March 6, 2023 - Russia-Ukraine news

The Ukrainian military said they had destroyed a surveillance tower in the Russian border region of Bryansk, using a drone. 

The rare acknowledgment by Ukrainian forces comes after an incursion by Russian volunteers fighting for Ukraine into the same Russian region last week.

Russian security officials claimed that a small Ukrainian armed group had crossed the Russian border into the southern Bryansk region, allegations dismissed by Kyiv as a “classic deliberate provocation” by the Kremlin.

The Security Service of Russia (FSB) said in a statement via state media agency RIA Novosti on Thursday that the agency was carrying out operations following an “armed Ukrainian nationalists who violated the state border” in the district. President Vladimir Putin later described the incident as a terrorist attack, and a local official said two civilians were killed.

At the time, CNN could not independently verify the Russian claims, and local media had not carried any images of the supposed incidents, any type of confrontation or an alleged raid reported by Russian authorities.

CNN's Anna Chernova, Olga Voitovych, Nathan Hodge and Rob Picheta contributed to this post.

One of Ukraine’s top military chiefs, Col. Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi, commander of the country’s land forces, visited troops in Bakhmut on Sunday, the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense said on Monday.

“March 5, Colonel General Oleksandr Syrsky, Commander of the Land Forces, once again visited the units defending Bakhmut and the outskirts of the city,” the briefing read. “According to him, the fighting for Bakhmut has reached the highest level of intensity.”

Syrskyi wouldn’t elaborate on a potential withdrawal but said Ukrainian forces had inflicted serious losses on Russia over the past several months.

“All this time, the enemy's attempts to capture the city have been defeated by the resilience of our soldiers,” he said. “Our defenders inflicted significant losses on the enemy, destroyed a large number of vehicles, forced Wagner's best assault units to fight and reduced the enemy's offensive potential.”

Syrskyi organized and lead the defense of Kyiv, successfully driving back Russian forces that had nearly encircled the Ukrainian capital at the beginning of Russia’s invasion.

He has paid regular visits to frontline units in the Donbas and elsewhere, including Bakhmut. His previous visit to the city was at the end of last week.

Wagner fighters were seen planting the Russian mercenary group’s flag on a T-34 tank monument in the eastern part of the city of Bakhmut.

The footage, geolocated by CNN, shows four fighters running toward the monument. They took down a Ukrainian flag that was mounted on the tank’s barrel and planted the Wagner group’s flag on top of the tank.

The fighters are then seen holding their guns up into the air and setting the Ukrainian flag on fire.

Some more context: The T-34 was a tank used by Soviet forces during the Second World War and the monument is dedicated to the forces that liberated the city from Nazi Germany.

It is located 500 meters (more than 546 yards) away from the Bakhmutova river, suggesting Ukrainian forces may have withdrawn from the eastern part of Bakhmut, consolidating their positions west of the river.

The German arms manufacturer Rheinmetall, who produces the Leopard battle tank among other heavy arms, is hoping to open a tank factory in Ukraine, CEO Armin Papperger has told a German newspaper.

Papperger, as quoted by the “Rheinische Post” daily over the weekend, said negotiations to build such a plant are ongoing and a decision could come within two months. 

A possible plant would cost about 200 million euros, or about $214 million, and about 400 tanks could be built annually, Papperger told “Rheinische Post.” 

Air defense systems could be in place to protect such a facility, he said.

Papperger added that a new version of the fully digitized battle tank “Panther” could be built in Ukraine.

Some background: Rheinmetall is the biggest arms manufacturer in Germany with about 25,000 employees. 

In January, the arms manufacturer said it had 139 Leopards in stock, but of those, only 29 Leopard 2s would be combat-ready for delivery in the spring of this year. Those 29 have already been theoretically pledged to other countries as part of a tank swap.

The rest of the stock needed to be prepared over a longer period of time, according to the company.

A Rheinmetall spokesperson told CNN that of the rest of the stock — 88 Leopard 1 tanks — a few could be deliverable in about nine months, and the rest in a year.

Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelensky has said that the country's forces will continue to defend Bakhmut amid continued Russian efforts to take the eastern city.

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has played down the strategic significance of Bakhmut, saying that the city has "more of a symbolic value."

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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and senior military commanders have vowed to continue to defend the eastern city of Bakhmut, according to a statement from the president's office.

"They spoke in favor of continuing the defense operation and further strengthening our positions in Bakhmut," reads the statement.

The meeting "considered the situation in Bakhmut in detail," it adds.

The meeting was also attended by other senior figures in the government, including the Head of the Presidential Office Andriy Yermak, Chief of Defense Intelligence Kyrylo Budanov, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal and the Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council Oleksii Danilov.

Some context: Russia is reportedly making progress in its attempts to take Bakhmut, with intense fighting reported on Monday morning.

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has played down the significance of the city, saying that it wouldn't constitute "an operational or strategic setback” for the Ukrainian military should Bakhmut fall to Russian forces.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has discussed bilateral cooperation, including "joint infrastructure projects," with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, according to a readout from the Kremlin published Monday.

Putin and Raisi held telephone talks and both the Iranian and Russian sides "gave a positive assessment of the level and dynamics of development of Russian-Iranian relations," it said.

"Issues of bilateral cooperation in various fields, including the implementation of joint infrastructure projects, were discussed," added the Kremlin.

Some context: Russia and Iran have deepened their relationship since the war in Ukraine began last year.

Tehran has provided hundreds of attack drones that Russia has used to strike Ukrainian cities, targeting energy infrastructure in particular.

On February 26, William Burns, director of the US Central Intelligence Agency, said that the alliance between Russia and Iran is "moving at a pretty fast clip," with evidence that Moscow has offered to help Iran's missile program in exchange for military aid.

Russian forces continue to attack the eastern city of Bakhmut on Monday, according to a Ukrainian soldier from the State Border Guard Service.

"Unfortunately, the city has been under fire since early morning. Mostly with mortars and artillery," the soldier said in a video released by the service on Monday.

The unnamed soldier said that Russian forces "are trying to push our flanks. But the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine, together with its colleagues, is standing firm in its positions."

"We are doing everything possible to prevent the enemy from entering the city," he added.

Social media video uploaded Monday purports to show muddy tracks near Bakhmut where vehicles have been damaged and destroyed.

CNN is unable to geolocate the video. However, it is consistent with the accounts of Ukrainian soldiers, who have said that they have had to resort to using tracks to get in an out of Bakhmut as the Russian forces are able to strike the main roads into the city.

The video is also consistent with current conditions in the area, where frozen ground has turned to mud as temperatures have risen.

Ukrainian tennis player Marta Kostyuk refused to shake hands with her Russian opponent Varvara Gracheva after claiming victory in the final of the ATX Open in Austin, Texas, on Sunday. 

Kostyuk defeated Gracheva 6-3 7-5, collapsing to the court after converting match point. Tennis players usually shake hands at the end of matches, but Kostyuk refused to do so with Gracheva.

Kostyuk, who is from Kyiv, said at January’s Australian Open that she would not shake hands with Russian or Belarusian opponents.

She refused to shake hands with Victoria Azarenka, of Belarus, at the US Open in September.

The 20-year-old dedicated her maiden Women's Tennis Association (WTA) singles title to her native country during the trophy presentation.

Kostyuk did not acknowledge the beaten finalist in her acceptance speech.

The tournament win, the first for a Ukrainian woman since Elina Svitolina in 2021, elevated Kostyuk to No. 40 in the WTA rankings.