Day 382 of the invasion of Ukraine. Summary of key events in the last 24 hours:

• Kyiv reported over 220 Russian soldiers killed in the last 24 hours
• Russia carried out 12 air strikes and 5 missile strikes on Ukrainian territory
• Russian forces are 1.2 km from the administrative center of Bakhmut, according to Prigozhin
• Kuleba: If we withdraw from Bakhmut, what will that change?
• Prigozhin: I am running for president of Ukraine in 2024

Kyiv reported over 220 Russian soldiers killed in the last 24 hours

221 Russian soldiers have been killed and more than 300 wounded in the past 24 hours in fighting in Bakhmut, in eastern Ukraine, said Ukrainian military spokesman Serhiy Cherevaty. Russia's Defense Ministry, for its part, noted that up to 210 Ukrainian soldiers were killed in the wider Donetsk front line. Reuters notes that these claims could not be confirmed by an independent source.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba told the German publication Bild am Sonntag that Ukraine will continue to defend the city of Bakhmut and called on Germany to send more ammunition to the country and start training Ukrainian pilots to fly Western fighter jets. According to him, the shortage of ammunition is the number one problem for the attempts of the Ukrainian forces to repel the Russian invasion.

In his late video address, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Russia is synonymous with terror and said that the introduction of sanctions against Russia-linked gambling businesses in Ukraine is shutting down schemes worth tens of billions of hryvnias. He promised that this would not be the last such measure:

"We are introducing a new sanction measure against individuals and legal entities connected to the evil state. The relevant decree has been promulgated. We are talking about more than 280 companies and 120 individuals who, through gambling business schemes, worked against Ukraine, withdrew funds from our country and financed various Russian combinations. The decision took some time to prepare, it is detailed and closes schemes worth tens of billions.”

Meanwhile, Russian Patriarch Kirill called on Pope Francis and other religious leaders to persuade Ukraine to stop its campaign against the Russian-linked church in Ukraine.

On Friday, Kyiv ordered the Ukrainian Orthodox Church to leave a monastery complex it occupies. Kirill strongly supports the Russian invasion of Ukraine. And the Ukrainian Orthodox Church claims that it has severed its ties with Russia and the Moscow Patriarchate and that it is the victim of a political witch hunt. Most of the Ukrainian Orthodox belong to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, which was created four years ago by the union of church branches independent of Moscow.

Pope Francis has expressed his desire to visit Ukraine, but only on the condition that he will also be able to travel to Russia, DPA reported. "Either I will go to both places, or to neither of them," said the Holy Father in an interview with the Argentine newspaper "La Nacion".

According to him, the war in Ukraine can only be ended through dialogue and concrete peace initiatives. In his public appearances, the Pope regularly speaks about the suffering of Ukrainians. For diplomatic reasons, however, he rarely specifically mentions Russia when he talks about it.

Russia carried out 12 air strikes and 5 missile strikes on Ukrainian territory

Over the past 24 hours, Russian forces have carried out 12 air strikes and 5 missile strikes on Ukrainian territory. The information is from the General Staff of Kyiv.

According to Moscow, several settlements in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic have been subjected to Ukrainian shelling. There is no independent confirmation of these data.

"Today I would like to express support to our cities and communities subjected to 24/7 brutal terrorist attacks by an evil state. Kherson and the region where the occupiers are avenging their loss. Zaporizhzhia, the cities of Donetsk and Luhansk regions that Russia is trying to level with the land. Kharkiv and the region," said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Russian forces are 1.2 km from the administrative center of Bakhmut, according to Prigozhin

The founder of the private military company "Wagner" Yevgeny Prigozhin announced that the Russian forces are located 1.2 km from the administrative center of the city of Bakhmut, TASS reported.

"There, around the five-story buildings, where smoke is coming from - this is the building of the municipal administration, the administrative center of the city. It is a kilometer and two hundred meters away," Prigozhin said in a video from the positions of the Russian forces in Bakhmut, uploaded today to a channel on the social network Telegram.

The British Ministry of Defense in its daily intelligence briefing on the fighting in Ukraine also reported advances by Russian forces in Bakhmut, but at the cost of heavy losses, which is why, according to the department, Russian troops will hardly be able to sustain the pace of the storming of the city, the Associated Press reported. pres.

