US President Joe Biden on Thursday authorised another $800 million in military aid for Ukraine, citing a "critical window" in the conflict as Russia conducts a major offensive in eastern Ukraine. The new military package will include heavy artillery, 144,000 rounds of ammunition and tactical drones, Biden said. Follow the day's events as they unfolded on our liveblog. All times are Paris time (GMT+2).
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4:59am: Ukraine says Russia planning sham independence vote in occupied regions
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has accused Russia of planning to “falsify” an independence referendum in the partly occupied southern regions of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia.
In a video message Thursday evening, Zelensky urged residents of areas under occupation to not provide any personal information, like their passport numbers, to the Russian forces.
“This is not to help you... This is aimed to falsify the so-called referendum on your land, if an order comes from Moscow to stage such a show,” the Ukrainian leader said. “This is the reality. Be careful.”
Kyiv in early March accused Moscow of planning a referendum in Kherson similar to a 2014 Crimea poll, in which an overwhelming number of residents voted to join the Russian federation.
That vote, which took place after a Russian takeover of the region, was condemned as illegal by Ukraine’s government and the West.
The eastern pro-Russian territories of Donetsk and Lugansk also declared independence in the wake of referendums denounced as illegitimate by the international community.
“Any ‘Kherson People’s Republics’ are not going to fly,” Zelensky warned. “If someone wants a new annexation, it can only lead to new powerful sanctions strikes on Russia.”
Kherson was the first major city to fall to Russian forces after their February 24 invasion of Ukraine.
To the north, the Russian army also controls a vast area surrounding the city of Zaporizhzhia, which remains in Ukrainian hands.
1:37am: Fate of Mariupol’s trapped residents is in Putin’s hands, says mayor
Russian President Vladimir Putin alone can decide the fate of the 100,000 civilians still trapped in Ukraine’s war-torn Mariupol, Mayor Vadym Boichenko told Reuters on Thursday, saying that satellite images of a mass grave site were proof Russians were burying bodies to try to hide the death toll.
Earlier Putin claimed victory in the battle for Mariupol after nearly two months of siege that has led to the most intense battles of the war and its worst humanitarian catastrophe. Under heavy bombardment, citizens who did not flee have suffered without electricity, heating or water.
“It’s important to understand that the lives that are still there, they are in the hands of just one person – Vladimir Putin. And all the deaths that will happen after now will be on his hands too,” Boichenko said in an interview.
Putin on Thursday said Russian troops had “liberated” Mariupol, which would make it the biggest city to fall into Russian hands since the start of what Moscow calls a “special military operation.” Russia denies targeting civilians.
“There were no plans to liberate the city. It was a plan of destruction,” Boichenko said. He estimated that 90 percent of the southeastern port city had been damaged or destroyed since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24.
1:02am: OAS suspends Russia as permanent observer
The Organization of American States on Thursday suspended Russia as a permanent observer until it “ends its hostilities” and withdraws troops from Ukraine.
The regional bloc’s executive body, the Permanent Council, adopted the resolution with 25 votes in favor out of 34 active members. No votes were cast against the measure, while there were eight abstentions.
The resolution stated that the OAS was “immediately” suspending Russia until its “government ends its hostilities, withdraws all of its military forces and equipment from Ukraine’s internationally recognized borders and returns to the path of dialogue and diplomacy.”
If Moscow meets these criteria, it could be reinstated, according to the resolution.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said “the United States welcomes the adoption” of the resolution, adding that the “OAS action today sends a clear message to the Kremlin”.
April 22, 12:03am: Canada would support Sweden and Finland joining NATO, Trudeau says
Canada would support including Sweden and Finland in the NATO military alliance, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Thursday, after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has prompted both countries to consider joining.
“Conversations are being had around Sweden and Finland looking to join NATO, and Canada, of course, is very supportive of that,” Trudeau told reporters when asked if he backed the two countries joining the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
11:51pm: Ukrainian troops begin training in Britain as Johnson steps up support
A small number of Ukrainian troops are being trained in Britain for the first time since the start of the Russian invasion as Prime Minister Boris Johnson steps up his military support to help Ukraine fight off its neighbour.
The troops began training with armoured patrol vehicles donated by Britain this month, Johnson’s spokesman said. The spokesman said Britain, in conjunction with its allies, was providing new types of equipment to Ukrainian soldiers that they may not have used before.
