A decision on whether athletes competing for Russia and Belarus will be able to participate in the Paris 2024 Olympics will be taken “at the appropriate time”, said Olympic chief Thomas Bach on Tuesday, as he defended plans to get athletes from the two countries to join sports competitions as "neutral parties". Follow our blog to see how the day's events unfolded. All times are Paris time (GMT+2).
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03:06am: Kyiv urges Russians not to adopt Ukraine's 'stolen' children
Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk urged Russians on Tuesday not to adopt children who she said were "stolen" in Ukraine during the war and deported to Russia.
The war that Russia has been waging on its neighbour for 13 months now has seen millions of people displaced, including families and children. The real number of children who have been forcefully deported to Russia is impossible to establish.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant earlier in March against Russian President Vladimir Putin and Maria Lvova-Belova, Russia's commissioner for children's rights, accusing them of the war crime of illegally deporting hundreds of children from Ukraine.
02:02am: Russian embassy says US wants to play down involvement in Nord Stream blasts
The Russian embassy in the US said on Wednesday Washington is seeking to play down damaging information about the alleged involvement of its intelligence services in last year's blasts that damaged the Nord Stream gas pipelines.
Moscow failed on Monday to get the UN Security Council to ask for an independent inquiry into explosions in September that ruptured the Nord Stream pipelines connecting Russia and Germany and spewed gas into the Baltic Sea.
Russian officials reacted angrily and the Kremlin said on Tuesday it would keep demanding an international investigation.
12:53am: Biden calls Putin's nuclear deployment talk 'dangerous'
US President Joe Biden on Tuesday blasted Russian President Vladimir Putin's stated plan to deploy nuclear weapons in neighboring Belarus, branding it "dangerous" talk.
"This is dangerous kind of talk and it's worrisome," Biden told reporters at the White House.
The Kremlin leader announced on Saturday that he was ordering the deployment of Russian tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, run by fellow authoritarian leader Alexander Lukashenko as one of Russia's closest allies.
8:32pm: Ukraine welcomes IOC 'postponed' decision on Russian athletes
Kyiv on Tuesday welcomed the International Olympic Committee not giving a timeline on the potential participation of Russian athletes at next year's Paris Olympics.
"The decision on the admission of Russians and Belarusians to the Olympics in 2024 has been postponed," Ukraine's Sports Minister Vadym Gutzeit said on Facebook.
"We will also make joint efforts so that not a single Z-patriot gets into international sports arenas," he added in an apparent reference to pro-war Russians.
7:53pm: US backs special tribunal on Russia 'aggression' against Ukraine
The United States on Tuesday threw support behind a special international tribunal to try Russia for "aggression" against Ukraine, building momentum to prosecute the crime for the first time since the aftermath of World War II.
The European Union has already advocated for a special tribunal, which could bring fresh charges against President Vladimir Putin and would be the latest legal salvo after the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for him over alleged war crimes.
A State Department spokesperson said Tuesday that the United States would work with allies to set up a "special tribunal on the crime of aggression" over Russia's February 2022 invasion of its neighbour.
"We are committed to working with Ukraine and peace-loving countries around the world to stand up, staff and resource such a tribunal in a way that will achieve comprehensive accountability for the international crimes being committed in Ukraine," said Beth Van Schaack, the US ambassador-at-large for global criminal justice.
6:56pm: Russian Olympic head says IOC rules on participation 'unacceptable'
The head of Russia's Olympic Committee denounced as "unacceptable" criteria announced by the International Olympic Committtee (IOC) intended to enable Russian and Belarusian athletes to take part in international competitions.
Athletes from Russia and Belarus, Moscow's ally, were banned from competition following the Kremlin's invasion of Ukraine last year, but the rules announced at the IOC's Lausanne headquarters seek to allow a gradual return to world sport.
"The parameters as announced are absolutely unacceptable," Stanislav Pozdnyakov told a news conference, according to Russian news agencies.
5:22pm: IOC recommendation over Russian athletes a 'slap in the face' for Ukrainians, Gemany says
Berlin Tuesday criticised as a "slap in the face" for Ukrainian athletes a recommendation from Olympic chiefs that Russian and Belarusian athletes return to competition as individuals under a neutral flag with no links to the military.
