Russia-Ukraine war latest updates: Moscow removes Sergei Surovikin as top war commander
Russia’s defense minister abruptly replaced his commanding general in Ukraine, in an apparent nod to the battlefield setbacks that have hobbled Moscow’s wider military campaign in recent months.
In Soledar in eastern Ukraine, both sides sought to control the narrative of a bloody fight for the salt mining town near the fiercely contested city of Bakhmut, where a Russian advance could give Moscow a symbolic win. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky dismissed claims that Russian or Wagner Group fighters had seized the town and said the battle continues. U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said he could not corroborate reports that Soledar was under Russian control.
Here’s the latest on the war and its ripple effects across the globe.
3. From our correspondents
According to additional Finance Ministry figures published by Russian business newspaper RBC, Moscow’s annual budget expenditure also shot up by nearly 26 percent in 2022, apparently driven by military costs. The figures provide Russia’s own sobering measure of the economic costs of President Vladimir Putin’s decision to invade Ukraine, which the Kremlin has sought to minimize. The costs, in blood and treasure, are mounting and expected to rise even further in 2023.