Pressure on Ukrainian troops and civilians entrenched in Bakhmut increased on Saturday. Kiev forces were trying to help residents escape the besieged eastern city amid what Western analysts say could be preparations for a Ukrainian withdrawal.
Bakhmut’s capture would not only give Russian fighters an edge on the battlefield after months of setbacks, but could sever Ukraine’s supply lines and allow Kremlin forces to push into other Ukrainian strongholds in the region.
New in development
Russian militias announce control of Bakhmut’s northern railway station
Mercenary units of the Wagner Group are in full control of the Stupki railway station north of the city of Bakhmut, the epicenter of fighting in eastern Ukraine, Russian militias in Donetsk said on Sunday.
“The storming and clearing of the Stupki station in the northern suburb of Artiomovsk (Russian name for Bakhmut) has been completed, the neighborhood is under full control of Wagner’s fighters,” the self-proclaimed republic’s militia said in a statement. . Popular Donetsk, posted on Telegram.
The “release” of Stupki, deemed essential to gain access to Bakhmut’s center, was announced a week ago by Donetsk leader Denis Pushilin. “Now (the Wagner mercenaries) have liberated the Stupki neighborhood. If we take into account that there is a fight for every house there, this is a major success at the present stage,” Pushilin told Russian public television.
According to the foreign press, the withdrawal of Ukrainian forces to Bakhmut is imminent
An image of Bájmut after months of siege (Photo by AFPTV/AFP)
Pressure mounted on Ukrainian troops and civilians entrenched in Bakhmut on Saturday as Kiev forces tried to help residents flee the besieged eastern city amid what Western analysts say could be preparations for a withdrawal. .
Bakhmut’s capture would not only give Russian fighters a rare battlefield advantage after months of setbacks, but could sever Ukraine’s supply lines and allow Kremlin forces to push into other Ukrainian strongholds in the eastern region of Donetsk.
Bakhmuth has been a key target in Moscow’s eastern offensive for months now, with Russian troops – including large forces from private Russian military contractor Wagner Group – closing in on the key eastern stronghold of Kiev.
New in development
“Vladimir, don’t do it”, Donald Trump warned Putin
Former US President Donald Trump has revealed an interview he had with Vladimir Putin and said he warned him of what could happen if Russia “takes control of countries”.
“I said ‘Vladimir, don’t do that, you know we’re friends, don’t take over countries, because then Moscow will be hit hard,'” Trump said, admitting the Russian leader “probably didn’t believe him,” according to the report. The Russian news agency TASS.
Specialists see the possibility that Russia will encircle Bakhmut in the near term as very distant
The Institute for the Study of War has considered the possibility that Russian troops would surround Bakhmut, a small industrial city in eastern Ukraine, anytime soon.
According to the latest report by the US think tank, the advance of the invaders “does not suggest that Russian forces can encircle Bakhmut any time soon, let alone conquer the city with frontal attacks”.
kyiv will create support centers for displaced people
Deputy Prime Minister and head of the portfolio for the reintegration of the temporarily occupied territories, Iryna Vereshchuk, has proposed to create coordination centers for the support of internally displaced persons under the regional military administrations.
“If last year we focused our efforts on evacuation and primary care for internally displaced people, now the focus is on integrating these people into host communities. Your psychosocial support. Assistance in finding work in a new place. currently the key tools for the integration of internally displaced persons,” she stressed.
The president-elect of the Czech Republic plans to visit Ukraine
His “priority” is to visit the neighboring country in the first hundred days of his rule – AFP photo
The President-elect of the Czech Republic, Petr Pavel, plans to visit all neighboring countries, as well as Ukraine, during his first 100 days in office.
“I don’t expect to have to travel anywhere else during this time, because I actually make our neighborhood a priority,” she said.
171 cases of sexual violence registered in Ukraine
The number of acts of sexual violence by Russian troops in Ukraine indicates that such crimes “are a deliberate policy of the Russian military,” Ukrainian first lady Olena Zelenska told the United for Justice conference in Lviv.
Ukraine reports that Russian soldiers have been provided with tools for sexual violence
“Sex crimes in Ukraine are not only the perpetrators, there are also the organizers. Because the structure of these crimes is very complex. Wasn’t it a form of genocide of the Ukrainian people?” asked Chief Justice Vsevolod Knyazev .