Ukrainian athletes "deserve the solidarity of international sport," said German Sports Minister Nancy Faeser in a statement. "International sport must condemn Russia's brutal war of aggression in no uncertain terms. This can only be done with the complete exclusion of Russian and Belarusian athletes."
4:37pm: IOC to decide on Russian participation at Paris Olympics 'at appropriate time'
The International Olympic Committee has recommended the return to competition of Russian and Belarusian athletes as individuals under a neutral flag with no links to the military.
IOC President Thomas Bach said on Tuesday that the IOC had recommended to international federations and international sports event organisers that "athletes with a Russian or a Belarusian passport must compete only as Individual Neutral Athletes". He added that a decision on Russian and Belarusian participation at next year's Paris Olympics would be taken "at the appropriate time".
"We want to monitor the implemention of these recommendations as long as possible... to be enabled to take an informed decision," Bach said after an executive board meeting of the International Olympic Committee (IOC). The board, he said, "did not consider it appropriate to give a timeline... No one knows what's happening tomorrow or in nine months".
Ukraine has threatened to boycott the Paris Games should Russian and Belarusian athletes compete there, even as neutrals.
3:47pm: Germany plans hike in military aid for Ukraine
Germany is planning to boost its military aid spending for Ukraine, a member of the parliamentary budget committee told AFP on Tuesday.
Some 12 billion euros ($12.9 billion) more in spending is due to be approved by the committee, with the funds to go towards military help for Kyiv as well as replenishing stocks of equipment already sent to Ukraine.
The German army, or Bundeswehr, will be able to begin spending the cash this year, with further funds also earmarked for coming years.
It was unclear how the sum would be allocated as well as the precise time frame covered by the spending.
3:42pm: Russia has lost ‘large proportion’ of tanks in town near Bakhmut, UK intelligence says
In its daily update on the war in Ukraine on Tuesday, Britain's defence ministry said Russian forces had made only "marginal progress" in an attempt to encircle Avdiivka, a town 55 miles south of Bakhmut, in recent days and had lost many armoured vehicles and tanks.
Russia's 10th Tank Regiment, taking part in the Avdiivka operation, was dogged by problems of ill discipline and poor morale, and had "likely lost a large proportion of its tanks", it said.
3:00pm: Russian father whose daughter drew anti-war picture given two years' jail
A Russian man who was investigated by police after his daughter drew an anti-war picture at school was sentenced on Tuesday to two years in a penal colony after being convicted of discrediting the armed forces, the OVD-Info rights group said.
Alexei Moskalyov was convicted over comments he himself had posted online about the war in Ukraine. But the investigation started after his daughter Masha, 12, drew a picture last April showing Russian missiles raining down on a Ukrainian mother and child, prompting the head of school to call the police.
Police began examining Moskalyov's social media activity and he was initially fined 35,000 roubles ($460) for comments critical of the Russian army. In December, investigators opened another case against him on suspicion of discrediting the armed forces, this time based on a social media post in June.
Moskalyov has been separated from his daughter since he was placed under house arrest at the start of this month and she was moved to a children's home in their hometown of Yefremov, south of Moscow. He has since fled house arrest and was not present at his hearing on Tuesday, officials said.
"The verdict was read out in the absence of the defendant, because he disappeared and did not appear at the hearing," Elena Mikhailovskaya, a spokeswoman for a court in the town of Yefremov, told AFP.
1:54pm: Belarus sure to face more sanctions due to nuclear arms plan, says Polish PM
Belarus will face further sanctions due to a Russian plan to station tactical nuclear weapons in the country, the Polish prime minister said on Tuesday.
"This step taken by Russia ... the announcement of the deployment of nuclear weapons in Belarus will certainly lead to the announcement of additional sanctions, the level of sanctions will be much more severe for the Lukashenko regime," Mateusz Morawiecki said during a news conference in Bucharest.
1:51pm: West's Ukraine response exposes 'double standards', says Amnesty
Outrage over Russia's invasion of Ukraine last year has exposed the West's "double standards" towards human rights abuses throughout the world, Amnesty International said on Tuesday.
In its annual world report for 2022, Amnesty pointed to what it described as the West's silence on Saudi Arabia's rights record, repression in Egypt and Israel's treatment of the Palestinians.
