UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres on Wednesday condemned Russia's invasion of Ukraine, calling it “an affront to our collective conscience” as the General Assembly met in a special session two days before the anniversary of Moscow's attack. Read FRANCE 24's blog to see how the day's events unfolded. All times are Paris time (GMT+1).
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04:53am: Russia accuses Ukraine of planning to invade Moldova's breakaway region
Russia's defence ministry accused Ukraine on Thursday of planning to invade Moldova's breakaway Transnistria region after a false flag operation, the RIA news agency reported.
The ministry said Ukraine planned to stage an attack by purportedly Russian forces from Transnistria as a pretext for the invasion, according to RIA.
Separately, the TASS news agency quoted Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin as saying the West had instructed the Chisinau government to stop all interaction withthe Moscow-backed Transnistrian administration.
04:00am: Biden says no sign Russia mulling nuke use after treaty suspension
US President Joe Biden on Wednesday offered fresh criticism of Russia's suspension of a key nuclear treaty, but stressed there was no indication Moscow was moving closer to actually using an atomic weapon.
"It's a big mistake to do that, not very responsible," Biden told ABC News in Poland on the sidelines of a meeting with NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg and eastern European leaders in Warsaw.
"But I don't read into that that he's thinking of using nuclear weapons or anything like that," the US president added, noting that he had seen "no evidence" of any change in posture on nuclear arms use by Moscow.
02:04am: US considers release of intelligence on China's potential arms transfer to Russia
The Biden administration is considering releasing intelligence it believes shows that China is weighing whether to supply weapons to support Russia's war in Ukraine, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday.
10:12pm: NATO chief sees ‘some signs’ China could back Russia’s war
NATO’s Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg Wednesday said the military alliance has seen “some signs” that China may be planning to support Russia in its war in Ukraine, and strongly urged Beijing to desist from what would be a violation of international law.
Stoltenberg said potential Chinese assistance would amount to providing “[direct] support to a blatant violation of international law, and of course [as] a member of the UN Security Council, China should not in any way support violation of the UN charter, or international law.”
Stoltenberg’s comments come on the same day Russian President Vladimir Putin hosted the Chinese Communist Party's most senior foreign policy official, Wang Yi, raising concern in the West that Beijing might be ready to offer Moscow stronger support in the almost year-old war.
China has pointedly refused to criticise the invasion of Ukraine while echoing Moscow’s claim that the US and NATO were to blame for provoking the Kremlin. China, Russia and South Africa are holding naval drills in the Indian Ocean this week.
9:33pm: Marking year of war in Ukraine, UN chief denounces Russia
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Wednesday denounced Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as a violation of the founding UN Charter and international law, and called out Russian threats about the possible use of nuclear weapons.
"That invasion is an affront to our collective conscience," Guterres said, calling the anniversary "a grim milestone for the people of Ukraine and for the international community".
Since Moscow invaded its neighbour on February 24 last year, Russian President Vladimir Putin has also repeatedly hinted that Russia could use a nuclear weapon if threatened.
“We have heard implicit threats to use nuclear weapons. The so-called tactical use of nuclear weapons is utterly unacceptable. It is high time to step back from the brink,” Guterres told the 193-member UN General Assembly at a meeting to mark the first anniversary of the war in Ukraine.
9:31pm: UK will ensure Ukraine has equipment it needs to defend itself, Sunak tells Zelensky
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak told President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday that he was committed to ensuring Ukraine had the capabilities it needed to defend itself, a Downing Street spokesperson said following a call between the pair.
“Discussing the equipment required to help Ukraine defend and advance its position, the prime minister said he remained committed to ensuring Ukraine had the capabilities they needed, both now and in the future,” the spokesperson said, adding that the leaders agreed “now was the time for Ukraine to seize the opportunity to make real progress on the battlefield and further demonstrate to Putin that Ukraine would ultimately win”.
9:15pm: Biden says US ‘will defend every inch of NATO’
US President Joe Biden on Wednesday reassured allies on Europe’s eastern flank saying his country “will defend every inch of NATO”.
Biden spoke during talks with eastern European NATO allies in the Polish capital Warsaw after Russia suspended a landmark nuclear arms control treaty. “The commitment of the United States to NATO ... is absolutely clear. Article 5 is a sacred commitment the United States has made,” he said.
Article 5 stipulates that an attack on any one member of NATO is treated as an attack on all, requiring a joint response.
7:34pm: Russian troops temporarily broke through Ukrainian defences near Kreminna, governor says
Russian troops managed to break through Ukrainian defences near the eastern town of Kreminna on Tuesday, but were pushed back and lost some of their heavy equipment, a senior Ukrainian official said.
