Day 403 of the Invasion of Ukraine: Kyiv continues to Repel Russian Attacks in Bakhmut

Day 403 of the invasion of Ukraine. Summary of key events in the last 24 hours:

• Ukraine continues to repel Russian attacks in Bakhmut
• The Battle of Bakhmut: Snow in the trenches, ice on the uniforms, the defenders of the city do not surrender
• A Ukrainian court placed the abbot of a well-known monastery in Kyiv under house arrest
• Zelensky spoke via phone to Macron
• Piontkovsky to UNIAN: Western-trained Ukrainian pilots will take off from airports in Romania and Poland

Ukraine continues to repel Russian attacks in Bakhmut

Ukrainian soldiers fighting near the eastern city of Bakhmut in Donetsk region continue to repel repeated Russian attacks, the Ukrainian military said, as heavy snow slowed Russian offensive operations, DPA reported.

According to an assessment by British military intelligence, Russia's efforts to conquer the neighboring eastern Ukrainian region of Donbas with a winter offensive have failed. Along the long front, "Russian forces have achieved only minor successes at the cost of tens of thousands of casualties," the British Ministry of Defense wrote in its daily intelligence briefing.

The crushing winter offensive "largely squandered" the advantage in personnel gained from last year's partial mobilization.

In Bakhmut, months of bloody fighting have resulted in little progress for Russian troops, although Ukrainian defenders have also reportedly suffered significant losses. Further attacks during the past 24 hours did not bring further success.

"During the past 24 hours, our defenders repelled enemy attacks in the area of the...