Russia’s lower house of parliament on Tuesday voted unanimously to introduce electronic mobilisation papers to make it harder for Russian men to avoid the draft. More than 300,000 are believed to have been called up since President Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine last year. The UN, meanwhile, says the confirmed civilian death toll in Ukraine is approaching 8,500 but several thousand more unverified deaths are feared. Read about the day’s events as they unfolded on our liveblog. All times are Paris time (GMT+2)
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9:13pm: Russia’s Wagner group 'controls more than 80% of Bakhmut', leader says
The head of Russia’s Wagner mercenary group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, said in a video posted on Tuesday that his forces now control more than 80% of the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut.
In a video published by a Russian military blogger on the Telegram messaging app, Prigozhin is seen showing on a map of the area how his forces are continuing their encirclement of the now devastated city, which before Russia’s invasion had been home to around 70,000 people.
“In Bakhmut, the larger part, more than 80% is now under our control, including the whole administrative centre, factories, warehouses, the administration of the city,” said Prigozhin
8:35pm: US official says Russia hacked cameras in Ukraine coffee shops for intel
Russians hackers have logged into private security cameras in Ukraine coffee shops to collect intelligence on aid convoys passing by, a top US security official said.
Rob Joyce, director of cybersecurity at the National Security Agency, said Russian government and government-backed hackers persist in attacking Ukrainian information technology systems as part of their invasion of the country. One focus is closed circuit TV cameras used by local authorities and private businesses to monitor their surroundings, he said.
“There are creative things going on. We are watching the Russian hackers log into public-facing webcams to watch convoys and trains delivering aid,” he said. “They are also hacking those webcams ... And instead of using the town square (cameras) that are available to the internet, they’re looking out the coffee shop security camera and seeing the road they need to see.”
Russians are also focusing their hacking efforts on US defense manufacturers and logistical transport companies to find out more about the arms supply chain to Ukraine, he said.
8:03pm: Canada pledges fresh military aid for Ukraine, sanctions on Russia
Canada on Tuesday imposed new sanctions over Russia’s invasion in Ukraine and pledged fresh military support for Kyiv, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said after meeting Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal in Toronto.
Canada will send 21,000 assault rifles, 38 machine guns and 2.4 million rounds of ammunition to Ukraine and impose sanctions on 14 Russian individuals and 34 entities, including security targets linked to Wagner Group, Trudeau said.
The country is also imposing sanctions on nine entities tied to the Belarusian financial sector to further pressure Russia’s “enablers in Belarus”, he said.
7:55pm: Ukraine resumes electricity exports despite Russian attacks
Ukraine began resuming electricity exports to European countries on Tuesday, its Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko said. It is a dramatic turnaround from six months ago when fierce Russian bombardment of power stations plunged much of the country into darkness in a bid to demoralize the population.
The announcement shows that Ukraine is not only meeting domestic consumption demands but also ready to restart exports to its neighbors, and is a clear message that Moscow’s attempt to weaken Ukraine by targeting its infrastructure has not worked.
Ukraine’s domestic energy demand is “100%” supplied, Halushchenko told The Associated Press in an interview, and it has reserves to export due to the “titanic work” of its engineers and international partners.
Russia ramped up infrastructure attacks in September, when waves of missiles and exploding drones destroyed about half of Ukraine’s energy system. Power cuts were common across the country as temperatures dropped below freezing and tens of millions struggled to keep warm. Ukraine had to stop exporting electricity in October to meet domestic needs.
6:03pm: Britain says reported US intelligence leak has ‘serious level of inaccuracy’
Britain’s Ministry of Defence said on Tuesday that there was “a serious level of inaccuracy” in a widely-reported leak of alleged classified US information.
“Readers should be cautious about taking at face value allegations that have the potential to spread disinformation,” a Ministry of Defence spokesperson said in a statement published on Twitter.
US national security agencies and the Justice Department are investigating the release of dozens of classified documents to assess the damage to national security and relations with allies and other countries, including Ukraine.
5:55pm: Russian forces in Crimea brace for possible Ukraine assault
Sergei Aksyonov, the Moscow-appointed leader of Crimea, on Tuesday the region is on guard for what may be an impending Ukrainian counteroffensive.
Crimea has built “modern, in-depth defenses” and has “more than enough” troops and equipment to repel a possible Ukrainian assault, he said. “We cannot underestimate the enemy, but we can definitely say that we are ready (for an attack) and that there will be no catastrophe,” he said.
His comments come days after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky reaffirmed Kyiv’s intention to take back the Black Sea peninsula that Russia illegally annexed from Ukraine in 2014.
Satellite photos from Maxar Technologies show a complex web of trenches and other fortifications dug near Medvedivka, a small town near a crossing between Crimea and mainland Ukraine, suggesting Russian concerns about a possible Ukrainian attack there
2:45pm: Russian parliament votes in favour of electronic military draft papers
Russia’s lower house of parliament, the Duma, has voted unanimously to introduce electronic military draft papers for the first time in the country’s history as Moscow seeks to make it harder to avoid the draft.
The move is part of a push by Moscow to perfect a system it has used to bolster its military forces in Ukraine, though government officials say there are currently no plans to compel more men to fight.
The initial decision to introduce mobilisation for the first time since World War Two prompted tens of thousands of draft-age men to flee abroad, while some protests broke out – and were swiftly suppressed – in multiple Russian cities.
Russia says it mobilised just over 300,000 men last year to help it prosecute what it calls its “special military operation” but is now focused on trying to recruit professional volunteer soldiers via an advertising campaign.
