Ukraine Update…455 days into the Russian move on Ukraine…With Bakhmut…What Now?

With help from Russian regular troops the Wagner Group does take the main city of Baknmut, leaving Ukraine troops to hold area’s North na South of the wasteland …..Can the Russian’s hold on now to that they have?

Putin DOES celebrate…..

We now get reports of fighting near and OVER the Russian border by anti-Russian fighters…..

Ukraine’s top military commander concedes that only a small contingent of troops is still defending Bakhmut, site of the war’s deadliest battle.

Here’s what we’re covering:

Russia is ‘mopping up’ inside Bakhmut as Ukraine seeks to advance outside the city.
Why does Bakhmut matter? A mix of strategy and symbolism.
Fighting is reported in Russia near the border with Ukraine.
Bakhmut is gone. Here is an aerial look at the war’s destruction.
Before the war, Bakhmut was known for sparkling wine. Today, it’s a ruin.
Key events in the battle for Bakhmut, the war’s longest-running sustained fight.
Shelling briefly knocks out power at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant…..

More…

,,,

Here’s the latest on the war and its ripple effects across the globe.

Key developments

President Biden unveiled a $375 million military assistance package for Ukraine at the G-7 summit in Japan on Sunday, including ammunition for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS), antitank weapons, armored vehicles and other equipment. It brings Washington’s aid to a total of $37 billion since the war began. Biden also said the United States will support a joint effort to train Ukrainian pilots to fly F-16 fighter jets.
Russia’s ambassador to the United States suggested that any transfer of F-16 fighter jets to Kyiv would bring NATO partners into the conflict. In a Telegram post, Anatoly Antonov suggested that Ukraine would have to rely on foreign personnel to fly and maintain F-16s. He asked, “What would happen if American fighters take off from NATO airfields, operated by foreign ‘volunteers?’” The Kremlin has sought to cast its invasion as a fight against the transatlantic alliance, which is not directly involved in the conflict.
Ukraine is probably “several months at best” away from receiving significant numbers of the fighter jets from Western allies, U. S. Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall said on Monday. He cautioned that even when they arrive they are unlikely to be a “dramatic game changer” in Kyiv’s effort to fend off invading Russian forces.
Workers are focusing on restoring electricity in the Zaporizhzhia area after what a local official described as an “emergency situation” at one of its energy facilities. Zaporizhzhia is home to Europe’s largest nuclear plant. “The work does not stop — electricity and water are gradually appearing in the city’s districts,” Anatoly Kurtev, the secretary of Zaporizhzhia’s city council, wrote Monday on Telegram.
The Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant temporarily lost all its external power supply, Ukraine’s state energy company said in a statement posted to Telegram Monday. The site depended on backup diesel generators before power lines were restored, Energoatom said, the seventh time it has done so since Russia’s invasion began. Rafael Mariano Grossi, head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency, described the plant as extremely vulnerable. “This situation cannot continue,” he tweeted Monday.

Alleged Belgorod incursion

The governor of the Russian region of Belgorod, which borders Ukraine, accused a Ukrainian “sabotage and reconnaissance group” of crossing into Russia in a Telegram post on Monday. Vyacheslav Gladkov, the governor, said Russian forces were repelling the incursion. In a separate Telegram post, Gladkov said that an improvised drone attack on a government building resulted in no casualties.
The purpose of the alleged crossing was “to divert attention from the Bakhmut direction,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in a statement.
Ukrainian officials distanced themselves from the alleged attack. Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Ukraine’s presidential administration, said on Twitter that Ukraine had “nothing to do with it.” Andriy Yusov, a representative of Ukraine’s defense intelligence agency, told local media outlets that two armed anti-Kremlin Russian groups — the Freedom of Russia Legion and the Russian Volunteer Corps — had carried out the attack in Belgorod, acting independently.
In a Telegram post, groups calling themselves the “Freedom of Russia Legion” and “Russian Volunteer Corps” said they had “liberated” the settlement of Kozinka in the Belgorod region. “We are not your enemies. Unlike Putin’s zombies, we do not touch civilians and do not use them for our purposes. Freedom is near!” said one message posted Monday.

Battleground updates

Russia will probably need to send in reinforcements to hold Bakhmut and its surroundings “at the expense of operations in other directions,” analysts at the Institute for the Study of War said, as Ukraine prepares for a long-awaited spring counteroffensive. The Washington-based think tank also said the Wagner Group — the Russian-backed mercenary force that lost many fighters in the city — is unlikely to “continue fighting beyond Bakhmut at its current depleted state.”

On May 17, Stanislav Bunyato was injured during a battle defending Bakhmut as the Russians encircle the city. Here is the view of the front line. (Video: The Washington Post)

Ukrainian officials accused Russia of targeting a fire station in Dnipro, injuring an emergency worker, destroying equipment and damaging three buildings. Regional military administrator Serhiy Lysak said at least seven others were injured in separate attacks across the Dnipropetrovsk region, where Ukraine’s military said Russian forces launched 16 missiles and 20 Shahed drones overnight.

Global impact

Russian and Chinese officials will hold security talks in Moscow on Monday, according to Kremlin-affiliated state media. Nikolai Patrushev, head of the Russian Security Council, will meet with Chen Wenqing, the Chinese Communist Party’s top law enforcement official, as part of regular security discussions held annually in either country.
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said an expected meeting between him and Zelensky on the sidelines of the G-7 gathering did not go ahead because his Ukrainian counterpart was running late, Reuters reportedMonday. Zelensky had been expected to use the summit to try to woo leaders of countries such as Brazil and India that maintain close ties with Russia.
NATO Parliamentary Assembly pledged Monday to maintain “unwavering” support for Ukraine and appealed to leaders of the Alliance to speed up the delivery of fighter aircraft and other military hardware Kyiv needs to repeal Russian aggression. The assembly also accused Russia and “its co-aggressors in the Belarussian regime” of committing “crimes against humanity and possible acts of genocide” in Ukraine.
NATO members Estonia and Latvia are starting negotiations with German weapons maker Diehl Defence over a medium-range air defense system. The Iris-T SLM air defense system will “provide the maximum possible protection for our people, as well as civil and military infrastructure,” Latvian Defense Minister Inara Murniece saidSunday…..

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Ukraine Update…455 days into the Russian move on Ukraine…With Bakhmut…What Now?

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