Confusion over Bakhmut’s status intensified on Monday when the leader of Russia’s Wagner Group said his mercenary forces would leave the battered eastern Ukrainian city by the end of the month and suggested the Russian Defense Ministry send in its generals to check the city.
Wagner’s founder, Yevgeny Prigozhin, has until now repeatedly criticized the Defense Ministry as inept and accused its leaders of not controlling the territory occupied by Wagner’s troops. His announcement comes after he and the ministry claimed on Saturday that Bakhmut “has been completely taken over” after several months of heavy fighting.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy appeared to confirm the claim on Sunday, but his office later said his military continues to control a small part of the city. On Monday, Ukraine’s Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar said Ukrainian troops occupy the hills to the north and south and are beginning to encircle Bakhmut.
“They pretend with the help of propaganda that they have taken the whole city under their control, but that is not the case,” he said.
Bakhmut had a population of 70,000 before it became a crucial focus of the war that has left it virtually abandoned.
“You have to understand, there is nothing left,” Zelesnkyy said on Sunday.
Ukrainian military leaders say their resistance has helped limit Russia’s capabilities elsewhere and allowed Ukraine’s gains.
“The main idea is to exhaust them and then attack,” Ukrainian Colonel Yevhen Mezhevikin, commander of a specialized group fighting in Bakhmut, said on Thursday.
Developments:
∙ Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has urged the UN to hold a summit on the war next month rather than wait until a high-level meeting scheduled for September.
∙ Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated the Wagner Group fighters and Russian troops for their efforts in Bakhmut, which Russia calls Artyomovsk, vowing that “all those who distinguished themselves in battle will be recommended for state decorations.”
∙ Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant spent hours operating on emergency diesel generators Monday after losing its external power supply for the seventh time since the war began. “The nuclear safety situation at the plant (is) extremely vulnerable,” Rafael Grossi, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, tweeted. “We must agree to protect (the) plant now.”
∙ Portugal is willing to train Ukrainian pilots to fly F-16 fighter jets, but sending the warplanes “is not on the table,” Foreign Minister João Gomes Cravinho told the Newspaper newspaper.
∙ Russian strikes in Ukraine over the past day have killed three people and injured 14, according to Ukrainian officials. The Ukrainian Air Force said it shot down 20 Russian drones and four cruise missiles.
British: Russian military dissatisfied with air force performance
Russia is apparently creating a new elite strike aviation group codenamed “Shtorm” to operate over Ukraine. The unit is expected to consist of at least one fighter-bomber squadron and one attack helicopter squadron, the British Defense Ministry says. The mix of aircraft types suggests the group will have a leading role in ground-attack missions, according to the ministry’s latest assessment of the war. It says “credible” Russian media reports suggest the Defense Ministry hopes to attract highly-skilled and motivated pilots by offering large salary incentives and opening up recruitment to retired airmen.
“The creation of the group highlights how Russia assesses that its regular air force squadrons have been far underperforming in their primary role of conducting airstrikes on Ukrainian lines,” the update reads.
Russia vs. Russia in the Belgorod border battles
The Ukrainian Intelligence Directorate confirmed that the pro-Ukrainian Russian Freedom Legion and the Russian Volunteer Corps are operating in the Belgorod region of Russia that borders Ukraine. Fighters, Russian military defectors and other Russian volunteers in the Ukrainian army are occupying Russian villages to create a “safe zone” to protect Ukrainian citizens, directorate spokesman Andriy Yusov said.
“The legion and the (volunteer corps) are creating a demilitarized zone on the border with the Russian Federation, from where they will not be able to bomb Ukraine,” the legion said in a statement. “In the future, we move towards the liberation of all of Russia from Putin’s dictatorship and the end of the criminal war.”
Russia’s regional governor, Vyacheslav Gladkov, described the efforts as terrorism and introduced restrictions aimed at tightening security. He said that the Russian security forces are taking “the necessary measures to eliminate the enemy,” the state-owned company reported the Tass news agency. He also said that most of the residents of the border towns have left the area.
Presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov said the attacks were an attempt by kyiv to minimize the political impact of what Russia claims was the fall of Bakhmut over the weekend.
Israel-like security model considered for Ukraine, says report
Before Ukraine gains NATO membership, a process that could take years if it ever happens, it could protect its sovereignty through a security model similar to Israel’s that is being considered by the leaders of the military alliance and the USA, the Wall Street Journal reported Monday.
If implemented, the plan would bolster Ukraine’s defenses through the continued supply of Western weapons and advanced technology, but would stop short of calling for NATO intervention in the event of a conflict with Russia, the newspaper said.
The security deal has been broached by President Joe Biden and is gaining favor as an agenda item for the NATO summit in July, according to the Journal, which quoted Polish President Andrzej Duda as saying: “Discussions on this issue continue. at the moment. .”
Oligarchs evade sanctions and continue to fly private planes
An analysis of the sanctions that allowed the seizure of planes belonging to wealthy Russian oligarchs indicates that many continue to fly freely around the world. The analysis by The Telegraph in Britain indicates that many planes were moved to friendlier confines before seizures could take place. Others were pulled from the network and registered with different tail numbers. Data from Russia’s Federal Air Transport Agency shows a jump in private jet registrations last year. The opportunity to stop the war by sanctioning the oligarchs to turn on Putin is over, said Sandeep Baliga, an economics professor at Northwestern University.
“What could have happened at the beginning of the war did not happen,” Baliga told The Telegraph. “Now the war has continued and the power elite fear for their lives if they capitulate to the West.”
Russia Issues Injunction Against Ukraine-Supporting Actor
The Russian Interior Ministry issued a felony arrest warrant for movie star Alexey Panin, a native of Moscow. Earlier this month, TASS reported that authorities were investigating Panin for statements in which he “justified the terrorist attack on the Crimean bridge.” After the October explosion that severely damaged the Russian-built bridge, Panin wrote on Telegram that he “cannot hide.” ‘The joy of him Panin maintains a residence in Moscow but has reportedly lived in Spain since 2020.
Ukraine went after Panin in 2015 for “violating the country’s territorial integrity” after he spoke in support of the actions of the Russian authorities following Moscow’s 2014 annexation of Crimea. Panin later publicly apologized to the Ukrainians and said that Russia had started a “war that nobody needed”. ”
Contribution: Kim Hjelmgaard, USA TODAY; The Associated Press
