Ukraine-Russia news – latest: Kyiv says Bakhmut battle is grinding down Putin’s best units

Ukraine is fighting on in Bakhmut as a top official in Kyiv claimed the battle is grinding down Russia’s best units ahead of a planned spring counter-offensive.

The comments by Mykhailo Podolyak, a presidential aide to Volodymyr Zelensky, were the latest signal of a shift by Kyiv this week to continue the defence of the small eastern city, site of the war’s bloodiest battle, as Moscow tries to secure its first major victory in more than half a year.

"Russia has changed tactics," Mr Podolyak said. "It has converged on Bakhmut with a large part of its trained military personnel, the remnants of its professional army, as well as the private companies.

"We, therefore, have two objectives: to reduce their capable personnel as much as possible, and to fix them in a few key wearisome battles, to disrupt their offensive and concentrate our resources elsewhere, for the spring counter-offensive. So, today Bakhmut is completely effective, even exceeding its key tasks."

Russia has made Bakhmut the main target of a winter push involving hundreds of thousands of reservists and mercenaries. It has captured the eastern part of the city and outskirts to the north and south, but has so far failed to close a ring around Ukrainian defenders.

Key points

• Wagner chief ‘cut off’ by Putin over arms call

• IAEA chief makes plea for Zaporizhzhia safe zone after outage

• Russia unleashes barrage of missiles on many Ukrainian regions

• Berlin warns against hasty accusations after Nord Stream reports

• Ukraine denies involvement in Nord Stream pipeline sabotage

• Bakhmut a ‘meat grinder’ for Putin's forces as Russian losses soar

Wagner chief ‘cut off’ by Putin over arms call

Friday 10 March 2023 03:27 , Arpan Rai

Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin has accused Russian president and his boss Vladimir Putin of cutting him off over repeated requests for replenishing his forces fighting in eastern Ukraine.

“To get me to stop asking for ammunition, all the hotlines to offices, to departments etc have been cut off from me. But the real humdinger is that they’ve also blocked agencies from making decisions [related to Wagner],” the private Russian military’s leader said on Telegram.

10:40 , Katy Clifton

An aide to president Volodymyr Zelensky has said Ukraine’s troops are focusing on disrupting Russia’s offensive by making them focus their efforts of a “few key wearisome battles”.

“Russia has changed tactics,” Mr Podolyak said in an interview published by Italy’s La Stampa newspaper. “It has converged on Bakhmut with a large part of its trained military personnel, the remnants of its professional army, as well as the private companies.”

“We, therefore, have two objectives: to reduce their capable personnel as much as possible, and to fix them in a few key wearisome battles, to disrupt their offensive and concentrate our resources elsewhere, for the spring counter-offensive. So, today Bakhmut is completely effective, even exceeding its key tasks.”

Why would Russia use hypersonic missile in strike on Ukraine

10:30 , Shweta Sharma

The latest Russian missile barrage against Ukraine‘s civilian infrastructure has marked one of the largest such attacks in months.

On Thursday, Russia fired over 80 missiles in a massive effort to overwhelm Ukrainian air defenses and cripple the country’s energy system.

Russia has been regularly launching similar strikes since Octothe population and force the Ukrainian government in a bid to demoralize to bow to the Kremlin‘s demands.

Why would Russia use hypersonic missile in strike on Ukraine

Ancient artefacts returned to Ukraine during ceremony at embassy in Washington DC

09:30 , Shweta Sharma

Ancient Ukrainian artefacts were returned during a ceremony at the embassy in Washington DC on Friday, 10 March.

Items such as a stone axe and three swords were returned to the consulate in the US.

Since Russia invaded Ukraine, hundreds of items are estimated to have been stolen from museums.

Conflict Observatory, a research group supported by the US Government, used satellite imagery to uncover how Putin’s troops stole approximately 15,000 paintings from the Oleksii Shovkunenko Art Museum in Kherson.

According to Ukraine’s Ministry of Culture, Russia has damaged more than 550 culturally significant sites and objects in the country.

Support will put Ukraine in ‘strongest position’ to negotiate ceasefire – Sunak

08:30 , Shweta Sharma

Rishi Sunak has said new support measures for Ukraine agreed between the UK and France are designed to put Kyiv in the “strongest possible position” to negotiate a ceasefire.

The Prime Minister and French President Emmanuel Macron used the UK-France summit to sign off on jointly training Ukrainian marines and supplying weapons to the country in its fight against Russia’s invading forces.

During a press conference in Paris, the leaders said the immediate priority was to bolster Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s forces and allow them to “mount a successful counter-offensive”.

Support will put Ukraine in ‘strongest position’ to negotiate ceasefire – Sunak

Russia’s first missile barrage against Ukraine in weeks knocks nuclear plant off grid for hours

07:35 , Shweta Sharma

Russia has launched a huge wave of missile strikes across Ukraine, killing a number of civilians and forcing Europe’s largest nuclear power plant off the electrical grid for hours.

It is the first search mass attack in weeks, with the strikes including the use of hypersonic cruise missiles – one of Moscow’s most valuable weapons which travel at such speed they can evade air defences.

“The occupiers can only terrorise civilians. That’s all they can do. But it won’t help them,” said Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky. They won’t avoid responsibility for everything they have done.”

In all Russia was said to have fired 81 missiles, with Ukraine’s military saying that 34 cruise missiles were successfully shot down, as well as four of the eight Iranian-made Shahed drones that were sent. Eight guided missiles did not reach their target. Ukraine said six hypersonic missiles had been fired, with Russia’s Defence Ministry confirming their use.

What are hypersonic missiles and why is the west developing them amid Russia’s war in Ukraine?

02:00 , Eleanor Noyce

Russia launched its first large-scale missile assault on Ukrainian cities for several weeks in the early hours of Thursday 9 March, firing at least 81 missiles and killing at least five people.

The capital Kyiv, Kharkiv and the Black Sea port of Odessa were all struck as air raid sirens rang out across the nation while explosions were also reported in the northern city of Chernihiv and the western Lviv region, as well as in Dnipro, Lutsk and Rivne.

Among the projectiles fired were six Kinzhal (Dagger) hypersonic ballistic missiles, according to the Ukrainian Air Force, which are difficult to intercept because they reportedly travel at up to ten times the speed of sound, which is around 8,000mph.

Russia has used hypersonic missiles since the earliest stages of the conflict, claiming to have destroyed a fuel depot in the Black Sea city of Mykolaiv and an underground ammunition store in western Ivano-Frankivsk in the opening skirmishes.

Ukraine has confirmed that those targets were struck but did not specify what weapons were used.

My colleague Joe Sommerlad reports:

What are hypersonic missiles?