"The West's formidable response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine underscored double standards, exposing in comparison how inconsequential their reactions have been to so many other violations of the UN Charter," said Amnesty secretary general Agnès Callamard as she presented the group's world report in Paris.
1:47pm: Russia says it intercepted GLSDB rocket in Ukraine for first time
Russia's defence ministry said on Tuesday its air defence forces intercepted a GLSDB guided missile fired by Ukrainian forces in the last 24 hours.
Russian news agencies reported it was the first time the defence ministry said it had intercepted a Ground-Launched Small Diameter Bomb (GLSDB) — dubbed a "smart bomb" — since they were sent to Ukraine by the United States earlier this year.
11:57am: Russian forces advance in Ukraine's Bakhmut, says Russian-installed leader
Russian forces are moving forward in the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut despite fierce resistance and have almost taken full control of a metals plant there, a Russian-installed leader in the region said.
Denis Pushilin, the Russian-installed leader of the part of Ukraine's Donetsk region under Moscow's control, said the bulk of Ukrainian forces had been forced to pull back from the AZOM metals factory on the western side of the Bakhmutka river.
"The important thing here was to clear out the industrial zone at the plant itself. You can practically say that has now been done, with the guys just finishing off (Ukrainian) fighters there who are only left in solitary groups," said Pushilin.
Both sides say they are inflicting heavy casualties on each other in Bakhmut.
11:49am: Fencers call on Olympic chief to stick to ban on Russian and Belarusian athletes
More than 300 active and former fencers have called on Olympic chief Thomas Bach to uphold the ban on Russian and Belarusian athletes when he and the decision-making board of the International Olympic Committee meet on Tuesday.
Bach, who won Olympic fencing team gold in 1976, has been keen to find a "pathway" for athletes from Russia and Belarus to at the very least try and qualify for the 2024 Olympics in Paris.
Athletes from both countries have faced differing sanctions from a multitude of sports since Russia invaded Ukraine in February last year.
The FIE, the world fencing body, ruled earlier this month to allow Russian and Belarusian fencers to return to international competition, becoming the first Olympic sport to reopen its events to athletes from the two countries.
In a hard-hitting letter, the fencers including 2020 Olympic women's foil champion Lee Kiefer of the United States accuse Bach and the interim president of their federation, Emmanuel Katsiadakis, of prioritising Russians ahead of Ukrainians.
11:37am: Russia will keep calling for Nord Stream probe after UN failure, says Kremlin
The Kremlin said on Tuesday it would keep demanding an international investigation into explosions that damaged the Nord Stream gas pipelines under the Baltic Sea last year, after failing to win backing for a probe at the United Nations.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said everyone should be interested in an impartial investigation in order to find the culprits.
On Monday, Russia failed to get the UN Security Council to ask for an independent inquiry into explosions in September that ruptured the Nord Stream gas pipelines connecting Russia and Germany and spewed gas into the Baltic Sea.
11:30am: Ukraine defence minister thanks UK for sending 'fantastic' tanks
Ukrainian Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov gave Britain the thumbs up as he took a ride in what he said was the first British Challenger 2 main battle tank to arrive in Ukraine.
Britain said in January it would send 14 of the tanks to Ukraine, which is preparing for a possible counter-offensive against Russian forces that invaded 13 months ago.
Reznikov wrote on Twitter that the tanks had "recently arrived in our country" and posted a video that showed him sitting in one of a long line of tanks in an open field, all of them flying Ukraine's yellow and blue flag.
10:20am: Belarus says will host Russian nuclear arms due to Western 'pressure'
Belarus said Tuesday it was forced to host Russian nuclear weapons due to "unprecedented" Western pressure, insisting their deployment did not violate international agreements.
"Belarus is forced to take response actions to strengthen its own security and defence capability," the foreign ministry said in a statement, adding Minsk has been subjected to "unprecedented" political and economic pressure from the United States and its allies.
10:01am: Ukraine aims to exhaust Russian troops in Bakhmut, says general
Ukraine is aiming to exhaust and inflict heavy losses on Russian forces trying to capture the small eastern city of Bakhmut, the commander of Ukrainian ground forces said in a video posted on Tuesday.
In a video showing him addressing soldiers in what appeared to be a large industrial warehouse, General Oleksandr Syrskyi said Russia was continuing to focus on the Bakhmut area after months of battle.
