Russia’s war on Ukraine latest: Putin casts war as battle for nation’s survival

(C) Reuters. Ukrainian service members ride a self-propelled howitzer, as Russia’s attack on Ukraine continues, near the frontline city of Bakhmut, Ukraine February 27, 2023. REUTERS/Yevhen Titov

(Reuters) – President Vladimir Putin cast the confrontation with the West over the Ukraine war as an existential battle for the survival of Russia and the Russian people – and said he was forced to take into account NATO’s nuclear capabilities.

The European Union vowed to increase pressure on Moscow “until Ukraine is liberated” as it adopted a 10th package of sanctions on Russia on Saturday, a day after the first anniversary of the invasion of Ukraine.

FIGHTING

* Ukraine’s military said on Sunday that Russia conducted unsuccessful offensives near Yahidne over the past day, after Russia’s Wagner mercenary group claimed to have captured the village in eastern Ukraine.

The village is near Bakhmut, where only about 5,000 of 70,000 residents remain and which has seen some of the bloodiest attritional fighting of Russia’s year-old invasion.

* Ukraine’s armed forces said Russia keeps concentrating its main efforts on conducting offensive actions along the Kupiansk, Lyman, Bakhmut, Avdiivka and Shakhtar parts of the frontline.

* Reuters could not verify the battlefield accounts.

DIPLOMACY AND SANCTIONS

* Russia’s senior diplomat to the United Nations accused the West on Sunday of “cowboy” methods and “arm twisting” of some countries during last week’s United Nations General Assembly vote demanding Moscow withdraw its troops from Ukraine.

* Finance chiefs of the world’s largest economies strongly condemned Moscow on Saturday for its war on Ukraine, with only China and Russia itself declining to sign a joint statement.

* French President Emmanuel Macron said on Saturday he will visit China in early April, in part to seek Chinese help with ending Russia’s invasion.

* The United States marked the anniversary of the invasion with $2 billion in weaponry for Kyiv and new sanctions against Russia aimed at undermining Moscow’s ability to wage war.

* Belarus, a small Russian ally bordering Ukraine, has as many as 1.5 million potential military personnel outside its armed forces, a senior official was quoted as saying on Saturday.

OIL

* Russia has halted supplies of oil to Poland via the Druzhba pipeline, Daniel Obajtek, chief executive officer of Polish refiner PKN Orlen, said on Saturday.

* Ukraine plans no more outages to ration electricity if there are no new Russian strikes and has been able to amass some power reserves, the energy minister said on Saturday, after months of interruptions caused by bombings.

ANNIVERSARY

* TIMELINE- Major developments since Russia’s invasion

* Ukraine’s Zelenskiy has defied Putin against the odds

* Putin, secure in power, has set the stage for long war

* A year on, Ukraine and its government have not just survived. They’ve fought back

* Toughened by war’s scars, Kyiv presses on

* Graphics of a year of war in the markets: How the dollar, energy and food prices swirled

* Russian economy holds up but the road back to prosperity may be long

* Moscow’s decades-old gas ties with Europe lie in ruins

* Top brands pull out of Russia, but goods easy to find

* Can U.S. support for Ukraine last?

* External backers pour billions into Ukraine

* How has China stood by ‘no limits’ partner Russia?

* A year into war, older refugees running out of hope

* Life and death in Mariupol – a survivor’s tale of war

* Family mourns Bucha victim who became symbol of war

PODCAST

Learn more about the Ukraine war. Listen to a special episode of the Reuters World News Podcast.