Russian officials on Monday detained a 26-year-old woman over the St Petersburg café blast that killed high-profile military blogger Vladlen Tatarsky, who was posthumously decorated by President Vladimir Putin. The arrest came as Ukraine dismissed Russian claims of victory in the eastern battleground city of Bakhmut and as Finland prepared to officially join the NATO military alliance on Tuesday, in a blow to Moscow. Follow our blog to see how the day's events unfolded. All times are Paris time (GMT+2).
This live blog is no longer being updated. For more of our coverage on the war in Ukraine, please click here.
03:53am: Russia launches 17 drones on Ukraine, 14 destroyed
Russia sent 17 Iranian-made Shahed drones to attack Ukraine overnight, Ukraine's Air Force command said early on Tuesday, with its air-defence systems destroying 14 of them.
"In total, up to 17 launches of UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) attacks were recorded, presumably from the eastern coast area of the Sea of Azov," the command said in a statement on the Telegram messaging app.
01:52am: Russian drones strike Ukraine's port of Odesa
Russian drones struck the strategic Ukrainian port of Odesa, local authorities said in the early hours of Tuesday, adding that "damage" had been recorded.
"The enemy has just struck Odesa and the Odesa district with attack UAVs," local authorities said in a statement on Facebook, referring to unmanned aerial vehicles. "There is damage," the statement said without providing further details.
12:00am: Lavrov says Russia may get 'tough' with hostile Europe
The European Union has become hostile and has "lost" Russia, and Moscow will deal with Europe in a tough fashion if need be, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in an interview published on Tuesday.
"The European Union has 'lost Russia. But it is its own fault," Lavrov told the website Argumenty i Fatky. "It is the EU member countries and EU leaders who openly declare it is necessary to inflict, as they call it, a strategic defeat on Russia."
Lavrov said Russia had decided how to approach Europe as it was supplying the "criminal regime" in Kyiv with weapons and instructors.
11:17pm: Russian charged with war crimes may brief UN Security Council
Russia's commissioner for children's rights, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court on war crimes charges, is likely to brief an informal meeting of the UN Security Council this week, according to a note seen by Reuters on Monday.
Russia, which holds the monthly rotating presidency of the 15-member body for April, told council members in a note that it plans to hold an informal meeting on Wednesday on Ukraine, focused on "evacuating children from conflict zone."
The commissioner is Maria Lvova-Belova. The International Criminal Court (ICC) last month issued an arrest warrant against Russian President Vladimir Putin and Lvova-Belova, accusing them of illegally deporting hundreds of children from Ukraine, as well as the unlawful transfer of people to Russia from Ukraine since Moscow invaded on Feb. 24, 2022.
10:20pm: 'More likely' café bombing was result of internal conflict, analysts say
Russia has detained a young woman over Sunday's explosion that killed a prominent Russian military blogger, claiming the bombing attack was orchestrated by Ukraine with the help of supporters of jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny.
FRANCE 24's correspondent Gulliver Cragg discusses reactions in Kyiv, where officials are treating the explosion as a case of "domestic terrorism" stemming from an "internal political fight".
Cragg also brings us the latest on fighting in Bakhmut, where Ukrainian sources have dismissed Russian claims that they control the eastern battleground town.
9:15pm: Putin bestows award on military blogger killed in bombing
Russia's Vladimir Putin has posthumously decorated Vladlen Tatarsky, the high-profile military blogger and supporter of Moscow's assault on Ukraine who was killed in an explosion at a St Petersburg café on Sunday.
Vladlen Tatarsky, whose real name was Maxim Fomin, was given the Order of Courage "for courage and bravery shown during professional duty", said a Kremlin decree.
Russian officials have detained 26-year-old woman Darya Trepova on suspicions that she carried out the bomb attack.
In video footage released by Russian authorities – which may have been recorded under duress – Trepova is heard admitting she handed over a statuette that later blew up, though she does not say she knew there would be an explosion, nor does she admit any further role.
7:50pm: 'No request' from Finland for NATO troop deployment
Finland has not asked for NATO members to station troops on its territory, a senior alliance commander has said, a day before Helsinki officially joins the alliance as its 31st member.
"Whether we will station troops in Finland is a question that starts with Finland," said Admiral Rob Bauer, the chair of NATO's military committee.
"For now, there is no such request. But of course, it might come in the future and then we will have to look at it when that occurs," Bauer told AFP in an interview.
