Ukraine

Sep 23, 2023

A bright flash of light seen over Kyiv last night has prompted a flurry of online speculation, with Russia, satellites, UFOs and even aliens blamed.

A video of the incident taken around 10pm showed a sudden beam of light illuminating a residential area, while another clip showed a flaming object crashing to the ground.

Presidential adviser Andriy Yermak took to Twitter and shared a UFO emoji without any further context. The comments under the tweet showed memes and cartoons of aliens and UFOs.

Kyiv has blamed the flash on a crashing Nasa satellite, but the US space agency has denied involvement and said there had been some confusion over an earlier announcement about bringing a retired satellite out of orbit.

On the war front, intelligence estimates show Russia controls about 87.9 per cent of Bakhmut as the battle for the mining city with little strategic value continues.

And a Ukrainian military spokesperson said Russian allegations that it had blown up four civilian buildings in Bakhmut were a "provocation".

The Russian ships accused of plotting sabotage in the North Sea

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Drone strikes spark fire at Odesa ‘recreational facility'

'Watch for signs Putin planning tactical nuke strike’

Kyiv mocks Putin's visit: ‘Special tour of mass murders’

04:39 , Arpan Rai

Speculations were rife in Ukraine after the night sky of the war-hit nation saw a flash of mysterious lights, prompting chatter of UFOs and aliens on social media.

Preliminary visuals showed the sky suddenly illuminated by a bright light, while another clip showed a flaming object crashing to the ground.

Shortly after, people took to social media to share several memes about aliens and unidentified flying objects.

The Kyiv city military administration said it was a crashing Nasa satellite based on preliminary information.

The Ukrainian air force, responsible for trying to down missiles and drones fired by Russia, said a satellite or a meteorite could be responsible.

"Please do not use official air force symbols to create memes for the enemy to enjoy!" it said in a message.

Minutes earlier, presidential adviser Andriy Yermak had posted an emoji of a UFO.

However, Nasa denied the reports of a crashing satellite and said that there appeared to be some confusion over an earlier announcement the agency had made about bringing a retired satellite out of orbit in the early hours yesterday morning Kyiv time.

05:00 , Emily Atkinson

A former opera singer has organised a Mozart requiem to raise funds for a charity which provides medical professionals with the skills to work in hostile environments after being inspired by its "amazing" founder's work.

Fiona MacDonald, a trustee of the Wilfred Owen Association and founder of military charity Bravehound, alongside members of McOpera – a collective of musicians from the Scottish Opera Orchestra – are to hold the requiem at 6pm on April 30 at Glasgow Cathedral, with funds raised going towards the David Nott Foundation's work in Ukraine.

Mozart requiem to raise funds for charity's ‘amazing’ work in Ukraine

04:24 , Arpan Rai

The intelligence estimates show Russia controls about 87.9 per cent of Bakhmut as the battle for the mining city with little strategic value continues.

This comes as the Ukrainian general staff said that there is hevy fighting underway within Bakhmut with the Ukrainian forces repelling Russian ground attacks southwest of the town in Stupochky.

In the past day, Ukrainian and Russian troops engaged in 34 combat clashes in Bakhmut, the Ukrainian eastern group of forces spokesperson Colonel Serhiy Cherevaty said.

While Russian milbloggers have claimed that Wagner group is making significant progress in the urban warfare points, the US-based think-tank points out that the ground advances are not 90 per cent as claimed by Donetsk People's Republic advisor Yan Gagin.

It is likely that Russian forces are using FAB air-dropped bombs to destroy Ukrainian fortified areas in Bakhmut, as claimed by a Russian milblogger.

The battle for Bakhmut — spanning about nine months now — is the longest and the bloodiest battle in the Russian invasion of Ukraine, dubbed "meat-grinder" which has witnessed heavy casualties on both sides.

04:00 , Emily Atkinson

03:54 , Arpan Rai

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky is set to virtually address Mexico's Congress today, said two people familiar with the matter.

The speech is due to take place around midday today, sources said.

Mr Zelensky has continued his outreach efforts with allies to seek arms aid as it fights off Russian invasion.

He will address the lower house of Congress on an invite from a congressional friendship group between Mexico and Ukraine, according to the sources. There are other similar groups in the Mexican Congress, including one for Russia.

Mexico's government has said it takes a neutral position on the war, even as some supporters of Ukraine have criticised the country's leftist president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador for taking issue with European arms shipments to Kyiv.

However, Mexico has voted alongside the United States and other Western powers on a number of major UN resolutions.

03:00 , Emily Atkinson

The European Union is still the largest importer of oil products from Russia among the countries that have imposed some of the strictest sanctions on Moscow since the invasion of Ukraine, new data has revealed.

It is because the EU indirectly imported oil from countries that have become the main buyers of energy from Moscow undermining its own sanctions.

Five "laundromat" countries that export Russian crude to the EU were identified by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) in its new report.

Shweta Sharma reports:

EU is still largest importer of Russian oil due to loophole in sanctions, report says

02:00 , Emily Atkinson

01:00 , Emily Atkinson

Russia's invading forces are deliberately using rape, torture and kidnapping to try and sow terror among civilians in Ukraine, the top prosecutor in Ukraine told U.S. lawmakers in graphic testimony Wednesday.

Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin said that nearly 80,000 cases of war crimes have been registered in Ukraine since the war began in February 2022.

More on this story here:

UK says Russian hackers aim to attack key infrastructure

Wednesday 19 April 2023 17:46 , Emily Atkinson

The United States has announced a new military aid package for Ukraine to help the Ukrainian military in its war against Russia.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the package will include more ammunition and artillery rounds. It is the 36th security package since the war began in February 2022, she told reporters.

