More difficult and costly battles for Bakhmut

This is reported by international observers. According to information from Kiev, these battles in the Donetsk region are very costly for Russia. Kiev puts the number of Russian casualties and injuries at up to 500 every day. Meanwhile, Russia’s Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu met with commanders of his army in the war zone in Ukraine. Meanwhile, its President Volodymyr Zelenskyj is counting on rapid accession to the EU.

Shoigu in the war zone

According to Russian sources, Russia’s Defense Minister Shoigu was informed about the situation and further plans at the front in the war zone in Ukraine. In addition to the 67-year-old, the chief of staff and commander of the Russian troops in Ukraine, Valeri Gerasimov, and his deputy Sergei Surovikin were also seen on a silent video. Since Saturday it has been known that Shoigu is said to have traveled to the frontline more than a year after the start of the war. Accordingly, he also decorated Russian soldiers in Donbass in eastern Ukraine. How close Shoigu was actually to the front could not initially be checked independently.

Russia has been trying to encircle Bachmut for months

Fierce battles are still raging around Bakhmut in particular. According to international observers, the Russian side in particular is suffering high losses because they are sometimes literally burning their own soldiers as “cannon fodder”. Russia’s Defense Ministry on Sunday reported “offensive actions” by the air force and artillery in the Donetsk region, where Bakhmut is located. Meanwhile, according to its latest report, the US-based Institute for War Studies (ISW) considers it unlikely that the Russians will be able to completely encircle Bakhmut anytime soon.

Kiev puts the number of people killed and injured on the Russian side at up to 500 every day. The Wagner group of mercenaries is particularly active in the area around Bachmut. Their boss, the oligarch Yevgeny Prigozhin, who is close to the Kremlin, has also recruited his men in Russian prisons in the past. It is precisely among them that the losses are said to be extremely high, according to reports.

Russians are said to be sent into battle with field spades

Meanwhile, British military experts are talking about arms and ammunition bottlenecks on the Russian side, which are said to have bizarre consequences. In the daily short report, the British Ministry of Defense wrote on Sunday that Moscow was also using ordinary field spades in close combat. The background is statements by Russian reservists who are said to have stated that they were only sent with “guns and shovels” to attack a concrete Ukrainian base. According to the British, the Russian armed forces’ common MPL-50 field spade – actually an entrenchment tool – is surrounded by a myth that elevates it to a deadly weapon. It has hardly been further developed since its introduction in 1869.

Meanwhile, the Ukrainian President Zelenskyy wants to significantly expand cooperation with the European institutions in the current year. “The task is to actively prepare everything for our country’s membership in the European Union, increase arms supplies to Ukraine and strengthen sanctions against Russia,” he said in his daily video message on Saturday. He also had a meeting with the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola. Selenskyj had recently repeatedly set the pace for accession negotiations with the EU.

According to Zelensky, Metsola was one of the participants in the “United for Justice” conference in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv. There it was not only about solving Russian crimes, but also about rehabilitation for the victims of violence, said Zelenskyj. In Lviv, the participants agreed to establish the Center for the Prosecution of the Crime of Aggression (ICPA). It is intended to secure evidence for future court proceedings and will be located at the location of the EU agency Eurojust in The Hague. Eurojust is responsible for judicial cooperation in criminal matters in the Union.

In the debate about arms deliveries, Latvia’s Prime Minister Krisjanis Karins spoke out in favor of a delivery of combat aircraft. “I don’t see why the West shouldn’t deliver fighter jets. If the Ukrainians need fighter jets, they should get them,” Karins told Der Spiegel (Saturday). According to him, the delivery of combat aircraft is only a matter of time. According to Karins, all European countries must ramp up their armaments industries, including Germany. “Ammunition is in demand above all. Germany’s industry has the best prerequisites for strengthening Europe’s defense,” said Karins.