UK intelligence says Russia ‘regained some momentum in Battle for Bakhmut’

The sheared nose cone of the Antonov An-225 cargo plane towers over Yevhen Bashynsky.

Affectionately known as the Mriya, or “Dream,” the leviathan plane was the pride of Ukraine and of 38-year-old Bashynsky, one of its pilots.

This is the first time Bashynsky has come back to see what remains of the Mriya.

In the first hours of the war, elite Russian paratroopers descended on the Antonov airfield, a major cargo airport in Hostomel, to the northwest of Kyiv. It was supposed to be an anchor point to attack the capital. The assault did not go as planned. Russian troops inside the airport were encircled, with no chance to bring in reinforcements quickly.

Word soon got out in aviation circles that the Mriya had been damaged in the fighting. When Ukrainian forces retook the airport, the extent of the destruction became clear.

The Security Service of Ukraine said Wednesday that a joint investigation had been launched with the national police into the failure of the former head of the state-owned Antonov company to order the aircraft’s planned evacuation to safety in Germany.

And in May last year, likely sensing the symbolic importance for his country, President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Ukraine would rebuild the plane.

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A delegation of the Football Union of Russia voted at the UEFA Congress elections in Lisbon on Wednesday despite sanctions for the Ukraine invasion, UEFA confirmed to CNN on Thursday.

In February last year, UEFA, the European soccer governing body along with FIFA announced they were suspending all Russian international and club teams from their competitions – including the men’s and women’s Champions League, the men’s Europa League and the men’s UEFA Conference League – “until further notice.”

Russia’s national teams and clubs were in May banned from participating in UEFA competitions, while Russia’s bid to host Euro 2028 or Euro 2032 was ruled ineligible. 

“Yes, a delegation of the Football Union of Russia was present at the UEFA Congress in Lisbon and took part in the voting,” a UEFA spokesperson told CNN, adding that each member association has one vote.

On Wednesday, UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin said the ban on Russian sides from competing in European soccer tournaments would be hard to change “until the war (in Ukraine) stops.

The United Kingdom’s Military Intelligence believe that Russian troops have “regained some momentum in the Battle for Bakhmut” and have “likely advanced into the town centre”. 

Some context: The “most intense battles” are raging for the eastern Ukrainian cities of Bakhmut, Avdiivka and Mariinka, with Ukrainian troops focused on the battered city of Bakhmut to try to exhaust the Russians, the Ukrainian military said Thursday.

Beijing’s “top priority” is to push for a ceasefire and end the war in Ukraine, Chinese leader Xi Jinping told European Union Commission Chief Ursula Von der Leyen and French President Emmanuel Macron during their meeting Thursday, according to the Chinese readout.

Meanwhile, battles continue in parts of eastern Ukraine, the country’s military said Thursday, with Ukrainian troops focused on the battered city of Bakhmut to try to exhaust the Russians.

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Russian prosecutors seek maximum prison term for Kremlin critic: Prosecutors have asked a Moscow court to sentence Kremlin critic Vladimir Kara-Murza to 25 years in prison for criminal offenses that include treason, spreading “fakes” about the Russian army, and facilitating activities of an undesirable organization, Russian state news agency RIA Novosti reported on Thursday. 

No concessions on Crimea, Ukrainian officials say: Senior Ukrainian officials insisted that Kyiv will make zero territorial concessions in its fight against Russia, following remarks from a deputy in the Ukrainian president’s office about the future of Crimea. In comments first reported Wednesday by the Financial Times, Andriy Sybiha said if a Ukrainian counteroffensive pushed Russian forces back to the administrative border with Crimea, “we are ready to open (a) diplomatic page to discuss this issue.”

Russian court to hear US reporter’s arrest appeal: A Moscow court on April 18 will hear an appeal filed by lawyers of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich against his arrest, Russian state media said citing the court. Gershkovich is being held in a pre-trial detention center at the notorious Lefortovo prison until May 29. He faces up to 20 years in prison on espionage charges.

A Moscow court on April 18 will hear an appeal filed by lawyers of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich against his arrest, Russian state media said citing the court.

Gershkovich is being held in a pre-trial detention center at the notorious Lefortovo prison until May 29. He faces up to 20 years in prison on espionage charges.

The Journal has vehemently denied the charge against Gershkovich, describing his arrest as “a vicious affront to a free press” which “should spur outrage in all free people and governments throughout the world.”

Russian shelling left seven people hurt in the Kherson region of southern Ukraine on Thursday evening, the head of the regional military administration said on Telegram.

The strikes hit a series of communities along the Dnipro River near the city of Beryslav, according to the official, Oleksandr Prokudin.

Six people were wounded when a drone dropped explosives on the village of Zmiivka, Prokudin said, and another person was hurt in the nearby settlement of Kozatske.

Medical workers provided emergency treatment and will eventually transfer the injured civilians to a hospital in the larger city of Kherson, according to the regional leader.