March 7, 2023 - Russia-Ukraine news

Russian troops will have “open road” to capture key cities in eastern Ukraine if they seize control of Bakhmut, President Volodymyr Zelensky warned in an interview with CNN, as he defended his decision to keep Ukrainian forces in the besieged city.

“This is tactical for us,” Zelensky said, insisting that Kyiv’s military brass is united in prolonging its defense of the city after weeks of Russian attacks left it on the cusp of falling to Moscow’s troops.

“We understand that after Bakhmut they could go further. They could go to Kramatorsk, they could go to Sloviansk, it would be open road for the Russians after Bakhmut to other towns in Ukraine, in the Donetsk direction,” he told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer in an exclusive interview from Kyiv. “That’s why our guys are standing there.”

A weeks-long assault from Wagner mercenary troops, which has picked up pace in recent days, has forced thousands from the city and decimated its infrastructure. But Ukrainian troops have also mounted a dogged defense of the area, stalling Russia’s progress.

Zelensky said his motivations to keep the city are “so different” to Russia’s objectives. “We understand what Russia wants to achieve there. Russia needs at least some victory – a small victory – even by ruining everything in Bakhmut, just killing every civilian there,” Zelensky said.

He said that if Russia is able to “put their little flag” on top of Bakhmut, it would help “mobilize their society in order to create this idea they’re such a powerful army.”

Read more here and watch the interview below.

Ukrainian forces have continued to repel Russian attacks on the battered city of Bakhmut, the military’s General Staff said in a situation update Tuesday.

“The enemy continues its assaults in the Bakhmut direction,” it said. “They do not stop assaulting the city of Bakhmut. Our defenders repelled attacks in the areas of Ivanivske, Klishchiivka, and Bakhmut.”

According to the Ukrainian military, Russian forces continue to focus their offensive not just on Bakhmut but also on Kupiansk, Lyman, Avdiivka, and Shakhtarsk.

Moscow court has sentenced Dmitry Ivanov, the author of the Protest MSU telegram channel to eight and a half years in prison, after convicting him of spreading fakes about the Russian army, the press service of the court told Russian state media RIA Novosti on Tuesday.

“According to the verdict of the Timiryazevsky District Court of Moscow, Dmitry Ivanov was found guilty of committing a crime under clause d, part 2, article 207.3 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, and he was sentenced to 8 years and 6 months in prison, with punishment to be served in a correctional colony of general regime, with the deprivation of the right to engage in activities related to the administration of sites of electronic and information and telecommunication networks, including the Internet, for a period of 4 years,” the source said, as quoted by RIA.

Under the article on the dissemination of fakes about the Russian army based on political or other hatred, punishment is provided in the form of imprisonment for a term of 5 to 10 years. 

According to RIA, the prosecutor's office asked to sentence Ivanov to 9 years in prison.

Ivanov's lawyer Maria Eismont commented on the court's verdict in a video posted on the Prison MSU telegram channel, which was created in support of Dmitry Ivanov.

“A person got a sentence for the same term as people get for murder and other violent crimes just because he voiced an opinion different to the press release of the defense ministry. This is a horrible reality that we live in right now,” said Eismont.

In another video posted on the Telegram channel, Ivanov's mother, Elena Ivanova, expressed hope that her son will soon be freed.

"A person should not be imprisoned for his beliefs. This verdict will certainly be overturned. Sooner or later it will be overturned," she said, adding that "many share his position. He is not alone. We have a lot of people who support him."

RIA Novosti reported that the investigation found numerous posts were published on the Protest MSU Telegram channel, which spoke of alleged crimes committed by the Russian Armed Forces, including the murders of the civilian population of Ukraine. 

In March and April last year, the Protest MSU Telegram channel was actively reposting statements of the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky and several Russian opposition figures condemning the war in Ukraine.

German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said on Tuesday that NATO, not Germany has to decide on permanent military forces to protect the Baltic countries.

"In the end, this is not so much a question of what Germany intends to do, but rather what NATO thinks is right and necessary,” Pistorius said during a joint news conference with his Lithuanian counterpart Arvydas Anusauskas.

“What does NATO say is the right thing to do militarily and in terms of deterrence and flexibility? A permanent brigade in the Baltic or several?” Pistorius said.

The German defense minister added the Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR) and NATO were considering “flexible units to protect the entire eastern flank.” 

In the news conference, Anusauskas said Lithuania was looking for a “permanent presence of the German brigade in Lithuania” as the NATO defense line starts in Lithuania, he said, adding that the country was preparing the necessary infrastructure to host the German military.

Pistorius continued to say Germany plans the deployment of a “huge apparatus “consisting of 5,000 soldiers in this brigade plus civilian employees and family members. 

Some more context: Germany has been present in Lithuania since the occupation of Crimea in 2014 to secure the eastern flank in Lithuania. At present 1,400 German soldiers are stationed in the Baltic country.

Ukraine and Russia have exchanged prisoners of war in another swap, announced by both sides on Tuesday.

