Closing summary
It’s 9pm in Kyiv. Here’s where we stand:
Ukraine’s ground forces commander has said his troops were continuing to repel heavy Russian attacks on the eastern city of Bakhmut and that defending it was a “military necessity”. Col Gen Oleksandr Syrskyi’s comments signalled again Ukraine’s intention to keep fighting in Bakhmut despite the heavy death toll there.
At least two people have been killed in a Russian missile strike in the eastern city of Sloviansk on Monday, according to the regional governor. The attack left 29 others wounded, Pavlo Kyrylenko said, adding that a number of high-rise buildings and offices were also damaged or destroyed. President Zelenskiy posted a short video clip that showed vehicles on fire and debris strewn across the road.
The UN nuclear watchdog chief, Rafael Grossi, has said he had met the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, in Zaporizhzhia, the region that houses Europe’s largest nuclear power plant, which has been occupied by Russian forces since early in the invasion. The two had a “rich exchange” on the protection of the plant and its staff, Grossi said, adding that he reiterated the IAEA’s full support for Ukraine’s nuclear facilities.
President Zelenskiy visited frontline positions in Zaporizhzhia on Monday, his office said, during a visit to one of the partly occupied regions that the Russian Federation claims to have annexed as part of its own territory. Zelenskiy “visited advanced positions in the Zaporizhzhia region, learned about the operational situation, and presented awards to the military”, his office said.
The 18 Leopard 2 battle tanks promised by Germany to support Ukraine have been handed over at the Ukrainian border, according to a report. About 40 Marder infantry fighting vehicles have also reached Ukraine, Der Spiegel reported, citing unnamed sources.
Ukraine has accused Russia of destabilising Belarus and making its smaller neighbour “a nuclear hostage”, after Vladimir Putin’s announcement that Moscow had made a deal to station tactical nuclear weapons in Belarusian territory. The country’s opposition leader in exile, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, said the move “grossly contradicts the will of the Belarusian people” and reflected the further subjugation of Belarus under Russian control.
A German foreign ministry spokesperson has described Vladimir Putin’s announcement that Russia will station tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus as “irresponsible” and “escalatory”. Berlin sees Moscow’s announcement as “another attempt at nuclear intimidation and we consider this rhetoric to be irresponsible and expressly reject it,” Andrea Sasse told reporters in Berlin.
Members of a recently formed Russian assault unit say their commanders deployed troops to stop them from retreating and threatened them with death after they suffered “huge” losses in eastern Ukraine. In a video addressed to President Vladimir Putin, a group of about two dozen men in military uniform say they are the remnants of Storm, a unit under the defence ministry.
The chair of Ukraine’s parliament, Ruslan Stefanchuk, has told British lawmakers that Kyiv is ready to send its pilots to be trained in the use of western fighter jets. Stefanchuk, speaking during a visit to the UK, said Kyiv could bring “joint victory for Ukraine and the world” once it “gets the wings”, in language echoing that of President Volodymyr Zekenskiy’s speech to the British parliament last month.
A leaked phone conversation allegedly between prominent the Russian music producer Iosif Prigozhin and the billionaire Farkhad Akhmedov, in which the two men give a far-ranging criticism of the war in Ukraine and Russia’s leadership, has been published by Ukrainian media. If confirmed genuine, the audio would provide a rare insight into the mood within the Russian elites.
Russian and Belarusian athletes should be banned from the 2024 Olympics in Paris unless Moscow pulls its forces out of Ukraine, Poland has said, after the International Olympic Committee (IOC) said it planned to let them compete as neutrals.
Poland has detained a foreign citizen on charges of spying for Russia, prosecutors have said. The arrest comes after Poland dismantled a Russian espionage network that had been preparing acts of sabotage and monitoring rail routes to Ukraine. If found guilty, the suspect could face up to 10 years in prison.
Hungary’s parliament has approved a bill to allow Finland to join Nato, bringing the Nordic country one step closer to becoming a full member of the western military alliance. Hungarian lawmakers voted 182 for and only six against with no abstentions. Turkey is now the only one of Nato’s 30 members not to have ratified Finland’s accession.
That’s it from me, Léonie Chao-Fong, and the Russia-Ukraine war blog today. We’ll be back tomorrow. Thank you.
Updated
Video released by a Russian assault unit details what they describe as ‘criminal’ commands to block a retreat following 14 days of nonstop mortar fire and shelling.
Alexander Gorin, a Russian soldier, is heard describing the conditions of the Storm group, which initially had 161 members, in an appeal to Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin.
A United Nations expert advising the International Olympic Committee has provoked outrage by claiming that Russian soldiers who have fought in Ukraine should be allowed to compete at the Paris 2024 Games – as long as they have not committed war crimes.
Alexandra Xanthaki, the UN special rapporteur for cultural rights, angered Ukrainian athletes on an IOC‑hosted call by saying that only Russians implicated directly in crimes against humanity or propaganda for war should be barred from international sport.
“I don’t think that it makes sense to exclude all Russian soldiers and all Russian military,” Xanthaki told athlete representatives from most of the 206 national Olympic committees.
It is discriminatory because there were a lot of other athletes [from other countries] … in active military operations and they were never excluded.
However, every athlete has to be excluded if they are found guilty of atrocity, of serious human rights violations in times of war, including crimes against humanity and genocide. And also they can be excluded if they are found guilty of propaganda for war but on an individual basis.
