While the Russian forces close in Bakhmut?
And it has little strategic value, but BIG value to the Russian President and his military to claim a ‘victory’…..
Ukraine military leaders do NOT want to retreat from the ruble that once was a town and seem to have moved more forces into the fight…
The Russian keep sendin g in-trained and equiped draftee’s against the Ukraine forces…..
The battle in Bakhmut has been close in some places including hand to hand encounters…
The Russian are using tanks as old 60 years to replanish their stocks of equipment…
The Ukraine continues limited strikes into Russia by drones and missiles….
Estonia election shows support FOR their EU and NATION membership going forward…..
Putin makes NO gains there…
The conflict is has a replay on WWI ‘trench warfare’ something Western Armies thought would NEVER come back , but has….
Military commanders told President Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday that they want to continue to defend the battered eastern city and strengthen positions there, his office said. Here’s what we’re covering:
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Ukraine’s top generals want to keep defending Bakhmut, as Russian fighters demand more ammunition.
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Ukraine claims a drone strike on a military target inside Russia.
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Video shows apparent execution of Ukrainian prisoner of war.
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Ukraine appoints an anti-corruption director, filling a post vacant since early in the war.
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Russia’s defense minister pays a rare visit to occupied areas of Ukraine.
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Here are five takeaways from inside the battle for Bakhmut.
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Belarus sentences the country’s exiled opposition leader to 15 years in prison…..
A victory for Russia in Bakhmut would not change the tide of the war, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told reporters on Monday, during an official visit to Jordan.
Here’s the latest on the war and its ripple effects across the globe.
- Ukrainian officials have denied any suggestion that they would leave Bakhmut. The Institute for the Study of War said that Ukrainian troops are “continuing to inflict high casualties” on Russia’s military and mercenary forces in Bakhmut but noted that Ukrainian forces may be conducting a “limited fighting withdrawal” from the area. The fighting is so intense that forces have at times clashed hand-to-hand, including fistfights, Dmytro Vatagin, a Ukrainian soldier stationed near Bakhmut, said in an interview.
- Russia’s defense minister visited the occupied city of Mariupol, according to videos and a statement by the Defense Ministry. According to the ministry, Sergei Shoigu was there to inspect the progress of Russian efforts to rebuild crippled infrastructure in the eastern Donbas region. The date of his visit is unclear, but the ministry in recent days has posted a flurry of content showing Shoigu visiting troops near the front line and meeting with military and defense officials involved in the war.
- Zelensky called on Ukrainians to say “Glory to Ukraine,” in response to the spread of a video on social media that appeared to show Russian troops shooting a prisoner of war who uttered the phrase. The video has not been verified by The Washington Post, and it is not clear when it was filmed or who the apparent victim was. Writing on Telegram, Zelensky said the prisoner had been “brutally killed” for responding “bravely” to his captors. “We will find the killers,” he wrote.
- Ukraine made a rare claim of responsibility for an attack behind Russian borders. The elite Kraken unit, a special forces unit that reports to Ukrainian military intelligence, released a video Monday that it claimed showed a drone attack on a military watchtower in Russia’s Bryansk region. It is not clear when the attack occurred. Separately, Russia’s air defense shot down three missiles over the region of Belgorod, which borders Ukraine and has been hit previouslyin the war, regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said.
- Russia is deploying decades-old battle tanks amid heavy losses of more-contemporary ones, Britain’s Defense Ministry said. Since the summer, Russia has taken about 800 T-62 main battle tanks — developed by the Soviet Union more than 60 years ago — out of storage and upgraded some of them to improve their nighttime operation capabilities, the ministry said. Russian BTR-50 armored personnel carriers, a mainstay of Soviet military efforts from the 1950s, also have been spotted in Ukraine “for the first time” in recent days. “Both these vintage vehicle types will present many vulnerabilities on the modern battlefield,” the ministry said.
- Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed last week’s attack on two villages in Russia with his security council, according to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov. Russia blamed the reported attack in the Bryansk region on Ukrainian saboteurs, but Kyiv denied responsibility, and fighters identifying themselves as Russian members of a far-right anti-Putin group claimed responsibility. Details of the attack were sparse and could not be verified. Peskov said Putin discussed the attack “in detail” and had conversations with his advisers “about ensuring the security of strategic facilities.”…