Confusion over the status of Bakhmut intensified on Monday when the head of Russia’s Wagner Group said his mercenary forces would leave the ravaged eastern Ukrainian city by the end of the month and the Russian Defense Ministry suggested sending its generals to hold the city.
Wagner founder Yevgeny Prigozhin has so far repeatedly criticized the Ministry of Defense as incompetent and accused its leaders of not controlling the territory seized by Wagner’s troops. His announcement came after he and the ministry said on Saturday that Bakhmut had been “completely taken” after months of intense fighting.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy appeared to confirm the claim on Sunday, but his office later said its military continued to control a small part of the city. On Monday, Deputy Ukrainian Defense Minister Hanna Maliar said Ukrainian troops were occupying hills to the north and south and were beginning to encircle Bakhmut.
“They pretend with the help of propaganda that they have taken the whole city under their control, but this is not the case,” he said.
Bakhmut had a population of 70,000 before becoming such an important focus of war that it was almost abandoned.
“You have to understand, there is nothing” left, said Zelesnkyy Sunday.
Ukrainian military leaders say their resistance has helped limit Russia’s capabilities elsewhere and enabled a Ukrainian advance.
“The main idea is to exhaust them, then attack,” said Ukrainian Col. Yevhen Mezhevikin, commander of a special group fighting in Bakhmut, on Thursday.
Developments:
∙ Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva urged the UN to hold a summit on the war as soon as possible next month instead of waiting until a scheduled high-level meeting in September.
∙ Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated Wagner Group fighters and Russian troops for their efforts in Bakhmut, which Russia calls Artyomovsk, and promised that “everyone who has distinguished himself in battle will be recommended for state decorations.”
∙ Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant spent hours running on emergency diesel generators on Monday after losing external power supplies for the seventh time since the war began. “The nuclear safety situation at the plant (is) very weak,” tweeted Rafael Grossi, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency. “We must agree to protect (the) plant now.”
∙ Portugal is ready to train Ukrainian pilots to fly F-16 fighter jets, but sending warplanes is “not on the table,” Foreign Minister João Gomes Cravinho told the Diario de Notícias newspaper.
∙ Russian attacks across Ukraine last day killed three people and wounded 14, according to Ukrainian officials. Ukraine’s Air Force said it shot down 20 Russian drones and four cruise missiles.
British: The Russian military is not satisfied with the performance of the air force
Russia is creating a new, elite attack aviation group code-named “Shtorm” to operate in Ukraine. The unit is expected to consist of at least one squadron of fighter-bombers and one squadron of attack helicopters, the British Defense Ministry said. The mix of aircraft types suggests the group will have the primary role of ground attack missions, according to the war ministry’s latest assessment. It says “credible” Russian media reports suggest the Defense Ministry hopes to attract highly skilled and motivated pilots by offering large pay incentives and opening up recruitment to retired aviator.
“The creation of the group highlights how Russia assesses its regular air force squadrons as severely dysfunctional in their primary role of conducting airstrikes across Ukrainian lines,” the update said.
Russian against Russian in battles on the border of Belgorod
Ukraine’s Intelligence Directorate has confirmed that the pro-Ukrainian Freedom of Russia Legion and the Russian Volunteer Corps are operating in Russia’s Belgorod region that borders Ukraine. The fighters, Russian military defectors and other Russian volunteers in the Ukraine military, are occupying Russian villages to create a “safety zone” to protect Ukrainian citizens, said the director’s spokesman Andriy Yusov.
“The legion and the (volunteer corps) are creating a demilitarized zone on the border of the Russian Federation, where they will not be able to attack Ukraine,” the legion said in a statement. “In the future, we are moving towards the liberation of all of Russia from Putin’s dictatorship and the end of the criminal war.”
Russian regional Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov described the efforts as terrorism and introduced restrictions aimed at tightening security. He said Russian security forces were taking “necessary measures to eliminate the enemy,” the state-owned Tass news agency reported. He also said that most of the residents of the border villages have left the area.
Presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov said the attacks were Kyiv’s attempt to minimize the political impact of what Russia says was the fall of Bakhmut over the weekend.
Israel-like security model is being considered for Ukraine, the report says
Before Ukraine becomes a member of NATO, a process that will take years if it happens, it will be able to protect its sovereignty through a security model similar to that of Israel that the leaders of the military alliance and the US are considering, the The Wall Street Journal reported monday
If implemented, the plan would strengthen Ukraine’s defenses through continued supplies 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 agreement has been mentioned by President Joe Biden and is gaining favor as an agenda item for the NATO summit in July, according to the Journal, which quotes Polish President Andrzej Duda as saying, “Discussions on this one are happening now . ”
The oligarchs evade sanctions, continuing to fly private jets
A review of sanctions that allow the seizure of planes belonging to Russia’s wealthy oligarchs indicates that many continue to fly freely around the world. The review by The Telegraph in Britain indicates that many planes were diverted to friendlier areas before the seizures occurred. Others have disappeared from the grid and are registered under different tail numbers. Data from Russia’s Federal Agency for Air Transport shows a jump in private jet registrations last year. The opportunity to stop the war by punishing the oligarchs so they can turn on Putin has passed, 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 continues and the elite in power fear for their lives if they should surrender to the West.”
Russia has issued a warrant for the actor supporting Ukraine
Russia’s Interior Ministry has issued a felony arrest warrant against movie star Alexey Panin, a Moscow native. Earlier this month, TASS reported that authorities are investigating Panin for statements in which he “justifies the terrorist attack on the Crimean Bridge.” ‘ was his joy. Panin maintains a residence in Moscow but has reportedly lived in Spain since 2020.
Ukraine prosecuted Panin in 2015 for “violating the country’s territorial integrity” after he spoke out in support of actions by Russian authorities following Moscow’s annexation of Crimea in 2014. He later publicly apologized Panin to the Ukrainians and said that Russia started a “war that nobody needs. ”
Contributors: Kim Hjelmgaard, USA TODAY; The Associated Press