“It is only sensible that they get requisite training to make best use of it,” the spokesman said. “We are always conscious of anything perceived to be escalatory but clearly what is escalatory is the actions of (Vladimir) Putin’s regime.”
Johnson, under pressure over parties at his Downing Street residence during the coronavirus lockdown restrictions, has been at the forefront of efforts to supply Ukraine with military equipment since the start of the war.
11:42pm: Ukraine's Zelensky says Russia has rejected proposal for an Easter truce
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday said Russia had rejected a proposal for a truce over the Orthodox Christian Easter period this weekend but added he still harbored hopes for peace.
Zelensky made the remarks in his nightly video address. The Orthodox Easter service starts late on Saturday into Sunday morning.
10:55pm: Putin says Mariupol ‘liberated’, US calls it ‘disinformation’
President Vladimir Putin claimed victory in the biggest battle of the war in Ukraine on Thursday, declaring the port city of Mariupol "liberated" after nearly two months of siege. The US State Department however called Putin's claim to have “liberated” the port city "yet more disinformation from their well-worn playbook". FRANCE 24’s Gulliver Cragg reports from Kyiv on the claims and counterclaims.
10:10pm: US says Ukrainian forces still hold ground in Mariupol
The US understands that Ukrainian forces still hold ground in Mariupol and President Putin's claim to have liberated the city is disinformation, the US State Department said on Thursday.
"We understand that Ukraine's forces continue to hold their ground and there is every reason to believe that President Putin and his defense minister's show for the media that we saw in recent hours is even yet more disinformation from their well-worn playbook," State Department spokesman Ned Price told a news briefing.
9:44pm: Russia captured 42 villages in Donetsk region: Ukrainian official
Russian forces captured 42 villages in the eastern Donetsk region on Thursday, but Ukraine might take them back, according to an aide to the chief of staff to President Zelensky.
"Today 42 villages were added to the list of those that have been occupied. This is at the expense of the Donetsk region," said Olena Symonenko on Ukrainian national television. "This happened today and might be that our forces will win them back tomorrow."
9:04pm: Ukraine needs $7 billion a month to recover economic losses: Zelensky
Ukraine needs $7 billion a month to function amid the devastating "economic losses" inflicted by Russia, said President Zelensky.
The figure is an increase from Kyiv's previous estimate of $5 billion in monthly needs.
In a virtual address to a World Bank forum, Zelensky said the global community needed to exclude Russia immediately from international financial institutions, and urged all countries immediately to break relations with Moscow.
Zelensky told the leaders of the IMF and World Bank that Russian forces in his country "are aimed at destroying all objects in Ukraine that can serve as an economic base for life. That includes railroad stations, food warehouses, oil refineries."
He also noted the Russian blockade of Black Sea ports has blocked Ukrainian exports, impacting world food safety.
7:46pm: UK sanctions Russian army chiefs, including 'Butcher of Bucha'
Britain has announced new sanctions targeting Russian army chiefs, condemned by the UK foreign minister as having Ukrainian blood on their hands.
The Foreign Office announced a swathe of sanctions against "generals committing atrocities on the front line, as well as individuals and businesses" supporting President Putin's military.
Those blacklisted include Lieutenant Colonel Azatbek Omurbekov, reportedly the head of a Russian military unit that has committed alleged war crimes in the town of Bucha, near Kyiv. He has been nicknamed "the Butcher of Bucha" by English-language media.
Foreign Secretary Liz Truss tweeted that the sanctions were on "those with Ukrainian blood on their hands".
Three Russian generals are also targeted, as well as defence ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov, according to an updated list on the government website.
The acting emergency situations minister Alexander Chupriyan has also been added to the list.
Organisations added to the blacklist include the Kalashnikov arms concern, famous for producing the AK-47. The UK said Russian troops have used its weapons in Ukraine.
5:22pm: Russia slaps travel ban on Kamala Harris, Facebook's Zuckerberg and other prominent Americans
Russia has expanded an entry ban on 29 US officials, businesspeople and journalists in retaliation for sanctions imposed over the Kremlin's military campaign in Ukraine.
The sanctions list, published by the Russian foreign ministry, includes US Vice President Kamala Harris, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, Deputy Defence Secretary Kathleen Hicks and Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby, among others.