It is unclear how far the IOC will follow her advice at an executive board meeting on Tuesday, which is expected to offer updated guidelines to sports about how Russian and Belarusian athletes can qualify for Paris.
The Ukrainian skeleton racer Vladyslav Heraskevych, who was on the call, said:
Her comments sounded pretty insane. And it was clear from the questions she received that many others were shocked that she was advocating a way for Russians to compete despite their illegal war.
Heraskevych, who held up a sign saying “No war in Ukraine” at the Winter Olympics last year before the invasion of his country, said Xanthaki’s knowledge of sport also appeared limited.
Here are some of the latest images we have received from the news wires of the aftermath of a Russian missile strike in Ukraine’s eastern city of Sloviansk.
At least two people have been killed and 29 wounded by Monday’s attack, according to the head of the Donetsk regional military administration, Pavlo Kyrylenko.
Updated
Hungarian parliament approves Finland's bid to join Nato
Hungary’s parliament has approved a bill to allow Finland to join Nato, bringing the Nordic country one step closer to becoming a full member of the western military alliance.
Hungarian lawmakers voted 182 for and only six against with no abstentions, ending months of foot-dragging by the ruling Fidesz party on the issue.
With Hungary’s approval, Turkey is now the only one of Nato’s 30 members not to have ratified Finland’s accession.
The bill on Sweden’s Nato accession remains stranded in the Hungarian parliament.
Video released by Ukraine’s presidential office and the country’s emergency services show destruction in the eastern city of Sloviansk after a deadly strike by Russian forces, which killed at least two people and injured dozens more.
A number of high-rise buildings and offices were also damaged or destroyed, local leader Pavlo Kyrylenko said in an online statement. The city is in the partly occupied Donetsk region, the scene of fierce fighting since the start of the war more than a year ago.
Updated
Russian plan to station nuclear weapons in Belarus is 'irresponsible' and 'escalatory', says Germany
A German foreign ministry spokesperson has described Vladimir Putin’s announcement that Russia will station tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus as “irresponsible” and “escalatory”.
Berlin sees Moscow’s announcement as “another attempt at nuclear intimidation and we consider this rhetoric to be irresponsible and expressly reject it,” Andrea Sasse told reporters in Berlin. She added:
We will, of course, not be swayed in our course of supporting Ukraine in its self-defence.
The Russian president said on Saturday that he was acting after negotiations with his Belarusian counterpart, Alexander Lukashenko, who he said had “long raised the question” of a nuclear deployment on his country’s territory.
Sasse also dismissed a report about the imminent expulsion of 30 Russian diplomats, saying “such a measure is currently not planned”.
Updated
A giant recruitment advert for Russia’s mercenary Wagner group has appeared on an office building next to a highway in north-east Moscow, showing the group’s logo and slogans such as “Join the winning team!” and “Together we will win”.
Wagner, which is thought to have sustained heavy losses in the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, has sought to replenish troops before a potential Ukrainian counteroffensive, Reuters reports.
Updated
Iuliia Mendel, a former spokesperson for Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has shared a video clip of the Ukrainian president meeting troops in frontline positions in Zaporizhzhia earlier today.
Zelenskiy said he held a meeting to discuss the “operational situation, readiness of military units to perform assigned tasks, socioeconomic situation in the region, meeting the needs of internally displaced persons” during his visit to Zaporizhzhia region.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy met troops in southeastern Ukraine today in the latest stage of his tour of frontline regions.
— Iuliia Mendel (@IuliiaMendel) March 27, 2023
"I am honoured to be here today, next to our military," he wrote in social media along with footage of him handing out medals to troops in the Zaporizhzhia region. pic.twitter.com/OqH1f5l8MQ
Updated
Russian soldiers say commanders used ‘barrier troops’ to stop them retreating
Members of a recently formed Russian assault unit say their commanders deployed troops to stop them from retreating and threatened them with death after they suffered “huge” losses in eastern Ukraine.
In a video addressed to President Vladimir Putin, a group of about two dozen men in military uniform say they are the remnants of Storm, a unit under the defence ministry.
“We sat under open mortar fire and artillery for 14 days,” Alexander Gorin, a Russian soldier, is heard saying in the appeal, which first appeared on Friday on Russian Telegram channels.
We took huge losses. Thirty-four people were injured and 22 died, including our commander.
Another soldier said the unit initially comprised 161 men at the start of the operations.
Gorin said his men made the decision to head back to the Russian army headquarters but were denied evacuation by their superiors:
They placed barrier troops behind us and weren’t letting us leave our position … They are threatening to destroy us one by one and as a unit. They want to execute us as witnesses of a completely negligent criminal leadership.
Summary of the day so far
It’s 6pm in Kyiv. Here’s where we stand:
The UN nuclear watchdog chief, Rafael Grossi, has said he had met the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, in Zaporizhzhia, the region that houses Europe’s largest nuclear power plant, which has been occupied by Russian forces since early in the invasion. The two had a “rich exchange” on the protection of the plant and its staff, Grossi said, adding that he reiterated the IAEA’s full support for Ukraine’s nuclear facilities.
President Zelenskiy visited frontline positions in Zaporizhzhia on Monday, his office said, during a visit to one of the partly occupied regions that the Russian Federation claims to have annexed as part of its own territory. Zelenskiy “visited advanced positions in the Zaporizhzhia region, learned about the operational situation, and presented awards to the military”, his office said.
