Thai poachers caught cooking tigers sentenced to prison

Park rangers recover tiger pelts and meat on a grill in January 2022.

 Photos: Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation

By Coconuts Bangkok

Mar 7, 2023 | 

Five poachers were sentenced yesterday to nearly five years in jail after they were found near the Thai-Myanmar border cooking tiger meat.

One year after the five men were arrested for killing and cooking Bengal tigers at a campsite in Kanchanaburi province, the Thong Pha Phum Provincial Court convicted them of killing wildlife and sentenced them to four years and nine months in prison.

The hunters were also fined THB11,000 each, but their fines were reduced by half to THB5,500 for their confessions.

The five men were identified as Supachai Charoensub, Chorhang Panarak, Kukua Yindee, Ratchanon Charoensub, and Cho Aye.

In January 2022, they used a cow carcass to lure tigers in the Thong Pha Phum National Park, where they killed two of the big cats and cooked them. Among the items seized from the site were two Bengal tiger pelts, four firearms and nearly 30 other illegal items.

The men were convicted of weapons charges including shooting guns inside a national park, as well as hunting and killing protected wild animals.

Apart from the fine, the quartet was also ordered to pay THB750,000 (US$22,000), plus 5% interest per year, to the Department of National Parks, Wildlife, and Plant Conservation for the damage caused.

Photo: Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation

Undernutrition in mothers rising sharply, UNICEF says


A woman holds a child's hand as they stand in the rain at Camp Roj. (File photo: AFP)

AFP, UN
Published: 07 March ,2023

The number of pregnant women and nursing mothers suffering from undernutrition has increased by 25 percent since 2020 in 12 countries at the epicenter of the world food crisis, the UN children’s agency warned Monday, stressing the impact it is having on children’s health.

The UNICEF report, based on data analysis of women in nearly every country in the world, estimates that more than one billion women and adolescent girls suffer from undernutrition -- which leaves them underweight and of short stature -- and from a deficiency in essential micronutrients as well as from anemia.

Most of them are in the world’s poorest regions, with South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa constituting 68 percent of women and adolescent girls who are underweight and 60 percent of those suffering from anemia.

These nutritional deficiencies have an impact not just on the well-being of the women but also affect their children, said UNICEF, noting that “poor nutrition is passed down through generations.”

Malnutrition increases the risk of neonatal death, but can also “impair fetal development, with lifelong consequences for children’s nutrition, growth, learning and future earning capacity.”

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“Globally, 51 million children under two years are stunted. We estimate that about half of these children become stunted during pregnancy and the first six months of life, when a child is fully dependent on the mother for nutrition,” the UNICEF report said.

It estimates that between 2020 and 2022, the number of pregnant or breastfeeding women suffering from acute malnutrition increased by 25 percent, from 5.5 to 6.9 million, in 12 countries deemed to be in food crisis -- Afghanistan, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Kenya, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Somalia, Sudan, South Sudan, Chad and Yemen.

“Without urgent action from the international community, the consequences could last for generations to come,” said UNICEF chief executive Catherine Russell in a statement.

“To prevent undernutrition in children, we must also address malnutrition in adolescent girls and women,” she said.

UNICEF called for priority to be given to women and girls in terms of access to nutritious food, and to implement mandatory measures to “expand large-scale food fortification of routinely consumed foods such as flour, cooking oil and salt to help reduce micronutrient deficiencies and anemia in girls and women.”

BP’s Plan To Reset Renewables As Oil and Gas Boom

by Anuj Singh
March 8, 2023


Offshore wind turbines | Image: Pixabay


BP Plc, also known as British Petroleum, is rapidly expanding its presence in the renewable energy space. It wishes to exploit the early mover advantage in the net-zero carbon policies race that is taking off in full swing.

Bernard Looney, the CEO of BP, released a layout 36 months ago for its transition from non-renewables to clean energy sources. This plan outsmarted every other competitor in the industry depicting how aggressively Looney is playing.

