Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday denounced Russian "beasts" after a video surfaced on social media purporting to show the decapitation of a Ukrainian prisoner of war. The grisly footage, which prompted outrage and condemnation from UN and EU officials, came as Washington reaffirmed its confidence in Ukraine's military "capability" after a leaked trove of highly sensitive documents appeared online. Follow our blog to see how the day's events unfolded. All times are Paris time (GMT+2).
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12:34am: UK confirms further $500 mln in loan guarantees for Ukraine
Britain is ready to provide an extra $500 million of loan guarantees to Ukraine, taking the total this year to $1 billion, British finance minister Jeremy Hunt said on Wednesday.
Hunt said the British loan guarantees had been important to underwrite a broader $15.6 billion four-year package of support for Ukraine from the International Monetary Fund, whose Spring Meetings he is attending in Washington.
"This funding will boost Ukraine's economic resilience and bolster its resistance against Russia," he said in a statement.
9:45pm: Moscow warns outlook for Black Sea grain deal 'not so great'
The Kremlin warned on Wednesday that the outlook for extending a deal beyond May 18 that allows the safe wartime export of grain and fertiliser from several Ukrainian Black Sea ports was 'not great' as Russia's own such exports still faced obstacles.
"No deal can stand on one leg: It must stand on two legs," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. "In this regard, of course, judging by the state of play today, the outlook (for its extension) is not so great."
The Ukraine grain Black Sea export deal was brokered by the United Nations and Turkey in July last year to help tackle a global food crisis that UN officials said had been worsened by the conflict.
To help persuade Russia to allow Ukraine to resume its Black Sea grain exports last year, a separate three-year agreement was also struck in July in which the UN agreed to help Russia with its food and fertiliser exports.
Peskov said this deal "has not worked and is not working so far."
8:45pm: Belarus extradites Russian father of girl who drew anti-war art
Belarus has extradited a Russian father who was separated from his daughter and sentenced to two years in prison after she drew a Ukraine-themed picture at school, a monitoring group said Wednesday. He been separated from his 13-year-old daughter since early March, who was taken away from him and placed in a local centre for minors.
Alexei Moskalyov, a 54-year-old single father from the town of Yefremov, south of Moscow, fled house arrest in late March just before a Russian court handed him a two-year sentence for "discrediting" the Russian army. He was later detained in neighbouring Belarus.
The case has garnered national attention as Moscow cracks down on criticism of the offensive in Ukraine. "Alexei Moskalyov was extradited from Belarus to Russia," the OVD-Info rights group said.
Moskalyov first came to the authorities' attention last year after his daughter Maria drew a picture at school showing missiles next to a Russian flag heading towards a woman and child standing by a Ukrainian flag. Her headmistress contacted the police. Authorities said they uncovered Moskalyov's comments criticising Moscow's military campaign in Ukraine on social media.
Since early March the 13-year-old has been taken away from her father and placed in a local centre for minors. Last week Russian officials said the girl had been handed over to her estranged mother.
7:05pm: Russian reaction to gruesome Ukrainian POW beheading video 'contrasts' with Kremlin reactions to previous accusations
According to FRANCE 24’s Ukraine correspondent Gulliver Cragg, "the Russian reaction" to the gruesome video of the beheading of an Ukrainian prisoner of war "contrasts somewhat with what the Russian reaction to accusations of atrocities commited by Russian soldiers in Ukraine usually is: normally, they say right away it is a fake," but this time the Kremlin said "it needs to be authenticated".
6:39pm: World Bank to help finance Ukrainian energy infrastructure repairs
The World Bank on Wednesday said it would finance $200 million to help fix Ukraine's energy and heating infrastructure, with partners and others to provide another $300 million in additional funding as the project expands.
The $200 million grant will be used to make emergency repairs to Ukraine's transition transformers, mobile heat boilers and other emergency critical equipment, the World Bank said in a statement.
5:25pm: US imposes new sanctions on Russian oligarch, Hungary bank
The US Treasury Department on Wednesday announced new sanctions aimed at Russian oligarch Alisher Usmanov, also targeting 80 entities and individuals connected to him, one of Russia's wealthiest businessmen. Usmanov, a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, has been subject to US and European Union sanctions since shortly after the Kremlin's invasion of Ukraine last year.
