Major General Vadim Dragomiretsky – also on corruption-related charges.
Analysts at the ISW say that these two investigations could indicate a wider corruption probe into Russia’s internal security service.
“The criminal proceedings are notable because commanders of conventional Russian forces have not been fired, let alone arrested, since the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine at the same rate or in such high-profile circumstances as the Rosgvardia cases,” the ISW said.
Russia’s national guard reports directly to Vladimir Putin, and he “likely pays very close attention to the reliability and loyalty of some Rosgvardia personnel,” the thinktank added.
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6m ago
06:05
Russia using ‘ship-to-ship transfers’ to ‘obfuscate supply chain’
The boss of software company Windward has said he has a “good idea” about where Russia’s seaborne oil exports are going.
Speaking to Sky News’ Ian King, chief executive Ami Daniel said: “What we are seeing is Russia is strategically using what’s called ship-to-ship transfers in the middle of the sea with millions of barrels, to obfuscate the supply chain and the source of oil.”
He said they have been seeing a rise in ship-to-ship transfers off Kalamata in Greece and in the Atlantic.
“I think there’s a straightforward place that it’s going to, so crude is obviously going to India and to China and to those countries which didn’t necessarily take a stand [against the war in Ukraine].
“It could also be Malaysia or Indonesia for instance – people who don’t necessarily align themselves 100% with the West or with China and Iran.”
Mr Daniel added that the last 12 months have been all about supply chain management, and that suspicious maritime activity is “absolutely” on the rise as a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
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38m ago
05:32
China’s role in Ukraine conflict vital to EU relations, EU says
China must play a part in pressing for a “just peace” in Ukraine and its role in the conflict will be vital in shaping relations with the European Union, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said this morning.
China, as a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, has a responsibility to play a constructive role in advancing a peace based on the territorial integrity of Ukraine, with the withdrawal of invading Russian forces, she added.
“Any peace plan which would in effect consolidate Russian annexations is simply not a viable plan. We have to be frank on this point,” Ms von der Leyen said in a speech in Brussels on the eve of a trip to Beijing.
“How China continues to interact with Putin’s war will be a determining factor for EU-China relations going forward.”
Her comments come after Chinese President Xi Jinping’s three-day visit to Russia where he met with his longtime friend Vladimir Putin.
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55m ago
05:16
Russia in contact with IAEA on ‘evolving’ idea of Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant safety zone
Russian deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov said today that Moscow was still talking to the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency about the idea of a safety zone around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant that is controlled by Russian forces in Ukraine, Russian news agencies reported.
RIA quoted him as saying that the idea was “evolving”.
Interfax news agency quoted Mr Ryabkov as saying Moscow was in “constant contact” with IAEA chief Rafael Grossi.
Earlier, we reported that Mr Grossi said there had been a significant increase in the number of troops in the region of the plant and it could no longer be protected.
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1h ago
04:40
Four bankers who helped Putin’s friend set up Swiss bank account are convicted
Four bankers who helped a close friend of Russian President Vladimir Putin move millions of francs through Swiss bank accounts have been convicted.
They were all were found guilty today of helping Sergey Roldugin, a concert cellist who has been dubbed “Putin’s wallet” by the Swiss government.
The executives – three Russians and one Swiss – helped Roldugin, who is godfather to Putin’s eldest daughter Maria, deposit millions of francs in Swiss bank accounts between 2014 and 2016.
The men, who cannot be identified under Swiss reporting restrictions, were found guilty at a hearing at Zurich District Court and were given suspended sentences of seven months each.
Vladimir Putin awarding Sergey Roldugin in 2016
Vladimir Putin awarding Sergey Roldugin in 2016
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2h ago
04:06
Wall Street Journal reporter in Russia detained ‘on suspicion of spying’
Russia’s FSB security service said today that Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich had been detained in the Urals city of Yekaterinburg on suspicion of espionage, the Interfax news agency reported.