"These individuals are denied entry into the Russian Federation," the foreign ministry said in a statement, which added the travel ban would remain in effect "in perpetuity".
4:41pm: Biden targets Russia, helps Ukraine with new measures
In his address from the White House, President Biden announced a series of measures to help Ukraine and target Russia amid what he called a “critical window” as Russia prepares for a next phase of war.
Here are some more details:
- Biden announced an additional $800 million in military aid for Ukraine, but he also warned that Congress will need to approve additional assistance. The new military assistance package includes heavy artillery, 144,000 rounds of ammunition, and drones for Ukrainian forces. It builds on roughly $2.6 billion in military assistance that Biden had previously approved for Ukraine.
- The US is banning Russian-affiliated ships from American ports, joining Canada and European nations, in the latest step to pressure Russia.
- A new refugee scheme, "Unite for Ukraine" will allow Ukrainians who have an American sponsor to stay for up to two years, but would not provide a path to citizenship. "It will be fast, it will streamlined," Biden said.
And here's the US president's full speech:
3:45pm: Ukrainian PM visits White House: US official
Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal visited the White House on Thursday before President Joe Biden was due to deliver remarks on the next tranche of US aid for Ukraine, according to a US official.
It was not clear if the Ukrainian prime minister was meeting with Biden or whether he would be present at the upcoming announcement.
The US will provide an additional $500 million in financial assistance to Ukraine to help it sustain salaries, pensions and other government programs, a Treasury official said Thursday.
The new funding comes on top of $500 million in economic aid that Biden unveiled in March.
3:35pm: Zelensky says 120,000 civilians blocked from leaving Mariupol
Around 120,000 civilians are blocked from leaving Mariupol, said Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Responding to remarks by Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu that its forces control most of Mariupol, Zelensky said that Russia controls most of the city, but Ukrainian troops remain in a part of it.
3:27pm: ‘There were tanks, and shooting, and people were scared’
Mariupol Mayor Vadym Boichenko provides details of the terrifying bid by around 200 people to flee the besieged port city this morning. The attempt failed due to the intense Russian bombardment.
3:21pm: Spanish, Danish leaders announce new military aid to Ukraine during visit
Spain has sent a new batch of 200 tonnes of ammunition and military supplies to Ukraine, more than doubling the quantity of military aid it has sent so far, said Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez during a visit to Kyiv.
Sanchez and his Danish counterpart Mette Frederiksen jointly met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv on Thursday.
Sanchez also said his country will ask the International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate alleged Russian war crimes in Ukraine and that it plans to send war crimes investigators there.
Danish Prime Minister Frederiksen said her country would give further military aid worth $90 million to Ukraine and support further sanctions against Russia.
Speaking at briefing in Kyiv, Frederiksen said Denmark's total military assistance amounted to around $146 million.
3:05pm: More than 7.7 million people displaced in Ukraine: IOM
More than 600,000 additional people were internally displaced in Ukraine in the first 17 days of April, according to an International Organization for Migration (IOM) report released Thursday.
The figure pushed the total number of people displaced since the start of the war to 7.7 million, or 17 percent of the population.
The new assessment conducted between April 11 and 17 showed that women represent at least 60 percent of those on the move. More than half of internally displaced persons, mainly in eastern Ukraine, reported a lack of some food products.
The UN estimates that more than 5 million people have fled Ukraine, mainly for neighbouring countries, since the February 24 start of the invasion.
2:46pm: Ukraine calls for 'urgent' evacuations from Mariupol steel plant
Ukraine's foreign ministry has called for a humanitarian corridor to be opened immediately to allow civilians and wounded fighters to be evacuated from the Azovstal plant in Mariupol holding out against Russian forces.
"Hundreds of civilians, children, injured Ukrainian defenders are trapped in plant's shelters. They have almost no food, water, essential medicine. An urgent humanitarian corridor is needed from the Azovstal plant with guarantees people will be safe," the Ukrainian foreign ministry said in a statement.
Mariupol Mayor Vadym Boichenko said around 200 people were waiting to evacuated from Mariupol this morning, but no buses had arrived as of mid-afternoon. A small convoy of buses managed to evacuate some people from the besieged port city on Wednesday, said Boichenko.
But around 100,000 people still remain in the city and evacuation prospects for Thursday evening were low, he added.
