Latest news on Russia and the war in Ukraine

The governor of Russia’s Belgorod region said on Tuesday that an “anti-terror operation” in the region was underway and that the Ministry of Defense and law enforcement agencies continued to “clear” the territory bordering Ukraine.

“Regarding the situation in the Graivoron region: the Ministry of Defense and law enforcement agencies continue to clear the territory,” Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said on the Telegram messaging app.

“I now appeal to the residents of the Graivoron area who … have temporarily left their homes and it is not yet possible to return.”

At least three people were injured and three houses and a local administration building were damaged in a cross-border attack from Ukraine, Gladkov said on Monday.

A senior aide to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Kiev had nothing to do with the armed operation in the Belgorod region.

“Ukraine is following events in Russia’s Belgorod region with interest and studying the situation, but has nothing to do with it,” presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said on Twitter.

“As you know, tanks are sold in any Russian military store, and underground guerrillas are formed by Russian citizens.” Podolak said in a written statement to Reuters that the Ukrainian army only operates on Ukrainian territory​ ​and echoed Ukrainian military intelligence blaming Russian partisans for the invasion.

— Reuters

Earlier today, Ukraine’s state-owned nuclear energy company blamed Russian shelling for the outage, and power was restored at the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine.

Energoatom said earlier on Monday that the plant was forced into “blackout mode” and that backup diesel generators were running at the plant to keep the nuclear fuel cool.

Later this morning, energy atom and Ukraine’s national grid operator Ukrenergo says power has been restored at the plant, occupied by Russian troops. Energoatom said today’s outage was the seventh the plant has experienced.

Ukraine and Russia have repeatedly accused each other of endangering Europe’s largest nuclear power plant, with the International Atomic Energy Agency repeatedly calling for the facility to be “demilitarized”.

— Holly Elliott

Kiev said Ukrainian troops were advancing around Bahmut while Russia was building up troops, refuting Russian claims that its militants had fully captured the eastern Ukrainian town.

According to NBC, Ukrainian Deputy Minister of Defense Hannah Malial said on domestic television: “Now the fiercest fighting is taking place in the direction of Marinka, Avdivka and Bakhmut. The enemy is taking most of the The forces are concentrated in the direction of Bakhmut.”

“Since yesterday, the situation has not changed fundamentally … You remember yesterday we still controlled some infrastructure, and private residences in the south-west of the city. Today we still control this part, although small, of the city,” she says.

“The fighting is still going on. Last night, the enemy conducted a sweep of the territory he controlled; that is, they checked that our sabotage groups were still there,” Malial said.

she said the russian army was in the city — Composed mostly of mercenaries — Forced to take defensive positions in parts of the city.

“Because we advance along the flanks from the north and south flanks, occupying a certain height, it is difficult for the enemy to stay in the city. And we continue to advance (on the flanks). The strength is somewhat reduced, but we continue to advance. In the north, the present There is much less action. In the South, we are moving forward,” she said.

— Holly Elliott

The head of the Wagner Group, a prominent Russian private military company, said on Monday that his fighters will soon leave the town of Bakhmut that his fighters claim to have taken.

Commenting on the Telegram channel of his business, Wagner CEO Yevgeny Prigozhin said: “Now (Bachmut’s) western suburbs are defended, therefore, PMC Wagner will leave Artemovsk from May 25 to June 1, ’ he said, using Bakhmut’s Soviet-era name.

The Wagner group claimed to have fully captured Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine on Saturday after months of bloody fighting in and around the town. Ukraine has rejected Russian claims that the town has fallen, saying it continues to hold its ground outside the town.

Prigorzhin said his group would hand over control of the city to the Russian regular army, again digging at the defense ministry, with which he has a tense relationship, saying it could send in generals — He often belittles them because they lack the skills needed for the position — Defend the town.

“If the Ministry of Defense doesn’t have enough people (to replace Wagner), we have thousands of generals (in Russia), so we just have to form a general army and get everyone armed – everything will be fine,” he wryly smiled speak.

— Holly Elliott

Russia has prepared extensive defenses and fortifications in occupied parts of the country ahead of Ukraine’s long-awaited counteroffensive, a BBC investigation has revealed.

BBC Verify is a new division of the BBC that investigates and verifies information, video and images, says it has checked hundreds of satellite images Ukraine, and “identified some key points of the massive construction of trenches and other fortifications in southern Ukraine since October”.

The images show a 15-mile stretch of the Crimean coastline “dotted with defensive structures installed by the Russian army,” as well as defenses of anti-tank trenches and fangs (pyramidal concrete blocks used to hold back military vehicles) near potential areas Line Ukrainian counteroffensive, in southern Ukraine.

The BBC’s investigative journalists and analysts also found that there is now a row of anti-tank ditches and trenches alongside a major road near a potential counteroffensive site, and that the route is likely to be heavily mined; Ukraine did not say when or where it would be launched Counter-offensive, which is understandable. Read the BBC Verify article here.

The report echoed concerns expressed by British defense analysts on Friday, when they said Russia’s massive defense buildup could prove a challenging hurdle for Ukraine to overcome and warned bystanders not to dismiss the Russian military as incompetent , because it was labeled early on. Intrusion after previous error.

Read more here: Defense analysts say Russia’s military has adapted and is now a stronger enemy for Ukraine

— Holly Elliott