Summary
We’re closing this blog down now. Thanks for reading. Here’s a summary of the day’s main events:
Volodymyr Zelenskiy has renewed his call for more long-range weapons from western allies, as he addressed EU leaders meeting in Brussels. Speaking to the EU summit via video link, the Ukrainian president’s account of the “devastating” scenes he had witnessed where the fighting has been fiercest was said to be emotional and to have had a big impact on the 27 EU leaders and top officials in Brussels listening to him.
Russian leaders should be put on trial for the invasion of Ukraine even if they cannot be arrested and brought to court in person, Kyiv’s top prosecutor said. Gen Andriy Kostin said a planned tribunal for the crime of aggression should hold so-called trials in absentia.
Dmitry Medvedev, the deputy secretary of Russia’s Putin-chaired security council, said Moscow’s relations with the west have hit an all-time low. Asked whether the threat of a nuclear conflict has eased, he said: “No, it hasn’t decreased, it has grown. Every day when they provide Ukraine with foreign weapons brings the nuclear apocalypse closer.”
Finland’s president, Sauli Niinistö, signed legislation to make his country part of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato). Last year, Finland sought to join the military alliance in response to Russia’s war in Ukraine, and legislation incorporating Nato’s founding treaties was passed in parliament in Helsinki on 1 March.
The UN nuclear agency’s chief said that the situation at Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia power plant “remains perilous” after a Russian missile strike this month disconnected the plant from the grid. Europe’s largest nuclear power plant needs a reliable electricity supply to operate pumps that circulate water to cool reactors and pools holding nuclear fuel.
Ukraine’s state emergency service said on Thursday that it had ended rescue attempts in Rzhyshchiv, Kyiv region, where it is now known that nine people died in a suspected Russian drone attack in the early hours of Wednesday morning.
Suspilne, Ukraine’s state broadcaster, reported that on Wednesday shelling in the Donetsk region killed two people and injured four others, while one person was killed and two were wounded in the Kherson region.
Gen Oleksandr Syrskyi, commander of the Ukrainian ground forces, said: “The aggressor does not give up hope of taking Bakhmut at any cost, despite the losses in manpower and equipment.” He added that Russia was losing “considerable strength” and that “very soon we will take advantage of this opportunity, as we once did near Kyiv, Kharkiv, Balakliia and Kupiansk”, all areas that Ukraine has previously liberated from Russian occupation.
The UK Ministry of Defence said that “Russia has made gains of up to several kilometres” in the Luhansk region, and that “Russian commanders are likely trying to expand a security zone west from the defence lines they have prepared along higher ground, and integrate the natural obstacle of the Oskil River. They likely seek to recapture Kupiansk, a logistics node.”
Any attempt to arrest Vladimir Putin after the international criminal court (ICC) issued a warrant for the Kremlin chief would amount to a declaration of war against Russia, his ally Dmitry Medvedev said on Thursday, while directly threatening to attack the seat of any government that allowed it to happen.
A video is circulating on social media of the Ukrainian national flag flying from a tall mast in Crimea, a region annexed by Russia in 2014. It appears to have been filmed near the village of Hrushivka.
Spain’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, said on Thursday he would discuss a peace plan for Ukraine with the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, during an official visit to China next week.
Estonia’s prime minister, Kaja Kallas, on Thursday spoke against any weakening of sanctions against Russia under a deal to export Ukrainian grain through the Black Sea, and called for the G7 to tighten its oil cap to squeeze Russia’s revenue more.
A former New Zealand soldier who drew an online following with his dispatches from the frontline of the Ukraine war has been killed. The death of Kane Te Tai, 38, was confirmed by New Zealand’s foreign ministry Thursday, citing Ukrainian government sources. Te Tai, who fought with the International Legion, is the third New Zealander known to have died in Ukraine.
Updated
Ukraine’s military has now withdrawn its claim Russian troops had left Nova Kahkovka.
The general staff of the Ukrainian armed forces, in a rare retraction, said Russian troops remained in the town on the east bank of the Dnipro River. It said the initial report had been issued “as a result of incorrect use of available data” but gave no details.
Vladimir Saldo, the Russian-installed governor of Kherson region, had denied the report.
The EU has denounced Russian police raids against the Nobel prize-winning human rights group Memorial, describing them as being part of an intimidation and harassment campaign.
