Ukraine-Russia war latest: Putin’s army hit command centre in Zaporizhzhia, Moscow claims

The Russian army hit a command centre of the Ukrainian forces’ Azov Regiment in southeastern Zaporizhzhia region, the Russian Defence Ministry said on Sunday.

The ministry did not elaborate on the attack, in its daily update on what Moscow terms the “special military operation” in Ukraine.

Reuters could not independently verify the account.

The Azov Regiment, which had far-right and ultra-nationalist origins and is now a unit of Ukraine‘s national guard, garnered international attention for its resistance to the Russian siege of Mariupol’s vast steelworks last year.

The Russian ministry did not mention in Sunday’s bulletin the battle around the eastern city of Bakhmut, which Russian forces are trying to capture.

Civilians continued to flee Bakhmut on Saturday as Russian and Ukrainian troops battled in the streets of the besieged city.

Oleksandr Marchenko, the city’s deputy mayor, said 4,000 civilians are still living in shelters and have no access to electricity, water or gas.

He told the BBC the area is “almost destroyed” but that Russian forces do not have control of the conurbation.

Here is the latest update from the Ukraine-Russia fronline:

* Ukrainian forces defending Bakhmut face increasingly strong pressure from Russian forces, British military intelligence said on Saturday, with intense fighting taking place in and around the eastern city.

* A woman and two children were killed in Russian mortar shelling of a village in the southern Ukrainian region of Kherson, the head of Ukraine‘s presidential office said on Sunday.

* The Russian army hit a command centre of the Ukrainian forces’ Azov Regiment in southeastern Zaporizhzhia region, the Russian Defence Ministry said on Sunday. The ministry did not elaborate on the attack. Reuters could not independently verify the account.

* The death toll from a Russian missile strike that hit an apartment block in the southern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia rose to 11 on Saturday after a woman’s body was found in the debris, the state emergency service said.

* Top commanders of what Russia calls its “special military operation” in Ukraine have briefed Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu on the current situation and action plans, his ministry said on Sunday.

Polling stations have opened in Estonia for a general election that the centre-right Reform Party of Prime Minister Kaja Kallas is favourite to win.

Ms Kallas, one of Europe’s most outspoken supporters of Ukraine, faces a challenge from the populist opposition EKRE party that is seeking to limit the Baltic nation’s exposure to the Ukraine crisis and is blaming the government for people’s economic misery.

More than 900,000 people are eligible to cast ballots to pick representatives to Estonia’s 101-seat parliament from a range of nine political parties.

Nearly half of the eligible voters have already voted in advance. Many Estonians prefer to vote electronically, casting votes from their computers.

National security in the wake of neighbouring Russia‘s invasion of Ukraine and social-economic issues, particularly the rising cost of living, have been the main themes of the election.

Ms Kallas, 45, has emerged in the past year of war as one of Europe’s most outspoken supporters of Ukraine.

Holding the country’s top post since 2021, she is seeking a second term, with her standing enhanced by her international appeals to impose sanctions on Moscow.

Five parties are currently represented at the parliament.

Ms Kallas’ Reform Party heads the current three-party coalition government with the small conservative Fatherland party and the Social Democrats.

A Baltic nation of 1.3 million people that borders Russia to the east, Estonia broke away from the Soviet Union in 1991 and has taken a clear western course, joining Nato and the European Union.

Polls indicate Ms Kallas’ centre-right liberal Reform Party is likely to win more votes than any other party.

Here is the latest update on weapons and sanctions in the Ukraine-Russia conflict:

* Two Ukrainian pilots are in Arizona to fly flight simulators and be evaluated by the U.S. military, two U.S. officials said on Saturday, as Washington remains mute on whether it will send fighter jets or sophisticated remotely piloted drones to Kyiv.

* German defence contractor Rheinmetall is in negotiations about building a tank factory in Ukraine, the newspaper Rheinische Post reported on Saturday, citing an interview with CEO Armin Papperger.

