Wagner chief teams up with 'General Armageddon' to take Bakhmut

Russia’s General Sergey Surovikin, known as General Armageddon, has been ordered to work with the Wagner mercenary group in a final assault to take the city of Bakhmut, writes James Kilner. 

In what appears to be a major climbdown by the Russian ministry of defence, it also promised to give Wagner more ammunition after Yevgeny Prigozhin, its chief, threatened to withdraw from the siege.

“We have been given Surovikin as the man who will make decisions regarding how Wagner Group's military operations coordinate with the ministry of defence,” said Mr Prigozhin. “This is the only person wearing a star in the army who knows how to fight,” he added referring to the general’s rank.

Mr Prigozhin has complained for months that Sergei Shoigu, the Russian minister of defence, and General Valery Gerasimov, chief of the general staff, have deliberately starved Wagner of artillery shells to undermine its advance in Bakhmut and on Friday he said that he would withdraw unless they delivered more weapons.

“They have promised to give us ammunition and weapons as much as we need to push on,” Mr Prigozhin said on Sunday.

Gen. Surovokin was the Russian commander in Ukraine between October and January, when he was replaced by Gen. Gerasimov.

He earned his nickname of Gen. Armageddon and a reputation for cruelty in 2004 after a junior officer under his command killed himself. This reputation was reinforced in 2017 when he commanded Russian forces in Syria who bombed civilian areas.

Analysts said that Gen. Surovikin, who has been serving as a deputy commander to Russian forces in Ukraine since January, would give Wagner more clout but that the link-up could also prove to be a difficult one.

“Being the ministry of defence liaison to Wagner is a nightmare of a job, given how much the leadership of both camps dislike each other,” said Dara Massicot, a senior policy researcher at Rand Corporation, a US defence think tank. “That being said, Surovikin still has a lot of authority given to him, so he's a player too.”

05:01 PM

Today's liveblog is now closed

Thanks for following today's liveblog. Here is a summary of today’s stories:

• Citizens have been told to evacuate from the nearest town to Europe’s largest nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine, amid reports of “regular” shelling of the region ahead of an expected counter offensive. The evacuation from the town of Enerhodar, Zaporizhzhia, has prompted stark warnings from the UN nuclear chief.

• A Russian fighter jet intercepted a Polish plane on patrol over the Black Sea in “aggressive and dangerous” manoeuvres which saw the jet cross the path of the aircraft just in front of its nose. The Polish pilots temporarily lost control of the aircraft and lost altitude after the Russian jet flew just in front of the nose of their plane and crossed its path at a distance of "around five metres", Warsaw said.

• The British ministry of defence has said that Russia is “almost certainly facing its worst labour shortage in decades” as a result of the war in Ukraine. The number of available employees is at its lowest since 1998, according to a survey by the Russian Central Bank of 14,000 employers.

• Russia’s ministry of defence has ordered General Sergey Surovikin, known as General Armageddon, to team up with the Wagner group to capture Bakhmut, according to the chief of the mercenary group. Yevgeny Prigozhin appears to have ditched his threat to withdraw from the town in Ukraine's eastern Donbas region after the Russian military “promised” to give him more ammunition.

04:23 PM

Russia makes further minor gains in Bakhmut, claims defence ministry

Russia’s defence ministry has claimed that it has taken control of two more blocks in the north western and western parts of Bakhmut, Interfax has reported.

“In the Donetsk direction, assault squads continued to conduct offensive actions and took possession of two blocks in the north-western and western parts of Artemovsk (the Russian name for Bakhmut)”, spokesman Igor Konashenkov said at a briefing on Sunday.

04:13 PM

Head of Ukrainian military intelligence: Russia has taken missile stocks to 'almost zero'

Major General Kyrylo Budanov, the head of Ukraine’s military intelligence agency, has said that “Russia has no military, economic, or political potential to create another attempt of a serious offensive anywhere in Ukraine”.

Gen. Budanov said in an interview with Yahoo!News, however, that Russia “is completely capable of waging serious defensive operations, and this is the very problem we are about to face,” referring to the highly-anticipated counteroffensive by Ukraine.

He added that he believed that Russia had taken their missile stocks “to almost zero”.

