UK: Ukraine forces under severe pressure in Bakhmut

Reuters Videos

STORY: Ukrainian forces defending the eastern city of Bakhmut are facing increasingly strong pressure from Russian forces, British military intelligence said Saturday.

Explosions could be heard in Reuters footage showing Ukrainian soldiers digging trenches on Bakhmut's outskirts.

The battle here has raged for seven months.

A Russian victory in the city, which has been blasted to ruins, would give Moscow the first major prize in a costly winter offensive.

Ukraine is reinforcing the area with elite units, while regular Russian army and forces of the private military Wagner group have made further advances into Bakhmut’s northern suburbs, the British Defence Ministry said in its daily intelligence bulletin.

The Ukraine armed forces' general staff said in a Facebook post late on Saturday that Russian troops were trying but failing to surround Bakhmut, adding defenders had repelled numerous attacks in and around the city.

The British defense ministry said two key bridges have been destroyed within the last 36 hours, adding that Ukrainian-held resupply routes out of the city are increasingly limited.

Russian artillery pounded the last routes out of Bakhmut on Friday, with the founder of Russia’s Wagner mercenary group Yevgeny Prigozhin saying in a video it published that the city was “practically surrounded” and that Kyiv’s forces had only one road out left.

On Saturday, Prigozhin published another video showing what he said were coffins containing the bodies of Ukrainian soldiers being repatriated to territory held by Kyiv.

Russia says Bakhmut would be a stepping stone to completing the capture of the Donbas industrial region, one of Moscow's most important objectives.

Latest stories

  • J-Kom D-G: Stop politicising PM Anwar’s trip to Saudi Arabia

    KUALA LUMPUR, March 26 — Community Communication Department (J-Kom) director-general Mohammad Agus Yusoff today urged al...

  • Ex-DAP lawmaker tells Wan Fayshal to stop fake news on Yayasan Albukhary’s tax exemption matter

    KUALA LUMPUR, March 26 — Former DAP Bukit Bendera MP Wong Hon Wai today said that political debates should be based on f...

  • Perikatan MP asks Anwar what happened to meetings with Saudi counterparts during state visit

    KUALA LUMPUR, March 25 — Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim should inform Parliament about the outcome of his offic...

  • Guan Eng: Armada chief committed crime of false police report against me, PM Anwar over Yayasan Albukhary

    KUALA LUMPUR, March 25 — Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) Youth chief Wan Ahmad Fayhsal Wan Ahmad Kamal has comm...

  • What is North Korea's undersea nuclear drone?

    STORY: North Korea says it has successfully tested a nuclear-capable undersea attack drone, designed to create massive radioactive waves when detonated below the surface, hitting fleets of enemy ships or coastal areas.It's dubbed the "Haeil," or tsunami in Korean. These images from North Korea's state-run media show leader Kim Jong Un standing next to a large torpedo-like object, which it didn't identify, and the object exploding underwater. But how capable could such a weapon be?Kim Dong Yub is with the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul, South Korea."The distance makes it capable of attacking almost any port in South Korea where the U.S. army is located even if it is launched from any port in North Korea. But it’s not just that. The North said it could be carried by ships. If it’s carried by a ship camouflaged as a merchant ship, it can hit Japan’s Yokosuka port, where the U.S. army is at or even further, like Guam, which is very worrisome.”“It’s conventional, but it’s very hard to detect. Also, it is highly likely not to make big noises. North Korea had planned this 11 years ago and conducted secret tests for about 50 times over two years.""I would say the weapon system should be pretty solid.”North Korea made the announcement as South Korea and the U.S. conducted joint military drills in the region.The North says it did not use a nuclear payload in the drone test and a U.S. official, speaking anonymously to Reuters, said there was no indication of one.It's not clear if North Korea has fully developed the kind of miniaturized nuclear warhead needed to fit its smaller weapons.Regardless, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, the Washington D.C. think tank, has said the concept of the Haeil is similar to Russia's Poseidon nuclear torpedo, which both American and Russian officials have described as an emerging class of weapon that can render coastal cities uninhabitable.And, according to the think tank, the Haeil demonstrates that Pyongyang wants to show off an increasingly diverse range of nuclear threats to its enemies.A South Korean military official said they were analyzing the North's claims.

  • Kit Siang: No race or religion under threat in Malaysia

    KUALA LUMPUR, March 26 — DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang today said that no race or religion in Malaysia is under threat. In...

  • Myanmar lawyer accused of helping army slain by guerrillas

    A veteran corporate lawyer has been shot dead in Myanmar’s biggest city by self-proclaimed urban guerrillas, highlighting the bloody struggle between the military government and its foes in the country’s cities as well as the remote countryside. Min Tayza Nyunt Tin was shot multiple times while driving his car in Yangon on Friday, according to a business colleague, media reports and a statement from the guerrilla group. The group, calling itself Urban Owls, accused him of being a business associate of the country’s military leaders who seized power two years ago, and claimed he helped them launder money in order to buy real estate and business assets abroad in deals totaling hundreds of millions of dollars.

  • Ramasamy dismisses report of being dropped from candidate line-up for Penang polls

    KUALA LUMPUR, March 25 — Penang Deputy Chief Minister II P. Ramasamy has dismissed a news report claiming he will be dro...