At least two people have been killed in a Russian missile strike in the eastern city of Sloviansk on Monday, according to the regional governor. The attack left 29 others wounded, Pavlo Kyrylenko said, adding that a number of high-rise buildings and offices were also damaged or destroyed. President Zelenskiy posted a short video clip that showed vehicles on fire and debris strewn across the road.
Ukraine’s ground forces commander has said his troops were continuing to repel heavy Russian attacks on the eastern city of Bakhmut and that defending it was a “military necessity”. Col Gen Oleksandr Syrskyi’s comments signalled again Ukraine’s intention to keep fighting in Bakhmut despite the heavy death toll there.
The chair of Ukraine’s parliament, Ruslan Stefanchuk, has told British lawmakers that Kyiv is ready to send its pilots to be trained in the use of western fighter jets. Stefanchuk, speaking during a visit to the UK, said Kyiv could bring “joint victory for Ukraine and the world” once it “gets the wings”, in language echoing that of President Volodymyr Zekenskiy’s speech to the British parliament last month.
The 18 Leopard 2 battle tanks promised by Germany to support Ukraine have been handed over at the Ukrainian border, according to a report. About 40 Marder infantry fighting vehicles have also reached Ukraine, Der Spiegel reported, citing unnamed sources.
An attempt was made this morning to assassinate the police chief in occupied Mariupol, according to Russian state media. A Russian-installed official in the occupied territory was cited by state-run Tass news agency as saying: “In the morning they blew up the car of police chief Mikhail Moskvin. He is alive, everything is in order.”
A Russian diplomat has said Moscow may seek compensation for the damage to the Nord Stream gas pipelines caused by two explosions last September, according to state media. The pipelines were ruptured by unexplained blasts that Moscow has – without providing evidence – accused the west of being responsible for. The Kremlin said it was for all shareholders to decide whether the two pipelines should be mothballed.
A leaked phone conversation allegedly between prominent the Russian music producer Iosif Prigozhin and the billionaire Farkhad Akhmedov, in which the two men give a far-ranging criticism of the war in Ukraine and Russia’s leadership, has been published by Ukrainian media. If confirmed genuine, the audio would provide a rare insight into the mood within the Russian elites.
Ukraine has accused Russia of destabilising Belarus and making its smaller neighbour “a nuclear hostage”, after Vladimir Putin’s announcement that Moscow had made a deal to station tactical nuclear weapons in Belarusian territory. The country’s opposition leader in exile, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, said the move “grossly contradicts the will of the Belarusian people” and reflected the further subjugation of Belarus under Russian control.
Russian and Belarusian athletes should be banned from the 2024 Olympics in Paris unless Moscow pulls its forces out of Ukraine, Poland has said, after the International Olympic Committee (IOC) said it planned to let them compete as neutrals.
Poland has detained a foreign citizen on charges of spying for Russia, prosecutors have said. The arrest comes after Poland dismantled a Russian espionage network that had been preparing acts of sabotage and monitoring rail routes to Ukraine. If found guilty, the suspect could face up to 10 years in prison.
Good afternoon from London, it’s Léonie Chao-Fong here to bring you all the latest developments from the war in Ukraine. Feel free to drop me a message if you have anything to flag, you can reach me on Twitter or via email.
Updated
Ukrainian media last week published a 30-minute leaked phone conversation allegedly between the prominent Russian music producer Iosif Prigozhin and billionaire Farkhad Akhmedov, in which the two men give a far-ranging criticism of the war in Ukraine and the Russian leadership.
Akhmedov, a former Russian senator, has been targeted by western sanctions for his proximity to the Kremlin regime, while Prigozhin (no relation to Wagner group founder Yevgeny Prigozhin) is seen as a longtime supporter of the Kremlin.
“There’s no doubt about the fact that they fucked up the country,” a man whose voice closely resembles that of Prigozhin’s says on the recording.
The same man also refers to Putin’s inner circle as “washed-up lowlifes” who act as if they are “gods”.
“He is Satan. Totally vacuous,” Akhmedov allegedly said of Putin.
He screwed all of us over. Everyone and everything. The entire country. The entire population, for fuck’s sake.
It was not possible to independently verify the clip’s veracity,
Prigozhin on Sunday called the audio a “provocation” aimed at “creating a split” within the Russian elites. While initially calling the clip “fake news”, Prigozhin in a later reaction said that the clip contained “some real moments” from his conversation with Akhmedov.
“The voice is similar to mine. But it is not clear how the call was glued together. We need to figure it out,” the producer said.
Akhmedov has not yet commented on the recording.
If confirmed genuine, the audio provides a rare insight into the mood within the Russian elites, many of whom have privately voiced their opposition towards the war.
Updated
Germany’s Leopard 2 tanks handed over to Ukraine – report
Der Spiegel is reporting that the 18 Leopard 2 battle tanks promised by Germany to support Ukraine have been handed over at the Ukrainian border.
About 40 Marder infantry fighting vehicles have also reached Ukraine, the report added, citing unnamed sources.
In January, the German government announced it would supply Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine, overcoming misgivings about sending heavy weaponry that Kyiv sees as crucial to defeat the Russian invasion.
Berlin’s decision paved the way for other countries to re-export some of their German-made Leopard tanks to Ukraine.