Fake ‘nuclear bomb’ alert on TV and radio scares Russians

01:00 , Eleanor Noyce

Hackers took over Russian state media on Thursday to tell listeners to rush to nuclear bomb shelters and take anti-radiation pills.

Radio and television broadcasts in Moscow and the western Sverdlovsk area were interrupted with a phony warning of a missile strike on the country.

The Kremlin blamed the false alarm, which told listeners to take potassium iodine, put on gas masks and seek shelter, on a cyber attack.

William Mata has the full story:

Fake ‘nuclear bomb’ alert on TV and radio scares Russians

How British eels could be helping Putin in his war with Ukraine

00:01 , Eleanor Noyce

Wildlife groups are calling for Britain to ban the transportation of eels to Russian conservation projects because of fears they are being sold on to China for food.

The alarm was sounded after a consignment of half a million eels were moved to Kaliningrad. Charities have said that the profits Russia has made from these sales could be funding the Ukraine war.

Multi-member organisation Wildlife and Countryside Link (WCL), which represents the RSPCA, CPRE and the Marine Conservation Society, has called for action from Defra (Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs).

Conservation has been required with the European eel population falling by 90 per cent in the past four decades despite hundreds of millions of baby, or glass, eels arriving each year.

William Mata reports:

How British eels could be helping Putin in his war with Ukraine

Why did Russia invade Ukraine?

Friday 10 March 2023 23:30 , Eleanor Noyce

Russia’s “special military operation” in Ukraine has been raging for one year now as the conflict continues to record devastating casualties and force the mass displacement of millions of blameless Ukrainians.

Vladimir Putin began the war by claiming Russia’s neighbour needed to be “demilitarised and de-Nazified”, a baseless pretext on which to launch a landgrab against an independent state that happens to have a Jewish president in Volodymyr Zelensky.

Ukraine has fought back courageously against Mr Putin’s warped bid to restore territory lost to Moscow with the collapse of the Soviet Union and has continued to defy the odds by defending itself against Russian onslaughts with the help of Western military aid.

Battle tanks from the US, Britain and Germany are now being supplied for the first time and Mr Zelensky toured London, Paris and Brussels in early February 2023 to request fighter jets be sent as well in order to counter the Russian aerial threat, a step the allies appear to have reservations about making, although Joe Biden has since visited Kyiv in a gesture of solidarity.

Much of the fighting has been concentrated around the key eastern city of Bakhmut of late, with bombardments and heavy artillery fire taking place as Russian forces ramp up a major new offensive with the one-year anniversary of the war looming.

Thomas Kingsley and Joe Sommerlad report:

Here’s why Putin really invaded Ukraine

Vladimir Putin: What is driving Russian leader’s relentless assault on Ukraine?

Friday 10 March 2023 23:00 , Eleanor Noyce

In the year since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine, Vladimir Putin has been the figurehead of what he initially termed a “special military operation”. Russia’s president might have prepared the political ground with a show of collective responsibility – few will forget how he solicited the support of key ministers live on TV just hours before ordering the invasion – but he has fronted the invasion ever since, often alone, and it is he who will answer to history.

From the start, Russia’s military action tended to be seen as an old-fashioned war launched by an old-fashioned autocrat. As such, it was as surprising as it was shocking to all those who believed such wars to be over, at least in Europe. The scenes that have dominated our television screens ever since have been tragically reminiscent of black-and-white newsreel showing battles for the very same cities during the Second World War.

But the supposedly old-fashioned autocrat who gave the orders for this war is a more complicated figure than many think.

Read more:

What is driving Putin’s relentless war on Ukraine?

Russia’s first missile barrage against Ukraine in weeks knocks nuclear plant off grid for hours

Friday 10 March 2023 22:30 , Eleanor Noyce

Russia has launched a huge wave of missile strikes across Ukraine, killing a number of civilians and forcing Europe’s largest nuclear power plant off the electrical grid for hours.

It is the first search mass attack in weeks, with the strikes including the use of hypersonic cruise missiles – one of Moscow’s most valuable weapons which travel at such speed they can evade air defences.

“The occupiers can only terrorise civilians. That’s all they can do. But it won’t help them,” said Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky. They won’t avoid responsibility for everything they have done.”

In all Russia was said to have fired 81 missiles, with Ukraine’s military saying that 34 cruise missiles were successfully shot down, as well as four of the eight Iranian-made Shahed drones that were sent. Eight guided missiles did not reach their target. Ukraine said six hypersonic missiles had been fired, with Russia’s Defence Ministry confirming their use.

Chris Stevenson has the full story:

Russia missile barrage knocks Ukraine nuclear plant off grid for hours

Ukraine orders Russian-aligned Orthodox Church to leave Kyiv monastery

Friday 10 March 2023 22:00 , Eleanor Noyce

Ukrainian officials ordered a Russian-aligned wing of the Orthodox Church to leave a monastery in Kyiv, Reuters reports.

The Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) accepted the authority of the patriarch of Moscow until Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022. The Moscow patriarch, Kirill, has supported the invasion.

The Ukrainian culture ministry reported that it had been ordered to leave the 980-year-old Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra monastery complex, noting in a statement that it had “violated the terms of the agreement regarding the use of state property.”

The UOC has until 29 March to vacate the premises, though noted in a Facebook post that the action was “obviously biased and grossly violate[s] legal norms.”

Man dies in shelling in Kherson

Friday 10 March 2023 21:30 , Eleanor Noyce

A 35-year-old man has died after Russian forces fired artillery in Kherson, Sky News reports.

The man died at the scene, the regional military administration confirmed.

Shelling in Kherson killed three people yesterday, including two civilians who had been waiting at a bus stop.

Biden and von der Leyen issue joint statement on Ukraine

Friday 10 March 2023 21:10 , Eleanor Noyce

US President Biden and President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen have issued a joint statement on Ukraine, reiterating a joint commitment towards Russian sanctions.

“The United States and the European Union have taken a strong and united stand against Russia’s illegal, unjustifiable, and unprovoked war against Ukraine. We, along with a broad coalition of partners, have imposed swift and sweeping sanctions that are reducing Russia’s revenue to fund its war and its military-industrial base.

“Putin thought that he would divide us, and yet we are more united than ever. We stand together in our unwavering support for Ukraine for as long as it takes”, the statement read.

The pair also underlined the commitment of both the US and the EU towards ensuring economic and humanitarian support for Ukraine.

“We have worked together to supply the Ukrainian Armed Forces with the military equipment and training it needs to defend itself from Russian aggression”, the statement added.

“We, together with Ukraine, are co-chairing the Multi-agency Donor Coordination Platform, and, in line with its European path, are helping advance Ukraine’s reform agenda, laying the foundation for sustainable growth and reconstruction, and ensuring assistance is delivered in a coherent, transparent, and accountable manner.”

