Ukraine war live updates: Situation ‘critical’ in Bakhmut as retreat contemplated; Russia and U.S. keep their distance at G-20

Tensions higher than ever between the U.S. and Russia, both countries appear to be keeping their distance as Group of 20 (G-20) meeting takes place in New Delhi on Thursday.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday that he has no plans to meet Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov at the summit, which comes after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine entered a second year last month.

Relations between the U.S. and Russia soured further in recent weeks after President Vladimir Putin announced that Russia was suspending its participation in the New START nuclear arms control treaty, the last remaining arms treaty between Moscow and Washington.

Russia’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said it wasn’t surprising that a meeting wouldn’t take place on the sidelines of the G-20 ministerial meeting.

“In my opinion, the position of the United States was clearly and long ago indicated. They are in favor of the escalation of conflicts in principle around the world, diplomacy, unfortunately, they, apparently relegated to the background,” Zakharova told reporters, news agency Interfax reported Thursday.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock on Thursday called on her Russian counterpart to return to the full implementation of the new START nuclear arms control treaty.

— Holly Ellyatt

Russian forces appear to be tightening the noose around the city of Bakhmut in Donetsk, prompting questions in Ukraine over whether a withdrawal by Ukrainian forces must be seriously considered.

Standard Russian units and mercenary fighters belonging to the Wagner Group have been slowly advancing on the industrial city in eastern Ukraine in recent weeks and reports suggest routes into the city are now being cut off.

Both Russia and Ukraine have thrown masses of manpower and equipment into capturing, and defending, Bakhmut, respectively. But given Russian forces are closing in on the city, Ukrainian military analysts are now openly questioning whether a tactical withdrawal should take place before it’s too late.

“I believe that sooner or later, we will probably have to leave Bakhmut. There is no sense in holding it at any cost,” Ukrainian member of parliament Serhiy Rakhmanin said on NV radio late on Wednesday in comments translated by Reuters.

No lines of defense should be allowed to collapse, Rakhmanin said, according to the news agency. “There are two ways to approach this — an organised retreat or simple flight. And we cannot allow flight to take place under any circumstances,” he said.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian military analyst Oleg Zhdanov said in a post on YouTube that “there is a danger that our garrison in Bakhmut will be encircled,” assessing the situation as “critical,” Reuters reported.

“The enemy is attempting to sever the routes used to supply our forces in Bakhmut and halt all movement along them,” he said. “The Russian forces cannot win street battles in Bakhmut or take the city by attacking head-on. The only way they can take the city is to surround it.”

Ukraine’s military said Thursday morning that over the past 24 hours, its forces had repelled more than 170 enemy attacks in the area of Bakhmut and surrounding settlements “where Russian troops are focusing efforts and conducting active offensive operations.”

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said this week that his forces were under “insane pressure” and said battles around Bakhmut were intensifying day by day. Both sides claim that they are inflicting hundreds of losses on each other on a daily basis.

— Holly Ellyatt

U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland called Yevgeny Prigozhin, the leader of the Russian mercenary Wagner Group, a “war criminal.”

“Mr. Prigozhin, who runs this thing, is in my view a war criminal and maybe that’s inappropriate for me to say as a judge before getting all the evidence, but I think we have more than sufficient evidence at this point for me to feel that way,” Garland testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee.

During questioning, Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., pointed to the bipartisan measure sponsored by himself, Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., and Lindsay Graham, R-S.C., the committee’s ranking member, to declare the group a foreign terrorist organization. The Wagner Group is responsible for a deadly attack on the Donbas region of Ukraine and for using prisoners as cannon fodder, according to Garland.

“It’s just unfathomable what they are doing and everything we can do to stop them, we should do,” he said.

— Chelsey Cox

Hungarian President Katalin Novak urged lawmakers on Wednesday to ratify Finland and Sweden’s NATO entry “as soon as possible” as deputies started debating the motions after months of the bills being stranded in parliament.

“It is a complex decision, with serious consequences, so careful consideration is necessary,” Novak said on Facebook.

“My position is clear-cut: in the present situation, the accession of Sweden and Finland is justified. I trust the National Assembly will make a wise decision as soon as possible!” 

— Reuters

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy vowed to bring “every murderer, terrorist and torturer” to justice.

“We will hold the terrorist state fully accountable for its genocidal war,” Zelenskyy said on his official Telegram channel, according to an NBC News translation.

“Every murderer, terrorist and torturer will be brought to justice. Historical justice will be restored. Life and Ukraine will prevail,” he added.

Russia has previously said its troops in Ukraine do not deliberately target civilians or commit war crimes.

— Amanda Macias

Russia won’t rejoin the New START nuclear arms control treaty unless the U.S. changes its stance on Ukraine, according to Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov.

Russian President Vladimir Putin announced last month that Moscow was suspending its participation in the treaty, which puts controls on the nuclear arms production of both the U.S. and Russia, stating that Washington had to show “political will” and “make conscientious efforts” for a general de-escalation of tensions.

“Until the United States changes its behavior, until we see signs of common sense in what they are doing in relation to Ukraine … we see no chance for the decision to suspend START to be reviewed or re-examined,” Ryabkov said, according to comments to Russian news agency Interfax that were translated by Google.

Russia stressed that the suspension was reversible and Ryabkov said Wednesday that discussions on the treaty are being conducted through closed channels currently.

— Holly Ellyatt

The head of Russia’s mercenary troops, who have been fighting for months to capture Bakhmut and surrounding settlements, said Wednesday that Ukraine is putting up fierce resistance to Russian efforts to fully encircle and capture the city in Donetsk.

The founder of the Wagner Group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, denied several Russian reports suggesting Ukrainian security forces had received an order to retreat from Bakhmut saying that, on the contrary, Ukraine was throwing everything it could muster to defend Bakhmut, a city that Russia calls “Artemivsk” or “Artemovsk.”

“The Armed Forces of Ukraine in Artemivsk are adding additional reserves and are trying with all their might to keep the city. Tens of thousands of soldiers of the Ukrainian army are putting up fierce resistance, the bloodshed of the battles is increasing every day,” Prigozhin said in a statement reported by Russian news agency Ria Novosti.

Prigozhin’s forces, made up of standard mercenary fighters and men recruited from Russian jails who were offered a reprieve in return for fighting in Ukraine, have been credited with slow, incremental advances by Russian forces in Donetsk in recent weeks.

Unlike some Russian military officials, Prigozhin has not downplayed the abilities of Ukraine’s fighters and he has been openly critical of the Russian defense ministry’s strategies in Ukraine, ruffling feathers back in Moscow.

— Holly Ellyatt

Russian forces continue to pummel Bakhmut on Wednesday but have not fully surrounded the city, according to Reuters.

The news agency noted Wednesday that it was still able to reach Bakhmut from the west on Monday, saying that was “proof that the city was not yet surrounded despite Russian forces pressing from north and south to close the last remaining routes in.”

According to Reuters, flames and smoke rose into the sky from blazing buildings, and the sounds of gunfire and explosions peppered the air. Ukrainian armored vehicles roared through the streets, it noted, while stray dogs wandered in the mud and destruction wrought on the former industrial city.

Several thousands of civilians remain in the city despite the relentless fighting around them, which has been going on for more than half a year. Russia has thrown thousands of troops into the fighting around Bakhmut, a city in Donetsk that it is determined to capture in a bid to rupture Ukrainian supply lines in the east.

In an update on Facebook Wednesday morning, the Ukrainian military said Russian forces do “not stop storming the city of Bakhmut” but said Ukraine’s forces continue to fight back.

— Holly Ellyatt