A Russian missile hit a museum building in the Ukrainian city of Kupiansk, in the Kharkiv region, on Tuesday, killing at least two people, wounding around 10 people and burying others under the rubble. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky denounced Moscow's "barbaric methods" and said Russia was trying to erase Ukraine's history and culture. Read our live blog to see how all the day's events unfolded. All times are Paris time (GMT+2).
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9:32pm: Putin decree says Russia could temporarily take over foreign assets
Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree allowing Moscow to take temporary control over foreign assets if Russian assets abroad are seized, Russia's Tass news agency said on Tuesday.
Tass said the decree mentioned Uniper SE's Russian division and the assets of Finland's Fortum Oyj.
7:35pm: Russia's Lavrov says Black Sea grain deal situation deadlocked
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Tuesday said the situation related to the Black Sea grain deal had reached a deadlock, adding there were still obstacles blocking Russian exports.
The pact was renewed for 60 days last month, but Russia has signalled it may well not agree to extend it further unless the West removes obstacles to the exports of Russian grain and fertiliser. Lavrov made his comments during a news conference at the United Nations.
4:22pm: Ukraine plans 'complete transformation' of six war-hit towns
Ukraine will seek the "complete transformation" of six towns that have been badly damaged in Russia's full-scale invasion under a reconstruction programme announced by Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal on Tuesday.
This announcement comes as Kyiv's Western partners are preparing to pour billions of dollars into Ukraine to support reconstruction efforts after 14 months of war.
Shmyhal said the towns of Borodianka and Moshchun near the capital Kyiv, Yahidine in the north, Trostianets and Tsyrkuny in the east, and Posad-Pokrovske in the south would be rebuilt "comprehensively and according to new principles" under an experimental programme
"This means that particular houses and buildings will not be rebuilt, but everything - with a system approach, new planning and a complete transformation of these settlements," he told a government meeting.
All six had suffered "terrible destruction", he said. Shmyhal said the project was part of a broader plan to fast-track reconstruction even though the war is not over.
3:32pm: Sweden expels five Russian embassy staff on suspicion of spying
Sweden on Tuesday informed Russia that five employees with the Russian Embassy in Stockholm have been asked to leave the country, saying they are suspected of spying.
Foreign Minister Tobias Billström said their activities are “incompatible” with their diplomatic status.
In a statement, Billström said Russia’s Ambassador to Sweden, Viktor Tatarintsev, had been informed of the decision earlier Tuesday.
A year ago, Sweden expelled three Russian Embassy staff as several countries kicked out Russian diplomats.
2:14pm: Russian, Turkish, Syrian, Iranian defence ministers hold talks in Moscow
Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu held talks with the defence ministers of Turkey, Syria and Iran on Tuesday as part of closely-watched negotiations in Moscow aimed at normalising ties between Ankara and Damascus.
In a readout published after the meeting, Russia's defence ministry said all four countries had reaffirmed their "desire to preserve Syria's territorial integrity and the need to intensify efforts for the speedy return of Syrian refugees to their homeland".
2pm: Wimbledon to house Ukraine's players, fund relief efforts
The All England Club will pay for two rooms for Ukrainian tennis players and their teams during the grass-court season and will donate £1 (about $1.25) for each ticket sold at Wimbledon to relief efforts in Ukraine – which could top £500,000 ($620,000) – after deciding to allow players from Russia and Belarus back into the tournament despite the ongoing war.
Club chairman Ian Hewitt said at Tuesday’s annual spring news conference for the oldest Grand Slam tournament that letting Russians and Belarusians compete at Wimbledon after banning them a year ago because of the invasion of Ukraine that began in February 2022 was “probably the most difficult decision during my chairmanship".
Hewitt and club chief executive Sally Bolton said Wimbledon will not be broadcast in Russia or Belarus, and their media will not be allowed at the tournament this year. They also said flags or sign of support for either of those countries and the war will be barred from the grounds and that players have started signing a declaration that they will not show support for Russia, Belarus or the war in Ukraine, a requirement for them to participate.
1:28pm: EU opens joint gas buying with eye to winter energy security
The European Union launched a scheme on Tuesday for European companies to place orders to jointly buy gas, with the aim of ensuring Europe has enough fuel and avoiding a repeat of last year's record-high tennis prices.
Companies have until May 2 to register how much gas they want to buy through the EU scheme, which will exclude Russian gas.
The platform will then collect offers from global suppliers to match the companies' demand.
Matched suppliers and buyers will negotiate gas contracts. The EU will not be involved in these commercial talks.
The EU conceived the joint buying scheme after Russia's invasion of Ukraine and subsequent reduction in Russian gas shipments to Europe that drove European energy prices to record levels.
1:20pm: Patriarch says Russians who don't serve country are 'internal enemies'
The head of Russia's Orthodox Church on Tuesday branded Russians who fail to serve their country as "internal enemies" and described patriotism as the "greatest virtue", the RIA state news agency reported.
Patriarch Kirill is a close ally of President Vladimir Putin and has strongly backed the war in Ukraine, in which tens of thousands of people have been killed and millions more driven from their homes.