Anti-Russia guerrillas in Belarus take on ‘two-headed enemy’

Friday 10 March 2023 21:00 , Eleanor Noyce

After Russia invaded Ukraine, guerillas from Belarus began carrying out acts of sabotage on their country’s railways, including blowing up track equipment to paralyze the rails that Russian forces used to get troops and weapons into Ukraine.

In the most recent sabotage to make international headlines, they attacked a Russian warplane parked just outside the Belarusian capital.

“Belarusians will not allow the Russians to freely use our territory for the war with Ukraine, and we want to force them to leave,” Anton, a retired Belarusian serviceman who joined a group of saboteurs, told The Associated Press in a phone interview.

“The Russians must understand on whose side the Belarusians are actually fighting,” he said, speaking on the condition that his last name be withheld for security reasons.

More than a year after Russia used the territory of its neighbour and ally to invade Ukraine, Belarus continues to host Russian troops, as well as warplanes, missiles and other weapons. The Belarusian opposition condemns the cooperation, and a guerilla movement sprang up to disrupt the Kremlin’s operations, both on the ground and online. Meanwhile, Belarus’ authoritarian government is trying to crack down on saboteurs with threats of the death penalty and long prison terms.

Find the full story here:

Anti-Russia guerrillas in Belarus take on 'two-headed enemy'

Duke of Edinburgh tells Ukrainians the UK can be home for as long as they need

Friday 10 March 2023 20:30 , Eleanor Noyce

The new Duke of Edinburgh told Ukrainian refugees he hoped they could make Scotland their home for as long as they felt they needed as he attended a reception marking one year since the Scottish capital welcomed the first Ukrainians to the city.

In his first official engagement in the role after the King appointed him, Edward addressed refugees at a reception in Edinburgh’s City Chambers on the Royal Mile on Friday.

He said: “I hope you can all try to make Scotland and Britain your home for as long you feel that you need to stay here and we will try to make it as welcoming and as safe as possible for you.

“I wish you all the very best in the future and we’re thinking of you.

The duke, who had the title conferred upon him on Friday by the King, marking his 59th birthday, said he and his wife Sophie were “slightly overwhelmed” by the appointment.

He said: “Thank you for welcoming us to Edinburgh today on, indeed, a very special and very overwhelming day for now my wife and duchess,” he joked, while looking at his wife.

He added: “I also want to express my thanks to everybody who has worked so hard to make our Ukrainian friends so welcome.”

Ukraine’s leading campaigner against Russian fossil fuels refused entry to top US energy conference

Friday 10 March 2023 20:00 , Eleanor Noyce

A Ukrainian lawyer, who founded the war-torn country’s leading campaign against Russian fossil fuels, has been refused entry to the world’s most prominent energy summit.

Svitlana Romanko travelled from her home in Ivano-Frankivsk, western Ukraine, in late February to Houston, Texas to attend CERAWeek, an annual summit which attracts the heads of major oil and gas companies and industry bodies along with senior government officials.

CERAWeek speakers this year included both John Kerry, the special presidential envoy for climate, ExxonMobil chief executive Darren Woods, and the Cop28 climate summit president, Dr Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, who is also CEO of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company.

Read the full story here:

Ukraine’s leading campaigner against Russian fossil fuels barred from US energy event

Russia plotting ‘insurrection’ in Moldova, White House says

Friday 10 March 2023 19:30 , Eleanor Noyce

Russia is trying to destabilize Moldova’s government and replace it with leadership more friendly toward Moscow, the White House has said.

National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said US believes Russia “is pursuing options to weaken the Moldovan government” to prevent it from more closely integrating with Europe, and “with the eventual goal of seeing a more Russian-friendly administration in the capital”.

Mr Kirby said “Russian actors” with ties to Moscow’s intelligence services are “seeking to stage and use protests in Moldova as a basis to foment a manufactured insurrection against the Moldovan government”.

The US expects “another set of Russian actors to provide training for manufactured demonstrations in Moldova,” he added.

“In years past we’ve seen Russia tried and failed to destabilize other European countries,” Mr Kirby continued, noting that such an attempt was made in Montenegro in 2016.

Andrew Feinberg reports:

Russia plotting ‘insurrection’ in Moldova, White House says

Why would Russia use hypersonic missile in strike on Ukraine?

Friday 10 March 2023 19:00 , Eleanor Noyce

The latest Russian missile barrage against Ukraine‘s civilian infrastructure has marked one of the largest such attacks in months.

On Thursday, Russia fired over 80 missiles in a massive effort to overwhelm Ukrainian air defenses and cripple the country’s energy system.

Russia has been regularly launching similar strikes since Octothe population and force the Ukrainian government ber in a bid to demoralize to bow to the Kremlin‘s demands.

Thursday’s strikes differed from earlier attacks, though, by including a larger number of sophisticated hypersonic missiles that are the most advanced weapons in the Russian arsenal. But just like previous such barrages it has failed to cause lasting damage to the country’s energy network, with repair crews quickly restoring power supplies to most regions.

Here is a look at the latest Russian missile attack and the weapons involved:

Why would Russia use hypersonic missile in strike on Ukraine

Support will put Ukraine in “strongest position” to negotiate ceasefire, says Sunak

Friday 10 March 2023 18:35 , Eleanor Noyce

Rishi Sunak has said new support measures for Ukraine agreed between the UK and France are designed to put Kyiv in the “strongest possible position” to negotiate a ceasefire.

The Prime Minister and French President Emmanuel Macron used the UK-France summit to sign off on jointly training Ukrainian marines and supplying weapons to the country in its fight against Russia’s invading forces.

During a press conference in Paris, the leaders said the immediate priority was to bolster Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s forces and allow them to “mount a successful counter-offensive”.

Mr Sunak announced in February, during Mr Zelensky’s visit to Britain, that the UK would start to train Kyiv’s marines as well as pilots.

Friday’s declaration from the summit at the Elysee Palace will see France join Britain in preparing marines for the drive to purge Ukraine of Russian troops.

Mr Sunak said the agreement would “help to give Ukraine a decisive advantage on the battlefield and for Ukraine to win this war”.

He argued that a successful counter-punch would allow the Ukrainians to enter any potential future negotiations with Moscow from a position of strength.

“In regards to the future, that is a decision for Ukraine, not a decision for us to make for them,” he said.

“Our job is to put Ukraine in the strongest possible position, and that is what our conversations today have been about.

“The announcements you’ve seen from us today around training marines, helping with the provision of ammunition, are very tangible examples of our commitment to deliver Ukraine that advantage.

