Ukraine-Russia war: Bakhmut has ‘bought time’ to plot Ukrainian counteroffensive

The fight in Bakhmut has bought time to plan a future counteroffensive against Russia's forces, said Oleksandr Syrsky, the commander of Ukraine's ground forces.

He said the conflict which has become the longest over a city in Ukraine was necessary to restock ammunition and to draw out a strategy for the next phase of the war.

Some military experts have questioned the sense of the continued fight for Bakhmut, but Ukrainian officials say that the town's fall could lead to further Russian advances in the east.

Mr Syrsky said today: "The real heroes now are the defenders who are holding the eastern front on their shoulders, and inflicting the heaviest possible losses sparing neither themselves nor the enemy."

"It is necessary to buy time to build reserves and launch a counteroffensive, which is not far off."

The military said that Mr Syrsky was at "the most important area" of the front line but did not provide further details.

The Bakhmutka River in the centre of Bakhmut now marks the front line. Ukrainian forces hold the west of the town and have demolished key bridges over the river.

Wagner mercenaries said this afternoon they are one kilometre from the centre of Bakhmut.

04:50 PM

Three dead as Russians launch ‘horrible’ attack on Kherson

A Russian strike on the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson today left three people dead and two others wounded, authorities said.

"Russian terrorists are shelling Kherson again," Andriy Yermak, the head of Ukraine's presidential office, said on Telegram.

He posted a picture of firefighters next to a charred car.

Oleksandr Prokudin, the head of Kherson's regional military administration, said the casualties occurred when a car was hit by a shell and caught fire.

Galyna Kolisnyk, 53, said the Russians struck when she was in a store.

"When we entered, literally five minutes later this tragedy happened," she told AFP.

"Explosions began, our car got hit....This is horrible."

The strike came two days after Russian artillery fire also killed three people in Kherson.

Despite Russia's retreat from the city of Kherson late last year, it has been regularly targeted by Moscow's troops.

04:13 PM

Over 400 children killed in under three weeks

Russia’s missiles and shelling across Ukraine have killed at least 464 children and wounded 934 more since Feb 24.

A further 367 children are considered missing, according to the prosecutor general’s office.

The number of casualties in expected to be higher as the count does not include data from current conflict zones and Russian-occupied territories.

Local media reports that the highest number of deaths of children was documented in Donetsk and Kharkiv.

04:00 PM

Wagner chief tells Telegraph EU sanctions are 'reasonable'

The head of Russia’s Wagner private army has told The Telegraph the sanctions against him are “reasonable” after the EU lifted measures on his mother this week.

The General Court of the Court of Justice of the European Union ruled on March 8 that it was unfair that Violetta Prigozhina, 83, should be sanctioned solely because of her son.

Yevgeny Prigozhin’s press office said that despite the success of his mother’s appeal he would not return to court to contest his own, adding that he believes they are “in place for good reason”.

“As far as sanctions against me and sanctions against PMC Wagner are concerned, I am not going to contest them in court, and I believe that they are in place for a good reason,” they said.

They added that he is busy on “a business trip in the Donbas” and would look into the details of his mother’s court case that he claimed “she was mostly handling on her own” later.

The court said it had established that Mrs Prigozhina has not been the owner of the company since 2017. The EU was also unable to prove that Mrs Prigozhina owned other ventures linked to her son when the sanctions were adopted.

03:53 PM

Denmark to ship Leopard 1 tanks in spring

Denmark is to send its first batch of Leopard 1 tanks to Ukraine this spring, its defence ministry announced today.

Troels Lund Poulsen, the country’s acting defence minister, confirmed the timeframe after visiting German manufacturers Flensburger Fahrzeugbau Gesellschaft which is preparing the tanks for delivery.

The Danish government is working in collaboration with Germany and the Netherlands to donate at least 100 Leopard 1 tanks to Ukraine.

03:28 PM

Canada places ban on imports of Russian metals

Canada has banned the import of all Russian aluminum and steel products in a move that Ottawa said was aimed at denying Moscow the ability to fund its war against Ukraine.

The ban on imports was introduced as a 200 per cent tariff on Russian aluminium announced by the United States last month came into effect.

The restrictions on aluminum include unwrought, sheet and finished products such as containers and household items. For steel, the ban will impact iron and non-alloy steel, semi-finished products, and finished products such as tubes and pipes.

