For months, Russian troops desperately tried to take the town of Bakhmut in Donbass, suffering heavy losses. Observers are puzzling over the exact reasons why Moscow’s army – or rather, Wagner’s mercenaries who have been mainly stationed in the area until now – are still trying to take over the city. Strategically, it is little more important.
It has long been said that the founder and head of Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, wanted to set an example in Bakhmut: Behold, my troops are able to do what the regular Russian army cannot. Some experts already see Prigozhin as the most powerful man behind Putin.
Der Tagesspiegel Ukraine Newsletter This is where 50,000 readers find out all the important news about the war every day.
Now the military leadership in Moscow has transferred reinforcements from the evacuee Kherson to Bakhmut. Taking over the city is no longer just a project by the founder of Wagner.
According to local reports, the Ukrainians also strengthened their defense with additional soldiers. Ukraine is also using massive amounts of artillery to contain the Russians. Photos of the Ukrainians’ muddy trenches near the city went around the world over the weekend. They were reminiscent of the terrible trench warfare on the western front in World War I.
Remarkable at the time: despite immense sacrifices, neither side was able To noticeable gains in territory. Exactly that seems to be the objective of the Ukrainians now: to deny Russia even the smallest of successes, which increase the human and material losses of the enemy.
But Ukrainians are also paying a heavy price. The “New York Times” (source here) reports that 240 people were injured at the Bakhmut military hospital last Thursday. The city itself is now virtually deserted.
The most important news of the day
- Is a new offensive coming in Kherson? Two defense weaknesses make Russian troops vulnerable. More here.
- Signs of possible Russian withdrawal from Zaporizhia: Russian troops could hand over the nuclear power plant to the International Atomic Energy Agency. This is indicated by Russian media reports. Russian authorities immediately denied the reports. More here.
- Russia with heavy losses in the Donetsk region: The British Ministry of Defense publishes information on the course of the war daily. Currently, there are many Russian victims. More here.
- Planned disarmament talks between Moscow and Washington on strategic nuclear weapons have been postponed at short notice. “Russia unilaterally postponed the meeting and said it would propose new dates,” the US Embassy in Moscow was quoted as saying on Monday by the Kommersant newspaper. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Moscow confirmed the postponement of the planned consultations. More on our live blog.
- Seven foreign ministers from the Nordic and Baltic states traveled together on Monday to Russia-battered Ukraine. “We, the foreign ministers of Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway and Sweden, are in Kyiv today in full solidarity with Ukraine. Despite Russia’s hail of bombs and barbaric brutality, Ukraine will win,” several diplomats from the seven northeastern European states said word for word on Twitter. To do this, they took a group photo on the platform in front of a train.
- Ukraine warned on Monday that Russia was preparing a new wave of attacks on the country’s energy infrastructure. According to an army spokeswoman, a Russian warship with missiles on board was recently transferred to the Black Sea. “This indicates that preparations are underway,” the spokeswoman said. “It is very likely that the beginning of the week will be marked by such an attack.”
- In Ukraine, two Catholic religious were apparently kidnapped and arrested by the Russian occupation forces. The two Redemptorist priests were accused of “subversive activities”, according to the Vatican News portal, citing a statement from the Greek Catholic Exarchate of Donetsk. It is said that they had weapons, ammunition and books on the history of Ukraine.
- Contrary to previous threats, the Russian state company Gazprom will no longer cut gas supplies to the Republic of Moldova for the time being. Moldova’s energy company Moldovagaz has canceled overdue payments – including for larger amounts of gas, which Moscow says was improperly withheld in Ukraine’s transit country.
- The German Red Cross (DRK) has started winter aid in Ukraine. After the massive destruction of water, power and heat supplies, the population was supported with 7,000 heaters for heating and cooking, 100 generators and more than 20 mobile tank systems, the DRK announced on Monday.
- Kiev’s city government has promised its citizens to put up Christmas trees – despite continued Russian missile strikes and power outages. “We must not allow (Kremlin leader Vladimir) Putin to steal our Christmas,” Mayor Vitali Klitschko said in an interview with Ukraine’s RBC news agency on Monday. Although there are no Christmas markets and the like in times of war, the people of Kiev should at least have festively decorated Christmas trees. These would be paid for by entrepreneurs, Klitschko said.
- According to insider information, the US is considering supplying Ukraine with weapons that can reach Russian territory. Aerospace and armaments group Boeing has put its GLSDB (Small Diameter Ground-Launched Bomb) system into action, in which small, inexpensive precision bombs can be mounted on various existing missiles, according to industry circles. However, it is one of about six plans for how Ukraine could be supplied with additional weapons. Boeing’s system can be delivered from spring 2023.
- After Kherson’s withdrawal, Russian troops bombarded the southern Ukrainian town daily with artillery, according to British sources.🇧🇷 A record 54 attacks were recorded on Sunday, the Ministry of Defense in London said on Monday, citing intelligence findings. Ten people were killed last Thursday alone.
- The Ukrainian ambassador to Germany, Oleksiy Makejev, called for more support from Germany. Because of Russian targeted attacks on power supplies, his country needs generators and transformers, Makeyev said Monday in the ZDF “Morgenmagazin”. In addition, it is also about fighting the cause of destruction. “That’s why we need air defense systems and weapons,” Makeyev said.
background and analysis
Reaction to Russia’s aggression NATO must finally invest in deterrence
to the home page