Wednesday 19 April 2023 17:10 , Emily Atkinson

Ukraine‘s defence minister said his country has received the US-made Patriot surface-to-air guided missile systems it has long craved, and which Kyiv hopes will help shield it from Russian strikes during the war.

Oleksii Reznikov said in a tweet: "Today, our beautiful Ukrainian sky becomes more secure because Patriot air defence systems have arrived in Ukraine."

Ukrainian officials have previously said the arrival of Patriot systems, which Washington agreed to send last October, would be a major boost and a milestone in the war against Moscow's full-scale invasion.

The Patriot can target aircraft, cruise missiles and shorter-range ballistic missiles.

Wednesday 19 April 2023 16:40 , Emily Atkinson

The US defence secretary said the country is looking forward to welcoming Sweden as a member of Nato before the alliance's upcoming summit in July.

During a visit to Sweden on Wednesday, Lloyd Austin also said he would encourage Turkey and Hungary to ratify Stokholm's accession to the defence bloc.

Along with Finland, Sweden applied to join ato in May last year. Finland's application was processed in record time and it became the 31st member of the alliance earlier this month – more than doubling Nato's border with Russia.

Sweden's accession has been held up by Turkey and Hungary, who have yet to ratify Sweden as a member.

"We look forward to soon welcoming Sweden as the 32nd (member of Nato). To be clear, we look forward to that to happen before the summit in July," Austin told a news conference.

"We encourage our allies, Turkey and Hungary, to ratify Sweden's accession as soon as possible."

Wednesday 19 April 2023 16:14 , Emily Atkinson

A Ukrainian military spokesperson has accused Moscow of a "provocation" after Russian proxy forces said Ukrainian forces had blown up four buildings in the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, killing 20 civilians.

Russia's state-run TASS news agency quoted an unnamed source in the Russian-backed "power structures" of Ukraine‘s eastern Donetsk region as saying Ukrainian forces had blown up the buildings as they pulled back from the outskirts of Bakhmut.

"This is another Russian information provocation with the goal of ... distracting (attention) from the crimes of the Wagner terrorist organisation," Serhiy Cherevatyi, a military spokesperson, told Reuters, referring to the Wagner private military company fighting alongside Russian forces.

"Ukrainian service members absolutely adhere to all rules and doctrines of war fighting (and) never violate either national nor international law, especially regarding civilians."

Wednesday 19 April 2023 15:53 , Emily Atkinson

Vladimir Putin has conceded that delivering goods to regions of Ukraine that Russia unilaterally annexed last year was "problematic", and has ordered the government to address the problem.

Putin visited Russian-controlled territory in Ukraine‘s Luhansk and Kherson regions on Monday, according to the Kremlin.

Wednesday 19 April 2023 15:38 , Emily Atkinson

Russia is developing plans to sabotage wind farms, gas pipelines and power cables in the North Sea, according to a joint investigation.

Public broadcasters in Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Finland report that Russia has deployed a fleet of ships to carry out underwater surveillance and map key sites for possible disruption to European communications and energy supply.

The boats are disguised as fishing trawlers and research vessels but are feeding information to the Kremlin which could be used to paralyse Nordic countries in the event of conflict between Russia and the West, intelligence sources are cited as saying.

My colleague Liam James has the details:

The Russian ships accused of plotting sabotage in the North Sea

Wednesday 19 April 2023 15:26 , Emily Atkinson

Cyprus says it will not tolerate any deviation from EU sanctions on Russia, and said it was in touch with the UK and US after a number of its nationals were blacklisted last week as sanctions-busting enablers.

Britain sanctioned two Cypriots, and the US about a dozen Cypriots or dual-nationals on 12 April for alleged ties to people facing sanctions or entities sanctioned over Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

It alarmed Cyprus, which has a thriving services industry in part built on hosting an extensive network of businesses with links to Russia and a past reputation of light-touch regulation.

Cyprus has asked both the UK and the US for additional information to pass on to its own law enforcement agencies for assessment, officials said.

"The credibility of our country must be safeguarded and no deviation from EU sanctions will be tolerated," government spokesman Konstantinos Letymbiotis said.

Wednesday 19 April 2023 15:04 , Emily Atkinson

Romania will seal and monitor Ukrainian grain cargoes transiting the country and conduct quality controls on food products at border checkpoints, the agriculture ministry announced, while stopping short of banning imports.

On Wednesday, Bulgaria joined Poland, Hungary and Slovakia in temporarily banning Ukrainian grain imports as central and eastern European states come under domestic pressure to shield local farmers.

In Romania, Agriculture Minister Petre Daea held talks over video link with his Ukrainian counterpart Mykola Solsky and asked him to "quickly identify solutions to restrict grain and oilseeds exports to Romania". The two will meet in Bucharest on Friday.

Wednesday 19 April 2023 14:32 , Liam James

Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said Wednesday that "the United States can cheat at any moment," claiming Russia had experienced this when the Western military alliance Nato expanded eastward.

"I want to emphasise that everyone knows very well that the United States can cheat at any moment, and much more often they cheat than they keep their own promises, their own proposals," Mr Lavrov said as he addressed a press conference following talks with Venezuelan foreign minister Yvan Gil Pinto.

The pair held talks in Caracas hours after the Russian minister arrived in the country in the second stop of a tour of four Latin American nations. Both men vowed continued support for each other's country and condemned the economic sanctions Washington has imposed on them.

"We fully support the position of our Venezuelan friends," Mr Lavrov said. "It is their country ... and we are going to support it in any way so that the Venezuelan economy becomes an independent economy from the pressures of the United States and other western actors."

Wednesday 19 April 2023 14:01 , Liam James

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said he had visited the border with Belarus and Poland, where he praised the work of border guards.

"It is an honour for me to be here today to thank our border guards for protecting the state border," he wrote under video footage showing him meeting and addressing border guards.

