War in Ukraine: Russian advance in Bagmouth, exchange between Zelensky and Macron … What to remember on April 15

Emmanuel Macron and Zelensky debated

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he spoke on Saturday about French President Emmanuel Macron’s visit to China.

Emmanuel Macron visited China last week, where he urged Chinese President Xi Jinping to reason with Russia to end the war in Ukraine.

“I told him about the situation at the front and our intentions to liberate all our territories,” Volodymyr Zelensky wrote on the Telegram app. “I welcomed France’s intention to further strengthen the critical support provided to Ukraine on the battlefield,” he added.

A fatal strike in Soviansk

At least eight people were killed and 21 wounded in Russian missile attacks on the city of Sloviansk in eastern Ukraine on Friday, the governor of the Donetsk region announced.

Pavlo Kirilenko said seven S-300 missiles were launched. “As I speak to you, 21 people have been injured and eight people have been killed,” he told Ukrainian television.

Ukrainian police said 10 buildings were damaged in the attack. Emergency services were at the scene.

Putin eases the mobilization process within the Russian military

Although Russia has not been able to sway Kiev after more than a year of war, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a law this Friday, April 14, 2023, to establish an electronic process to facilitate military enlistment.

The goal, of course, is to make mobilization more effective while Moscow’s military is still skating in Ukraine.

Vladimir Putin signed the law passed this week by the State Duma, the lower house of the Russian parliament, according to a website detailing legislative procedures.

Thanks to this new law, a reservation can be mobilized electronically through the portal of Russian public services or even if the order is given to a third party. Until then, invitations had to be delivered by hand.

Russia says it mobilized 300,000 troops last year to support its “special military operation” in Ukraine. Especially thanks to the mandate to mobilize 300,000 reservations by September 2022, its implementation has been largely chaotic.

Many in Russia are worried about the Kremlin denying it wants to launch a second military wave against Kiev, while the Ukrainian military is preparing a major counteroffensive.

The Russians advanced on Bagmouth

Militants from the Russian mercenary group Wagner have captured two new areas of the Ukrainian city of Bagmouth, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Saturday.

“Heavy fighting continues in the city of Artyomovsk, in the direction of Donetsk,” the ministry said in a daily statement, referring to the place by its Soviet-era name.

“Wagner’s assault units advanced successfully and captured two areas on the northern and southern outskirts of the city.” Russian Army paratrooper units are supporting the advance by holding back Ukrainian forces, the report said.

Reuters could not independently confirm this information. Wagner had led the Russian effort to capture Bagmuth since last summer, the longest and deadliest battle of the war for both sides.

Its leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin, often complained about the lack of regular military support. Britain said on Friday that Ukrainian troops had been forced to hand over part of Baghmut territory as Russia launched a new offensive in the region, with heavy artillery fire over the past two days.

Bagmut, with a pre-war population of about 70,000, has been a prime target for Russia in its winter offensive, which has so far produced meager results despite ground infantry fighting of unequal intensity in Europe since World War II.