But, last month, he pulled some strings to halt the move. He aimed to curb its capital expenditure on cleaner energy sources amidst the energy crisis due to the Russia-Ukraine conflict. He even decelerated its planned cuts in oil and gas production.

Anja-Isabel Dotzenrath, BP’s green chief, told a news outlet that the oil major will reassess its clean energy businesses. BP is planning not to sell the clean electricity it’s producing but instead hoarding it to supply it to its expanding electric vehicle charging network and to produce low-carbon fuels like propane, biomass, etc.

Dotzenrath revealed some figures of BP’s revamping process amidst worsening net profits from the clean energy power production division. She told Reuters that the company plans to hold on to 80 percent of the generated power to supply the future to its EV charging network and produce greener fuels.

She further added that BP would move forward with the construction of some projects under its long-term contracts of conventional power supply. She didn’t mention any timeframe for the transition showcasing the major dependence of BP’s renewable energy production on the power transmitted by power grids.

Deal with Equinor

Few sources knowing the matter told Reuters that the company’s transition plans had shifted the management’s attention to the flagship US offshore wind farm joint venture with Norway’s Equinor.

In recent weeks, Dotzenrath and other BP executives have had multiple meetings with people from Equinor in London. The main agenda of BP has been to gain more influence in the venture, said two BP and three Equinor sources, who wished to remain anonymous.

It is to be noticed that BP is very aggressively deploying its workforce to work out the Norway-based joint venture. Sources from Equinor revealed that out of a total of 270 people, more than 20 people had been assigned to work on this project.

Dotzenrath commented that these are one-of-a-kind, very complex mega projects that will require BP’s assistance to Equinor in delivering these projects. She also said that they are happy with the progress in developing the joint venture project.

 
Reality Check

In 2020, when BP made this deal to put in $1.1 billion for a 50 per cent stake in this offshore wind venture, it was evident that it was relying on Equinor’s expertise as it had more than a decade’s experience in this sector.

But in two years, BP has ditched its style of nurturing leaders in-house by massively hiring skilled workforce from firms operating in the renewables space. This method is widely known as poaching as well. It onboarded senior officials like Dotzenrath, the CEO of RWE Renewables in Germany and a chief for offshore wind management from Orsted.

It came as an utter surprise to all the stakeholders when BP decided not to participate alongside Equinor in the auction of a floating wind project off the coast of California. Floating offshore wind is an expensive new-age budding technology compared to fixed turbines.
Conflict of Numbers

BP’s prediction of its average core earnings for 2030 from oil and gas increased by $10 billion up to $42.5 billion over the last year and $1.5 billion to $11 billion from its energy transition businesses.

It is eyeing an ROI of 15 per cent on bioenergies like biogas combined with EV charging retail outlets. Under the current business models, returns from renewables are somewhat slower at a rate of 8 per cent, and there are some outliers, like Hydrogen bringing in 15 per cent.

 

China urges Japan not to arbitrarily discharge nuclear-contaminated water

(Xinhua) March 07, 2023

VIENNA, March 6 (Xinhua) -- Two Chinese officials on Monday urged Japan not to arbitrarily start discharging nuclear-contaminated water from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station into the Pacific Ocean.

Liu Jing, deputy director of the China Atomic Energy Authority, told a meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Board of Governors that Japan's nuclear-contaminated water discharge plan is not the country's private matter, but concerns the global marine environment and public health.

Liu said the IAEA has neither completed its assessment of Japan's disposal plan nor drawn specific conclusions, and all its three reports published so far pointed out the plan's non-compliance with the agency's safety standards and suggested improvement.

However, Japan has arbitrarily approved its own plan and expedited the construction of discharge facilities, ignoring the authoritative advice from the IAEA and the opposition from both home and abroad, Liu said, calling Japan's move "an extremely irresponsible act that has drawn grave concerns from the international community and relevant countries."

Noting that China supports the IAEA's work on Japan's discharge plan, the Chinese nuclear official said he hopes the agency will continue to perform its duties in an objective and impartial manner, listen to the opinions of stakeholders, strictly implement the agency's safety standards and international good practices, and help the international community ensure absolute safety.

