Russian forces fail to advance in Bakhmut, Avdiivka, Ukraine says

March 29 (Reuters) – Russian forces are relentless in their attempts to capture the bombed-out towns of Bakhmut and Avdiivka in eastern Ukraine but have made no progress, Ukraine’s military said on Wednesday, but a pro-Moscow official said the Russians are advancing.

The two towns, along with other communities in the Donetsk industrial region, are at the epicenter of Russia’s attacks, the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces said in a statement.

“The enemy continues its assault on the city of Bakhmut. However, our defenders bravely defend the city and repel numerous enemy attacks,” the General Staff said, adding that Ukrainian forces had repulsed 57 Russian attacks on Bakhmut and other cities. .

Britain’s Defense Ministry said Russian forces had made only “marginal progress” in an attempt to encircle Avdiivka and had lost many armored vehicles and tanks.

But Denis Pushilin, the Russian-installed leader of the part of the Donetsk region under Moscow’s control, said most Ukrainian forces had withdrawn from a metal factory in western Bakhmut and that Russian forces were making progress.

Reuters was unable to verify the battlefield accounts.

As advanced western main battle tanks began to get to Ukraine Ahead of an anticipated counteroffensive by its forces, Russia’s RIA news agency reported that Moscow had sent hundreds of new and refurbished tanks to its troops.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who visited two northern cities and trenches near the Russian border on Tuesday, he spoke in his late-night video speech about the international response to Russia’s February 2022 invasion of his country, saying it “reminds the world that Russian aggression could end considerably faster than is sometimes claimed.” .

RUSSIAN MISSILE EXERCISE

Far from the battlefields of the biggest territorial conflict in Europe since World War II, Russian ally Belarus He said his decision to harbor Russian tactical nukes was a response to Western sanctions and what he said was a military buildup by NATO member states near their borders.

US President Joe Biden indicated he would be concerned about the decision, though the US said it had seen no indication that Russia was any closer to using tactical nukes in Ukraine.

Russia had begun exercises with its Yars intercontinental ballistic missile system and several thousand troops, its defense ministry said, in what is likely to be seen as another attempt by Moscow to show off its nuclear muscle.

Russia said Tuesday it had shot down a US-supplied plane. GLSDB Guided Smart Bomb fired by Ukrainian forces, the first time he has claimed to have intercepted one of the weapons that could double the firing range of the Ukrainian battlefield.

The Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine is another hotspot. The head of the UN nuclear watchdog is you are expected to visit the plant on Wednesday.

Rafael Grossi said in an interview with Reuters that his work to forge an agreement to protect Europe’s largest nuclear power plant was still alive.

Russia and Ukraine have accused each other of bombing the site.

Russian media quoted a Moscow-based official in Zaporizhzhia as saying that Ukrainian forces had shelled the city of Melitopol, some 100 km (62 miles) southeast of the nuclear plant, hitting a locomotive depot, but there were no reports of victims.

INVITATION TO XI

Russia calls its invasion of Ukraine a “special military operation.” The war has killed thousands of soldiers on both sides, tens of thousands of civilians, and displaced millions.

The United States and other Ukraine allies have provided it with arms and money, describing the invasion as an imperial-style land grab by Russia.

On the diplomatic front, Zelenskiy told the Associated Press in an interview that he had extended an invitation to Chinese President Xi Jinping to visit him.

Xi has not spoken to Zelenskiy since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February last year, but China last month released a 12-point plan for “a political resolution of the Ukraine crisis.”

xi discussed the conflict with his “dear friend”, Russian President Vladimir Putin, during a state visit to Moscow last week.

China’s proposal includes a call for de-escalation and an eventual ceasefire in Ukraine, but the US has been dismissive as China has refused to condemn Russia for its invasion of Ukraine, and Zelenskiy has said that he will only consider peace agreements after the Russian troops. leave Ukrainian territory.

Separately, Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk urged the Russians not to adopt children who he said were “robbed” in Ukraine and deported to Russia, a possible war crime.

Russia has made no secret of a program under which it has brought thousands of Ukrainian children to Russia, but rather presents it as a humanitarian campaign to protect orphans and abandoned children in the conflict zone.

Reuters bureau reports; written by Stephen Coates, Robert Birsel; Edited by Raju Gopalakrishnan

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