Russian President Vladimir Putin has accused Western intelligence services of involvement in "terrorist attacks" in his country. Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky hinted at "appropriate measures" to protect his country's troops engaged in heavy fighting in the strategic city of Bakhmut.
Putin said on Wednesday while chairing a meeting of the National Security Council that "there is every reason to believe that third countries and Western intelligence services are involved in preparing sabotage and terrorist acts" in Russia, as well as in Ukrainian territory under Moscow's control.
During the meeting, which brought together the leaders of Ukraine's four regions annexed by Russia last year, the Russian president accused the Ukrainian authorities of having committed "serious crimes against civilians living there" in these regions.
He said Kiev's forces "exclude no one" in their attacks on these areas, from artillery shelling to carrying out "terrorist attacks" targeting Russian-appointed officials and other public figures.
The Russian president's remarks come three days after the death of the famous Russian military blogger Maxim Fomin, known for his support of the Russian attack on Ukraine, in the explosion of an explosive device inside a café in St. Petersburg (northwest).
On Monday, Russia accused Ukraine of orchestrating the attack in collusion with supporters of jailed opposition figure Alexei Navalny, while Kiev says the blogger's assassination is a score-settling process within Russian pro-war circles.
On Wednesday, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Fomin's assassination would be "one of the topics of discussion" at the UN Security Council, which Russia assumed its rotating presidency on Saturday.
Bakhmout. Appropriate procedures
On the other hand, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Wednesday that his country's forces face a very difficult situation in the eastern city of Bakhmut, but that Kiev will take "proportionate" decisions to protect it, if it risks being completely encircled by Russian forces.
Zelensky told a news conference in Poland that Ukrainian forces sometimes advance slightly in Pakhmot, but were soon forced back by Russian forces, but were still inside the city "and the enemy does not control it."
Pakhmut in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region is witnessing one of the longest and bloodiest battles of the war since Russia's war on Ukraine, now in its second year. Ukrainian forces withstood a Russian attack there, but both sides suffered heavy losses.
In what appeared to be a reference to the idea of withdrawing from the city, Zelensky said: "For me the most important thing is not to lose our soldiers, and of course if events flare up more often at some point and there is a risk that we will lose our soldiers because of the siege, of course the military commanders there will make the right proportionate decisions."
Zelenskiy made the remarks at a press conference with Poland's president in Warsaw. His visit comes at a time when Ukraine is expected to launch a counteroffensive in the coming weeks or months to retake areas in the south and east from Russian forces.
Zelensky said that the more ammunition that reaches his country from partners in the West, Ukraine will be able to fight faster against Russian forces in Pakhmut and elsewhere.
MiG-29 fighters
Also in Warsaw, Polish President Andrzej Duda announced on Wednesday that his country was ready to hand over to Kiev "in the future" its entire fleet of Soviet MiG-29 fighter jets.
Duda said at a joint press conference with Zelenskiy that Poland, which had already supplied Ukraine with 8 MiG-29 fighter jets and would soon send another 6 to it, would be "ready in the future for Ukraine to hand over its entire fleet of MiGs," a total of about 30 aircraft, but said this was "subject to an agreement with Poland's allies" in NATO.
The Polish president explained that Warsaw needs a green light to hand over this fleet to Ukraine, because the MiG-29 fighters still in the possession of the Polish Air Force "have been adapted to NATO standards," particularly with regard to communication systems and the ability to carry out surveillance missions in the alliance's airspace.
He added that his country would "still need" MiG-29 fighters in the foreseeable future, but soon receiving new South Korean FA-50 and U.S. F-35 fighter jets, it would be able to supply Kiev with older fighters.
Poland is expected to take delivery of the first of 50 FA-50 fighter jets before the end of this year, while the first of 32 F-35s is expected to take delivery early next year.
Field developments
On the ground, the General Staff of Ukraine announced that Ukrainian forces repelled more than 40 attacks by Russian forces on the axes of Bakhmot, Liman, Vadyivka and Marinka, noting that Russian forces tried to carry out failed attacks towards the towns of Bogdanivka northwest of Pakhmot and Ivanevsky west of Bakhmout.
The commission announced that Russian forces carried out 3 missile strikes, 21 air strikes, and 35 attacks with missile systems.
On the other hand, the authority announced the downing of a Russian Ka-52 helicopter, targeting two Russian missile control points, two ammunition stores, two sites for anti-aircraft defense equipment and 4 wireless electronic warfare stations.