Washington has also imposed new sanctions to the International Investment Bank, a Russia-controlled financial institution in Budapest, Hungary. Three current or former executives of the bank – Russian citizens Nikolay Nikolayevich Kosov and Georgy Nugzarovich Potapov as well as Hungary national Imre Laszloczki – were designated for sanctions.
A Treasury Department statement said the bank “enables Russia to increase its intelligence presence in Europe, opens the door for the Kremlin’s malign influence activities in Central Europe and the Western Balkans, and could serve as a mechanism for corruption and illicit finance, including sanctions violations.”
5:10pm: Kyiv denies Russia’s Wagner controls 80% of Bakhmut
Ukraine's military rejected as untrue a Russian claim to have captured more than 80% of the city of Bakhmut and said on Wednesday that Kyiv's forces controlled "considerably" more than 20% of it in the east.
Serhiy Cherevatyi, spokesperson for the eastern military command, made the comment to Reuters a day after the head of Russia's Wagner mercenary group said that his forces were advancing in their bid to seize Bakhmut after months of fighting, which has killed thousands of soldiers and been dubbed the "meat-grinder".
"I was just in touch with the commander of one of the brigades holding the defence of the city. And I can confidently say that Ukrainian defensive forces control a considerably larger percent of Bakhmut's territory," he said.
Wagner head Yevgeny Prigozhin said on Tuesday his forces controlled most of Bakhmut including the whole administrative centre, factories, warehouses and municipality buildings.
1:55pm: UN 'appalled' by video alleging Ukraine POW beheading
A UN mission in Ukraine has said it is "appalled" by "gruesome" videos including footage showing an alleged decapitation of a Ukrainian prisoner of war.
"The UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine is appalled by particularly gruesome videos posted on social media," it said in a statement. "One of the videos shows a brutal execution of a man who appears to be a Ukrainian prisoner of war, while the other one shows mutilated bodies of apparent Ukrainian POWs."
The European Union said that, if confirmed, the footage was "yet another brutal reminder about the inhumane nature of the Russian aggression".
"The EU reiterates its firm commitment to holding to account all perpetrators and accomplices of war crimes committed in connection with Russia's war," EU spokeswoman Nabila Massrali said, adding that Brussels did not have information on the veracity of the video.
1:45pm: Moscow says US leaks may be intended to 'deceive' Russia
The leak of a trove of highly sensitive documents online could be a move by the United States to "deceive" Russia, its deputy foreign minister has been quoted as saying.
"It's probably interesting for someone to look at these documents, if they really are documents or they could be a fake or it could be an intentional leak," Sergei Ryabkov told Russian news agencies.
"Since the US is a party to the (Ukraine) conflict and is essentially waging a hybrid war against us, it is possible that such techniques are being used to deceive their opponent, the Russian Federation," he said.
11:55am: 'Awful' beheading video needs verifying, Kremlin says
The Kremlin said a video circulating on social media purporting to show the beheading of a Ukrainian soldier was "awful" and that its authenticity needed to be checked.
The video, which has been heavily criticised by Ukraine, shows apparent Russian soldiers filming themselves as they behead a Ukrainian captive with a knife.
"First of all, the authenticity of this horrible footage needs to be verified," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, adding that "we live in a world of fakes".
News agencies could not immediately verify the authenticity or provenance of the video shared on social media, which showed a man in uniform beheading a man who wears the yellow arm band used by Ukrainian soldiers.
Citing the grisly video, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said Russia's invading army was "worse" than the Islamic State (IS) group, also known as ISIS, the terrorist group notorious for its staged beheadings of hostages.
"It’s absurd that Russia, which is worse than ISIS, is presiding over the UNSC," Kuleba tweeted, referring to the UN Security Council where Russia took up the rotating presidency this month.
11:02am: UK casts doubt on leaked report of special forces in Ukraine
Britain's Ministry of Defence (MoD) has cast doubt on reports that UK special forces have operated in Ukraine, after the allegations emerged from a leaked trove of highly sensitive US documents.
The Guardian and other media outlets said the leaked military and intelligence files suggest that dozens of British special forces personnel have been present in Ukraine so far this year.
"The widely reported leak of alleged classified US information has demonstrated a serious level of inaccuracy," the UK's MoD said in a statement posted Wednesday on Twitter.
"Readers should be cautious about taking at face value allegations that have the potential to spread disinformation."
10:50am: Zelensky blasts Russian 'beasts' after alleged POW beheading
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has denounced Russian "beasts" after a video surfaced on social media purporting to show the decapitation of a Ukrainian prisoner of war.
