Yevgeny Prigozhin said that the fighters of the “Wagner” PMK would withdraw from the battle for Bakhmut, but instead, the Ukrainians said that mercenaries were being drawn from other areas of the front to capture the city before Victory Day, the great Russian holiday in May. 9.

Ukrainian soldiers with “Igla” grenade launchers in the Bakhmut areaPhoto: Roman Chop / AP / Profimedia

Main information about the war in Ukraine, day 437, TEXT:

09:01 The Russian Defense Ministry appears to be deprioritizing the Bakhmut offensive in favor of preparing defenses against an expected Ukrainian counteroffensive, putting the Wagner Group and Yevgeny Prigozhin in a potentially difficult position, the Institute for the Study of War reports.

Prigozhin’s visible and visceral anger in a series of videos over the past two days suggests that the Russian Defense Ministry may have de-prioritized Bakhmut and shifted its operational focus elsewhere in the theater in a way that could seriously compromise Wagner’s ability to operate effectively , adds. cited source.

08:53 In an interview with the Financial Times, Moldovan President Maia Sandu said that Russia could send troops to Moldova if its full-scale invasion of Ukraine went ahead as planned.

“I don’t think he would stop at the border. Today we are safe only thanks to Ukraine,” said Sandu.

01:24 VIDEO Zelenskyi: We are fighting tyranny side by side with America, we have reached an unprecedented level of interaction between Ukraine and the USA

00:50 VIDEO. Ukrainians accuse the Russians of dropping phosphorous bombs on Bakhmut / Footage of the city covered with incendiary munitions

A brief summary of recent events:

  • Prigozhin released a profanity-laced video in which he appears next to dozens of corpses of Wgner mercenaries and personally blames the leadership of the Russian army for the loss of their soldiers. He announced that his troops would withdraw from Bakhmut on 10 May, ending their engagement in the longest and bloodiest battle of the war due to heavy casualties and insufficient supplies.
  • The pace of grain shipments from Ukraine under a U.N.-backed initiative has slowed amid growing fears that ships could get stuck if the deal is not extended at the end of this month, Ukraine, Russia, Turkey and the United Nations, according to sources and Reuters data. failed to allow new ships in accordance with the agreement.
  • A drone attack on the Ilya oil refinery in southern Russia, the second in several days, caused a fire, TASS reports.
  • Russia has announced the completion of repairs to the Kerch Bridge in Crimea, which was damaged by the October attack. Today, traffic on the Crimean Bridge railway has been restored,” Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnulin wrote in Telegram.
  • EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said on Friday that “this is not the time” for “diplomatic peace talks” with Russia to end the war in Ukraine.
  • Russia is evacuating the front-line cities of the occupied Zaporizhzhia region, in particular, Energodar, where the nuclear power plant is located.
  • Former Russian Deputy Defense Minister Mykhailo Mizintiev, also known as the “Butcher of Mariupol,” joined Wagner’s mercenary group as deputy commander.
  • Ukrainian anti-aircraft vehicles shot down a hypersonic Kinjal missile launched by the Russians at a target in Kyiv on Thursday, writes Defense Express, which received images of the remains of the missile.
  • A Ukrainian delegate punched a Russian emissary in the face (VIDEO) during a meeting in Ankara: “Get your paws off our flag, Russian scum!”

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  • Friday’s events regarding Russian aggression were broadcast LIVE on HotNews.ro