Live blog: Russia forces repel Ukrainian attack on eastern front – Moscow

Friday, May 12, 2023

Russia has said that it had repelled Ukrainian attacks along a 95-kilometre (60-mile) stretch of the eastern front near the town of Bakhmut, as an anticipated Ukrainian offensive looms.

The announcement of the apparent large-scale Ukrainian push on Moscow-occupied territory came as Ukraine claimed significant gains in Bakhmut and after Moscow denied that Kiev had made any breakthroughs.

"In the tactical direction of Soledar, the enemy yesterday carried out offensive operations along the entire line of contact, which is more than 95 kilometres long," the defence ministry said.

It added that Ukraine had deployed "more than 1,000 military personnel and up to 40 tanks".

"All the attacks of the units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine have been repelled," the defence ministry added.

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1432 GMT - Russian military helicopter crashes over Crimea, two pilots dead

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.

The defence ministry said it believed the reason for the crash was equipment failure, the TASS news agency reported.

The crash occurred at 3:42 pm (1242 GMT) during a training flight, and the helicopter was flying without weapons, news agencies cited the defence ministry as saying in a statement.

An investigation was opened to confirm the cause of the crash, which occurred in the Dzhankoi region of northern Crimea.

1353 GMT - Wagner chief says Russian army 'fleeing' near Bakhmut

The head of Russia's private Wagner mercenary group Yevgeny Prigozhin said Moscow's conventional army was leaving its positions near the eastern Ukraine hotspot town of Bakhmut.

His comments came just after Russia's defence ministry announced it had redeployed forces around to take up stronger defensive positions north of Bakhmut.

"This is not called regrouping, this is fleeing," Prigozhin said in an audio statement posted on social media.

In a separate video message, Prigozhin said the defence ministry units "simply went fleeing" from positions around north and south of the city.

"The flanks are failing. The front is collapsing" the Kremlin-ally said.

1235 GMT - Russian foreign minister says International Criminal Court arrest warrant for Putin 'scandalous'

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov called the International Criminal Court's (ICC) decision to issue an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin, ignoring state officials' immunity, "scandalous."

"This truly ‘pseudo’ court, which has become an obedient tool in the hands of the Anglo-Saxons, continues to demonstrate political bias, inefficiency, and unprofessionalism," Lavrov said via videoconference to participants at the XI Saint Petersburg International Legal Forum.

He added that the ICC's involvement in conflicts has never aided in the resolution of issues, but rather has escalated them.

"Today, this structure is making new scandalous decisions, including unilaterally expanding the jurisdictional scope. In violation of international law, ignores the immunities of state officials," he said, adding that similar actions had previously caused an acute crisis in the ICC's relations with African countries.

The top Russian diplomat claimed that the “so-called Ukrainian dossier” was openly financed by Great Britain, the Netherlands, Canada, Romania, and Japan.

1231 GMT - South Africa summons US ambassador over weapons for Russia allegations

South Africa's foreign ministry summoned the US Ambassador to a meeting over allegations he made a day earlier that the country had provided arms and ammunition to Russia for its war in Ukraine.

US Ambassador to South Africa Reuben Brigety said at a press conference Thursday that South Africa had loaded weapons and ammunition onto a sanctioned Russian vessel at the Simon’s Town Naval Base near the city of Cape Town in December last year. The arms were then transported to Russia, Brigety said.

“We (the US) are confident that weapons were loaded into that vessel and I would bet my life on the accuracy of that assertion,” Brigety said. He called South Africa's “arming" of Russia “fundamentally unacceptable.”

1200 GMT - Ukraine claims Bakhmut gains despite Russia denial

Ukraine has reportedly recaptured chunks of territory around the embattled city of Bakhmut in the eastern Donetsk region, even as President Volodymyr Zelenskyy insists his army needs more time before launching an expected spring offensive.

"The enemy has suffered great losses of manpower. Our defence forces advanced two kilometres (around one mile) near Bakhmut. We did not lose a single position in Bakhmut this week," Deputy Defence Minister Ganna Malyar said in a statement on social media.

But she appeared to play down suggestions that Ukraine had already started a much-anticipated counteroffensive and urged Ukrainians to disregard what she described as Russian disinformation about the situation in and around Bakhmut.

The comments came after another senior Ukrainian military official said this week that Russian forces had dropped back from some areas near Bakhmut after counter attacks by Kiev's forces.

But Russia has denied that Ukraine had made any breakthroughs in the flashpoint city, saying that reports of territorial losses around the city did "not correspond to reality".

Moscow sees Bakhmut as a stepping stone to attack other Ukrainian cities. Kiev has said that maintaining the defence of Bakhmut allows Ukraine's military to prepare an expected counteroffensive.

0959 GMT — Kremlin not aware of Vatican peace mission on Ukraine

The Kremlin has said it was not aware of a Vatican peace mission on Ukraine after diplomatic sources told Reuters news agency that President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was expected to meet Pope Francis in the Vatican.

