Volodymyr Zelenskiy commits to defending Bakhmut and pays tribute to executed soldier
Volodymyr Zelenskiy has said Ukraine is committed to defending the embattled city of Bakhmut despite a partial encirclement. The Ukrainian president said he had held a meeting with senior generals and commanders in which it was resolved that there was “no part of Ukraine” that “can be abandoned”.
Both Kyiv and Moscow appear to be struggling with ammunition shortages and mounting casualties. Yevgeny Prigozhin, the founder of Russia’s Wagner mercenary force, which is leading the Russian offensive in Bakhmut, said that his representative had been denied access to the headquarters of Russia’s “special military operation” in Ukraine after Prigozhin repeatedly complained about a lack of ammunition.
Ukrainian forces appeared to be “conducting a limited fighting withdrawal” in eastern Bakhmut, the Institute for the Study of War said, but continued to inflict high casualties on the advancing Russian forces. The US thinktank said it was too early to judge Ukraine’s intentions but the defence of Bakhmut “remains strategically sound”.
Zelenskiy paid tribute to a soldier whose execution by machine gun was filmed and uploaded to social media. The graphic video shows a man smoking a cigarette who says “glory to Ukraine” before he is shot at what appears to be close range.
The Russian defence minister, Sergei Shoigu, has visited Mariupol in a rare trip to occupied Ukraine by a senior Moscow figure. The Russian defence ministry issued images on Monday of Shoigu “inspecting Russian reconstruction efforts of infrastructure”.
The exiled Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya has been handed a 15-year jail term after being convicted in absentia for treason and “conspiracy to seize power”. She said the verdict was punishment for her efforts to promote democracy.
The European Union is reported to be edging closer to joint procurement of ammunition to help Ukraine and replenish members’ stockpiles. Major questions regarding funding and scale remain to be resolved in what would be a landmark move.
Russia’s premier tank force is expected to be re-equipped with Soviet-made T-62 tanks first fielded in 1954 to make up for combat losses, the UK Ministry of Defence has said. The MoD said there was a “realistic” possibility” that the 60-year-old tanks would be supplied to units that had been expected to receive the next-generation T-14 Armata main battle tank.
Russia’s prosecutor general has said it is labelling German-based anti-corruption group Transparency International an “undesirable organisation”. “It was found that the activities of this organisation clearly go beyond the declared goals and objectives,” it said.
A British-led £520m international fund to provide fresh weapons for Ukraine and intended to be “low bureaucracy” has been plagued by delays, with only £200m allocated amid warnings that the rest of the funding will not provide arms at the front “until the summer”.
Most of Ukraine’s winter grain crops – winter wheat and barley – are in good condition and could produce a good harvest, Ukraine’s academy of agricultural science has been quoted as saying.
