Ukraine live briefing: Russia suffering heavy losses in Bakhmut, Zelensky says - The Washington Post

After talks with U.N. officials in Geneva, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Vershinin said in a statement on Monday that Moscow does not object to another extension — “but only for 60 days,” half the length of the preceding renewal.

The head of the Russian mercenary Wagner Group described the situation in Bakhmut as “very difficult.” In a video message posted Sunday on Telegram, Yevgeniy Prigozhin said, “The closer we are to the city center, the harder the battles, the more artillery works against us, and the more tanks.” Wagner’s “assault squads are coming from multiple directions” in Bakhmut, but Ukraine is causing “significant losses” over the course of “tough battles,” the commander of the Ukrainian ground forces, Oleksandr Syrskyi, said, according to a Facebook post Monday by the Ukrainian Defense Ministry.

Russia’s Defense Ministry said on Telegram that its forces killed more than 220 Ukrainian service members in the eastern Donetsk region in the past day and destroyed several combat vehicles and a long-range artillery piece.

The United States has not yet seen the transfer of lethal assistance of weapons from China to Russia for battlefield use in Ukraine — but is watching carefully, National security adviser Jake Sullivan said, speaking to journalists from Air Force One.

The measures against “those responsible for undermining or threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine” include travel restrictions, asset freezes, and a ban on making economic resources available to the 1,473 individuals and 205 entities listed.

But scientists say the war has also scarred the country’s natural environment — polluting its rivers and lakes, contaminating its soil, eviscerating its forests — a circumstance that experts fear could lead to a long-term increase in cancers and other illnesses among civilians, write Jeff Stein and Michael Birnbaum.