Liu stressed that Japan's plan to dump contaminated water into the ocean is not the only feasible way of disposal, and Japan should not use the assessment from the IAEA technical task force as a free pass on its discharge plan.

He urged Japan not to distort the reports of the IAEA task force to justify its discharge plan, nor ignore the authoritative suggestion from the task force, nor set a deadline for the release of the task force's final assessment report.

Noting that the disposal of the contaminated water will span a long time and involve many uncertainties, he said that Japan should allow effective international supervision on the water disposal, address the legitimate concerns of its neighbors and Pacific island countries, and hold meaningful consultations with stakeholders.

Li Song, China's permanent representative to the United Nations in Vienna, also decried Japan's "extremely irresponsible act" of pushing ahead with its discharge plan despite international opposition.

Li urged Japan to respond to the concerns of the international community and refrain from arbitrarily discharging contaminated water into the ocean.

Such water disposal is a highly controversial issue that needs to be seriously and prudently addressed by the international community and IAEA member states, the Chinese envoy said.

Instead of endorsing Japan's discharge plan, the IAEA should maintain its scientific, impartial and transparent approach and lead the establishment of a long-term international monitoring system that involves laboratories and experts from China and other stakeholders, he said.

China will participate in the relevant work of the IAEA with a strong sense of responsibility, Li said.

One of India’s trash mountains is on fire again and residents are choking on its toxic fumes

By Rhea Mogul, CNN
 Tue March 7, 2023

Firefighters work to put out a blaze at the Brahmapuram plant landfill in Kochi, India.

Reuters

CNN —

Firefighters in the southern Indian city of Kochi were toiling Tuesday to control toxic fumes from spreading after a landfill burst into flames five days ago, cloaking the area in a thick haze and choking residents.

The towering Brahmapuram landfill in Kerala state is the country’s latest trash mountain to catch fire, causing dangerous heat and methane emissions, and adding to India’s growing climate challenges.

VIDEO
She lives near a landfill. Now she has to bathe in salt water

Authorities advised residents in the city of more than 600,000 to remain indoors or wear N95 face masks if they head outside. Schools were forced to close on Monday as a result of the pollution, officials said.

The blaze broke out last Thursday, according to Kerala’s fire department. The cause has not been established, but landfill fires can be triggered by combustible gases from disintegrating garbage. Images and video released by officials showed workers racing to extinguish the billowing flames that sent thick plumes of toxic smoke rising high into the sky.

While the fire has been largely put out, a thick cloud of smoke and methane gas continues to cover the area, reducing visibility and the city’s air quality, while emitting a lingering, pungent odor.

Some firefighters had fainted from the fumes, the fire department said.

Kerala’s top court said it will take up the case on Tuesday.

A thick, toxic haze has cloaked the area, choking residents.Reuters

India creates more methane from landfill sites than any other country, according to GHGSat, which monitors emissions via satellites. Methane is the second most abundant greenhouse gas after carbon dioxide – but it is a more potent contributor to the climate crisis because it traps more heat.

As part of his “Clean India” initiative, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said efforts are being made to remove these mountains of garbage and convert them into green zones. That goal, if achieved, could relieve some of the suffering of those residents living in the shadows of these enormous dump sites – and help the world lower its greenhouse gas emissions.

VIDEO
Devotees bathe in sacred river covered in toxic foam

But while India wants to lower its methane output, it hasn’t joined the 150 countries that have signed up to the Global Methane Pledge, a pact to collectively cut global emissions by at least 30% from 2020 levels by 2030. Scientists estimate the reduction could cut global temperature rise by 0.2% – and help the world reach its target of keeping global warming under 1.5 degrees Celsius.

India says it won’t join because most of its methane emissions come from farming – some 74% from farm animals and paddy fields versus less than 15% from landfill.