Reuters, citing Memorial, reports that Russian security forces raided the homes of former employees of the group on Tuesday and took some of them in for questioning.
Founded to document political repression in the Soviet Union, Memorial was officially banned in late 2021 after the authorities claimed it supported terrorism and extremism, charges the group called absurd. The spokesperson for the EU foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, Peter Stano, said:
The recent actions by the Russian authorities constitute yet another step in the ongoing intimidation and persecution of independent and critical voices in the Russian society.
Memorial’s work in Russia has been invaluable in defence of human rights and against “attempts to manipulate the historical memory of political repression in Russia in the 20th century”, he added.
The EU calls upon the Russian authorities to stop the unfounded prosecution and police harassment of Memorial and its staff – and to respect the rule of law.
Tuesday’s raids were carried out after Russian investigators accused the now dissolved group of allegedly including the names of second world war-era Nazi collaborators on their historical list of victims of political terror.
The raids were condemned by rights groups internationally as well as what remains of Russia’s domestic opposition, Reuters reports.
Updated
We reported earlier that the Ukrainian military was claiming Russian forces had left the town of Nova Kakhovka in the southern Kherson region. Vladimir Saldo, the Russian-installed governor of Kherson region, has denied that. Reuters quotes him as saying on Telegram:
All Russian military personnel in Nova Kakhovka, as well as in other locations on the left (eastern) bank of the Dnipro remain in their place.
Russian forces redeployed to the east bank of the Dnipro River last November after abandoning positions on the west bank in the face of a counteroffensive by Ukrainian troops.
Updated
Russian athletes will remain barred from track and field “for the foreseeable future” because of the country’s invasion of Ukraine, the World Athletics president, Sebastian Coe, has said.
The International Olympic Committee is exploring a pathway for Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete as neutrals at next year’s Olympic Games in Paris. But it appears likely they will not be able to feature in athletics in Paris, arguably the highest-profile Olympic sport. Lord Coe told a press conference:
The World Athletics Council approved to continue to exclude Russian and Belarus athletes from all World Series events for the foreseeable future due to the invasion and ongoing war in Ukraine.
Updated
Russian forces have left the town of Nova Kakhovka in the southern Kherson region, the Ukrainian military’s general staff has said.
Reuters quotes its evening report outlining conditions on the front lines as saying:
As of 22 March 2023, all units of the occupying army that had been deployed in the town of Nova Kakhovka in Kherson region, have left the city.
The town is located on the east bank of the Dnipro River, where Russian forces redeployed last November after abandoning positions on the west bank in the face of a counter-offensive by Ukrainian troops.
The report said Russian troops had stolen appliances, valuables, clothing and mobile telephones from nearby houses as they departed.
Updated
Finland rubber-stamps legislation allowing it to join Nato
Finland’s president, Sauli Niinistö, has signed legislation to make his country part of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato) during a ceremony on Thursday.
Last year, Finland sought to join the military alliance in response to Russia’s war in Ukraine, and legislation incorporating Nato’s founding treaties was passed in parliament in Helsinki on 1 March.
Hungary and Turkey, the only Nato members that have yet to ratify Finland’s membership, have both signalled they will soon do so.
Updated
European Union leaders have held talks with the UN chief, António Guterres, on sanctions imposed on Russia and are also expected to endorse a plan to supply more artillery shells to Kyiv.
Reuters reports that Guterres’ participation in the EU summit, where global food security was also discussed, comes days after the renewal of a deal brokered by the United Nations and Turkey on the safe export of Ukrainian grain via the Black Sea that is seen as crucial to overcoming a global food crisis.
The 27 EU leaders were also due to get an update on the war from the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, via video link. Arriving for the two-day summit, the German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, said:
We need to ensure that grain exports, for example from Ukraine, can continue.
The Estonian prime minister, Kaja Kallas, spoke against any easing of sanctions on Moscow under the grain deal and called for a tighter price cap on Russian oil exports.
The US has pushed back against Russian demands that western sanctions be eased before Moscow allows Ukrainian Black Sea grain exports to continue beyond mid-May, saying there are no restrictions on Russian farm products or fertilisers.
Inside the EU, the issue of fertiliser exports is blocking more sanctions against Russia’s ally Belarus. The bloc says new sanctions are needed to stop Belarus from serving as a route to bypass the existing Russia trade restrictions.
