Russia-Ukraine war – live: Putin admits Kyiv’s attacks have intensified ‘significantly’

Vladimir Putin has admitted that Ukrainian attacks have intensified in recent days, as Kyiv ramps up the counteroffensive against Russian troops. Speaking in St Petersburg at a summit of African leaders, the Russian president admitted that attacks by Ukrainian forces have ‘intensified significantly’, primarily in the Zaporizhzhia region. He claimed Ukraine had not enjoyed success on the front lines, despite experts at the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) reporting that Volodymyr Zelensky’s troops ‘appear to have broken through certain pre-prepared Russian defensive positions’ in Zaporizhzhia. Battles in recent weeks have taken place on multiple points along the 1,500-kilometer front line as Ukraine wages its counteroffensive. The ISW on Thursday said that Ukraine had launched a ‘significant mechanised counteroffensive operation in western Zaporizhzhia’, while a Western official said that Mr Zelensky has committed thousands of troops to the region in recent days. Ukrainian officials have been mostly silent about battlefield developments since they began early counteroffensive operations, though deputy defence minister Hanna Maliar said troops are advancing toward the city of Melitopol in the region. Key Points Kyiv is said to have launched a major push against Russian forces in southeastern Ukraine Putin’s forces pushed back around Bakhmut in Ukrainian counteroffensive Russia hits port infrastructure in Ukraine’s Odesa region Putin ‘looked paralysed and unable to act’ as Wagner coup unfolded Wagner gold smuggling critical to keeping Russia’s economy afloat, MPs say Kyiv is said to have launched a major push against Russian forces in southeastern Ukraine 10:06 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain Kyiv has launched a major push to dislodge Russian forces from southeastern Ukraine as part of its weeks-long counteroffensive, committing thousands of troops to the battle in the country’s southeast, according to Western and Ukrainian officials and analysts. The surge in troops and firepower has been centered on the southeastern Zaporizhzhia region, a Western official said late Wednesday. The official was not authorised to comment publicly on the matter and spoke on condition of anonymity. The intense fighting is taking place in areas in the south and east of Ukraine, far from the capital Kyiv, and it was not possible to verify either side’s claims. The Institute of Study of War, a Washington-based think tank, reported that Ukrainian forces launched ‘a significant mechanised counteroffensive operation in western Zaporizhzhia region’ on Wednesday, adding that they ‘appear to have broken through certain pre-prepared Russian defensive positions.’ EU’s border with Belarus ‘more dangerous’ because of Russia’s military presence, says Polish MP 15:25 , Martha Mchardy The European Union’s border with Russian ally Belarus has become more dangerous because of Russia’s military presence there, and securing the frontier is the Polish government’s top priority, Poland’s ruling party leader said Thursday. Jaroslaw Kaczynski, a deputy prime minister and head of the conservative Law and Justice party, made the comments while visiting the village of Koden on the EU’s border with Belarus. The Polish defence minister was due to meet with troops on the border later in the day. Amid Russia’s aggression in Ukraine, thousands of Russia’s Wagner mercenaries have deployed to Belarus over the past month, and the Kremlin says it also has moved some of its short-range nuclear weapons into Belarus .’We want to say it clearly: We are doing everything that is needed and that is sufficient for us to easily repel any potential provocations or aggressive undertakings,’ from the Belarus side, Kaczynski said. Last year, Poland’s right-wing government built a tall wall along the border with Belarus aiming to stop a swelling wave of unauthorized migration from the Middle East and Africa which it said was organized by Minsk and Moscow in order to destabilize the EU. Russian helicopter crashes in Siberia, killing 4 people on board and injuring 10 15:21 , Martha Mchardy A helicopter crashed in the Siberia region of Russia on Thursday, killing four of the people on board and injuring 10, Russian emergency officials reported. The Mi-8 helicopter caught fire as it was landing in southern Siberia’s Altai Republic and brushed against a power line, the Altai branch of the Russian Emergency Ministry said. It released a photo showing the chopper’s wreckage. The branch’s initial statement said the helicopter carried 13 people and six were killed and seven were injured. Officials revised the numbers later in the day, saying a total of 16 people were on board and four died. It turned out two people who were believed dead had left the crash site on their own and went to the nearest hospital, an updated statement said. Russian state news agency RIA Novosti reported, citing the country’s civilian aviation regulator Rosaviatsia, that the helicopter belonged to a private company and was carrying a group of tourists. The Mi-8 is a two-engine helicopter designed in the 1960s. It is used in Russia, where crashes have been frequent, as well as in neighbouring countries and many other nations. Firefighters extinguish a Mi-8 helicopter after the crash near Tyungur village, Altai Republic in southern Siberia, Russia (AP) UN chief warns ‘handful of donations’ can’t replace Black Sea deal 14:58 , Martha Mchardy United Nations secretary-general Antonio Guterres warned on Thursday that a ‘handful of donations to some countries’ won’t correct the dramatic impact of the end of a deal that had allowed the safe Black Sea export of Ukraine grain for the past year. Russian president Vladimir Putin has promised free Russian grain ‘to replace Ukrainian grain.’ Putin admits Kyiv’s attacks have intensified ‘significantly’ 14:52 , Martha Mchardy Vladimir Putin has admitted that Ukrainian attacks have intensified in recent days, as Kyiv ramps up the counteroffensive against Russian troops. Speaking in St Petersburg at a summit of African leaders, the Russian president admitted that attacks by Ukrainian forces have ‘intensified significantly’, primarily in the Zaporizhzhia region. He claimed Ukraine had not enjoyed success on the front lines, despite experts at the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) reporting that Volodymyr Zelensky’s troops ‘appear to have broken through certain pre-prepared Russian defensive positions’ in Zaporizhzhia. Battles in recent weeks have taken place on multiple points along the 1,500-kilometer front line as Ukraine wages its counteroffensive. The ISW on Thursday said that Ukraine had launched a ‘significant mechanised counteroffensive operation in western Zaporizhzhia’, while a Western official said that Mr Zelensky has committed thousands of troops to the region in recent days. Ukrainian officials have been mostly silent about battlefield developments since they began early counteroffensive operations, though deputy defence minister Hanna Maliar said troops are advancing toward the city of Melitopol in the region. Vladimir Putin has admitted that Ukrainian attacks have intensified in recent days (POOL/AFP via Getty Images) 14:00 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain Ukraine has signaled it will no longer bar its athletes from competing against Russians who are taking part in sporting events as ‘neutral athletes,’ a significant easing of its boycott policy a year before the Paris Olympics. A decree dated Wednesday says Ukrainian athletes and teams will only be required to boycott if competitors from Russia or Belarus are competing under their national flags or other symbols, or have signaled allegiance to either of those countries in another way. The change in policy could smooth the way for Ukrainians to compete at next year’s Paris Olympics. Ukrainian athletes previously boycotted events which allowed Russians and Belarusians as ‘Individual Neutral Athletes,’ the preferred term of the International Olympic Committee . Ukrainian parliament accepts culture minister’s resignation – lawmaker 13:45 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain Ukraine’s parliament voted on Thursday to accept the resignation of Culture Minister Oleksandr Tkachenko, a lawmaker said, a week after President Volodymyr Zelenskiy asked for his dismissal. Yaroslav Zheleznyak, a member of parliament, said on the Telegram messaging app that the chamber had voted overwhelmingly to accept Tkachenko’s resignation and published a photograph showing the outcome of the vote. Tkachenko quit last week after Zelenskiy called for his government to keep a tight lid on spending during Russia’s war on his country, and asked his prime minister to consider replacing the culture minister. Tkachenko had been a proponent of several high-profile and costly projects. Zheleznyak said parliament would not consider the appointment of a replacement for Tkachenko on Thursday and was unlikely to do so this week. Putin says Ukrainian attacks in Zaporizhzhia intensified but without success 13:19 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that Ukrainian attacks had intensified in recent days, primarily on the frontline running through Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region. Speaking to Russian TV on the margins of a Russia-Africa summit in St Petersburg, Putin said that Ukraine had not enjoyed success on any part of the front. Russia arrests one of its own sailors over alleged plot to attack warship 12:55 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain Russia has arrested one of its own sailors over an alleged plot to carry out a ‘terrorist attack’ against a warship in Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, the FSB security service said on Thursday. It said the alleged plot was directed against ‘a ship…armed with high-precision weapons’. The Black Sea Fleet is headquartered in Crimea, which Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014. The suspect had been ‘recruited by a Ukrainian intelligence service’ and was caught with two homemade bombs, the FSB said in a statement. He was also suspected of passing state secrets to Ukraine. Russia has previously brought lesser charges, such as desertion, against some of its own servicemen. But the accusations against the sailor – which include possible charges of terrorism, treason, divulging state secrets and illegally possessing explosives, were of exceptional gravity. The statement gave no further details and it was not possible to independently verify the incident. Separately, state media quoted the FSB earlier on Thursday as saying two alleged agents for Ukrainian intelligence had been sentenced by a Russian court to 15 years each in a harsh-regime penal colony for espionage. Russia says it repelled Ukrainian attacks near Bakhmut and in Zaporizhzhia region 12:17 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain Russia’s Defence Ministry said on Thursday that Ukrainian forces were continuing what it called ‘unsuccessful’ attacks across several fronts, state media said. It said Russian forces had repelled Ukrainian attacks around the village of Klishchiivka near Bakhmut, and north of Robotyne on the frontline in Zaporizhzhia region, Russian state news agency TASS reported. Reuters could not independently verify the battlefield reports. 11:50 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday told African leaders he would gift them tens of thousands of tons of grain within months despite Western sanctions which he said made it harder for Moscow to export its grain and fertilisers. Speaking at a summit in St Petersburg devoted to Russian-African ties, Putin said Russia was expecting a record grain harvest this year and was ready to replace Ukrainian grain exports to Africa on both a commercial and aid basis and honour what he said was Moscow’s critical role in global food security. ‘We will be ready to provide Burkina Faso, Zimbabwe, Mali, Somalia, Central African Republic and Eritrea with 25-50,000 tons of free grain each in the next 3-4 months,’ Putin told the summit, whose participants reacted with applause. ‘We will also provide free delivery of these products to consumers’ The event, which is expected to see various agreements signed, follows Moscow’s first Russia-Africa summit in 2019 and is part of a concerted push for influence and business on a continent where mercenaries from Russia’s Wagner Group remain active despite an abortive mutiny at home last month. 11:24 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain Ukrainian authorities are reportedly conducting an investigation to determine whether a member of parliament violated the law by taking a family holiday to the Maldives . Earlier in January this year, the Ukrainian president banned officials from travelling abroad for non-governmental purposes. The security service has initiated a criminal case to ascertain whether member of parliament, Yuriy Aristov provided false information to the authorities. He faces up to three years in prison if convicted. During a video address in January, Volodymyr Zelensky said: ‘Ignoring the war is a luxury that no one can afford.’ Russia jails two alleged Ukrainian intelligence agents for 15 years 10:39 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain Two alleged agents for Ukrainian intelligence have been sentenced by a Russian court to 15 years each in a harsh-regime penal colony for espionage, Russian state media on Thursday quoted the FSB security service as saying. The FSB did not name the accused people or say which court had pa