Luhansk regional governor Serhiy Haidai made his remarks in an interview with Ukrainian television. In earlier comments he said the attack had been repulsed, but made no mention of pro-Moscow forces breaching Ukrainian positions.
7:08pm: Czechs have sent 89 tanks, hundreds of heavy machinery to Ukraine, PM says
The Czech Republic has supplied hundreds of pieces of heavy military equipment to Ukraine over the past year including 89 tanks, Prime Minister Petr Fiala said on Wednesday, detailing for the first time the extent of the Czech supplies.
Fiala said the country has shipped 226 fighting and armoured infantry vehicles, 38 howitzers, 33 multiple rocket launchers, six air defence systems and four helicopters.
7:04pm: Lithuania asks US deploy more military equipment in the Baltics
Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda on Wednesday said he had urged US President Biden on Wednesday to seek NATO deployment of additional military equipment, such as HIMARS artillery or attack helicopters, in the Baltic states.
Nauseda told reporters he made the request during a meeting in Warsaw between Biden and leaders of countries on NATO’s eastern flank.
“I have talked about deployment of so-called critical enablers – this includes airspace surveillance systems, attack helicopters, HIMARS artillery,” Nauseda said. “We can hardly afford to purchase this, it but it could be deployed [by allies] to the Baltics on rotational grounds.”
6:15pm: Britain ‘warming up’ weapon output to help Ukraine
The UK has begun to “warm up” its production lines to replace weapons sent to Ukraine and increase production of artillery shells to try to help Kyiv push back Russian forces, Defence Minister Ben Wallace said on Wednesday.
“We’ve started to already now receive some deliveries of that for our own restocking and also some of it to Ukraine,” he said.
6:09pm : NATO should decide whether to give Ukraine fighter jets, Polish president says
Polish President Andrzej Duda told private broadcaster TVN24 Wednesday that NATO allies should decide whether to supply Ukraine with fighter jets, and said Poland would provide aircraft from its remaining fleet of MiGs first in that case.
5:56pm: Russia denies discussing ‘Chinese peace plan’
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and China’s top diplomat Wang Yi did not discuss a reported Chinese plan to resolve the conflict in Ukraine when they met Wednesday, Moscow’s foreign ministry said.
“We note statements by some Western politicians and media reports regarding some kind of ‘Chinese peace plan’. As usual, they distort the real picture,” foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said in a statement.
“The Chinese partners briefed us on their views on the root causes of the Ukrainian crisis, as well as approaches to its political settlement. There was no talk of any separate plan,” she added.
3:56pm: Biden says Russia treaty suspension ‘big mistake’
US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called Russia’s decision to suspend a nuclear arms reduction treaty with Washington a “big mistake”.
Biden made the brief comment in Warsaw ahead of a meeting with the leaders of several countries on NATO’s eastern flank to discuss support for war-torn Ukraine.
3:16pm: Russia is fighting for its 'historical lands' in Ukraine, Putin says
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday said that Russia was fighting for its “historical lands” in Ukraine, speaking at a state-organised rally in Moscow in support of the Ukraine offensive.
“I just heard from the top military leadership of the country that a battle is ongoing right now, for our historical lands, for our people,” Putin said.
In a short address to the tens of thousands gathered at Moscow’s main Luzhniki stadium, Putin also praised Russian servicemen in Ukraine, who he said were “fighting heroically, courageously, bravely: we are proud of them”.
12:44pm: Spain to send six Leopard tanks to Ukraine, defence minister says
Spain will send six of its German-made Leopard tanks to bolster Ukraine's fight against Russia, Defence Minister Margarita Robles said Wednesday.
The six tanks are currently being repaired and Spain could send more Leopards to Ukraine "if it is necessary" and if "our allies ask for it", she added in parliament.
12:39pm: Russia to hold naval exercises with China and South Africa
Russian, Chinese and South African warships will conduct artillery firing exercises in the Indian Ocean as part of joint military drills, the Interfax news agency cited Russia's Northern Fleet as saying on Wednesday. The Russian frigate Admiral Gorshkov, which carries Zircon missiles, will take part in the exercises, it added.
Russia will not fire its new-generation Zircon hypersonic missile during the joint exercise, said a senior Russian naval officer.
Russia's TASS news agency reported earlier this month that a frigate participating in the drills off South Africa's eastern coast would perform a training launch during the exercise. "The hypersonic weapon will not be used in the context of these exercises," Captain Oleg Gladkiy, who is heading the Russian contingent, said during a media briefing.
12:14pm: China's top diplomat and Russia's president praise Russo-Chinese relations
China's top diplomat Wang Yi told Russian President Vladimir Putin during talks in the Kremlin on Wednesday that relations between Beijing and Moscow could not be influenced by other countries, in remarks broadcast on Russian state TV.