Under the current system, men targeted by military recruiters are given paper summons at their registered addresses. Recruiters have sometimes struggled to deliver the papers or to know if they have the right address for a draftee.
2:34pm: ‘It’s now or never' for Ukraine’s counteroffensive, experts say
For months, Ukrainian forces have held a gruelling Russian offensive at bay, but now Ukraine is preparing to hit back.
Russia was beaten back in embarrassing defeats near the capital Kyiv, Kharkiv and Kherson last year, but analysts say Ukraine now has a short window to deliver a larger blow.
Recently conscripted Russian forces are badly depleted after their lacklustre offensive, while Kyiv has stockpiled ammunition, taken in long-range artillery and battle tanks from the West and is bolstering its army.
“Who knows when Ukraine will get this chance again,” said Mykola Bielieskov, a research fellow at the National Institute for Strategic Studies in Kyiv. “It’s now or never,” he told the AFP news agency
1:30pm: Denmark says decision on fighter jets for Ukraine likely 'before summer'
Denmark's defence minister says he expects the Danes and their allies to decide on whether to donate Western fighter jets to Ukraine "before the summer", as deliveries of Polish and Slovak MiG-29s begin.
Discussions are taking time because countries have to act together, acting defence minister Troels Lund Poulsen said during a visit to Ukraine.
"Denmark will not do it alone," Lund Poulsen told several Danish media outlets, adding that a decision was still achievable "in the near future".
"We need to do this together with several countries. We will also have a dialogue with the Americans about this," the minister said.
Slovakia and Poland began deliveries of Soviet-designed MiG-29 fighter jets to Ukraine in late March and early April.
1:18pm: UN tally of confirmed civilian deaths approaches 8,500
Nearly 8,500 civilians are confirmed to have been killed in Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), with several thousand more unverified deaths still feared.
The OHCHR said it had recorded 8,490 people killed and 14,244 injured between the launch of the invasion on February 24, 2022, and April 9, 2023.
The body has long described its figures as "the tip of the iceberg" because of its limited access to battle zones.
The majority of the deaths were recorded in territory controlled by the Ukrainian government and under attack by Russian forces, including 3,927 people in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, which have witnessed intense fighting.
"OHCHR believes that the actual figures are considerably higher, as the receipt of information from some locations where intense hostilities have been going on has been delayed and many reports are still pending corroboration," it said in a statement.
1:10pm: Romania aims to buy F-25 fighters jets to boost air defences
Romania aims to buy the latest generation US F-35 fighter planes to boost its air defences, the country's supreme defence council (CSAT) has said in a statement.
The European Union and NATO state has raised defence spending to 2.5% of gross domestic product this year from 2%, in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
The country, which shares a 650-km (400 mile) border with Ukraine, is host to a US ballistic missile defence system and, as of last year, has a permanent alliance battlegroup stationed on its territory.
"Having robust, credible, interoperable, flexible and efficient air defence operational capabilities (...) as part of our commitments as a NATO and EU state is key to Romania meeting its defence policy objectives," the statement said. "The air force's modernisation process will continue through the acquisition of last generation F-35 jets."
11:57am: US reporter 'violated Russian law', says Kremlin
The Kremlin said on Tuesday that Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich had "violated Russian law", after the US State Department said he had been wrongfully detained by Russia.
Gershkovich has been detained on March 29 in Moscow, Russia.
>> Read more: US urges Russia to release ‘wrongfully detained’ journalist Evan Gershkovich
10:05am: Russia to issue electronic call-up papers to new conscripts
Russia will soon draft men into the army by sending them electronic call-up papers via an online portal in addition to traditional letters, according to draft legislation due to be debated on Tuesday that aims to facilitate mobilisation.
More than 300,000 former soldiers and ex-conscripts are believed to have been called up since President Vladimir Putin announced an emergency draft last year to support Russia's "special military operation" in Ukraine.
7:15am: Russian soldiers in occupied Melitopol are ‘panicking’, exiled mayor says
Ukraine’s armed forces are gearing up for a counter-offensive to take back territory currently occupied by Russia. But it is not just the military that is preparing – civilian administrations in exile are also making plans for their return.
FRANCE 24’s correspondent Gulliver Cragg met with the exiled mayor of Melitopol, a city that is currently acting as the capital of the Russian-occupied part of Zaporizhzhia region. But, he says, not for much longer.
Click on the player below to watch the interview.
5:05am: G7 to discuss Ukraine support at financial leaders' meeting in Washington
Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki said on Tuesday that Japan would chair a Group of Seven (G7) financial leaders' meeting on Wednesday in Washington to discuss the global economy and financial markets, the strengthening of supply chains and the Ukraine crisis.
The G7, which includes Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, the United States and Japan, is expected to reaffirm its solidarity in providing financial support for and sanctions against Russia, Japanese officials have said.
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Key developments from Monday, April 10
Russia and Ukraine carried out a major prisoner swap on Monday, with 106 Russian prisoners of war being freed in exchange for 100 Ukrainians, including some defenders of the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol.
The exchange came as the commander of Ukraine's ground forces said Russian troops had switched to "scorched earth" tactics in the embattled eastern city of Bakhmut, destroying buildings and positions with air strikes and artillery.
At the Kremlin, President Vladimir Putin's spokesman said France could not be a mediator between Moscow and Kyiv as "it is both indirectly and directly involved in this conflict on the side of Ukraine".
>> Read our live blog for all of yesterday’s developments as they unfolded
(FRANCE 24 with AP, AFP and Reuters)
