Ukraine war – latest: Wagner Group boss now fearful as Putin ‘hangs him out to dry’ in major boost for West – experts; Russia population in ‘disastrous doom loop’
Volodymyr Zelenskyy vows not to retreat from Bakhmut as Russian forces encroach on the city. Wagner Group boss Yevgeny Prigozhin is said to have fears over Moscow’s tactics – with his forces being “hung out to dry” by Vladimir Putin. Listen to the Ukraine War Diaries while you scroll.
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Wagner Group boss fearful as Putin ‘hangs him out to dry’ View post
Russia ‘calling on suicidal men’ to enlist in army View post
Kremlin jails founder of opposition social media channel View post
Zelenskyy vows to hold Bakhmut as Russians close in View post
Stuart Ramsay: ‘Executed’ soldier video could be a war crime View post
Helen-Ann Smith: Issues between China and West becoming increasingly hard to control View post
Live reporting by Katie Williams, with Alex Rossi in Ukraine and Diana Magnay in Moscow
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5h ago
18:00
Biden and Macron discuss Ukraine war and China tensions
US President Joe Biden held a phone call with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron today, the White House said.
In a statement, it said the two leaders discussed their support for Ukraine, including their commitment to continuing security assistance for Kyiv and “imposing costs on Russia for its aggression”.
Mr Biden and Mr Macron also discussed their “shared efforts” to address challenges posed by China.
The two men spoke about the cooperation between the US and France in the Indo-Pacific region, the White House added, as well as “accelerating the transition to clean energy economies”.
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6h ago
17:34
Zelenskyy warns Russia will have ‘open road’ to other cities if it seizes Bakhmut
Volodymyr Zelenskyy says it would be an “open road” for Russia to capture other cities if it were to seize Bakhmut, as he reiterated that his defence forces “have to stay strong” there.
In an interview with CNN, the Ukrainian president said the decision to defend the city so fiercely is “tactical”, warning that Vladimir Putin’s troops could head further to other towns in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region.
Mr Zelenskyy said he understands what Moscow wants to achieve with the embattled city.
“Russia needs at least some victory, a small victory, even by ruining everything in Bakhmut, just killing every civilian there,” he said.
“They need to put their little flag on top of [Bakhmut]”, Mr Zelenskyy added.
“It’s not a victory for them, it’s more…to mobilise their society in order to create this idea they’re such a powerful army.”
The city’s importance is mostly symbolic as analysts say it is not strategically key in the war and Russia capturing it would unlikely mark a turning point.
However, it would mean Mr Putin could deliver some good news to his people back home.
Mr Zelenskyy said the towns of Kramatorsk and Sloviansk, in the Donetsk region, could be next in Moscow’s sights if it takes control of Bakhmut.
Some Ukrainian commanders have reportedly raised doubts over whether the country should cling on to the city, as casualties pile up and Russian forces grow closer.
But President Zelenskyy said he has “never heard anything like that” from his officials.
“We have to think about our people first and no one should be surrounded, encircled – this is very important,” he said.
“The military see for themselves that we have to stay strong there despite the fact that Russia ruined the whole city.”
We reported earlier that less than 4,000 civilians remain in Bakhmut – with nearly 40 children among them (see our 5.30pm post).
It had looked likely Ukraine would withdraw – but Mr Zelenskyy this morning doubled down and said defence of the town would continue.
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6h ago
17:03
Ukrainian army chief meets top generals from UK, Poland and US
The head of Ukraine’s armed forces held “meaningful and direct conversation” with top generals from the UK, Poland and the US today.
Valerii Zaluzhnyi, commander in chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, met with the representatives to discuss topics including Bakhmut and the “issues of strengthening anti-aircraft defence”.
Representing the US were army general Christopher Cavoli and Antonio Aguto, commander of the Ukrainian security assistance group.
The UK’s defence staff chief Sir Tony Radakin and the chief of the General Staff of Poland’s armed forces Raymund Andrzejczak were also in attendance.
Mr Zaluzhnyi said the men spoke about the situation on the battlefield, and in particular, about “the course of events in Bakhmut”.
“The supply of military aid – arms and ammunition – was no less [than] thoroughly discussed,” he said.
The generals also discussed the issue of boosting Ukraine’s anti-aircraft defence and providing long-range weapons.
“We continued the dialogue regarding the training of the Ukrainian military,” Mr Zaluzhnyi said.
Sir Tony Radakin (L), with Raymund Andrzejczak, Valerii Zaluzhnyi and Christopher Cavoli
Sir Tony Radakin (L), with Raymund Andrzejczak, Valerii Zaluzhnyi and Christopher Cavoli
Antonio Augto (L) and Valerii Zaluzhnyi
Antonio Augto (L) and Valerii Zaluzhnyi
Pics: Telegram
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7h ago
16:33
Ukraine’s defence forces ‘hit Russian anti-aircraft missile system’
Ukraine’s military claims to have hit a Russian anti-aircraft missile system.