Ukrainian troops have been conducting military exercises at the border with Belarus after fears were raised over President Alexander Lukashenko's assistance to the Russian invasion, including potentially allowing Russian troops to enter the invasion from his territory.

Last month, Russian president Vladimir Putin said he was stationing tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus.

Wednesday 19 April 2023 13:45 , Liam James

Bulgaria introduced a temporary ban on Ukraine grain imports, Radio Bulgaria reported on its website quoting caretaker prime minister Galab Donev.

Sofia would follow Poland and Hungary in bringing bans on Ukrainian imports to protect their local markets after an increase in supply from Kyic depressed prices in neighbouring countries.

"Over the past year, a significant amount of food has remained in the country and disrupted food chains," the report quoted Mr Donev as saying.

"We are forced to adopt this national measure because the European authorities are still considering an adequate measure."

The European Union is preparing €100m (£88m) of compensation for farmers in countries bordering Ukraine and plans to introduce restrictions on imports of Ukrainian cereals, a European Commission spokesperson saidtoday.

Wednesday 19 April 2023 13:15 , Liam James

Jailed Russian opposition politician Ilya Yashin lost his appeal against an eight-and-a-half year prison sentence for discrediting the Russian army, according to a correspondent in the court.

Mr Yashin was jailed in December over charges of spreading false information about the military – a new offence added to the country's criminal law after Russian president Vladimir Putin ordered an invasion of Ukraine.

The former municipal deputy of Moscow's charges related to a series of posts about the murder and torture of Ukrainian civilians in Bucha.

Wednesday 19 April 2023 12:45 , Liam James

Ukraine's defence minister confirmed Kyiv had received Patriot air defence systems.

Oleksi Reznikoz said the surface-to-air missile systems made Ukrainian skies more secure, after Kyiv's air force earlier this week warned the country could lose control of its skies as soon as next month.

"Our air defenders have mastered them as fast as they could. And our partners have kept their word," Mr Reznikov wrote on Twitter.

Mr Reznikov thanked Germany's defence minister. Germany earlier said it had delivered Patriot systems with missiles to Ukraine.

Wednesday 19 April 2023 12:15 , Liam James

Britain is facing cyber threats from Russia-aligned groups who want to "to disrupt or destroy" critical infrastructure, senior Tory minister Oliver Dowden is warning (Adam Forrest writes).

The Cabinet Office minister will use a speech in Belfast to say Russia hackers are "ideologically motivated, rather than financially motivated" and have begun to target the UK this year.

Mr Dowden is set to confirm on Wednesday that the National Cyber Security Centre is issuing an "official threat notice" to operators of the UK's critical national infrastructure.

The minister will reveal that in the last few months several Russia-aligned groups have focused on the UK – with Mr Dowden warning that "ideological" motivation means that they are less likely to show restraint.

Click here for the full story:

Russia-linked hackers want to ‘destroy’ UK, Tory minister warns

Wednesday 19 April 2023 11:50 , Liam James

Ilya Yashin, a jailed Russian opposition leader, has had an appeal against his sentence heard in a Moscow court.

In December, Mr Yashin was sentenced to eight-and-a-half years in prison on charges of spreading false information about the military – a new offence added to the country's criminal law after Russian President Vladimir Putin sent troops into Ukraine.

The former municipal deputy of Moscow's charges related to a series of posts about the murder and torture of Ukrainian civilians in Bucha.

On Monday, a Russian court convicted top opposition figure Vladimir Kara-Murza Jr of treason for publicly denouncing the invasion of Ukraine and sentenced him to 25 years in prison.

Wednesday 19 April 2023 11:25 , Liam James

Inspections of ships are resuming under a UN-brokered agreement on the safe export of grain from Ukrainian Black Sea ports, Ukrainian deputy prime minister Oleksandr Kubrakov said.

The Russian news agency RIA said inspections had already resumed after two days of talks, citing the UN coordinator's press office.

Ukraine said Russia blocked the inspections of ships on Monday. Moscow last month agreed to renew the deal for at least 60 days, half the intended period.

The Kremlin said it would only consider a further extension if several demands in relation to its own exports were met.

Wednesday 19 April 2023 11:00 , Liam James

Lindy Cameron, chief executive of Britain's National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), said growing fears about increased cyber attacks on the UK were rooted in the potential for hackers sympathetic to Russia, or being directed by the Kremlin, to turn their attention to Britain.

Due to address the CyberUK conference in Belfast today, Ms Cameron said cyber attackers could begin to broaden their focus out from Ukraine to the wider West as the conflict in eastern Europe goes on.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today programme, she said: "What we’ve seen over the last few months is a change in intent by what we are describing as state-aligned groups.

"So organisations that are sympathetic to the Russian government's position and where we see some intent to try and target the UK's critical national infrastructure – so this is not something everyone should worry about, this is specifically focused on our critical national infrastructure – either with destructive activity or with disinformation.

"What we are still seeing is quite low-level activity but it is really important that our critical national infrastructure is well protected and resilient, as we called out in the recent integrated review refresh. And we want to ensure people are ready for the kind of threat they could face in the future."

Wednesday 19 April 2023 10:35 , Liam James

Moldova summoned the Russian ambassador on Wednesday to declare a member of the Russian embassy staff persona non grata, a government spokesperson said.

Government press secretary Daniel Vode told reporters the decision was connected to the actions of embassy staff towards Moldovan border guards who denied entry to a regional Russian politician at Chisinau airport this week.

The embassy staffer was not named.

Wednesday 19 April 2023 10:20 , Liam James

Russian-backed separatists have claimed that Ukrainian forces blew up four residential buildings, killing 20 civilians, while retreating from Bakhmut, Russia's state-owned Tass news agency reported.

Ukrainian officials have not commented on the claims.The Independent has not been able to confirm the report.

