SNAPSHOT-Russia's war on Ukraine latest: Russia admits retreat north of Bakhmut

Moscow acknowledged on Friday that its forces had fallen back north of Ukraine's battlefield city of Bakhmut after a new offensive, in a retreat that the head of Russia's Wagner private army called a rout.

CONFLICT * As anticipation grows of a Ukrainian counteroffensive aiming to drive Moscow's forces out of the land they have seized in the last 15 months, Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Maliar said Ukrainian forces advanced by about 2 km around the eastern city of Bakhmut this week and have not given up any positions there in that time.

* President Zelenskiy said Ukraine had to keep pressing Russian forces and promised more weapons to his soldiers "to defeat the aggressor" * "We must put pressure on them every day so that their sense of defeat turns into their flight, their mistakes, their losses", he said in a daily address.

* Russia's defence ministry said its forces had repelled a surge of attempted Ukrainian attacks against its positions in eastern Ukraine but indicated its troops had fallen back in one area for what it said were tactical reasons. * Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of the Wagner forces that have led the campaign in Bakhmut, said in an audio message: "What Konashenkov described, unfortunately, is called 'a rout' and not a regrouping". * In a separate video message, Prigozhin said the Ukrainians seized high ground overlooking Bakhmut and opened the main highway leading into the city from the West, saying 5 sq km had been lost on Friday alone.

* Two Russian pilots were killed when a Russian Mi-28 military helicopter crashed in the annexed peninsula of Crimea, Russian news agencies reported, citing the defence ministry. * The Ukrainian military said in a daily update that Russia was focussing its efforts near Lyman, Bakhmut, Avdiivka and Marinka. "The enemy carried out 36 attacks in these directions in the last 24 hours."

* South African officials hit back at U.S. accusations that a sanctioned Russian ship had picked up weapons from a naval base near Cape Town late last year, a move investors feared could lead Washington to impose sanctions. DIPLOMACY

* The EU is discussing its 11th package of sanctions since Russia invaded Ukraine, meant to focus on those circumventing existing trade restrictions. * Lawmakers accused the Pentagon of effectively undermining war crimes prosecution of Russia by blocking the sharing of U.S. military intelligence with the International Criminal Court at the Hague.

* U.S. President Joe Biden and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez will discuss Ukraine, defense cooperation, and migration on Friday during a meeting at the White House in which the war between Moscow and Kyiv is likely to loom large. ECONOMY

* Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania are considering speeding up a plan to disconnect the Baltic region's electricity supply from Russia's grid. INSIDE RUSSIA

* Police in the Russian city of St. Petersburg have created a new anti-drone unit to detect unmanned aerial vehicles following a purported drone attack on the Kremlin earlier this month. * Pro-war Russian nationalists led by Igor Girkin said a new group they had set up was entering politics to save Russia which they warned was in danger of turmoil due to military failures in the Ukraine war.

IN-DEPTH STORIES * INSIGHT-Communities torn as Ukraine turns its back on Moscow-linked church.

* INSIGHT-How Russians end up in a far-right militia fighting in Ukraine. * EXCLUSIVE-Turkey defers $600 mln Russian energy payment -sources

* EXCLUSIVE-Oilfield firm SLB retrenches as Russia sanctions squeeze * FOCUS-Why eastern Europe's grain producers face a perfect storm

(Compiled by Reuters editors, Editing by Angus MacSwan)