Australia says all countries want to see China not supply weapons to Russia

Ukraine is holding its position in Bakhmut and has repelled over 170 attacks in the last 24 hours by Russian forces, who are closer than ever to capturing the city that has become a symbol of Kyiv’s resistance.

Russian troops have waged a bloody, monthslong offensive to take Bakhmut, a city of salt and gypsum mines in eastern Ukraine. The offensive has intensified in recent days, prompting the Ukrainian military to think about “strategically” pulling troops back from the ghost town.

An adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy recently told CNN, “We’re not going to sacrifice all of our people just for nothing.”

Russia is using the Wagner Group’s best troops to try to encircle the city. Fall of Bakhmut would be a blow for Ukraine and offer tactical advantages to Russia, but would not prove decisive to the war’s outcome.

Ukraine accused Russia of staging a false “provocation”, but also appeared to imply some form of operation had indeed been carried out by Russian anti-government partisans.

Bakhmut is partly encircled, and all roads, including the main supply route, are within range of Russian fire. The city lies in ruins and no longer has strategic or operational significance. Zelenskyy recently described it as “destroyed”.

Ukrainian military analyst Oleh Zhdanov, in a YouTube address, said troops have repelled more than 170 attacks in the past 24 hours. Bakhmut lies in Donetsk province, one of four provinces Russia illegally annexed last fall. Moscow controls half of Donetsk province.

To take the remaining half of that province, Russian forces must go through Bakhmut, the only approach to bigger Ukrainian-held cities since Ukrainian troops took back Izium in Kharkiv province in September.

The founder of Russia’s Wagner mercenary force on Thursday published a video showing his fighters inside Bakhmut. The private military company known for brutal tactics is led by Yevgeny Prigozhin, a rogue millionaire with longtime links to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Meanwhile, the US has announced a new $400 million military aid package for Ukraine and at the G20 foreign ministers meeting, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov to end the war. It was the first in person encounter between the top diplomats since the invasion.
On Thursday, Russia claimed it was hit by a “terrorist attack” in the southern Bryansk region and vowed to crush what Putin said was a Ukrainian sabotage group that had fired at civilians. But Ukraine denied and accused Russia of staging a false provocation.