The commander of Ukraine's ground forces yesterday said Russia n forces were stepping up their use of heavy artillery and air strikes in the Donetsk city which has been the central point of fighting in the invasion for months.

Ukraine has repeatedly denied claims by Russia and its allied forces that Bakhmut has fallen.

Wednesday 19 April 2023 10:02 , Liam James

Emmanuel Macron is said to be looking to make arrangements with China that could see talks held between Russia and Ukraine "by the summer" (William Mata writes).

The French president is believed to have asked his foreign policy advisor, Emmanuel Bonne, to reach out to his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi with the final aim of setting up negotiations.

On a recent trip to China, Mr Macron was seemingly unable to convince President Xi to finally speak with President Volodymyr Zelensky after a silence between the pair that has lasted since Moscow invaded Ukraine.

The details of Mr Macron's plan are not clear and reports have not said if they have the blessing of Mr Zelensky.

Click here for the full story:

Macron ‘working with China on secret plan for Ukraine war peace talks’

Wednesday 19 April 2023 09:45 , Liam James

Ukraine's air force said it shot down 10 out of 12 Iranian-made Shahed drones which targeted Odesa overnight.

Two of the drones Russia launched in the region overnight hit a "recreational infrastructure facility", causing a fire, the local administration said.

No casualties were reported.

Odesa City administration said firefighters were able to extinguish the blaze quickly

Further details of the "recreational" site were not offered but pictures showed a building decorated with cartoons and drawings ablaze

Authorities said the strikes were carried out with Iranian-made Shahed-131/136 drones

Wednesday 19 April 2023 09:34 , Liam James

Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva condemned the violation of Ukraine's territorial integrity by Russia and again called for mediation to end the war, a peace initiative that was criticised by the Ukrainian government.

Speaking at a lunch with Romanian president Klaus Iohannis, Mr Lula said a group of neutral nations must come together to help broker peace between Russia and Ukraine.

His comments came after he set off a storm among Western allies by stating over the weekend that they were prolonging the fighting by supplying arms to Ukraine.

A White House spokesperson accused Mr Lula of "parroting Russian and Chinese propaganda without looking at the facts." And on Tuesday, the White House said Mr Lula's "tone was not one of neutrality."

Wednesday 19 April 2023 09:10 , Liam James

Russian forces are stepping up their use of heavy artillery and airstrikes in the devastated eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, the commander of Ukraine's ground forces said yesterday.

Fighting in and around Bakhmut has for months been the central battle of the war in Ukraine and despite Russian claims to have taken the town, Kyiv has repeatedly denied losing control.

"Currently, the enemy is increasing the activity of heavy artillery and the number of air strikes, turning the city into ruins," General Oleksandr Syrskyi said in a statement.

He said Russia, which launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February last year, remained committed to taking Bakhmut "at any cost" but was suffering significant losses in the battle for the city.

Artillerymen of the Ukrainian 80th separate airborne assault brigade fire from a BM-21 Grad multiple rocket launcher towards Russian positions on the front line near Bakhmut

The BM-21 Grad, a multiple rocket launcher first developed in the Soviet-era, has seen havy use in the invasion

A member of the 80th brigade plays accordion during a rest on the frontline near Bakhmut

Wednesday 19 April 2023 08:55 , Liam James

The European Union is the largest importer of fossil fuel energy from Russia despite the bloc leading in the implementation of the strictest sanctions against Moscow, new data has revealed (Shweta Sharma writes).

The reason the EU is still the largest importer is because it continues to purchase a record number of crude products through the main buyers of Russian oil.

Five "laundromat" countries that export the Russian crude to the EU were identified by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) in its new report.

The five countries are China, India, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Singapore.

Click here for the full story:

EU is still largest importer of Russian oil due to loophole in sanctions, report says

Wednesday 19 April 2023 08:31 , Liam James

The US and Nato must keep watch for signs Russian president Vladimir Putin is planning a tactical nuclear weapon strike in Ukraine, the second-highest US diplomat said.

Mr Putin could launch such an attack in a "managed" escalation of his invasion, Wendy Sherman, deputy secretary of state, said during the opening session of an annual Nato arms control conference that was being held in North America for the first time since its inception in 2004.

"We have all watched and worried that Vladimir Putin would use what he considers a non-strategic tactical nuclear weapon or use some demonstration effect to escalate, but in an managed risk escalation," Mr Sherman said. "It is very critical to remain watchful of this."

The Russian president last month announced he was preparing to station tactical nuclear weapons in neighboring Belarus "is his effort to use this threat in a managed way," Ms Sherman said.

Tactical nuclear weapons are designed for battlefield gains or for use against limited military targets.

Wednesday 19 April 2023 07:00 , Emily Atkinson

Emmanuel Macron is said to be looking to make arrangements with China that could see talks held between Russia and Ukraine "by the summer".

William Mata has more:

Macron ‘working with China on secret plan for Ukraine war peace talks’

Wednesday 19 April 2023 06:59 , Arpan Rai

The British defence ministry has warned against the continuing disinformation campaign from Moscow as it said that the Russian state has systematically used information operations as a major element of its strategy after invading Ukraine.

"It has cultivated multiple channels and proxies to spread disinformation: the intentional creation and sharing of false or manipulated information. One component of Russia's disinformation is ‘narrative laundering’, whereby Russia promotes information from proxies, or unverified social media sources, which then permeates to more mainstream or state-run media," the MoD said in its latest intelligence update.

It added: "This aims to cloud the source of the information, making it easier for the Russian state to distance itself from the message. It then promotes misleading fragments of the narrative, while masking its vested interest.

"Russian state actors present manipulated narratives in both orchestrated and opportunistic ways. Their current priorities almost certainly include discrediting the Ukrainian government and reducing international support for Ukraine," the MoD said.