Updated
Zelenskiy meets UN nuclear chief Rafael Grossi during visit to Zaporizhzhia
The UN nuclear watchdog chief, Rafael Grossi, said on Monday he had met the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, in Zaporizhzhia, the region that houses Europe’s largest nuclear power plant. The power plant has been occupied by Russian forces since almost the very beginning of the Russian invasion.
The two had a “rich exchange” on the protection of the plant and its staff, Reuters reports that Grossi wrote in a tweet, adding that he reiterated the IAEA’s full support for Ukraine’s nuclear facilities.
I met 🇺🇦@ZelenskyyUa today in Zaporizhzhya City & had a rich exchange on the protection of the #Zaporizhzhya NPP and its staff. I reiterated the full support of the @IAEAorg to #Ukraine’s nuclear facilities. pic.twitter.com/fSPIMnYfhL
— Rafael MarianoGrossi (@rafaelmgrossi) March 27, 2023
Updated
Adding to his previous message on Telegram, Volodymyr Zelenskiy has given his account of a meeting held while he was visiting to Zaporizhzhia region. Ukraine’s president posted:
Meeting on the situation in Zaporizhzhia: operational situation, readiness of military units to perform assigned tasks, socioeconomic situation in the region, meeting the needs of internally displaced persons. The regional leadership of the security service and the national police of Ukraine delivered reports. We are working and keeping all important issues under control.
The first images have come in of Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s visit to Zaporizhzhia region today.
Zelenskiy visits Zaporizhzhia region
Suspilne, Ukraine’s state broadcaster, reports that Volodymyr Zelenskiy has visited frontline positions in Zaporizhzhia today. Citing the president’s office, it said Ukraine’s president “visited advanced positions in the Zaporizhzhia region, learned about the operational situation, and presented awards to the military”.
Zaporizhzhia is one of the partially occupied regions that the Russian Federation claims to have annexed as part of its own territory.
Zelenskiy himself posted to his Telegram channel a video clip of him meeting soldiers, alongside the message:
I visited the command post of the “Zaporizhzhia” operational group of troops. I presented orders and medals to employees of the security service of Ukraine, the national guard, the national police, the state border guard service, and the state emergency service of Ukraine.
Thank you for protecting our state, our homes, territorial integrity and life in Ukraine. I wish you good health. I wish you a great victory and it will definitely come true.
Updated
Here are some drone images from Bakhmut that were released at the weekend showing the extent of the destruction of the city, which had a population of about 70,000 before the start of the war.
Updated
A Ukrainian court has sentenced a Russian-appointed social worker in the liberated eastern city of Lyman to five years in prison after finding her guilty of collaborating with Russian authorities, Ukraine’s prosecutor general’s office said.
The unnamed accountant at Lyman’s department of social protection and labour was accused of registering a local tax office, treasury and social insurance fund with the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic, as well as recruiting workers and paying them salaries in rubles.
Ukrainian forces recaptured Lyman in September, after which the official was arrested.
Nikolai Patrushev, the secretary of Russia’s security council, has warned that Moscow has the weapons to destroy any enemy, including the US, if its own existence is threatened.
Patrushev, in an interview with the state Rossiyskaya Gazeta newspaper, said:
American politicians trapped by their own propaganda remain confident that, in the event of a direct conflict with Russia, the United States is capable of launching a preventive missile strike, after which Russia will no longer be able to respond. This is shortsighted stupidity, and very dangerous.
He added:
Russia is patient and does not intimidate anyone with its military advantage. But it has modern unique weapons capable of destroying any adversary, including the United States, in the event of a threat to its existence.
Updated
A quick snap from Reuters: the Kremlin has denied Turkish reports that Vladimir Putin planned to visit the Turkish capital, Ankara.
Updated
The chair of Ukraine’s parliament, Ruslan Stefanchuk, also used his visit to the UK to call for the creation of a special tribunal to investigate Russia’s war crimes.
“We want to use all the legal mechanisms to make sure Russia is defeated legally, held accountable for all the crimes they commit in Ukraine,” he said, adding that the crimes were “not real if they are not prosecuted”.
Addressing MPs and peers, he called for the UK to recognise the Soviet-era Holodomor famine that killed millions of Ukrainians in the winter of 1932-33 as genocide, and said it was “connected” to today’s crimes.
Honoured to address to the members of @HouseofCommons and @UKHouseofLords.
— Ruslan Stefanchuk (@r_stefanchuk) March 27, 2023
Stressed the importance of providing weapons for🇺🇦, sanctions and isolation of 🇷🇺, holding 🇷🇺 accountable, #PeaceFormula by @ZelenskyyUa, rebuilding of 🇺🇦
Ukraine will win!
The democratic world’ll win! pic.twitter.com/5Z7yqvlSps
The Commons speaker, Sir Lindsay Hoyle, welcomed his Ukrainian counterpart to Westminster, telling him: “Our parliament is your parliament.”
He added:
Ukrainian politicians play a vital role in serving their people and telling the world the reality of war. We are a friend that will listen, we are a friend that will support and continue to support.
Updated
Ukraine is ready to send its pilots to be trained in using western fighter jets, the chairman of Ukraine’s parliament, Ruslan Stefanchuk, has told British lawmakers.
Stefanchuk, speaking during a visit to the UK, said Kyiv could bring “joint victory for Ukraine and the world” once it “gets the wings”, in language echoing that of President Volodymyr Zekenskiy’s speech to the British parliament last month.