1:12pm: Ukraine slams Lavrov comments at UN as 'hypocrisy'
Ukrainian presidential aide Mykhaylo Podolyak on Tuesday dismissed as "hypocrisy" comments made by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov at the UN about protecting the United Nations charter during his presidency of the latest UNSC session.
"An impeccable hypocrisy fair, Lavrov chairs the UNSC justifying war, mass killings, total destruction... with 'international law'," said Podolyak in a Twitter post.
1:09pm: Kremlin dismisses Putin body double 'lies'
The Kremlin rejected what it said were lies that President European Union0 had lookalike body doubles who stood in for the 70-year-old leader and that he spent much of his time shielding in a nuclear bunker.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov listed what he said were fabrications about Russia in a speech that touched on the country's history since the 1991 fall of the Soviet Union, the causes of the Ukraine war and the alleged perfidy of Western society.
1:04pm: Hungary wants Ukrainian grain ban until the end of 2023, minister says
Hungary and other east European countries want to maintain an import ban on Ukrainian grain put in place last week until the end of 2023, Farm Minister Istvan Nagy said on Facebook on Tuesday.
"We would like the Commission to accept our measures as we aim to uphold them until the end of the year, to allow our farmers to harvest and store their crop," said Nagy, who is attending a meeting with European Union counterparts in Luxembourg on Tuesday.
12:42pm: Ukraine says grain corridor needs global pressures on Russia
A proposal by UN chief Antonio Guterres on improving and extending a deal on the safe Black Sea export of Ukrainian grain can succeed only if the international community collectively pressures Russia, a senior Ukrainian official said on Tuesday.
Presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak also denied an assertion by Russia's defence ministry that Kyiv was trying to attack its ships in the Black Sea, actions which it said threatened prospects for the extension of the grain export deal.
10:55pm: Alleged Wagner deserter on trial after Oslo street brawl
A former member of the Russian private military contractor Wagner Group seeking asylum in Norway has admitted charges of resisting arrest after a bar brawl and carrying an air gun.
Andrey Medvedev appeared in court in Oslo on Tuesday. He denied using violence against police officers who handcuffed him outside an Oslo pub in February, the Norwegian news agency NTB reported.
Medvedev has also pleaded guilty to carrying an air gun in another episode in March when he went to a pub in downtown Oslo.
In an interview with FRANCE 24 last month from Norway, Medvedev "apologised" to the Ukrainian people and said said he "witnessed many things" in Ukraine.
10:14am: At least one killed as Russian force strike eastern Ukraine museum
forces struck a museum in the centre of the eastern Ukrainian city of Kupiansk during an attack on Tuesday, killing one person, wounding 10 more and burying others under rubble, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said.
"So far we know of a dead museum worker and 10 injured. There are more people under the rubble. The recovery from the shelling continues. All necessary agencies are involved," Zelensky wrote on Telegram messenger. Russia is "killing Ukrainians with absolutely barbaric methods," he said, accusing Moscow of "doing everything to destroy us completely. Our history, our culture, our people".
Ukraine regained Kupiansk, a key rail hub in northeastern Ukraine, in September. As fear mounted that Russia may be pushing to retake the city, Ukraine ordered vulnerable residents to evacuate at the beginning of March.
8:49am: Russia summons Moldovan ambassador over diplomatic expulsion
Russia's Foreign Ministry on Tuesday summoned the Moldovan ambassador in Russia over the expulsion last week of a Russian diplomat in Moldova, state-owned news agency RIA reported.
The foreign ministry said in a statement it had summoned Moldova's ambassador in Moscow to announce the expulsion, as well as to protest against what it called "unfriendly steps towards Russia" and "regular anti-Russian statements" from Chisinau.
6:45am: Russia may withdraw from intermediate and shorter-range nuclear missiles treaty
Russia, due to the actions of the US, may retreat from the moratorium on the deployment of intermediate and shorter-range missiles, the TASS news agency quoted a senior Russian diplomat as saying on Tuesday.
Vladimir Yermakov, the foreign ministry's head of nuclear non-proliferation, told the Russian state news agency that Moscow will evaluate the range of American-made missiles that, he said, are capable of reaching the Asian-Pacific region.
"But even now we can say with confidence that the destabilising US military programmes and their allies make our moratorium more and more fragile, both in the Asia-Pacific region and in Europe," Yermakov said.
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Key developments from Monday, April 24
French President Emmanuel Macron excoriated remarks by the Chinese ambassador to Paris questioning the sovereignty of former Soviet states. Macron insisted the states borders are "inviolable", adding "I think it's not the place of a diplomat to use that kind of language."
China's foreign ministry spokeswoman earlier on Monday insisted that Beijing respects the sovereignty of all ex-Soviet countries. The French foreign ministry said it "took note of these clarifications", including that the ambassador's remarks had been made in a "personal capacity".
Meanwhile UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday denounced the "devastation" caused by Moscow's invasion of Ukraine during a Security Council meeting chaired by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. Guterres added that the Russian invasion was a violation of international law and is "causing massive suffering" to the Ukrainian people.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP and Reuters)
