Russia has banned its own top officials from resigning to avoid “any impression of defeatism,” according to UK.

The British Ministry of Defence (MoD) said regional leaders, security officials and members of the powerful Presidential Administration have been banned from resigning while the ‘Special Military Operation’ continues.

In an intelligence update posted on Twitter, the ministry said: “In private, many officials are likely highly sceptical about the war, as well as often experiencing work stress within the dysfunctional wartime apparatus. The ban is likely enforced with strong hints that resignees will face trumped up criminal charges.”

“As well as being concerned about capability gaps resignees would leave, the authorities are likely also attempting to prevent any impression of defeatism, and to bolster a sense of collective responsibility for the war,” the ministry claimed.

It comes as explosions rocked cities across Ukraine overnight as millions were subject to air raid alerts ahead of a much-anticipated counteroffensive.

Air strikes hit Kviv in the ninth Russian air raid to target the capital this month, and one person was killed in the Odesa region after a Russian missile attack.

Yevgeny Prigozhin, the chief of Russia’s Wagner mercenary group, on Thursday accused regular Russian army units of pulling back 570 metres north of the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, leaving his own fighters’ flanks exposed.

The claims have not been independently verified and there was no immediate comment from the defence ministry.

Wagner forces have been spearheading the assault on Bakhmut, one of the bloodiest and longest battles of the war, something Moscow calls “a special military operation,” with some support from the regular army in recent months.

Prigozhin, who has repeatedly accused Russia’s top military brass of not doing enough to back his men, asked the defence ministry to do all it could to protect Bakhmut’s flanks after what he alleged was a withdrawal.

“Unfortunately, units of the Russian Defence Ministry have withdrawn up to 570 metres to the north of Bakhmut, exposing our flanks,” Prigozhin said in a voice message.

“I am appealing to the top leadership of the Ministry of Defence – publicly – because my letters are not being read,” Prigozhin said.

“Please do not give up the flanks,” he said, addressing Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and Valery Gerasimov, chief of the General Staff.

Wagner says it has taken most of the shattered city – albeit at enormous human cost. But Ukraine says its forces have retaken territory around Bakhmut in recent days.

Moscow sees Bakhmut, a city of about 70,000 before the war, as a potential stepping stone towards capturing the rest of the eastern industrial Donbas region bordering Russia.

A total of 1,109 Russian citizens have fled to Finald to avoid military conscription in Russia, the Finnish Immigration Service has said.

Finland now awaits a decision from the EU about their stance on the fate of Russians who have fled conscription, before the country decides whether to grant over 1,000 Russian asylum.

it is not known when such a decision will be made by the EU.

“We haven’t been able to issue decisions regarding asylum,” Sanna Sutter, the interior ministry’s immigration director, told Finnish news agency STT.

Russian agricultural minister Dmitry Patrushev on Thursday said that Russia’s grain exports would be between 50 million and 55 million tonnes in the 2023-2024 season.

Speaking at a televised government meeting, Patrushev said that Russia’s 2023 wheat crop was seen at 78 million tonnes, and that 93% of winter grains had made it through the winter in normal condition.

Russian president Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that the country had increased its food exports last year, and that Russia needed to help farmers in the regions it claims to have annexed from Ukraine last year.

The Kremlin said on Thursday that a decision to freeze the bank accounts of Finnish embassies and consulates in Russia was a response to what it called the unfriendly acts of “the collective West”, including Finland.

Officials from Finland and Denmark said on Wednesday that the diplomatic bank accounts of both countries in Russia had been frozen, prompting their embassies to make payments in cash.

Vladimir Putin has shot down concerns of his own finance minister who acknowledged “a problem” with Russia’s energy revenues, underscoring the damage done by Western sanctions to its economy.

In a televised meeting chaired by President Putin through a video link, Anton Siluanov said on Wednesday that Russia’s revenues from oil and gas have taken a hit, blaming deep discounts offered to countries following the Ukraine invasion.

“Russia’s non-energy revenues are on track for growth as planned, with the potential for a small surplus by year-end, but there is a problem with energy revenues,” said Mr Siluanov.

The Kremlin said on Thursday that a delegation from African countries hoping to present their initiative to end the conflict in Ukraine would visit Moscow.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that Moscow would be ready to listen to “any proposals” that help resolve the conflict.

The Kremlin on Thursday confirmed that it had renewed the Black Sea grain deal, saying a deal had been reached after what it called “a qualified result” for Russia in negotiations over easing restrictions on Russian agricultural exports.

In a call with reporters, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that different scenarios were being worked out regarding easing restrictions on Russia’s state agricultural bank, a key demand of Moscow in the renewal talks.

Research found some women from Ukraine now living in Poland, Romania, Hungary and Slovakia are having to temporarily return home as it is “easier” to access reproductive healthcare there, despite the stress of travelling back into the war-torn country.

The study, by the Center for Reproductive Rights and eight global and national human rights organisations, warned refugees are being put “at risk” as they grapple with issues such as legal restrictions and cost barriers when trying to access the right care.

Other barriers include “information shortfalls, poor quality care” as well as “institutional racism and substandard care”, it said.