17 minutes ago
Russia claims gains along Ukraine’s frontline
Moscow said Monday its forces advanced a few kilometers along Ukraine’s front line, while Kiev said its forces repelled Russian attacks in different areas.
Much of the fighting was concentrated in the eastern town of Bakhmut, with 16 nearby settlements being bombed, according to the Ukrainian military.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said Russian troops managed to advance 2 km (1.2 miles) west in four days. However, it was not said which part of the long front line, which includes several Ukrainian regions to the south and east, had shifted.
“Russian soldiers broke the enemy’s resistance and advanced several kilometers deeper into its tiered defenses,” it said.
Ukraine’s military said its forces over the past day repelled a series of attacks near Bakhmut in the Donetsk region, as well as attacks in the Kharkiv, Luhansk and Zaporizhia regions.
– Karen Gilchrist
47 minutes ago
Belarus will host three CSTO military exercises this year
Belarus will host three exercises of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), a Russian-dominated alliance of former Soviet states, this year, according to the state-run Belta news agency.
The agency quoted the organization’s secretary-general Monday as saying the drills would be codenamed Cooperation, Echelon and Search.
– Karen Gilchrist
53 minutes ago
What to expect from Russia’s new offensive in Ukraine?
A renewed Russian offensive in eastern Ukraine is underway. And while the scope of Russia’s plans remains uncertain, it’s a difficult time for Kiev.
Moscow is believed to be focused on creating a land corridor to Crimea, the Ukrainian peninsula it annexed in 2014, targeting Donetsk and Luhansk to the east, Zaporizhia to the south and Kherson to the south.
“The primary goal must be to fully occupy the territory of the four provinces annexed by Russia with great fanfare last year,” Jamie Shea, a former NATO official and international defense and security expert at think-tank Chatham House, told CNBC.
Ukrainian soldiers walk by road to their base near the front line in the Donetsk region on February 4, 2023.
Yasuyoshi Chiba | AFP | Getty Images
“Russia controls about 50% of the territory of these four provinces so clearly that that has to be the goal because anything but that – annexing them and not fully controlling them – would be a humiliation for them [Russian President Vladimir] Putin,” he noted.
Shea, who was NATO’s deputy assistant secretary-general for emerging security challenges until 2018, said he doesn’t expect a big start on the offensive. Instead, he expects Russia to “stamp out this slow progress,” a tactic it has used in Donbass in recent months.
“The Russians will make sure they have an overwhelming superiority, advance a few kilometers, capture a village and continue this step-by-step process,” Shea said.
– Karen Gilchrist
Before an hour
China’s top diplomat visits Russia
China’s top diplomat Wang Yi will visit Russia later this month during a tour of several European countries, China’s Foreign Ministry said Monday.
Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images
China’s top diplomat Wang Yi will visit Russia later this month during a tour of several European countries, China’s Foreign Ministry said Monday.
Wang, director of the Bureau of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, will be in Germany this weekend for the Munich Security Conference, the ministry said.
He will then visit France, Italy and Hungary, spokesman Wang Wenbin said at a regular press conference.
– Karen Gilchrist
Before an hour
Russian ruble stable near nine-month lows
The Russian ruble gained stability on early deals in Moscow on Monday, hovering near a nine-month low against the US dollar after trading in the stressed currency was shaky over the past week.
In early deals, the ruble was flat against the dollar at 73.35 and had gained 0.1% against the euro to trade at 78.39.
Analysts have said the ruble will remain under pressure until exporters start converting their foreign exchange earnings into rubles to settle local tax liabilities due later this month.
Contributor | News from Getty Images | Getty Images
Late last week, the ruble slipped through 73 against the dollar for the first time since last April. This comes as Russia’s central bank left interest rates on hold at 7.5% on Friday but indicated it was ready to hike rates in the coming months.
Analysts have said the ruble will remain under pressure until exporters start converting their foreign exchange earnings into rubles to settle local tax liabilities due later this month.
– Karen Gilchrist
2 hours ago
The Wagner Group claims the village of Krasna Hora
The head of Russia’s Wagner mercenary group said Sunday it had taken the village of Krasna Hora on the northern outskirts of the embattled town of Bakhmut in Ukraine’s Donetsk region.
Yevgeny Prigozhin released a short video that appears to show Wagner fighters next to the town entrance sign.
He also said it could be two years before Moscow controls all two eastern Ukrainian regions it has said capturing will be the main goal of the war.
US The think tank Institute for the Study of War said geolocated footage showed Russian forces captured at least part of the village, according to their latest intelligence report.
However, Wagner’s claims have not yet been independently verified.
– Karen Gilchrist
2 hours ago
Poland’s president says fighter jet decision ‘not easy’
Poland’s president said the decision to supply fighter jets to Ukraine was “not easy”.
Gints Ivuskans | AFP | Getty Images
Poland’s President Andrzej Duda said the decision to send fighter jets to Ukraine was “not easy to make”.
Speaking to the BBC on Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, Duda said the response to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s request for F-16 aircraft was a “very serious decision” but gave no further indication as to whether that would happen.
– Karen Gilchrist
2 hours ago
Russian spy service claims US is preparing militants for attack
Russia’s foreign intelligence service said Monday it had information that the US military was preparing Islamist militants to attack targets in Russia and the former Soviet Union.
Russian foreign intelligence, headed by an ally of President Vladimir Putin, claimed that 60 such fighters were recruited from groups linked to Islamic State and al-Qaeda and are being trained at an American base in Syria.
“Your task will be to prepare and carry out terrorist attacks against diplomats, civil servants, law enforcement officers and members of the Bundeswehr,” said the SVR.
Particular attention will be paid to attracting immigrants from Russia’s North Caucasus and Central Asia.
The agency did not release the information behind its claim, and the claims could not be immediately verified.
– Karen Gilchrist
2 hours ago