1:50pm: A further 51,000 Ukrainians flee war, UN says
A total of 5,085,360 Ukrainians have fled the country since Russia invaded on February 24, the UN refugee agency said Thursday. The figure marks an increase of 50,921 from Wednesday's data, UNHCR said.
Women and children account for 90 percent of those who fled abroad, with men aged 18 to 60 eligible for military call-up unable to leave.
The UN's International Organisation for Migration (IOM) said an additional 218,000 citizens of third-countries – largely students and migrant workers – have also escaped to neighbouring countries. Beyond the refugees, the IOM estimates 7.1 million people are displaced within Ukraine.
1:49pm: Stung by criticism, Germany says it is open to sending Ukraine heavy weapons
Germany is examining what extra maintenance and ammunition its stock of ageing Marder armoured infantry fighting vehicles will need for Ukraine to use them, Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said.
On the second day of a tour of Baltic states, Baerbock addressed criticism by allies and commentators of Germany's apparent foot-dragging on delivering the weaponry Kyiv says it needs to fend off Russian attacks.
"There are no taboos for us with regard to armoured vehicles and other weaponry that Ukraine needs," she told a news conference with her Estonian counterpart on Thursday.
12:10pm: More than 1,000 bodies in Kyiv morgues, Ukrainian official says
The bodies of more than 1,000 civilians are being stored in morgues in the Kyiv region after Russian troops withdrew from areas around the capital, a senior Ukrainian official told AFP Thursday.
"1,020 bodies (of) civilians, only civilians, in the areas of all the Kyiv region," were discovered, Olga Stefanishyna, Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of Ukraine, told AFP in Borodyanka.
"These are only civilians collected from buildings, but also on the streets," she said, specifying that the deaths date to the beginning of Russia's invasion of Ukraine in late February.
12:08pm: Russia closes Baltic consulates, expels employees
Russia has ordered the closure of the Latvian, Lithuanian and Estonian consulates and asked their employees to leave in a retaliatory move, Moscow's foreign ministry said on Thursday.
In a statement, Russia's foreign ministry said it was closing the Latvian consulates in St Petersburg and Pskov, the Estonian consulate in St Petersburg and its office in Pskov, and the Lithuanian consulate in St Petersburg.
Earlier in April, Latvia and Estonia each ordered the closure of two Russian consulates over Russia's actions in Ukraine, while Lithuania told the Russian ambassador to leave.
11:18am: Kharkiv is under intense bombardment, mayor says
Ukraine's second-largest city Kharkiv was under intense bombardment on Thursday, its mayor Ihor Terekhov said.
"Huge blasts, the Russian Federation is furiously bombing the city," Terekhov said in a televised address.
He said that around 1 million people remain in the northeastern city, while about 30 percent of the population have evacuated, mainly women, children and the elderly.
11:18am: Italy should cut off Russian gas 'soon', minister says
Italy is ethically obliged to stop buying Russian gas "soon" as the payments are funding the Ukraine war, the country's Ecological Transition Minister Roberto Cingolani said in an interview Thursday.
"I think that we will have to stop supplies of gas from Russia soon for ethical reasons," he told La Stampa newspaper.
The minister is currently on a two-day trip to Angola and Congo Republic seeking energy deals as Italy scrambles to reduce its dependency on Russia, which provides about 45 percent of Italian gas. "We are diversifying our sources with great speed," he said.
9:43am: Putin hails so-called 'liberation' of Mariupol
President Vladimir Putin on Thursday hailed Russia's "liberation" of Mariupol after Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu told him Moscow controlled the Ukrainian port city apart from the Azovstal steel plant.
"Block off this industrial area so that not even a fly can escape," Putin said in a televised meeting, adding it would be "impractical" to storm the huge industrial area, where more than 2,000 Ukrainian servicemen remain according to Shoigu.
9:42am: Putin cancels Russian plans to storm Mariupol steel plant, opts for blockade instead
President Vladimir Putin on Thursday ordered the Russian military to cancel plans to storm the Azovstal plant in the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol and said he wanted it to continue to be hermetically blockaded instead.
Putin gave the order to Sergei Shoigu, his defence minister, who had previously told Putin that more than 2,000 Ukrainian fighters were still holed up in the vast plant, which has a large underground component to it.
"I consider the proposed storming of the industrial zone unnecessary," Putin told Shoigu in a televised meeting at the Kremlin. "I order you to cancel it."
