Ukraine Russia war latest news: Putin suffering ‘extremely heavy casualties’ in Bakhmut ‘killing zone’

Russia’s mounting casualties are reflected in a loss of government control over the country’s information sphere, the Institute for the Study of War has suggested

The think tank said Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova confirmed “infighting in the Kremlin inner circle” and that the Kremlin has effectively ceded control over the country’s information space, with Mr Putin unable to readily regain control.

The ISW sees Ms Zakharova’s comments, made at a forum on the “practical and technological aspects of information and cognitive warfare in modern realities” in Moscow, as “noteworthy” and in line with the think tank’s longstanding assessments about the “deteriorating Kremlin regime and information space control dynamics”.

Russia’s defence ministry said on Sunday that its forces continued to conduct military operations in Ukraine‘s eastern Donetsk region, claiming to have killed more than 220 Ukrainian servicemen over the past 24 hours.

“In the Donetsk direction… more than 220 Ukrainian servicemen, an infantry fighting vehicle, 3 armoured fighting vehicles, 7 vehicles, as well as a D-30 howitzer were destroyed during the day,” the defence ministry said.

Russia’s advance seems to have stalled in Moscow‘s campaign to capture the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, a leading think tank said in an assessment of the longest ground battle of the war.

The Washington-based Institute for the Study of War said there were no confirmed advances by Russian forces in Bakhmut. Russian forces and units from the Kremlin-controlled paramilitary Wagner Group continued to launch ground attacks in the city, but there was no evidence that they were able to make any progress, ISW said late Saturday.

More on this story from The Associated Press here:

Turkish defence minister Hulusi Akar said on Sunday that he believes that a deal allowing Ukrainian grain to be exported via the Black Sea will be extended from its current March 18 deadline.

The Black Sea Grain Initiative, brokered between Russia and Ukraine by the United Nations and Turkey last July, aimed to prevent a global food crisis by allowing Ukrainian grain blockaded by Russia’s invasion to be safely exported from three Ukrainian ports.

The deal was extended for 120 days in November and will renew on March 18 if no party objects. However, Moscow has already signalled it will only agree to an extension if restrictions affecting its own exports are lifted.

Turkey has said previously that it is working hard to extend the deal. “In separate talks with the Russian and Ukrainian sides, we saw that both sides are approaching this positively. We believe it will conclude positively,” Akar said in an interview with state-owned Anadolu Agency.

“We have the opinion that the duration will be extended on March 18,” he added.

Hundreds of Russian troops have been killed in Bakhmut as Vladimir Putin’s troops seek to wrest control of the frontline Donetsk city – with Kyiv’s snipers said to have set up a “killing zone”.

Some 520 Russian troops were killed and wounded in Bakhmut alone in one day’s fighting, Ukraine’s military said, claiming Russia had suffered 2,000 fatalities since Friday – marking some of the deadliest days of the war since Russia’s invasion.

Seeking to replenish its heavy losses, Russian mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin said his Wagner private army had opened recruitment centres in 42 cities – as the UK asserted that the impact of casualties “varies dramatically” across Russian regions.

My colleague Andy Gregory reports:

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.

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

“In many of the Eastern regions, deaths are likely running, as a percentage of population, at a rate 30+ times higher than in Moscow. In places, ethnic minorities take the biggest hit; in Astrakhan some 75 per cent of casualties come from the minority Kazakh and Tartar populations.

“As the Russian MoD seeks to address its continued deficit of combat personnel, insulating the better-off and more influential elements of Russian society will highly likely remain a major consideration.”

Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky’s request to speak at the Oscars has been rejected for the second year in a row, reported Variety Magazine.

Mr Zelensky has participated virtually in mega-cultural events like the Grammys, Golden Globe Awards, Cannes Film Festival and Berlin Film Festival since the war in Ukraine.

A request was reportedly sent to the Academy to include Mr Zelensky by WME power agent Mike Simpson. However, the request was turned down, it reported.

Last year, Oscars executive producer Will Packer was vary of giving Mr Zelensky airtime because “everyone involved in the conflict is white and previous tragedies involving people of colour did not receive the same level of attention”.

The Oscars that year showed solidarity with Ukraine by observing a moment of silence during the ceremony.

An onslaught of 40 missiles has hit the northeastern city of Kharkiv since the beginning of the year, Volodymyr Zelensky said in his nightly address.

“Ruins, debris, shell holes in the ground are a self-portrait of Russia, which it paints where normal life reigns without Russia,” he said.

He said Russian shelling has killed three Ukrainians in Kherson who simply “went to a store to buy groceries”.

Russia has “become a synonym for terror” and “will be an example of defeat” as well as fair punishment for its acts in Ukraine.

“The punishment that the Kremlin cannot stop,” he said.