  • Nordic countries plan joint air defence to counter Russian threat

    Air force commanders from Sweden, Norway, Finland and Denmark said on Friday they have signed a letter of intent to create a unified Nordic air defence aimed at countering the rising threat from Russia. The intention is to be able to operate jointly based on already known ways of operating under NATO, according to statements by the four countries' armed forces. The move to integrate the air forces was triggered by Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February last year, commander of the Danish air force, Major General Jan Dam, told Reuters.

  • Hungary: Criticism makes it hard to cooperate with West

    The West’s steady criticism of Hungary on democratic and cultural issues makes the small European country’s right-wing government reluctant to offer support on practical matters, specifically NATO’s buildup against Russia, Hungary’s foreign minister said. In an interview with The Associated Press, Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó also said Friday that his country has not voted on whether to allow Finland and Sweden to join NATO because Hungarian lawmakers are sick of those countries' critiques of Hungarian domestic affairs. Lawmakers from the governing party plan to vote Monday in favor of the Finnish request but “serious concerns were raised" about Finland and Sweden in recent months "mostly because of the very disrespectful behavior of the political elites of both countries towards Hungary,” Szijjártó said.

  • Honduras and China establish diplomatic ties in blow to Taiwan

    China and Honduras began formal diplomatic relations on Sunday, with Taiwan accusing Beijing of using "coercion and intimidation" to lure away its few remaining allies.- 'Pressure and intimidation' - Taiwan Foreign Minister Joseph Wu confirmed the severing of ties, accusing China of offering "financial incentives" to lure away the island's allies.

  • Ukraine-Russia war – latest: 10,000 civilians in ‘horrific circumstances’ around Bakhmut, Red Cross warns

    Several thousand, many elderly and with disabilities, are estimated to remain in the city

  • N. Zealand raises concerns with China over rights, Taiwan

    New Zealand has raised concerns with China over human rights abuses and growing tensions with Taiwan, Wellington's foreign minister told AFP in an interview Saturday.She earlier said in a statement she had told her counterpart that the New Zealand government had "deep concerns regarding the human rights situation in Xinjiang and the erosion of rights and freedoms in Hong Kong".

  • Wan Fayshal mocks Guan Eng over DAP’s new affinity for police reports

    KUALA LUMPUR, March 25 — DAP leaders such as Lim Guan Eng now appeared fine with lodging police reports against politica...

  • US sanctions Belarus' election officials, president's plane

    The U.S. imposed sanctions Friday on seven Belarusian elections officials, two state-owned automotive manufacturers and President Alexander Lukashenko's aircraft. Lukashenko, who has ruled Belarus since 1994, intensified his repression after a wave of protests in 2020 following a presidential election that the West and Belarus’ opposition denounced as a sham. Lukashenko also has close ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin and has allowed him to station troops and weapons there to support his war in Ukraine.

  • Rupert Murdoch Calls Trump ‘Deranged’ and ‘Bat Hit Crazy’ in Searing New York Post Editorial

    “He hasn’t changed in the slightest. There is no shame,” the editorial in the Murdoch-owned paper reads

  • Seeking a reset, Brazil's Lula heads to China

    Brazil's leftist leader Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva will meet Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing next week, where he hopes to reinforce trade, discuss international mediation in Ukraine, and reclaim his country's role in global geopolitics.Ukraine will be a main topic of discussion during the visit, which officially begins Tuesday, with Lula hoping to promote his proposal for mediated talks to end Russia's invasion of the country. 

  • Hong Kongers hold first protest in years under strict rules

    Dozens of people on Sunday joined Hong Kong's first authorized protest since the lifting of major COVID-19 restrictions under unprecedentedly strict rules, including wearing a numbered badge around their necks. During the pandemic, protests were rare due to COVID-19 restrictions. In addition, many activists have been silenced or jailed after Beijing imposed a national security law following massive protests in 2019.

  • Protests delay King Charles's visit to France

    STORY: Britain's King Charles canceled a state visit to France on Friday (March 24), Buckingham Palace said.After some of the worst street violence seen in years erupted over President Emmanuel Macron's new pension law.The postponement will embarrass Macron, who wanted the visit to mark a symbolic step in turning the page after years of poor relations post-Brexit.Charles was meant to travel to France on Sunday for three days before moving on to Germany.An itinerary that had been seen as a win for the French leader who's sought to position himself as Europe's de facto leader.Parisians had mixed views on the decision."It's maybe too much for him to come right now, it might scare him a little." "Listen, it's not a joyous time at the moment. He's right not to come right now. There are protests and strikes everywhere.""Why is he not coming? I don't understand. We're not bad people. It's just the way it is, it's the freedom to protest."Macron told journalists on Friday that it wouldn't have been serious to proceed with the visit amid the protests.The postponement piles further pressure on Macron to find a way out of a crisis over his plans to raise the retirement age.It's seen some of France's worst unrest since the "Yellow Vest" rebellion in 2018 and 2019.A source in British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's office said Macron had asked for the visit to be canceled.The Elysee said it was a joint decision by the two governments after trade unions called for a further day of nationwide strikes and demonstrations during the king's visit.Street battles were fought with police for several hours in the French capital on Thursday.In Bordeaux, which was on Charles's itinerary, protesters set alight the entrance to the city hall.

  • Bank failures and rescue test Yellen's decades of experience

    Working against the clock to stop a developing banking crisis, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen had until sunset on Sunday, March 12, to come up with a plan to calm the U.S. economy. Paulson, who ran the Treasury Department during the financial crisis in 2008, counseled immediate government action. A bank run on Silicon Valley Bank had begun earlier in the week.