Fighting continues in Bakhmut, and Wagner’s chief, Yevgeny Prigozhin, says Ukrainian troops have not left the city, despite earlier claims that Russia had captured it “legally.” Fighting is also raging further south around Avdiivka, a town near the Russian-controlled regional capital of Donetsk. Authorities in Russian-controlled areas of eastern Ukraine said seven civilians were killed in two separate strikes by Ukrainian artillery, Russian news agencies reported. President Xi Jinping, who would like to play the role of mediator, hopes that Moscow and Kyiv can hold peace talks as soon as possible, but an adviser to Russian President Vladimir Putin has assessed the chances of peace talks starting this year as “nil”. .

The latest on the war in Ukraine, day 408, LIVETEXT:

07:50Secret U.S. and NATO aid plans for Ukraine ahead of an expected counteroffensive this spring were posted on social media earlier this week, prompting a Pentagon investigation, senior Biden administration officials told the New York Times. , reports The Kyiv Independent.

01:04 Two Russian conscripts who refused to fight in Ukraine last year were sentenced to three years in prison, the Kommersant newspaper reported on Thursday, citing sources familiar with the case, the Moscow Times reports.

00:07The war in Ukraine has led to a dramatic increase in the number of dolphins and porpoises killed by military action in the Black Sea, a “heartbreaking” study has found, Newseek reports.

A brief summary of recent events:

• The EU plan to send 1 million artillery shells to Ukraine has been blocked
• The United States opposes attempts by some European allies to offer Ukraine a “road map” to NATO membership at the alliance’s July summit.
• Mykhailo Podolyak, a senior adviser to President Volodymyr Zelenskyi, has ruled out peace talks with Moscow until Russian troops leave all of Ukraine, including Russian-controlled Crimea. Ukraine offers Russia two options: leave Crimea peacefully or prepare for battle
• Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine (NSDC) Oleksiy Danilov said that no more than five people have information about where and when the counteroffensive of the Armed Forces of Ukraine will begin.
• Serhii Golubtsov, commander of the Ukrainian Air Force, said Ukraine desperately needs the F-16 fighter jets, which he called Thursday “four to five times” more effective than the Soviet planes currently in use in Ukraine.
• Ukrainian arms manufacturer Ukroboronprom, together with Polish arms manufacturer Polska Grupa Zbrojeniowa (PGZ), will produce 125-mm shells for Soviet tanks
• European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said she warned Chinese leader Xi Jinping that any arms shipments to Russia would “significantly damage” relations with the EU. Von der Leyen also said that she urged Xi to reach out to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi. China is ready to strengthen strategic mutual trust with the EU, President Xi said.
• French President Emmanuel Macron called on Chinese President Xi Jinping to bring Russia to its senses over the war in Ukraine. However, a few hours later in Moscow, a government spokesman said he saw no possibility of China mediating the conflict in Ukraine and that Russia had “no other option” but to continue the offensive.
• Macron said that he and Xi agreed that nuclear weapons should be excluded from the conflict in Ukraine.
• Russian President Vladimir Putin held talks with his Belarusian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko in Moscow
• Russian military blogger Vladlen Tatarsky joked about bombs with the alleged killer at an event in St. Petersburg shortly before he was killed by a landmine
• Are the Russians retreating from northern Crimea or are they regrouping for the Ukrainian offensive? Photo from the satellite – PHOTO

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Thursday’s events related to Russian aggression were broadcast LIVE on HotNews.ro