Retreating Russian brigade ‘dogged with allegations of poor morale and limited combat effectiveness’, says British Ministry of Defence
Hello and welcome back to our coverage of Russia’s war on Ukraine, now in its 444th day. I’m Adam Fulton and here’s a look at the latest.
Ukrainian forces have regained at least a kilometre of territory in Bakhmut amid a Russian withdrawal that reflects its “severe shortage of credible combat units”, the UK Ministry of Defence has said in its latest intelligence briefing.
Russian-installed officials in Luhansk have said missiles fired by Ukrainian forces had injured six children and a Russian parliamentarian and damaged two disused factories in the eastern Ukrainian region’s main city, around 100km (60 miles) behind the frontlines.
Two Russian pilots were killed when a Russian Mi-28 military helicopter crashed in the annexed peninsula of Crimea, Russian news agencies reported, citing the defence ministry. It said it believed the reason for Friday’s crash was equipment failure, Tass reported.
The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has thanked the British prime minister, Rishi Sunak, for the provision of long-range cruise missiles. The UK defence secretary, Ben Wallace, earlier confirmed it would send the Storm Shadow missiles, prompting a threat from the Kremlin of a military response.
Police in the Russian city of St Petersburg have created an anti-drone unit to detect unmanned drones after a suspected attack on the Kremlin last week. The unit launched on Tuesday during the annual second world war victory day celebrations on St Petersburg’s Palace Square, the city’s interior ministry said.
South Africa’s foreign ministry has summoned the US ambassador over allegations he made that the country had provided arms and ammunition to Russia for its war in Ukraine. Reuben Brigety said on Thursday that South Africa had loaded weapons and ammunition on to a Russian vessel, which is under sanctions, at the Simon’s Town naval base near Cape Town in December last year and that the arms were then transported to Russia.
