The pressure on the Ukrainian army intensifies in Bakhmout, the Russian troops continuing to advance in the northern outskirts of this symbolic city. “The Ukrainian defense of the city of Bakhmout is under increasing pressure, with intense fighting in and around the city”, the British Ministry of Defense tweeted on Saturday March 4. He reported a “progress” of “Wagner group and the Russian regular army in the northern suburbs of the city now vulnerable to attack from three sides”.
As a result, Kyiv “reinforces the area with elite units and in the past 36 hours two key bridges in Bakhmout have been destroyed, including a vital bridge linking the city to the last main supply route”, continued the British ministry. Follow our live.
The Russian Defense Minister visited the front. Sergei Shoigu inspected a “command post” on the front in eastern Ukraine, in “the Donetsk-South direction”, announced his ministry on Saturday, as the battle for the city of Bakhmout rages. The exact place and date of this trip were not specified.
The President of the European Parliament hopes to open accession negotiations with Kyiv this year. Roberta Metsola, visiting Ukraine on Saturday, said “to have hope” that accession negotiations could begin this year between Kyiv and Brussels. “The future of Ukraine is in the European Union”said the Maltese official, who met President Volodymyr Zelensky in Lviv (west). “I am impressed by the speed with which the Verkhovna Rada [le Parlement ukrainien] and the government are making progress in the EU candidacy”she added.
Sergei Lavrov mocked for remarks on the origin of the war. Traveling to India, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov sparked hilarity on Friday by making remarks denying his country’s responsibility for the origin of the war in Ukraine. “You know, the war that we are trying to stop, which was launched against us using Ukrainians…”, said the head of Russian diplomacy in New Delhi, on the sidelines of the G20. These few words caused many laughs in the room, briefly interrupting his speech.
New American aid to kyiv. The United States announced on Friday new military support for Ukraine to the tune of 400 million dollars (375 million euros), during the visit to Washington of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. The aid includes ammunition for the Himars rocket launcher systems used effectively by Ukrainian forces, as well as Bradley-type armored vehicles and other equipment, according to the US State Department.