According to reports in London, Wagner fighters have taken over most of East Bakhmut, with the front line now running along the river that runs through the center of the city.

The British Ministry notes that it will be difficult for the private military company's forces to advance further because Ukraine has destroyed all the main bridges over the river, not least because of Ukrainian sniper fire from fortified buildings on the west bank of the river.

Ukrainian forces, for their part, as well as their supply routes, remain highly vulnerable "due to continued Russian attempts to outflank the city's defenders from the north and south," the briefing said. It is added that the purpose of this maneuver of the Russian forces is to catch the Ukrainians "in a pincer".

Russian military bloggers and pro-Kremlin Telegram profiles reported yesterday that Russian forces had infiltrated the territory of a metalworking plant in northwestern Bakhmut.

The Washington think tank Institute for the Study of War released geolocation footage last night showing Russian forces within 800 meters of the facility, which is called AZOM and is a heavily built and fortified complex.

According to the institute, Moscow's apparent focus on capturing the plant, rather than "surrounding West Bakhmut" by trying to capture surrounding villages, is likely to lead to a new wave of Russian casualties.

Kuleba: If we withdraw from Bakhmut, what will that change?

Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said today that Ukraine will continue to defend the city of Bakhmut, Reuters reported.

"If we pull out of Bakhmut, what will that change? Russia will capture Bakhmut and then continue its offensive against Chasov Yar, so any city after Bakhmut could suffer the same fate."

Asked how long Ukrainian forces could hold out in the city, Kuleba declined to give a specific answer, comparing them to people defending their homes against an attacker who is trying to kill them and take everything they have.

The minister called on Germany to send more ammunition to Ukraine and to start training Ukrainian pilots to fly Western fighter jets, Reuters reported.

Kuleba told the German publication Bild am Sonntag that the shortage of ammunition is the number one problem for Ukrainian forces trying to repel the Russian invasion.

He said German arms manufacturers told him at the Munich Security Conference last month that they were ready to supply ammunition but were waiting for the government to conclude contracts.

"So the problem is with the government," Kuleba said.

He made it clear that he does not expect Western allies to give Ukraine the fighter jets that Kyiv wants any time soon. But Kuleba said Ukrainian pilots must be trained to fly Western planes to be ready when the decision is made.

"If Germany trains Ukrainian pilots, it would be a clear signal of its political commitment," added Kuleba.

Prigozhin: I am running for president of Ukraine in 2024

“I am running for president of Ukraine in 2024.”

This was announced by the head of the private military company "Wagner" Yevgeny Prigozhin in a short video

"I have decided in 2024 to run for president of Ukraine. I will compete with Poroshenko and Zelensky. If I win this election, everything will be fine, children. We will not need shells."

According to the adviser to the Ukrainian interior minister, Anton Gerashchenko, Prigozhin's goal is "to divert attention from his political ambitions in Russia, where he dreams of coming to power and even becoming Putin's successor."

Despite the successes of the "musicians" near Bakhmut, the sacrifices they have been forced to make in the last seven months in their attempts to capture the medium-sized city are enormous.

Most experts are of the opinion that the occupation of Bakhmut will not bring much of a military strategic advantage for a subsequent penetration into Donetsk, and will only help to strengthen Prigozhin's position in Russia. While elsewhere in Ukraine, the Russian offensive is faltering.

The latest comment about the "projectiles" is an obvious jab at the official leaders of the Russian campaign in Ukraine - Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and General Valery Gerasimov.

A few weeks ago, Prigozhin openly accused Shoigu and Gerasimov of deliberately subjecting his mercenaries to "shell starvation."

The response of the Ministry of Defense - "Wagner" receives enough ammunition and even steals the resources of the regular Russian troops, which in turn led to the failure of the Russian offensive near Vuhledar.

Prigozhin said he wants to run for president of Ukraine in 2024

This statement is intended to divert attention from his political ambitions in Russia, where he dreams of coming to power and possibly being Putin's successors pic.twitter.com/sSGEXUUcDO

— Anton Gerashchenko (@Gerashchenko_en) March 11, 2023

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