“And that’s where our focus is going to be over the coming weeks and months.”

Ukraine “preparing Bakhmut counteroffensive”, claims Wagner Group chief

Friday 10 March 2023 17:47 , Eleanor Noyce

The head of Russia’s Wagner Group has claimed that Ukraine is preparing to launch a counteroffensive near the city of Bakhmut.

“Yes, it is a well-known fact that the enemy is preparing a counter-offensive. Of course, we are doing everything we can to prevent this from happening,” Yevgeny Prigozhin stated.

He added that his private army had opened new recruitment centres across 42 cities after suffering losses in combat. The centres have, according to reports, been comprised of sports centres and martial arts clubs.

Watch live: Ancient artefacts returned to Ukraine during ceremony at embassy in Washington DC

Friday 10 March 2023 16:42 , Eleanor Noyce

Watch live as ancient Ukrainian artefacts are returned during a ceremony in Washington DC.

Items such as a stone axe and three swords, will be returned to the consulate in the US.

Since Russia invaded Ukraine, hundreds of items are estimated to have been stolen from museums.

Conflict Observatory, a research group supported by the US Government, used satellite imagery to uncover how Putin’s troops stole approximately 15,000 paintings from the Oleksii Shovkunenko Art Museum in Kherson.

According to Ukraine’s Ministry of Culture, Russia has damaged more than 550 culturally significant sites and objects in the country.

Holly Patrick has more:

Live: Ancient artefacts returned to Ukraine during ceremony in Washington DC

Russia plotting ‘insurrection’ in Moldova, White House says

Friday 10 March 2023 15:54 , Emily Atkinson

Russia’s government is currently undertaking efforts to destabilize Moldova’s government and install leadership more friendly toward Moscow, the White House has said.

National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby on Friday told reporters the US believes Russia “is pursuing options to weaken the Moldovan government” to prevent it from more closely integrating with Europe, and “with the eventual goal of seeing a more Russian friendly administration in the capital”.

Mr Kirby said “Russian actors” with ties to Moscow’s intelligence services are “seeking to stage and use protests in Moldova as a basis to foment a manufactured insurrection against the Moldovan government”.

Andrew Feinberg has more:

Russia plotting ‘insurrection’ in Moldova, White House says

Prigozhin: Ammunition output is up but still a worry for Wagner and Russian army

Friday 10 March 2023 15:19 , Emily Atkinson

Russian mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin has said thanked the government for a “heroic” increase in production of ammunition but he was still worried about shortages for his fighters and the Russian army as a whole.

Prigozhin also said Wagner, which has taken heavy losses in fighting for the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, had opened recruitment centres in 42 Russian cities.

“In spite of the colossal resistance of the Ukrainian armed forces, we will go forward. Despite the sticks in the wheels that are thrown at us at every step, we will overcome this together,” he said.

Prigozhin said his men had been “blown away” by the fact they had started to receive ammunition deliveries labelled as produced in 2023. He said ammunition was now being produced “in huge quantities, which cover all the necessary needs”.

But he appeared to contradict himself in the same audio message by saying: “I am worried about ammunition and shell shortages not only for the Wagner private military company but for all units of the Russian army.”

Swiss government refuses re-export of arms to Ukraine

Friday 10 March 2023 14:51 , Emily Atkinson

Switzerland’s government said on Friday it will not change its long-standing policy banning the transfer of Swiss-made arms to a third country despite growing pressure from countries to export them to Ukraine.

“The Federal Council is committed to the values of Swiss neutrality and will continue to work to ensure the benefits of neutrality are realised,” it said in a statement.

Russia targeting civilian infrastructure ‘because they can’t find military assets to hit’

Friday 10 March 2023 14:22 , Andy Gregory

Russians are striking civilian infrastructure, because they can’t efficiently target Ukrainian military assets, a Ukrainian military analyst has claimed.

“The Russians lack data about the location of Ukrainian troops and weapons, so they are targeting civilian infrastructure and using the same old methods of attacking civilians to sow fear and panic in the society,” Oleh Zhadnov told the Associated Press.

“Ukraine has survived the winter and Russia’s strikes on the energy system in the spring hardly make any sense.”

The Institute for the Study of War, a US think tank, has said that “these missile strikes will not undermine Ukraine’s will or improve Russia’s positions on the front lines.”

Ukraine restores power to many following fatal Russian barrage

Friday 10 March 2023 13:54 , Andy Gregory

Kyiv has restored most of its power supply, officials said, following the largest Russian onslaught against civilian infrastructure in several weeks.

The Associated Press reported that more than 80 Russian missiles and exploding drones – including hypersonic Kinzhal cruise missiles – were deployed in the barrage, which killed six people and left hundreds of thousands without heat or running water.

Power and water were largely restored in Kyiv, said Serhii Popko, the head of the city’s military administration, adding that around 30 per cent of consumers in the capital remaining without heating and that repair work was ongoing.

The electricity supply was restored to more than nine in 10 consumers in Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv region, local officials said, while power was also restored to a third of consumers in Ukraine’s southern Zaporizhzhia region.

Ukraine’s leading campaigner against Russian fossil fuels refused entry to top US energy conference

Friday 10 March 2023 13:21 , Andy Gregory

A Ukrainian lawyer, who founded the war-torn country’s leading campaign against Russian fossil fuels, has been refused entry to the world’s most prominent energy summit, our senior climate correspondent Louise Boyle reports.

Svitlana Romanko travelled from her home in Ivano-Frankivsk, western Ukraine, in late February to Houston, Texas to attend CERAWeek, an annual summit which attracts the heads of major oil and gas companies and industry bodies along with senior government officials.

Ms Romanko, who holds a doctorate in environmental and climate law, and climate policy, launched the RazomWeStand (Stand With Ukraine) campaign to ban all imports of fossil fuels from Russia, end the war, and hasten a clean energy transition across the globe. The campaign is supported by nearly 900 organisations from 60 countries.

She had received a registration confirmation email for CERAWeek and a few invite reminders for the event, she said, ahead of it opening on Monday.

“On Sunday morning, I received a welcome email with logistics,” Ms Romanko told The Independent. “Then at 11am, there was a two-sentence email which said my registration was not accepted and was cancelled. It did not have a signature.”

Ukraine’s leading campaigner against Russian fossil fuels barred from US energy event

Fake ‘nuclear bomb’ alert on TV and radio scares Russians

Friday 10 March 2023 13:00 , Emily Atkinson

Hackers took over Russian state media on Thursday to tell listeners to rush to nuclear bomb shelters and take anti-radiation pills.

Radio and television broadcasts in Moscow and the western Sverdlovsk area were interrupted with a phony warning of a missile strike on the country.

