A Ukrainian serviceman carries a shell for a 2S5 Giatsint-S self-propelled howitzer near Bakhmut in Donetsk region, Ukraine, on 5 March 2023.; Credit: REUTERS/Anna Kudriavtseva

(Reuters) - Monday 13 March 2023: Ukrainian forces faced relentless Russian attacks on Bakhmut in its eastern Donetsk region, with both sides reporting mounting enemy casualties as they battled across a small river that bisects the ruined town and now marks the front line.

DIPLOMACY

Chinese President Xi Jinping is planning to travel to Russia to meet his counterpart, Vladimir Putin, as soon as next week, people familiar with the matter said, which would be sooner than previously expected.

One of President Vladimir Putin's top allies said on Monday that he doubts that the Nord Stream pipelines were blown up by a pro-Ukrainian group, and said that Moscow still does not know who exactly was behind it, Interfax reported.

BAKHMUT BATTLE

The situation in Bakhmut was difficult, the commander of Ukrainian ground forces said, though adding that his troops were repelling all Russian attempts to capture it.

The head of Russia's Wagner mercenary group, which has led the assault on Bakhmut, said the situation in the mining town was "tough, very tough ... But we are advancing and we will be advancing".

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russian forces had suffered more than 1,100 dead in the past few days fighting along the Bakhmut section of the frontline. Russian forces also sustained 1,500 "sanitary losses" - soldiers wounded badly enough to keep them out of further action, he added.

Russia's defence ministry said on Sunday its forces had killed more than 220 Ukrainian service members over the past 24 hours in the Donetsk direction.

The Wagner chief said his army would begin to reboot once Bakhmut was captured. "In particular, we will start recruiting new people from the regions," Yevgeny Prigozhin said in a clip posted on Telegram channels associated with Wagner.

GRAIN DEAL

Turkish Defence Minister Hulusi Akar said he believes that a deal allowing Ukrainian grain to be exported via the Black Sea will be extended from its current March 18 deadline.

Russia's foreign ministry said on Sunday that Russian representatives had not yet taken part in negotiations on extending the Black Sea grain deal.

CHURCH

Ukraine's punitive actions against a branch of the Orthodox church linked to Russia are part of a drive to achieve "spiritual independence", Zelensky said. Ukrainian leaders have accused the long-established Ukrainian Orthodox Church of undermining Ukrainian unity and collaborating with Moscow.