In 2021, India’s environment minister Ashwini Choubey said pledging to reduce the country’s total methane output could threaten the livelihood of farmers and impact the economy. But environmentalists say the country is facing a dire climate challenge from its steaming mounds of trash.
India’s trash mountains

Brahmapuram is just one of some 3,000 Indian landfills overflowing with decaying waste and emitting toxic gases.

Commissioned in 2008, the landfill is spread across 16 acres, according to a 2020 report from the International Urban Cooperation, a European Union program.

The landfill receives about 100 metric tons of plastic waste each day, the study added, of which only about 1% is suitable for recycling. The remaining 99% is dumped as a heap at the site, the study said, calling it a “menace for the municipal corporation.”

“The plastic dump at Brahmapuram is increasing in size day by day,” it said. “It has seen several fires over the past few years, thus polluting the air and the environment.”

Despite its growing size and threats, the landfill is not India’s largest. The Deonar dumping ground in the western coastal city of Mumbai, which stands at some 18 stories high, claims the top spot.

Deonar has also seen sporadic fires break out, enveloping about a million residents in the nearby Chembur, Govandi and Mankhurd suburbs.

A trash heap 62 meters high shows the scale of India's climate challenge

There is no formal processing of waste in most Indian cities, according to the government’s Central Pollution Board. Rag pickers from nearby slums often trek up the towering mounds and scour through the waste for a few cents per day, but they are not trained in properly segregating it.

In some cases, the trash is simply burned in open dump yards on the roads.

Last year, firefighters worked for days to extinguish flames after a fire broke out at Delhi’s Ghazipur landfill – the capital city’s largest.

Standing at 65 meters (213 feet), it is nearly as tall as the historic Taj Mahal, becoming a landmark in its own right and an eyesore that towers over surrounding homes, affecting the health of people who live there.

And methane emissions aren’t the only hazard that stem from the landfill. Over decades, dangerous toxins have seeped into the ground, polluting the water supply for thousands living nearby.

At Bhalswa, one of Delhi’s other large landfills, residents have complained of deep, painful skin gashes and respiratory issues from years of living near the hazardous mound.

Smoke billows from burning garbage at the Bhalswa landfill in New Delhi, India, April 27, 2022.Adnan Abidi/Reuters

In a 2019 report, the Indian government recommended ways to improve the country’s solid waste management, including formalizing the recycling sector and installing more compost plants in the country.

While some improvements have been made, such as better door-to-door garbage collection and processing of waste, India’s landfills continue to grow in size.

And as the country is expected to soon overtake China as the the world’s most populous nation, climate experts fear time to act upon the issue is running out.

 

Putin’s African Dream -part 2

The Geopolitical Handbook offers an insight into a number of issues in the current Russia-African relations. It documents views and opinions on some aspects of the relations, and simultaneously tries to pose questions in relation to foreign players on the geopolitical fields in Africa. Admittedly, Africa has become competitive but still continues attracting external players to significant sectors.

In this context, Russia undoubtedly needs to adopt its approaches and mechanisms necessary for driving effective cooperation in order to take the relations to the next level in the new changing conditions of world politics and economics. What steps are needed to give a new impetus to bilateral economic relations? What are the key initiatives and competencies that can create a deeper strategic partnership between Russia and Africa?

Available here

Category: Geopolitical Handbooks

Why the West Should Consider Some of Putin’s Claims

BY DANA E. ABIZAID

 MARCH 7, 2023
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As the grim one-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine neared last month, President Biden and Vladimir Putin gave competing speeches laying the blame for the tragedy at each other’s feet. The western press showed great analytical skill in breaking down Putin’s speech for falsehoods and half-truths. The same can’t be said of Biden’s speech. Although the western press fact checks and criticizes much of Biden’s domestic policy, mainstream journalists applaud rather than analyze his pro-war rhetoric. Accordingly, the BBC chided the Russian President by stating, “Truth was an early casualty of Mr Putin’s lengthy speech”, while praising Biden for his strong statement that autocrats only understand: “No, no, no!”

