© Reuters. Ukrainian service members mount a self-propelled howitzer, as Russia’s attack on Ukraine continues, near the frontline town of Bakhmut, Ukraine, February 27, 2023. REUTERS/Yevhen Titov
(Reuters) – President Vladimir Putin has characterized the confrontation with the West over the Ukraine war as an existential battle for the survival of Russia and the Russian people, saying he was forced to reckon with NATO’s nuclear capabilities.
The European Union vowed to increase pressure on Moscow “until Ukraine is liberated” by adopting a tenth package of sanctions against Russia on Saturday, a day after the first anniversary of the invasion of Ukraine.
STRUGGLE
* Ukraine’s military said on Sunday that Russia carried out unsuccessful offensives near Yahidne over the past day, after the Russian mercenary group Wagner claimed to have captured the village in eastern Ukraine.
The village is close to Bakhmut, where only about 5,000 of the 70,000 residents remain and which has seen some of the bloodiest attrition fighting of the year-long Russian invasion.
* Ukraine’s armed forces said Russia continues to focus its main efforts on carrying out offensive actions along the Kupiansk, Lyman, Bakhmut, Avdiivka and Shakhtar parts of the front line.
* Reuters could not verify the battlefield accounts.
DIPLOMACY AND SANCTIONS
* Russia’s senior diplomat to the United Nations accused the West on Sunday of “cowboy” methods and “twisting the arm” of some countries during last week’s United Nations General Assembly vote to demand that Moscow withdraws its troops from Ukraine.
* The finance chiefs of the world’s biggest economies strongly condemned Moscow on Saturday over its war against Ukraine, with only China and Russia refusing to sign a joint statement.
* French President Emmanuel Macron said on Saturday that he would visit China in early April, in part to seek Chinese help to end the invasion of Russia.
* The United States marked the anniversary of the invasion with $2 billion in weapons for kyiv and new sanctions against Russia aimed at undermining Moscow’s ability to wage war.
* Belarus, a small Russian ally that borders Ukraine, has as many as 1.5 million military personnel outside of its armed forces, a senior official said on Saturday.
OIL
* Russia has halted oil supplies to Poland through the Druzhba pipeline, Daniel Obajtek, chief executive of Polish refinery PKN Orlen, said on Saturday.
* Ukraine does not plan further cuts to ration electricity if there are no new Russian attacks and has been able to build up some power reserves, the energy minister said on Saturday, after months of outages caused by shelling.
ANNIVERSARY
* TIMELINE- Main events since the invasion of Russia
* Ukraine’s Zelenskiy has challenged Putin against all odds
* Putin, secure in power, has set the stage for a long war
* A year later, Ukraine and its government have not only survived. they have defended
* Hardened by war scars, kyiv presses on
* Charts of a Year of War in the Markets: How Dollar, Energy and Food Prices Swirled
* The Russian economy is holding up, but the road back to prosperity may be long
* Moscow’s decades-old gas ties with Europe are in shambles
* The best brands are withdrawn from Russia, but the products are easy to find
* Can US support for Ukraine last?
* Outside sponsors invest billions in Ukraine
* How has China supported ‘limitless’ partner Russia?
* One year after the war, elderly refugees are left without hope
* Life and Death in Mariupol: A Survivor’s War Story
* Family mourns Bucha victim who became symbol of war
PODCAST
Learn more about the Ukrainian war. Listen to a special episode of the Reuters World News Podcast.