But Lithuania opposes what it calls “fertiliser oligarch” exemptions proposed to ensure Belarusian fertilisers continue flowing to third countries, arguing that that would weaken the sanctions regime overall, diplomats said.
Proponents say such carve-outs, similar to those the EU has in place under its sanctions against Russia, are necessary to ensure food security and refute Moscow’s charge that EU measures – rather than Russia’s invasion – are driving the global crisis.
Diplomats involved in preparing the summit were sceptical of any imminent breakthrough.
Updated
Earlier, William met Poland’s president, Andrzej Duda, at the presidential palace, where they discussed the war in Ukraine. The former’s spokesperson said:
The conversation was warm and friendly, and predominantly focused on the ongoing conflict with the war in Ukraine, particularly its impact on Polish society.
The Prince of Wales took the opportunity to thank the president and the Polish people who have done so much to support the people of Ukraine who’ve fled here. They discussed the importance of the need for ongoing support to Ukraine and its people.
The prince said he was very much looking forward to seeing the president and first lady at the coronation. He also thanked him for attending the late queen’s funeral.
William also echoed his grandmother the queen by laying a wreath at a monument dedicated to soldiers. Queen Elizabeth II and the late Duke of Edinburgh did the same during their state visit to Poland in 1996.
William was greeted by a guard of honour and carried the assortment of flowers to the monument, spending around 10 minutes there before leaving. On the wreath was a note reading: “In memory of those who made the ultimate sacrifice.”
Updated
The Prince of Wales has praised the resilience of young Ukrainian refugees living in Poland.
William, on the second day of his surprise trip to the country, visited the Hala Koszyki food hall in Warsaw to speak to those who have fled Ukraine. He joined them at tables on Thursday afternoon and heard about their experiences settling into Polish life. William told them:
It must be very difficult to start an entire new life in a new country. It’s amazing how resilient you are. That shines out.
He also spoke to people who have hosted refugees, and thanked them for their kindness. William was greeted by well-wishers outside the venue and given flowers. Three women held a sign thanking him for the visit.
One of them, Olga Mieszejewska-Buchalik, who travelled three hours from south Poland, told reporters:
I said that we really appreciated his support for our nation and Ukraine.
Vonya Bultruski, 26, who spoke to the prince, told the PA news agency:
I told him how much his support for refugees means, he’s a very kind man. I’m very happy to see him in Poland, it is a big moment for my country.
Marta Galinska, 47, a milliner, gave William a pink felt hat she made for the Princess of Wales.
Zelenskiy renews long-range weapon call in EU summit address
Jennifer Rankin reports for the Guardian from Brussels:
Volodymyr Zelenskiy has renewed his call for more long-range weapons from western allies, as he addressed EU leaders meeting in Brussels.
The Ukrainian president was speaking to the EU summit via video link, from a moving train in an undisclosed location in Ukraine, where he recounted news from the frontline. On Wednesday, Zelenskiy visited frontline military positions near the besieged city of Bakhmut, where he met Ukrainian serviceman and held a moment of silence for those killed in the war. Earlier today he was in Kherson region.
His account of the “devastating” scenes he had witnessed was said to be emotional and to have had a big impact on the 27 EU leaders and top officials in Brussels listening to him. On one occasion the secure line cut out, but was soon reconnected.
According to an EU source, he warned European leaders of five factors that could prolong the war, including delays in the delivery of long-range missiles, lack of modern aircraft and weaknesses in western sanctions.
EU leaders are now discussing the Russian invasion, where they are expected to endorse a decision to supply a million rounds of ammunition to Ukraine within the next 12 months to replenish its dwindling stocks.
Updated
Suspilne, Ukraine's state broadcaster, has this report from Kherson on its official Telegram channel, citing the state emergency department:
Four fires broke out in the Kherson region during the day as a result of shelling by the Russian army. A warehouse was on fire in Kherson, a car and the remains of a cable caught fire in Beryslav. And in Antonivka, a private house and a non-residential building were on fire.
The office of Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, have issued a couple of photographs of his visit to Kherson region today.
It is Zelenskiy’s second trip outside Kyiv this week, having visited the frontline city of Bakhmut yesterday.
Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, visited the occupied city of Mariupol on Saturday evening in his first trip to one of the areas that Russia has claimed to annex from Ukraine.
Updated
Medvedev may have dismissed western claims that Russia is running out of weapons with which to continue its war on Ukraine, but Reuters is reporting that the conflict has left Moscow unable to deliver vital defence supplies it had committed to India’s military.