This type of white hat vs. black hat narrative makes for good copy and confirms western stereotypes.  If peace is going to prevail, however, a more nuanced examination of Russia’s response to US political and military meddling in Ukraine is needed. This should also include a more honest analysis of NATO expansion eastward and a sober look at the threat that far-right Ukrainian militias pose for Europe.

In this sense, it would be beneficial to lean on one of the main lessons former Secretary of Defense, Robert McNamara, outlined in Errol Morris’s 2003 documentary, The Fog of War. Regarding the peaceful resolution of the Cuban Missile Crisis, McNamara explained that it was essential for President Kennedy to empathize with the enemy. More specifically, McNamara urged that when confronting the enemy “[we] must try to put ourselves inside their skin and look at us through their eyes just to understand the thoughts that lie behind their decisions and their actions.” Taking this radical but simple step helped Kennedy and Khrushchev step back from the edge of nuclear annihilation. With rising tensions between the US and Russia again threatening the specter of nuclear Armageddon, Biden should consider McNamara’s advice.

This, of course, would demand that the US government and media objectively listen to some of Putin’s claims. Given the historic climate of mistrust between the West and Russia, this is an admittedly big ask. But when Putin outlines US involvement in the crisis that led to the Ukrainian Civil War, he is providing essential context that both Washington and western journalists leave out. Still, given the fact that in late 2013 John McCain was rallying the masses on Kyiv’s Maidan Square, it’s hard to deny US interference. Furthermore, a leaked 2014 conversation between State Department official, Victoria Nuland, and Ambassador to Ukraine, Geoffrey Pyatt, clearly highlights US kingmaking attempts in Ukraine. Is it too much to ask how this was perceived by Putin and the Russians?

Or how about Putin’s claims that the “Special Military Operation” is designed to de-militarize and de-Nazify Ukraine? Even before last February’s invasion, the US was responsible for 90% of Ukraine’s military aid, including lethally effective Javelin anti-tank missiles. As far back as 2014, Lt. General Ben Hodges, former commander of the US Army in Europe, stated that “First and foremost, U.S. military aid represents a physical manifestation of American support, which is essential.” Exposure to such facts, combined with knowledge of NATO expansion since 1991, might provide insight into how this threat is perceived by Russians.

Presented in this context, the question of who provoked the war in Ukraine could be seen in a new light.  Nearly ten years ago, the Associated Press’s Matt Lee pressed State Department Spokesman, John Kirby, precisely on this issue. “Is it not logical to look at this and say the reason that the Russian army is at NATO’s doorstep is because NATO has expanded rather than the Russian’s expanding? In other words, NATO has moved closer to Russia rather the Russian’s moving closer to NATO.” When Kirby responded that “NATO is not an anti-Russian alliance”, Lee countered, “[F]or 50 years it was an anti-Soviet alliance…Do you not understand how, or can you not even see how, the Russians would perceive it as a threat?”

Regarding denazification, prior to Russia’s invasion, the western press had reported assiduously on the rise of far-right militias within Ukraine’s military ranks. Numerous articles, many focused on the Azov Battalion, appeared in the Guardian, BBC, and Reuters detailing the disturbing xenophobia and antisemitism espoused by these extremists. One particularly frightening investigation by Time correspondent Simon Shuster quoted militia members claiming that “We are Aryans and will rise again” and “Being tolerant to LGBT people, this not natural. This is brainwashing.”  On this note, Putin’s recent speech repeated that there is a fascist presence in Ukraine and that “the West will use anybody – terrorists, neo-Nazis – if they fulfill its aims” of fighting against Russia.

Shuster’s report takes on greater significance in light of increasing attacks by neo-Nazi groups worldwide. In 2018, The Guardian reported that the outgoing head of UK counter-terrorism policing, Mark Rowley, revealed that four far-right terror plots had been foiled in 2017 and extreme right groups linked to Ukraine were seeking to build international networks. Since the US has a history of allying with radical groups, it’s worth remembering the devastating consequences of such alliances. One might recall Zbigniew Brzezinksi, President Carter’s National Security Advisor, proudly claiming, “We created the mujahedeen”. Besides the short-term goal of driving the Soviets from Afghanistan, this “creation” also led to the emergence of the Taliban, the September 11 attacks and the ensuing US “War on Terror”. This is not to say that Ukraine will become a failed state like Afghanistan and fertile ground for neo-Nazi groups, but considering this possibility might shed light on Russia’s goal to denazify the Ukrainian military.

