Ukraine-Russia war: latest live news

What has happened in the last hours

On the 370th day of the war started by Russia against Ukraine, these are the key data at 12:00 this Tuesday, February 28:

kyiv warns that the situation in Bakhmut is “extremely tense.” The situation around the besieged city of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine is “extremely tense”, according to the commander of Kiev’s ground forces, Colonel Oleksandr Sirskyi. “Despite the significant losses, the enemy launched the most prepared assault units of [la red de mercenarios rusos] Wagner, who are trying to break through the defenses of our troops and surround the city”, Sirskyi explained this morning in a message on the Telegram channel of the Ukrainian Military Media Center. The president of the country, Volodímir Zelenski, has also acknowledged in his usual night speech that the situation in the city, incessantly attacked by Russian troops for months, is becoming “increasingly complicated.”

The Kremlin says it is open to negotiations with kyiv, but will not hand over the annexed Ukrainian territories. Dmitri Peskov, the spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin, said on Tuesday that the Kremlin is open to negotiating with Ukraine the end of the war – which began on February 24, 2022 due to the invasion, precisely, of Russian troops from the neighboring country—, but that “the new territorial realities” of the four Ukrainian provinces annexed last September (Donetsk, Lugansk, Kherson and Zaporizhia, in eastern and southern Ukraine) cannot be ignored. Putin’s spokesman’s words come after China presented a peace plan for Ukraine last week that was met with skepticism by Western allies.

At least one dead in a Russian bombing attack on Kherson. At least one person has died this Tuesday in a new Russian bombardment on the city of Kherson, in southern Ukraine, as confirmed in a message on Telegram Andri Yermak, presidential adviser. The attack has also caused the destruction of a residential building.

Zelensky asks to start negotiations for Ukraine’s accession to the EU this year. The Ukrainian president, Volodímir Zelenski, recalled this Tuesday that Ukraine’s application for membership of the European Union was signed a year ago and has requested that the negotiation process for entry into the community bloc begin in 2023 . “Ukraine has always been Europe, Ukraine will always be Europe. We have already guaranteed it. One year ago, on the fifth day of the full-scale war, Ukraine applied to join the European Union and was granted candidate status. This year is the time to decide to start the accession negotiations ”, he said in a message on Twitter.

Stoltenberg: “Both Finland and Sweden have kept their promises.” NATO Secretary General, Jens Stoltenberg, stressed in an appearance with the Finnish Prime Minister, Sanna Marin, this Tuesday, that the world is experiencing a “critical” moment for security. “Russian President Vladimir Putin is preparing not for peace, but for more war. That is why we have to support Ukraine, ”he recalled. Stoltenberg has also referred to the accession of Finland and Sweden to the Alliance: “We are making progress”, he said. Next week, the Secretary General recalled, a meeting will be held in Brussels. “Both Finland and Sweden have fulfilled their promise to Turkey in Madrid last year,” he added.

In the photograph, which is Anatoly Stepanov For France Presse, a Ukrainian soldier washes his hands in a puddle on Monday in the town of Ugledar, in Donetsk (eastern Ukraine), in the middle of the front line.