New Delhi has been worried about just such a situation, with Moscow its largest source of defence equipment. An Indian air force statement on Thursday is the first official confirmation it has come about.
The statement was made to a parliamentary committee, which published it on its website on Tuesday. An air force representative told the committee that Russia had planned a “major delivery” this year that would not take place. A spokesperson for the Russian embassy in New Delhi told Reuters: “We don’t have information which may confirm the stated.”
There has been no immediate response from Rosoboronexport, which is the Russian government’s weapons export arm. The report does not mention specifics of the delivery, Reuters says.
Updated
Medvedev also dismissed any suggestion of talks with western European powers as “useless” and spoke contemptuously about western politicians, claiming a “catastrophic drop in competence and elementary literacy of EU leaders”.
I have no illusions that we could communicate with them again any time soon. It makes no sense to negotiate with certain countries and blocs – they only understand the language of force.
Medvedev, who heads a panel coordinating weapons production, derided western claims that Moscow is running out of weapons and said Russian weapons industries had increased output. He said Russia would produce 1,500 battle tanks this year and boost production of other weapons to meet its army’s needs. His claims could not be independently verified.
The most important thing now is to make it all in necessary volumes, and we are launching new factories to do that.
He said that the Russian military already had good intelligence drones and loitering munitions, but acknowledged that it had yet to deploy long-range strike drones.
Updated
Relations with west worse than ever, says Moscow
Here’s some more detail on those comments made by Dmitry Medvedev, the deputy secretary of Russia’s Putin-chaired Security Council, who we quoted earlier as saying that any attempt to arrest the Russian president would amount to a declaration of war.
According to the Associated Press (AP), he has told reporters in Russia that Moscow’s relations with the west have hit an all-time low. Asked whether the threat of a nuclear conflict has eased, he said:
No, it hasn’t decreased, it has grown. Every day when they provide Ukraine with foreign weapons brings the nuclear apocalypse closer.
Medvedev also denounced the ICC’s decision to issue an arrest warrant for Putin as legally null and void, claiming the move added to a “colossal negative potential” in the already bitterly strained ties.
Our relations with the west are already worse than they have ever been in history.
Medvedev challenged Ukraine’s sovereignty in comments that could reflect Moscow’s plans to extend its gains.
Honestly speaking, Ukraine is part of Russia. But, due to geopolitical reasons and the course of history, we had tolerated that we were living in separate quarters and had been forced to acknowledge those invented borders for a long time.
The AP reports that, since Putin sent troops into Ukraine, Medvedev has emerged as one of the most hawkish Russian officials, with observers interpreting his position as an apparent attempt to curry favour with Putin.
Updated
The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has visited the southern region of Kherson, where he toured local infrastructure the he promised to restore after Russia’s invasion.
The visit, to a region where Ukraine staged a successful counteroffensive against Russian occupying forces late last year, was his second outside Kyiv this week, Reuters reports. On Wednesday, he visited troops near the eastern frontline city of Bakhmut.
On Thursday, under footage of his visit to Kherson region that was posted on Telegram, Zelenskiy wrote:
I spoke with local residents about their current issues and needs. We will restore everything, we will rebuild everything. Just like with every city and village that suffered because of the occupiers.
The Ukrainian counteroffensive last year pushed Russian troops out of the regional capital after months of occupation. Workers in the region are now busy restoring power and the water supply. In a separate post showing him inspecting energy infrastructure, the Ukrainian president wrote:
We have to ensure full restoration and protection of our energy sector. I am grateful to everyone who works for this and returns the light to our people.
Updated
'Try Putin in absentia', Ukrainian prosecutor urges
Russian leaders should be put on trial for the invasion of Ukraine even if they cannot be arrested and brought to court in person, Kyiv’s top prosecutor has said.
Gen Andriy Kostin said a planned tribunal for the crime of aggression should hold so-called trials in absentia.
He was speaking to Reuters after meeting the international criminal court (ICC)‘s chief prosecutor in The Hague, where the court is based. Last week, the ICC issued an arrest warrant for the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, accusing him and his children’s commissioner of the war crime of deporting children from Ukraine to Russia.
While the ICC can prosecute war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide in Ukraine, it cannot prosecute the crime of aggression due to legal constraints.