Wednesday 19 April 2023 06:19 , Arpan Rai

Ukraine's air force has said it has shot down 10 out of 12 Iranian-made Shahed drones which targeted Odesa oblast overnight.

Two of the drones Russia launched in the region overnight hit a "public infrastructure facility," the Odesa oblast military administration said.

Wednesday 19 April 2023 06:12 , Arpan Rai

Volodymyr Zelensky has said he and US House of Representatives speaker Kevin McCarthy discussed in a phone call Ukraine‘s need for weapons as well as increasing sanctions pressure on Russia.

On Twitter, Mr Zelensky said he thanked Mr McCarthy for bipartisan support in Congress for Ukraine as well as Ukraine's defence needs. "Outlined the situation at the front and Ukraine‘s urgent defence needs in armoured vehicles, artillery, air defence and aircraft," Mr Zelensky's tweet said.

He said they also discussed enhancing sanctions pressure on Russia, including in oil and gas.

A spokesman for Mr McCarthy, the highest-ranking Republican in Washington, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Wednesday 19 April 2023 06:00 , Emily Atkinson

American journalist Evan Gershkovich, a 31-year-old reporter for The Wall Street Journal, has been arrested and detained in Russia on suspicion of espionage, a crime that carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.

The son of Jewish immigrants from the Soviet Union who grew up speaking Russian at home in Princeton, New Jersey, Gershkovich graduated from the prestigious Bowdoin College in Maine before embarking on a career in the media, firstly at The New York Times, then The Moscow Times and then Agence France-Presse before joining WSJ, where he began covering Russian affairs just a month before the invasion of Ukraine last year.

Joe Sommerlad reports:

What we know about arrest of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich in Russia

Wednesday 19 April 2023 05:00 , Emily Atkinson

Wednesday 19 April 2023 04:28 , Arpan Rai

A senior Ukrainian presidential aide Mykhailo Podolyak took to Twitter and mocked Vladimir Putin's trip.

"Putin's degradation is impressive. The world waited for his statement a year ago. Now they don't. There's no such political actor. There's only a "special tour" of the mass murders author in the occupied and ruined territories to enjoy the crimes of his minions for the last time.

The Russian presidnet had attended a military command meeting in Ukraine's southern Kherson region and visited a national guard headquarters in eastern Luhansk.

Kherson is partially occupied by Russian forces.

He was briefed by the commanders of the airborne forces and the Dnieper army group as well as other senior officers who briefed him on the situation in the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions in the south.

Wednesday 19 April 2023 04:17 , Arpan Rai

A Russia-backed official has said that the Wagner Group's mercenary forces have captured almost 90 per cent of Bakhmut.

"The Wagner private military company controls about 90% of Artyomovsk [Russian name for Bakhmut] and its advance is inevitable," said Yan Gagin, an advisor to the Donetsk People's Republic's (DPR) leader, reported TASS news agency.

A week back, the Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin had said that Russian forces controlled more than 80 per cent of Bakhmut, including all administrative buildings.

He added that Ukrainian troops were "booby-trapping and blowing up major infrastructure facilities before leaving the western outskirts of Bakhmut".

"The Ukrainian armed forces are okay with using scorched earth tactics. This is what they did in Volnovakha and Mariupol, and now, they are blowing up and booby-trapping major infrastructure facilities in Artyomovsk before retreating from the western outskirts of the city. A local community centre was one of the buildings that they blew up recently," the Russia-installed leader told TASS news agency.

Wednesday 19 April 2023 04:10 , Arpan Rai

British cyber defence agency has warned of an emerging threat to Western critical national infrastructure posed by hackers sympathetic to Russia and its war on Ukraine.

Russia-aligned "hacktivists" have carried out largely harmless online campaigns that have defaced prominent public websites or knocked them offline. However, some of those groups have been actively plotting ways to do more real-world damage, the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), part of the GCHQ eavesdropping intelligence agency, said in an alert.

"Some have stated a desire to achieve a more disruptive and destructive impact against Western critical national infrastructure, including in the UK," the NCSC said.

"We expect these groups to look for opportunities to create such an impact, particularly if systems are poorly protected," said the alert, which was released to the press at a two-day conference hosted by the NCSC and GCHQ in Belfast.

The alert added that while such groups are ideologically-motivated and align themselves with Russian state interests, they are "not subject to formal state control".

"This makes them less predictable", it said.

A successful cyberattack on critical national infrastructure such as an energy grid or water supply could be highly destructive, and do serious real-world damage.

Wednesday 19 April 2023 04:00 , Emily Atkinson

The US government is investigating the role of a multi-platform social media persona known as the "Donbass Devushka," and the role of a US Navy veteran in operating it, as it pursues the prosecution of a man for allegedly leaking sensitive military documents.

"Donbass Devushka", which roughly translates to "young Donbass woman," hosts generally pro-Russia content across a variety of platforms, including a now-private Twitter account, a prolific YouTube platform, and others.

John Bowden has more:

US Navy veteran under investigation in connection to Pentagon documents leak

Wednesday 19 April 2023 03:48 , Arpan Rai

Russian forces have launched drones on southern Ukraine's Odesa region overnight, sparking a fire at an infrastructure facility, the head of the military command of the Odesa region, Yuri Kruk, said today.

There are no immediate casualties reported from the site of attack and firefighters were working at the scene.

Wednesday 19 April 2023 03:00 , Emily Atkinson

Nato allies must remain alert for signs Vladimir Putin could use a tactical nuclear weapon in a "managed" escalation of his war in Ukraine, the second-highest US diplomat has urged.

Deputy secretary of state Wendy Sherman issued the warning during the opening session of an annual Nato arms control conference that was being held in North America for the first time since its inception in 2004.

