Russian retreat in Bakhmut highlights ‘shortage of credible combat units’, says UK MoDUkrainian forces have regained at least a kilometre of territory in Bakhmut amid a Russian withdrawal that reflects its “severe shortage of credible combat units”, the latest UK intelligence briefing has said.
The Ministry of Defence said that over the past four days, elements of Russia’s 72nd separate motor rifle brigade (72 SMRB) likely withdrew “in bad order” from their positions on the southern flank of the Bakhmut operation.
A Ukrainian tank near Bakhmut. Photograph: Libkos/APThe area was tactically significant because it was a Russian bridgehead on the western side of the Donets-Donbas canal, which marked the front line through parts of the area, the ministry said in its update, posted on Twitter.
72 SMRB is an element of Russia’s 3rd Army Corps, a formation created in autumn 2023 and dogged with allegations of poor morale and limited combat effectiveness.
Its deployment to such a demanding and operationally important sector highlights Russia’s severe shortage of credible combat units.
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Zelenskiy is expected in Italy on Saturday for talks with government officials and Pope Francis, who in late April said that the Holy See is involved in a peace mission to end the war with Russia.
The trip, Zelenskiy’s first to Italy since Russia invaded on Feb. 24, 2022, has not been officially confirmed for security reasons, Reuters reports.
But multiple sources expect him to meet separately with President Sergio Mattarella and Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni before heading to the Vatican. He also is expected to be the guest of a popular Italian television talk show before heading to Germany.
Meloni visited Zelenskiy in Kyiv in February to assure him of Italy’s continued support for Ukraine, despite some of her allies, most notably former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, having longstanding, close ties with Moscow.
Here are the latest images coming across the wires from Ukraine:
Ukrainian servicemen fire a rocket system towards Russian troops near a frontline in the Zaporizhzhia region. Photograph: ReutersUkrainian servicemen prepare MLRS shells near a frontline in the Zaporizhzhia region. Photograph: ReutersUkrainian servicemen prepare a rocket system for firing towards Russian troops near a frontline in the Zaporizhzhia region. Photograph: ReutersSouth Africans were left angry and baffled after the US accused their country of secretly shipping arms to Russia, a charge that triggered both a government rebuke and the announcement of an inquiry, Agence France-Presse reports.
US ambassador Reuben Brigety said on Thursday that Washington was confident weapons and ammunition had been laden on to a Russian freighter that docked at a Cape Town naval base.
The explosive remarks drew an angry response from President Cyril Ramaphosa, who did not deny the charge but said a retired judge would lead an investigation into it.
They were also seized on by the Kremlin, which on Friday said the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, had agreed to deepen ties with Ramaphosa.
South Africa has been walking a diplomatic tightrope over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which it has refused to condemn, saying it prefers dialogue to end the war.
Vladimir Putin, left, and Cyril Ramaphosa at a summit in Sochi, Russia, in 2019. Photograph: Sergei Chirikov/APThe country has strong economic and trade relations with the United States and Europe. Trade with Russia is much smaller, but Pretoria has ties with Moscow dating back decades, to when the Kremlin supported the ruling African National Congress party in its struggle against apartheid.
The announcement of an inquiry was welcomed by the US but met with ridicule and bewilderment at home. Political and economic analyst Daniel Silke said:
It perhaps points to a South African president who simply is unaware of what is happening effectively under his nose.
The Lady R, a cargo vessel under western sanctions flying a Russian flag, docked at South Africa’s largest naval base in December, officially to offload an old order of ammunition. But Brigety said intelligence showed weaponry was loaded on to the vessel before it headed back to Russia.
Bongani Bingwa, host of a popular morning radio show, wrote on Twitter:
Did we or didn’t we? And if we did, shouldn’t the president know?
Russian claims of Ukrainian missile strikes on the Luhansk region’s main city have prompted speculation among analysts that Kyiv could have used a new missile with a longer range because the city lies far from Ukrainian positions.
Reuters reports that Moscow-installed officials said on Friday that the missiles had injured six children and a Russian parliamentarian and damaged two disused factories about 100km (60 miles) behind the frontlines.
Leonid Pasechnik, the Russian-installed head of the region, which Russia annexed last year, said the attack was carried out to disrupt local Republic Day celebrations.
The claimed strikes were unable to be verified and there was no immediate official reaction from Kyiv to them.
A Ukrainian soldier fires a rocket-propelled grenade towards Russian positions at the frontline near Kremenna, in the Luhansk region, on Tuesday. Photograph: Libkos/APUkraine’s Suspilne Donbas television station reported explosions in the city, quoting residents.
Luhansk is about 30km (18 miles) from the border with Russia and 100km from the frontlines of fighting, putting it beyond the reach of most of the shorter-range missiles, such as the US-supplied Himars that Ukraine has largely been using in the conflict.
The UK said this week it had delivered to Ukraine multiple longer-range cruise missiles that could hit targets at 300km – the furthest rockets supplied to Kyiv by its western allies.
