LONDON: Ukrainian troops have been forced to withdraw from some territory in the battlefield city of Bakhmut as Russia mounts a renewed assault there with intense artillery fire over the past two days, Britain said in an intelligence update on Friday.
“Russia has re-energized its assault on the Donetsk Oblast town of Bakhmut as forces of the Russian MoD and Wagner Group have improved co-operation,” it said, referring to Russia’s defense ministry and its main mercenary force.
“Ukrainian forces face significant resupply issues but have made orderly withdrawals from the positions they have been forced to concede,” Britain’s military said in a daily intelligence update.
Wagner has taken the lead on the Russian side in the months-long battle, deadliest of the war for troops on both sides, but the mercenary group’s leader had complained of poor support for his forces from the regular military.
“The Ukrainian defense still holds the western districts of the town but has been subjected to particularly intense Russian artillery fire over the previous 48 hours,” the British update said.
It said Wagner units were now focusing on advancing in the center of Bakhmut, while Russian paratroopers were relieving them in attacks on the city’s flanks.
Bakhmut, which held around 70,000 people before the war, has been Russia’s main target in a massive winter offensive that has so far yielded scant gains despite infantry ground combat of an intensity unseen in Europe since World War Two.
Capturing the city would be Russia’s first substantial victory in eight months. Moscow says it would open a route to capturing more territory in Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region, a major war aim.
Ukraine, which is preparing for its own counteroffensive, had appeared likely to abandon Bakhmut at the end of February, but announced in March it would fight on there, saying Russia was taking higher casualties trying to storm it.
Ukraine forces pull back as Russia mounts ‘re-energized’ Bakhmut assault, UK says
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Ukraine forces pull back as Russia mounts ‘re-energized’ Bakhmut assault, UK says
- ‘Ukrainian forces face significant resupply issues but have made orderly withdrawals from the positions they have been forced to concede’
EU assembly weighs freezing US trade deal over Trump’s Greenland threats
- Signatories were mainly fellow members of Clausen’s Left Group, but also included center-left Social Democrats and Greens
- Greens lawmaker Anna Cavazzini said the only argument in favor of the deal was to bring stability
BRUSSELS: The European Parliament is considering putting on hold the European Union’s implementation of the trade deal struck with the United States in protest over threats by US President Donald Trump to seize Greenland.
The European Parliament has been debating legislative proposals to remove many of the EU’s import duties on US goods — the bulk of the trade deal with the US — and to continue zero duties for US lobsters, initially agreed with Trump in 2020.
It was due to set its position in votes on January 26-27, which the MEPs said should now be postponed.
Leading members of the cross-parliamentary trade committee met to discuss the issue on Wednesday morning and decide whether to postpone the vote. In the end, they took no decision and settled on reconvening next week.
A parliamentary source said left-leaning and centrist groups favored taking action, such as a postponement.
A group of 23 lawmakers also urged the EU assembly’s president Roberta Metsola on Wednesday to freeze work on the agreement as long as the US administration continued its threats to take control of Greenland, an autonomous territory of Denmark.
“If we go through and approve a deal that Trump has seen as a personal victory, while he makes claims for Greenland and refuses to rule out any manner in which to achieve this, it will be easily seen as rewarding him and his actions,” the letter drafted by Danish lawmaker Per Clausen said.
Signatories were mainly fellow members of Clausen’s Left Group, but also included center-left Social Democrats and Greens.
Greens lawmaker Anna Cavazzini said the only argument in favor of the deal was to bring stability.
“Trump’s actions show again and again that chaos is his only offer,” she said.
French lawmaker Valerie Hayer, head of the centrist Renew Europe group, said on Tuesday the EU should consider holding off a vote if Trump’s threats continued.
Many lawmakers have complained that the US trade deal is lopsided, with the EU required to cut most import duties while the US sticks to a broad rate of 15 percent.
However, freezing the deal risks angering Trump, which could lead to higher US tariffs. The Trump administration has also ruled out any concessions, such as cutting tariffs on spirits or steel, until the deal is in place.
