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Kyiv’s forces shoot down 26 drones overnight as Russian president says suggestion of attacks on nearby Nato states is ‘drivel’Russian president Vladimir Putin’s foreign intelligence chief paid a visit to North Korea this week to deepen bilateral cooperation between Moscow and Pyongyang and discuss broader regional security, Russia’s spy service said on Thursday according to Reuters.Sergei Naryshkin, the head the SVR, Russia’s foreign intelligence...

Head of Ukrainian air force says they were able to shoot down 10 out of 13 drones launched overnight by Moscow’s forcesKyrgyzstan’s foreign ministry has urged citizens of the central Asian nation to put off unnecessary travel to Russia following the Crocus City Hall terror attack, Reuters reports.The massacre has increased existing anti-immigrant sentiment in Russia, especially towards migrant labourers from the predominantly Muslim...

Landing ship ‘not combat-capable’ say Ukraine’s navy as investigations continue into the Moscow terror attackA Moscow court has extended the pre-trial detention of the Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich to 30 June.His detention had already been extended several times but no date has been set for his trial. Continue reading...

Footage of four gunmen appears to support Islamic State’s claim that it masterminded the worst terrorist attack in Russia in two decades. But the Kremlin has put Ukraine in the frame. Andrew Roth reportsThe attack on Crocus concert hall near Moscow was the worst act of terrorism carried out in Russia in more than 20 years. More than 130 people were killed after gunmen...

Islamic State released footage of Friday’s deadly attack, even as Russia sought to blame Ukraine, which Kyiv deniesAFP journalists have reported hearing several explosions in the centre of the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, as officials urged residents there to take shelter.The explosions sounded at about 10:30am (0830 GMT) after almost a dozen people were injured in a Russian drone strike on southern Ukraine overnight and...

Footage of gunmen reinforces Islamic State’s claim to have masterminded worst terror attack on Russia in two decadesFour suspects have appeared in court in Moscow charged over the terrorist attack on the Crocus City concert hall on Friday that left 137 people dead.The men were officially identified as citizens of Tajikistan, the Tass state news agency said, and were remanded in custody for two...

No risk of dam breach, Ukraine’s state hydropower company says, after Russian on dam in ZaporizhzhiaRussia regards itself to be in a state of war due to the West’s intervention on Ukraine’s side, the TASS news agency quoted Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying, Reuters reported.The EU is set to impose a tariff of up to 50% on Russia grain imports amid fears that...

Ukraine could receive the first €1bn of interest on the sequestered assets by early JulyEU leaders have agreed in principle to commandeer a large majority of the profits generated from frozen Russian assets and give them to Ukraine.The proposal could generate €3bn (£2.6bn) this year and the first billion could be released to Ukraine by July, the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen,...

Prime ministers to examine plans to confiscate billions of euros in interest from frozen Russian assets and send the money to KyivEU leaders are to meet in Brussels to discuss ways to radically increase military and financial support for Ukraine amid calls for member states to put their economies “on a war footing”.Fuelled by what one diplomat said was a new “sense of urgency...

Ukraine’s commander-in-chief says drones could give country ‘qualitative advantage’; Putin to travel to China in May, sources sayMoldova expelled a Russian diplomat over the opening of polling stations for Russia’s presidential election in its breakaway region of Transnistria, the foreign ministry said after summoning the Russian ambassador on Tuesday.The ministry protested over the opening of the polling stations in Transnistria, a pro-Russian enclave that...

German foreign ministry says ‘Putin’s rule is authoritarian’ while UK foreign secretary says ‘this is not what free and fair elections look like’Here is a video of Vladimir Putin’s election victory speech, in which he vowed to prioritise what he called Russia’s “special military operation” in Ukraine.Vladimir Putin faced no meaningful contest after the authorities barred two candidates who had voiced their opposition to...

Critics of Vladimir Putin call for protests at polling stations on Sunday, in a presidential election he is guaranteed to winRussia responds to Macron’s ceasefire request with weapons demandRussia’s response to Emmanuel Macron’s request for a ceasefire in Ukraine during the Olympic games has been to ask France to stop supplying weapons to the country. Continue reading...