In its evening battlefield update, the General Staff of Ukraine’s armed forces said the country’s defence forces successfully struck a Russian Buk surface-to-air system.
Ukrainian troops have carried out nine strikes against Russian positions in the last 24 hours, according to the update on Telegram.
Russian troops have launched 19 air strikes and one missile attack throughout the past day, as well as five rocket attacks, the General Staff said.
Sky News cannot independently verify battlefield reports.
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8h ago
15:55
‘Hero of Ukraine’ killed in battle near Bakhmut
A Ukrainian recruit given the title “Hero of Ukraine” has been killed in battle near Bakhmut.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Dmytro Kotsiubailo, who was awarded the title in December 2021, died near the city which has been the scene of an intense battle for months.
In a post on Telegram, Mr Zelenskyy said Mr Kotsiubailo had been fighting for Ukraine since 2014 and is “one of those whose personal history, character and courage have forever become the history, character, and courage of Ukraine”.
The Ukrainian president said the 27-year-old was “one of the youngest heroes” of his country.
Emine Dzheppar, Ukraine’s first deputy minister of foreign affairs, also marked Mr Kotsiubailo’s death, saying the country had lost “its great son”.
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8h ago
15:23
US aware of ‘harrowing’ footage of ‘executed’ soldier
The US is aware of a “harrowing” video appearing to show a Ukrainian soldier being executed purportedly by Russian troops.
We reported earlier today that Ukraine’s military said it had identified the soldier in the video – which spread on social media yesterday – who it claimed was shot dead by “Russian invaders”.
In a briefing this afternoon, the US State Department said Russia should be ashamed for breaching basic rules of war.
Ned Price, a spokesperson for the department, said the US was “not naïve” to believe Russia would admit to the execution, but added that it was not the first evidence of atrocities by Moscow in Ukraine.
Sky’s chief correspondent Stuart Ramsay said today that although there is some confusion about the details of the video, “if it is absolutely correct and if it is what it purports to be then that is without doubt a war crime”.
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8h ago
14:57
US ‘looking at mounting Western missiles on Ukrainian fighter jets’
The US is assessing the possibility of attaching Western air-to-air missiles to Ukrainian fighter jets in a bid to boost its air power against Russia, a report suggests.
Two US defence officials told Politico that the US military is looking at whether the Soviet-era planes can be integrated with more advanced American missiles.
It would mark the first time the US has given Ukrainian jets the capability to fire air-to-air missiles – though significant differences between the systems could pose problems.
Politico reports that officials are concerned Kyiv is facing a shortage of air defences as Russia ramps up its attacks.
It’s now believed Ukraine is looking to launch its counteroffensive in the next six to eight weeks as spring temperatures thaw the ground.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy has long called for Western powers to supply his country with modern fighter jets to assist it in the war, but the calls have been met with hesitance so far.
Two Ukrainian pilots are visiting the US for an assessment of their skills on simulator technology at a base in Arizona – but officials confirmed they would not fly any American jets.
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9h ago
14:32
Jailed anti-Kremlin blogger says ‘Russia is not Putin’
An anti-Kremlin blogger jailed for spreading what Russia calls misinformation about its armed forces has told Sky News that “Russia is not Putin”.
We reported earlier that Russian blogger Dmitry Ivanov will spend more than eight years in prison after running a protest Telegram channel for students at his university.
Speaking to Sky’s Moscow correspondent Diana Magnay before his sentencing, Mr Ivanov said Russia “did not vote” for Vladimir Putin and “he did not ask us about starting this war with our closest neighbours”.
“I know that tens of millions of people here in Russia are against this criminal war,” the 23-year-old said.
“Lots of us have friends and relatives in Ukraine and we feel their pain.”
Mr Ivanov called the war “a great tragedy” for people in Ukraine, as well as “Russians calling for peace with their neighbours”.
The blogger, who was detained in June last year, told the court he stood by his original statements which he said were factually accurate.
Mr Ivanov told Sky News “today is a dark moment of our history” before he was sentenced.
“The darkest moment is always the first sunrise.”
Dmitry Ivanov pictured in court
Dmitry Ivanov pictured in court
Pic: Telegram
His mother, Elena Stromskaya, said that people were writing to Dmitry from many different countries like Central Asia, Georgia, Armenia and even the UK.
She said he had to give some letters to her as he was struggling to store them all.
Ms Stromskaya said she was “proud” of her son “despite everything”.
“I’m proud that he is holding up and that he can’t be broken and that he keeps fighting,” she told Magnay.
Last year, the Kremlin passed a law making it illegal to publish what it says is false information about its war in Ukraine.
The legislation has been used to prosecute individuals who veer away from the government’s official line that it is “a special military operation”.