International support is growing for the creation of a special tribunal that would prosecute Russian leaders for the 13-month-old invasion itself, considered by Ukraine and western leaders to be a crime of aggression. Kostin said the special tribunal should go after “the highest political and military leadership, including Putin, for the crime of aggression”.
I believe that it could be (held) in absentia, because it’s important to deliver a matter of justice for international crimes even if perpetrators are not in the dock.
International courts very rarely hold trials in absentia and the ICC’s rules state specifically that an accused suspect shall be present during trial.
The only recent example of an international trial in absentia was in the case of Lebanon, for which a UN-backed tribunal convicted three men for the 2005 assassination of Lebanese politician Rafik Hariri.
Russia has publicly said it has brought thousands of Ukrainian children to Russia in what it presents as a humanitarian campaign to protect orphans and abandoned children in the conflict zone.
Updated
Summary of the day so far …
The UN nuclear agency’s chief said that the situation at Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia power plant “remains perilous” after a Russian missile strike this month disconnected the plant from the grid. Europe’s largest nuclear power plant needs a reliable electricity supply to operate pumps that circulate water to cool reactors and pools holding nuclear fuel.
Ukraine’s state emergency service said on Thursday that it had ended rescue attempts in Rzhyshchiv, Kyiv region, where it is now known that nine people died in a suspected Russian drone attack in the early hours of Wednesday morning.
Suspilne, Ukraine’s state broadcaster, reported that on Wednesday shelling in the Donetsk region killed two people and injured four others, while one person was killed and two were wounded in the Kherson region.
Gen Oleksandr Syrskyi, commander of the Ukrainian ground forces, said: “The aggressor does not give up hope of taking Bakhmut at any cost, despite the losses in manpower and equipment.” He added that Russia was losing “considerable strength” and that “very soon we will take advantage of this opportunity, as we once did near Kyiv, Kharkiv, Balakliia and Kupiansk”, all areas that Ukraine has previously liberated from Russian occupation.
The UK Ministry of Defence said that “Russia has made gains of up to several kilometres” in the Luhansk region, and that “Russian commanders are likely trying to expand a security zone west from the defence lines they have prepared along higher ground, and integrate the natural obstacle of the Oskil River. They likely seek to recapture Kupiansk, a logistics node.”
Any attempt to arrest President Vladimir Putin after the international criminal court (ICC) issued a warrant for the Kremlin chief would amount to a declaration of war against Russia, his ally Dmitry Medvedev said on Thursday, while directly threatening to attack the seat of any government that allowed it to happen.
A video is circulating on social media of the Ukrainian national flag flying from a tall mast in Crimea, a region annexed by Russia in 2014. It appears to have been filmed near the village of Hrushivka.
Spain’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, said on Thursday he would discuss a peace plan for Ukraine with the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, during an official visit to China next week.
Estonia’s prime minister, Kaja Kallas, on Thursday spoke against any weakening of sanctions against Russia under a deal to export Ukrainian grain through the Black Sea, and called for the G7 to tighten its oil cap to squeeze Russia’s revenue more.
A former New Zealand soldier who drew an online following with his dispatches from the frontline of the Ukraine war has been killed. The death of Kane Te Tai, 38, was confirmed by New Zealand’s foreign ministry Thursday, citing Ukrainian government sources. Te Tai, who fought with the International Legion, is the third New Zealander known to have died in Ukraine.
Updated
The Spanish prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, said on Thursday he would discuss a peace plan for Ukraine with the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, during an official visit to China next week.
“We will also talk about Ukraine where the most important thing is to be able to guarantee a stable and lasting peace,” Reuters reports Sanchez told the media in Brussels.
Updated
Estonian prime minister, Kaja Kallas, on Thursday spoke against any weakening of sanctions against Russia under a deal to export Ukrainian grain through the Black Sea, and called for the G7 to tighten its oil cap to further squeeze Russia’s revenue.
“We know that Russia is earning less from the oil. We see the economic sanctions, including the oil price cap, are having am effect on the Russian economy and their ability to fuel the war machine,” Reuters reports her saying on arriving to talks among the EU’s 27 national leaders in Brussels on Thursday and Friday.
“We should continue with that,” she said, adding that Estonia would agree to raise the cap again should oil prices rise. She spoke against any weakening of sanctions against Russia as sought by Moscow in the grain deal talks. “We shouldn’t weaken the sanctions,” she said.