The Kremlin blamed the false alarm, which told listeners to take potassium iodine, put on gas masks and seek shelter, on a cyber attack.

William Mata has more:

Fake ‘nuclear bomb’ alert on TV and radio scares Russians

Sunak to discuss China's approach to Russia with Macron

Friday 10 March 2023 12:28 , Emily Atkinson

Rishi Sunak said he will raise China’s approach to Russia and the war in Ukraine when he meets French President Emmanuel Macron later on Friday.

Asked whether he was concerned that China may step up cooperation with Russia, Sunak told reporters: “Yeah, that’s definitely something that I’m planning to spend some time talking to Emmanuel about later.”

“We’d urge all countries not to be providing support to Russia, or trying to circumvent sanctions,” he said.

The United States has said China is considering supplying arms to Russia and warned Beijing against such a move. Western powers have provided Ukraine with billions of dollars in weapons.

China has denied the US claims and said that “sending weapons will not bring peace” in Ukraine.

Lavrov: Conversation with Blinken at G20 was ‘constructive’ but US said nothing new

Friday 10 March 2023 11:50 , Emily Atkinson

Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov has said that a conversation with US secretary of state Antony Blinken on the sidelines of the G20 foreign ministers’ meeting in India last week was “constructive”, but he heard nothing new from the US

Speaking in an interview on Russian state TV, Lavrov said the pair spoke for 10 minutes and discussed nuclear arms issues and the conflict in Ukraine. It was the first meeting between the pair since Russia invaded Ukraine last February.

“We spoke constructively, without emotions, we shook hands,” Lavrov said.

“Everything I heard was a position that has already been expressed and underlined in public many times before. I gave my honest, detailed assessment about the New START treaty, and why we saw it necessary to suspend it,” he said.

Ukraine detains officials over destruction of famous plane at start of war

Friday 10 March 2023 11:05 , Emily Atkinson

Ukraine has handed suspicion notices to three former top managers of aircraft manufacturer Antonov for obstructing the country’s military and allowing Russia to destroy the iconic giant “Mriya” cargo plane at the start of the full-scale war.

The Prosecutor General’s Office and the SBU security service said the former officials prevented the Ukrainian National Guard from building fortifications at a key airport on the outskirts of the capital Kyiv in January to February last year as the threat of Russia’s full-scale invasion loomed.

The SBU and prosecutors said in statements that two of the suspects were detained and the former general director of Antonov was declared a wanted person. The suspects, who were not named, could face up to 15 years in prison.

A notice of suspicion indicates to the recipient that they are a person under investigation by law enforcement.

Russia says it’s watching Georgia situation with concern

Friday 10 March 2023 10:34 , Emily Atkinson

The Kremlin says it is watching events in Georgia “with great concern” and suggested – without evidence – that the US was stirring up anti-Russian sentiment there.

Spokesman Dmitry Peskov was speaking after Georgia’s parliament, following three nights of protests, dropped a draft bill similar to the “foreign agents” law that Russia has used to crack down on opponents for the past decade.

He reiterated that Moscow had nothing to do with the situation in Georgia but said it was significant that Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili had been in the United States this week.

“It’s not from Georgia that she’s addressing Georgians. She’s addressing them from America. And someone’s visible hand is trying to add an anti-Russian element again here,” he said.

“Yes, this is fraught with provocations, we are watching this very attentively and with great concern.

Anti-Russia guerrillas in Belarus take on 'two-headed enemy'

Friday 10 March 2023 10:05 , Emily Atkinson

After Russia invaded Ukraine, guerillas from Belarus began carrying out acts of sabotage on their country’s railways, including blowing up track equipment to paralyze the rails that Russian forces used to get troops and weapons into Ukraine.

In the most recent sabotage to make international headlines, they attacked a Russian warplane parked just outside the Belarusian capital.

“Belarusians will not allow the Russians to freely use our territory for the war with Ukraine, and we want to force them to leave,” Anton, a retired Belarusian serviceman who joined a group of saboteurs, told The Associated Press in a phone interview.

More on this story here:

Anti-Russia guerrillas in Belarus take on 'two-headed enemy'

Air raid alert issued across eastern Ukraine

Friday 10 March 2023 09:35 , Emily Atkinson

Air raid alerts have been issued across much of eastern Ukraine.

The warnings have been declared in the Kharkiv, Dnipro, Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk, Luhansk and Crimean regions, according to an air raid map.

For live updates, see the map below:

Russia and United States 'remain in contact over New START nuclear deal’

Friday 10 March 2023 09:04 , Emily Atkinson

Russian deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov has said Russia and the United States remained in contact over the New START nuclear arms treaty despite Moscow having suspended its participation in the deal, the RIA Novosti news agency reported.

Ryabkov said he had no expectations for significant progress from contact between Moscow and Washington.

The 2010 agreement limits the number of strategic nuclear warheads each side can deploy. President Vladimir Putin announced last month that Moscow was suspending it, accusing the United States of trying to inflict a “strategic defeat” on Russia in Ukraine.

Latest images from Ukraine frontlines

Friday 10 March 2023 08:27 , Emily Atkinson

Pope says Ukraine war fuelled not just by 'Russian empire'

Friday 10 March 2023 07:57 , Emily Atkinson

The war in Ukraine is driven by the interests of several “empires” and not just of Russia’s, Pope Francis said in an interview published on Friday.

Francis said the conflict was fuelled by “imperial interests, not just of the Russian empire, but of empires from elsewhere”.

He expressed a readiness to talk to Russian President Vladimir Putin to call for peace.

The pontiff was speaking to Italian Swiss television RSI, in an interview due to be broadcast on Sunday. Extracts were published on Friday by Italian dailies La Repubblica, La Stampa and Corriere della Sera.

Russia’s latest missile attack shows need to stockpile before big strikes – MoD

Friday 10 March 2023 06:51 , Arpan Rai

Russia’s intermittent massive missile attacks on Ukraine show that Moscow needs to replenish its stock of newly produced missiles before carrying out major strikes that can overwhelm Ukraine’s defence systems at work, according to the latest British intelligence.

The British defence ministry was refering to a wave of at least 80 long-range strikes against Ukrainian critical infrastructure yesterday. “Russia deployed cruise missiles, air defence missiles in a surface-surface role, Iranian one way attack uncrewed aerial vehicles, and an unusually large number of hypersonic air-launched ballistic missiles during the attack,” the MoD said.

“This was the first major wave of long-range strikes since 16 February 2023 and likely one of the largest since December 2022. Ukrainian officials reported at least 11 civilians killed,” the ministry added.

The ministry said that the interval between waves of strikes is “probably growing because Russia now needs to stockpile a critical mass of newly produced missiles directly from industry before it can resource a strike big enough to credibly overwhelm Ukrainian air defences.”

