Russia-Ukraine war news – latest: Zelensky’s forces ‘holding out’ against attacks in Bakhmut

Joe Middleton and Arpan Rai

Fri, 3 March 2023 at 3:16 am GMT

Ukrainian forces held out in the eastern city of Bakhmut against Russian attackers on Thursday, while US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov for the first time since the invasion.

US officials said Mr Blinken and Mr Lavrov chatted for roughly 10 minutes on the sidelines of the G20 conference in New Delhi.

A senior US official who spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity to discuss the private conversation, said Blinken had “disabused” Lavrov of any idea they might have that US support for Ukraine is wavering.

Russia had no immediate comment on the substance of the conversation.

Meanwhile, fierce fighting continued in Bakhmut as Russian troops, bolstered by mercenaries of the Wagner private army, have been advancing north and south of the city to cut it off.

Ukraine says the city has limited strategic value but it is exhausting Russia’s invasion force.

“Sooner or later, we will probably have to leave Bakhmut. There is no sense in holding it at any cost,” Ukrainian lawmaker Serhiy Rakhmanin said late on Wednesday. The aim was to “inflict as many Russian losses as possible”.

Key Points

• Blinken meets Lavrov for first time since Russian invasion of Ukraine
• Kyiv rejects Vladimir Putin’s claim of ‘terrorist act’ in Bryansk
• Kherson torture chambers ‘planned and funded by Russia’, investigators say
• Russia says it repelled ‘massive Ukrainian drone attack on Crimea’
• Putin bans Russian officials from using foreign words: ‘Degenerate West’
• Bakhmut and other frontlines a ‘grinding slog’, says US

Ukraine successfully repelling attacks on Bakhmut, digging trenches

04:07 , Arpan Rai

The general staff of Ukrainian armed forces said that the country’s troops are successfully repelling attacks on Bakhmut and two settlements to the critical salt mining city – Khromove and Ivanivske.

Russia has relentlessly shelled Bakhmut and several nearby towns like Chasiv Yar and two towns south of Bakhmut.

New trenches have been dug on the roadside 20-40 metres (65-130 feet) apart in nearby towns and villages confirming that Ukrainian forces are strengthening their defensive positions.

Several areas in central Zaporizhzhia and Kherson region also came under shelling as more than 40 towns and villages were targeted, the Ukrainian military said in a statement.

Russia, which lost territory in the second half of 2022, says taking Bakhmut would be a step towards seizing the rest of the surrounding industrial region known as the Donbas. Ukraine says the city has limited strategic value but wants to exhaust Russian forces.

Blinken warns against Russia’s impunity

04:18 , Arpan Rai

US secretary of state Antony Blinken has warned against Russia’s display of impunity in Ukraine and said that nations beyond the European bloc are united to end it.

“If we allow Russia to do what it is doing with impunity in Ukraine, that’s a message to everyone that they will be able to get away too,” he said in New Delhi today.

He added that the countries way beyond Europe are also focussed on the Ukraine war as they know it could have effect here, without naming any nations on the Asian continent facing territorial threats from their former administrators.