As the Russian-Ukrainian war enters its 354th day, we take a look at the main events.
Here is the situation on Saturday, February 12, 2023:
Fight
- Ukraine’s top military commander says the country’s forces are holding their defenses along the front line in the eastern Donetsk region, including the besieged city of Bakhmut, with the fiercest fighting for the towns of Vuhledar and Maryinka.
- The head of Russia’s Wagner Group said it could take Moscow two years to control all of the two eastern Ukrainian regions it has cited as a key war objective.
- Galina Danilchenko, the mayor of the Ukrainian city of Melitopol in the southeastern Zaporozhye region, which was installed by Russia, said that one civilian was killed and two people were wounded in overnight shelling by Ukrainian forces.
Diplomacy
- NATO should hold an emergency meeting to discuss recent findings about the September explosions at the Nord Stream gas pipeline, a spokeswoman for Russia’s foreign ministry said.
- US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov discussed “priorities”, including air defense and artillery, for the upcoming meetings of Kiev’s allies in Brussels, both sides said.
- Russian Sports Minister Oleg Matytsin said calls from more than 30 countries to ban Russian and Belarusian athletes from the 2024 Olympics are unacceptable, TASS news agency reported.
Corruption
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has fired a top security official, vowing to continue his attempt to clean up the government.