"We have all watched and worried that Vladimir Putin would use what he considers a non-strategic tactical nuclear weapon or use some demonstration effect to escalate, but in a managed risk escalation," Sherman said. "It is very critical to remain watchful of this."

Putin'sannouncement that Russia is preparing to station tactical nuclear weapons in neighboring Belarus "is his effort to use this threat in a managed way," Sherman said.

Tactical nuclear weapons are designed for battlefield gains or for use against limited military targets.

Putin denies having any intention of employing nuclear weapons in Ukraine, where his forces for months have been bogged down in fierce fighting that has been costly for both sides.

Wednesday 19 April 2023 02:00 , Emily Atkinson

Brazil is wrong to argue that the United States is encouraging the Ukraine war and its tone is not one of neutrality, the White House said.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre rejected comments from Brazil's president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who has accused the United States and the European Union of prolonging the conflict by supplying arms to the Ukrainians.

She said US officials were "struck by the tone" of Lula's comments and added, "of course we want this war to end."

"The tone was not neutral and it is not true and we will continue to speak out about that," she said.

Wednesday 19 April 2023 01:00 , Emily Atkinson

The Russian-installed head of the Moscow-controlled part of Ukraine‘s Donetsk region met Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko in Minsk on Tuesday and said he had discussed ways of boosting trade.

Denis Pushilin, writing on Telegram, said he was interested in quarry equipment, tractors and buses as well as building products and furniture.

In return, his region was ready to export grain to Belarus in addition to existing shipments of sunflower seeds.

The so-called Donetsk People's Republic is one of the four regions in Ukraine that Moscow proclaimed as its own last September in an exercise Ukraine and its allies called a "sham," coercive referendum. (

Wednesday 19 April 2023 00:00 , Emily Atkinson

Tuesday 18 April 2023 22:30 , Emily Atkinson

Restaurants formerly operating under the McDonald's brand in Belarus will be renamed ‘Mak.by’, the local company has announced, retaining access to recipes and apparently branching out from the new brand in neighbouring Russia.

McDonald's restaurants in Belarus, all 25 of which had been operated by local licensee KSB Victory Restaurants, were originally set to be rebranded as Vkusno & tochka, the successor to McDonald's restaurants in Russia.

Tuesday 18 April 2023 21:30 , Emily Atkinson

French spirits group Pernod Ricard has said it is suspending exports entirely of its premium vodka Absolut to Russia, having previously reduced sales following Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.

Last week, several media outlets reported that Absolut was "supplying products in an amount that can support local employees and give local entities economic sustainability," citing a Pernod spokesperson.

The reports sparked criticism in Sweden, where the vodka is made.

Pernod said in a statement emailed to Reuters that as a result it has taken the decision to suspend Absolut supplies entirely due to a "duty of care towards our employees and partners."

"We cannot expose them to massive criticism in all forms. Therefore, The Absolut Company has decided to stop the export of its brand to Russia," it said.

Tuesday 18 April 2023 20:30 , Emily Atkinson

Russia is "not yet" planning to block Wikipedia, its minister of digital affairs said on Tuesday as a Moscow court handed the online encyclopedia another fine for failing to remove content Russia deems illegal.

Wikipedia is one of the few surviving independent sources of information in Russian since a state crackdown on online content intensified after Moscow sent its armed forces into Ukraine.

"We are not blocking Wikipedia yet, there are no such plans for now," Interfax news agency quoted digital affairs minister Maksut Shadaev as saying.

On Tuesday, a Moscow court fined Wikipedia owner Wikimedia Foundation 800,000 roubles ($9,777) for what Russian agencies said was a failure to remove information considered to be promoting train hopping, where a person rides on the side or top of a train.

Wikimedia has previously said information that Russian authorities complained about was well sourced and in line with Wikipedia standards.

Tuesday 18 April 2023 19:19 , Emily Atkinson

Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has said his administration condemns the violation of Ukraine‘s territorial integrity and again defended efforts to end the conflict.

Speaking after a lunch with the President of Romania, Klaus Werner Iohannis, Lula insisted that a group of nations needs to come together to help broker a peace deal between Russia and the Ukraine.

Tuesday 18 April 2023 18:30 , Emily Atkinson

A Moscow judge has rejected an appeal from US journalist Evan Gershkovich to be freed from detention before his trial on espionage charges,

Russia's FSB security service arrested Mr Gershkovich at the end of March on charges that carry a possible 20-year prison sentence. He is the first US journalist detained in Russia on espionage charges since the end of the Cold War.

Mr Gershkovich, a reporter for the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), denies all the charges, which have been widely condemned as politically motivated. He looked calm and smiled as he stood in a glass and metal case before the ruling, wearing a checked shirt, with his arms folded.

Guy Faulconbridge and Andrew Osborn report:

Russian court rejects US reporter Evan Gershkovich's detention appeal

Tuesday 18 April 2023 17:45 , Emily Atkinson

Ukrainian first deputy prime minister Yulia Svyrydenko said on Tuesday that the Black Sea grain deal faced the threat of being halted.

"It is under threat of being halted and Russia has again blocked the inspection of ships," Svyrydenko told a news conference in Warsaw.

"It is extremely important for us to unblock transit, otherwise Ukraine will remain blocked. We cannot together with our partners give Russia the opportunity to take advantage of this situation," she said.

Tuesday 18 April 2023 17:16 , Emily Atkinson

Poland has reached an agreement on restarting transit of Ukrainian grains through its territory as of Friday, Polish agriculture minister Robert Telus has said, adding transits would be monitored and sealed.

Poland's development minister Waldemar Buda added a ban on imports of Ukrainian food products to Poland would remain in place.

Ukraine‘s first deputy prime minister said on Tuesday she was confident that Ukrainian exporters would respect the terms of a grain transit deal agreed with Poland.