What is driving Putin’s relentless assault on Ukraine?

Friday 10 March 2023 06:34 , Arpan Rai

Vladimir Putin’s central motivation, since his earliest years as president, may well have been to restore Russia’s standing in the world after what he saw as the humiliation of the Soviet collapse.

But according to Russian state media and his own statements, considerations of Russia’s security are paramount in his view. One could put the 2008 Georgia war and the annexation of Crimea in 2014 into this category: a profound fear that the West was making inroads into what he regarded as Russia’s security cordon.

One of the reasons that makes him tick – most pertinent in the context of the Ukraine war – is the accusation that his ambition is to restore the Soviet Union or the Russian Empire. He is on record as saying: “Anyone with a heart cannot fail to regret the passing of the Soviet Union, but no one with a head could possibly want to bring it back.”

Mary Dejevsky writes:

What is driving Putin’s relentless war on Ukraine?

Where Ukraine stands in Bakhmut today

Friday 10 March 2023 05:55 , Arpan Rai

Ukrainian fighters have foiled Russia’s attempts to completely surround Bakhmut from the western arc this week and ramped up their counterattacks, military analysts monitoring the symbolic target city on Russia’s list say.

Ukrainian soldiers have also sabotaged Russian advance on the frontline on the southern side that it had held for several days, while the enemy had made some headway in villages to the north, Ukrainian military analyst Oleh Zhdanov has said.

Last week, Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin had claimed that his forces have “practically surrounded” Bakhmut, and ono Wednesday, he said that his troops controlled all the city east of a river through it.

This week saw an apparent shift as Ukraine decided to fight on in Bakhmut, a town that has borne the brunt of a Russian winter offensive in the bloodiest fighting of the war.

Holding little strategic value for Russia’s military offensive, Bakhmut has turned into a meat grinding phase of the war where Russian forces are sacrificing lives to give Vladimir Putin his only victory since sending hundreds of thousands of reservists into battle at the end of last year.

“Russian forces may be temporarily focusing their operational efforts northwest of Bakhmut to set conditions for future offensive operations aimed against these strengthened Ukrainian positions around Khromove or intended to bypass them in a larger envelopment,” the US-based think tank the Institute for the Study of War said today.

Civilians rue Russian attacks: ‘They are not humans'

Friday 10 March 2023 05:22 , Arpan Rai

As Russia launched a superior air salvo on Ukraine with hypersonic missiles which the besieged country has no way to stop, the civilians trapped in the aftermath of these attacks rued Russia’s plans.

“How can they do this? How is this possible? They are not humans,” said 58-year-old Liudmyla as she stood outside her shattered apartment, holding a toddler in her arms while venting her anger.

The air raid sirens wailed across Ukraine for seven hours on Thursday night.

These missiles struck villagers in the western Lviv region, and closer to the frontline in the central Dnipro region, while Russian artillery also killed at least three people in the northeastern city of Kharkiv.

Russia maintains that these attacks are aimed at reducing Ukraine’s ability to fight but Kyiv has pointed out that these strikes are a war crime because they carry no claimed military purpose and are carried out to intimidate civilians.

Volodymyr Zelensky reiterated this stand and said: “The occupiers can only terrorise civilians. That’s all they can do. But it won’t help them. They won’t avoid responsibility for everything they have done.”

Energy restoration work continues in Ukraine

Friday 10 March 2023 05:03 , Arpan Rai

Volodymyr Zelensky has said authorities are working round the clock to restore power supply at several facilities attacked in a spate of attacks yesterday.

“Restoration work at power facilities has been ongoing all day. Kharkiv and the Zhytomyr region have the most difficult situation. Odesa, the Dnipropetrovsk region, Kyiv and Zaporizhzhia are also facing difficulties,” he said in his nightly address.

He added: “Repair crews, power engineers, local authorities and the central government - everyone will work for as long as necessary to restore power supply to the cities and districts where there are problems. I thank everyone who is working for this.”

The war-time president said that the country has “already shown what Ukraine is capable of.”

“And no matter how treacherous Russia’s actions are, our state and people will not be in chains. Neither missiles nor Russian atrocities will help them,” the president said.

Kevin McCarthy rejects Zelensky’s invitation to visit Ukraine

Friday 10 March 2023 05:00 , Eleanor Noyce

US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has rejected Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s invitation to visit Ukraine to see how US support is spent in the war effort against Russia as the California Republican contends with major parts of his party who wants to cut or completely end American aid to the country.

Mr Zelensky appeared on CNN, saying that “he has to come here to see how we work, what’s happening here, what war caused us, which people are fighting now, who are fighting now. And then after that, make your assumptions”.

Mr McCarthy has hesitated to say if he would support further aid, telling CNN that he wouldn’t travel to Ukraine following Mr Zelensky’s invitation and the Speaker criticised the Biden administration for not moving fast enough to support the country.

But he still retained his position that the US shouldn’t be sending a “blank check” to the Ukrainians. He initially stated that position in the autumn, before becoming Speaker, prompting bipartisan pushback.

Mr McCarthy has made the “blank check” comments despite there being federal oversight of how the money is spent.

Read the full story here:

Kevin McCarthy rejects Zelensky’s invitation to visit Ukraine

Russia’s first missile barrage against Ukraine in weeks knocks nuclear plant off grid for hours

Friday 10 March 2023 04:03 , Arpan Rai

Russia launched a huge wave of missile strikes across Ukraine, killing a number of civilians and forcing Europe’s largest nuclear power plant off the electrical grid for hours.

It is the first search mass attack in weeks, with the strikes including the use of hypersonic cruise missiles – one of Moscow’s most valuable weapons which travel at such speed they can evade air defences.

“The occupiers can only terrorise civilians. That’s all they can do. But it won’t help them,” said Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky. They won’t avoid responsibility for everything they have done.”

Read the full story here:

Russia missile barrage knocks Ukraine nuclear plant off grid for hours

How British eels could be helping Putin in his war with Ukraine

Friday 10 March 2023 04:00 , Eleanor Noyce

Wildlife groups are calling for Britain to ban the transportation of eels to Russian conservation projects because of fears they are being sold on to China for food.

The alarm was sounded after a consignment of half a million eels were moved to Kaliningrad. Charities have said that the profits Russia has made from these sales could be funding the Ukraine war.

Multi-member organisation Wildlife and Countryside Link (WCL), which represents the RSPCA, CPRE and the Marine Conservation Society, has called for action from Defra (Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs).

Conservation has been required with the European eel population falling by 90 per cent in the past four decades despite hundreds of millions of baby, or glass, eels arriving each year.

