Battle | US: Russia wants secret arms deal with North Korea

Day 399 since the start of the war: According to Ukrainian data, Russia is suffering massive losses. Meanwhile, details of the planned spring offensive are becoming known. All information on news blog.

9:16 pm: According to the US government, Russia is still trying to buy weapons and ammunition from North Korea. “We have new information that Russia is actively trying to buy additional munitions from North Korea,” US National Security Council communications director John Kirby said in Washington on Thursday.

At the center of these efforts is an arms dealer named Ashot Magridysev. Through him, Russia is trying to negotiate a secret arms deal with North Korea. This would allow Russia to receive over two dozen types of weapons and ammunition from North Korea. In return, Russia supplies North Korea with food.

Kirby said such a deal would violate several UN Security Council resolutions. The US imposed sanctions on Mkrtychev on Thursday. It freezes potential assets in the US. In addition, people, banks and other companies who do business with Mkrtychev in the future are also threatened with sanctions – which will make international business more difficult for the victims.

8:05 PM: According to the government, the Ukrainian army controls only a third of the city of Baghmut in the east of the country, which has been fighting fiercely for months. “One-third of Bakhmut is under Ukrainian control, international observers have noted. However, Leshchenko denied that the city is surrounded by Russian forces, as a pro-Russian official recently said.

Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of the Russian Wagner mercenary group, announced on March 20 that his mercenaries controlled “about 70 percent” of Pakmut. This statement has not yet been confirmed by the Ukrainian side. Wagner’s mercenary group plays an important role in the battle for Baghmut.

Russian troops have advanced north and south of the city in recent months, cutting off several Ukrainian supply lines and capturing the eastern part of the city. The Ukrainian military recently announced that it had succeeded in “stabilizing” the situation in Pakmut and expected to use the fatigue on the Russian side for a counterattack “very soon.”

7.15 pm: A court in Moscow has sentenced a 63-year-old man to seven years in prison for two anti-war posts on social networks. In March last year, in two comments, he condemned attacks by the Russian army against the Ukrainian capital Kiev and the port city of Mariupol, Russian media “Medusa” operating from Latvia reported on Thursday. The court found him guilty of spreading “hoaxes” about the Russian military.

“When we kill children,​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ has been singing songs on Channel One; we have become Godless Russia – Lord forgive us,” the man read in a post on WKontakt. In his second comment, he wrote, “Russian planes are bombing children.”

In his closing words to the court, the man said he made his comments out of respect for everyone’s lives. “Life is an unconditional value that, even if it is not seen in our country, must come first,” he quoted from “Medusa.” “That’s the way I was raised.”

6:34 p.m: According to their own reports, Ukrainian troops have repelled several Russian offensives simultaneously on various fronts in the east of the country. The general staff in Kiev said in its situation report on Thursday that there was a “focus” on sectors near Kupyansk, Limansk, Bakhmut, Avdiivka and Marjinsk. “A total of 47 enemy attacks were repulsed.”

Again, the center of action was the city of Pakmut in eastern Ukraine, which has been heavily fought for months. “However, our defenders bravely held the city and repelled several enemy attacks,” the General Staff statement said on Facebook.

5:47 PM: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky welcomed Armin Popperger, CEO of German arms company Rheinmetall, to the talks. Current cooperation and opportunities were discussed, Zelenskyj said on the Telegram news channel on Thursday. According to the head of state, the partnership will be deepened to meet the needs of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.