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9h ago
14:00
Russian presenter’s bizarre claim that British restaurants are serving squirrels due to food shortages
A Russian TV presenter has bizarrely claimed that British restaurants are serving squirrels due to food shortages.
Footage of Olga Skabeyeva making the baseless claim on Russian TV has now made it to Twitter.
She appears to imply that money spent on Britain’s arms support for Ukraine is also affecting its supply of food.
“They will eat squirrels, but still supply howitzers,” she says.
Ms Skabeyeva provides no evidence for making the claims.
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10h ago
13:30
Ukrainian resident detained for ‘giving co-ordinates of shopping centres to Russian forces’
Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) has detained a man accused of collaborating with Russian forces by providing them with co-ordinates for civilian areas that could be targeted by missile strikes.
The Novomoskovsk resident was allegedly collecting evidence for Russia’s special service in exchange for money and a position within the occupation administration if Moscow managed to capture the region of Dnipropetrovsk.
The SBU said the man had labelled shopping centres and places of mass gathering as military objects in his reports back to Moscow, which were being used to prepare missile strikes on Ukrainian cities.
Following an investigation, the man was detained in his apartment.
Officers found computer equipment and mobile phones allegedly used to communicate with Russian contacts in his home, the SBU said.
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10h ago
13:00
Life inside a ‘destroyed’ city in Luhansk
A local library has become a lifeline for Ukrainian residents in the city of Zolote.
In January, Luhansk regional military administration leader Serhiy Haidai named Zolote as one of several settlements in the region that had been practically destroyed by months of fighting.
The city library is now being used as a hub for the remaining residents to get warm and fed and to charge their phones.
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11h ago
12:54
Kyiv ‘absolutely not involved’ in Nord Stream attacks, insists Zelenskyy aide – as Russia pushes for international inquiry
A senior aide to the Ukrainian president has insisted Kyiv was “absolutely not involved” in last year’s attacks on the Nord Stream pipelines.
Mykhailo Podolyak, who said he had no information on what happened, was commenting after a New York Times report citing US officials suggested a pro-Ukrainian group was responsible.
The US officials said there was no evidence to suggest Volodymyr Zelenskyy or his top officials were involved in the attacks.
The Nord Stream pipelines, built to carry gas from Russia to Germany under the sea, suffered ruptures in explosions last year.
Russia has seized on the new report, with its deputy UN envoy sating it “only proves that our initiative on launching an international investigation… is very timely”.
Moscow is planning to call a vote of the UN Security Council by the end of March on its draft resolution asking Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to establish such an inquiry.
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11h ago
12:30
38 children are still in Bakhmut, official says
Nearly 40 children remain in the frontline town of Bakhmut, which is the epicentre of the heaviest fighting in Ukraine.
Ukraine’s deputy prime minister Iryna Vereshchuk said less than 4,000 civilians remain in the town, according to The Kyiv Independent.
Earlier, Ukraine released footage appearing to show street fighting and explosions in the town.
Moscow has been trying to capture Bakhmut for months, and it had looked likely Ukraine would withdraw – but President Volodymyr Zelenskyy this morning doubled down and said defence of the town would continue.
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11h ago
12:00
Lithuania calls for permanent presence of German troops
Lithuania has called for the permanent presence of a German military brigade on Lithuanian soil in order to help ensure the Baltic country’s security.
The country’s defence minister Arvydas Anusauskas made the calls as fears grow of fighting spilling over into countries surrounding Ukraine.
However, Germany’s defence minister Boris Pistorius has previously said calls by Lithuania for a permanent German brigade will be “up to NATO”.
“This not down to who wants what – or who wants to provide what – but rather up to NATO,” Mr Pistorius told reporters.
German defence minister Boris Pistorius visiting German troops in Pabrade, Lithuania, today
German defence minister Boris Pistorius visiting German troops in Pabrade, Lithuania, today
Since 2017, Germany has led an international batallion with some 1,500 troops in Lithuania as part of a NATO effort to deter Russia from attacking the Baltic region, seen as one of the weakest spots in the alliance’s eastern flank.
Berlin also has a brigade of some 3,000 to 5,000 troops on standby in Germany with the ability to deploy to Lithuania within 10 days if needed.
But the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania have been calling for bigger and permanent NATO deployments to defend their territories since Russia invaded Ukraine last year.
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12h ago
11:52
Children to be forced to evacuate from combat zones
Ukrainian cabinet ministers have approved a new mechanism that will see the forced evacuation of children from active combat zones.
The decision from Kyiv comes after deputy prime minister Iryna Vereshchuk took “the issue of protecting the lives of children and their immediate evacuation from particularly dangerous areas” under her “personal control,” the Ministry of Reintegration said in a Telegram post.
