War between Russia and Ukraine: list of important events, day 444

As the war enters its 444th day, we review key developments.

Here is the state of affairs on Saturday, May 13, 2023.

Conflict

Moscow acknowledged that its troops had fallen back north of the devastated city of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine, in a retreat that the head of Russia’s private army Wagner called a “rout”.
The Ukrainian military said in a daily update that Russia was concentrating its efforts near Lyman, Bakhmut, Avdiivka and Maryinka in eastern Ukraine. “The enemy has launched 36 attacks in these directions in the past 24 hours,” the statement said.
Russian-installed officials in the occupied eastern Ukraine’s Luhansk region said rockets fired from Kiev injured six children and a Russian member of parliament. Two disused factories were also damaged, they said.
The commander of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet said it was strengthening its defenses amid a spate of Ukrainian drone strikes targeting the Crimean port of Sevastopol. Russia annexed Crimea in 2014.
Two Russian pilots were killed when a Russian Mi-28 military helicopter crashed in Crimea, Russian news agencies reported, citing the defense ministry.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukraine should continue to put pressure on Russian troops and promised more weapons to its soldiers. “We have to put pressure on them every day so that their sense of defeat turns into their flight, their mistakes, their losses,” he said in his daily speech.

China’s foreign ministry said Li Hui, China’s special representative for Eurasian affairs, will visit Ukraine, Poland, France, Germany and Russia from Monday to promote peace talks.
The Kremlin said it was unaware of a Vatican peacekeeping mission after diplomatic sources told the Reuters news agency that Zelenskyy was expected to meet Pope Francis at the Vatican on Saturday.
South Africa’s foreign ministry said in a statement that the US ambassador to South Africa had “unreservedly apologised” for allegations that a sanctioned Russian ship picked up weapons in South Africa last year.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was “disappointed” that European broadcasters banned Zelenskyy from sending a video message during this weekend’s Eurovision Song Contest final. Organizers say the event, which was won by Ukraine last year, is “non-political”.

Zelenskyy spoke on the phone to Sunak about Ukraine’s future in NATO and thanked him for donating long-range missiles to Ukraine.
Germany plans to buy 18 Leopard 2 tanks for 525 million euros ($578 million) to replace tanks supplied to Ukraine, a defense source told Reuters news agency.