The head of the Wagner Group of Russian mercenaries admitted that the battle to capture the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut is being waged house by house.
Yevgeny Prigozhin's admission is yet another sign that Russia’s war effort in the Donbas has stalled, as the first anniversary of the invasion next month approaches.
During a grim New Year’s visit to the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, Mr Prigozhin, an ally of President Vladimir Putin, appeared largely unfazed as he inspected mounds of body bags holding his deceased fighters.
The oligarch, 61, was filmed in a makeshift morgue where the extent of Russia’s losses on the battlefield was laid bare.
He could be seen blessing himself as he shone a torch on to the exposed and wrapped remains of his men, many of whom are believed to be convicts. Black body bags could be seen piled on top of one another to shoulder height in the corner of one room.
“Their contract has finished, they will go home next week,” Mr Prigozhin can be heard saying, adding: “These are getting ready to be sent. We all work during New Year’s Eve.
“Here lie Wagner fighters who died at the front. They are now being put in zinc coffins and they will return home.”
In another scene in footage published by his own media outlet, the Wagner chief can be seen looking on as more bodies are loaded from a lorry on to stretchers.
“So long, guys. Happy new year!” he can be heard saying.
Bakhmut has in recent months endured some of the heaviest clashes between invading forces and troops loyal to Kyiv.
The Wagner Group of paramilitaries is leading Russia’s attempt to capture the city, which Mr Prigozhin previously referred to as the “Bakhmut meat grinder”.
In an interview with Russian state TV on Tuesday, he admitted troops were sometimes fighting "several weeks for a single house".
“Everyone wants to know when we will capture [Bakhmut],” Mr Prigozhin told state media. “[But] every house has become a fortress. Our guys sometimes fight for more than a day over one house. Sometimes they fight for weeks over one house. Every 10 metres there is a defensive line.”
The businessman is known as “Putin’s chef” after the president attended numerous dinners hosted by his restaurants and catering businesses.
The Wagner Group first appeared in Ukraine in 2014 when its fighters were part of Russia’s annexation of Crimea.
Meanwhile, Russia has revised its death toll from a Ukrainian strike on a building housing soldiers in the Makiivka. Officials say 89 soldiers died in the blast, after previously claiming 63 lives were lost. Kyiv has said the death toll is likely to be as high as 400.
The New Year’s Eve attack on the Russian-held town near Donetsk city hit a building being used as accommodation for occupying troops.
The Russian military blamed the unauthorised use of cell phones by soldiers for enabling the Ukrainians to pinpoint their position.
Lt Gen Sergei Sevryukov said on Tuesday evening that signals transmitted from mobiles had allowed Kyiv’s forces to “determine the co-ordinates of the location of military personnel” and launch a strike. He said the military is taking unspecified measures to “prevent similar tragic incidents in the future”, as he vowed to punish officials responsible for the blunder.
The attack, one of the deadliest on the Kremlin’s forces since the invasion was launched, occurred one minute into the new year, according to Lt Gen Sevryukov.
Ammunition may also have been stored there and probably contributed to further damage, according to British intelligence.
“Given the extent of the damage, there is a realistic possibility that ammunition was being stored near to troop accommodation, which detonated during the strike creating secondary explosions,” the UK’s Ministry of Defence said.
“The building was only 12.5km from the Avdiivka sector of front line, one of the most intensely contested areas of the conflict.
“The Russian military has a record of unsafe ammunition storage from well before the current war, but this incident highlights how unprofessional practices contribute to Russia’s high casualty rate.”
As the fighting drags on, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said there is little sign that Mr Putin plans to end the war any time soon “despite all international efforts”.
“The Russian president started this brutal war of aggression and he alone can end it,” Ms Baerbock said in an interview with news website Table Media.
“If Russia stops bombing and withdraws its soldiers, we will have peace.”
The Russian leader is planning to hold talks with his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, on Wednesday, Interfax reported, citing Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.
Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last February, Mr Erdogan has sought to play the role of intermediary between Moscow and Kyiv.
Ukraine war latest - in pictures
Pharaoh's curse
British aristocrat Lord Carnarvon, who funded the expedition to find the Tutankhamun tomb, died in a Cairo hotel four months after the crypt was opened.
He had been in poor health for many years after a car crash, and a mosquito bite made worse by a shaving cut led to blood poisoning and pneumonia.
Reports at the time said Lord Carnarvon suffered from “pain as the inflammation affected the nasal passages and eyes”.