“They are trying to accumulate certain stocks and have them ready in order to try to disrupt our offensive, but the truth is that they have taken their stocks almost to zero.”

03:28 PM

How Russia's newest weapon is changing the course of Ukraine war

Flying over Ukraine’s north-east border, 10 of Russia’s most advanced fighter jets were about to launch a weapon not yet seen in the war, Joe Barnes and Roland Oliphant report. 

The 11 so-called glide bombs dropped on the night of March 24 confirmed reports that the Russian air force is adapting after running low on cruise missiles and failing to take control of the skies over Ukraine.

The gliding bombs are fitted with "wings" to give them extra range, and fly low and far enough to evade some radar-controlled air defences.

Read more on Russia's glide bombs here. 

02:57 PM

Pictured: Ukrainian army medics at stabilisation point near Bakhmut

02:40 PM

Russian defence ministry: More than 22 Ukrainian drones destroyed over Black Sea overnight

The Russian defence ministry has claimed that air defences detected and destroyed 22 Ukrainian drones over the Black Sea overnight.

The remarks made in a daily briefing came after the Russian-installed governor of Sevastopol claimed that Ukraine launched more than ten drones over the Crimean Peninsula overnight, without providing further details.

Reuters has been unable to independently verify the claims.

02:08 PM

Five injured in Balakliya missile strike, says official

Two 75-year-old women and one 50-year-old woman have been injured by a blast in Balakliya Kharkiv region, and two men sustained minor injuries, according to the head of the regional administration.

"The enemy launched a missile strike on the town of Balakliya," Oleg Synegubov said.

"Doctors are providing all necessary assistance to the victims."

01:46 PM

Reznikov: 'New powerful tool of Ukrainian air defense' shot down Russian hypersonic missile

Reports first emerged on Friday that Ukraine had intercepted a Russian hypersonic missile for the first time.

This afternoon, Ukraine's defence minister Oleksii Reznikov tweeted a confirmation of the downing of a "Kh-47 hypersonic aeroballistic missile".

"Previously, we had no way of destroying such targets, but with the support of our friends the impossible becomes possible," Mr Reznikov said, in reference to the new Patriot system provided by the US.

01:19 PM

'My husband lost control of the car. I grabbed the wheel. Half his head was gone'

Earth hitting a coffin makes a hollow thump, not unlike that of the distant artillery fire that rolled across one of Kherson’s cemeteries on Friday morning, reports Roland Oliphant. 

Suddenly, blasts sounded somewhere closer by and, at a bark from their foreman, the gravediggers shovelled faster.

Were they hurrying to beat the shelling, or because another hearse was already making its way along the long row of freshly dug graves? It was probably both.

At least 23 people were killed and 46 injured in an artillery attack on central Kherson on Wednesday.

Read more of The Telegraph's senior foreign correspondent's dispatch from Kherson here. 

12:51 PM

Pictured: Woman rides bicycle past apartment building destroyed by the Russian army in Borodyanka

12:18 PM

FSB claims to have foiled attempt to attack a Russian military airfield

Russia’s security service has said it has foiled an attempt by Ukrainian intelligence to attack a military airfield in central Russia using drones stuffed with explosives.

The FSB claimed in a statement released on Sunday that the intended target of the attack was an A-50 radar detection plane at the Severnyy aerodrome in the Ivanovo region, located approximately 435 miles from the border with Ukraine.

The FSB added that they had detailed the pilot of a light aircraft, along with other members of what the service described as a “sabotage group” in the Tula region, having flown in from Ukraine.

The FSB's account has not been independently verified. 

11:55 AM

Ukrainian regional officials report 75 strikes in Zaporizhzhia region over the past day

A total of 75 strikes hit 16 frontline settlements in the Zaporizhzhia region over the last day, causing destruction to residential buildings and cars, the head of the region’s military administration has said.

Iurii Malashko posted an update to Telegram in the morning of 7 May, saying that the towns of Zaliznychne, Kamianske, Shcherbaky, Malinivka and Bilohiria were shelled. “Fortunately, there were no injuries,” Mr Malashko added.

In a statement on the website for the regional administration on Sunday, officials reported that the background radiation in the region, which is the site of Europe’s largest nuclear plant, “remains unchanged”. 