Moscow sees capturing Bakhmut as vital to its efforts to establish complete control over the Donbas industrial region in eastern Ukraine.
9:52am: Russia says oil sales to India soar amid Ukraine conflict
Russian oil sales to India surged more than twentyfold last year as European buyers turned to other markets following the conflict in Ukraine, Russia's deputy prime minister said Tuesday.
Russia shifted its oil exports to India and China last year as European Union nations sought to end their reliance on Russian energy supplies after Moscow sent troops into neighbouring Ukraine.
The EU imposed an embargo on seaborne Russian oil in December alongside a price cap on Russia crude that was agreed with the Group of Seven industrialised powers.
The shift has meant cheaper Russia energy imports for China and India.
9:35am: France to double delivery of shells for Ukraine to 2,000 a month
France is to double the number of 155mm shells delivered to Ukraine, bringing delivery to 2,000 per month, Armed Forces Minister Sébastien Lecornu told French daily Le Figaro on Tuesday.
Paris will "deliver land equipment necessary for Ukraine’s counter offensive: we are doubling the delivery of 155mm shells to bring it to 2,000 per month from end-March”, Lecornu said in an interview with Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire.
The 15mm shells, usually fired by the French Caesar or German Pzh 2000 guns and with a range of up to 40 kilometres, are fired every day in industrial quantities by both the Russians and the Ukrainians.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg warned in February that Kyiv was using more ammunition than the alliance could produce, putting Western defence stocks and industries "under pressure". The European Union has since decided to release two billion euros to supply Ukraine with one million shells.
9:17am: Belarus says NATO actions forced it to agree to house Russian nuclear weapons
Belarus's foreign ministry said on Tuesday that it had been forced to house Russian nuclear weapons on its territory by the aggressive actions of NATO countries that were threatening Belarus' own security, the Russian TASS news agency reported.
Minsk also said the plans – announced over the weekend by Russian President Vladimir Putin – to station Russian tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus would not contravene international non-proliferation agreements as Belarus would not have control over the weapons.
In the tweet below, Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya reacts to Russia's plan to store nuclear weapons in Belarus.
8:21am: Russia says fired anti-ship missiles at mock target in Sea of Japan
Russia's defence ministry said Tuesday that its navy had fired test anti-ship missiles at mock targets in the Sea of Japan during military exercises.
Russia's Pacific Fleet drills came a week after Tokyo's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida visited Ukraine.
"In the waters of the Sea of Japan, missile boats of the Pacific Fleet fired Moskit cruise missiles at a mock enemy sea target," the ministry said on Telegram early on Tuesday.
It said two ships took part in the exercise.
6:20am: Ukraine says it shot down Russian drones over Kyiv
Serhiy Popko, head of the Kyiv city military administration, said Russia had launched 12 drones towards Kyiv but Ukraine's air defence forces had identified and destroyed "all enemy targets" in the airspace around the capital.
The General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces said in its daily morning update that Russia launched a total of 15 Iranian-made Shahed drones overnight on Ukraine, with Ukrainian forces destroying 14 of them.
12:30am: Zelensky tells IAEA's Grossi, Russia must leave Zaporizhzhia plant
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told the head of the UN nuclear watchdog agency on Monday that safety at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station could not be guaranteed until Russian troops left the facility.
The president, quoted by his website, said he met Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, at the Dnipro hydroelectric power station – northeast of the Zaporizhzhia plant.
3:54pm: German Leopard 2 tanks transferred to Ukraine, Spiegel reports
The 18 Leopard 2 battle tanks pledged by Germany to support Ukraine in its war against Russia have been handed over at the Ukrainian border, Germany's Der Spiegel news magazine reported on Monday, citing unnamed sources.
Around 40 Marder infantry fighting vehicles have also reached Ukraine, the report added.
4:26pm: IAEA chief visits Zaporizhzhia with Ukraine's Zelensky
Rafael Grossi of the UN's IAEA said Monday he was visiting Ukraine's southern region of Zaporizhzhia, which is partly controlled by Russian forces, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
"I met Zelensky today in Zaporizhzhia City and had a rich exchange on the protection of the Zaporizhzhia NPP (nuclear power plant) and its staff. I reiterated the full support of the IAEA to Ukraine's nuclear facilities," Grossi wrote on Twitter.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP and Reuters)