Putin said his decision not to storm the Azovstal plant was motivated by the desire to safeguard the lives of Russian soldiers.
9:40am: Troops defending battered Mariupol plead for outside help
Besieged Ukrainian troops defending Mariupol called desperately for outside help Wednesday, warning the strategic port could fall within hours as Russia demanded they surrender and the latest civilian evacuation bid failed.
Raising tensions, Russia meanwhile said it had tested a new nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic missile. The United States said it had been notified and the test was not deemed a threat.
In the latest ultimatum issued in its battle to capture Mariupol after a two-month siege, Moscow made another call for the city's defenders to surrender by 1100 GMT.
8:58am: Ukraine says nine bodies found outside Kyiv, some 'with signs of torture'
The bodies of nine civilians, some showing signs of torture, have been found in the town of Borodyanka outside the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, a senior police official said.
"These people were killed by the occupiers and some show signs of torture. I want to emphasise that these people were civilians. The Russian military knowingly shot civilians who did not put up any resistance," the head of the police in the Kyiv region said overnight Wednesday to Thursday.
8:57am: Spanish, Danish PMs visit Kyiv
The Spanish and Danish Prime Ministers Pedro Sanchez and Mette Frederiksen will visit the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv on Thursday to support the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, their respective offices said.
Sanchez already arrived in Kyiv, his office said in a statement. It was not immediately clear whether Denmark's Prime Minister Frederiksen had arrived yet.
The parties would discuss further support for the Ukrainians and the prosecution of "war crimes and human rights violations", the Danish Prime Ministry said in a statement.
8:56am: Forthcoming US aid will be 'more specific' to war's new phase
US President Joe Biden is expected to unveil an $800 million military assistance package for Ukraine on Thursday, noted FRANCE 24's Kethevane Gorjestani, "a package that will likely see more artillery; more weapons that are more specific to this new part of the war in Ukraine, this new offensive by the Russians in eastern Ukraine."
8:55am: 'Not much movement on the ground'
Russia's offensive in the east "seems to still be taking the form mainly of artillery barrages, strikes all along the frontline – particularly in the Donbas but not only in the Donbas, because the southern city of Mykolaiv for example is still being targeted," FRANCE 24's Gulliver Cragg reported from Kyiv.
"Some infrastructure belonging to the local state TV channel there was hit," Cragg continued. "But there's not been much movement on the ground. The Russian forces perhaps haven't really yet launched their full-scale ground offensive to take this territory. Or else, if they've tried to launch it, they haven't had much success."
8:52am: Ukraine says four buses carrying evacuees have left Mariupol
Four buses carrying evacuees from Mariupol have left the besieged and destroyed port city where Ukrainian forces are battling to retain control, the government said on Thursday.
"Four evacuation buses managed to leave the city yesterday through the humanitarian corridor," Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said on social media, adding that evacuations of women, children and the elderly would continue Thursday. "The security situation is difficult. Things may change," she added.
7:33am: UK's Johnson arrives in India for hard sell on anti-Russia action
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson arrived in India on Thursday touting job-creating investment but facing long odds to get his reluctant counterpart Narendra Modi to back Western action against Russia.
India has refused openly to condemn the Kremlin for its invasion of Ukraine, reliant as it is on Russian imports of energy, agricultural goods and military hardware.
Foreign Secretary Liz Truss came away from New Delhi empty-handed last month when she pressed the Indians to do more against Russia, and Modi has also given short shrift to appeals from US President Joe Biden.
Johnson's spokesman told reporters that Ukraine would feature in summit talks on Friday. He said the intention was not to "lecture" Modi but to "broaden the (Western) coalition".
7:32am: Russian forces advancing from staging areas in Donbas towards Kramatorsk, UK military says
Russian forces are advancing from staging areas in Donbas towards Kramatorsk, which continues to be hit by rocket attacks, a British military update said on Thursday.
High levels of Russian air activity continue as it seeks to provide close air support to its offensive in eastern Ukraine, and to suppress and destroy Ukrainian air defence capabilities, the British Ministry of Defence tweeted in a regular bulletin.
"Russia likely desires to demonstrate significant successes ahead of their annual 9th May Victory Day celebrations. This could affect how quickly and forcefully they attempt to conduct operations in the run-up to this date," the tweet added.