The official, Yulia Svyrydenko, told a joint news conference with her Polish counterparts in Warsaw that the Ukrainian government understood the concerns of Polish and Ukrainian farmers and were committed to resolving the issue.

Tuesday 18 April 2023 16:37 , Emily Atkinson

An apparent leak of highly classified US military documents should not have any impact on Ukraine‘s planned spring offensive against Russia, a minister has said.

Defence minister James Heappey told the Commons Ukraine will likely continue as planned with its move to repel Vladimir Putin's forces.

A 21-year-old US guardsman, Jack Teixeira, was arrested and appeared in court last week in connection with the apparent leak.

Top secret documents which have emerged contain assessments of the war in Ukraine, the capabilities and geopolitical interests of other nations and other top US national security issues.

Responding to concerns about the impact of the information on Ukraine‘s planned spring offensive, Mr Heappey said: "I think the Ukrainians will proceed with their plan as it is and I have every confidence that they will be successful.

"The international effort to resource their plan is extraordinary and the plan is coming together very well indeed."

Tuesday 18 April 2023 16:16 , Emily Atkinson

Russian lawmakers have voted to introduce life sentences for those convicted of treason, part of a concerted drive since Moscow's invasion of Ukraine to step up punishment of dissenters and perceived traitors.

The lower house of parliament, the State Duma, also voted to increase maximum sentences for a range of terrorism and sabotage offences and introduced a new law that punishes those who help execute the legal decisions of international organisations that do not include Russia with up to five years in prison.

That move was a direct response to the International Criminal Court issuing an arrest warrant for President Vladimir Putin last month in connection with the deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia.

The amendments - which need to be approved by Russia's upper house, the Federation Council, before being signed into law by Putin - come as rights groups say Russian authorities are ramping up a campaign to quash the few voices of opposition that remain in the country. The previous maximum sentence for treason was 20 years.

Tuesday 18 April 2023 15:52 , Emily Atkinson

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky visited troops in the small eastern city of Avdiivka on Tuesday, thanked them for their service and was briefed by commanders on the battlefield situation, his office said.

Avdiivka has been one of the main targets of a Russian winter offensive which was intended to reinvigorate Moscow's full-scale invasion, launched in February 2022, but has made only small territorial advances in the east.

Video footage released by Zelensky's office showed him addressing troops in combat gear and handing them awards in what appeared to be a large industrial warehouse with sandbags packed against at least one of the high walls.

"I have the honour to be here today, to thank you for your service, for defending our land, Ukraine, our families," he said. "I wish you only victory - this is what I wish for every Ukrainian, this is what is very important to all of us."

Zelensky also visited a hospital where he met wounded soldiers and handed out awards.

Tuesday 18 April 2023 15:24 , Emily Atkinson

Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov will discuss the Ukraine Black Sea export deal with UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres when they meet in New York next week, Russia's envoy said on Tuesday.

"Of course, he will be raising that during his bilateral," Russia's UN ambassador Vassily Nebenzia told reporters.

Tuesday 18 April 2023 14:35 , Emily Atkinson

French president Emmanuel Macron is working on a set of "secret" plans with China which could bring an end to Vladimir Putin's brutal invasion of Ukraine, reports suggest.

Mr Macron has reportedly deployed his foreign policy advisor Emmanuel Bonne to work in tandem with China's top diplomat Wang Yi to establish a framework that could bring Moscow and Kyiv to the negotiating table "by this summer".

Sources familiar with the French initiative told Bloomberg that future talks would depend on several conditions, including a successful Ukrainian spring offensive that would boost Kyiv's position during negotiations.

Bloomberg claims that official from Mr Macron's office had confirmed the plan for Mr Bonne to speak with Mr Wang.

The Independent has contacted The Elysée Palace for comment.

Tuesday 18 April 2023 13:15 , William Mata

Romania looked set on Tuesday to follow three other countries in banning Ukrainian grain imports, a setback for Kyiv as it tries to unblock exports through eastern Europe and salvage a wartime deal on shipping grain from the Black Sea.

Failure to resume exports into eastern European countries or secure an extension of the Black Sea grain deal would trap large amounts of grain in Ukraine, hitting its exports and causing further economic problems for Kyiv as it battles Russian troops.

Talks between Kyiv and Warsaw went into a second day after European Union member states Poland, Hungary and Slovakia imposed import bans to protect their markets from an influx of cheaper supply following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

But Romania's ruling Social Democratic Party increased pressure on Kyiv by saying it would ask the coalition government to approve an emergency decree enforcing a temporary ban on Ukrainian grain imports though it wants transit to continue.

Tuesday 18 April 2023 12:58 , William Mata

A Russian judge on Tuesday upheld the detention of jailed American journalist Evan Gershkovich, who was arrested on spying charges as part of a sweeping Kremlin crackdown on dissent amid the war in Ukraine.

Mr Gershkovich and the US government vehemently deny the allegations.

The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reporter is the first US correspondent since the Cold War to be detained in Russia on spying allegations and his arrest rattled journalists in the country and elicited outrage in the West.

Dozens of journalists crowded into the courtroom to catch a glimpse of Mr Gershkovich, who looked calm as he stood inside a glass cage to appeal his detention.

Russia's federal security service detained the 31-year-old in Yekaterinburg in March and accused him of trying to obtain classified information about a Russian arms factory.

Gershkovich, his employer and the US government deny he was involved in spying and have demanded his release.

"Evan is a member of the free press who right up until he was arrested was engaged in newsgathering. Any suggestions otherwise are false," the WSJ has said in a statement.

Last week, the US officially declared that Mr Gershkovich was "wrongfully detained."

He could face up to 20 years in prison if convicted.

