Ukraine

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Although Russia claims it has won control of Ukraine’s eastern city of Bakhmut after a grinding nine-month conflict in which tens of thousands of fighters have died, top Ukrainian military leaders say the battle is not over.

Ukrainian officials acknowledge they now control only a small part of Bakhmut. Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar said Monday that Ukrainian troops hold some areas in its southwestern outskirts, while fighting continues for the strategic heights in the northern and southern parts of the suburbs.

GENICHESK, May 20. /TASS/:The Russian aircraft supporting the Dnepr grouping has destroyed up to 20 Ukrainian troops that taken civilian buildings on Cherkessky Island on the Dnieper River near Kherson, a spokesperson for the regional emergency services told TASS on Saturday.

"Militants of the Ukrainian armed forces had occupied civilian constructions on Cherkessky Island on the Dnieper near Kherson, but were destroyed by the aircraft supporting the Dnepr grouping," he said adding that up to 20 militants were eliminated.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — The head of the Russian private army Wagner claimed Saturday that his forces have taken control of the city of Bakhmut after the longest and most grinding battle of the Russia-Ukraine war, but Ukrainian defense officials denied it.

In a video posted on Telegram, Wagner head Yevgeny Prigozhin said the city came under complete Russian control at about midday Saturday. He spoke flanked by about half a dozen fighters, with ruined buildings in the background and explosions heard in the distance.

May 18 (Reuters) - Ukraine's military and Russia's Wagner private army both reported fresh Russian retreats on the outskirts of Bakhmut, as Kyiv pressed on with its biggest advance for six months ahead of a planned major counteroffensive.

FIGHTING

* Ukraine's military said its troops had advanced in places by more than a mile. Some of its soldiers on the front line said Russian troops were pounding supply lines to try to halt the gains.

NEAR BAKHMUT, Ukraine, May 18 (Reuters) - The Ukrainian military and Russia's Wagner private army both reported further Russian retreats around the city of Bakhmut on Thursday, as Kyiv pressed on with its biggest advance for six months ahead of a planned counteroffensive.

Ukrainian troops near the front line said Russia was bombarding access roads to slow the Ukrainian assault, which has shifted momentum after months of slow Russian gains in Europe's deadliest ground combat since World War Two.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia fired 30 cruise missiles against different parts of Ukraine early Thursday in the latest nighttime test of Ukrainian air defenses, which shot down 29 of them, officials said.

One person died and two were wounded by a Russian missile that got through and struck an industrial building in the southern region of Odesa, according to Serhiy Bratchuk, a spokesperson for the region’s military administration.

KYIV, May 17 (Reuters) - Ukraine denied on Wednesday that a Russian hypersonic missile had destroyed a U.S.-made Patriot missile defence system during an air strike on Kyiv.

Russia's defence ministry made the assertion on Tuesday after an overnight air attack on the Ukrainian capital. Two U.S. officials later said a Patriot system had probably suffered damage but that it did not appear to have been destroyed.

"I want to say: do not worry about the fate of the Patriot," Ukrainian air force spokesperson Yuriy Ihnat told Ukrainian television.

KYIV, May 16 (Reuters) - Anti-corruption authorities in Ukraine said on Tuesday they had detained the head of the country's Supreme Court in an investigation they cast as an important step in Kyiv's fight against high-level graft.

Kyiv has redoubled efforts to clamp down on corruption despite Russia's invasion, and doing so is vital to meet the conditions for joining the European Union.

May 15 (Reuters) - Ukrainian anti-graft authorities said on Monday they were investigating large-scale corruption in the country's Supreme Court system and shared a photograph of piles of dollars neatly lined up on a sofa.

The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) did not name anyone accused of corruption, but two local media organizations reported Supreme Court Chief Justice Vsevolod Kniaziev had been detained on suspicion of receiving a $3 million bribe.

Reuters could not independently verify the reports.

KIEV, May 15 (Xinhua) -- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has reached agreements with the leaders of Italy, Germany, France and Britain on providing fresh defense aid for Kiev, Zelensky's press service reported Monday.

Recently, the Ukrainian leader visited the four European countries as a part of the preparations for the "active actions" of the Ukrainian army at the frontline, said a statement on the presidential website.