* In addition to Leopard 2 tanks, Rheinmetall wants to buy 96 Leopard 1 tanks from Swiss defence firm Ruag to send to Ukraine, the Swiss newspaper Tages-Anzeiger reported on Saturday.

* Germany is making slow progress in enforcing sanctions against Russian oligarchs and institutions, according to government numbers seen by Reuters

Russian oil firm Rosneft’s CEO Igor Sechin met with Cuba’s President Miguel Diaz-Canel late on Saturday, the island’s leader said, amid an acute fuel shortage that has service stations temporarily shuttered and hours-long gasoline queues.

Sechin told Diaz-Canel that, when it comes to issues related to Cuba, “Putin supervises them directly and personally”, Diaz-Canel’s office said in a statement released via Twitter.

Several tweets on Cuba’s Presidency account emphasised the good relations between the two countries, but did not specify the reason for the visit by the state-run oil firm’s boss.

Sechin is set to travel to Venezuela for the tenth anniversary of the death of the South American country’s former president Hugo Chavez, a close ally of both Cuba and Russia.

Cuba’s former leader Raul Castro has also flown to Caracas for the occasion, Cuban state-run media said.

Communist-run Cuba is battling through its worst economic crisis in decades, its output decimated by the coronavirus pandemic, U.S. sanctions and an inefficient centrally planned economy that has struggled to respond to the challenges.

Hours-long lines for food, fuel and medicine have ravaged the island and contributed to a mass exodus of Cubans in the past year, many headed north to the United States.

Russia in February gave Cuba an “emergency” donation of 25,000 tons of wheat to combat shortages on the island, the second such gift in a year and a sign of deepening ties between the two long-time allies.

Russia, hit by Western sanctions over the conflict in Ukraine, is looking to strengthen political and economic ties with other countries opposed to what it calls U.S. hegemony.

Cuba has been under a U.S. economic embargo since 1962 after a Communist revolution led by former leader Fidel Castro.

Russia’s foreign minister Sergey Lavrov provoked laughter from an audience at a conference in India when he claimed his country is the victim of the war in Ukraine.

He was speaking at the Raisina Dialogue, an event in New Delhi that debates the major challenges facing the world.

It is one of the few global events that still invites Russian politicians.

“The war, which we are trying to stop, which was launched against us using Ukrainian people, of course, influenced the policy of Russia,” Mr Lavrov said, sparking laughter and groans from the audience.

International correspondent Bel Trew recalls the moment which led to the making of her new documentary, The Body in the Woods, released on 1 March.

There were bodies scattered everywhere. I remember a charred human spine and skull lying on the ground of an upturned burned-out car. Another decapitated body splayed on the ground next to an eviscerated street.

The curve of an arm, and a foot, in a kind of yin and yang shape, appearing through the soil of a mass grave. And everywhere around this was a frozen tableau of horror.

A woman and two children were killed in Russian mortar shelling of a village in the southern Ukrainian region of Kherson, the head of Ukraine‘s presidential office said on Sunday.

“Mortar shelling of Poniativka village in Kherson region. A private house was hit,” Andriy Yermak wrote on the Telegram messaging app.

“Russian terrorists continue to kill civilians,” he said, providing no additional details of the attack.

Kherson was occupied by Russian troops from the early days of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine until its recapture by Kyiv’s forces in November.

Since its liberation, the city has regularly been shelled from Russian positions across the Dnipro river.

Russia’s long-standing foreign minister Sergei Lavrov provoked open laughter from the audience at an international conference in India after he falsely claimed that his home country was a victim of Ukrainian aggression.

Mr Lavrov was responding to a question from the audience at the Raisina Dialogue 2023 series in New Delhi when the 72-year-old made the statement.

“How has the war affected Russia’s strategy on energy, and will it mark a privilege toward Asia? And if it does, how is India going to feature in it?” asked a member of the audience.

“You know, the war, which we are trying to stop, which was launched against us, using the…” Mr Lavrov began, before loud laughter cut through his claim.