Ukraine’s military could fall “well short” of Kyiv’s goals for a spring counteroffensive as a result of difficulties massing troops, ammunition and equipment, a leaked US intelligence assessment has said.
The “top secret” file from early February, first reported by the Washington Post, warned that such an operation would only result in “modest territorial gains” and “force regeneration and sustainment shortfalls”.
Publicly, US president Joe Biden has spoken with confidence and optimism about the force of Ukraine’s military, saying in Poland in late February: “Ukraine is steeled for the fight ahead, and the United States, our allies and partners continue to have Ukraine’s back as it defends itself.”
The document indicated that the strategy from Kyiv revolves around reclaiming contested areas in the east while also pushing south in a bid to sever the land bridge between Russia and Crimea.
The strength of Russian defences coupled with “enduring Ukrainian deficiencies in training and munitions supplies probably will strain progress and exacerbate casualties during the offensive,” the file reads.
WSJ journalist ‘violated Russian law’, claims Kremlin
The Kremlin has claimed that arrested Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich “violated Russian law”, after the US officially designated him as having been “wrongfully detained” in the country.
Mr Gershkovich’s detention by the Russian federal security service (FSB) has been widely criticised across the Western world, including by the White House, several media organisations and human rights groups.
Asked about the designation on Tuesday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: “I don’t understand what kind of innovations this new regime is introducing. As for what it means, I don’t know.”
Mr Peskov said Mr Gershkovich had “been caught red-handed and violated the laws of the Russian Federation”, before adding: “This is what he’s suspected of, but of course, the court will make a decision”.
No evidence has yet been presented in the case against the WSJ reporter, which is to proceed in secret because Russia says the case materials are confidential.
A court will hear an appeal from Mr Gershkovich’s legal team next week against an order that he be held in pre-trial detention at Lefortovo prison in the Russian capital until May 29.
Almost 8,500 civilians killed in Ukraine war, UN confirms
Nearly 8,500 civilians are confirmed to have been killed in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, with many thousands more unverified deaths feared, the UN has said.
The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) said it had recorded 8,490 people killed and 14,244 injured since February 24, 2022, and April 9, 2023.
However, the body has described these figures as “the tip of the iceberg” because of its limited access to battle zones.
More than 3,900 people have been killed in the regions of Donetsk and Luhansk, as the majority of the deaths were recorded in territory controlled by the Ukrainian government and under attack by Russian forces.
The UN body said in a statement: “OHCHR believes that the actual figures are considerably higher, as the receipt of information from some locations where intense hostilities have been going on has been delayed and many reports are still pending corroboration.”
Ukraine resumes energy exports to Europe after Russia ‘did not succeed at all’ at destroying infrastructure
Ukraine has resumed electricity exports to Europe as Russia “did not succeed at all” at destroying the nation’s energy system, the Ukrainian energy minister has said.
The country suspended electricity exports in October when Russia began launching regular missile and drone attacks at critical energy infrastructure, which caused sweeping power outages for civilians and industries and forced workers to work overtime to try to repair the grid.
“We have resumed exports,” German Galushchenko said late on Monday, and added that Russia “did not succeed at all at destroying our energy system”.
“We hope to reach the export volumes that we had last year. We plan and will conduct negotiations to increase them because today’s reserves in the system allow us to do that,” he said in televised comments.
In June 2022, Ukraine, which used to export power to Moldova, Hungary, Slovakia and Poland, said it was hoping to bring in 1.5 billion euros (£1.3bn) from electricity exports to the EU, its main export market, by the end of the year.
The International Criminal Court’s top prosecutor visited Ukraine in February to investigate Russian air strikes on the power grid.
Kyiv says the attacks aimed to intimidate ordinary civilians. Moscow said they were aimed at weakening the enemy’s military.