Putin said he was looking forward to a visit to Moscow by Chinese President Xi Jinping and to deepening the partnership between the two countries. He also said cooperation between Beijing and Moscow was important to "stabilise the international situation".
11:58am: Russia will abide by restrictions on nuclear warhead carriers, defence ministry says
Russia will continue to comply with restrictions on the number of nuclear missile carriers outlined in the New START treaty even after it suspends its participation, the RIA Novosti news agency cited the defence ministry as saying.
Russia's foreign ministry had said on Tuesday that Moscow would continue to abide by restrictions on the number of missiles that can be deployed for the remainder of the treaty, which is due to expire in 2026.
11:50am: Russia trying to destroy Ukrainian culture, UN experts say
UN experts said Wednesday that "deliberate" Russian destruction of Ukraine's culture could amount to an attempt to erase Ukrainians' right to their own identity a year after the Russian invasion. The experts urged a halt to intentional damage of sites, institutions, and objects of cultural, historical and religious significance in Ukraine.
They said the denigration of the history and identity of Ukrainian people was being used as a justification for war and hatred. "Numerous sites, institutions, and objects of cultural, historical, and religious significance in Ukraine have been partially or entirely destroyed by military attacks by the Russian Federation," the experts said in a statement. "These include memorials and monuments, civilian buildings, museums, theatres, monuments, statues, places of worship, cemeteries, libraries, archives, as well as schools, universities, and hospitals."
The statement was written by UN special rapporteurs on cultural rights, on the right to education and on freedom of religion. Special rapporteurs are mandated by the UN Human Rights Council but are volunteer, independent experts who do not speak for the United Nations.
11:10am: Ukraine wants one-year grain deal extension to include new ports
Ukraine will ask Turkey and the United Nations this week to start talks to roll over the Black Sea grain deal, seeking an extension of at least one year that would include the ports of Mykolaiv, a senior Ukrainian official has said.
The Black Sea Grain Initiative brokered by the UN and Turkey last July allowed grain to be exported from three Ukrainian ports. The agreement was extended in November and will expire on March 18, unless an extension is agreed.
"A formal proposal will come out from us this week on the need to work on an extension," Yuriy Vaskov, Ukraine's deputy minister of restoration, told Reuters in an interview. He said the exact date of the talks, which have previously taken place in Turkey, had not yet been set.
"We will request ... to extend it not for 120 days but for at least one year because the Ukrainian and global agricultural market needs to be able to plan these volumes (of exports) in the long term," Vaskov said. He said Ukraine would insist on an increase in the number of inspection teams "in order to eliminate the accumulation of vessels waiting for inspections".
Ukraine has repeatedly accused Russia of delaying inspections of ships carrying Ukrainian agricultural goods, leading to reduced shipments and losses for traders. Russia has denied those accusations, saying it is meeting all its obligations under the grain export deal.
11:04am: In a Ukrainian ‘town of ghosts’, a few endure Russian bombardments
Just a few kilometres from the southeastern front line, Orikhiv has become a ghost town a year after Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Houses have been destroyed, buildings reduced to rubble and shops are closed due to daily Russian bombardments. But a few residents have not left Orikhiv, and they tell FRANCE 24 they are determined to stay despite the hardships.
Valentina, 82, has stayed in her hometown with her son who looks after her. “This is our land. I used to work the fields here. How could I leave all this? I even built this house myself – with my own hands.”
But she's often so scared, she struggles to sleep, aware of the imminent risk of another Russian offensive.
10:34am: Two wounded by Russian strikes on Kharkiv, say local officials
Two civilians have been wounded in a Russian missile strike on Wednesday on industrial facilities in Kharkiv, the biggest city in eastern Ukraine, local officials said.
Kharkiv, Ukraine's second largest city, lies about 30 km (19 miles) from the border with Russia and has frequently been under fire since Russia invaded Ukraine a year ago.
"According to preliminary data, four strikes hit the Kyiv district of Kharkiv. The enemy is targeting industrial facilities," Ihor Terekhov, the city mayor, wrote on the Telegram messaging app.
The regional governor, Oleh Synehubov, said separately that two civilians had been lightly wounded but gave no details.
10:05am: Pope says Ukraine war is 'absurd and cruel', urges ceasefire and negotiations
Pope Francis said on Wednesday that the war in Ukraine is "absurd and cruel" and called for ceasefire and negotiations, two days before the first anniversary of the February 24 Russian invasion.
During his weekly general audience, Francis called it a "sad anniversary" and said he was "close to the martyred Ukrainian people".
The pope added that "real victory" in Ukraine "cannot be built on ruins".