Mr Gershkovich, who was in Russia to cover the ongoing war in Ukraine, “is suspected of espionage in the interests of the American government”, the security service known as the FSB said in a statement, Interfax reported.
The FSB said it had “stopped the illegal activities of US citizen Gershkovich Evan, born in 1991, a correspondent of the Moscow bureau of the American newspaper The Wall Street Journal, accredited at the Russian Foreign Ministry, who is suspected of spying in the interests of the American government”.
It added that the US reporter “collected information constituting a state secret about the activities of one of the enterprises of the Russian military-industrial complex”.
According to the Moscow Times, PR expert Yaroslav Shirshikov said on messaging app Telegram that he received an overnight phone call from a WSJ employee who had been unable to contact Mr Gershkovich.
“He [Gershkovich] was online yesterday at about 15:00 for the last time. He arranged to do an interview with me,” Mr Shirshikov was quoted as saying.
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2h ago
03:40
Russian father gets heavy sentence – and daughter put in care – for ‘insulting army’
A Russian man has been sentenced to two years in a penal colony for discrediting the country’s army.
Alexei Moskalyov was sentenced this week – though he wasn’t present after fleeing house arrest. However, the authorities have now caught up with him.
“He has been detained, yes,” lawyer Dmitry Zakhvatov said, without providing further details.
The Russian-language news outlet SOTA reported earlier that Moskalyov, 54, had been arrested in Minsk, the capital of Belarus, a staunch Russian ally.
Moskalyov came to the attention of Russian police last year after his daughter Masha, then 12, drew an anti-war picture at school showing Russia firing missiles at a Ukrainian mother and child.
He was later charged with discrediting Russia’s armed forces over separate anti-war comments on social media.
The case has resonated widely in Russia and abroad, particularly since Masha, now 13, was separated from her father and placed in a children’s home earlier this month.
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3h ago
03:06
Russian troops rushing about ‘from place to place’
Ukrainian military analyst Oleh Zhdanov, who has served in the military, said that while the offensive on Bakhmut remained intense, “the conclusion is that Russian troops are beginning to rush about from place to place”.
“It now appears that the enemy has shifted its focus to the city itself – that is where the heaviest fighting is now taking place,” Mr Zhdanov said in a YouTube video.
The Ukrainian military also said there was renewed shelling of Kherson city in the south, along with other towns on the west bank of the Dnipro River that bisects the country.
The Ukrainian air force said it had destroyed a Russian Su-24M bomber. It added that in the past 24 hours, rocket and artillery struck two areas of concentration of Russian forces, an ammunition depot and two fuel depots.
An aerial view of Bakhmut
An aerial view of Bakhmut
AP
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3h ago
02:40
Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant ‘can’t be protected’
UN atomic energy chief Rafael Mariano Grossi visited Ukraine’s embattled Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant on Wednesday and said there had been a significant increase in the number of troops in the region of the plant and it could no longer be protected.
It was Mr Grossi’s second visit to Zaporizhzhia since Russia invaded Ukraine last February, with his aim being to “assess first-hand the serious nuclear safety and security situation at the facility”, the IAEA said.
The agency has had a team of experts inside the plant since last September, but Mr Grossi has described the situation as “still precarious”.
“It is obvious that military activity is increasing in this whole region. So the plant can’t be protected,” he said.
The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station
The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station
AP
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4h ago
02:10
Russia preparing for major military recruitment campaign to sign up ‘400,000 troops’, MoD says
Russian media is reporting that authorities are preparing to start a major military recruitment campaign with the aim of signing up “an additional 400,000 troops”.
The UK MoD said Russia is presenting the campaign as a drive for volunteer, professional personnel rather than a new, mandatory mobilisation.
It added that Russian authorities have likely selected a supposedly “volunteer model” to meet their personnel shortfall in order to minimise domestic dissent.
But the MoD notes that rebuilding Russia’s combat power will require more than just personnel – as it needs more munitions and military equipment than it currently has available.
