A documentary being aired by Scandinavian public broadcasters on Wednesday evening claims Russia has a spy programme in the North Sea planning the sabotage of energy infrastructures in Northern Europe. Follow FRANCE 24's to see how the day's events unfolded. All times are Paris time (GMT+2).
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9:55pm: US to provide new $325 million military package to Ukraine
The United States on Wednesday announced a new $325 million military aid package for Ukraine that includes much-needed artillery rounds as well as anti-armour weapons.
The package also includes munitions for the HIMARS precision rocket system, anti-tank mines, and more than nine million rounds of small arms ammunition, the Defence Department said in a statement.
According to the US State Department, the latest package brings total aid to Ukraine since Russia's invasion to more than $35.4 billion.
9:51pm: EU Commission to enforce Ukraine grain imports ban
The European Commission aims to enforce a ban of Ukrainian imports of grains and oilseeds until June 5 in five EU states neighbouring Ukraine provided the states withdraw individual bans they have enforced, Romania's agriculture minister said.
"The measure can be taken within 48 hours after states withdraw their unilateral measures," minister Petre Daea told reporters late on Wednesday after talks with European Trade Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis and ministers from Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia. Further talks will follow.
The four countries have all banned Ukrainian grain imports as central and eastern European states come under domestic pressure to shield local farmers. Romania has introduced restrictions but stopped short of a ban.
7:04pm: 'Top secret branch of Russian navy' in alleged North Sea spy programme
As Scandinavian public broadcasters prepare to air a documentary about Russian spies allegedly targeting energy infrastructure in the North Sea, FRANCE 24's former Moscow correspondent Nick Holdsworth commented on the claims.
"What's really troubling about these reports," said Holdsworth, "is that we're seeing the Russian military using apparently civilian vessels – shipping trawlers and the like – to gather information on civilian infrastucture, on wind farms and other offshore facilities".
The documentary says that a "top-secret branch of the Russian navy" is engaged in the spy programme, and the journalists behind it "have observed something like 27 vessels in the last five years”, Holdsworth pointed out.
“One of those was the Admiral Vladimirsky, which was officially an oceanographic research vessel, and that was seen at the end of last year seen sailing around wind farm parks [off] Britain and off Denmark, pausing when it was near those facilities and when a team from the Danish TV station involved in this documentary approached that vessel [...] heavily armed guards turned up to warn them off," Holdsworth added.
6:56pm: White House announces new artillery ammunition for Ukraine
The White House on Wednesday announced a new package of artillery ammunition for Ukraine as the pro-Western country gears up for an expected counter-offensive against Russian invasion.
Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the package will include ammunition for the HIMARS multiple rocket system and artillery rounds. Details were to come later from the Pentagon.
The package, "as part of our ongoing efforts to help Ukraine defend itself against Russia's brutal invasion", will "include more ammunition for US-provided HIMARS rocket systems and anti-armour systems, as well as additional artillery rounds", Jean-Pierre said.
4:38pm: Russian ships 'targeting' North Sea wind turbines
Ahead of the broadcast Wednesday evening by Scandinavian public broadcasters of a documentary about Russian spies allegedly targeting energy infrastructure in the North Sea, FRANCE 24 Brussels correspondent Dave Keating reported that "information from the Nordic documentary really tracks what ministers here in Belgium and the Netherlands have been saying; that they have been able to locate Russian ships pretending to either be scientific vessels or fishing vessels, that are actually conducting espionage, and that these ships seem to be particularly targeting wind turbines in the North Sea".
4:38pm: Putin says goods deliveries to regions annexed by Russia are 'problematic'
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that delivering goods to regions of Ukraine that Russia unilaterally annexed last year was "problematic", and 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.
3:03pm: Zelensky visits Belarus, Poland borders
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky inspected the frontier with Belarus and Poland on Wednesday, and thanked border guards for their defence of the country since Russia's invasion.
The president posted video footage on the Telegram messaging app that showed him meeting border guards in woodland with barbed-wire fencing beside a river in the Volyn region of northwestern Ukraine.
"It is an honour for me to be here today to thank our border guards for protecting the state border," Zelensky wrote under the footage, which also showed him addressing the border guards and handing out awards.
"For the protection of our state in Bakhmut. I know how firmly you stood there, holding Bakhmut," he said, referring to the eastern Ukrainian city where fighting between Russian and Ukrainian forces has been intense for months.
3:02pm: US urges Turkey, Hungary to ratify Sweden's NATO bid
Washington on Wednesday urged Turkey and Hungary to quickly ratify Sweden's NATO membership bid, which has been blocked for months due to a series of disputes with the two nations.
"We look forward to soon welcoming Sweden as the 32nd (member of NATO). And to be clear, we look forward to that happening before the (NATO) summit in July," US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin said on a visit to Sweden.
