Day 399 since the beginning of the war: According to Ukrainian data, Russia is suffering massive losses. Meanwhile, details of a planned spring offensive are becoming known. All information in the news blog.
The most important things at a glance
US government: Russia wants secret arms deal with North Korea
9:16 p.m.: According to the US government, Russia is still trying to procure weapons and ammunition from North Korea. “We have new information that Russia is actively trying to acquire additional ammunition from North Korea,” US National Security Council communications director John Kirby said in Washington on Thursday.
At the center of these efforts is an arms dealer by the name of Ashot Mkrtychev. Through him, Russia is trying to mediate a secret arms deal with North Korea. This would allow Russia to obtain more than two dozen types of weapons and ammunition from North Korea. In return, Russia offers North Korea food.
Such an agreement violates a number of UN Security Council resolutions, Kirby said. The US imposed sanctions on Mkrtychev on Thursday. This freezes potential assets in the US. In addition, people, banks and other companies that do business with Mkrtychev in the future are also threatened with sanctions – a step that is likely to make international business much more difficult for those affected.
According to Ukraine, it now controls only a third of Bachmut
8:05 p.m.: According to the government, the Ukrainian army only controls a third of the city of Bakhmut in the east of the country, which has been heavily fought over for months. “Bakhmut is one-third controlled by Ukraine, international observers have noted,” said Ukrainian presidential adviser Sergey Leshchenko in a message transmitted over the presidential office’s Telegram channel. However, Leshchenko denied that the city was surrounded by Russian forces, as a pro-Russian official recently said.
The head of the Russian Wagner mercenary group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, declared on March 20 that his mercenaries controlled “about 70 percent” of Bakhmut. This statement has not yet been confirmed by the Ukrainian side. The Wagner mercenary group plays a central role in the battle for Bachmut.
Russian troops had been advancing north and south of the city in recent months, cutting off several Ukrainian supply routes and taking the eastern part of the city. The Ukrainian army recently declared that it had succeeded in “stabilizing” the situation in Bakhmut and that it expects to use the exhaustion on the Russian side “very soon” for a counteroffensive.
Russia: Man sentenced to seven years in prison for posts critical of the war
7.15 p.m.: A court in Moscow has sentenced a 63-year-old to seven years in prison for two anti-war posts on social networks. In March of the previous year, in two comments he condemned the attacks by the Russian military against the Ukrainian capital Kiev and the port city of Mariupol, the Russian medium “Meduza”, which works from Latvia, reported on Thursday. The court found him guilty of spreading “fakes” about the Russian army.
“While we kill children, we sing songs on Channel One; We Russia have become godless – Lord forgive us,” read a post by the man on WKontakt. In his second comment he wrote “Russian planes bomb children”.
In his closing words in court, the man stated that he valued everyone’s life as the reason for his comments. “Life is an unconditional value that should come first, even if it is not seen that way in our country,” he was quoted as saying by “Meduza”. “I was raised that way.”
Kyiv: Multiple simultaneous Russian attacks repelled
6:34 p.m: According to their own statements, the Ukrainian troops have repulsed several simultaneous Russian attacks on various front sectors in the east of the country. “The focus” was on the sectors near Kupyansk, Limansk, Bakhmut, Avdiivka and Marjinsk, the General Staff in Kiev said in its situation report on Thursday. “A total of 47 enemy attacks were repelled.”
Once again, the city of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine, which had been heavily fought over for months, was the focus of the action. “However, our defenders bravely hold the city and fend off numerous enemy attacks,” the General Staff statement said on Facebook.
Rheinmetall boss meets Selenskyj
5:47 p.m.: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi received the CEO of the German arms company Rheinmetall, Armin Papperger, for talks. The current cooperation and prospects were discussed, said Zelenskyj on Thursday in the Telegram news channel. According to the head of state, the partnership will be deepened to meet the needs of the Ukrainian armed forces.