03:10 PM

In Pictures: Kherson strike hits supermarket

02:14 PM

Bakhmut centre now a 'killing zone'

The centre of Bakhmut has become a ‘killing zone’ as Ukraine’s forces thwart the Wagner Group’s efforts to cross the front line.

The Russian mercenary group has taken control of most of eastern Bakhmut over the last few days as Ukraine’s forces defended its west, according to the UK Ministry of Defence intelligence update.

Ukrainian forces have demolished key bridges over the north-south Bakhmutka River, which runs through a strip of open ground 200-800 meters wide.

The result is that the town centre has become highly challenging to cross for Wagner forces as any attempt is directly in the line of fire of Ukrainians from fortified buildings in the west.

“This area has become a killing zone, likely making it highly challenging for Wagner forces attempting to continue their frontal assault westwards,” it said.

An aide to president Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukraine has decided to fight on in the ruined city because the battle there is pinning down Russia's best units and degrading them ahead of a spring counter-offensive.

Meanwhile the Wagner Group has opened recruitment centres in 42 cities as it seeks to replenish its ranks after heavy losses in Bakhmut.

01:44 PM

In Pictures: Youth action mark Crimea's annexation

People demonstrate outside the Crimean parliament while filming a youth action with the motto "we don't abandon our own" in preparation to mark the ninth anniversary of its annexation from Ukraine.

The group hold a Russian flag and sign with the letter Z which has become a symbol of the Russian military.

01:31 PM

Wagner says Russian fighters near central Bakhmut

The chief of Russian mercenary group Wagner has said in a clip posted today that his forces are close to the centre of the frontline hotspot of Bakhmut.

In a video posted on messaging app Telegram, Yevgeny Prigozhin is seen standing on a roof of a high-rise building in what is said to be Bakhmut.

"This is the building of the town administration, this is the centre of the town," Mr Prigozin said in the video, pointing towards a building in the distance.

"It is one kilometre and two hundred metres away," he said.

He said that the most important thing now was to receive ammunition and "move forward."

01:23 PM

Iran says deal reached to buy Russian fighter jets

Iran has finalised a deal to buy Sukhoi Su-35 fighter jets from Russia, state media reported, as defence cooperation between the two countries deepens.

The air force of sanctions-hit Iran has an ageing fleet of aircraft and has struggled to acquire spare parts to keep its warplanes in the air.

In a statement to the United Nations, Tehran said it began approaching "countries to buy fighter jets" to replenish its fleet in the wake of the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war.

"Russia announced it was ready to sell them" after the expiry in October 2020 of restrictions on Iran purchasing conventional weapons under UN Resolution 2231, said IRNA news agency in a statement.

"The Sukhoi 35 fighter jets were technically acceptable for Iran," it added.

Tehran has forged strong ties with Moscow in various sectors including the military in the past year.

01:09 PM

Zelensky cancels the word Russia from Ukrainian language

By James Kilner

Volodymyr Zelensky has ordered his government to draw up plans to scrap the word Russia from the Ukrainian language.

The Ukrainian president wants to rename Russia as Muscovy, a reference to the far smaller principality centred around Moscow that existed for 300 years from the mid-13th century.

He was responding to an online petition signed by 25,000 people. It said that renaming Russia will undermine the Kremlin’s imperialist mindset and its “dangerous claim” that Russia is a direct descendant of the Kyivan Rus.

The Kremlin justified its full-scale invasion of Ukraine last year by saying that Ukrainians were part of the Rus people, alongside Russians and Belarusians.

“Peter I stole the name of Russia and after him Catherine II rewrote history, exaggerating the Russian Empire’s victories and gains and minimising her diligent destruction of Ukraine, ” the petition said.

“Now their tradition has been continued by the dictator of the modern Russian Federation.”

12:11 PM

Scenes of Bakhmut

12:01 PM

In Pictures: Russian drone blows up British Stormer anti-aircraft vehicle

Russia’s defence ministry has published footage of the destruction of a British-made Stormer anti-aircraft vehicle in Ukraine.

Video footage shows drone crews zooming in on the tank in Donetsk before launching Lancet high-precision loitering ammunition to blow it up. The drones can hit targets within a radius of up to 40 kilometres (24 miles).