The ministry says that from now on, the basis for mandatory evacuation of children will be down to regional administrations, on agreement with officials in Kyiv and military command bodies.
Parents, carers or legal representatives will accompany evacuee children, it added.
Ms Vereshchuk said today’s decision “should encourage parents to take a more serious approach to the issue of evacuating their children”.
“If adults are unable to take care of the child’s safety, then the state should do it,” she said in a statement.
The ministry pointed out that currently, Bakhmut – the scene of an intense battle with Russian forces – is the only area which falls under the criteria for forcing children to be evacuated.
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12h ago
11:26
Ukraine not involved in Belarusian air field sabotage, foreign ministry says
Kyiv was not involved in an attempted sabotage at a Belarusian air field, Ukraine’s foreign ministry has said.
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has accused the US and Ukraine of being behind the drone attack in late February.
His accusation comes despite the attack being claimed by Belarusian anti-government activists, who said they had blown up a sophisticated Russian military surveillance aircraft near the Belarusian capital Minsk.
Earlier today, the Belarusian news agency Belta reported that Minsk had detained what it called a “terrorist” and more than 20 accomplices working with Kyiv and Washington intelligence services over the attempted sabotage (see our 11.24am post).
But Oleg Nikolenko, a spokesman for Ukraine’s foreign ministry, has denied the country had any involvement, stating this afternoon: “It is clear that this is another attempt to create an artificial threat from Ukraine for the sake of justifying [Belarusian] support for Russia’s aggression.”
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12h ago
11:00
Pro-Ukrainian group may have carried out Nord Stream sabotage – report
There may be a development in the mystery surrounding the sabotage of the Nord Stream undersea pipelines last year.
The New York Times is reporting that new intelligence, reviewed by US officials, suggests a pro-Ukrainian group was behind the sabotage.
According to US officials, there is no evidence to suggest Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy or his top lieutenants were involved in the attack, or that whoever carried out the sabotage had received instructions from the Ukrainian government, the newspaper says.
The supposed perpetrators of the operation oppose Vladimir Putin, but the intelligence “does not specify the members of the group, or who directed or paid for the operation”.
US officials will not disclose how the intelligence was obtained, or its nature, the NYT says.
No strict conclusions are being drawn about it, and Sky News cannot independently verify the report.
For context… Powerful blasts caused ruptures to the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 pipelines in 2022.
The 760-mile pipelines run from Russia to Germany, via the Baltic Sea, at a depth as low as 110 metres.
On 26 September, the pipelines registered a sharp drop in pressure and seismologists detected explosions before leaks were recorded.
The US and NATO say the explosions are “an act of sabotage” while Russia says the West is responsible – though neither side has provided evidence.
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13h ago
10:44
Donetsk town reduced to a wasteland by war
A new video has emerged from Marinka, a town in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region, which has been destroyed in the war.
Only soldiers remain in the area, where heavy fighting between Russian and Ukrainian troops has been ongoing for months.
Once home to 10,000 people, the area is now deserted after being evacuated last year when it was deemed living there would be impossible.
This video, posted by a Ukrainian government adviser Anton Gerashchenko today, reveals the extent of the devastation in Marinka.
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13h ago
10:17
Analysis: China doesn’t want new Cold War with America despite harsh words
Yesterday, China claimed it had been pushed closer to Russia because of the hostility shown by the US.
In a news conference, the country’s foreign minister Qin also accused the West of “fanning the flames” of the conflict by providing Ukraine with weapons.
Speaking to Sky News, military analyst Sean Bell has said it is “always a worry” when a superpower starts talking about “likely conflict”.
“The US has been pretty tough with China of late, particularly trying to stop supplying weapons to Russia,” he said.
China’s position on Taiwan and the suspected spy balloons have also rocked relations between the US and China.
But Mr Bell says despite the comments made by China yesterday, the “harsh reality” is that Beijing needs access to the global markets and “does not actually” want to enter a new Cold War with America.
“Most likely, it would prefer to sit on the fence throughout all of this,” he added.
Mr Bell says between the lines of its strong words, China is urging the US not ask it to take sides in the war.
Watch more analysis on the conflict here…
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13h ago
10:02
‘Executed’ soldier video could be a war crime
Last night footage emerged appearing to show a Ukrainian soldier being executed purportedly by Russian troops.
And today, Ukraine’s military said it had identified the soldier who it said was shot dead by “Russian invaders”.
Speaking about the footage, Sky’s chief correspondent Stuart Ramsay says there is some confusion about the details of the video.
“If it is absolutely correct and if it is what it purports to be then that is without doubt a war crime,” he says.
“That is nothing to do with actual fighting around Bakhmut – that is just simply a criminal act. It will be investigated.”
Ramsay went on to say there are thousands of war crime allegations being investigated right now but the key issue here is how Ukrainian authorities will be able to find those responsible for the alleged killing.