“In the cleared territories of Pushcha, Borodyanka and Irpen, when I visited the cleared and destroyed judicial premises, in one of them, used as the headquarters of Russian officers, a whole box of means used to commit violent sexual acts was found found .”, he added.
And finally he revealed: “The officers distributed them to the soldiers for their future use. It is likely that they already had it in for them, and this crime was planned in advance.”
Canada shows how it trains Ukrainian soldiers to master the Leopard 2
Through social networks, the Canadian Armed Forces published pictures of training sessions of Ukrainian soldiers “with live fire and basics of the Leopard 2 tank together with Polish and Norwegian soldiers.”
They say “Russia’s tactics are becoming more and more terrorist”
“Due to the lack of success on the front, the Russians are desperate and their tactics are becoming more and more terrorist,” said First Deputy Defense Minister Oleksandr Pavlyuk.
“They are bombing the regions, killing the civilian population, destroying the infrastructure,” he added.
Ukraine has asked to regain “full control” of the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant
“This particularly cynical form of terror demands a particularly principled response from the world. We need comprehensive sanctions against Russia’s nuclear industry, we need the immediate return of Ukraine’s full control over the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant,” President Volodymyr Zelensky wrote on Twitter.
Zelenski, together with the head of the European Parliament: “For all our people”
“Together again in Ukraine. For Ukraine. For Europe. For peace. For Freedom. For justice. For all our people ”, the president of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, wrote on her social networks, together with a photo in which she is seen next to the Ukrainian president, Volodimir Zelenski.
For Latvia, the arrival of Western fighter jets in Ukraine “is a matter of time”
The supply of Western fighter jets to Ukraine is “a matter of time,” the Latvian government said.
“If Ukrainians need fighter planes, they should have them,” Krisjanis Karins said, adding that Ukrainians have demonstrated the ability to quickly learn to use new equipment.
kyiv begins to allocate the millions seized in Moscow
Ukraine to use $460 million of confiscated Russian assets for reconstruction.
The government will use the seized assets of two Russian banks, MR Bank and Prominvestbank, to rebuild the country, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said at a conference on March 4.
Ukraine has sentenced a Russian pilot who bombed a TV tower to 12 years in prison
A Ukrainian court has sentenced Russian pilot Alexei Loboda to 12 years in prison, after holding him responsible for an attack that rendered unusable a tower of a television transmission system in the city of Kharkov, judicial sources reported today.
The conviction was based on provisions of the Criminal Code, the Ukrainian Prosecutor General’s Office said in a statement, according to the Europa Press news agency.
The prosecutor’s office said Loboda received an order in March 2022 to destroy civilian targets in the Kharkov region with its fighter aircraft, including a radio and television repeater plant.
“The convict was aware of the illegality of the combat order, but did not refuse to comply with it and bombed the RTPS headquarters in Kharkov with eight FAB-500 bombs with the equivalent of 2,400 kilograms,” the document explained. .
They create a dialogue group to coordinate efforts to prosecute Russia
The Prosecutor General of Ukraine said that “there can be no peace without justice” – Photo EFE
Ukrainian Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin announced today the creation of a dialogue group with the aim of coordinating national and international efforts to prosecute crimes committed in Ukraine following the Russian invasion.
“There can be no peace without justice and accountability. We cannot and will not forget the horrors experienced in Izium, Bucha, Irpin, Kharkiv, Kherson, Mariupol and other cities,” Kostin said.
The UK will supply twice as many tanks as promised to Ukraine
The UK will deliver 28 Challenger 2 main battle tanks instead of the previously promised 14, Ukraine’s ambassador to the UK Vadym Prystaiko said in an interview with Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.
Russian attack in Zaporizhzhia: 8-year-old girl and her family dead
According to Ukraine’s state emergency services, 11 people were killed after a Russian rocket attack in Zaporizhzhia, including an 8-month-old baby girl and her family.
Key elections in Estonia, an ally of Ukraine
Source: Clarin
Mary Ortiz is a seasoned journalist with a passion for world events. As a writer for News Rebeat, she brings a fresh perspective to the latest global happenings and provides in-depth coverage that offers a deeper understanding of the world around us.