(Reuters) – Intelligence reviewed by U.S. officials indicates that a pro-Ukrainian group sabotaged the Nord Stream natural gas pipelines from Russia to Europe last September, but there was no evidence of Kyiv government involvement, the New York Times reported.
FIGHTING
* Ukrainian troops will keep defending the eastern city of Bakhmut and reinforcements will be sent in, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said, apparently prolonging the war’s bloodiest battle in a bid to break Moscow’s assault force.
* Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said the seizure of Bakhmut was critical to punching a hole in Ukrainian defences and would allow Moscow’s forces to mount further offensive operations deeper inside the country.
* Volodymyr Nazarenko, a Ukrainian commander in Bakhmut, said there had been no order to retreat and “the defence is holding”, albeit in conditions of “utter hell”.
* The head of Russia’s Wagner mercenary force said he needed the regular army to supply him with more ammunition if he was to win the battle for Bakhmut.
* Ukraine has opened a criminal investigation into what it said was Russia’s “brutal and brazen shooting of an unarmed person” depicted in a video on social media.
Reuters could not independently verify battlefield reports.
INSIDE RUSSIA
* A Russian opposition activist who used social media to condemn Moscow’s war in Ukraine received an eight-and-a-half year jail sentence on Tuesday after a Moscow court found him guilty of spreading false information about the army.
* Russia’s FSB security service said it had thwarted a Ukrainian-backed car bomb attack on prominent nationalist businessman Konstantin Malofeyev.
ECONOMY/DIPLOMACY
* Ukraine has broadened a request for controversial cluster bombs from the United States to include a weapon that it wants to cannibalize to drop the anti-armor bomblets it contains on Russian forces from drones, according to two U.S. lawmakers.
* U.S. President Joe Biden spoke with French President Emmanuel Macron about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and challenges posed by China, the White House said in a statement.
* 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, said.
* A Ukrainian court has ordered the seizure of shares owned by billionaire Kostyantyn Zhevago in iron pellet producer Ferrexpo following compensation claims over his now bankrupt bank, Ukraine’s Deposit Guarantee Fund said.
STORIES ABOUT THE FIRST ANNIVERSARY SINCE THE WAR BEGAN
* TIMELINE – Major developments since Russia’s invasion
* Ukraine’s Zelenskiy has defied Putin against the odds
* Putin, secure in power, has set the stage for long war
* A year on, Ukraine and its government have not just survived. They’ve fought back
* Toughened by war’s scars, Kyiv presses on
* Graphics of a year of war and the financial markets
* Russian economy holds up but road back to prosperity may be long
* Moscow’s decades-old gas ties with Europe lie in ruins
* Top brands pull out of Russia, but goods easy to find
* Can U.S. support for Ukraine last?
* External backers pour billions into Ukraine
* How has China stood by ‘no limits’ partner Russia?
* Life and death in Mariupol – a survivor’s tale of war
* Family mourns Bucha victim who became symbol of war
(Compiled by Reuters editors)