William Mata has the full story:

How British eels could be helping Putin in his war with Ukraine

The turmoil in Georgia over a ‘foreign agents’ bill raises fresh questions over Russia’s influence

Friday 10 March 2023 03:00 , Eleanor Noyce

Georgia ruling party has withdrawn a controversial proposal for a “foreign agents” law – condemned by opponents as a Russian-inspired authoritarian bill that could have hit hopes of the country joining the European Union.

The bill, which had been given initial approval by the country’s parliament, has sparked several nights of protest, with tens of thousands of people coming out onto the streets. The demonstrations had been forcefully dispersed by police using water cannons and tear gas.

Given Georgia’s status as former Soviet state situated at Russia’s south-west border, any suggestions of influence from Moscow will carry significan weight. Russia’s President Vladimir Putin has long seen the country as part of Russia’s sphere of influence. The Russian leader has also upped his rhetoric in the wake of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine about Western institutions, such as the EU and the Nato military alliance, seeking to erode Russia’s standing in the world. Georgia is not a member of Nato, but has sought to join.

The controversial proposed law has been withdrawn for now following mass protests, writes Chris Stevenson:

Georgia’s ‘foreign agents’ bill has raises fresh questions over Russia’s influence

Aerial view of Lviv Oblast as Russian missiles strike Ukraine

Friday 10 March 2023 02:00 , Eleanor Noyce

Aerial footage reveals the extent of destruction in Lviv Oblast after Russia launched a barrage of missile strikes against Ukraine.

This video, shared by the region’s governor, shows the state civilian houses were left in after the shelling hit the area.

It was the first such missile attack in weeks, with Volodymyr Zelenskiy reporting a total of 81 strikes across the country.

He said it has “been a difficult night” and offered his condolences for the families of the dead and injured.

Kyiv, Kirovohrad, Dnipro, Odesa, Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk, Zhytomyr, and Vinnytsia regions were hit.

Watch:

Aerial view of Lviv Oblast as Russian missiles strike Ukraine

What are hypersonic missiles and why is the west developing them amid Russia’s war in Ukraine?

Friday 10 March 2023 01:00 , Eleanor Noyce

Russia launched its first large-scale missile assault on Ukrainian cities for several weeks in the early hours of Thursday 9 March, firing at least 81 missiles and killing at least five people.

The capital Kyiv, Kharkiv and the Black Sea port of Odessa were all struck as air raid sirens rang out across the nation while explosions were also reported in the northern city of Chernihiv and the western Lviv region, as well as in Dnipro, Lutsk and Rivne.

Among the projectiles fired were six Kinzhal (Dagger) hypersonic ballistic missiles, according to the Ukrainian Air Force, which are difficult to intercept because they reportedly travel at up to ten times the speed of sound, which is around 8,000mph.

Russia has used hypersonic missiles since the earliest stages of the conflict, claiming to have destroyed a fuel depot in the Black Sea city of Mykolaiv and an underground ammunition store in western Ivano-Frankivsk in the opening skirmishes.

Ukraine has confirmed that those targets were struck but did not specify what weapons were used.

Read more:

What are hypersonic missiles?

Canadian Olympians push for opposition to Russians in Paris

Friday 10 March 2023 00:45 , Eleanor Noyce

A group of 42 retired Canadian Olympians urged the Canadian Olympic Committee to reject the idea of allowing Russians to participate in next year’s Paris Games unless Russia withdraws from Ukraine.

“We condemn recent public statements issued by the COC supporting the ‘exploration of a pathway’ for Russians and Belarusians to compete as ‘neutrals’ in the 2024 Paris Olympics,” the Canadians wrote in a statement released Wednesday.

Opening that door, the athletes said, “sends a message that the COC is no longer concerned with Russia’s brutal invasion of Ukraine.”

Signing the statement was a who’s-who of Canadian Olympic greats and gold medalists, including Hayley Wickenheiser (hockey), Jenn Heil and Alex Bilodeau (freestyle skiing), Tessa Virtue (skating) and Beckie Scott (cross-country skiing).

Eddie Pells reports:

Canadian Olympians push for opposition to Russians in Paris

Death of nationalist Ukrainian commander ‘Da Vinci’ gives Russia a propaganda win

Thursday 9 March 2023 23:45 , Eleanor Noyce

The youngest battalion commander in the Ukrainian military, famed for his bravery and a long-time prime target of the Russians, has been killed in the battle for Bakhmut.

Dmytro Kotsyubaylo, a leader of a group that Moscow has accused of having neo-Nazi and fascist links, died during shelling near the Donbas city, which has been the focus of a sustained Russian offensive for months.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky, who presented Kotsyubaylo with the Order of the Golden Star as well as the title “Hero of Ukraine” last year, said in tribute: “He was one of the youngest heroes of Ukraine; one of those whose personal history, character and courage forever became the history, character and courage of Ukraine. He was killed in a battle near Bakhmut – a battle for Ukraine.”

Kim Sengupta has the full story:

Death of Ukrainian commander ‘Da Vinci’ gives Russia a propaganda win

The Independent’s Bel Trew wins Foreign Reporter of the Year at The Press Awards

Thursday 9 March 2023 22:45 , Eleanor Noyce

The Independent’s international correspondent Bel Trew has won Foreign Reporter of the Year at The Press Awards 2023.

Spending months covering the war in Ukraine, Bel has crisscrossed the country to reveal harrowing stories from the frontlines.

She has also produced multiple in-depth investigations, including into the fate of thousands of civilians who vanished since Putin launched his invasion last year.

Her video and text series “The Missing” uncovered evidence of possible war crimes, including torture, widespread illegal transfer of civilitins, enforced disappearances, forced labour and hostage-taking. One of the articles was the most extensive deep dive yet into Olenivka prison in occupied territory where 53 Prisoners of War were blown up.

During the year Bel also uncovered other evidence of war crimes including an underground torture chamber in the north east of the country, followed evacuation convoys rescuing civilians, combat medics and first responders in frontline towns like Bakhmut and Soledar, revealing the devastating impact of the conflict on the most vulnerable.

Read more:

The Independent’s Bel Trew wins Foreign Reporter of the Year at The Press Awards

Russia’s first missile barrage against Ukraine in weeks knocks nuclear plant off grid for hours

Thursday 9 March 2023 21:45 , Eleanor Noyce

Russia has launched a huge wave of missile strikes across Ukraine, killing a number of civilians and forcing Europe’s largest nuclear power plant off the electrical grid for hours.

It is the first search mass attack in weeks, with the strikes including the use of hypersonic cruise missiles – one of Moscow’s most valuable weapons which travel at such speed they can evade air defences.

“The occupiers can only terrorise civilians. That’s all they can do. But it won’t help them,” said Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky. They won’t avoid responsibility for everything they have done.”

