Ukrainian intelligence rejected an offer made by the commander of the Russian paramilitary Wagner Group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, whose forces have been leading the fiercest battles in Bakhmut for months.
The Washington Post (Sunday) quoted what it said were leaked US intelligence documents, that Prigozhin offered in early January to reveal the locations of the Russian forces to the Ukrainian government in the event that they withdrew from the surrounding areas of Bakhmut. She said that the offer came through his contacts with the Ukrainian intelligence service, and added that Ukraine had rejected the offer. For its part, the Ukrainian army announced today (Monday) what it called the “first success” of its attack in the vicinity of the city of Bakhmut. The commander of the Ukrainian ground forces, Oleksandr Sersky, said that the progress of our forces in the Bakhmut region is the first success in the offensive aimed since last summer to restore the city, which Russian forces control most of. Bakhmut has been witnessing a joint attack by the Russian army and Wagner for months, and the city’s population Before the war, there were 70,000 people, but fierce fighting over months destroyed the bulk of it. The city of Donetsk – which is controlled by Russia in eastern Ukraine – was subjected to heavy artillery shelling, according to the Russian official TASS news agency. This city – which is located directly behind the front lines in eastern Ukraine – was bombed with hundreds of shells from several rocket launchers. The Ukrainian Air Force stated that drones and missiles were launched from planes and warships in the Black Sea, and the army stated that its defenses shot down 25 drones, most of them Iranian Shahed. , and 3 cruise missiles. Meanwhile, Paris revealed today that it has provided dozens of armored vehicles and light tanks to the Ukrainian army, as well as training soldiers to use them, following President Emmanuel Macron’s meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelensky, at the Elysee Palace. In a joint statement, Macron and Zelensky called for imposing new sanctions on Russia because of its war on Ukraine. The statement said: “In the coming weeks, France will train several Ukrainian battalions and equip them with dozens of armored vehicles and light tanks (AMX-10RC). 10RC), adding that Paris is also focusing its efforts on supporting Ukrainian air defense capabilities. And the United Kingdom announced today that it will soon deliver to Ukraine “hundreds” of anti-aircraft missiles and attack marches. And the British government presidency stated in a statement that this new military support will be delivered in the coming months.