Kyiv: Russia wagner The private army began handing over its positions in Bakhmut to regular Russian troops on Thursday, five days after declaring full control of the eastern Ukrainian town devastated by the longest and bloodiest fighting of the war.
Moscow says the capture of Bakhmut has opened the way for an advance into the eastern industrial region known as Donbass. Kiev says the fighting has drawn Russian forces into the city, inflicted high casualties and weakened Moscow’s defensive line elsewhere.
wagner founder Yevgeny Prigozhinwho has repeatedly accused Russia’s regular army of abandoning ground previously occupied by his men, said Wagner would be ready to return to the city if needed.
“From five o’clock this morning, from May 25 to June 1, most (Wagner’s) units will return to rear camps,” Prigozhin said in a video, dressed in combat gear and standing near a battle-damaged residential block . They say that 20,000 of their fighters were killed at Bakhmut.
Ukraine’s Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar said in a message on the Telegram app that Wagner had handed over positions on the outskirts of the city, but that “Wagner fighters remain inside the city”.
Russia moved forward on Thursday with plans to deploy strategic nuclear weapons in its neighbor and close ally Belarus and signed an agreement on the stockpiling of the weapons. This would be the first deployment of such bombs outside Russia by the Kremlin since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.
“The movement of nuclear weapons has already begun,” Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko told reporters in Moscow.
The US State Department condemned the deployment plan, but said that Washington had no intention of changing its position on strategic nuclear weapons, nor had it seen any indication that Russia was preparing to use nuclear weapons.
US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said, “This is the latest example of irresponsible behavior that we have seen from Russia.”
Russia steps up its demands in grain deal
Also on Thursday, Russia indicated that if demands for reforms to its grain and fertilizer exports were not met, it would not go ahead with a July 17 move to allow safe wartime exports of the same products from three Ukrainian Black Sea ports. Will be
It had made the same threat and demand in March as well. Moscow then agreed last week to renew the Black Sea export deal for 60 days – initially to ease a global good crisis exacerbated by Moscow’s February 2022 invasion of Russia and Ukraine by the United Nations and Turkey last July. to try.
Some peace initiatives have been proposed, including by Russia’s ally China, the Vatican and a group of countries in Africa, but there are no signs of actual talks to end the war.
“There is no force that could force Ukrainian society and its leaders to talk with the Russians. Not while Russian troops are here. It just doesn’t exist,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr ZelenskyThe chief of staff, Andrey Yermak, was quoted as saying on Thursday in an interview with the Interfax Ukraine news agency.
Russian forces have occupied parts of Ukrainian territory since the start of the war, and Ukraine is scrambling to recapture the land, using modern weapons supplied by Western allies and freshly trained troops from across Europe. is planning a major counter-offensive, but details are scant.
Russia has built massive fortifications in eastern and southern Ukraine in preparation for a counteroffensive. Military analysts said the smaller attacks by Ukrainian forces may be aimed at spreading Russia’s troops to a minimum, creating gaps elsewhere that could be exploited.
In a prisoner exchange with Russia, Ukraine received 106 soldiers who had been captured at Bakhmut. Russia confirmed the exchange, saying that Wagner participated in the exchange, but did not say how many Russians were released.
US bans Wagner figure
Two official sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that the United States plans to announce $300 million worth of military aid to Ukraine, mainly consisting of ammunition. The US has pledged more than $35 billion in security aid to Ukraine since the invasion.
russian president Vladimir Putin says the United States and its allies are waging an extended proxy war.
Western allies say they want Ukraine to defeat Russian forces on the battlefield, but refute Putin’s claim that they want to destroy Russia, which they blame on an unprovoked, imperial land grab in Ukraine. Let’s allege.
The US Treasury Department said it had imposed sanctions on the head of Wagner in Mali. It said the group’s employees may have been attempting to work through the West African country to acquire equipment such as mines, drones, radars for use in Ukraine.
Moscow says the capture of Bakhmut has opened the way for an advance into the eastern industrial region known as Donbass. Kiev says the fighting has drawn Russian forces into the city, inflicted high casualties and weakened Moscow’s defensive line elsewhere.
wagner founder Yevgeny Prigozhinwho has repeatedly accused Russia’s regular army of abandoning ground previously occupied by his men, said Wagner would be ready to return to the city if needed.
“From five o’clock this morning, from May 25 to June 1, most (Wagner’s) units will return to rear camps,” Prigozhin said in a video, dressed in combat gear and standing near a battle-damaged residential block . They say that 20,000 of their fighters were killed at Bakhmut.
Ukraine’s Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar said in a message on the Telegram app that Wagner had handed over positions on the outskirts of the city, but that “Wagner fighters remain inside the city”.
Russia moved forward on Thursday with plans to deploy strategic nuclear weapons in its neighbor and close ally Belarus and signed an agreement on the stockpiling of the weapons. This would be the first deployment of such bombs outside Russia by the Kremlin since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.
“The movement of nuclear weapons has already begun,” Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko told reporters in Moscow.
The US State Department condemned the deployment plan, but said that Washington had no intention of changing its position on strategic nuclear weapons, nor had it seen any indication that Russia was preparing to use nuclear weapons.
US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said, “This is the latest example of irresponsible behavior that we have seen from Russia.”
Russia steps up its demands in grain deal
Also on Thursday, Russia indicated that if demands for reforms to its grain and fertilizer exports were not met, it would not go ahead with a July 17 move to allow safe wartime exports of the same products from three Ukrainian Black Sea ports. Will be
It had made the same threat and demand in March as well. Moscow then agreed last week to renew the Black Sea export deal for 60 days – initially to ease a global good crisis exacerbated by Moscow’s February 2022 invasion of Russia and Ukraine by the United Nations and Turkey last July. to try.
Some peace initiatives have been proposed, including by Russia’s ally China, the Vatican and a group of countries in Africa, but there are no signs of actual talks to end the war.
“There is no force that could force Ukrainian society and its leaders to talk with the Russians. Not while Russian troops are here. It just doesn’t exist,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr ZelenskyThe chief of staff, Andrey Yermak, was quoted as saying on Thursday in an interview with the Interfax Ukraine news agency.
Russian forces have occupied parts of Ukrainian territory since the start of the war, and Ukraine is scrambling to recapture the land, using modern weapons supplied by Western allies and freshly trained troops from across Europe. is planning a major counter-offensive, but details are scant.
Russia has built massive fortifications in eastern and southern Ukraine in preparation for a counteroffensive. Military analysts said the smaller attacks by Ukrainian forces may be aimed at spreading Russia’s troops to a minimum, creating gaps elsewhere that could be exploited.
In a prisoner exchange with Russia, Ukraine received 106 soldiers who had been captured at Bakhmut. Russia confirmed the exchange, saying that Wagner participated in the exchange, but did not say how many Russians were released.
US bans Wagner figure
Two official sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that the United States plans to announce $300 million worth of military aid to Ukraine, mainly consisting of ammunition. The US has pledged more than $35 billion in security aid to Ukraine since the invasion.
russian president Vladimir Putin says the United States and its allies are waging an extended proxy war.
Western allies say they want Ukraine to defeat Russian forces on the battlefield, but refute Putin’s claim that they want to destroy Russia, which they blame on an unprovoked, imperial land grab in Ukraine. Let’s allege.
The US Treasury Department said it had imposed sanctions on the head of Wagner in Mali. It said the group’s employees may have been attempting to work through the West African country to acquire equipment such as mines, drones, radars for use in Ukraine.