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"We now know for sure that the great fire of the Marywilska shopping centre in Warsaw was caused by arson ordered by the Russian special services," Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on X. "Some of the perpetrators have already been detained, all the others are identified and searched for."

This week, the world watched in anticipation for Russia’s Victory Day parade after President Volodymyr Zelensky commented that he could not guarantee the safety of those attending. Meanwhile, the European Union moves one step forward to banning Russian gas from the European continent. It is also revealed this week that U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has fallen out of step with the White House.

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Stoltenberg: Bakhmut could fall 'in the coming days'

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Bakhmut could potentially fall "in the coming days," NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Wednesday, but he stressed that the loss of the city would not be a critical juncture in the war.

"What we see is that Russia is throwing more troops, more forces and what Russia lacks in quality they try to make up in quantity," Stoltenberg, as cited by DW, said.

He added that the lesson to take from the potential loss of Bakhmut would be that Russia must not be "underestimated" and that providing continued defense aid to Ukraine was paramount.

Season of offensives: What to expect from the spring campaign in Ukraine

On March 6, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin also remarked that the fall of Bakhmut would not be a significant setback for the Ukrainian military, adding that the city was more of a "symbolic" than "strategic" value.

The battle for Bakhmut, a city in Donetsk Oblast, has been raging for the past seven months. The Russian military is attempting to increase its grip over the entirety of the oblast, around half of which it currently occupies.

Despite the heavy fighting, Ukraine has chosen not to withdraw soldiers from the city. "This is tactical for us… after Bakhmut, they could go further. They could go to Kramatorsk, they could go to Sloviansk," President Volodymyr Zelensky said in an interview with CNN on March 8.

Brigade that spent 2 months in Bakhmut: ‘It was becoming harder each week’
Ukrainian soldiers in Bakhmut: ‘Our troops are not being protected’



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The Kyiv Independent news desk

We are the news team of the Kyiv Independent. We are here to make sure our readers get quick, essential updates about the events in Ukraine. Feel free to contact us via email with feedback and news alerts.

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