February 13, 2023 - Russia-Ukraine news

The United States has told its citizens in Russia to leave immediately due to the war in Ukraine and the risk of potential harassment and arbitrary arrest by Russian law enforcement agencies. 

Russian security services have increased the arbitrary enforcement of laws "to target foreign and international organizations they consider 'undesirable,'" the advisory added.

Some context: Several US citizens remain detained in Russia, including Paul Whelan, a former US Marine who US officials say is being wrongfully detained. He was arrested in Russia in December 2018 and sentenced to 16 years in prison. The US has repeatedly advised its citizens against travel to Russia and to leave the country immediately if there. 

Kyiv's defense minister said Ukrainian forces have kept Russia from dominating the Black Sea when asked about the potential risk to southern Ukraine in a possible large-scale Russian counteroffensive.

Reznikov gave an example of the Ukrainians using the Neptune, an anti-ship weapon developed in Ukraine, to target the Russian cruiser Moskva in 2022. 

"Plus, the Harpoon anti-ship complexes are at work, so I don't see any chances for them approaching Odesa from the sea," the minister added.

Talking about the left-bank territories of southern Ukraine, Reznikov said the enemy "has an opportunity to replenish their groupings with weapons, equipment and people; therefore, the situation there is more tense."

Russia has "set records" for shelling, pounding Ukraine with artillery fire in the east, a military spokesperson said during an interview on Ukrainian television Sunday. 

According to the Cherevatyi, the main direction of the enemy's attack remains on the Bakhmut section of the front line.

"There, the enemy struck 167 times along the entire section of the front with various types of rocket-propelled artillery, and 41 clashes between forces took place. The enemy lost 212 servicemen and 315 servicemen were wounded as a result," he continued.

CNN is not able to independently confirm the number of sustained casualties.

“In the area of ​​Bakhmut itself, there were 48 attacks and 19 clashes between forces,” he said. He added “battles were also fought in the area of ​​Torske, Fedorivka, Ivanivske and Chasiv Yar." 

When asked whether the Russians are trying to wear down the Ukrainian troops, Cherevatyi expressed his belief that, on the contrary, "the defense forces in the east of Ukraine are wearing out the enemy so that it cannot conduct large-scale offensive operations." 

He also reported that currently, "army reserves are being prepared to carry out a decisive blow to the enemy and push it away from Ukraine's territory under the supervision of Ukraine's commander-in-chief and the chief of the general staff."  

"Using, of course, the help of our partners from the free world," Cherevatyi added.

The Ukrainian ambassador to the United Kingdom said Ukraine will "wait and see" if its allied partners will agree to the country's request to send fighter jets, after Poland's president cast doubt on the prospect.

Any move from Ukraine's allies to send fighter jets to Ukraine would have to be a "joint decision," Polish President Andrzej Duda told the BBC in an interview Saturday.

"A decision today to donate any kind of jets, any F-16s, to donate them outside Poland is a very serious decision. And it's not an easy one for us to take," Duda said, explaining that Poland has a very limited number of the jets.

Prystaiko maintained that certain world leaders "have to say these words for the sake of the unity of the alliance."

"I am not saying that somebody is trying to, you know, downplay it. No, just trying to create a compromise among all of them, and come with some sort of group decision," he said. 

Some context: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stressed Ukraine's need for modern fighter jets during an address to the European Council in Brussels on Thursday. 

On Friday, Ukraine's Air Force and the Dutch Defense Minister announced that the Ukrainian government had officially asked the Netherlands for its American-made F-16 fighter jets.

Russian forces have maintained a high tempo of rocket attacks across the front lines of the eastern Donetsk region, the Ukrainian military reports.

Moscow's troops carried out 23 attacks using rocket launchers over the course of 24 hours into Sunday evening local time, the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces said in an update Sunday. The shelling focused on Lyman, Bakhmut and Avdiivka in Donetsk, and Kupyansk in the Kharkiv region.

The Ukrainian military restricted access to Bakhmut as roads into the city came under increased fire.

Authorities in the central Dnipropetrovsk region said the town of Nikopol, across the Dnipro River from the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, was shelled three times Sunday. One woman was killed and two others were wounded.

Russia also shelled several settlements in the northern Sumy region, according to the General Staff, as well as several places near the border in Kharkiv region.

Russia also used aircraft to strike at Ukrainian defenses this weekend, the military said.

In southern Ukraine, the city of Kherson and 14 other settlements came under enemy fire.

Two former fighters of the Russian private military company Wagner have told CNN of their horrific experiences on the battlefield in eastern Ukraine, and how anyone who faltered was immediately shot by their own commanders.

The two fighters were captured by Ukrainian forces late last year. CNN is not disclosing their identities for their own safety. Both are married with children and were recruited while in prison. One was serving a 20-year sentence for manslaughter.

For security reasons, the Ukrainians kept a presence in the room where the interview took place. CNN told the fighters that they could end the interview at any time they wished. But they spoke in detail for more than an hour.

The two fighters told of hideous losses in “first wave” assaults reminiscent of World War I charges.

The other fighter was involved in an assault lasting five days, through a forest near the city of Lysychansk on the Luhansk-Donetsk border in eastern Ukraine.

“The first steps into the forest were difficult because of all the landmines spread out. Out of 10 guys, seven were killed immediately,” he said.

“You can’t help the wounded. The Ukrainians were firing heavily on us, so even if their wounds were minor, you’ve got to keep going, otherwise you’re the one getting hit by the fire.

“You are at it for five days, people dying right next to me, praying to God, begging for water. You think that you can put down your weapon and nothing else will happen. And then the fight starts again 10 minutes later, and [the Ukrainians] keep coming after you. There is no feeling attached to it. Just wave after wave.”

Read the full story here.