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4h ago
01:36
‘Huge Russian casualties’ due to ‘deep systemic problems’
The ratio of Russian to Ukrainian deaths on the eastern front has reached as high as 10 to one, according to Ukraine’s deputy minister of defence.
Hanna Malyar stressed this was not the case every day, but said Russian losses are “many times greater” than Ukrainian, in a Telegram post.
Of course, you would expect these kind of claims from the Ukrainian side – but her comments come after Britain’s defence secretary, Ben Wallace, told Sky News more than 220,000 Russian troops and mercenaries had been killed or injured in Ukraine.
“The Russian forces have some really significant and deep systemic problems at the moment in their efforts,” Mr Wallace said.
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4h ago
01:14
Russia achieving ‘degree of success’ in ‘slaughter-fest’ Bakhmut
Ukraine has admitted Russian forces have made some progress in Bakhmut, the politically symbolic city which has been the focus of months of attrition.
Yesterday morning, Volodymyr Zelenskyy said losing Bakhmut could undermine Ukrainian momentum and support, forcing his side to compromise with Vladimir Putin.
Since then the general staff of his armed forces said the Russian offensive has had “a degree of success”.
“Enemy forces had a degree of success in their actions aimed at storming the city of Bakhmut,” said the general staff in a regular nighttime report.
“Our defenders are holding the city and are repelling numerous enemy attacks.”
But chairman of the US joint chiefs of staff, General Mark Milley, gave US lawmakers a more optimistic assessment.
“The Russians have not made any progress whatsoever in and around Bakhmut,” he said.
“So it’s a slaughter-fest for the Russians. They’re getting hammered in the vicinity of Bakhmut and the Ukrainians have fought very very well.”
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5h ago
00:59
Good morning – welcome to our ongoing live coverage of the war in Ukraine
As we have been doing right here every day through the last 13 months, we’ll bring you all the latest updates and analysis on the war in Ukraine – but first, a recap of yesterday’s key events:
Explosions were reported at a military airbase in Crimea;
Zelenskyy said losing Bakhmut could force Ukraine to “compromise” with Putin;
The leader of the paramilitary Wagner Group hinted at a plan to replace Putin as president with an “unusual” interview;
A Russian propagandist said Ukraine should be “erased off the map”;
Vladimir Putin conceded that Western sanctions may damage the Russian economy.
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13h ago
17:00
‘To win against tyranny greater unity is needed,’ Zelenskyy says
To win against tyranny “greater unity is needed”, Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said in his nightly address.
In his latest update, the Ukrainian leader said he had taken part in the global Summit for Democracy at the invitation of President Joe Biden.
He said in almost all the leaders’ speeches at the summit, there were “apt words of support for our country and our people”.
“But to win against tyranny, greater unity is needed. I am sure that the democratic world is capable of achieving it. It is capable of winning,” he said.
Mr Zelenskyy went on to say that democracy needed victory and “as soon as possible”.
He added: “Today, a step has also been taken to strengthen the spiritual independence of our state, to protect our society from the old and cynical Moscow manipulation of religion.
“Ukraine is the territory of the greatest religious freedom in our part of Europe. It has been so since 1991. It will always be so.”
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14h ago
16:06
Poland urges EU to limit influx of Ukrainian grain
Poland wants the EU to use all tools at its disposal to limit the amount of Ukrainian grain entering the EU market, the prime minister has said.
Ukraine, one of the world’s largest grain exporters, had its Black Sea ports blocked following Russia’s February 2022 invasion and it found alternative shipping routes through EU states Poland and Romania.
Logistical bottlenecks mean large quantities of Ukrainian grains, which are cheaper than those produced in the EU, have ended up in central European states, hurting prices and sales of local farmers.
Now, Poland is asking the European Commission to employ a protective clause regarding grain imports to Poland from Ukraine.
“We demand the use of all regulatory instruments – quotas, tariffs, which will limit or block the import of Ukrainian grain into Poland,” Mateusz Morawiecki told a news conference.