He said:
We are ready for more intense training of Ukrainian servicemen. We’re ready to send our pilots to be trained in fighter jets. We keep saying ‘please give us your experience’.
He also thanked the UK for its decision to send 14 Challenger 2 tanks, which paved the way for other nations to follow suit. He added:
Today is the time for Britain to become a leader to also open the door to use aircraft and long-range rockets.
Death toll from Sloviansk missile strikes rises to two, says governor
At least two people have been killed in a Russian missile strike in the eastern city of Sloviansk, according to the regional governor.
The attack left 29 others wounded, Pavlo Kyrylenko, head of the Donetsk regional military administration, said in a Facebook update.
A number of high-rise buildings and offices were also damaged or destroyed, he said.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy earlier said that one person had died in the shelling in Sloviansk.
Updated
Andriy Yermak, the head of the Ukraine presidency’s office, has tweeted about the meeting with the Unicef goodwill ambassador and British actor, Orlando Bloom.
Discussed with the British theater and film actor, @UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Orlando Bloom, assistance in the return of illegally deported 🇺🇦 children from RF. pic.twitter.com/0VY78wftq5
— Andriy Yermak (@AndriyYermak) March 27, 2023
The @UNICEF team led by Head of the Fund's Mission to Ukraine Murat Shahin also took part in the meeting.
— Andriy Yermak (@AndriyYermak) March 27, 2023
Noted Orlando Bloom's important mission as a @UNICEF ambassador to help children. Thanked for his support 🇺🇦. pic.twitter.com/T4p5VBAtN2
Updated
A Russian diplomat has said Moscow may seek compensation for the damage to the Nord Stream gas pipelines caused by two explosions last September, according to state media.
The pipelines are multibillion-dollar infrastructure projects designed to carry Russian gas to Germany under the Baltic Sea. They were ruptured by unexplained blasts that Moscow has – without providing evidence – accused the west of being responsible for. The US and Nato have called the incident “an act of sabotage”.
Dmitry Birichevsky, head of the Russian foreign ministry’s department for economic cooperation, told state-owned Ria Novosti news agency:
We do not rule out later raising the issue of compensation for damage as a result of the explosion.
He did not say who Russia would seek damages from, but added:
At the moment, it’s very difficult to speak about the future of the Nord Stream pipeline system. On the whole, according to experts, the damaged lines could be restored.
The Kremlin has said it is for all shareholders to decide whether the two pipelines should be mothballed. Russia would establish who was behind the blasts before claiming any compensation, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said today.
Peskov said:
For now, the data indicates that such a large-scale act of sabotage and a terrorist attack against critical infrastructure could not have been carried out without the participation of the state and special state services.
Updated
Here are some of the latest images we have received from the news wires from the frontline near the besieged city of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine.
Updated
Summary of the day …
Ukraine’s ground forces commander said on Monday his troops were continuing to repel heavy Russian attacks on the eastern city of Bakhmut and that defending it was a “military necessity”. Ukraine’s military said Col Gen Oleksandr Syrskyi had acted during a visit to the eastern frontline to solve “problematic issues that prevent effective execution of combat tasks” and taken “operational decisions aimed at strengthening our capabilities to deter and inflict damage on the enemy”. It gave no details, and did not say when the visit took place, but Syrskyi’s comments signalled again Ukraine’s intention to keep fighting in Bakhmut despite the heavy death toll there.
Ukraine has accused Russia of destabilising Belarus and making its smaller neighbour into “a nuclear hostage”, after Vladimir Putin’s announcement that Moscow has made a deal to station tactical nuclear weapons in Belarusian territory. The country’s opposition leader in exile, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, said the move “grossly contradicts the will of the Belarusian people” and reflected the further subjugation of Belarus under Russian control.
Volodymyr Zelenskiy has posted to his official Telegram about the death of at least one person in an attack on Slovyansk. Ukraine’s president wrote: “Another day that began with terrorism by the Russian Federation. The aggressor state shelled our Slovyansk. Unfortunately, there is a dead person and victims of various degrees of severity. All services are working on the ground. Help is being provided.”
Russian forces launched two missile strikes, 23 airstrikes and 38 attacks from rocket salvo systems against Ukrainian troops and infrastructure in populated areas, according to the latest update from the general staff of the armed forces of Ukraine.
The secretary of Russia’s security council, Nikolai Patrushev, has said Nato countries are party to the conflict in Ukraine, according to excerpts from an interview with the Russian government newspaper Rossiyskaya Gazeta on Monday.
Russian state-owned news agency Tass is carrying reports that an attempt was made this morning to assassinate the police chief in occupied Mariupol. It quotes a Russian-installed official in the occupied territory saying: “In the morning they blew up the car of police chief Mikhail Moskvin. He is alive, everything is in order.”
RIA reported that Ukrainian forces shelled the Kalininsky district in the occupied city of Donetsk. “There are victims,” it said, without specifying further.
There have also been explosions reported in occupied Melitopol, which Vladimir Rogov, a local Russian-installed leader, ascribed to the work of air defence.
Poland has detained a foreign citizen on charges of spying for Russia, prosecutors said on Monday.
Russian and Belarusian athletes should be banned from the 2024 Olympics in Paris unless Moscow pulls its forces out of Ukraine, Poland said on Monday.
Belarus is accusing Poland of heightening tensions between itself and the EU by deliberately slowing the movement of trucks and cars at its border. Belarus says Poland is failing to implement bilateral agreements.
