Ukraine Russia war latest news: Putin and Wagner group reach ‘boiling point’ in Bakhmut rivalry

Tensions between the Russian ministry of defence and the rebel Wagner group has likely reached a “boiling point” in their rivalry over Bakhmut, the Institute of War has said.

The city in Donetsk Oblast, which has been the site of bloody contention for several weeks, serves as a symbolic stepping stone for Moscow to push forward in its invasion.

According to IoW analysis, the Russian MoD is trying to “deliberately expend both elite and convict Wagner forces in Bakhmut in an effort to weaken Prigozhin and derail his ambitions for greater influence in the Kremlin”.

The analysis continued: “The Russian MoD is currently prioritizing eliminating Wagner on the battlefields in Bakhmut, which is likely slowing down the rate of advance in the area.

“Prigozhin saw Bakhmut as an opportunity to gain leverage on the Russian MoD and likely in the Kremlin in pursuit of his own commercial and political aspirations.

“Putin used Wagner to protect his regime from detrimental societal ramifications of mobilization, which also continues to inhibit his war efforts in Ukraine.”

A father who previously crawled the London Marathon dressed as a gorilla is to walk the famous event backwards this year as a means of “looking over my shoulder for Ukraine”.

Tom Harrison, who lives in Amersham, Buckinghamshire, and works in project management, told the PA news agency that there are several reasons behind his idea to walk the London Marathon – which takes place on April 23 – backwards.

“At school we had a motto which was in Latin and it translated to: Look forward and look back,” he said.

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Tony Blair has criticised Rishi Sunak’s lack of influence with Joe Biden – and said he backed the Iraq War to make sure he was the first person the White House phoned in a crisis.

In an interview to mark the upcoming 20th anniversary of the conflict, the former Prime Minister admitted he turned down a last minute offer from President George Bush for British troops not to take part in the war.

He said he was ‘uncomfortable’ about British troops joining the US invasion but went ahead because our special relationship with America would have been wrecked if we had let them fight alone.

Mr Blair defended his conduct, saying that when he was in Downing St he was always the first world leader called on the White House “hot line”.

Vladimir Putin continues to suffer “extremely heavy casualties” in Ukraine, though the impact of those losses varies “dramatically” across Russia’s regions, according to UK intelligence.

“In proportion to the size of their population, the richest cities of Moscow and St Petersburg have been left relatively unscathed,” the Ministry of Defence said in its daily update on Sunday.

“This is especially true for the families of the country’s elite,” it adds.

Chinese leader Xi Jinping plans to speak with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky for the first time since Russia‘s invasion of Ukraine, The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday.

The newspaper, citing people familiar with the matter, said the call was likely to take place after Xi’s visit to Moscow next week to meet with Russian president Vladimir Putin.

Volodymyr Zelensky awarded a top military honour to the Ukrainian sniper and prisoner of war Oleksandr Matsiyevsky who was shot down by Russian-speaking forces as captured in a widely circulated video.

The man was heard chanting “Slava Ukraini” or “glory to Ukraine” as his last words before multiple shots from an unseen shooter or shooters behind the video camera claimed his life, leading to widespread condemnation of the alleged war crime.

“I conferred the title of Hero of Ukraine upon Oleksandr Matsiyevsky. A Ukrainian warrior. A man who will be known and remembered forever. For his bravery, for his confidence in Ukraine and for his “Glory to Ukraine!” Glory to the Hero! Glory to the Heroes! Glory to Ukraine!” Mr Zelensky said late on Sunday in his nightly address.

A Russian delegation at talks with senior UN officials has said Moscow is ready to accept an extension to a grain export deal that has helped bring down global food prices amid the war with Ukraine – but only for 60 days as the Kremlin holds out for changes to how the arrangement is working.

The United Nations and Turkey brokered a deal between the two warring countries in July that allows Ukraine, one of the world’s key breadbaskets, to ship food and fertiliser from three of its Black Sea ports.

The 120-day agreement, which helped take some of the sting out of rising global food prices, was renewed last November. That extension expires on Saturday, and another 120-day extension was on the table.

Moscow has been frustrated that a parallel deal to allow exports of Russian food and fertiliser, which is used across the globe, has only resulted in a trickle of Russian fertiliser getting out and no Russian grain at all.

One of Russian president Vladimir Putin‘s top allies claimed the United States and Britain were secretly sowing a lie that a pro-Ukrainian group blew up the Nord Stream gas pipelines on the bed of the Baltic Sea last year.

Last week The New York Times reported that intelligence reviewed by US officials suggested that a pro-Ukraine group – likely comprised of Ukrainians or Russians – attacked the pipelines in September.

Russian Security Council secretary Nikolai Patrushev cast doubt on that report, questioning if such a group would have the capability to carry out such a daring act of sabotage on Russia’s most important energy corridors to Europe.

“In an attempt to cover up the true people behind the crime, pro-government Anglo-Saxon media, on orders from above, have named a culprit – a group of Ukrainian terrorists,” Mr Patrushev told the Argumenti i Fakti newspaper.

Russia, Patrushev said, still did not know for certain who was behind the attack because it had not been included in an investigation of the blasts.

“If newspapers claim with zeal that the sabotage was committed by a group of Ukrainian terrorists, then it is necessary to ask whether or not there is indeed such a group at all, and if it is capable of carrying this out,” he said.

Both Ukraine and Russia have reported inflicting heavy losses during fierce fighting around the eastern city of Bakhmut – while the International Criminal Court (ICC) is said to be planning to issue arrest warrants against a number of Russians (Chris Stevenson writes).

Commanders on both sides have reported relentless fighting around Bakhmut, which has become the focus of a months-long campaign to take the city in the region of Donetsk which has led to some of the bloodiest fighting since Moscow’s invasion began.

Meanwhile, the prosecutor at the ICC is expected to ask pre-trial judges to approve arrest warrants against Russian individuals relating to the abduction of children from Ukraine to Russia and the targeting of civilian infrastructure in Ukraine, according to reports from Reuters and the New York Times. If successful, it will be the first time ICC warrants are issued in relation to Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.

Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu said relations between Russia and China were crucial to global stability, the Tass news agency reported.

“Bilateral relations between our countries have reached a new, unprecedented level and have become a major factor supporting global stability in the face of increasing geopolitical tensions in the world,” Tass reported Mr Shoigu as saying in a Telegram message to Zhang Youxia, vice chair of China’s Central Military Commission and a close ally of Chinese president Xi Jinping.

Beijing’s top diplomat Wang Yi met Vladimir Putin in Moscow last month, and Mr Xi could travel to Russia as soon as next week for a summit with the Russian president, people familiar with the matter told Reuters.

China has not denounced Russia’s invasion like some of its neighbours but has repeatedly called for caution and warned Moscow against using nuclear weapons. Beijing’s calls for peace talks align more closely with Russia’s desire to hold on to territory in Ukraine than Kyiv’s desire for Russian forces to leave its land entirely, given a negotiated settlement would likely require concessions from the invaded party.