Russia’s Wagner Group making small gains around Bakhmut, UK says
A Ukrainian serviceman of the State Border Guard Service in Bakhmut on Feb. 9, 2023, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Yasuyoshi Chiba | Afp | Getty Images
Wagner Group forces have “almost certainly made further small gains around the northern outskirts of the contested Donbas town of Bakhmut, including into the village of Krasna Hora,” Britain’s Ministry of Defense said in a tweet Tuesday.
However, organized Ukrainian defense in the area means the tactical Russian advance to the south of the town “has likely made little progress,” it added.
In the north, in the Kremina-Svatove sector of Ukraine’s eastern Luhansk region, Russian forces are making “continuous offensive efforts,” though each local attack “remains on too small a scale to achieve a significant breakthrough,” the British intelligence service said.
— Karen Gilchrist
Kremlin rejects claims it is plotting to destabilize Moldova
Moldova’s President Maia Sandu and Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy pose for a picture during a meeting in Kyiv, Ukraine, on June 27, 2022.
Ukrainian Presidential Press Service | via Reuters
The Kremlin on Tuesday pushed back against accusations that it is attempting to destabilize Moldova’s government.
Moldova’s President Maia Sandu said Monday that Russia was intending to use foreign saboteurs to undermine her government and prevent it from joining the European Union.
That comes just days after Moldovan Prime Minister Natalia Gavrilita resigned Friday.
“Such claims are completely unfounded and unsubstantiated,” Russia’s foreign ministry said in a statement.
The foreign minister added that Ukraine was stirring tensions and trying to draw Moldova “into a tough confrontation with Russia.”
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said last week that his intelligence authorities had uncovered a Russian plan “for the destruction of Moldova.”
— Karen Gilchrist