Russia has said some of its troops fell back “to more advantageous defensive positions” near a reservoir north-west of Bakhmut. The defence ministry’s statement on Friday was Moscow’s first admission that Ukraine was successfully recapturing ground around the largely destroyed eastern Ukrainian city Russia has been trying to conquer for more than 10 months.
Wagner group founder Yevgeny Prigozhin, whose troops have done most of the fighting in and around Bakhmut, said that what the defence ministry had described was in fact a “rout” that had seen troops flee. He said via his press service that Ukraine had been able to completely regain control of a crucial supply road that links Bakhmut with the town of Chasiv Yar and had seized useful higher ground.
Russian-installed officials in Luhansk have said missiles fired by Kyiv damaged two disused factories and five homes in the eastern Ukrainian region’s main city, around 100km (60 miles) behind the frontlines. Luhansk authorities said on Telegram on Friday that two Ukrainian-made “grom” tactical missiles damaged or destroyed administrative buildings at a packaging plant and a factory producing cleaning materials. No casualties were reported.
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. It said it believed the reason for Friday’s crash was equipment failure, Tass reported.
The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has thanked the British prime minister, Rishi Sunak, for the provision of long-range cruise missiles. The UK defence secretary, Ben Wallace, earlier confirmed that the UK would send long-range cruise missiles.
Ukraine’s planned counteroffensive to win back territory occupied by Russia has a good chance of success but may bring high casualties if Russia uses its prepared defences well, Czech president Petr Pavel has said. The former Nato general said in an interview on Friday that Ukraine needed support for Nato and European Union entry but joining either would be a lengthy process, though talks on the EU accession could start this year.
Police in the Russian city of St Petersburg have created an anti-drone unit to detect unmanned drones after a suspected attack on the Kremlin last week. The unit launched on Tuesday during the annual second world war victory day celebrations on St Petersburg’s Palace Square, the city’s interior ministry said.
South Africa’s foreign ministry has summoned the US ambassador over allegations he made that the country had provided arms and ammunition to Russia for its war in Ukraine. Reuben Brigety said on Thursday that South Africa had loaded weapons and ammunition on to a Russian vessel, which is under sanctions, at a naval base near Cape Town in December last year and that the arms were then transported to Russia.
Vladimir Putin has said Moscow has never refused the “diplomatic track” to resolving the conflict in Ukraine, in a phone call with his South African counterpart, according to the Kremlin. The Russian president said on Friday he supported South African president Cyril Ramaphosa’s proposal to involve African leaders in talks regarding a peace process for Ukraine, the Kremlin’s readout of the call said.
Russia’s defence ministry has said Ukrainian forces carried out “offensive operations” along the entire line of contact near Soledar, the ministry’s official Zvezda news outlet reported. More than a thousand troops and up to 40 tanks were used in Thursday’s assault, it said on Friday, adding that the attacks were “repulsed”.
The UN nuclear watchdog chief, Rafael Grossi, plans to present an agreement with Russia and Ukraine on protecting the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant to the UN security council this month, indicating a deal is close, four diplomats have told Reuters. Grossi has been trying for months to secure an agreement to reduce the risk of a catastrophic accident from shelling at the Russian-occupied nuclear power station, Europe’s biggest.
A Russian defeat in Ukraine will not derail China’s rise, while relations between Beijing and the European Union will be “critically affected” if Xi Jinping does not push Vladimir Putin to withdraw his forces, European ministers have been told. The message comes in a paper drawn up by the EU foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, who was meeting the EU’s 27 foreign ministers on Friday in Stockholm to discuss how the bloc should “recalibrate” its policy towards Beijing.
The British prime minister, Rishi Sunak, has expressed disappointment at a decision to block Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s request to speak via video at Saturday’s Eurovision grand final. The European Broadcasting Union, which produces the event, said the Ukrainian president had “laudable” intentions but rejected the request over fears it could politicise the event.
The US president, Joe Biden, and the Spanish prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, underscored their support for Ukraine during a White House meeting that also touched on migration and defence cooperation. During talks in the Oval Office on Friday, Biden said that “together we’re supporting Ukraine” and Sanchez squarely blamed the war on Vladimir Putin.
