Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said his forces are continuing to inflict heavy losses on attacking Russian fighters in the besieged front-line city of Bakhmut, as Kremlin-backed mercenaries concede the fight is growing more difficult as they approach the city center, bombarded by artillery and tank fire.
In his nightly address, Zelensky said Ukraine killed “more than 1,100” Russian fighters in Bakhmut in the past week, while another 1,500 were out of action because of the severity of their injuries. Russian equipment and ammunition depots were also destroyed, he said. The Washington Post could not independently verify his claims. Analysts have said the months of bloody fighting in Bakhmut have been costly for both sides.
Here’s the latest on the war and its ripple effects across the globe.
Key developments
- The head of the Wagner Group, the Russian mercenary organization, described the situation in Bakhmut as “very difficult.” In a video message posted Sunday on Telegram, Yevgeniy Prigozhin said, “The closer we are to the city center, the harder the battles, the more artillery works against us, and the more tanks.”
- Russia’s military leadership could be letting Wagner Group bear the brunt of casualties in the battle for the eastern Ukrainian city to weaken Prigozhin’s political influence within Russia, according to analysts at the Institute for the Study of War, the U.S. think tank. Prigozhin and Russia’s military chiefs have had a number of public squabbles recent months.
Battleground updates
- Russia’s Defense Ministry said on Telegram that its forces killed more than 220 Ukrainian servicemen in the eastern Donetsk region in the past day, and that they destroyed several combat vehicles and a long-range artillery gun. The Post could not independently verify the claims.
- Power was restored to affected areas in Ukraine on Sunday after a hypersonic missile attack last week left regions without electricity,according to Zelensky. “Kharkiv has electricity. Zhytomyr region has electricity. All cities and communities that had problems with energy supply have been powered again,” he said in his nightly address.
Global impact
- Police in Moldova said they infiltrated a group of Russian-backed “diversionists,” upending their plot to cause mass unrestduring demonstrations against the country’s new pro-Western government. The group, which included Russian citizens, was allegedly promised $10,000 to create “mass disorder,” the Associated Press reported.
- Artifacts including a stone ax head and several swords stolen from Ukraine were returned to the country over the weekend. U.S. customs officials seized the items in September at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York. The metal swords arrived from Russia and the ax head arrived from Ukraine. The Ukrainian Embassy in Washington hosted a repatriation ceremony for the artifacts on Friday.
From our correspondents
Defending Ukraine’s ‘highway of life’ — the last road out of Bakhmut: As the war’s bloodiest battle continues in Bakhmut, almost all roads have been cut off by Russian troops and fierce fighting. Just one viable road out of the embattled eastern city remains, Highway T0504. The two-lane highway is the only route that can be used by Ukrainian soldiers to evacuate the wounded and the dead, write Alex Horton and Anastacia Galouchka.
Maj. Oleksandr Pantsernyi, commander of the 24th Separate Assault Battalion, one of the units responsible for defending the corridor, said the road also plays a key role in sustaining the fight by enabling the movement of ammunition, water and fresh troops eastward.
Ukrainian soldiers say Russia’s forces are also aware of the road’s importance and have tried to shred it with artillery and force their enemy into the mud.
Mahama reacts to military torture in Ashaiman