The war in Ukraine is the tragic consequence of Russian aggression. But trying to understand the reasons why the Russian government took the decision to invade might help defuse the conflict. Since the West’s current plan of escalation promises more destruction of Ukraine and its people, as well as the threat of nuclear holocaust, following McNamara’s advice and trying to see the conflict through Russian eyes, is an important first step toward negotiating peace.

Dana E. Abizaid teaches European History at the Istanbul International Community School.

Ukrainian 'boy on the bridge' turned army cook dreams of becoming professional chef

Sky News' Stuart Ramsay first met Serhiy Petrushenko when he was guarding a bridge by himself in Kyiv at the start of the war. Now the pair reunite, with Mr Petrushenko having changed both physically and mentally as a result of the ongoing war.

Stuart Ramsay
Chief correspondent @ramsaysky
Saturday 11 March 2023 

We'd been worrying about Serhiy Petrushenko, a 21-year-old boy we met guarding a bridge in central Kyiv completely on his own on the second day of the war.

He became an overnight sensation after our report, the interview was watched well over 50 million times on social media alone



When we spoke to him his fear was honest, visceral and compelling, and his concern for his family - whose village was already surrounded by Russian soldiers - was so vivid, even on film.

We've been thinking about him ever since.

Like so many people at the time, Serhiy thought that the Russians were coming, and he was going to die.

Within hours of our broadcast Sky News was inundated with people asking for more information.

And those messages of concern for the boy on the bridge, as we know him, continue today. So we asked the Ukrainian military if they could confirm he was alive and help us find him.

It took them over two months to track him down. To be fair, it's a tough ask in the chaos of war, but they did at least confirm he was alive.

This week I met Serhiy again, he's working as an army cook. We shook hands and later hugged.



To this day he can't really believe how he has become so well known, how hundreds of people still write to him every day, and how he has invitations to visit them after the war… from Finland to Hawaii.

"Hundreds of people, hundreds of people on social media text me every day. Every day they ask me about my family, how I am doing," he told me.

"I tried to reply to all the messages individually but in the end I just couldn't."

We met in a field kitchen next to the woods in the Kyiv region as he was preparing lunch for soldiers training for battle.

"The first time we met, I was not cooking at that time, but a few months ago, I came to where I belong, to the kitchen. And, for months I've been cooking for my soldiers in many places."

It's an unheralded job but incredibly important - soldiers can't fight if they are hungry.





It's also inspired him to dream. After the war Serhiy wants to travel to Italy, sample the cuisine, and maybe even train to be a professional chef.

He says he has grown up quickly over the last 12 months. "I feel older, and I look older since you met me," he said smiling and laughing.

We met at the start of the war by chance, to be honest.

On a whim we decided to film the many bridges that cross into the heart of Kyiv, and the pedestrian bridge we spotted as we drove by was perfect.

With his rifle in his arms, Serhiy walked towards us to ask us what we were doing. We explained and he said we could film but that he had to stay and watch us.

He was a nice kid, and as we finished filming, I asked without any expectation of agreement if we could interview him.

We didn't speak for long, but his story resonated with people around the world.

He seemed somewhat bemused as to what use he could actually be as he had only fired 16 rounds in his life.

That number is now between 50 and 60, he says. But he prefers cooking.

Serhiy's home village in the Sumy region was liberated by the Ukrainian forces after being taken by Russia, and he says his parents and grandparents are all well.

Serhiy Petrushenko speaking to his mother Lyudmyla Petrushenko

"I'm lucky that my family's fine. My relatives, my friends, they are fine. But when they occupied my village, some people got hurt, some people were killed."