Defence secretary warned by British intelligence that Kremlin was aware of his travel plansGrant Shapps was forced to abandon a trip to Ukraine’s southern city of Odesa because of a Russian missile threat.The defence secretary aborted the visit after he was warned by British intelligence that the Russians had become aware of his travel plans. Continue reading...

More than 75 injured in Black Sea city during deadliest attack on Ukrainian civilian area in weeksUkraine war – live updatesA Russian ballistic missile attack has killed at least 20 people and injured more than 75 in the Black Sea city of Odesa, Ukrainian officials have said.President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Russia would receive a “fair response” from Ukrainian forces for what he said was...

Three days of voting begin in Russia and occupied regions of Ukraine amid claims Russia repelled attempt to land Ukrainian troops in BelgorodSergei Naryshkin, chief of Russia’s foreign intelligence service, said on Friday that French president Emmanuel Macron’s remarks about the possibility of sending soldiers from Nato countries to Ukraine were “crazy and paranoid dreams”, Reuters reportsSuspilne, Ukraine's state broadcaster, is reporting an explosion...

Members of the Siberia, Freedom of Russia Legion and RDK battalions work closely with the Ukrainian armyThree pro-Ukrainian battalions made up of recruits from Russia have launched a fresh incursion into southern Russia in a cross-border raid meant to sow chaos before Vladimir Putin’s widely expected re-election this weekend.The three armed groups of Russian exiled fighters, who operate in close coordination with Ukraine’s military,...

Ten years on from Russia’s annexation, with all-out war making its dominance vulnerable, authorities are increasing a crackdown on pro-Ukrainian voices – while others simply want to live their lives“Ten years of the Crimean spring,” say billboards around the Crimean peninsula. “It all started with us.”The Russian presidential election, to be held over three days at the end of this week, coincides with the...

Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova says war could expand geographically. This live blog is closedLeonid Volkov told Reuters hours before an assailant attacked him with a hammer and tear gas outside his home in Lithuania that he and other exiles feared for their lives.Volkov, the top aide to Alexei Navalny, said leaders of the late Russian opposition leader’s organisation knew they were facing...

Ukraine president issues response after comments from pope as foreign minister says only flag country will raise is ‘yellow and blue’A cryptocurrency firm transferred digital assets worth more than $4.2m to a crypto wallet belonging to a member of an alleged Russian arms-dealing network who was later hit with US sanctions, it can be revealed.Details of the transactions involving Copper Technologies raise questions about...

Analysis shows link between Copper Technologies and Jonatan Zimenkov, who was later hit with US sanctions over Ukraine invasionA cryptocurrency firm transferred digital assets worth more than $4.2m to a crypto wallet belonging to a member of an alleged Russian arms-dealing network who was later hit with US sanctions, it can be revealed.Details of the transactions involving Copper Technologies raise questions about whether UK...

As Russians prepare to give the president another six-year term this week, an ex-rival has gone from protest candidate to grotesque war hawkTwo election cycles ago, in 2012, Sergei Mironov was loudly playing the role of opposition to Russia’s ruling party, wearing the white ribbon of the protest movement in the State Duma and claiming his run against Vladimir Putin was “serious”.If made president,...

Former PM apparently met autocratic leader Nicolás Maduro over concerns he may supply weapons to RussiaBoris Johnson flew to Venezuela in February for unofficial talks with its autocratic leader, Nicolás Maduro, according to reports.The former prime minister spoke to the Venezuelan president about the war in Ukraine, amid concerns that the socialist republic could supply weapons or military support to Russia, according to the...

Overnight Russian artillery and mortar attacks kill two women and a man in the Kharkiv region; Andiy Yermak meets Chinese representatives Volodymyr Zelenskiy, the Ukrainian president, is expected to visit Turkey today for talks with the country’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.A Turkish diplomatic source told Reuters that Turkey is expected to underscore its continued support for Ukraine’s territorial integrity and “it is planned to...

Drone team has bombed tanks, armoured fighting vehicles and ammunition dumps but still Russians are on the moveAt night, Sasha and his drone team go in search of the enemy. They set off in a dirt-covered vehicle towards the eastern Ukrainian city of Mariinka, occupied by Russia since December. They unload a large drone. And then they fly it in darkness across the frontline,...