Kiev said on Friday it had retaken territory around the devastated city of Bakhmout, the epicenter of fighting with Russia, as a major Kiev offensive looms, and China announced the dispatch of a special representative to Ukraine, Russia and other European countries.
The Russian army for its part claimed to have repelled 26 Ukrainian attacks the day before on a 95 kilometer long front in the Soledar sector (East) near the symbolic city of Bakhmout. The attacks involved “more than 1,000 military personnel and up to 40 tanks”, according to the Russian Defense Ministry.
In Kyiv, Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Ganna Malyar had earlier assured on Friday that “our defense forces have advanced two kilometers near Bakhmout”, adding: “We have not lost any positions in Bakhmout this week”. .
The Russian army had opposed Thursday evening a denial to any breakthrough of its defenses by the Ukrainian forces after the affirmation Wednesday by another senior Ukrainian official of a retreat of the Russian forces in certain areas near Bakhmout after counter-attacks by the Kyiv forces.
The boss of the Russian paramilitary group Wagner, Yevgeny Prigojine, and pro-Russian military bloggers were alarmed by the retreat of troops in this area.
Mr. Prigojine accused Russian regular troops on Friday of “fleeing” their positions near Bakhmout, saying that the defenses are “collapsed” and that the Russian general staff is “watering down” the situation.
“There was simply a flight of Ministry of Defense units to the flanks” in Bakhmout, he said in a video. “Attempts by the Ministry of Defense in the informational field to sugarcoat the situation are leading and will lead to a global tragedy for Russia,” he said.
In an interview broadcast Thursday by the BBC, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky insisted that kyiv still needed time and weapons before launching a much-awaited counter-offensive.
Mr. Prigojine then accused him of being “dishonest”, claiming that the Ukrainian counter-offensive “is in full swing”.
Zelensky in Rome
The battle for Bakhmout (about 70,000 inhabitants before the war), a city devastated and controlled mainly by Russian forces, is the longest and deadliest since the start of the Russian invasion in February 2022.
On the diplomatic front, Mr. Zelensky is due to meet Italian President Sergio Mattarella in Rome on Saturday, a spokesman for the Italian presidency told AFP. A meeting of Mr. Zelensky with Pope Francis is also “possible”, according to a Vatican source.
China for its part announced that the Chinese ambassador Li Hui, special representative for Eurasian affairs, will come to discuss from Monday in Ukraine, Poland, France, Germany and Russia “a political settlement of the Ukrainian crisis”.
“It fully demonstrates that China is firmly on the side of peace,” said Wang Wenbin, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson.
Li Hui, 70 and a former ambassador to Russia for ten years (2009-2019), is the highest-ranking Chinese diplomat to visit Ukraine since the Russian invasion began in late February 2022.
His name was announced during a telephone conversation at the end of April between Chinese and Ukrainian presidents Xi Jinping, the first since the start of the conflict.
China had published its 12-point position on the Ukrainian crisis at the end of February, in which it urged in particular to respect the territorial integrity of all countries – implying Ukraine included.
Beijing presents itself as a neutral party to this conflict, even if its position as a close economic and diplomatic partner of Moscow disqualifies it in the eyes of certain European capitals.
grain agreement
China increasingly intends to play a mediating role in conflicts abroad. In March, Riyadh and Tehran agreed through him to restore diplomatic ties, severed in 2016.
Moreover, Turkish Defense Minister Hulsi Akar announced that the extension for the third time of the agreement on the export of Ukrainian cereals was close to being concluded.
A meeting within the framework of the talks on the extension of the agreement took place on Thursday in Istanbul with the participation of Ukraine, Russia, Turkey and the United Nations.
In addition to the extension of the agreement, the resumption of operation of the Togliatti-Odessa pipeline for deliveries of ammonia, an essential chemical component of mineral fertilizer, requested by Moscow, was also discussed, according to a press release from the UN. .
Ankara was one of the key players in the conclusion of the so-called Black Sea agreement, signed on July 22 by the UN, Ukraine, Russia and Turkey. It expires on May 18 and Russia has not agreed to a third renewal.
The agreement helped alleviate the global food crisis caused by the war.