Latest-minute and live news from Russia's war in Ukraine

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Ukrainian tanks prepare in a position near a front line in the Kharkiv region, on March 2, 2023, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

(Photo by ANATOLII STEPANOV/AFP via Getty Images)

6 posts

19 mins ago

The founder of the Wagner mercenary group asks Zelensky to order the withdrawal of Bakhmut

By disgust Cotovio, Olga Voitovych, Allegra Goodwin, Gianluca Mezzofiore

The founder of the Wagner mercenary group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, transmits a video message outside Bakhmut, Ukraine, on March 3.

(Photo: Telegram)

The founder and financier of the Wagner mercenary group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, claims that his forces have almost encircled Bakhmut and calls on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to order a withdrawal from the city of Donetsk.

"The Wagner units of the PMC have almost surrounded Bakhmut, there is only one road left," he told Zelensky in a video filmed on the northern outskirts of Bakhmut and posted on his social media channels.

"The pincers are tightening."

They [Ukrainian soldiers] are fighting, but their lives near Bakhmut are short: a day or two.

Give them a chance to leave town.

In fact, the city is surrounded," Prigozhin concluded.

According to the Institute for the Study of War, Russian attempts to encircle the city appeared to have subsided between Thursday and Friday, and were focusing on forcing Ukrainian forces to withdraw from the city.

20 minutes ago

Russian forces blow up vital bridge to Bakhmut, according to Ukrainian police

By Seb Shukla, Kosta Hak

Russian forces blew up a key bridge linking the besieged town of Bakhmut with the nearby town of Khromove overnight, police in the Donetsk region said.

Police in the city of Konstantinyvka told CNN that they hope to repair the bridge in the next few days, as it is a vital artery for the extraction of civilians and the movement of supplies such as ammunition.

The bridge is also the last major supply route from Bakhmut to the city of Chasiv Yar.

The military can still access the city via dirt tracks and fields, according to police.

The police account was confirmed by a special forces soldier in Bakhmut, who told CNN that the bridge was hit by a Russian missile, leaving a large crater.

In the Donetsk region there is a mandatory evacuation order and about 5,000 people remain in Bakhmut, according to the Ukrainian authorities.

Russian forces advance towards Bakhmut, but the Ukrainian army says it is holding its ground in the battle for the eastern city and has no plans to withdraw.

24 mins ago

Ukraine orders a drone unit to leave Bakhmut, according to its commander

By Vasco Cotovio, Olga Voitovych

Ukrainian commander Robert Brovdi broadcasts a message via Telegram on March 3.

(Photo: Telegram)

A Ukrainian drone reconnaissance unit based in Bakhmut has been ordered to leave the besieged eastern city, its commander said in a video posted on Telegram on Friday.

"In the middle of the night, the Madiar Birds unit received a combat order to immediately leave Bakhmut for a new location of combat operations," Commander Robert Brovdi said.

Russian forces have advanced on Bakhmut in recent days after months of heavy shelling and fighting around the battered city, located northeast of the Donetsk region and a target of Moscow for months.

"We are following the order," Brovdi said, adding that he did not know why the unit was being moved.

26 mins ago

Ukraine war sends message to 'aggressors around the world', says Blinken at Quad meeting

By Manveena Suri

From left to right - US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong and Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, pose for a photo after the Indo-Pacific Quad Foreign Ministers roundtable in New Delhi, India, on March 3.

(Photo: Money Sharma/AFP/Getty Images)

Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, and the support Kyiv is receiving from countries around the world, sends a powerful message to "would-be aggressors around the world," US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Friday during a meeting on the sidelines of the G20 summit.

"Part of the reason that countries outside of Europe are also so focused on this and are working to support Ukraine and meet the challenge is because they know it could have an effect here," Blinken said in New Delhi.

"If we let Russia do what it's doing in Ukraine with impunity, we'll be sending a message to would-be aggressors around the world that they too can get away with it."

Blinken met with his counterparts from India, Japan and Australia, a grouping known as the "Quad" or Quadrilateral Security Dialogue.

The Quad is an informal security-focused group that dates back to the early 2000s, though it has become more active in recent years as part of efforts to counter Chinese reach and territorial claims in Indo- Peaceful.

Blinken added that the challenges facing people around the world cannot be addressed by "one country acting alone."

"The great power of the Quad is that you have four like-minded countries, united in their core values, united in their core interests, bringing different strengths, experiences, different comparative ways of addressing these issues," he said.

Although he did not specify any "possible aggressor", he made several veiled references, saying that the Quad is working to increase the knowledge of the maritime domain of the countries, that is, a greater vigilance of what happens in their waters - and to crack down on illegal fishing. .

28 minutes ago

Blinken never raised the case of the detained US citizen, according to the Russian Foreign Ministry

By Fred Pleitgen, Olga Voitovych

Maria Zakharova attends a meeting in Moscow on February 15.

(Photo: Shamil Zhumatov/Reuters)

A spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Friday that Antony Blinken did not raise the issue of a US citizen detained in Russia during a meeting with the Kremlin's foreign minister, directly contradicting earlier comments by the US secretary of state.

Blinken said on Thursday that he had lobbied his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, over the detention of Paul Whelan and a US offer to release him during a meeting on the sidelines of the G20 foreign ministers' meeting in New Delhi.

But on Friday, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said: "It turned out that the US Secretary of State didn't even mention it," referring to Whelan's case.

"Everything the State Department said yesterday about Blinken expressing concern about the situation surrounding the US citizen is a lie. Incredible behavior by the US administration," he said.

Some context:

Whelan, a former US Marine, was detained in Moscow in December 2018 by Russian authorities, who claimed he was involved in an intelligence operation.

He was convicted and sentenced in June 2020 to 16 years in prison in a trial that US officials denounced as unfair.

32 mins ago

Russia and China reaffirm their partnership after meeting their foreign ministers on the sidelines of the G20

By Wayne Chang, Josh Pennington

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, left, and Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang pose for a photo on the sidelines of the G20 foreign ministers meeting in New Delhi, India, Thursday, June 2. of March.

(Photo: Press Service of the Russian Foreign Ministry/AP)

Russia and China once again reiterated their cooperation after a meeting of the foreign ministers of both countries in India, amid rising geopolitical tensions over Moscow's war on Ukraine.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov met his Chinese counterpart Qin Gang on the sidelines of the G20 foreign ministers' meeting in New Delhi on Thursday.

In a statement issued after the meeting, the Russian Foreign Ministry stated that "there was a unanimous rejection by both of us of attempts to interfere in the internal affairs of other countries, or to impose unilateral approaches using blackmail and threats, or to oppose the democratization of international relations", in an apparent reference to the United States and its NATO allies,

According to a Chinese Foreign Ministry statement, Qin said Beijing supports all efforts leading to peace in Ukraine and will continue to play a constructive role in that regard.

Both sides reaffirmed their cooperation and coordination and strengthened strategic communication, according to the Chinese and Russian statements.

Some context

: Tensions between the US and China have escalated in recent weeks, not least over Washington's concern that Beijing is considering sending lethal aid to the Kremlin's war efforts.

Beijing has denied those claims and has instead sought to present itself as an impartial broker of peace, in contrast to the US, which it has accused of "adding fuel to the fire" in the conflict and damaging the world economy with sanctions. directed at Russia.

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