Like many here, he is convinced Ukraine will win.

"People are very determined to defend the country… we will eventually push them [Russia] back to their borders, maybe even forward. Yeah, they will not win."

WORDS FROM SERHIY PETRUSHENKO'S MOTHER - LYUDMYLA PETRUSHENKO

Unfortunately, not everyone in Ukraine can watch Sky News, but my son's story was published on Facebook and people were saying to me 'Oh, that's your Serhiy all over the Internet!'

Like me, they were worried that he was there alone on watch.

We were worried then, and we still worry now because these days a rocket can land anywhere.

When I hear stories about strikes, I start crying out of worry for my son.

When we were under occupation at the start of the war it was terrifying. We live very close to the border, and I understood that at 4am the war started.

At 8am I went to the shop I was working at, and I saw a lot of Russian military vehicles on the road. It was so loud, and we were so scared. Tanks and armoured personnel carriers – we couldn't believe our eyes.

We stay in touch with our son all the time because we worry, and of course he worries about us too.

I miss him so much. You can't even imagine how much.

 

In truth I never thought Serhiy was really cut out for fighting and frankly, nor did he.

But he's not scared anymore and says he will keep feeding "his boys", as he calls the soldiers.

The boy on the bridge is a man now.

War in Ukraine: Why Bakhmut is the focus of one of the conflict's bloodiest battles

By Valerii Nozhin • Updated: 11/03/2023 -

A Ukrainian tank fires towards Russian positions on the front line near Bakhmut, Ukraine, Wednesday, March 8, 2023 - Copyright AP/Copyright 2023 The AP. All rights reserved.

Heavy and persistent fighting over the Ukrainian town of Bakhmut in the Donetsk region has lasted more than seven months. According to local authorities, 60% of the city has been destroyed. Both Moscow and Kyiv claim the other side has suffered heavy losses.

In February, Western observers began to speculate that Ukrainian forces might abandon the defence of Bakhmut, and focus instead on launching their own counteroffensives. But why is the battle for Bakhmut still raging on?
Is Bakhmut strategically important?

Russia's initial attacks on Bakhmut may have been part of a wider plan to encircle Ukrainian army units near Kramatorsk and Slovyansk, according to Western analysts.

Sustained shelling of the eastern city began in mid-May last year, followed by a series of battles for control of its roads.

Moscow's assault on the city is believed to have begun on 1 August. But just three weeks later, the offensive appeared to run out of steam, and between September and October, Ukraine conducted a successful counteroffensive in the Kharkiv region, before reaching the Russian border.

After that, Russian military commanders appeared to lose interest in Bakhmut. But by then, troops on both sides were already bogged down in stubborn battles for the city.

'It's hard to defend,' says Ukrainian soldier as the battle for Bakhmut intensifies

"Unfortunately, what happens, it's like Verdun, once a lot of people start dying for a place, it doesn't really matter. You've got blood capital already spent," explained Patrick Bury, Associate Professor at the University of Bath.

"And then because of that spend of blood it becomes politically significant. Once people start attacking and need a win, it takes on a whole little world of its own," he told Euronews.
What does Bakhmut mean for Moscow?

For Russia, Bakhmut is a theoretical opportunity to declare victory, to "compensate" for military setbacks suffered last year. Indeed, in December, Ukrainian and Western observers reported that Bakhmut had become Moscow's main target and that it had deployed significant manpower in a bid to capture it.

Russia's Defence Minister, Sergei Shoigu, called Bakhmut the key to a further offensive in the Donbas. But Western experts doubt that Russia will have the capacity to build on its success if the city is taken.

"The Russians haven't demonstrated that they're good at doing breakthroughs yet in the way that Ukraine has," Bury explained.

"The Russian logistics are pretty poor, right? So if they do break through, they'll be slowed down anyway by their logistical problems, which existed before this," he added.
What does Bakhmut mean to Kyiv?