Decades later, scientists contended he had died of aspergillosis after inhaling spores of the fungus aspergillus in the tomb, which can lie dormant for months. The fact several others who entered were also found dead withiin a short time led to the myth of the curse.
The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Power: 420hp
Torque: 623Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)
On sale: Now
Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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China
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UAE
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Japan
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Canada
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WHAT IS GRAPHENE?
It was discovered in 2004, when Russian-born Manchester scientists Andrei Geim and Kostya Novoselov were experimenting with sticky tape and graphite, the material used as lead in pencils.
Placing the tape on the graphite and peeling it, they managed to rip off thin flakes of carbon. In the beginning they got flakes consisting of many layers of graphene. But when they repeated the process many times, the flakes got thinner.
By separating the graphite fragments repeatedly, they managed to create flakes that were just one atom thick. Their experiment led to graphene being isolated for the very first time.
In 2010, Geim and Novoselov were awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics.
GAC GS8 Specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 248hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 400Nm at 1,750-4,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 9.1L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh149,900
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
More coverage from the Future Forum
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What is tokenisation?
Tokenisation refers to the issuance of a blockchain token, which represents a virtually tradable real, tangible asset. A tokenised asset is easily transferable, offers good liquidity, returns and is easily traded on the secondary markets.
Zayed Sustainability Prize
Karwaan
Producer: Ronnie Screwvala
Director: Akarsh Khurana
Starring: Irrfan Khan, Dulquer Salmaan, Mithila Palkar
Rating: 4/5
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Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
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%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERooh%20Afza%3C%2Fstrong%3E%0D%3Cbr%3E100ml%20contains%20414%20calories%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETang%20orange%20drink%3C%2Fstrong%3E%0D%3Cbr%3E100ml%20serving%20contains%20300%20calories%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ECarob%20beverage%20mix%3C%2Fstrong%3E%0D%3Cbr%3E100ml%20serving%20contains%20about%20300%20calories%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EQamar%20Al%20Din%20apricot%20drink%3C%2Fstrong%3E%0D%3Cbr%3E100ml%20saving%20contains%2061%20calories%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EVimto%20fruit%20squash%3C%2Fstrong%3E%0D%3Cbr%3E100ml%20serving%20contains%2030%20calories%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
F1 The Movie
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
THE SPECS
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cylinder turbo
Power: 275hp at 6,600rpm
Torque: 353Nm from 1,450-4,700rpm
Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch auto
Top speed: 250kph
Fuel consumption: 6.8L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: Dh146,999
How to join and use Abu Dhabi’s public libraries
• There are six libraries in Abu Dhabi emirate run by the Department of Culture and Tourism, including one in Al Ain and Al Dhafra.
• Libraries are free to visit and visitors can consult books, use online resources and study there. Most are open from 8am to 8pm on weekdays, closed on Fridays and have variable hours on Saturdays, except for Qasr Al Watan which is open from 10am to 8pm every day.
• In order to borrow books, visitors must join the service by providing a passport photograph, Emirates ID and a refundable deposit of Dh400. Members can borrow five books for three weeks, all of which are renewable up to two times online.
• If users do not wish to pay the fee, they can still use the library’s electronic resources for free by simply registering on the website. Once registered, a username and password is provided, allowing remote access.
• For more information visit the library network's website.
The specs
Engine: 0.8-litre four cylinder
Power: 70bhp
Torque: 66Nm
Transmission: four-speed manual
Price: $1,075 new in 1967, now valued at $40,000
On sale: Models from 1966 to 1970
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
ELIO
Starring: Yonas Kibreab, Zoe Saldana, Brad Garrett
Directors: Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, Adrian Molina
Rating: 4/5
Labour dispute
The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.
- Abdullah Ishnaneh, Partner, BSA Law
ESSENTIALS
The flights
Emirates, Etihad and Swiss fly direct from the UAE to Zurich from Dh2,855 return, including taxes.
The chalet
Chalet N is currently open in winter only, between now and April 21. During the ski season, starting on December 11, a week’s rental costs from €210,000 (Dh898,431) per week for the whole property, which has 22 beds in total, across six suites, three double rooms and a children’s suite. The price includes all scheduled meals, a week’s ski pass, Wi-Fi, parking, transfers between Munich, Innsbruck or Zurich airports and one 50-minute massage per person. Private ski lessons cost from €360 (Dh1,541) per day. Halal food is available on request.
