A Russian military website reported that Wagner forces were deep in the heart of the city of Baghmut, with only hundreds of meters separating them from the administration building, while airing images they said documented the destruction of Ukrainian bases by pro-Russian Donetsk forces. As for Ukraine, it announced a significant increase in the number of security forces in hot spots in Bagmud, Avdiyvka and other regions.

The Russian military website “Ryadrovka” indicated that Wagner’s forces were fighting heavy battles southwest of Pakmut and were gradually penetrating the defenses of Ukrainian forces, and that Wagner’s forces were advancing in the Krasnoye region southwest of the city, which they now controlled. Road leading to that area.

On the other hand, the US Institute of War Research “ISW” said that the pace of Russian attacks in Baghmut region has slowed down significantly, indicating that Russian forces have not achieved confirmed successes in and around Baghmut during yesterday’s clashes. , Saturday.

The institute’s report indicated that heavy snowfall and fluctuating weather conditions in the Pakmut region slowed the Russian advance on the city.

For its part, Russian forces continued to attack Pakmut and launched unsuccessful offensives in the Bogdanovka and Ivanovka regions, the Ukrainian General Staff said.

In eastern Ukraine, pro-Russian Donetsk forces broadcast images showing the moment Ukrainian bases were detected and destroyed by direct-guided weapons, according to Donetsk forces.

In Donetsk, pro-Russian authorities confirmed that one civilian was injured in Ukrainian shelling of the city, yesterday, Saturday, when Ukrainian forces bombarded 5 residential areas with about 100 bombs, causing material damage to one of the residential buildings. .

The Russian Defense Ministry has announced that its air defense forces shot down 11 Ukrainian drones in one day.

On the other hand, 6 people were killed and 8 wounded in a Russian shelling of the city of Kostiantynivka in the east of the country on Sunday morning, a senior Ukrainian official said.

The town of Kostiantynivka, 20 km west of Pakmut, has been the focus of at least 8 months of fighting in light of Russian forces’ attempts to capture it. Before the war, the town had a population of 70,000.

“The Russians launched a massive bombardment of the city of Kostiantynivka,” Andriy Yermak, chief of staff to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, said in a telegram.

He said 16 residential buildings, 8 houses, a kindergarten and an administrative building were damaged in the blast.

A call to surrender

Meanwhile, Russian forces broadcast images of their drones dropping leaflets in Zaporozhye province calling on Ukrainian forces to surrender.

The RIA Novosti agency broadcast a video clip via the Telegram application that documents the Russian military dropping leaflets on Ukrainian military bases in Zaporizhia, urging Ukrainian forces to surrender and save their lives, the agency said.

Ukraine’s southern provinces of Zaporizhia and Kherson have seen clashes and waves of Russian bombardment with missiles and rockets for days.

Increase defense power

On the other hand, Serhiy Sopko, Deputy Commander of the Ukrainian Armed Forces’ Regional Defense Forces, said that the number of troops in this unit had risen to tens of thousands, after 6,000 before the war.

Sopko added that all units of the regional security forces have combat experience and participated in counterattacks in Kharkiv and Donetsk.

The training of these forces will not be stopped, it continues in accordance with the training standards of NATO member states, and the training takes into account the experience of the Russian-Ukrainian war, and pointed out that the trainers are combat officers trained abroad. Now they transfer the experience to others.

“The Greatest Anti-Human Power”

In another context, today Sunday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced in a Telegram post that Ukraine had driven out a year ago near Kiev the “biggest anti-human force” on the first anniversary of the discovery of civilian bodies in Bucha. , which has become a symbol of “atrocities” attributed to the Russian military.

A month after the start of the war, the Russian army withdrew from Bucha and the entire northern part of Kiev on March 31, 2022, and two days after the withdrawal, features of a “massacre” were revealed after the bodies of 20 people. Dressed in civilian clothes, one of them was seen handcuffed, and Kiev and the West condemned what they described as war crimes, with the Kremlin denying any involvement and insisting it was a planned operation.

Russian President of the Security Council

At the political level, EU foreign policy chief Joseph Borrell, UN He said the Union would stand against any violation of the Russian presidency of the Security Council.

Borrell added on Twitter that despite Russia being a permanent member of the Security Council, it continues to violate the essence of the legal framework of the United Nations.

UN for April Kiev had condemned Russia’s acceptance of a rotating presidency of the Security Council, and Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba considered via Twitter that Russia’s leadership of the Security Council was “a slap in the face. to the international community.”

Kuleba called on the current members of the council to “confront any Russian attempt to abuse this presidency,” and reminded them that Russia is an outlaw on the Security Council, as he described it.

Integration with Belarus

Politically, Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that integration with Belarus is effectively taking place, despite the pressure of unprecedented sanctions from abroad.

Putin held a phone call with his Belarusian counterpart, Alexander Lukashenko, in which the two sides discussed ongoing developments in the war in Ukraine.

As reported by the Russian news agency “Sputnik” on Sunday, Putin sent a congratulatory telegram to Lukashenko on the occasion of the Day of Unity between the Peoples of Russia and Belarus.

Putin pointed out that Russia and Belarus continue to expand cooperation based on mutual benefit and strengthen the mechanisms of the Union countries – according to the telegram.

It is noteworthy that the Day of Unity between the Peoples of Russia and Belarus has been celebrated on the second of April every year since 1996, when an agreement was signed between the two countries aimed at consolidating the common economic space.

Lukashenko two days ago confirmed his readiness to acquire Russian “strategic” nuclear weapons and “tactical” weapons that Moscow is preparing to send to Belarus, while accusing the West of preparing an attack on his country to remove them. , warning of World War III as “nuclear conflagration” looms on the horizon.