The head of Russian paramilitary group Wagner said Saturday his fighters were near the centre of Bakhmut as a top Ukrainian commander insisted it was important to "buy time" ahead of an upcoming counteroffensive. Read FRANCE 24's live blog below to see how the day's events unfolded. All times are Paris time (GMT+1).
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10:50pm: Russia suffered more than 500 killed and wounded in one day at Bakhmut
More than 500 Russian troops were killed or wounded in a recent 24-hour period during the battle for the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, a Ukrainian military spokesman said on Saturday.
Pro-Moscow forces have been fighting for months to take Bakhmut, in the eastern Donbas region. Both sides admit to significant losses and the exact numbers are difficult to verify.
Serhiy Cherevaty, a military spokesperson for forces in the east, said the Russians had launched 16 attacks over a 24-hour period, with 23 clashes taking place in Bakhmut.
"Over the course of the fighting, 221 enemies were killed and 314 sustained injuries of various degrees," he told the national parliament's television channel.
9:10pm: Russian advance in Bakhmut could come with heavy losses, says UK Defense Ministry
Russian forces have made progress in their campaign to capture the city of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine, the focus of the war's longest ground battle, but their assault will be difficult to sustain without more significant personnel losses, British military officials said Saturday.
The UK Defense Ministry said in its latest assessment that paramilitary units from the Kremlin-controlled Wagner Group have seized most of eastern Bakhmut, with a river flowing through the city now marking the front line of the fighting.
Ukrainian troops and supply lines remain vulnerable to “continued Russian attempts to outflank the defenders from the north and south” as the Wagner Group's forces try to close in on them in a pincer movement, the UK ministry said.
9:10pm: Russian Orthodox head appeals against eviction of church from Kyiv
Patriarch Kirill, head of the Russian Orthodox Church, on Saturday asked Pope Francis and other religious leaders to persuade Ukraine to stop a crackdown against a historically Russian-aligned wing of the church.
Kyiv on Friday ordered the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) to leave a monastery complex where it is based, the latest move against a denomination the government says is pro-Russian and collaborating with Moscow.
Kirill urged religious leaders and international organisations to "make every effort to prevent the forced closure of the monastery, which will lead to a violation of the rights of millions of Ukrainian believers", said a statement posted on the church's website.
Kirill strongly backed Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The UOC says it has severed its ties with Russia and the Moscow Patriarchate, and is the victim of a political witch hunt.
5:01pm: Wagner chief says forces near centre of Bakhmut
The chief of the Russian mercenary Wagner Group has said in a clip posted Saturday 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 the rooftop 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," Prigozhin said in the video, pointing towards a building in the distance.
"It is 1 kilometre and 200 metres away," said Prigozhin, who was clad in full military gear.
Speaking as artillery boomed in the background, Prigozhin said that the most important thing was to receive more ammunition from the Russian army and "move forward".
4:50pm: Ukrainian helicopters target enemy forces near Bakhmut as battle for city continues
Three Mi-8 helicopter gunships rise up from a secret base in Ukraine and head at low altitude for their target near Bakhmut.
As the eastern Ukrainian city nears, one by one the helicopters suddenly rear up, unleash their rockets, bank sharply and return to base, skimming the ground.
The target is "an enemy fortification line made up of troops on the ground, armoured vehicles and a munitions depot", a pilot, Petro, tells AFP after the 30-minute mission.
The fortification lies near Severodonetsk, which the Russian army seized last spring, to the northeast of Bakhmut, where Ukrainian soldiers are still holding out amid heavy losses on both sides.
Click on the video below to learn more about Petro and the battle for Bakhmut:
2:46pm: 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 use.
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 the statement carried late Friday by Iran’s official IRNA news agency
2:33pm: Russia's Wagner Group opens more than 40 recruitment centres
Wagner has been spearheading offensives against cities in eastern Ukraine including Bakhmut, in what has become the longest and bloodiest fight of Russia's year-long invasion. Both sides have suffered heavy losses around Bakhmut.
"Recruitment centres for PMC Wagner have opened in 42 Russian cities," Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin said in a statement, referring to his private military company.
2:24pm: Russian shells kill three in Kherson, officials say
A Russian strike on the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson on Saturday 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 messaging app 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.
The strike came two days after Russian artillery fire also killed three people in Kherson, according to the Ukrainian presidency.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP & Reuters)
