KYIV: There was no evidence of Kiev government involvement, according to the New York Times, but intelligence examined by US officials suggests that a pro-Ukrainian group sabotaged the Nord Stream natural gas pipelines from Russia to Europe last September. It was

Seven months into the Russia-Ukraine conflict, underwater pipeline explosions occurred in Sweden and Denmark's exclusive economic zones of the Baltic Sea. Both nations have concluded that the blasts were intentional, but neither has identified a possible suspect.

NATO and the United States have called the pipeline attacks "an act of sabotage", but Russia has blamed the West and requested a neutral investigation. Neither party has submitted supporting data.

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On the battlefield, Ukrainian troops fought for Bakhmut in the east of the country on Tuesday despite being nearly encircled by Russian troops and mercenaries.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed a well-known sentiment, saying that recapturing the occupied territory was their main objective.

"We are doing everything to liberate our land as soon as possible, to put an end to the historic attempt to deprive our country and our people of freedom," Zelensky said in a video address. Have been." Last year on February 24.

According to a New York Times report on Tuesday, US officials claimed there was no evidence that Zelensky or any of his top aides were responsible or that the perpetrators were acting on orders from any Ukrainian government officials. No specific pro-Ukraine organization was pointed to as a possible culprit.

Ukraine is clearly not involved in excesses on pipelines, according to a statement by Mykhailo Podolyak, assistant to the president. "This makes absolutely no sense."

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According to John Kirby, a White House spokesman, Washington was awaiting the results of investigations into the incidents in Germany, Sweden and Denmark. The New York Times report was not independently confirmed by Reuters.

According to a statement issued by the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces on Tuesday night, Ukrainian forces successfully repelled attacks on Bakhmut as well as on Ivanovske and Klishchevka, located on the western and southern approaches to the city, respectively.

After more than seven months of fighting and bombardment, Bakhmut lay in ruins. Russian shelling was reported to have affected several Donetsk region towns and villages near Bakhmut, including Dubovo-Vasilyvka, Ivanovske, Dylivka and Bohdanivka.

The capture of Bakhmut, according to Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, was necessary to breach Ukrainian defenses and would enable Moscow's forces to conduct additional offensive operations inside Ukraine.

Donetsk and Luhansk are part of the highly industrialized Donbass region of eastern Ukraine; Along with two other Ukrainian regions, they are claimed by Russia as its own territory, a claim that Kiev and the West reject as being illegal.

The Ukrainian military claimed that Russian troops attacked other Ukrainian provinces on Tuesday, including the region of central Zaporizhia. The Ukrainian city of Nikopol came under fire in a protest against the Russian-controlled Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, according to the statement.

According to the statement, artillery fire was directed at more than 30 cities on the southern front in the Kherson region, including the region's capital Kherson and other cities on the west bank of the Dnipro River.

US President Joe Biden spoke with French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday and the two men discussed challenges from China as well as Russia's invasion of Ukraine, according to the White House.

Moscow has stressed on several occasions that the United States and its allies are using Ukraine as a front in their conflict. Kiev and the West reject that narrative, arguing that Ukraine is defending itself against a Russian imperialist land grab. According to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, Russian officials are closely monitoring China's proposed peace plan.

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Peskov claimed that when the Chinese foreign minister claimed that the conflict in Ukraine was being driven by an "invisible hand", he was joking. We may perhaps disagree with our Chinese colleagues on this point. Of course, this is a joke.

You already know the punchline: It's no invisible hand; This is the hand of Washington and the United States, Peskov told the press.