11:21 AM

Head of Wagner group appears to ditch plans for Bakhmut withdrawal

The head of the Wagner group has said he received promises overnight that his troops would receive all the arms needed to capture Bakhmut, as he appeared to abandon plans to withdraw his forces from the frontline city.

On Friday, Yevgeny Prigozhin had announced that his fighters, who have spearheaded the assault on Bakhmut, would pull out of the city because they had not received the ammunition they required and had sustained “useless and unjustified” losses as a result. He blamed Sergei Shoigu and the chief of staff of the Russian Armed Forces directly for the ammunition shortages.

In an audio message shared onto his Telegram account on Sunday morning, Mr Prigozhin said: "Overnight we received a combat order, for the first time in all this time."

"We have been promised as much ammunition and weapons as we need to continue further operations. We have been promised that everything needed to prevent the enemy from cutting us off (from supplies) will be deployed on the flank." 

11:07 AM

Pictured: Ukraine's first lady and prime minister attend coronation

Ukraine's first lady Olena Zelenska was accompanied by the country's Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal to King Charles III's Coronation on Saturday.

Mr Shmyhal shared a photograph of the pair entering Westminster Abbey on Twitter, and said they were "honoured to represent the brave and invincible Ukrianian people" at the event.

10:49 AM

Car bomb injures pro-war Russian writer who called for ‘cultural purge’

A car bomb has badly injured a prominent Russian writer who called for a “cultural purge” of anti-war artists and bragged about killing Ukrainians, James Kilner reports.

Zakhar Prilepin, 47, was being driven near Nizhny Novgorod in central Russia when his car exploded, killing his driver. Photographs showed an overturned and badly mangled white car.

Mr Prilepin was airlifted to Moscow for surgery, although media reported that his injuries were not life-threatening.

Read more on this story here. 

10:35 AM

MoD update: Russia facing ‘worst labour shortage in decades’

The British ministry of defence has said that Russia is “almost certainly facing its worst labour shortage in decades” as a result of the war in Ukraine.

The number of available employees is at its lowest since 1998, according to a survey by the Russian Central Bank of 14,000 employers.

In their daily intelligence update, the UK defence ministry said that “mobilisation, historical high emigration, and an ageing population” is limiting the labour supply, which was already diminished due to the pandemic.

10:20 AM

In pictures: Fortifications amid Kyiv park in bloom

10:07 AM

Ukraine launched more than ten drones on Crimean Peninsula, claims Russian-installed official

A Russian-installed official in Sevastopol claimed that Ukraine launched more than 10 drones overnight on the Crimean Peninsula.

Mikhail Razvozhayev, the Russian-installed governor of Sevastopol, said on Telegram that three drones were launched on the Crimean port city, but that air defence systems repelled all attacks and there was no damage.

According to Ukrainian monitoring of Telegram channels, there were explosions in Sevastopol and Saki - where Russia has an air base - as well as a few other places.

Reuters was not able to independently verify the reports.

10:02 AM

Air raid alerts sound across two-thirds of Ukraine overnight

Roughly two-thirds of Ukraine experienced air raid alerts blaring for several hours overnight into early Sunday morning, as air defence systems shot down a number of drones, according to officials.

“During the last air alert, an enemy reconnaissance UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) was detected in the airspace of Kyiv," the military administration of Kyiv said on Telegram.

They added that the drone was destroyed and that there had been no reports of casualties.

10:02 AM

Russian fighter jet intercepts Polish plane in 'aggressive and dangerous' behaviour

A Russian fighter jet intercepted a Polish plane which was on patrol over the Black Sea for the EU’s border agency, causing the crew to lose control of the aircraft and lose altitude, Poland’s border force said.

According to a statement from the border force, a Sukhoi-35 plane did not make any radio contact ahead of carrying out “aggressive and dangerous manoeuvres, approaching the border guard plane three times without keeping to the required safety distance”.

The Russian plane flew just in front of the nose of the Polish aircraft, crossing its path at a distance of “around five metres”, according to Warsaw.

Romania’s defence ministry, which first reported the incident, condemned Russia’s “aggressive and dangerous” behaviour.

The Polish plane landed safely in Romania afterwards, as the incident took place around 37 miles inside Romanian airspace.

A statement from the ministry added: “This incident is further evidence of the provocative approach of the Russian Federation in the Black Sea.”

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