Ukraine live briefing: Battle for Bakhmut intensifies; U.S. authorizes transfer of forfeited Russian assets to Ukraine

Ukraine needs more time before launching its long-anticipated spring counteroffensive against Russian forces, President Volodymyr Zelensky said. Speaking to the BBC and European public broadcasters, Zelensky said that while the effort could proceed now “and be successful,” it would incur an “unacceptable” level of loss.

But the founder of Russia’s mercenary Wagner Group, Yevgeniy Prigozhin, claimed Thursday that Ukraine’s counterattack in the besieged front-line city of Bakhmut is “in full swing.” Ukrainian forces are attempting to attack his fighters’ flanks, he said on Telegram, adding: “Unfortunately, in some places they are successful.”

Here’s the latest on the war and its ripple effects across the globe.

Key developments

• In a first, the U.S. Justice Department has transferred millions of dollars seized from a Russian oligarch for use in rebuilding Ukraine. The funds were taken from a U.S. bank account traceable to sanctions violations by Russian oligarch Konstantin Malofeyev, the Justice Department said. Although it is the first such transfer of forfeited Russian assets to Ukraine, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement, “it will not be the last.”
• Zelensky said in the interview published Thursday that Ukrainian forces are mentally prepared and have enough manpower for a counteroffensive. But he added, “In terms of equipment, not everything has arrived yet.” He said the Ukrainian army still needs “some things” and that armored vehicles have been arriving in batches.
• A critical meeting on the future of the Black Sea grain deal proceeded Thursday in Istanbul, involving officials from Russia, Ukraine, the United Nations and Turkey, according to the Turkish news agency Anadolu. The deal, which has been crucial for global food security, is set to expire on May 18. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Vershinin said after the talks that the country opposes an indefinite extension or expansion of the grain deal, the government-owned news agency Tass reported. Discussions are set to continue online, Ukrainian infrastructure minister Alexander Kubrakov said Thursday.
• Former president Donald Trump refused to say whether he wants to see Ukraine or Russia triumph, telling a CNN town hall late Wednesday: “I want everybody to stop dying.” He said he doesn’t “think in terms of winning and losing. I think in terms of getting it settled so we stop killing all these people.” The former president also claimed he would end the war in a single day if he were reelected to the White House.
• Poland will revert to using the historical name for Kaliningrad, a Russian city and region that shares a border with the country, the Associated Press reported. The move to rename the area as Krolewiec has angered Moscow. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov called it a “process bordering on insanity.”

Battleground updates

• “We are not going to surrender Bakhmut,” Oleksiy Danilov, secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, said on Ukrainian television Thursday morning. Ukraine has achieved “partial success” in its fight against Russia around the city, he added. Danilov reiterated statements from ground forces commander Oleksandr Syrsky, who said Wednesday that the “enemy was still unable to capture” Bakhmut. An analysis Wednesday by the Washington-based Institute for the Study of War, using geolocated footage from May 9 and 10, said Ukrainian troops carried out “successful” and “limited” counterattacks west and southwest of the city, probably making marginal advances.
• Heavy fighting continues in Bakhmut, Peskov said in an interview with a Bosnian media outlet Wednesday. Without going into specifics, the Kremlin spokesman said a large group of Ukrainian forces was trying to break through. He also claimed that Russia was “acting slowly” in its self-described special military operation because “we are trying to preserve infrastructure and save human lives.”
• Almost 6 million people were internally displaced in Ukraine by the end of last year, according to a new report that ties the number directly to the war. The Norwegian Refugee Council calculated that the number of people internally displaced globally rose by 20 percent from the previous year to reach 71.7 million — the highest figure ever recorded. The vast majority were displaced by violence and conflict.
• Russia has ramped up its efforts to recruit Russian convicts to fight in Ukraine, the British Defense Ministry said. As many as 10,000 prisoners may have enlisted last month alone, according to the ministry’s daily update Thursday. But it said the mercenary Wagner Group, which U.S. officials say recruited tens of thousands of inmates from Russian prisons last year, probably lost access to those facilities following the group’s public feud with the country’s military.

Global impact

• Kremlin spokesman Peskov condemned the U.S. decision to transfer millions of dollars in seized Russian assets for use in Ukraine. Russia will not leave the move “unanswered,” Peskov said Thursday.
• Britain confirmed Thursday that it will provide longer-range missiles to Ukraine. Defense Secretary Ben Wallace told Parliament that the Storm Shadow cruise missile would give Ukrainians “the best chance to defend themselves against Russia’s continued brutality” and allow the country “to push back Russian forces based within Ukrainian sovereign territory.”
• The French Justice Ministry will investigate as a war crime the death of 32-year-old journalist Arman Soldin, a ministry statement said Wednesday. Soldin, who worked for Agence France-Presse, was killed Tuesday on the front lines near Bakhmut.
• Canada and Latvia have joined hands to provide training to Ukrainian soldiers, Canadian Defense Minister Anita Anand announced Wednesday. The training will take place in Latvia and provide instruction on intelligence reconnaissance, among other skills.
• The Czech Republic will send two antiaircraft defense systems to Ukraine, local media reported Wednesday, adding that the country was also considering sending fighter jets. The 2K12 “Kub” is a Soviet mobile surface-to-air missile system.

From our correspondents

U.S., U.K. vow to aid Ukraine regardless of counteroffensive outcome: Support for Ukraine from Britain and the United States will continue even if the much-anticipated Ukrainian counteroffensive is not successful in regaining lost territory, top officials of the two countries said this week, writes Missy Ryan.

Speaking at a joint news conference in Washington, British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly and Secretary of State Antony Blinken reaffirmed the commitment to providing military assistance and aid to Ukraine as the war enters a second year. “There is not a zero-sum choice between some of the work we’re doing around the world and the work that we’re doing at home,” Blinken said.

Perry Stein contributed to this report.