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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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Monday, March 23
In the Leningrad region, a fire broke out at the port of Primorsk after a fuel tank was damaged, Governor Alexander Drozdenko said on March 22.
"We need to keep milking this cow, the Russian army, for everything it’s worth, exhausting it beyond its maximum capacity," Robert "Madyar" Brovdi told the Economist.
Monday, March 23
"Does Russia get more money if oil goes to $150 and they get 70% of that — that’s $105 — or if oil stays below $100, so they’re getting less money?" U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on March 22.
(Updated: )
U.S. and Ukrainian officials met in Miami, Florida, on March 22 for a second day of talks aimed at brokering a peace deal with Moscow to end its four-year war.
"The only tangible outcome for the Russian army has been an increase in their losses...In just these seven days, there have already been more than 8,000 killed and seriously wounded Russian soldiers."
Russia launched a rocket from Site 31 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome for the first time since the launch pad was damaged in an accident in November 2025, the Russian space agency Roscosmos reported on March 22.
"The news that Orban's people inform Moscow about EU Council meetings in every detail shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone," Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk wrote.
The reports come a week after widespread restrictions to mobile internet in Moscow on March 13, as the Kremlin enforced a new "whitelist" system that only permits access to pro-government social media, outlets, and official state websites.
(Updated: )
Ukrainian defenses intercepted 127 out of the 139 drones launched by Russia overnight, according to Ukraine's Air Force.
A Buk-M3 surface-to-air missile system and a transporter-loader vehicle of a Buk-M2 system were destroyed, said Robert Brovdi, the commander of Ukraine's Unmanned Systems Forces.
In the latest episode of Ukraine This Week, Anna Belokur examines how artificial intelligence is changing the way we see and trust video. From viral clips of events that never happened to fabricated battlefield footage, AI-generated content is increasingly blurring the line between real and fake.
Parts of Kyiv's eastern bank and Kyiv Oblast were left without power on March 22 due to a failure at a facility that had previously been severely damaged by Russian attacks.
The number includes 940 casualties that Russian forces suffered over the past day.
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