Breaking news from the Russian war in Ukraine: Putin suffers “extremely heavy casualties” in Bakhmut “killing zone”.

Russia’s Defense Ministry said on Sunday that its forces continue to conduct military operations in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region and claim to have killed more than 220 Ukrainian soldiers in the past 24 hours.

“In the direction of Donetsk … more than 220 Ukrainian soldiers, one infantry fighting vehicle, 3 armored fighting vehicles, 7 vehicles and one D-30 howitzer were destroyed during the day,” the Defense Ministry said.

Russia’s advance appears to have stalled in Moscow’s campaign to capture the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, a leading think tank said in an assessment of the longest ground battle of the war.

The Washington-based Institute for the Study of War said there was no confirmed advances by Russian forces in Bakhmut. Russian forces and units of the Kremlin-controlled Wagner Group paramilitary continued to launch ground attacks in the city, but there was no evidence they were able to make any progress, ISW said late Saturday.

More on this story below The Associated Press Here:

Turkey’s Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said Sunday he believed a deal allowing Ukrainian grain to be exported across the Black Sea would be extended from its current March 18 deadline.

The “Black Sea Grains Initiative” brokered by the United Nations and Turkey between Russia and Ukraine last July aimed to prevent a global food crisis by safely exporting Ukrainian grain blocked by the Russian invasion from three Ukrainian ports could become.

The deal was extended by 120 days in November and will renew on March 18 if neither party objects. However, Moscow has already signaled that it will only agree to an extension if restrictions affecting its own exports are lifted.

Turkey has previously said it is working hard to extend the deal. “In separate talks with the Russian and Ukrainian sides, we saw that both sides are approaching this positively. We believe it will end positively,” Akar said in an interview with the state-run Anadolu Agency.

“We believe that the term will be extended on March 18,” he added.

Hundreds of Russian troops were killed in Bakhmut as Vladimir Putin’s forces attempted to seize control of the city of Donetsk’s front line – with Kiev’s snipers allegedly setting up a “kill zone”.

Some 520 Russian troops were killed and wounded in one day in Bakhmut alone, the Ukrainian military said, claiming Russia has suffered 2,000 lives since Friday – some of the deadliest days of the war since the Russian invasion.

To replenish his heavy losses, Russian mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin said his Wagner private army had opened recruitment centers in 42 cities – while the UK claimed the impact of losses “vary dramatically” across Russian regions.

my colleague Andy Gregory Reports:

Vladimir Putin continues to suffer “extremely heavy casualties” in Ukraine, although the impact of those casualties varies “dramatically” across regions of Russia, according to British intelligence services.

“Relative to their population, the wealthiest cities of Moscow and St. Petersburg have remained relatively unscathed,” the Defense Ministry said in its daily update.

“This is especially true for the families of the country’s elite,” she adds.

“In many eastern regions, the number of deaths as a percentage of the population is probably more than 30 times higher than in Moscow. In places, ethnic minorities are hardest hit; In Astrakhan, about 75 percent of the victims come from the Kazakh and Tatar minorities.

“As the Russian Defense Ministry seeks to address its ongoing combat personnel deficit, isolating the better-off and more influential elements of Russian society will most likely remain an important consideration.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s request to speak at the Oscars has been rejected for the second year in a row, he reported Variety Magazine.

Mr. Zelensky has attended virtually mega cultural events such as the Grammys, Golden Globe Awards, Cannes Film Festival and Berlin Film Festival since the war in Ukraine.

A request was reportedly sent to the academy by WME power agent Mike Simpson to include Mr Zelensky. However, the application was rejected, it said.

Last year, Oscars executive producer Will Packer gave Mr. Zelensky airtime because “everyone involved in the conflict is white and previous tragedies involving people of color didn’t receive the same attention.”

This year’s Oscars showed their solidarity with Ukraine by observing a minute’s silence during the ceremony.

An attack by 40 rockets has hit the northeastern city of Kharkiv since the beginning of the year, Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his nightly speech.

“Ruins, rubble, shell holes in the ground are a self-portrait of Russia painting where normal life without Russia is,” he said.

He said Russian shelling killed three Ukrainians in Kherson who simply “went to a store to buy groceries.”

Russia has “become synonymous with terror” and “will be an example of defeat” and just punishment for its actions in Ukraine.

“The punishment the Kremlin cannot stop,” he said.

More than 500 Russian and Ukrainian soldiers have been killed in the past 24 hours as the battle raged on in Bakhmut.

Serhiy Cherevatyi, a Ukrainian military spokesman, said 221 pro-Moscow troops were killed and more than 300 wounded in Bakhmut.

While Moscow did not specify Bakhmut’s casualties, the Defense Ministry said up to 210 Ukrainian soldiers were killed in the wider Donetsk part of the front line.

Ukrainian forces repel relentless attacks in Bakhmut, and a small river bisecting the city now marks a new front line, while the Wagner mercenary group advanced across most of the eastern part of the city.

Moscow says capturing Bakhmut would punch a hole in Ukraine’s defenses and be a step toward capturing the entire Donbass industrial region, a key goal. Kiev says the battle is wearing down Russia’s best forces.

Aerial photos show the extent of destruction in Lviv Oblast after Russia launched a spate of missile attacks on Ukraine.

This video, shared by the region’s governor, shows state civilian homes being abandoned after shelling hit the area.

It was the first such missile attack in weeks, with Volodymyr Zelenskyy reporting a total of 81 attacks across the country.

He said it was “a difficult night” and offered his condolences to the families of the dead and injured.

Kiev, Kirovohrad, Dnipro, Odessa, Kharkiv, Zaporizhia, Lvov, Ivano-Frankivsk, Zhytomyr and Vinnytsia regions were hit.