Russian troops have stepped up their offensive in eastern Ukraine, trying to encircle the small mining town of Bakhmut, the scene of some of the fiercest fighting on the battlefield in recent months. Russia is trying to block vulnerable supply routes for Ukrainian defenders in the city and force them to surrender or withdraw. This would give Moscow its first victory in six months and pave the way for the capture of the last urban centers in the Donetsk region. “The enemy is constantly destroying everything that can be used to protect our fortifications and defensive positions. Our soldiers who defend the territory around Bakhmut are real heroes,” President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi said on Monday.

The latest on the war in Ukraine, day 370, LIVETEXT:

07:22Moscow’s new accusations. The United States is planning a provocation in Ukraine with the use of poisonous chemicals, the Russian Ministry of Defense said on Tuesday, Reuters reports.

A brief summary of recent events:

• President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi on Monday night admitted that the situation of his troops around Bakhmut in the east of the country is becoming very difficult, AFP reports. “The situation is becoming increasingly difficult,” he said in his daily message. “The enemy systematically destroys everything that can be used to defend our positions,” he added, calling the Ukrainian military participating in the hostilities “real heroes.”
• Russia wants to surround Bakhmut before the earth melts and turns into mud. Russian troops were trying to close a circle around the small mining town of Bakhmut on Monday as early spring rain and thaw turned battlefields in eastern Ukraine into mud, potentially hampering both sides in their attempts to seize the initiative, Reuters reported.
• Russia will not resume negotiations on the SNO until Washington listens to Moscow. Kremlin spokesman Dmytro Peskov said on Tuesday that Russia will not resume participation in the SNO nuclear weapons treaty until Washington listens to Moscow’s position. In a conversation with the Izvestia newspaper, Peskov also said that NATO “acts as a single bloc, not only as opponents, but also as enemies,” according to Reuters.
• Ukraine said on Monday it was ready for a possible “desperate step” by Russia over Transnistria, saying it would never allow Russian warplanes to land troops in the region.
• Residents of Crimea’s southern coast reported a “small earthquake” on Monday, said Oleg Kryuchikov, an adviser to the region’s Russian-appointed governor, a news that quickly sparked concern in Russia.
• Third time’s not lucky: A video of a new Russian armored car being destroyed in the battles around the town of Vugledar in the Donetsk region, where Moscow’s military equipment suffered a real disaster, appeared on social networks.
• FT: Putin secretly decided to invade Ukraine. Lavrov and the Russian oligarchs knew nothing. The decision to invade Ukraine was made solely by Vladimir Putin and a very narrow circle of his advisers, which did not include the Kremlin leadership or Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
• US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said on Monday that Russia should bear the costs of damages caused by its invasion of Ukraine, but that there are “significant legal obstacles” to seizing major frozen Russian assets.
• On Monday, the EU announced a one-year extension of sanctions against Belarus for continuing repression by the regime of Alexander Lukashenko and its support for Russia’s war in Ukraine, AFP reports.

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Monday’s events were broadcast live on HotNews.ro