Putin highlights relationship with Iran
Vladimir Putin highlighted the positive dynamics in Russian-Iranian relations during a telephone conversation with his Iranian counterpart Ebrahim Raisi, the Kremlin reported. “Both sides made a positive assessment of the level and dynamics of development of Russian-Iranian relations,” the official statement said.
The note adds that Putin and Raisí “discussed issues of bilateral cooperation in various fields, including the implementation of joint infrastructure projects.” “It was agreed to continue contacts,” the document concludes.
This is the second telephone conversation between the leaders of Russia and Iran so far this year, which comes amid increased contacts between Moscow and Tehran.
Russian security claims to have thwarted an attempted attack
Russia’s Federal Security Service has claimed to have prevented an assassination attempt on Russian billionaire and Tsargrad media group CEO Konstantin Malofeev, the planning of which it attributes to the founder of the Russian Volunteer Corps, which claimed responsibility for the recent attack on Briansk.
Russian authorities claim that “the act of terrorism was planned to be carried out by detonating a homemade explosive device placed under Malofeev’s car.”
According to what the Federal Security Service (FSB) told the official TASS agency, “the organizer of the crime is the founder and one of the leaders of the so-called Russian Volunteer Corps, which lives on the territory of Ukraine and acts under the control of the Service of Ukrainian Security, participating in combat operations against Russian troops on the Ukrainian side”.
The Russian Volunteer Corps, which describes itself as a formation of Russian volunteers that is part of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, something Kiev has not confirmed, claimed responsibility last week for the attack in Russia’s Bryansk region, bordering Ukraine.
Ukrainian military expert believes that the Russian offensive in Bakhmut has peaked
The Russian offensive on the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut has shown signs of slowing down, and could have reached its “peak” intensity without Kremlin forces having gained control of the city, he said. Ukrainian military expert Serhiy Grabskiy.
“We have seen some signs that the Russians have been forced to slow down their operations due to lack of personnel and ammunition,” said Grabskiy, a reserve colonel who served peacekeeping missions in Iraq and the former Yugoslavia.
The ex-soldier made reference to the video published by the head of the Wagner Russian mercenary group, Yevgueni Prigozhin, in which he once again complained about the lack of ammunition and warned that “the entire front will collapse” if his private army withdraws from Bakhmut.
If a withdrawal is confirmed, Grabskiy added, “it is possible that the Ukrainian forces will resist the Russian offensive for a couple more days and then begin a counterattack pushing the enemy” back.
Complaint of Ukrainian soldiers on Bakhmut
Ukrainian soldiers on the Bakhmut front, currently the epicenter of the fighting with the Russians, feel helpless in the face of the incessant wave of shelling and attacks coming from the other side of the front.
The Ukrainian outlet The Kyiv Independent has collected testimonies from more than a dozen Ukrainian soldiers in the area who describe the front as “a meat grinder” due to the high number of casualties on both sides.
During their brief visits to the nearby town of Kostiantynivka, Ukrainian infantrymen told The Kyiv Independent that poorly trained and unprepared battalions were thrown onto the front line “to survive as best they could” with little support. of armored vehicles, mortars, artillery, drones and tactical information.
“We received no support,” they recounted, noting that Russian artillery, infantry fighting vehicles and armored personnel carriers can often attack Ukrainian positions for hours or days without Ukrainian heavy weapons being able to stop them.
Warning from the head of the Russian company Wagner
The head of the Russian Wagner mercenary company, businessman Yevgeny Prigozhin, warned that if his troops withdraw from Bakhmut, a city in eastern Ukraine, “the entire front will collapse.” He did so in a video posted on YouTube in which he added that the collapse could reach “as far as the borders of Russia and, perhaps, beyond.”
He added that the Wagners, on the one hand, “attract the entire Ukrainian Army and do not allow it to concentrate on other sectors of the front.”
“And, on the other hand, we advance and the rest (the military) are forced to follow us so as not to be portrayed,” said Prigozhin, who is considered close to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The Wagner chief indicated that his men have still not received the ammunition promised by the Russian Defense Ministry and indicated that he is trying to find out the cause of this delay, whether it is “simple bureaucracy or betrayal.”
Russian anti-aircraft defense shoots down three missiles in Belgorod
Russian anti-aircraft defense shot down three missiles in the Belgorod region, which borders Ukraine, Governor Viacheslav Gladkov said today.
“Our air defense system worked in Novi Oskol. Three missiles (were) shot down,” the politician said on his Telegram channel.
He maintained that a man suffered shrapnel wounds to his hand and that fragments of the missiles caused damage to several facades and power lines in different villages.
The Russian region borders the Ukrainian province of Kharkov and has been the target of frequent attacks since the start of the Russian military campaign in Ukraine.
Moscow denounced Ukrainian shelling in the Kursk region
Russia denounced shelling by the Ukrainian Armed Forces against a town in the Kursk region, in which energy supply facilities were damaged. The Russian region borders the Ukrainian province of Sumi and has been the target of frequent attacks since the start of Russia’s military campaign in Ukraine.
“The Armed Forces of Ukraine are shelling the border area in the Khomutovsky district at the moment. Power supply facilities were damaged,” Governor Roman Starovoit wrote on his Telegram channel. According to him, as a result of the attack, the village of Iskra was left without electricity.
This same Monday in the neighboring region of Belgorod, which borders the Ukrainian province of Kharkov, the governor, Viacheslav Gladkov, stated that the Russian anti-aircraft defense shot down three missiles in Novi Oskol and that a man suffered shrapnel injuries.
Russia says Ukraine is preparing to attack Zaporizhia
The Ukrainian Armed Forces have reinforced their group in the direction of Zaporizhia, in the southeast of the country, with several thousand soldiers, so that it currently has between 30,000 and 32,000 soldiers on that front, Vladimir Rogov, leader of the “Together with Russia” in this province.
The politician noted that Ukraine is amassing fighters in the Zaporizhia direction in order to move to active operations in this region partially controlled by Russia.
According to Rogov, only in the last three days 3,500 soldiers were transferred to the city of Zaporizhia and 12,000 to the border of the Dnipropetrovsk and Zaporizhia regions. According to this source, in mid-February there were around 25,000 Ukrainian servicemen on the Zaporizhia contact line.
Russian Defense Minister visited Mariupol
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu inspected reconstruction work in Mariupol, which was the scene of fierce fighting last year.
“In the city of Mariupol of the Donetsk People’s Republic, the head of Defense inspected buildings already delivered and the progress of work on buildings and facilities under construction,” said Defense.
Russia seized control of Mariupol on May 20 last year, after nearly three months of fighting, when Ukrainian defenders entrenched at the Azovstal metallurgical plant surrendered.
“The Defense Minister highly appreciated the work of the military construction company and thanked the military construction companies that are participating in the reconstruction of the social infrastructure of Donbas,” the military statement added.