That is it from me, Martin Belam, for now. I will be back later. Léonie Chao-Fong will be here shortly to take you through the next few hours of our live coverage.
Updated
Russian and Belarusian athletes should be banned from the 2024 Olympics in Paris unless Moscow pulls its forces out of Ukraine, Poland said on Monday, after the International Olympic Committee (IOC) said it planned to let them compete as neutrals.
“We strongly believe that now is not the time to consider the opening up of a pathway for Russian and Belarusian athletes to return to the Olympic Games in any status,” Reuters reports the Polish foreign ministry said in a statement.
Updated
Russian state-owned news agency Tass is carrying reports that an attempt was made this morning to assassinate the police chief in occupied Mariupol.
It quotes a Russian-installed official in the occupied territory as saying: “In the morning they blew up the car of police chief Mikhail Moskvin. He is alive, everything is in order.”
The source informed Tass that the car exploded a few metres away from the police chief.
There have also been explosions reported in occupied Melitopol, which Vladimir Rogov, a local Russian-installed leader, ascribed to the work of air defence.
The claims have not been independently verified.
Updated
Poland has detained a foreign citizen on charges of spying for Russia, prosecutors said on Monday.
Reuters reports prosecutors in the northern Polish city of Gdansk said in a statement that the suspect was detained on 21 March.
“The findings made in the case show that the suspect acted for the benefit of Russian intelligence by obtaining and collecting information … on critical infrastructure in the Pomeranian and Kuyavian-Pomeranian regions, and on the activities of services and bodies responsible for security,” they said.
“The information obtained was passed on to the Russian intelligence service,” the statement added.
The arrest comes after Poland dismantled a Russian espionage network that had been preparing acts of sabotage and monitoring rail routes to Ukraine. If found guilty, the suspect could face up to 10 years in prison.
Updated
The state-owned Russian news agency RIA reports on Telegram that Ukrainian forces have shelled the Kalininsky district in the occupied city of Donetsk. “There are victims,” it reports, without specifying further. A video clip appears to show smoke rising over the city.
The claims have not been independently verified.
Volodymyr Zelenskiy has posted to his official Telegram about the death of at least one person in an attack on Slovyansk. Ukraine’s president wrote:
Another day that began with terrorism by the Russian Federation. The aggressor state shelled our Slovyansk. Unfortunately, there is a dead person and victims of various degrees of severity. All services are working on the ground. Help is being provided. Debris clearance is ongoing.
The enemy must know: Ukraine will not forgive the torturing of our people, will not forgive these deaths and wounds. All Russian terrorists will be defeated. Everyone involved in this aggression will be held to account.
The message was accompanied by a short video clip that showed vehicles on fire and debris strewn across the road.
The claims have not been independently verified.
Updated
Belarus is accusing Poland of heightening tensions between the country and the EU by deliberately slowing the movement of trucks and cars at its border. Belarus says Poland is failing to implement bilateral agreements.
“Since Friday, a queue in front of the only accessible border crossing point on the Belarusian-Polish border, Kozłowiczy, has doubled in size and now totals 1,000 cars,” Reuters reports the country’s border committee said.
Updated
Ukraine’s ground forces commander: 'military necessity' to retain control of Bakhmut
Ukraine’s ground forces commander said on Monday his troops were continuing to repel heavy Russian attacks on the eastern city of Bakhmut and that defending it was a “military necessity”.
Reuters reports Ukraine’s military said Col Gen Oleksandr Syrskyi had acted during a visit to the eastern frontline to solve “problematic issues that prevent effective execution of combat tasks” and taken “operational decisions aimed at strengthening our capabilities to deter and inflict damage on the enemy”.
It gave no details, and did not say when the visit took place, but Syrskyi’s comments signalled Ukraine’s intention to keep fighting in Bakhmut despite the heavy death toll there.
“The most intense phase of the battle for Bakhmut continues. The situation is constantly difficult. The enemy suffers significant losses in human resources, weapons and military equipment but continues to conduct offensive actions,” he said.
Praising Ukrainian forces’ resilience in “extremely difficult conditions”, he said: “The defence of Bakhmut is due to military necessity … We are calculating all possible options for the development of events, and will react adequately to the current situation”.
Updated
The secretary of Russia’s Security Council, Nikolai Patrushev, has said Nato countries are party to the conflict in Ukraine, according to excerpts from an interview with the Russian government newspaper Rossiyskaya Gazeta on Monday.
Reuters reports Rossiyskaya Gazeta quoted Patrushev as saying: “In fact, Nato countries are a party to the conflict. They made Ukraine one big military camp. They send weapons and ammunition to the Ukrainian troops, provide them with intelligence”.
Updated
The deputy foreign ministers of Russia, Turkey, Iran and Syria may hold consultations in Moscow in early April, Reuters reports, citing RIA.
Suspilne, Ukraine’s state broadcaster, reports that yesterday Russian forces shelled the Zaporizhzhia region 14 times.
Zaporizhzhia is one of the partially occupied regions of Ukraine that the Russian Federation claims to have annexed as its own territory.
Updated
Russian forces launched two missile strikes, 23 airstrikes and 38 attacks from rock salvo systems against Ukrainian troops and infrastructure in popular areas, according to the latest update from the general staff of the armed forces of Ukraine.
