May 12 (Reuters) – Moscow acknowledged on Friday that
its forces had fallen back north of Ukraine’s battlefield city
of Bakhmut after a new offensive, in a retreat that the head of
Russia’s Wagner private army called a rout.
CONFLICT
* As anticipation grows of a Ukrainian counteroffensive
aiming to drive Moscow’s forces out of the land they have seized
in the last 15 months, Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Maliar said
Ukrainian forces advanced by about 2 km around the eastern city
of Bakhmut this week and have not given up any positions there
in that time.
* President Zelenskiy said Ukraine had to keep pressing
Russian forces and promised more weapons to his soldiers “to
defeat the aggressor”
* “We must put pressure on them every day so that their
sense of defeat turns into their flight, their mistakes, their
losses”, he said in a daily address.
* Russia’s defence ministry said its forces had repelled a
surge of attempted Ukrainian attacks against its positions in
eastern Ukraine but indicated its troops had fallen back in one
area for what it said were tactical reasons.
* Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of the Wagner forces that have led
the campaign in Bakhmut, said in an audio message: “What
Konashenkov described, unfortunately, is called ‘a rout’ and not
a regrouping”.
* In a separate video message, Prigozhin said the Ukrainians
seized high ground overlooking Bakhmut and opened the main
highway leading into the city from the West, saying 5 sq km had
been lost on Friday alone.
* 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.
* The Ukrainian military said in a daily update that Russia
was focussing its efforts near Lyman, Bakhmut, Avdiivka and
Marinka. “The enemy carried out 36 attacks in these directions
in the last 24 hours.”
* South African officials hit back at U.S. accusations that
a sanctioned Russian ship had picked up weapons from a naval
base near Cape Town late last year, a move investors feared
could lead Washington to impose sanctions.
DIPLOMACY
* The EU is discussing its 11th package of sanctions since
Russia invaded Ukraine, meant to focus on those circumventing
existing trade restrictions.
* Lawmakers accused the Pentagon of effectively undermining
war crimes prosecution of Russia by blocking the sharing of U.S.
military intelligence with the International Criminal Court at
the Hague.
* U.S. President Joe Biden and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro
Sanchez will discuss Ukraine, defense cooperation, and migration
on Friday during a meeting at the White House in which the war
between Moscow and Kyiv is likely to loom large.
ECONOMY
* Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania are considering speeding up
a plan to disconnect the Baltic region’s electricity supply from
Russia’s grid.
INSIDE RUSSIA
* Police in the Russian city of St. Petersburg have created
a new anti-drone unit to detect unmanned aerial vehicles
following a purported drone attack on the Kremlin earlier this
month.
* Pro-war Russian nationalists led by Igor Girkin said a new
group they had set up was entering politics to save Russia which
they warned was in danger of turmoil due to military failures in
the Ukraine war.
IN-DEPTH STORIES
* INSIGHT-Communities torn as Ukraine turns its back on
Moscow-linked church.
* INSIGHT-How Russians end up in a far-right militia
fighting in Ukraine.
* EXCLUSIVE-Turkey defers $600 mln Russian energy payment
-sources
* EXCLUSIVE-Oilfield firm SLB retrenches as Russia sanctions
squeeze
* FOCUS-Why eastern Europe’s grain producers face a perfect
storm
(Compiled by Reuters editors, Editing by Angus MacSwan)