Three injured in Russian strikes on MykolaivRussian attacks injured three people in the southern Ukrainian city of Mykolaiv, the city’s mayor has said.
The strikes occurred early on Saturday, Oleksandr Sienkevych said on his Telegram channel. Russian forces targeted a local factory, also damaging nearby residential buildings, causing fires in three apartments and damaging an educational institution, he said.
In Kyiv, the capital, air raid sirens sounded overnight, the Kyiv Independent reported.
A residential building in Kyiv damaged in a drone attack on Monday. Photograph: Aleksandr Gusev/Sopa Images/ShutterstockStrikes were also reported in Lviv, western Ukraine, with the regional military administration saying kamikaze drones were involved.
Sienkevych said rescuers were working at the scene in Mykolaiv. One of the injured was taken away by ambulance while two received medical assistance on site.
Russian retreat in Bakhmut highlights ‘shortage of credible combat units’, says UK MoDUkrainian forces have regained at least a kilometre of territory in Bakhmut amid a Russian withdrawal that reflects its “severe shortage of credible combat units”, the latest UK intelligence briefing has said.
The Ministry of Defence said that over the past four days, elements of Russia’s 72nd separate motor rifle brigade (72 SMRB) likely withdrew “in bad order” from their positions on the southern flank of the Bakhmut operation.
A Ukrainian tank near Bakhmut. Photograph: Libkos/APThe area was tactically significant because it was a Russian bridgehead on the western side of the Donets-Donbas canal, which marked the front line through parts of the area, the ministry said in its update, posted on Twitter.
72 SMRB is an element of Russia’s 3rd Army Corps, a formation created in autumn 2023 and dogged with allegations of poor morale and limited combat effectiveness.
Its deployment to such a demanding and operationally important sector highlights Russia’s severe shortage of credible combat units.
Opening summaryHello and welcome back to our coverage of Russia’s war on Ukraine, now in its 444th day. I’m Adam Fulton and here’s a look at the latest.
Ukrainian forces have regained at least a kilometre of territory in Bakhmut amid a Russian withdrawal that reflects Moscow’s “severe shortage of credible combat units”, the UK Ministry of Defence has said in its latest intelligence briefing.
It said elements of a Russian brigade withdrew “in bad order” from their positions on the southern flank of the eastern Ukrainian city, scene of the war’s longest battle. The brigade had been “dogged with allegations of poor morale and limited combat effectiveness”.
Ukrainian tanks near Bakhmut. Photograph: Libkos/APMore on that story soon. In other developments:
Russian-installed officials in Luhansk have said missiles fired by Ukrainian forces injured six children and a Russian parliamentarian and damaged two disused factories in the eastern Ukrainian region’s main city, about 100km (60 miles) behind the frontlines.
Two Russian pilots were killed when a Russian Mi-28 military helicopter crashed in the annexed peninsula of Crimea, Russian news agencies reported, citing the defence ministry. It said it believed the reason for Friday’s crash was equipment failure, Tass reported.
The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has thanked the British prime minister, Rishi Sunak, for the provision of long-range cruise missiles. The UK defence secretary, Ben Wallace, earlier confirmed it would send the Storm Shadow missiles, prompting a threat from the Kremlin of a military response.
Police in the Russian city of St Petersburg have created an anti-drone unit to detect unmanned drones after a suspected attack on the Kremlin last week. The unit launched on Tuesday during the annual second world war Victory Day celebrations on St Petersburg’s Palace Square, the city’s interior ministry said.
South Africa’s foreign ministry has summoned the US ambassador over allegations he made that the country had provided arms and ammunition to Russia for its war in Ukraine. Reuben Brigety said on Thursday that South Africa had loaded weapons and ammunition on to a Russian vessel, which is under sanctions, at the Simon’s Town naval base near Cape Town in December last year and that the arms were then transported to Russia.
A Russian vessel, Lady R, docked at Simon’s Town naval base in December. Photograph: AP Russia’s defence ministry has said Ukrainian forces carried out “offensive operations” along the entire line of contact near Soledar, the ministry’s official Zvezda news outlet reported. More than a thousand troops and up to 40 tanks were used in Thursday’s assault, it said on Friday, adding that the attacks were “repulsed”.
The UN nuclear watchdog chief, Rafael Grossi, plans to present an agreement with Russia and Ukraine on protecting the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant to the UN security council this month, indicating a deal is close, four diplomats have told Reuters. Grossi has been trying for months to secure an agreement to reduce the risk of a catastrophic accident from shelling at the Russian-occupied nuclear power station, Europe’s biggest.
Russian forces guard the Zaporizhzhia plant’s entrance during a visit by the International Atomic Energy Agency in late March. Photograph: Alexander Ermochenko/Reuters Rishi Sunak, the British prime minister, has expressed disappointment at a decision to block Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s request to speak via video at Saturday’s Eurovision grand final. The European Broadcasting Union, which produces the event, said the Ukrainian president had “laudable” intentions but rejected the request over fears it could politicise the event.