In all Russia was said to have fired 81 missiles, with Ukraine’s military saying that 34 cruise missiles were successfully shot down, as well as the four of the eight Iranian-made Shahed drones that were sent. Eight guided missiles did not reach their target. Ukraine said six hypersonic missiles had been fired, with Russia’s Defence Ministry confirming their use.

My colleague Chris Stevenson has the full story:

Russia missile barrage knocks Ukraine nuclear plant off grid for hours

Georgia protests: Thousands clash with police over Russia-style law against ‘foreign agents’

Thursday 9 March 2023 20:45 , Eleanor Noyce

Demonstrators in Georgia defied a police crackdown on Wednesday to protest against a law limiting “foreign agents” that echoes restrictions imposed in Russia.

Teargas, stun grenades and a water cannon were used to break up crowds.

Alistair Jamieson has the full story:

Thousands clash with police in Georgia over Russia-style law on ‘foreign agents’

Senior US defence official remarks concern over testing of Iranian weapons in Ukraine

Thursday 9 March 2023 19:45 , Eleanor Noyce

Ukraine is fast becoming a “battle lab” for testing Iranian weapons outside the Middle East, a senior US defence official has warned.

“Everyone should be preparing for what the threat scenarios look like when Iran takes the tactics, techniques and procedures it learned in Ukraine and starts to use those coercive tactics here,” the unnamed official stated, according to CNN.

US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin is due to visit Israel, with Iranian-Russian military cooperation firmly on the agenda.

Notably, Russia has been utilising Iranian-produced drones as part of its continued airstrikes in Ukraine. Some of the drones used in today’s attacks were also Iranian.

Sunak ‘hoping to strengthen co-operation’ with France on migrant crossings

Thursday 9 March 2023 18:45 , Eleanor Noyce

Rishi Sunak hopes to “strengthen and deepen” co-operation with France on tackling migrant Channel crossings in talks with Emmanuel Macron on Friday.

The Prime Minister is aiming for closer Franco-British ties as he prepares to travel to Paris for the first UK/France summit in five years.

But the French president is expected to reject pleas for a bilateral returns agreement.

The UK Government is known to want such a deal with Paris, which would allow London to immediately return those arriving on British shores unlawfully from France.

Ahead of his trip, Mr Sunak expressed hope that the UK and France could build on the £63 million agreement announced in November to help prevent small boats crossings and target human trafficking gangs.

In comments reported by the Daily Express, Mr Sunak remarked: “More broadly, I think there’s a range of things that we want to work closely with our partners and allies on – whether it’s standing up to Russian aggression and supporting Ukraine, whether it’s improving our energy security, or indeed whether it’s illegal migration.

“I think there’s a range of things where we can productively collaborate with France to the benefit of our country.”

The talks come days after Mr Sunak and Home Secretary Suella Braverman unveiled the Illegal Migration Bill, which would see migrants who arrive in the UK through unauthorised means deported and given a lifetime ban on returning.

Sophie Wingate reports:

Sunak ‘hoping to strengthen co-operation’ with France on migrant crossings

Ukrainian commander issues warning about Bakhmut

Thursday 9 March 2023 17:45 , Eleanor Noyce

The commander of Ukraine’s Ground Forces has urged that defending the eastern town of Bakhmut now has new importance.

“Each day of the city’s defence allows us to gain time to prepare reserves and prepare for future offensive operations,” Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskyi said in a statement.

“At the same time, in the battles for this fortress, the enemy loses the most prepared and combat-capable part of his army — Wagner’s assault troops.”

“He will be able to launch a large-scale offensive with the use of army and airborne units on combat equipment,” he added.

“This once again proves the very important role of Bakhmut in the overall defence system of our group.”

Russia’s use of hypersonic missiles poses a difficult challenge for Ukraine’s air defences

Thursday 9 March 2023 16:45 , Eleanor Noyce

The Russian air strikes across Ukraine are the latest in a series aimed at hitting infrastructure, part of a regular pattern which has emerged in the last five months.

They are, however, the largest attacks for a while and included hypersonic as well as cruise missiles in their number. The former, in particular, poses great challenges for air Ukrainian air defences which have become increasingly adept at coping with swarms of drones used in previous raids.

Hypersonic missiles travel at five times the speed of sound, around 3,850 mph, are extremely difficult to track, can only by tackled by counter- hypersonic systems, and can destroy a target as sizeable as an aircraft carrier even without a warhead.

The Kinzhal — Dagger — was one among supposedly “invincible” weapons which Vladimir Putin first spoke about in an national address five years ago. Russia’s defence minister, Sergei Shoigu, announced the deployment of the hypersonic missile system in Ukraine at the end of last year and US officials have subsequently charted their use in combat in the country.

Kim Sengupta has the full story:

Analysis: Russia’s use of hypersonic missiles poses a challenge for Ukraine

Analysis: The turmoil in Georgia over a ‘foreign agents’ bill raises fresh questions over Russia’s influence

Thursday 9 March 2023 16:15 , Emily Atkinson

Given Georgia’s status as former Soviet state situated at Russia’s south-west border, any suggestions of influence from Moscow will carry significant weight, writes Chris Stevenson. Russia’s President Vladimir Putin has long seen the country as part of Russia’s sphere of influence. The Russian leader has also upped his rhetoric in the wake of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine about Western institutions, such as the EU and the Nato military alliance, seeking to erode Russia’s standing in the world. Georgia is not a member of Nato, but has sought to join.

How British eels could be helping Putin in his war with Ukraine

Thursday 9 March 2023 15:49 , Emily Atkinson

Wildlife groups are calling for Britain to ban the transportation of eels to Russian conservation projects because of fears they are being sold on to China for food.

The alarm was sounded after a consignment of half a million eels were moved to Kaliningrad. Charities have said that the profits Russia has made from these sales could be funding the Ukraine war.

Multi-member organisation Wildlife and Countryside Link (WCL), which represents the RSPCA, CPRE and the Marine Conservation Society, has called for action from Defra (Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs).

William Mata has more:

How British eels could be helping Putin in his war with Ukraine

Russia says Brussels ‘ignoring talks' on probe into Nord Stream blasts

Thursday 9 March 2023 15:25 , Emily Atkinson

Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has accused the EU of completely ignoring any talks on the need to carry out an investigation of the Nord Stream gas pipeline blasts.

Russia has repeatedly asked to be allowed to join the investigations into the blasts, which ruptured three of the four pipelines of the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas links that connect Russia to Germany under the Baltic Sea.

In pictures: Damage after Russia carries out multiple missile strikes across Ukraine

Thursday 9 March 2023 14:50 , Emily Atkinson