On Sunday, the leader of the Russian paramilitary group Wagner, Evguéni Prigojine, claimed responsibility for the capture of a town very close to Bakhmout, Krasna Hora.
Almost a year after the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, “the enemy is concentrating its efforts on carrying out offensive actions in the areas of Kupiansk, Lyman, Bakhmout, Avdiivka and Novopavlivka”, declared the general staff of the Ukrainian armed forces on Sunday February 12, in a situation update posted on social networks. Moscow “ strengthens its workforce in the Lyman and Bakhmout sectors. It actively uses aviation to strike the positions of our troops”, he added.
Franceinfo looks back on the main information of the day on the front of the war in Ukraine.
A strike on residential buildings kills one in Nikopol
According to the update of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the Russian army carried out two missile launches and launched “23 attacks” with multiple rocket launchers on Sunday, with no casualties.
On Telegram, the Ukrainian Interior Ministry also reported strikes targeting buildings in Nikopol, leaving one dead and several injured. “Four five-storey buildings and the premises of an educational institution were destroyed”assures this same source.
In 15 days, “probably” the heaviest Russian losses since the start of the conflict
In the past two weeks, “Russia has probably suffered its highest losses since the first week of the invasion of Ukraine”, the UK Ministry of Defense reported on Sunday. London specifies, on the basis of Ukrainian data, that the average of the Russian losses was 824 victims per day during the last seven days, that is to say “more than four times the rate reported in June and July 2022”. “ The increase in the number of Russian casualties is likely linked to a series of factors, including the lack of trained personnel, coordination and resources at the front.” analyzes the British Ministry of Defence.
Russian forces lost 212 soldiers in one day
In one day, Russian forces lost 212 soldiers and 315 Russian troops were injured, it said on Sunday. Serhiy Cherevaty, head of the Eastern Group of Ukrainian Armed Forces. “The main direction of the enemy strike remains the Bakhmout part of the front”, did he declare. “41 clashes took place, during which the enemy lost 212 soldiers killed and 315 wounded.”
Wagner claims the capture of a town near Bakhmout
Sunday, the leader of the Russian paramilitary group Wagner claimed the capture of a locality very close to Bakhmout, a key city in the conflict. “Today Wagner’s assault units took the locality of Krasna Hora”, said Evguéni Prigojine, quoted by his press service. AFP could not verify these statements from an independent source. Russian forces have been trying in recent weeks to encircle Bakhmout, and have succeeded in cutting off several vital supply routes for Ukrainian troops.
The IOC reacts to the controversy over the 2024 Olympics
Ukrainian athletes “know how much we share their suffering”assured Thomas Bach, the president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on Sunday in Courchevel (France), in response to comments from kyiv accusing the body of being a “war promoter” in Ukraine. “It’s not up to governments to decide” of the participation of certain countries in international competitions, and in particular at the Paris Olympic Games in 2024, defended Thomas Bach, while several States are considering a boycott of the Olympic Games in the event of the presence of Russian and Belarusian athletes.
The Ukrainian leader, Volodymyr Zelensky, has repeatedly called for the exclusion of Russian and Belarusian athletes from the next Olympic Games. ” A UN Human Rights Council rapporteur told us that excluding Russian or Belarusian athletes just because of their passports is a violation of their rights.”underlined Thomas Bach.