Updated
A video is circulating on social media, reported by Suspilne, Ukraine’s state broadcaster, of the Ukrainian national flag flying from a tall mast in Crimea, a region annexed by Russia in 2014 in a move which is not widely recognised internationally. It appears to have been filmed near the village of Hrushivka.
A Ukrainian flag flies from a communications tower near the village of Hrushivka, about 18km north of the town of Sudak in Ukraine’s Russian-occupied Crimea. Even after 9 years of Russian military occupation, some Crimeans still seem prepared to risk demonstrating patriotism. pic.twitter.com/sgTE3ahwCc
— Euan MacDonald (@Euan_MacDonald) March 23, 2023
The Guardian has not independently verified the location, or the date the video was made.
Updated
The air alarm which has been in force across Ukraine for much of the last two hours has ended.
Any attempt to arrest President Vladimir Putin after the international criminal court (ICC) issued a warrant for the Kremlin chief would amount to a declaration of war against Russia, his ally Dmitry Medvedev said on Thursday, while directly threatening to attack the seat of any government that allowed it to happen.
The ICC issued an arrest warrant on Friday, accusing Putin of the war crime of illegally deporting hundreds of children from Ukraine. It said there were reasonable grounds to believe that Putin bore individual criminal responsibility.
Reuters reports that the hawkish former president Medvedev told Russian media that the ICC, which countries including Russia, China and the US do not recognise, was a “legal nonentity” that had never done anything significant.
Any attempt to detain Putin, though, would be a declaration of war, said Medvedev, who serves as deputy chairman of Russia’s security council.
“Let’s imagine – obviously this [is a] situation which will never be realised – but nevertheless let us imagine that it was realised: the current head of the nuclear state went to a territory, say Germany, and was arrested,” Medvedev said.
“What would that be? It would be a declaration of war on the Russian Federation,” he said in a video posted on Telegram. “And in that case, all our assets – all our missiles – would fly to the Bundestag, to the Chancellor’s office.”
Updated
Suspilne, Ukraine’s state broadcaster, offers this news roundup this morning on its official Telegram channel:
As a result of an attack by Russian drones [yesterday] on a hostel in Rzhyshchiv, Kyiv region, nine people were killed, the state emergency service reported. Rescue operations are completed.
In the middle of the night, the Russian military shelled Kramatorsk in Donetsk region: residential buildings, a boiler house and garages were damaged. On 22 March, shelling in the region killed two people and injured four others.
At night, the Russian army shelled the Kherson regional cardio centre; there were no casualties. Fifty-four times during the day, the Russian Federation fired heavy artillery and “Grad missiles” in the Kherson region; one person was killed, two were wounded.
The claims have not been independently verified.
Donetsk and Kherson are two of the partly occupied regions of Ukraine which the Russian Federation claims to have annexed.
Updated
Gen Oleksandr Syrskyi, commander of the Ukrainian ground forces, has posted to Telegram to say: “The aggressor does not give up hope of taking Bakhmut at any cost, despite the losses in manpower and equipment.”
He goes on to write that the enemy is losing “considerable strength” and that “very soon we will take advantage of this opportunity, as we once did near Kyiv, Kharkiv, [Balakliia] and Kupiansk”, all areas that Ukraine has previously liberated from Russian occupation.
He praised his troops for “superhuman resilience, courage and bravery” under “the continuous fire of the enemy’s artillery and aircraft”.
Updated
An air alert is being declared across Ukraine.
This is Martin Belam taking over the live blog in London. You can contact me at martin.belam@theguardian.com.
The UK Ministry of Defence has issued its daily intelligence briefing on the situation in Ukraine. It writes:
Since the start of March 2023, heavy fighting has continued in parts of the Svatove-Kremina sector of the frontline in northern Luhansk oblast. Russia has partially regained control over the immediate approaches to Kremina town, which was under immediate Ukrainian threat earlier in the year.
In places, Russia has made gains of up to several kilometres. Russian commanders are likely trying to expand a security zone west from the defence lines they have prepared along higher ground, and integrate the natural obstacle of the Oskil River.
They likely seek to recapture Kupiansk, a logistics node.
Updated
A former New Zealand soldier who drew an online following with his dispatches from the frontline of the Ukraine war has been killed in fighting there.
