Ukraine Recap: Putin Rebuts African Leaders’ Peace Initiative

Ukraine’s bid to drive Kremlin forces out of the east and south of the country continues. Kyiv’s troops on Sunday captured the village of Piatykhatky in the southeastern Zaporizhzhia region, after days of fighting, according to a Russian military bloggers and a Moscow-appointed official. While Ukraine’s military hasn’t commented, it claimed a hit on a “significant” ammunition depot in Rykove in the Kherson region. Video was posted on social media of a large fire; the footage couldn’t be independ

(Bloomberg) — Ukraine’s bid to drive Kremlin forces out of the east and south of the country continues. Kyiv’s troops on Sunday captured the village of Piatykhatky in the southeastern Zaporizhzhia region, after days of fighting, according to a Russian military bloggers and a Moscow-appointed official. While Ukraine’s military hasn’t commented, it claimed a hit on a “significant” ammunition depot in Rykove in the Kherson region. Video was posted on social media of a large fire; the footage couldn’t be independently verified and Russia hasn’t commented. 

Britain’s Defense Ministry said both sides are incurring high casualties, with “Russian losses likely the highest since the peak of the battle for Bakhmut in March.” Russia’s defence ministry said its forces had repelled attacks across three sections of the front line. 

No breakthrough emerged after heads of state and senior officials from seven African countries met on Saturday with President Vladimir Putin in St. Petersburg. Putin brushed aside many of the proposals offered by the delegation, which urged an end to the war “through negotiations” and “diplomatic means.” Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy told the delegation in Kyiv on Friday that talks are impossible while Russian occupying troops remain in Ukraine — a position supported Sunday by NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg in comments to Germany’s Welt am Sonntag. “Peace cannot mean freezing the conflict and accepting a deal dictated by Russia,” he said. 

Latest Coverage

  • Ukraine runs into Russian air superiority, WSJ says
  • Kyiv claims hit on Russian ammunition dump
  • UK to provide $32M for Ukraine’s cyber defense
  • Russia’s Oil Giant Urges OPEC+ to Track Exports, Not Just Output
  • Putin Meets With African Leaders on Their Ukraine Peace Plan

Coming Up

  • Ukraine participates in Financial Action Task Force meetings in Paris all week
  • NATO chief Stoltenberg, German Chancellor Scholz news conference in Berlin Monday

More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com

©2023 Bloomberg L.P.