Senior Russian officers have reportedly refused to continue pressing the attack on Vugledar after suffering heavy losses in a failed assault on the eastern Ukrainian town.
Russia is believed to have lost around 130 tanks and armoured fighting vehicles in a recent disastrous attempt to take the town from Ukraine’s forces.
Ukrainian military officials told the Kyiv Post that the officers of the 155th Brigade, which is believed to have suffered 300 casualties per day during the three-week assault, were refusing orders to continue attacking.
“The leaders of the brigade and senior officers are refusing to proceed with a new senseless attack as demanded by their unskilled commanders – to storm well-defended Ukrainian positions with little protection or preparation,” the Ukrainian military said.
It comes as Russian forces continued their attempt to seize Bakhmut, the eastern salt-mining town at the centre of some of the bloodiest fighting of the war.
08:51 AM
Ukraine accuses Louis Vuitton of endorsing Russian invasion
A top aide to Volodymyr Zelensky has accused French fashion house Louis Vuitton of being “drenched in blood” for posting an advertisement he claimed featured the colours of the Russia flag and a V symbol.
The Russian military uses “V” as a symbol meaning “strength in truth” and the letter “Z” meaning “for victory”, according to the Defence Ministry.
Launched to promote its show at Paris Fashion Week on Monday, the Louis Vuitton advertisement shows the unfurling of a large blue, red and white flag.
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08:31 AM
Prisoner of war hailed a hero for declaring ‘glory to Ukraine’ moments before execution
A Ukrainian prisoner of war gunned down in cold blood after saying “glory to Ukraine” in front of his Russian captors has been hailed as a martyr.
In footage shared on social media, the lone man smokes a cigarette in a clearing in a forest while Russian guns are pointed at him.
In his last moments, he defiantly says “slava Ukraini” – the Ukrainian war motto – before being shot to death in repeated bursts of gunfire.
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08:16 AM
Ukraine wants US to send cluster bombs so it can take them apart to drop from drones
Ukraine has broadened a request for controversial cluster bombs from the United States to include a weapon that it wants to cannibalise to drop the anti-armor bomblets it contains on Russian forces from drones, according to two US politicians.
Kyiv has urged members of Congress to press the White House to approve sending the weapons but it is by no means certain that the Biden administration will sign off on that.
Cluster munitions, banned by more than 120 countries, normally release large numbers of smaller bomblets that can kill indiscriminately over a wide area, threatening civilians if they fail to detonate and remain on the ground.
Ukraine is seeking the MK-20, an air-delivered cluster bomb, to release its individual explosives from drones, said US Representatives Jason Crow and Adam Smith, who both serve on the House of Representatives Armed Services Committee. That is in addition to 155 mm artillery cluster shells that Ukraine already has requested, they said.
07:39 AM
Russian forces resort to makeshift ‘tankenstein’ vehicles
Russia is welding ageing naval turrets onto old armoured vehicles to make crude tanks as Vladimir Putin’s forces face worsening arms shortages.
The crudely engineered vehicles are being deployed in a likely attempt to shoot down Ukrainian drones as the armed forces grapple with crippling shortages of armoured vehicles and ammunition.
New footage from an undisclosed location appears to show a 25mm 2M-3 twin-barrelled naval anti-aircraft turret fitted to a Soviet-era MT-LB amphibious fighting vehicle to form a new hybrid weapon.
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07:33 AM
Mud hampers Ukraine’s Bakhmut resupply efforts
Muddy conditions around Bakhmut are likely hampering Ukraine’s efforts to resupply its troops, according to the Ministry of Defence.
In its daily intelligence briefing, the ministry said: “Muddy conditions are likely hampering Ukrainian resupply efforts as they increasingly resort to using unpaved tracks.”
Numerous reports have suggested that Ukrainian troops defending the eastern town are running seriously low on ammunition as they battle to hold back Russia’s advance.
“The Ukrainian defence of Bakhmut continues to degrade forces on both sides,” the ministry said. “Over the weekend, Ukrainian forces likely stabilised their defensive perimeter following previous Russian advances into the north of the town.”
07:25 AM
China claims Ukraine crisis driven by ‘invisible hand’
The Ukraine crisis seems to be driven by an invisible hand pushing for the protraction and escalation of the conflict, China’s foreign minister Qin Gang has claimed.
The “invisible hand” is “using the Ukraine crisis to serve certain geopolitical agendas”, Mr Qin said on the sidelines of an annual parliament meeting in Beijing, calling for dialogue to begin as soon as possible.