The death of Kane Te Tai, 38, was confirmed by New Zealand’s foreign ministry Thursday, citing Ukrainian government sources. Te Tai, who fought with the International Legion, is the third New Zealander known to have died in Ukraine.
For many in New Zealand, Te Tai was the face of the country’s unofficial involvement in Ukraine’s war. He fundraised for equipment and undertook news interviews before he left New Zealand in May 2022, and documented his friendships, battles and daily life on Instagram and Facebook.
A video he posted earlier this month captured a moment when he was unexpectedly reunited with a Ukrainian friend who had been held hostage for months by Russian troops, and whom Te Tai recognised when the man began to call out: “New Zealand! New Zealand!”
“My brother!” Te Tai replied.
Updated
Situation at Zaporizhzhia plant 'remains perilous'
The UN nuclear agency’s chief said Wednesday that the situation at Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia power plant “remains perilous” following a Russian missile strike this month that disconnected the plant from the grid.
Europe’s largest nuclear power plant needs a reliable electricity supply to operate pumps that circulate water to cool reactors and pools holding nuclear fuel.
Since a Russian strike on March 9, the plant has relied on a single backup power line that remains “disconnected and under repair”, according to Rafael Grossi, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency.
“Nuclear safety at the ZNPP remains in a precarious state,” Grossi said in a statement on Wednesday.
The plant’s lack of access to the grid and necessary repair work on its last emergency power line could cause a complete loss of power, making it reliant on diesel generators for the seventh time since Russia captured it a year ago, Grossi said.
“I once again call for a commitment from all sides to secure nuclear safety and security protection at the plant.”
The statement continues:
The situation at the plant remains perilous. The IAEA Support and Assistance Mission to Zaporizhzhya (ISAMZ) team currently present at the plant was informed that restoration of the line had been planned for 5, 10 and then 13 March but had not been possible. The latest reconnection date is scheduled for 23 March.
EU leaders gather for summit
Six weeks after European leaders last gathered in Brussels, they’re meeting again for two days. The war in Ukraine is high on the agenda (though tensions between France and Germany over nuclear energy and combustion engines loom large) and UN secretary general, António Guterres, will be joining the summit for the first day.
Among the items on the agenda over the next two days are, according to the council:
Accountability of perpetrators
Further increasing collective pressure on Russia
The use of frozen assets for the reconstruction of Ukraine
Support to help meet Ukraine’s military and defence needs
Global food security
Address high energy prices
Reduce gas demand
Ensure security of supply
Phase out dependency on Russian fossil fuels
Wording on the summit points out that the EU has “made available” €67bn (US$73bn) to Ukraine since the start of the war. That’s equivalent to about 27% of Ukraine’s total GDP for 2021, before Russia invaded.
Updated
Bakhmut offensive slowing says US thinktank
A months-long ground assault on the eastern town of Bakhmut could be stalling in the face of fierce resistance, according to US, Ukrainian and British military experts.
Russian forces unleashed a wave of air strikes in the north and south of Ukraine as President Vladimir Putin bid farewell on Wednesday to Chinese leader Xi Jinping following a two day visit to Moscow by his fellow autocrat and “dear friend”.
Bakhmut is the site of Europe’s deadliest infantry battle since World War Two. The Institute for the Study of War, a US thinktank, said in its most recent update that the pace of Russian operations around Bakhmut “appears to be slowing amid Western reporting that Russian forces may be attempting to launch offensives in other directions.”
The update goes on to say:
Russian forces are currently increasing the tempo of their offensive operations around Avdiivka aiming to encircle the settlement, and it is possible that Russian forces are doing so at the expense of their operations around Bakhmut and the stalled offensive around Vuhledar.
British military intelligence believes Russia’s assault on the town could be running out of steam. There was still a danger, however, that the Ukrainian garrison in Bakhmut could be surrounded, Britain’s defence ministry said in its intelligence update on Wednesday.
Ukraine’s military General Staff agreed that Russia’s offensive potential in Bakhmut was declining.
Bakhmut has become a key objective for Moscow, which sees the town as a stepping stone toward completing its conquest of the eastern Donbas region.
Updated
Opening summary
Hello and welcome back to our continuing live coverage of Russia’s war in Ukraine. This is Helen Sullivan taking you through the day’s news.
Our top story this morning: Russia’s months-long ground assault on the eastern town of Bakhmut could be stalling in the face of fierce resistance, according to the Institute for the Study of War, a US thinktank.