For Ukraine, Bakhmut has become a symbol of heroic resistance. Kyiv points out that prolonged fighting near the city has pinned down many Russian troops, preventing Moscow from conducting offensive operations elsewhere while inflicting heavy losses in manpower and equipment on Russian forces.

A Ukrainian serviceman who recently returned from the trenches of Bakhmut smokes a cigarette in Chasiv Yar, Ukraine, Wednesday, March 8, 2023.

Evgeniy Maloletka/Copyright 2020 The AP. All rights reserved

NATO estimates that five Russians are being killed in Bakhmut for every Ukrainian casualty.

"What's really going on is the Ukrainians are using it as a defensive battle, basically a set-piece battle at this stage to inflict the highest amount of casualties on the Russian attackers at the lowest possible cost to themselves before unleashing a counter-punch or two against Russia at a time of Ukraine's choice and also a place of their choosing," Bury, told Euronews.

Zelenskyy vows 'not to retreat' from Ukrainian city Bakhmut

Prigozhin and Defence Ministry Conflict

Russia's battle for Bakhmut also includes a unique dimension. Yevgeny Prigozhin's Wagner PMC mercenaries have played a key role in Russia's quest for the city.

The businessman is, in fact, in open conflict with the leadership of the Russian armed forces, to the point of exchanging insults with the head of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov.

Handout photo taken from video released by Prigozhin Press Service on Friday, March 3, 2023, Yevgeny Prigozhin, the owner of the Wagner Group military company,

AP/PRIGOZHIN PRESS SERVICE

Experts claim Prigozhin's ambitions could be one factor as to why the battle for Bakhmut rages on.
Russian paramilitary Wagner group taking 'tactical pause' in Bakhmut
Ukraine war: Russia's Wagner Group claims full control of eastern Bakhmut districts

"It came to prominence when Wagner [...] really came to power and sort of said, 'we'll do this, we'll show you how to win. The Russian army is incompetent and we'll do it!' And then they throw everything at [it]," Bury told Euronews.

Now success or failure at Bakhmut could determine the fate of the PMCs and Prigozhin himself.

Head of Russia’s Wagner group suggests 'betrayal' may be behind lack of ammunition for his forces in Bakhmut

Yevgeny Prigozhin says group trying to figure out reason for delay in shipments

6/03/2023 
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The head of Russia’s Wagner mercenary group said Monday that he wrote a letter to the commander of Moscow’s “special military operation” in Ukraine on the need for ammunition for the group’s forces in the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut.

"On March 3, I wrote a letter to the commander of the grouping of the special military operation about the urgent need to allocate ammunition,” Yevgeny Prigozhin said on Telegram.

Prigozhin’s latest message came a day after he suggested a possible "betrayal" was behind delays in shipments of ammunition for the group’s forces in the fiercely contested city.

“Documents were signed on Feb. 22 in the evening and orders were given for shipment on Feb. 23, but most of the ammunition has not yet been shipped. For now, we are trying to figure out the reason -- the usual bureaucracy or a betrayal,” he said.

In a separate video message on the Wagner Orchestra Telegram channel Saturday, Prigozhin said the retreat of the group from Bakhmut would result in the collapse of the whole front, which he said “will not be sweet for all military formations protecting Russian interests."

Russia’s Defense Ministry denied claims of problems with the supply of ammunition, saying they were “nonfactual.”

The ministry said that all the demands of the units were fulfilled as soon as possible.

Prigozhin meanwhile said in a statement released late Monday on the social media account of his Concord catering company that a representative of the Wagner group was banned from entering the headquarters of the Russian army.

Noting that he wrote a letter to the commander of the troops of the Russian special military operation in Ukraine on Sunday to ask for the immediate allocation of ammunition, Prigozhin said: “At 08:00 a.m. on March 6, the entry card of the representative at the headquarters was canceled and he was banned from entering the unit headquarters.”

Bakhmut is a large transport hub through which Ukrainian troops in the Donbas are supplied with weapons, military equipment and ammunition. The city has almost been captured by Wagner, Prigozhin claimed Friday.