Ukraine latest: Russian nationalist writer wounded in car bomb

06 May 2023 - 13:50 By Reuters
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A resident walks past an apartment building heavily damaged by a Russian military strike in the town of Avdiivka, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, near a frontline in Donetsk region, Ukraine May 5, 2023.
A resident walks past an apartment building heavily damaged by a Russian military strike in the town of Avdiivka, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, near a frontline in Donetsk region, Ukraine May 5, 2023.
Image: Reuters

A prominent Russian nationalist writer, Zakhar Prilepin, was wounded in a car bombing in Nizhny Novgorod on Saturday, state news agency TASS said, in an attack Russia immediately blamed on Ukraine and the West.

WAGNER GROUP

Russia's main mercenary group announced plans on Friday to withdraw from the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, but Ukraine said the fighters were reinforcing positions to try to seize it before Russia marks World War 2 Victory Day next week.

Wagner Group boss Yevgeny Prigozhin published an expletive-ridden video on Friday personally blaming top defence chiefs for losses suffered by his fighters.

The extraordinary announcement by Prigozhin that his fighters will abandon Bakhmut looks like an exercise in blame avoidance and disinformation, Russia specialists and military analysts say.

CONFLICT

Ukrainian air defences shot down a Russian hypersonic missile for the first time during an attack on the capital Kyiv this week, the Air Force said on Saturday, in a potentially major setback for the Kremlin's campaign of long-range air strikes.

A drone attack on the Ilsky oil refinery in southern Russia, the second in as many days, has caused a fire, TASS reported on Friday.

Engineers have reduced the risk of a dam bursting and damaging the large Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station in Ukraine, a senior Russian official was quoted as saying by TASS on Friday.

AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS

Poland will demand EU sanctions on imports of Russian farm products, its ambassador to the EU Andrzej Sados was quoted as saying on Saturday by PAP news agency

The pace of grain shipments from Ukraine under a UN-backed initiative has slowed as concerns grow over ships getting stuck if a deal is not renewed later this month, according to sources and data.

Ukraine, Russia, Turkey and the UN on Friday failed to authorise any new ships under the deal.

DIPLOMACY

Switzerland's parliament has approved a request from Ukrainian authorities for President Volodymyr Zelensky to address it, according to a statement late on Friday.

Reuters



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