10:24am: On the eastern front, Ukrainians battle with Soviet-era weapons
Reporting from the eastern Ukrainian city of Dnipro, FRANCE 24’s Catherine Norris-Trent says conditions for the Ukrainian military remain “very difficult” on the eastern front line due to the lack of modern weapons.
“Our team was in the trenches with Ukrainian soldiers operating an artillery unit – their material dated from the 1970s … and they say they are struggling to get enough ammunition for that,” she says.
One senior commander estimated that around three-quarters of the materials being used by Ukrainian soldiers in the east date back to the Soviet era. “It’s urgent there for those [troops] in freezing conditions which frankly resemble something out of the First World War,” says Norris-Trent.
9:56am: Russian Duma votes to suspend nuclear treaty with US
Russia's State Duma, the lower house of parliament, has voted to suspend Russia's participation in the New START nuclear arms treaty with the United States.
The existing treaty, signed in 2010, limits the number of strategic nuclear warheads that the US and Russia can deploy.
The vote came after President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday said Russia would suspend participation in the treaty. Russia's upper house of parliament, the Federation Council, is due to vote on the approval later today.
8:50am: Zelensky to attend July NATO summit in Vilnius, Ukraine says
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky plans to attend in person a NATO summit taking place in Vilnius in July, Ukraine's ambassador to Lithuania told local newswire BNS.
Zelensky has made only two foreign trips since Russia invaded Ukraine almost a year ago – one to Washington in December and another to London, Paris and Brussels in February.
The Vilnius summit on July 11-12 will be attended by most leaders of the Atlantic alliance, Lithuania's presidential office said. That includes US President Joe Biden, who unexpectedly visited Kyiv this week.
Ukraine hopes attendees at the summit will agree "very clearly that as soon as the war is over, Ukraine becomes a member of NATO", ambassador Petro Beshta said in an interview published on Wednesday.
8:35am: Russia concerned by UN 'disrupting' staff rotation at Zaporizhzhia plant
Russia on Wednesday expressed "deep concern" over the UN's behaviour regarding the rotation of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) staff at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine.
In a statement, Russia's foreign ministry said the UN nuclear body was "disrupting" the scheduled change-over of IAEA staff stationed at the plant, which is under the control of Russian forces, without good reason.
6:05am: India says 'era is not for war' at G20 finance meeting
India has restated its position on the Ukraine war, repeating a call for dialogue and diplomacy as G20 finance officials started a meeting on Wednesday near Bengaluru.
"Today's era is not for war. Democracy, dialogue and diplomacy is the way forward," Anurag Thakur, India's information minister, told a news conference after welcoming delegates to the meeting, which ends on Saturday.
His comments came days ahead of the February 24 anniversary of the start of the Ukraine war.
India has adopted a "neutral" position on the Russian invasion – like many countries in the Global South. Critics say the neutrality, in effect, benefits Russia.
6:00am: Biden to meet with 'Bucharest Nine' leaders
US President Joe Biden is set to meet leaders of the "Bucharest Nine", the countries on NATO's eastern flank who joined the Western military alliance after being dominated by Moscow during the Cold War.
The Bucharest Nine includes Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania and Slovakia.
Most are among the strongest supporters of military aid to Ukraine, and officials from countries in the group have called for additional resources such as air defence systems.
At the meeting in Warsaw, Biden plans to reaffirm security commitments and discuss support for Ukraine before he returns to Washington.
5:20am: Russia's first criminal case against Ukraine's forces goes to court
Russia's first criminal case against a member of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, accused of forcibly seizing power and ill-treatment of civilians, went to court, the state TASS news agency reported on Wednesday.
Russia's Investigative Committee said on the Telegram messaging platform in June that it had charged Senior Sergeant Anton Cherednik of the Marine Corps of Ukraine's forces with the alleged crime of cruel treatment of civilian population.
TASS, citing unnamed sources at the Southern District Military Court in Russia's Rostov-on-Don, said that Cherednik was also charged with murder and training for the purpose of carrying out terrorism.
4:07am: UN General Assembly set for invasion anniversary vote
Russia has urged UN states to vote against an "unbalanced and anti-Russian" move at the General Assembly by Ukraine and others to mark one year since Moscow's invasion.
The 193-member UN General Assembly is due to vote later this week on a draft resolution stressing "the need to reach, as soon as possible, a comprehensive, just and lasting peace" in line with the founding UN Charter.
The draft resolution, sponsored by some 60 countries, is to be voted on after the close of debate – not expected until at least Thursday.
The text, which unlike a Security Council resolution would not create a binding law, demands Russia "immediately, completely and unconditionally withdraw all of its military forces from the territory of Ukraine".
(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP and Reuters)
