Wagner and Russian Army Cooperate in Fresh Push to Take Bakhmut

Russia stepped up its campaign to capture Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine, pushing Ukrainian forces further from the city center as explosions rocked Russian-occupied Melitopol ahead of an expected Ukrainian counteroffensive targeting the south.

Meanwhile, China’s foreign minister said that Beijing won’t send Russia munitions for the conflict, its strongest response yet to statements by U.S. officials that China was considering such assistance to Moscow. At the same time, however, Moscow announced Friday that the Chinese defense minister will visit Russia next week for talks on bolstering defense cooperation between the two countries.