>> Read more: Sweden, Turkey not expected to back down in NATO accession tug of war
"So we encourage our allies, Turkey and Hungary, to ratify Sweden's accession as soon as possible," he said.
2:32pm: Russian spy ships planning North Sea sabotage, Scandinavian media report
A documentary being aired by Nordic public broadcasters Wednesday claims Russia is suspected of having a spy programme in the North Sea planning the sabotage of energy infrastructures in Northern Europe.
The Kremlin on Wednesday dismissed the media claims as a "mistake" and "without basis", reiterating its appeal for "a transparent and impartial international inquiry" into the sabotage of the Baltic Sea Nord Stream gas pipelines in September 2022.
A joint investigation conducted by public television stations NRK in Norway, DR in Denmark, SVT in Sweden and YLE in Finland claimed Moscow is using dozens of military and civilian vessels to collect information on wind farms and communication cables.
The report cited intelligence officials in the Nordic countries.
2:10pm: Moldova summons Russian envoy to expel member of embassy staff
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 Voda 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.
2:02pm: UK says Russian hackers aim to attack key infrastructure
Russian hackers are seeking to “disrupt or destroy” Britain’s critical infrastructure and not enough is being done to stop them, British government officials said Wednesday.
Britain’s National Cyber Security Centre issued an official threat notice to operators of Britain’s electricity, water and other critical systems, telling them to boost their defences. “I don’t think we are yet doing enough to protect our infrastructure from the cyber threats emerging from Russia-aligning groups,” the center’s chief, Lindy Cameron, said.
Cabinet Office Minister Oliver Dowden said the threat comes from hackers sympathetic to Russia though not necessarily directed by the Russian state. He described them as the cyber equivalent of the Wagner Group, the private Russian company with mercenaries fighting in Ukraine.
1:37pm: German president excoriates Putin on Warsaw Ghetto Uprising anniversary
Germany President Frank-Walter Steinmeier on Wednesday lambasted his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin for his Ukraine invasion, while marking the 80th anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising in the Polish capital.
"With his illegal attack on a peaceful, democratic neighbouring country [...] the Russian president has broken international law... This war brings immeasurable suffering, violence, destruction and death to the people of Ukraine," Steimeier said at the uprising commemoration.
1:16pm: Kremlin critic Yashin loses appeal against 8.5-year sentence
Kremlin critic Ilya Yashin on Wednesday lost an appeal against what his supporters say was a politically motivated decision to jail him for eight and a half years for criticising Moscow’s assault on Ukraine.
Speaking in court, Yashin said he had been put behind bars for “speaking the truth” over Moscow’s actions in Ukraine and Russia. “The sentence delivered against me is amazing: eight and a half years for a 20-minute speech on the internet,” he said.
“In prison, I met murderers, rapists, and robbers who have received lesser sentences for their crimes.”
Last year, Yashin, 39, described the murder of Ukrainian civilians in Bucha as a “massacre”, referring to a town near the Ukrainian capital Kyiv where civilians were found dead after Russian forces pulled back. He was sentenced in December:
12:29: Russian defence minister inspects strategic missile systems
Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu has inspected “Yars” strategic missile systems in the Kaluga region south of Moscow, the state-owned news agency TASS reported
12:28pm: Russia's Promsvyazbank opens more branches in annexed regions
Russia’s state-owned Promsvyazbank is opening more branches in the four regions of Ukraine that Moscow claimed to have annexed last year, as Russia aims to provide civilians and soldiers with cheap credit and banking services.
Promsvyazbank (PSB) offers a range of services but has focused on state employees and the defence sector since it was bailed out by the central bank in 2017.
The bank has already bought credit institutions in Ukraine’s Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
Russian President Vladimir Putin moved to annex those, along with the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions, last September, following what Ukraine said were sham referendums. The move was condemned by many countries as illegal.
Russian forces only partly control the four regions.
12:25pm: Ukraine says received first Patriot air defence systems
Ukraine has received the first Patriots, which are seen as one of the most advanced US air defence systems, Kyiv’s defence minister said Wednesday.
“Today, our beautiful Ukrainian sky becomes more secure because Patriot air defence systems have arrived in Ukraine,” Oleksiy Reznikov said on Twitter.
12:22pm: EU plans €100 million euro farmer support over Ukraine grain imports
The European Union is preparing €100 million of support for farmers in countries bordering Ukraine that have been hit by increased imports of Ukrainian cereals, a European Commission spokesperson said.
12:05pm: Bulgaria introduces temporary ban on Ukraine grain imports, report says
Bulgaria introduced a temporary ban on Ukraine grains imports except for those in transit, Radio Bulgaria reported on its website quoting caretaker Prime Minister Galab Donev.
“Over the past year, a significant amount of food has remained in the country and disrupted food chains,” the report quoted Donev as saying.
“We are forced to adopt this national measure because the European authorities are still considering an adequate measure.”
