Russian media reported that the Russian "Wagner" company's forces were able to partially isolate the city of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine, which Kiev denies, while the G20 countries meeting in India were divided over the position on Russia's war on Ukraine.

The Russian military website, "Rebar", said that Wagner's forces managed to isolate the city of Bakhmut from the northwestern suburbs, after they took control of the town of Perkhovka.

The site added that the Wagner elements expanded their attack on the positions of the Ukrainian army northwest of Bakhmut.

He stressed that the Ukrainian forces are trying to regain part of the road linking Bakhmut and Slaviansk, to no avail.

However, the Al-Jazeera correspondent quoted Ukrainian military sources as saying that intense fighting was taking place in the northern axis of the city of Bakhmut, without the attacking forces being able to make any new progress.

Russian forces and pro-Moscow separatist forces have been trying to control the strategic Bakhmut in Donetsk Province for months, in light of continuous Ukrainian resistance.

The Rebar website had said that Wagner's forces' control of the town of Berkhovka enables them to cut off one of the most important supply routes for the Ukrainian army.

A few days ago, the commander of the "Wagner" militia, Yevgeny Prigozhin, appeared in a video clip inspecting the locations of his forces in what was said to be the eastern neighborhoods of Bakhmut.

On the other hand, the Ukrainian Staff Command said that the Russian army is largely focusing its attacks on the axes of Bakhmut, Liman, Evdivka and Shakhtar in the Donbass region in eastern Ukraine, and on the Kobyansk axis in the northeastern province of Kharkiv.

The Ukrainian Staff Command stated in a statement that its forces repelled 70 Russian attacks on these axes during the last hours.

Black Sea

The Ukrainian Southern Operations Command said that Russian forces are preparing to launch a missile attack on Ukraine from the Black Sea.

It added that the frigate "Admiral Makarov" headed to the Black Sea with 8 missiles on board, noting that Russia has doubled the number of its ships operating in the Black Sea, in a move perhaps to prepare for other missile attacks.

The Ukrainian Southern Operations Command called on the residents of the region not to ignore air warnings and to exercise caution, as it put it.

Also on the southern front, Al-Jazeera correspondent reported an escalation in the intensity of the mutual shelling between Russia and Ukraine between the two banks of the Dnieper River.

A spokesman for the military administration in the Odessa region, Sergey Prachuk, said that the Ukrainian forces targeted sites of the Russian forces in the village of Veliky Kobani on the left bank of the Kherson region, which led to the killing of dozens of Russian forces.

This comes at a time when the city of Kherson and its environs witnessed nightly Russian missile bombardment, following the sound of warning sirens.

G20

India, the current chair of the Group of Twenty, said today, Saturday, that most members of the group "strongly condemn" the war in Ukraine, which entered its second year yesterday, and affirmed their positions demanding Russia's withdrawal from Ukrainian lands.

In a statement issued at the end of the meeting of finance ministers and heads of central banks of the countries of the group near the Indian city of Bengaluru, New Delhi stated that all countries of the group had ratified the statement condemning the Russian war on Ukraine, with the exception of Russia and China.

German Finance Minister Christian Lindner said at the G20 meeting that his country regretted China's position not to condemn the war on Ukraine.

Spanish Minister of Economy Nadia Calvino speaks at a press conference about the G20 meeting in India (Reuters)

India stated that the G20 is not a forum for resolving security problems, but security issues can have serious repercussions on the global economy.

And Reuters reported, quoting 3 well-informed sources, that the G20 countries are not expected to issue a joint statement today, Saturday, after the meeting of finance ministers and heads of central banks of the countries of the group, which witnessed a discussion of political issues that “annoyed” Russia and China.

Medvedev's statement

In a related context, Dmitry Medvedev, deputy head of the Russian Security Council, said that his country "faces enemies from 50 countries whose goal is to strangle Russia and wipe it off the face of the earth."

Medvedev added in an article in the "National Defense" newspaper that there is no point in putting pressure on Russia, noting that the Russian military industry "is capable of producing everything they need to confront any aggression."

He explained that history repeats itself after the 80th anniversary of the victory in the Battle of Stalingrad, as Russia once again faces an empire of various enemies, "which includes the neo-fascists Ukrainians, Europeans, the United States, the Anglo-Saxons and their followers."

In the same context, the European Union imposed, on Friday evening, a tenth package of sanctions on Moscow and on Iranian companies accused of providing it with drones, according to what was announced by the Swedish presidency of the bloc.

This new package of sanctions was approved after Poland lifted its reservations at the end of the evening, as Warsaw sought to make the sanctions much more severe, but its efforts failed.

According to diplomatic sources, this tenth package of sanctions especially imposes new restrictions on European exports to Russia worth 11 billion euros, and freezes the assets of 3 Russian banks and many entities, including Iranian companies accused of supplying Moscow with drones.