In its latest update, it claimed Russian forces are focusing their main efforts on conducting offensive actions in the Kupyansk, Lymansk, Bakhmutsk, Avdiivsk and Marinsk directions, with Ukrainian soldiers claiming to have repelled more than 60 enemy attacks.
The Ukrainian air force made three strikes on Russian troops. Ukrainian missile and artillery units also claimed attacks on a command post, four Russian troop concentrations, weapons and military equipment, a radio-electronic ware station and an ammunition depot.
The claims have not been independently verified.
Updated
Unicef goodwill ambassador and British actor Orlando Bloom has met President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to promote the organisation’s humanitarian work in Ukraine.
During the meeting, Bloom said he was “impressed” by the courage and resilience of Ukrainians and Zelenskiy welcomed the work of Unicef, saying the safety of children and their development remain a priority of his government.
Bloom also visited Irpin and the village of Demydiv during his tour.
Unicef is working to develop a statement to care for children whose parents have been killed in the war and infrastructure for early childhood development, youth projects and start-ups.
Updated
Russia plans to complete coastal infrastructure needed to host nuclear submarines in the Pacific Ocean, Tass news agency reported on Monday.
The nuclear submarines will be capable of carrying the Poseidon nuclear-capable super torpedos first produced in January, four years after they were announced.
There are few confirmed details about the Poseidon in the public domain, but it is essentially a cross between a torpedo and a drone which can be launched from a nuclear submarine.
The torpedoes are being developed for deployment on the Belgorod and Khabarovsk nuclear submarines, Tass reported.
Russia Pacific Fleet’s ballistic nuclear missile submarine base is located on the south-eastern coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula, in the Russian far east.
The Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Okhotsk make up the Kamchatka Peninsula’s eastern and western coastlines.
The Tass state agency reported that a new division is being formed as part of the submarine forces of the Pacific Fleet, which will include not only Belgorod and Khabarovsk but also other submarines.
The new special-purpose submarines will participate in solving the tasks “of strategic deterrence”.
Reuters
Updated
With the cost of reconstruction in Ukraine projected by the World Bank to be $411bn, economist Adam Tooze has examined the changes to the Ukrainian economy that have been forced on it over the course of the invasion.
To secure ongoing support from international institutions like the International Monetary Fund, Tooze notes the Ukrainian government has committed to deep and widespread reforms that would cut labor protections and introduce austerity measures across the economy.
Quoting other sources, Tooze writes that Ukraine has “outsourced” most functions of its government beyond what is needed to carry out the military defence of the country - and that this “nightmarish” decision will have consequences for civil society over the long run.
A policy of dramatic fiscal austerity that comes at the expense of the fabric of Ukrainian society and the state will have huge long-run costs. The EU, the United States and other outside supporters can soften this dilemma best a. by providing more generous funding and b. by urging Kyiv towards a strategy of civilian as well as military state-building, not by replacing domestic national institutions with international agencies, but by promoting the mobilization of local institutions and agencies.
The U.N. nuclear watchdog head will not travel to Russia this week, but a visit is possible in the near future, Russian news agency RIA reported early on Monday, citing Moscow’s permanent representative to international organisations in Vienna.
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi announced on Saturday that he would visit the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine this week to assess the serious situation there.
When asked if Russia planned to invite Grossi to Moscow in the near future, permanent representative Mikhail Ulyanov said that was “quite realistic”, according to RIA.
Not next week, but somewhat later, the visit of Rafael Grossi to Russia may well take place.
Grossi is pressing for a security zone to be erected around Zaporizhzhia, Europe’s largest nuclear power plant with six reactors, which has come under repeated shelling during the 13-month war Russia has been waging against its neighbour.
- Reuters
The ISW also said the continuing of offences around Bakhmut and Avdiivka have become “not merely pointless, but actually harmful to Russian preparations for the next phase of this week”.
It said the loss of manpower and equipment means Russian forces will not gain any operational advantage from taking either Bakhmut and Avdiivka as they will be “unable to exploit such advances”.
Putin’s continuation of these Russian offensive operations in the current operational and strategic context amounts to strategic malfeasance. It expends scarce Russian combat power in pursuit of operationally meaningless gains rather than setting conditions to receive and defeat a Ukrainian counter-offensive that everyone appears to expect imminently.
However, the ISW said Putin’s “stubbornness” could make sense “in a protracted conflict during which western support for Ukraine wanes or ends”.
Putin might even mean these operations to set conditions for a negotiated settlement on terms he has already articulated that include international recognition of Russia’s annexation of all of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhia, and Kherson oblasts; Ukrainian “neutrality”; the “de-militarization” of Ukraine; and the “de-Nazification” of the Ukrainian government.
The ISW said “multiple major Ukrainian operational-level victories” would be necessary to create “any prospect of a negotiated settlement of the current conflict or forcing Putin to accept unfavorable militaries realities, absent a formal settlement”.
Updated
The Institute for the Study of War says even a successful series of Ukrainian counteracts may not be enough to force Russian President Vladimir Putin to negotiate an end to the conflict.
In an abbreviated update, the ISW says Putin remains committed to carrying out the military campaign in an effort to “seek complete victory in Ukraine”.
Putin instead remains focused on achieving his initial war aims through protracted conflict in which he wins either by imposing his will on Ukraine by force or by breaking Ukraine’s will following the West’s abandonment of Kyiv.