The pope has said that the Holy See is involved in a peace mission to try to end the war between Russia and Ukraine.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow did not have information about the initiative, but said such information might be shared with it in future.

0911 GMT — South Africa denies approving arms shipment to Russia

South Africa did not approve any arms shipment to Russia, the minister who chairs the country's National Conventional Arms Control Committee, Mondli Gungubele, has told local radio station 702.

702 radio host Clement Manyathela wrote on Twitter that Gungubele told his show that if weapons were loaded onto a vessel bound for Russia from South Africa that was illegal and inappropriate.

The ambassador's assertion saw the rand ZAR=D3 and South African government bonds ZAR=D3 sell-off, as currency traders said they were worried that South Africa could now face Western sanctions.

0850 GMT — China special envoy to visit Ukraine, Russia

China is set to send a special envoy to Ukraine, Russia and other European nations from Monday, the highest-ranking Chinese diplomat to visit the war-torn country since Moscow's military campaign last year.

Li Hui, China's ambassador to Russia from 2009 to 2019, will visit Ukraine, Poland, France, Germany and Russia to "communicate with all parties on the political settlement of the Ukrainian crisis," according to China's foreign ministry.

Qin Gang, China's foreign minister who is currently in Norway, said of Li's visit: "We all worry about the situation and we all call for peace and a political solution, which China stands for and has been calling for since day one of the outbreak of the conflict."

But the choice of Li, the special representative of the Chinese government for Eurasian Affairs, has raised eyebrows, as he was awarded the Order of Friendship medal by President Vladimir Putin before leaving Moscow as ambassador.

0805 GMT — Russia's Black Sea Fleet beefs up defences amid drone strikes

The commander of Russia's Black Sea Fleet has said its defences are being tightened amid a flurry of Ukrainian drone strikes targeting its home base, the Crimean port of Sevastopol.

Vice Admiral Viktor Sokolov told Friday's edition of the military newspaper Krasnaya Zvezda ("Red Star"): "In connection with the threat of attacks by robotic surface and underwater systems, we have increased the technical defences of the fleet's main base and of the ships' anchorages."

Sevastopol has repeatedly been attacked with drones since the start of Russia's military campaign in Ukraine in February 2022. Ukraine has tended to avoid taking direct responsibility for strikes on the Crimean peninsula, which Russia unilaterally annexed after seizing it in 2014.

0645 GMT — Türkiye: Agreement on extending Black Sea grain deal nearing

Parties to the Black Sea grain deal are approaching an agreement on extending it after two days of talks in Istanbul between Ukrainian, Russian, Turkish and United Nations officials.

"We are heading toward an agreement on the extension of the grain deal," Türkiye's Defence Minister Hulusi Akar said in a statement released by the ministry.

The parties met in Istanbul on May 10-11 for negotiations on another extension of the deal, which is due to expire next week.

0201 GMT — Ukraine FM urges Latin American states to condemn Russian aggression

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba urged all Latin American countries to condemn Russian "aggression" against his country, at the close of a two-day visit to Guatemala.

Kuleba blasted the "neutrality" of several Latin American governments, saying that Russia's aggression is setting an example that other nations may follow.

"If Russia succeeds in invading a neighbour, in violating borders and committing massacres, others will be tempted to follow the Russian behaviour," Kuleba said at a news conference in the national palace.

Guatemala is one of the few Latin countries that has offered unwavering support for Ukraine.

0139 GMT — France slams recent Wagner Group head remarks

France’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson has denounced recent remarks by the head of Russian private military company Wagner Group, calling them "pipe dreams."

Speaking at a news conference, Anne-Claire Legendre criticised Yevgeny Prigozhin's comments about France after the French parliament approved a resolution Tuesday calling on the government to officially designate Wagner as a "terrorist group."

She denounced Wagner's "plundering and predatory activities, also documented in UN reports, in some countries including the Central African Republic, Mali, and of course, Ukraine."

Violations committed by Wagner are "the fruits of a doctrine which seeks to establish a terror regime," and designating it as a terrorist organization is no taboo for the French Foreign Ministry, Legendre added.

1941 GMT — US ambassador accuses South Africa of providing weapons, ammo to Russia

The US ambassador to South Africa has accused the country of providing weapons and ammunition to Russia for its offensive against Ukraine via a cargo ship linked to a sanctioned company that docked secretly at a naval base near the city of Cape Town in December.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said an investigation into the visit by a Russian vessel named Lady R to his nation's main naval base was already under way behind the scenes with the help of US intelligence services before Ambassador Reuben Brigety went public at a news conference in the South African capital, Pretoria, that the cargo was weapons and ammunition.

Brigety said the US was certain that military equipment was loaded onto the Lady R at the Simon’s Town naval base between Dec. 6 and Dec. 8 and then transported to Russia. He said it brought into question South Africa’s supposed neutral stance on the war in Ukraine and its calls for the conflict to end.

"The arming of the Russians is extremely serious and we do not consider this issue to be resolved," Brigety said in comments reported by multiple South African news outlets.

For our live updates from Thursday (May 11), click here.