11:47am: Kremlin says South Korean arms for Ukraine would signify involvement in conflict
The Kremlin said that if South Korea supplies military aid to Ukraine it would mean Seoul has become involved in the conflict to a certain extent.
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol said in a Reuters interview that his country might extend its support for Ukraine beyond humanitarian and economic aid if there were a large-scale attack on Ukrainian civilians
11:12am: Russian-backed forces say Ukraine killed 20 civilians in Bakhmut
Russian-backed forces in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region said Ukrainian forces had blown up four residential buildings in the city of Bakhmut two days ago, killing 20 civilians, the TASS news agency reported
11:09am: FSB says prevented ‘sabotage’ of energy facility in Crimea
A Russian-Ukrainian citizen suspected of planning to “sabotage” an energy infrastructure site in annexed Crimea has been detained, Russia’s FSB domestic security agency said.
The FSB in the city of Kerch said it had “prevented the preparation of sabotage at a facility of the energy system of the peninsula,” annexed from Ukraine in 2014, it said in a statement.
“A citizen of Russia and Ukraine, born in 1971, who was involved in the preparation of this crime, was detained,” the statement said. The suspect is held for planning to commit “sabotage” and “possession of explosives or explosive devices”.
The charges carry a possible life sentence, the FSB said, adding the suspect was in contact “with a representative of Ukraine’s security services, who coordinated his criminal activities”.
10:48am: Hungary widens ban on Ukraine food imports
Hungary’s government has widened its temporary ban on the imports of Ukrainian agricultural products to include honey, wine, bread, sugar, and a range of meat and vegetable products.
In recent days, Poland, Hungary and Slovakia banned the import of grain and other food items from war-hit Ukraine after a slump in prices triggered protests from local farmers.
Bulgaria is expected to make a similar announcement on Wednesday
9:51am: Ship inspections resume under Black Sea grain deal
Ship inspections under the United Nations-brokered Black Sea grain deal have resumed after two days of talks, the RIA news agency said on Wednesday, citing the UN coordinator’s press office.
7:04am: Russia launches drone attack on Odesa
Russia launched a drone attack on Ukraine’s southern port city of Odesa early Wednesday but there were no reports of casualties, authorities said.
“At night, the enemy carried out an attack by UAVs of the Shahed-136 type on the Odesa region,” Yuriy Kruk, head of the Odesa district military administration, said in a statement on Telegram.
Kruk said Ukraine’s air defences had destroyed most of the attacking drones but some civilian infrastructure had been hit.
“According to preliminary information, there were no casualties. Measures are being taken to contain the fire, units of the State Emergency Service and other structures are working on the spot.”
5:19am: 'Join forces' against Western 'blackmail', urges Russia's Lavrov
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov called Tuesday for like-minded countries to “join forces” against Western sanctions “blackmail,” as the longtime diplomat continued his tour of Latin America.
Discussing Russia’s war on Ukraine with Venezuelan counterpart Yvan Gil in Caracas, Lavrov referred to allies Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua as countries “that choose their own path.”
All are, like Russia, the subject of damaging economic sanctions, he pointed out.
“It is necessary to join forces to counter the attempts of blackmail and illegal unilateral pressure of the West,” Lavrov said.
4:28am: South Korea opens door for possible military aid to Ukraine
South Korea might extend its support for Ukraine beyond humanitarian and economic aid if it comes under a large-scale civilian attack, President Yoon Suk Yeol said, signalling a shift in his stance against arming Ukraine for the first time.
In an interview with Reuters ahead of his state visit to the US next week, Yoon said his government has been exploring how to help defend and rebuild Ukraine, just as South Korea received international assistance during the 1950-53 Korean War.
"If there is a situation the international community cannot condone, such as any large-scale attack on civilians, massacre or serious violation of the laws of war, it might be difficult for us to insist only on humanitarian or financial support," Yoon said.
It was the first time that Seoul suggested a willingness to provide weapons to Ukraine, more than a year after ruling out the possibility of lethal aid.
A key US ally and major producer of artillery ammunition, South Korea has so far tried to avoid antagonising Russia due to its companies operating there and Moscow's influence over North Korea, despite mounting pressure from western countries for weapons supply.
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Key developments on Tuesday, April 18
Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu told his Chinese counterpart General Li Shangfu that Russian and Chinese military cooperation is a "stabilising" force in the world and has helped to reduce the chances of conflict.
Footage from Russian TV showed a visit by President Vladimir Putin to the military headquarters in Russian-controlled Ukraine. The visit allegedly took place Monday, on the same day Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky visited the frontline town of Avdiivka, according to his website.
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, under fire from the United States for "parroting Russian and Chinese propaganda," also clearly condemned Russia's invasion of Ukraine on Tuesday.
And Poland said it had reached an agreement on restarting transit of Ukrainian grain through its territory as of this Friday.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP and Reuters)