It said “multiple successful Ukrainian counteroffensives are almost certainly necessary but not sufficient” to persuade Putin to enter into a negotiation for the end of the war. Instead the Russian President appears to be “doubling down” on the war by continuing to mobilising his country’s industrial base and relying on various shadow-mobilisation schemes to generate the necessary combat power.
The continuing of #Russian offensive operations around #Bakhmut and #Avdiivka, as well as along the #Luhansk and western #Donetsk front lines, is a further indicator that #Putin remains committed to victory in a protracted war.https://t.co/Jr9W9OFNNQ https://t.co/n0VHjzd5Y7 pic.twitter.com/HTXb8TyKOj
— ISW (@TheStudyofWar) March 27, 2023
Ukraine has accused Russia of destabilising Belarus and making its smaller neighbour into “a nuclear hostage”, after Vladimir Putin’s announcement that Moscow has made a deal to station tactical nuclear weapons on Belarusian territory.
The country’s opposition leader in exile, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, said the move “grossly contradicts the will of the Belarusian people” and reflected the further subjugation of Belarus under Russian control.
The Russian president’s suggestions that the move would not breach non-proliferation agreements and that it was consistent with similar arrangements that the US has with several of its European allies was given short shrift in Kyiv.
Oleksiy Danilov, the head of Ukraine’s national security and defence council, called the deal “a step towards internal destabilisation” of Belarus, and said it maximised what he termed the level of “negative perception and public rejection” of Russia and Putin in Belarusian society.
“The Kremlin took Belarus as a nuclear hostage,” he wrote on Twitter.
For more on this story, read the full report by Dan Sabbagh, Sam Jones and Julian Borger.
Nato says Vladimir Putin’s plan to station tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus is “dangerous and irresponsible” and a threat to Russia’s nuclear non-proliferation commitments.
Putin likened his Belarus plan on Saturday to the US stationing its weapons in Europe, insisting Russia would not violate its nuclear non-proliferation promises.
The move, while not unexpected, is one of Russia’s most pronounced nuclear signals yet and a warning to Nato over its military support for Ukraine.
Nato spokesperson Oana Lungescu said on Sunday: “Russia’s nuclear rhetoric is dangerous and irresponsible”.
Nato is vigilant and we are closely monitoring the situation. We have not seen any changes in Russia’s nuclear posture that would lead us to adjust our own.”
Putin’s non-proliferation pledge and his description of US weapons deployment overseas were way off the mark, she added.
Russia’s reference to Nato’s nuclear sharing is totally misleading. Nato allies act with full respect of their international commitments. Russia has consistently broken its arms control commitments.
Experts said Russia’s move was significant since it had until now been proud that unlike the US, it did not deploy nuclear weapons outside its borders. It may be the first time since the mid-1990s that it has done so.
Reuters
Updated
Opening Summary
Hello and welcome back to our live coverage of Russia’s war in Ukraine – this is Royce Kurmelovs bringing you the latest developments.
Nato has criticised Russia for its “dangerous and irresponsible” nuclear rhetoric after Vladimir Putin said Russia would station tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus. Ukraine has reacted to Russia’s plans by calling for an emergency meeting of the UN security council. The head of Ukraine’s national security and defence council has said that the Kremlin has taken Belarus as a “nuclear hostage”. More on that shortly.
Elsewhere, president Volodymyr Zelenskiy has urged Ukrainians to remain engaged in the war, even though fighting has largely been concentrated in the east. Over the last 24 hours, Zelenskiy has met with security services, intelligence and defence to discuss reinforcement and “prepare respective steps”. He also said Ukraine has received €1.5bn in macro-financial assistance from the European Union.
Meanwhile heavy Russian shelling is turning the Ukrainian town of Avdiivka into a “place from post-apocalyptic movies”, according to the city’s military administration head, Vitaliy Barabash. Reuters reported about 2,000 civilians were left in the city that Ukrainian forces said last week could become a “second Bakhmut”. The city’s prewar population numbered 30,000.
In other developments:
The UN Nuclear watching head will not visit Russia this week, but another visit is possible in the future. International Atomic Energy Agency Director announced on Sunday he would visit the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant in occupied-Ukraine, but said a visit to Russia was being planned for “somewhat later”.
Zelenskiy said the Croatian government had adopted a programme to treat wounded Ukrainian soldiers.
The number of Russian troops in Belarus has decreased to about 4,000, according to Ukraine. Andriy Demchenko, spokesperson for the State Border Guard Service, said there had been 10,000 in January. The majority of those remaining were training, with the rest transferred back to Russia.
Josep Borrell, the EU foreign policy chief, has cautioned Belarus against hosting Russian nuclear weapons. “Belarus hosting Russian nuclear weapons would mean an irresponsible escalation and threat to European security. Belarus can still stop it, it is their choice. The EU stands ready to respond with further sanctions.”
The US national security council spokesperson, John Kirby, said on Sunday: “We have not seen any indication that he [Putin] has made good on this pledge or moved any nuclear weapons around.”
Three people were reported injured and three residential buildings were damaged after an explosion in the town of Kireyevsk in Russia’s Tula region. Local law enforcement attributed the blast to a Ukrainian Tu-141 Strizh UAV drone “packed with explosives”. None of the people hurt in the blast were believed to have suffered life-threatening injuries, Reuters reported, citing Russian news agencies.
Russia and China are not creating a military alliance, Putin has said in a televised interview broadcast. Putin said the two countries’ military cooperation was transparent, news agencies reported.