“Loitering munitions are used to destroy armoured vehicles. With their help, artillery pieces, self-propelled artillery mounts, self-propelled anti-aircraft missile systems and tanks are destroyed," the ministry said.

It is unclear whether there were any casualties.

Britain sent the first batch of the 13-tonne missile launchers in July last year.

11:38 AM

Wagner 'to become best private army in the world'

Russian mercenary Yevgeny Prigozhin has said he intends to “reset” Wagner PMC as the “best private army in the world”.

Wagner will "reload" its military by recruiting more soldiers as soon as it has completed its mission to take control of the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, he said in a Telegram video.

Further still, he said, Wagner will be driven by an ideology that will make it capable of "more than just defending a state as it will turn into an army with an ideology to fight for justice”.

Mr Prigozhin announced the opening of Wagner recruitment centres in dozens of cities across Russia yesterday as it seeks to flex its military capabilities beyond the war in Ukraine.

10:49 AM

Funeral held for British aid worker killed in Ukraine

A funeral has been held for a British aid worker who was killed in eastern Ukraine.

Chris Parry, 28, died alongside fellow volunteer Andrew Bagshaw, 47, as they tried to rescue a woman and their car was struck by an artillery shell.

Tributes were paid to Chris, from Truro, as his funeral was held at Truro Cathedral, following a vigil for him the evening before.

One friend said: "He found something as an evacuator that requires a special type of person."

Chris said days before his death: "I feel more at home the closer I get to the front." When I am there, I am helping somebody."

10:42 AM

In Pictures: Ukrainian troops in the fight for Bakhmut

10:20 AM

'Why should I fight?' How Russian soldiers are mutinying in face of 'certain death'

Russians sent to fight on the front lines are mutinying, fighting amongst themselves, getting locked in basements and lost in the chaos of a faltering offensive, a flurry of videos and messages from inside Vladimir Putin’s army show.

Recently mobilised soldiers are refusing orders to face “certain death” by joining “human wave” attacks that they say are destroying entire units at a time.

Some are appealing directly to Putin in desperate videos, while others are standing up to Kremlin officials sent to quell the rebellion.

Reports are emerging of fighters being locked underground for declining to become targets in the “shooting range” that has become the front line.

Read the full story here.

10:13 AM

Switzerland bans weapon exports to Ukraine

The Swiss government has decided to keep its policy of neutrality that blocks the supply of ammunition and weapons made in Switzerland to Ukraine.

The Swiss Federal Council confirmed yesterday that the country will not issue third-party re-export of military equipment to Ukraine.

According to the report, the decision is based on the law on military equipment and on Switzerland’s long-standing humanitarian traditions as a neutral state.

“The Federal Council is committed to the values of Swiss neutrality and will continue to work to realise the benefits of neutrality,” the government stated.

The decision notes that the neutrality “does not mean indifference” to Russia’s aggression against Ukraine and reiterated that it demands the withdrawal of President Vladimir Putin's troops.

In January, Switzerland refused to authorise the supply of Gepard anti-aircraft missiles to Ukraine and it vetoed certain types of weapons that Spain wanted to supply.

09:52 AM

Stop Russia using Olympics for propaganda, says UK

The British government has written to the Olympic Games’ biggest sponsors to put pressure on the International Olympic Committee (IOC) over its proposal to allow Russian and Belarusians to compete at the Paris Games next year.

Lucy Frazer, the Culture Secretary, has also asked the UK chief executives of IOC’s partners such as Samsung and Coca Cola to open talks with IOC over concerns it has about lifting the ban.

“We know sport and politics in Russia and Belarus are heavily intertwined, and we are determined that the regimes in Russia and Belarus must not be allowed to use sport for their propaganda purposes,” the letter states.

09:41 AM

Donetsk struck with over 100 attacks

Russian troops launched over 100 attacks in the Donetsk region over the past day.

The areas of Lyman, Bakhmut, Avdiivka, Marinka and Shakhtarsk were hit with 29 air and four missile strikes.

Russian forces also opened fire with multiple launch rocket systems MLRS 100 times, according to local media.

Casualties among civilians were reported, as well as the damage caused to civil infrastructure and residential houses.

Ukraine’s general staff say Russia is trying to reach the administrative borders of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.