Day 333 of the Invasion of Ukraine: Russian Politician warned of a "Global Catastrophe" due to the Supply of New Weapons to Kyiv

Here are the highlights of events related to the war in Ukraine over the past 24 hours:

The Russian military said it had begun "offensive operations" in Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia region

The Russian army said yesterday that it had begun "offensive operations" in the Zaporizhzhia region, southern Ukraine, AFP reported.

After offensive operations, units of Russia's Eastern Military District took more advantageous lines and positions, the Russian Defense Ministry said in a communiqué, without elaborating.

On Friday night, the Russian occupation authorities reported a "strong increase in the intensity" of fighting in this region "along the entire front line".

In yesterday's bulletin, the Ukrainian army only noted that it had shelled a dozen southern villages on Friday.

The contact line between Ukrainian and Russian troops in Zaporizhzhia has barely moved for months, and there has been no major fighting there, unlike in southern Kherson Oblast (until November) and eastern Donetsk Oblast, where fighting continues.

Yesterday intense fighting took place around the town of Bakhmut (Artyomovsk); Russian forces there were backed by the private military company Wagner, which the US called a transnational criminal organization yesterday.

According to a senior US official, Ukraine should still focus efforts on preparing for a powerful counter-offensive in the spring, rather than focusing on defending Bakhmut, which is largely destroyed and left almost depopulated.

But Bakhmut has become a political symbol, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky visiting front-line fighters there in December to inspire them, and Russia would like to show success after a series of...