Ukraine war briefing: forces rebuilding for counter-offensives, says Ukrainian general | Russia

The Ukrainian military will stabilise the battlefield situation shortly and aims to form units for counter-offensive actions later this year, according to Lt Gen Oleksandr Pavliuk, commander of ground forces. He said work was under way to withdraw military units and restore their combat potential. Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has previously said Russia will try to mount a new offensive this spring or summer, but Kyiv has a battlefield plan of its own.

Ukrainian military spokesperson Dmytro Lykhoviy told national television on Wednesday that Russian forces were unable to gain new ground near Avdiivka. The Russians were instead focusing on an area to the south, near the village of Novomykhailivka. Maksym Zhorin, a Ukrainian commander in the area, also said Russian forces were having difficulty making headway. Their latest target was the village of Orlivka. “They are constantly attempting to advance and make progress wherever possible. Despite significant losses, they persist in launching assaults, both day and night.”

Sweden on Thursday becomes the 32nd member of Nato – a development entirely due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. On a visit to Washington, Sweden’s prime minister, Ulf Kristersson, and foreign minister, Tobias Billstrom, are due to hand over final Nato accession documents to US representatives in the coming days. It is Sweden’s last step in a two-year process to join the military alliance.

Britain’s foreign minister, David Cameron, will discuss boosting support for Ukraine in talks with his German counterpart, Annalena Baerbock, in Berlin on Thursday. There may be awkward moments after Russian media published an intercepted online call between senior German military officials that included details about Britain’s operations in Ukraine.

High oil prices, sanctions evasion and state investment are providing Russia with enough resources to fight on in Ukraine at the current intensity for at least two more years, Lithuanian intelligence agencies have said. In a report, they add that Russian intelligence is driving efforts to evade sanctions on its defence industry. Russia is openly supplied with weapons and ammunition by only Iran and North Korea, but China has become its largest supplier of microchips, and the yuan now the main currency for Russia’s international transactions, the intelligence agencies say.

A deadly Russian missile strike on the Ukrainian port city of Odesa appeared to land near Volodymyr Zelenskiy and visiting Greek prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, who described the moment of the bombardment as “intense”. The attack on port infrastructure on Wednesday killed five people and left an unspecified number of wounded, according to Ukraine’s navy. Greece will continue standing by the side of Ukraine, Mitsotakis said.

Britain is prepared to loan Ukraine all frozen Russian central bank assets in the UK on the basis that Russia will be forced to pay reparations to Ukraine at the end of the war, the UK foreign secretary, David Cameron, has said. He said the assets would be used as surety for the payment of the reparations.