The leader of Russian mercenary troops and a popular pro-Kremlin blogger both rejected Russian Defense Ministry claims of gains in the crucial battle for the eastern Ukraine city of Bakhmut as the war slogs toward its 15-month mark with little indication a conclusion is near.
Ukraine’s military claimed modest gains in areas north and south of the beleaguered, nearly deserted city that once was home to more than 70,000 people. Russian claims of marginal advances were quickly dismissed by the mercenary Wagner Group financier Yevgeny Prigozhin, who criticized his defense ministry on Telegram for spinning what was actually a retreat.
Russian blogger Rybar agreed, posting on Telegram that Ukraine’s “unannounced counteroffensive” is underway with fierce battles that are allowing Ukraine to fulfill an important goal against Russian Federation troops.
“They are forcing the RF Armed Forces to stretch their forces and remove the most combat-ready units from other critical areas, forcing them to be transferred to threatened sectors of the front,” Rybar posted. “Now, unfortunately, we are in the position of playing along and are following the lead of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, pulling the most experienced units of the RF Armed Forces into the Bakhmut meat grinder. … What this threatens in the short term, even a fool will guess.”
Developing:
∙ Moldova has severed its dependence on Russian gas, Moldovan Prime Minister Dorin Recean said. Moldova is a former Soviet Republic of about 2.6 million people that borders Ukraine.
∙ The Ukraine military said it shot down 29 of 30 Russian missiles, most fired toward Kyiv, early Thursday.
Ukraine NATO representative tamps down counteroffensive expectations
Ukraine’s much-anticipated spring counteroffensive “cannot determine the course of the entire war,” and the West should have reasonable expectations, Natalia Halibarenko, ambassador of Ukraine’s mission to NATO, said Thursday. She told Lithuanian media outlet LRT it will likely take several offensives to drive Russian troops out of her country. Military support from the West is increasing, and she acknowledged that her country’s succes depends heavily on international assistance.
“I understand that a certain fatigue is felt over time, this is normal human nature,” she said. “There cannot be that state of constant pressure. We tell Western societies that you help us with money, things, other support, but Ukrainians pay for freedom with their lives, and this should be kept in mind and not underestimated.”
1,109 draft age Russians seeking asylum in Finland
More than 1,100 draft-age Russians trying to avoid military conscription have fled to Finland and are seeking asylum, Finnish news agency STT reports. The Finnish Immigration Service says it is awaiting the European Union’s position on such asylum requests.
“We haven’t been able to issue decisions regarding asylum,” Sanna Sutter, the Interior Ministry’s immigration director, told the Finnish news agency. He said other Nordic nations also have decided to wait for EU guidance, but that the EU has not provided a timeline on the issue.
Thousands of Russians have fled since President Vladimir Putin announced the “partial mobilization” of 300,000 people last September.
One soldier, who made global headlines when he fled the war and sought asylum in Norway, says he wants to go back to Russia. Andrei Medvedev, 26, had fought for Russia’s Wagner mercenaries before slipping into Norway in January. A few weeks later he was arrested on charges involving multiple barroom scraps and last month was sentenced to 14 days in a Norwegian jail.
“I hoped that I could find peace and calm here, that I could leave all the politics, the war, the army behind, but somehow I couldn’t manage,” Medvedev said in Russian on a video translated by Reuters. “We shall see what happens in Russia. If they kill me, OK. If they don’t, thanks a lot.”
Kremlin accuses 3 hypersonic missile scientists of treason
Employees at Russia’s Institute of Theoretical and Applied Mathematics in the Siberian city of Novosibirsk published an open letter in defense of three of their hypersonic missile scientists − Anatoly Maslov, Alexander Shiplyuk, and Valery Zvegintsev − whom Russian authorities reportedly arrested under suspicion of “high treason,” the Washington-based Institute for the Study of War reports. The scientists says the arrests deter the younger generation from pursuing careers in science, which contributes to a decrease in the quality of scientific research. Kremlin Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said the Kremlin was aware of the letter and that Russian security services were involved in the case.
