The U.K. Defense Ministry said on Dec. 3 that Russian forces had “highly likely” made small advances south of Bakhmut in recent days after five months of trying to capture the besieged town in Donetsk Oblast.
The ministry said that Russia likely plans to encircle Bakhmut with “tactical advances to the north and the south,” investing a significant portion of its military effort in capturing the town.
After Russia's battlefield defeats in Ukraine’s northeast and the south, “there is a realistic possibility that Bakhmut’s capture has become primarily a symbolic, political objective for Russia,” it added.
While seizing Bakhmut could allow Russia to launch more attacks on urban areas such as Kramatorsk and Sloviansk in Donetsk Oblast, it would have “limited operational value," according to the U.K. Defense Ministry.
“The campaign has been disproportionately costly relative to these possible gains,” the report reads.
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Successful strikes by Ukraine's military intelligence agency destroyed a Russian MiG-29 fighter jet and an Irtysh radar system in Russian-occupied Crimea, the agency said.
The visit comes as Cyprus is about to take over the rotating presidency of the Council of the EU in January, with Nicosia viewing enlargement as a "key priority," a Cypriot government spokesperson said.
The closure came after several days of sustained attacks by drones and artillery, targeting the halls and equipment of the plant, according to regional governor Oleksandr Prokudin.
According to the military, the man refused to present his documents, acted aggressively, and eventually stabbed the officer in the groin, causing a critical bleed.
Russia, Belarus and Iran have voted against the resolution. Fifty-seven countries, including China, India and Brazil, abstained from voting.
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"He did tell me, in our meetings, that he would help me in some way, but I didn't imagine he would do it like this," Dominican nun Lucia Caram said.
"Rustem Umerov, the head of the delegation, who has no other job but to negotiate with American and European allies, will land in the U.S. tomorrow to meet with the delegation again," Olha Stefanishyna, Ukraine’s ambassador to the U.S., told reporters on Dec. 3.
