Russia

"It is not in the Kremlin’s interest for Armenia and Azerbaijan to normalise relations between them, for lasting peace in the South Caucasus and for the people of Nagorno-Karabakh to prosper in a safe and tolerant environment," writes commonspace.eu in this editorial. "Moscow does not want another big war in the region, but it does not want peace either. However it is now time for this vicious circle to be broken, and the next weeks will tell us if this is possible." They add that "in the end it is going to be up to Mr Ilham Aliyev and Mr Nikol Pashinyan to decide if the time has finally come to break the Russian hold and settle for peace. It is decision time, but doubts linger...There are those who are waiting for Moscow to actively support these efforts, or at least not hinder them. They wait in vain."

A Russian Su-27 fighter jet has collided with an American MQ-9 Reaper drone over the Black Sea. The collision rendered the drone "unflyable" according to the Pentagon, forcing the U.S. to crash the drone into the sea. Before the collision, Russian jets are said to have dumped fuel into the path of the drone which the US says was in international airspace. The confrontation between the drone and the fighter jet is said to have lasted between 30-40 minutes, with the collision happening at 07.03 CET. The collision occurred approximately 200km south of Ukraine's southern port city of Odesa. Russia has denied its two Su-27 fighter jets made any contact. In a statement, U.S. Air Force General James Hecker, commander of U.S. Air Forces Europe and Air Forces Africa, said "Our MQ-9 aircraft was conducting routine operations in international airspace when it was intercepted and hit by a Russian aircraft, resulting in a crash and complete loss of the MQ-9." "In fact, this unsafe and unprofessional act by the Russians nearly caused both aircraft to crash," Hecker said.

The European Council has announced that it will extend sanctions on Russia for another six months, until 15 September 2023. In a statement released on Monday (13 March), the Council announced: "The existing restrictive measures provide for travel restrictions for natural persons, the freezing of assets, and a ban on making funds or other economic resources available to the listed individuals and entities. Sanctions will continue to apply to 1,473 individuals and 205 entities, many of which are targeted in response to Russia’s ongoing unjustified and unprovoked military aggression against Ukraine."The statement continued: "After 24 February 2022, in response to Russia’s military aggression against Ukraine, the EU massively expanded sanctions against Russia with the aim of significantly weakening Russia's economic base, depriving it of critical technologies and markets, and significantly curtailing its ability to wage war."

Oleksandr Syrskyi, the commander of Ukraine's Ground Forces, has said in the morning of Monday (13 March) that fighting around the Ukrainian town of Bakhmut - an industrial town with a pre-war population of some 70,000 - remains "difficult" as assault units of the Russian Kremlin-backed mercenary group Wagner continue trying to break through Ukrainian defense lines and advance to the central areas of the city. Quoted by the Ukrainian defense ministry's media center, Syrskyi said "in fierce battles, our defenders inflict significant losses on the enemy. All enemy attempts to capture the city are repelled by artillery, tanks, and other firepower." Russia, and in large part Wagner, has been trying to take Bakhmut for some seven months. In recent weeks Russian and Wagner forces have slowly advanced towards the town and have reportedly partially encircled it. Last week Ukraine is understood to have partially withdrawn to west of the Bakhmutka river that divides Bakhmut, and now marks the front line.

Ukrainian forces are likely conducting a "limited tactical withdrawal" from Bakhmut, said the Institute for the Study of War in its latest update of the Russia-Ukraine war on Monday (6 March). They did also caution, however, that it is too early to tell if Ukraine is considering a complete withdrawal from the city. Quoting a Ukrainian serviceman, the ISW also reported that, as of 4 March, Russian forces had not yet crossed the Bakhmuta River into central Bakhmut. Russian military bloggers have also claimed the Wagner Group had pushed Ukrainian positions back to central Bakhmut, according to the ISW. Amid the increased fighting along the frontline in eastern Ukraine, the UK Ministry of Defence reported in its intelligence update on 6 March that Russia "has continued to respond to heavy armoured vehicle losses by deploying 60-year-old T-62 main battle tanks".