Moscow (EFE)
“Our artillery, our equipment and our troops are inside. They control almost half of Artiomovsk (Russian name for Bakhmut),” Yan Gaguin, adviser to Donetsk’s interim leader Denis Pushilin, told Russian television.
Gaguin assured that Bakhmut has become a “butcher shop” for Ukrainian troops. Still, he did not rule out attempts by the Ukrainians to carry out offensive operations in the city in order to prevent its fall.
For his part, the Russian Defense Minister, Sergei Shoigu, has announced that the capture of Bakhmut will allow Russia to continue its offensive in Donbas.
“The liberation of Artiomovsk continues. This city is an important defense center for Ukrainian troops in Donbas. Its seizure will allow the continuation of offensive actions towards the depth of the defense of the Armed Forces of Ukraine,” Shoigu said at a meeting with the military leadership.
The Russian Defense Minister pointed out that in the framework of the Russian offensive on the Donetsk and Kupyánsk fronts, the towns of Mikoláivka, Dvurechne, Krasna Hora, Gryanikivka and Paraskovievka were occupied.
According to Shoigu, “a considerable increase in losses is observed among the troops of the Ukrainian Army.”
After more than eight months of fighting for Bakhmut, one of the bloodiest episodes of the Russian campaign in Ukraine, Russian troops have managed to tighten the siege of the city and control nearly half of its territory.
The Kremlin accuses the US of being the “invisible” hand driving the conflict in Ukraine
From Moscow, the Kremlin affirmed on Tuesday that the “invisible” hand, as China said, behind the Ukrainian conflict, is actually the United States.
According to the spokesman for the Russian Presidency, Dmitri Peskov, “Washington does not want this war to end and will do everything to continue.”
Peskov thus referred to the statements by the Chinese Foreign Minister, Qin Gang, who previously stated in Beijing that “there is an invisible hand that is causing the crisis in Ukraine”.
At least 30 countries support a court against Russia, according to kyiv
Thirty countries have joined the coalition that supports the creation of a Special Court to judge the alleged war crimes committed by Russia during its invasion of Ukraine, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba reported on Tuesday.
Speaking to the information space that Ukrainian television stations broadcast jointly, Kuleba announced that the last country to join this group is Greece.
According to Kuleba, the group’s goal is simple: “when you join it, you agree that a special court should be established to hold Russia accountable for crimes stemming from the aggression against Ukraine.”
The task of this coalition is to develop legal ways to create the court and resolve some issues, mainly how to end the immunity of Russian President Vladimir Putin and his close circle.
Kuleba commented that “all the G7 countries are in this group” and that on the 3rd there were already 29, including Guatemala, the first country in Latin America to join the initiative.
The first meeting of the coalition was held on January 26, with 21 countries participating in the debates and the second will take place in Strasbourg (France) on March 21 and 22.
Zelensky: We will find the murderers of the executed prisoner of war
One of the cases to be investigated could be the alleged execution of a Ukrainian prisoner by Russian troops.
The President of Ukraine, Volodímir Zelenski, promised to find the “murderers” of the soldier whose alleged execution was recorded and disseminated through social networks.
The video was broadcast this Monday and in it “the (Russian) occupiers appear brutally killing a warrior who bravely said to their faces:” Glory to Ukraine! “, Zelenski assured in his last video message.
“I want all of us to respond to his words together, united: “Glory to the hero! Glory to the heroes! Glory to Ukraine! And we will find the murderers!” warned the president.
