After months of fighting that ended in a bloodbath for both Ukrainians and Russians, the founder of the Wagner group Evgeny Prigozhin issues an ultimatum to Ukrainian President Zelensky: " Bakhmut is surrounded, it's time to evacuate children and the elderly ".

While according to the Russian mercenaries the capitulation of the symbolic city in Donetsk is now imminent. Kiev tries to resist speaking of "intense fighting in and around" the settlement where the Russian forces "have sent the most trained units of the Wagners and other regular units of the Russian army".

But the signals seem clear: Ukrainian forces have already blown up a railway bridge in the city, a sign that they are preparing to withdraw . Bakhmut's capture would represent a long-sought success for Moscow, even if according to experts it would carry limited strategic value. Certainly, it would be a confidence booster for Putin's war-weary troops.

Kiev also fears the worst in Kupiansk, an important hub in the Kharkiv region where the Ukrainian authorities have ordered families and people with reduced mobility to leave the city due to "constant" Russian bombing.

With the diplomatic solution at stake, the arms race continues. The US has announced a new 400 million dollar military aid package for Kiev consisting mainly of ammunition, just as Zelensky once again underlined that «artillery is our number one need. This is what we need: ammunition, long-range shells to stop Russia." Not only that, the Ukrainian president once again reiterates the need for military aircraft.

A rocket attack on an apartment building in Zaporizhzhia has meanwhile massacred civilians, killing ten people including a child , according to the State Office for Emergency Services in the region.

“Since 0700 on March 4, rescuers have recovered three more bodies of its residents from under the rubble. In total, 10 bodies were extracted, including that of a child," the report reads.

And according to the latest statements by the Supreme Commander of NATO's Allied Forces in Europe , US General Christopher Cavoli, "over 200,000 Russian soldiers have died or been wounded since the beginning of the war".

(Unioneonline/L)

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