Moscow said it had been able to return 90 servicemen from territory controlled by Kyiv, whereas Ukraine said it had been able to bring back 130 of its soldiers from Russian captivity.

“Another prisoner swap — we managed to bring home 130 of our people — 126 men and 4 women,” the Ukrainian President’s Chief of Staff Andriy Yermak posted on Telegram on Thursday. “Among them — 87 defenders of Mariupol, 71 of whom are from Azovstal. We are also returning those taken prisoner in the area of Bakhmut and Soledar — 35 people in total from the Donetsk direction.” 

Russia's Ministry of Defense also said the soldiers it was able to exchange for were in “mortal danger” and said they’d be flown to Moscow for treatment. 

“As a result of the negotiation process, 90 Russian servicemen who were in mortal danger have been returned from the territory controlled by the Kyiv regime,” it said in a statement on Tuesday. “Airplanes of the military transport aviation of the Russian Aerospace Forces will transport the released servicemen to Moscow for treatment and rehabilitation at medical institutions of the Russian Defense Ministry.”

“All those released are being provided with the necessary medical and psychological assistance,” it added.

While most attention is focused on the battle for the city of Bakhmut, fierce battles continue a short distance to the north, according to Ukrainian officials.

Serhiy Hayday, head of the Luhansk region military administration, says the situation "is difficult [in the Luhansk region] but controlled by the Defense Forces of Ukraine."

He said on Ukrainian television that "the most difficult areas are Bilohorivka and Kreminna" where there were constant assaults and shelling by Russian troops. 

"They are trying to push out our defenders to reach Stelmakhivka, Nevske, and recapture these settlements."

Stelmakhivka and Nevske are villages on the borders of the Luhansk and Kharkiv regions that were recaptured by Ukrainian forces in September.

"When they [the Russians] lose personnel and their hardware is damaged, they take time to "recover" for about a day, replenish their supplies, and then go on the offensive again," Hayday said.

Hayday said the Russians were regularly changing their tactics. "There were small groups; there were offensives with up to three companies of exclusively infantry; there was an offensive using "armor" with up to two companies supported by "heavy" hardware."

In that way, the Russians were constantly trying to test the strength of Ukrainian defenses, he said.

Nearly 4,000 civilians remain inside the battered eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, the country’s Vice Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said on Tuesday.

“As of today, less than 4,000 people remain in Bakhmut. Speaking of children, about 38 children, as far as we know, remain in Bakhmut,” Vereshchuk said in a televised address. “More than 70,000 people lived in Bakhmut, that is, 95% were evacuated. As for children, there were 12,000 of them.”

Vereshchuck said Ukrainian workers were still working to evacuate the remainder of the population but the current situation makes their jobs even more difficult. 

“Bakhmut has been destroyed in terms of infrastructure and housing. Almost 80% of the houses have been damaged. Social infrastructure is not functioning,” she said.

The head of the Wagner private military contractor, Yevgeny Prigozhin, took another swipe at Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu while answering questions about his fighters' progress in and around Bakhmut.

Prigozhin was asked about Shoigu's claim that Russian forces had killed 11,000 Ukrainian soldiers around Bakhmut in February.

He agreed with the assessment but was quick to claim credit, saying on his Telegram account, "I think that the Minister of Defense assessed them correctly. PMC 'Wagner' killed about 11,000 people in February. "

It is not possible to verify the figures given by Shoigu or Prigozhin. And NATO intelligence estimates that for every Ukrainian soldier killed defending Bakhmut, Russian forces have lost at least five, a NATO official told CNN on Monday.

Prigozhin has been seen on multiple occasions in the Bakhmut area. Shoigu visited parts of Russian-occupied Ukraine during the weekend but appears to have stayed away from the front lines.

Answering journalists' questions on Telegram, Prigozhin estimated there were somewhere between 12,000 and 20,000 Ukrainian troops still in the Bakhmut area. 

"Let us calmly kill this bear. Believe me, we are doing everything for this, although we are still not given ammunition, military equipment, weapons, and vehicles. Sapper shovels after almost a month, by the way, were given," he said.

Prigozhin has repeatedly attacked the defense ministry for not providing ammunition and supplies to Wagner, blaming the ministry for the deaths of his fighters.

On Telegram, Prigozhin also repeated his respect for Ukrainian forces, but also said that "the same blood flows in them." 

"The hardest battles are going on both day and night, but the Ukrainians do not run away anywhere. ... Ukrainians are not running away. They die en masse for Bakhmut and surrender only as a last resort. Stop calling them cowards. They are the same as we are, and the same blood flows in them," he said.

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres is on his way to Ukraine, his spokesperson, Stephane Dujarric, said Tuesday.

In a statement, the spokesperson said Guterres is currently in Poland and will meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday morning in Kyiv.

The pair will discuss “the continuation of the Black Sea Grain Initiative in all its aspects, as well as other pertinent issues,” according to the statement.

The United Nations said the initiative allows for commercial food and fertilizer exports from three key Ukrainian ports in the Black Sea to lower-income countries.

This is the UN chief’s third visit to Ukraine, and he will be back in New York by Thursday afternoon, his spokesperson added.