7:02am: Chechnya's Kadyrov says Russia will capture Mariupol on Thursday
A top ally of President Vladimir Putin said Russian forces will seize the last main stronghold of resistance in the besieged city of Mariupol on Thursday, after Ukraine proposed talks on evacuating troops and civilians there.
Mariupol would be the biggest city to be seized by Russia since it invaded Ukraine eight weeks ago in an attack that has taken longer than some military analysts expected, seen over five million people flee abroad and turned cities to rubble.
"Before lunchtime, or after lunch, Azovstal will be completely under the control of the forces of the Russian Federation," Ramzan Kadyrov, the head of Russia's north Caucasian republic of Chechnya, whose forces have been fighting in Ukraine, said of the steel plant.
7am: Biden to speak on Ukraine war amid expectation of new military aid
US President Joe Biden will deliver an update on the Russian invasion of Ukraine on Thursday as he works to complete a new arms package for its military.
Biden is to address Americans from the White House Roosevelt Room at 9.45 a.m. (1345 GMT) and a source familiar with the planning said he is "expected to provide an update on our efforts to support Ukraine and the assistance we are providing.”
The new arms package was likely to be roughly the same size as an $800 million one announced last week but details were still being worked out, another US official told Reuters earlier.
3:27am: Red Cross denies Kyiv’s accusation of working ‘in concert’ with Moscow
A senior Kyiv official on Wednesday accused the International Committee of the Red Cross of working “in concert” with Russia in Ukraine, a charge the organisation denied.
Ombudswoman Lyudmyla Denisova decried ICRC’s announcement last month that it was planning to open a branch in Russia’s southern Rostov region to help Ukrainian refugees, who, Kyiv says, have been forcibly deported to Russia.
“The International Red Cross is not fulfilling its mandate, I am certain of that,” Denisova said on Ukrainian television Wednesday after meeting with the head of the ICRC’s Ukrainian branch.
Citing data from the United Nations, Denisova said that some 550,000 Ukrainians, including 121,000 children, have been taken to Russia during the course of the war, but Kyiv has no information on who these people are and where they are being kept.
“Where are they? In filtration camps? In temporary facilities?” Denisova asked.
The official said she had asked both her Russian counterpart Tatyana Moskalkova and the ICRC for help in getting information on these refugees so that Ukraine could facilitate their return home, but had received “zero answer from her or from the Red Cross”.
Asked by the TV anchor whether Denisova suspected that the Red Cross was working “in concert” with Russia, Denisova replied: “Yes, I suspect they are.”
The ICRC strongly rejected Kyiv’s accusations.
“The ICRC does not ever help organize or carry out forced evacuations. We would not support any operation that would go against people’s will and international law,” the organisation said in a statement to AFP.
It added: “Building and maintaining a dialogue with parties to a conflict is essential to get access to all people affected and obtain necessary security guarantees for our teams to deliver life-saving aid.”
2:12am: G7 finance ministers pledge more than $24 billion to Ukraine
G7 finance ministers said they have provided and pledged together with international community additional support to Ukraine exceeding $24 billion for 2022 and beyond, adding that they were prepared to do more as needed.
In a statement, the ministers said they regretted Russia’s participation in international forums, including G20, International Monetary Fund and World Bank meetings this week.
“International organisations and multilateral fora should no longer conduct their activities with Russia in a business-as-usual manner,” the ministers said.
12:42am: US, allies warn of renewed cyberattack threat, citing ‘evolving intelligence’
Five allied countries including the United States warned Wednesday that “evolving intelligence” indicated Russia was poised to launch powerful cyberattacks against rivals supporting Ukraine.
The members of the “Five Eyes” intelligence sharing network – the US, Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand – said Moscow could also involve existing cybercrime groups in launching attacks on governments, institutions and businesses.
“Evolving intelligence indicates that the Russian government is exploring options for potential cyberattacks,” they said in an official cyber threat alert.
“Russia’s invasion of Ukraine could expose organizations both within and beyond the region to increased malicious cyber activity. This activity may occur as a response to the unprecedented economic costs imposed on Russia as well as materiel support provided by the United States and US allies and partners,” it said.
In addition, it said, “some cybercrime groups have recently publicly pledged support for the Russian government”.
“Some groups have also threatened to conduct cyber operations against countries and organizations providing material support to Ukraine,” it said.
(FRANCE 24 with AP, AFP and REUTERS)
