(Reuters) – Russian forces carried out sustained attacks on the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut in their quest for a breakthrough in the year-long war, although one U.S. official predicted few short-term territorial gains for Russia.
DIPLOMACY
* The International Criminal Court has a “historic” role to play in bringing justice for crimes committed in the war in Ukraine and ensuring long-term security, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Tuesday after meeting with the ICC’s top prosecutor.
* Colin Kahl, the U.S. under secretary of defense for policy, described the front line in Ukraine as a “grinding slog” and said he did not expect Russia to be able to make significant territorial gains in the near term.
* Ukraine has sent an appeal to the UN and Turkey to start negotiations on extending a grain export deal, but there has been no response, a Ukrainian government source said.
* The Kremlin repeated its position that Russia was open to negotiations to end the Ukraine conflict, but that new “territorial realities” could not be ignored.
* The United States will not hesitate to target China’s companies and individuals with sanctions if it violates U.S. sanctions on Russia over the war, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said.
* Foreign ministers from around the world meet in New Delhi this week in the shadow of the war and U.S.-China tensions.
FIGHTING
* Russian President Vladimir Putin told the FSB domestic security service to step up its activity to counter what he said was increasing espionage and sabotage against Russia by Ukraine and the West.
* A drone crashed near a natural gas distribution station southeast of Moscow on Tuesday in an apparent failed attack 110 km from the Russian capital, the regional governor said.
* A hacking attack caused some Russian regional broadcasters to put out a false warning urging people to take shelter from an incoming missile attack, the emergencies ministry said.
* Russia’s defence ministry said it had carried out air defence drills involving interceptor jets after St. Petersburg’s Pulkovo Airport was forced to suspend all flights on Tuesday for an hour.
* Reuters was not able to verify battlefield reports.
ECONOMY
* Insurers are about to pay state-owned Bangladesh Shipping Corporation (BSC) $22.48 million for its vessel that was hit by a missile during fighting in Ukraine, two officials involved said.
* Russia and the United States bickered over whether Russian fertilizer could be donated to Syria as Moscow heightens complaints about obstacles to its fertilizer shipments before the renewal of a deal allowing Ukraine Black Sea grain exports.
* Russia’s revenues from oil and gas exports dropped by nearly 40% in January as price caps and Western sanctions squeezed the proceeds from Moscow’s most lucrative export, the International Energy Agency said.
ANNIVERSARY
* TIMELINE – Major developments since Russia’s invasion
* Ukraine’s Zelenskiy has defied Putin against the odds
* Putin, secure in power, has set the stage for long war
* A year on, Ukraine and its government have not just survived. They’ve fought back
* Toughened by war’s scars, Kyiv presses on
* Graphics of a year of war in the markets: How the dollar, energy and food prices swirled
* Russian economy holds up but the road back to prosperity may be long
* Moscow’s decades-old gas ties with Europe lie in ruins
* Top brands pull out of Russia, but goods easy to find
* Can U.S. support for Ukraine last?
* External backers pour billions into Ukraine
* How has China stood by ‘no limits’ partner Russia?
* A year into war, older refugees running out of hope
* Life and death in Mariupol – a survivor’s tale of war
* Family mourns Bucha victim who became symbol of war
PODCAST
Learn more about the Ukraine war. Listen to a special episode of the Reuters World News Podcast.
(Compiled by Reuters editors)
