Fighting in east Ukraine worsens, top general says

KYIV – Fighting in eastern Ukraine has worsened and Kyiv’s troops have fallen back to new positions in at least three places along the front, Ukraine’s top general said on Sunday.

Russian troops have been steadily advancing in the east, with the focal point of fighting near the town of Chasiv Yar and northwest of Avdiivka, which Russian forces captured in February. Oleksandr Syrskyi said on the Telegram messaging app that his troops had taken up new positions west of the villages of Berdychi and Semenivka, both north of Avdiivka, and Novomykhailivka, further south near the town of Maryinka.

“In general, the enemy achieved certain tactical successes in these areas, but could not gain operational advantages,” he said.

Syrskyi added that freshly rested Ukrainian brigades were being rotated in those areas to replace units that had suffered losses.

Russia’s defense ministry said on Sunday its forces had taken over the village of Novobakhmutivka, near Berdychi, but Ukraine’s military has not commented on the claim.

Russia threatens West with severe response if assets touched

Russian officials threatened the West on Sunday with a “severe” response in the event that frozen Russian assets are confiscated, promising “endless” legal challenges and titfor-tat measures.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Russia would never cede territories seized from Ukraine in exchange for the return of frozen assets.

“Our motherland is not for sale,” Zakharova wrote on Telegram. “Russian assets must remain untouched because otherwise there will be a severe response to Western thievery. Many in the West have already understood this. Alas, not everyone.”

In response to Russia’s war in Ukraine, the United States and its allies prohibited transactions with Russia’s central bank and finance ministry and blocked about $300 billion of sovereign Russian assets in the West, most of which are in European financial institutions.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in a separate comment that there was still a lot of Western money in Russia which could be targeted by Moscow’s counter-measures.

Russia says it destroyed 17 drones launched by Ukraine

Russia’s air defense systems destroyed 17 drones launched by Ukraine over its territory, Russia’s defense ministry said on Sunday, with a regional official saying the attack targeted an oil storage facility in the Kaluga region.

The defense ministry said on Telegram that three of the Ukraine-launched drones were downed over the Kaluga region, south of Moscow.

Vladislav Shapsha, regional governor of Kaluga, said the drones fell near an oil depot near the town of Lyudinovo.