Tuesday 18 April 2023 12:23 , William Mata

Russia has accused the ambassadors of Britain, the United States and Canada of interfering in its internal affairs after they condemned the treason conviction of a prominent opposition politician and it warned them they risk expulsion in future.

On Monday, a Moscow court jailed Kremlin critic Vladimir Kara-Murza - who holds Russia and British passports - for 25 years after convicting him of treason in a trial he and the West said was politically-motivated. It was the harshest sentence of its kind since Russia invaded Ukraine.

Kara-Murza, 41, for years successfully lobbied Western governments to impose sanctions on Russia and individual Russians for purported human rights violations.

He also condemned what Moscow calls its "special military operation" in Ukraine.

The ambassadors of Britain, the United States and Canada made a joint appearance in front of TV cameras on the steps of the Moscow court after his verdict to condemn the ruling and demand his release.

British ambassador Deborah Bronnert delivered her remarks in Russian so that Russian-language TV channels could potentially broadcast them.

Russia's Foreign Ministry said the diplomats' behaviour was unacceptable.

Tuesday 18 April 2023 12:00 , William Mata

Ukraine will try to unblock exports of food and grain through Poland in a second day of talks in Warsaw on Tuesday after some of its staunchest allies in central Europe imposed bans on its products.

Poland, Hungary and Slovakia have recently banned imports of Ukrainian grains and produce to protect their markets from an influx of cheaper supply.

Ukraine‘s exports via these countries have risen due to Russia's invasion, which has blocked some of its Black Sea ports.

Bottlenecks caused by slowed rail shipments or a lack of railcars have exacerbated the problem, trapping large quantities of Ukrainian grain in Central Europe which has lowered prices and hurt sales by local farmers, turning up the heat on governments.

Tuesday 18 April 2023 11:30 , William Mata

Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko held a meeting with the Russian-installed head of Ukraine's Donetsk region on Tuesday, the state-run Belta news agency reported.

It follows a meeting between Mr Lukashenko and Russian president Vladimir Putin earlier in the month (pictured below).

Belarus has been a key backer of Russia as many western nations have turned against the Kremlin after the invasion of Ukraine.

Tuesday 18 April 2023 11:00 , William Mata

Who is Gershkovich?

Hired by the Wall Street Journal shortly before Moscow's invasion of Ukraine last year, Gershkovich had been reporting on Russia for more than five years at the time of his arrest. The 31-year-old is a fluent Russian-speaker, the son of emigres who left the Soviet Union for the United States during the Cold War.

What were the circimstances of his arrest?

The FSB security service said on March 30 it had arrested him for trying to gather secrets about Russia's military-industrial complex during a trip to Yekaterinburg, 1,400 km (880 miles) east of Moscow. His newspaper said it last heard from him the previous day when he arrived at a steakhouse in the city. He was brought back to the capital and charged with espionage, for which he faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted. He has denied the charge, which is also rejected by his newspaper.

What do the United States and Russia say about the case?

President Joe Biden has called Russia's treatment of Gershkovich "totally illegal". The United States last week officially designated him as wrongfully detained, effectively saying that the spy charges were bogus and the case was political. The Kremlin says Gershkovich was "caught red-handed", but Russia has yet to publish any evidence to support that.

Where is he being held?

Gershkovich is in pre-trial detention at Moscow's Lefortovo prison, where the FSB and its predecessor, the Soviet KGB, have traditionally held those suspected of spying or other grave crimes. U.S. ambassador Lynne Tracy was able to visit him there for the first time on Monday but gave few details, except that he was healthy and bearing up well. In a handwritten letter dated April 5 to his parents, Gershkovich said he was reading, writing, taking exercise and "not losing hope".

What happens next?

Tuesday's hearing is essentially procedural - about how Gershkovich should be detained as he awaits trial, not about the substance of the charges. Investigators are still working on the details of the case, which could drag on for months or years if the example of fellow American Paul Whelan is anything to go by. Whelan, a former Marine, was arrested in December 2018, held for 18 months in Lefortovo and jailed for 16 years in June 2020 on spying charges. He too is designated by Washington as wrongfully detained.

Tuesday 18 April 2023 10:30 , William Mata

Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich will appeal on Tuesday against his arrest and detention in a former KGB prison in Moscow on charges of espionage, according to court documents.

Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) said on March 30 it had detained Gershkovich in the Urals city of Yekaterinburg and had opened an espionage case against him for collecting what it said were state secrets about the military industrial complex.

Gershkovich, the first U.S. journalist detained in Russia on espionage charges since the end of the Cold War, and the Journal have denied he was involved in espionage, as has Washington.

According to a public Russian judicial document, a Russian court will hear on Tuesday a complaint filed by Gershkovich against the decision to keep him in custody in Lefortovo prison while the case is being investigated.

Tuesday 18 April 2023 10:00 , William Mata

The G7 drew together on Tuesday to criticise China's coercion of Taiwan and Russia's threat to station nuclear weapons in Belarus, promising to intensify sanctions on Moscow for its war on neighbouring Ukraine.

"The strength of the solidarity between the G7 foreign ministers is at a level not seen before," Japan's foreign minister Yoshimasa Hayashi said at a news conference after hosting a meeting of the group in the Japanese resort town of Karuizawa.

The show of unity comes after French president Emmanuel Macron this month said the European Union should reduce its dependency on the United States and cautioned against being drawn into a Taiwan crisis.

Beijing views Taiwan as Chinese territory and has not renounced the use of force to take the democratically governed island.

Shweta Sharma Liam James Adam Forrest Click here for the full story: William Mata Click here for the full story: Shweta Sharma Click here for the full story: William Mata Joe Sommerlad John Bowden Guy Faulconbridge Andrew Osborn Who is Gershkovich? What were the circimstances of his arrest? What do the United States and Russia say about the case? Where is he being held? What happens next?

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