In its latest update, the ISW writes, “The tempo of Russian operations around Bakhmut appears to be slowing amid Western reporting that Russian forces may be attempting to launch offensives in other directions”.
And the European Council is meeting today in Brussels, where leaders will discuss the war and Europe’s continuing support for Ukraine. United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres will also take part in today’s meeting.
We’ll bring you the latest on these stories shortly. In the meantime, here are the key recent developments:
The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, said China is watching “very carefully” to see how Washington and the world respond to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Speaking at the end of president Xi Jinping’s visit to Moscow, Blinken said that if Russia was allowed to attack Ukraine with impunity, it would “open a Pandora’s box” for would-be aggressors and lead to a “world of conflict”. He added that China has not yet crossed the line of providing lethal aid to Moscow.
Xi Jinping’s visit to Russia was a “journey of friendship, cooperation and peace”, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said, as China’s president ended his three-day visit to Moscow. Wang Wenbin reiterated Beijing’s claims that it remained neutral in the Ukraine conflict and said China would “continue to play a constructive role in promoting a political settlement of the Ukrainian issue”.
Vladimir Putin has no immediate plans for peace in Ukraine, so the west needs to brace itself to supply lethal aid to Kyiv for a long time to come, Nato’s secretary general has warned in an interview with the Guardian. The fierce fighting, currently centred around Bakhmut, in eastern Ukraine, demonstrated Russia was willing “to just throw in thousands and thousands more troops, to take many casualties for minimal gains”, the head of Nato said.
At least one person was killed and 33 wounded by a twin Russian missile strike on two residential buildings in Zaporizhzhia in Ukraine’s east, according to officials. Footage from a security camera captured the moment the strike hit, causing an explosion and a large plume of smoke to rise from two nine-storey buildings. Residential areas “where ordinary people and children live are being fired at”, said the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
At least eight people were killed overnight in a drone attack on Rzhyshchiv in the Kyiv region, regional police chief Andrii Nebytov said. The strike is reported to have hit a dormitory building and a school. Suspilne, Ukraine’s state broadcaster, reported that one of the people who died was “an ambulance driver who came to the call”.
Russia’s foreign ministry has warned that Moscow will not leave “unanswered” a UK plan to supply Ukraine with tank shells made with depleted uranium. “This decision will not remain without serious consequences both for Russian-British bilateral relations and at the international level,” it said on Wednesday. Russia’s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, said Britain’s decision took the situation to new and dangerous levels.
The UK foreign secretary has said there is no “nuclear escalation” in the country’s decision to supply Ukraine with shells made with depleted uranium. “They are not nuclear munitions. They are purely conventional munitions,” James Cleverly said, a day after Vladimir Putin accused the west of “beginning to use weapons with a nuclear component”.
Russia’s deputy foreign minister, Sergei Ryabkov, has said the risk of a nuclear conflict is at its highest level in decades. Russia was committed to keeping the world “safe and free” from the threat of nuclear war, he said, but added later that business could not continue as usual, given that Moscow was now “in a de facto state of open conflict” with Washington.
Rebuilding Ukraine’s economy is now expected to cost $411bn, 2.6 times Ukraine’s expected 2022 gross domestic product, a new study by the World Bank, United Nations, European Commission and Ukraine found.
Sweden’s parliament has formally approved a bill to allow the country to join Nato. Sweden and its neighbour Finland applied to join Nato in May 2022, abandoning decades of non-alignment after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The process has been held up by Turkey, which along with Hungary has yet to ratify the memberships.
Zelenskiy made a surprise visit on Wednesday to Ukrainian troops near the frontline city of Bakhmut. During his visit, the president heard “reports on the operational situation and the course of hostilities on the frontline”, a statement from his office said. Zelenskiy, dressed in a dark sweatshirt and military khaki trousers, was seen handing out medals to soldiers he said were heroically defending their country’s sovereignty.
There is a possibility that the Russian assault on the town of Bakhmut is losing the limited momentum it had obtained, the UK’s Ministry of Defence said in its latest intelligence update. This could be happening because “some Russian MoD units have been reallocated to other sectors”, it said.
The Prince of Wales travelled to Warsaw as part of a surprise two-day trip to Poland to thank British and Polish troops for their efforts supporting Ukraine, as well as to learn more about how the country has cared for displaced Ukrainian refugees.