Mr Morawiecki said he had agreed with the leaders of several countries bordering Ukraine to write to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to demand action.
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14h ago
15:40
Spain to send six Leopard tanks to Ukraine after Easter
Spain will send six German-made Leopard tanks to Ukraine after Easter, the country’s defence minister Margarita Robles has said.
Speaking to politicians today, Ms Robles said the country had just repaired the fighting vehicles that have not been used since the 1990s, and testing their combat readiness before shipping them.
“By sending the Leopards, we will continue to help the Ukrainian people… to defend themselves against an absolutely unjust attack,” she said, adding that Spain would now repair another four tanks which will be sent “in the near future”.
The German-made 2A4 Leopard tanks will be sent to Ukraine after 9 April.
Earlier this week, 18 Leopard 2 tanks pledged by Germany and three pledged by Portugal arrived in Ukraine.
Moscow calls the deliveries of Western weapons a dangerous provocation.
Margarita Robles
Margarita Robles
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14h ago
15:21
Ukraine should be ‘erased off the map’, propagandist says
Ukraine should be “erased off the map” and there should not be any pity for them, Russian propagandist Sergey Mardan has said.
In a clip shared by Julia Davis, columnist for The Daily Beast who says she “watches Russia state media so you don’t have to”, Mr Mardan speaks on what is believed to be Russian television.
He claims that the people who identify as patriots of Ukraine are “degenerates”.
“People who are fighting for it are criminals. Taken separately, every one of them may be normal,” he says.
“For many of them, Russian is their native language.”
The propagandist goes on to say that in one year “all conclusions have already been reached”.
“They are simple animals,” he adds
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15h ago
14:25
Ukrainian troops carry out military training near frontline in Zaporizhzhia region
Ukrainian troops have been carrying out military training near the frontline in the Zaporizhzhia region, in southeast Ukraine.
In October last year, Vladimir Putin signed laws absorbing four Ukrainian regions – including Zaporizhzhia – into Russia.
It followed the so-called referenda in Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia, rejected as a sham by Ukraine and the West.
The areas annexed are not under the full control of Russian forces.
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16h ago
13:53
Murder rate rises in Russia for first time in 20 years – reports
The number of murders in Russia has increased for the first time in 20 years, Russia’s daily paper Kommersant reports.
The paper, which cited official data from judicial departments in the area, said there had been a decline in murder and attempted murder cases from 32,265 in 2002 to 7,332 in 2021.
However, this figure shot up in 2022 by 4% rise to 7,628 murder and attempted murder cases.
The data also showed a rise in murder cases in the Russian regions that border Ukraine.
The report was published by the Travmpunkt lawyer association who attributed the increase in murders to factors directly and indirectly related to the invasion of Ukraine.
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16h ago
13:24
Ukraine condemns IOC recommendations on Russian and Belarusian athletes competing as neutrals
Ukraine’s sports ministry has today condemned what it said was a partial change of position by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to allow Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete in international competitions as neutrals.
In a statement the ministry said: “The Ministry of Youth and Sports of Ukraine condemns the partial change of the position of the International Olympic Committee regarding the non-admission of Russian and Belarusian athletes.
“We have consistently advocated and will continue to insist that under the conditions of the unprecedented unprovoked military aggression of the Russian Federation with the support of the Republic of Belarus against Ukraine, which contradicts the principles of the Olympic Charter, representatives of aggressor states should not be present at international sports arenas.”
For context: Yesterday, the IOC issued recommendations for the gradual return to international competitions for Russian and Belarusian athletes, with president Thomas Bach saying their participation “works” despite the ongoing war in Ukraine.
The IOC had sanctioned Russia and Belarus after the February 2022 invasion but it is now eager to see athletes come back across all sports and have a chance to qualify for the Paris 2024 Olympics.
It has set out a pathway for these competitors to earn Olympic slots but has faced headwinds, with Ukraine threatening to boycott the Paris Games should they compete there, even as neutrals.