"There is something that no one in the world can ignore: how easily these beasts kill ... we won't forget anything, nor will we forgive murderers," Zelensky said in a message on social media, vowing to bring justice to his war-torn nation.
UN human rights monitors have documented dozens of summary killings of Ukrainian and Russian prisoners of war, as well as other possible war crimes such as the use of torture, human shields and other abuses against POWs since Russia invaded its neighbour, according to a report released last month.
9:55am: Ukraine has 'much of the capability' it needs, Pentagon says after damaging leaks
Top US diplomat Antony Blinken and defence chief Lloyd Austin spoke with their Ukrainian counterparts on Tuesday as Washington sought to reassure its allies after a leaked trove of highly sensitive documents appeared online.
The breach – which has sparked a criminal investigation by the Department of Justice – includes classified information about Ukraine's battle against invading Russian forces, as well as secret assessments of US allies.
A document reviewed by AFP highlighted US concerns about Ukraine's capacity to keep defending against Russian strikes, while the Washington Post reported that another expressed doubts about the success of an upcoming offensive by Kyiv's forces.
Blinken said he had spoken with his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba and "reaffirmed our enduring support for Ukraine and for its efforts to defend its territorial integrity, its sovereignty, its independence".
Austin, speaking alongside Blinken, said he had also talked to his counterpart in Ukraine, Oleksiy Reznikov, adding that Ukraine’s forces “have much of the capability that they need to continue to be successful".
Ukraine is expected to launch an attack on invading Russian troops in the spring – its first major military push of the year. But one top secret document said tough Russian defences and "enduring Ukrainian deficiencies in training and munitions supplies probably will strain progress and exacerbate casualties during the offensive", the Post reported.
7:05am: Russia conducts test launch of 'advanced' ICBM
Russia has conducted what it said was the successful test launch of an "advanced" intercontinental ballistic missile, weeks after it suspended participation in its last remaining nuclear arms control pact with the United States.
The Russian defence ministry said in a statement that a "combat crew successfully launched an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) of a mobile ground-based missile system" from its Kapustin Yar test site on Tuesday. "The missile's training warhead hit a mock target at the Sary-Shagan training ground (Republic of Kazakhstan) with given precision," it added.
Since sending troops into Ukraine last year, President Vladimir Putin has issued thinly veiled warnings that he could use nuclear weapons there if Russia were threatened.
In late February, Putin said Moscow was suspending participation in the New START treaty, under which Russia and the United States had agreed to limit nuclear stockpiles and submit to mutual inspections.
And less than three weeks ago, Putin said he would deploy tactical nuclear weapons in neighbour and ally Belarus, bringing the arms to the doorstep of the European Union.
5:10am: Deutsche Bank to close its remaining IT operations in Russia
The Financial Times is reporting that Deutsche Bank will be winding down its remaining software technology centres in Russia's Moscow and St. Petersburg as the German lender looks to end its two decades of reliance on Russian IT expertise.
1:15am: World Bank says Western Europe should also fund Ukraine's reconstruction
World Bank head David Malpass, speaking at a meeting with officials from the International Monetary Fund, noted that the World Bank had played a big role in rebuilding Europe's steel industry after World War Two and could play a similar role in Ukraine.
"But the size is daunting," he said, citing a recent estimate that it would cost $411 billion to rebuild Ukraine's economy, or 2.6 times its expected 2022 gross domestic product. The number, calculated by the World Bank, United Nations, European Commission and Ukraine, was up sharply from an estimate of $349 billion released last September.
The European Union had large funding sums that could be brought to bear, Malpass said. "The bank is prepared to play its role in the reconstruction, but I do need to set the expectations for the world that the amount to rebuild the electricity sector, the road sector, a railroad sector are way bigger relative to the size of the balance sheets of the international financial institutions," he said.
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Key developments from Tuesday, April 12:
Russia’s lower house of parliament voted unanimously to introduce electronic mobilisation papers to make it harder for Russian men to avoid the draft. More than 300,000 are believed to have been called up since President Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine last year.
The UN, meanwhile, said the confirmed civilian death toll in Ukraine is approaching 8,500 but several thousand more unverified deaths are feared.
>> Read our live blog for all of yesterday’s developments as they unfolded
(FRANCE 24 with AP, AFP and Reuters)