Finland's historic strategic shift, which was triggered by Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, will double NATO's land border with Russia.
The Kremlin's response has been muted, but it has pledged to bolster its troops in its northwest over the coming years.
5:55pm: Ukraine receives first $2.7 billion tranche from IMF programme
Ukraine received the first $2.7 billion (€2.5 billion) tranche under the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) Extended Fund Facility programme on Monday, finance minister Sergiy Marchenko has said.
The payment is part of a $15.6 billion support package designed to assist with Ukraine's economic recovery over the next four years.
"Grateful to our partners for supporting Ukraine on the way to victory," Marchenko wrote on Twitter.
5:30pm: IAEA chief to visit Russia's Kaliningrad for Zaporizhzhia talks
The director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency will visit Russia's Baltic exclave of Kaliningrad on Wednesday to discuss the safety of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, an IAEA spokesperson has said.
Rafael Grossi visited the plant, in Ukrainian territory controlled by Russia, last week. He said the situation had grown worse and military activity around the site – Europe's largest nuclear facility – had intensified in recent months.
Grossi and several national leaders have repeatedly warned that attacks on the plant, for which Ukraine and Russia have blamed each other, could trigger a Chernobyl-like disaster.
Kyiv has accused Russia of using the facility as a weapons depot, something Moscow denies.
4:35pm: US journalist appeals Russian detention on spy charges
Evan Gershkovich, the US journalist who was arrested in Russia last week on spying claims, is appealing his detention, a Moscow court has said.
Gershkovich, 31, is believed to be the first foreign journalist arrested on spying allegations since the collapse of the Soviet Union. His arrest has drawn outrage from the West and is seen as a serious escalation of Moscow's crackdown on the media.
A spokeswoman for Moscow's Lefortovo district court said the date of the hearing on his detention appeal would be "this week". She added that the appeal was filed by the same lawyer that represented Gershkovich during his detention hearing.
Gershkovich, a Wall Street Journal reporter and former AFP journalist in Moscow, was remanded in custody until May 29. He and the Wall Street Journal have denied the charges against him.
4:15pm: Zelensky hopes Putin will be held in 'basement with bucket'
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky said he hoped Russia's Vladimir Putin would spend the rest of his life in a dark basement with a bucket after visiting a Kyiv suburb where residents suffered such a fate a year ago.
Zelensky spoke in the village of Yagidne, north of the capital, where he and German Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck travelled to mark the anniversary of the liberation of the settlement from Russian troops.
Soon after the invasion, the Russians forced 367 people – nearly the entire population of Yagidne – into a school basement measuring 200 square metres. The villagers, including an 18-month-old baby, were kept there for almost a month, and 11 of them died.
"After seeing all this, I hope the president of Russia will spend the rest of his days in a basement with a bucket for toilet," the Ukrainian leader said.
3:20pm: Ukraine rejects Wagner's claim it controls Bakhmut
Russian forces are still "very far" from capturing the battleground town of Bakhmut, Ukrainian officials have said, adding that fighting is still raging around the city administration building where the Wagner mercenary group claimed to have raised the Russian flag overnight.
"Bakhmut is Ukrainian and they have not captured anything and are very far from doing that to put it mildly," Serhiy Cherevatiy, spokesperson for Ukraine's eastern military command, told Reuters by telephone.
FRANCE 24's Andrew Hilliar tells us more.
3:05pm: Scholz stresses support for Romania, Moldova on Bucharest visit
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has underscored Western support for Romania during a visit to the key NATO ally that borders Ukraine – while also expressing support for neighbouring Moldova, which has looked especially vulnerable since Russia's invasion last year.
The German leader's visit to Bucharest comes a day after German arms maker Rheinmetall announced it was setting up a maintenance and logistics hub in northern Romania to service weapons used in Ukraine.
Scholz praised Romania's willingness to take in refugees spilling over the border from the war in Ukraine, adding: "Germany stands firmly by Romania's side."
Romanian President Klaus Iohannis, who accompanied Scholz and the leaders of France and Italy on a visit to Kyiv last year, urged NATO to increase its presence in the Black Sea. He also stressed the importance of supporting Moldova's "stability and resilience" in the face of Russian “hybrid attacks”.
Moldovan President Maia Sandu was due to join Scholz and Iohannis in Bucharest later in the day.
1:52pm: Russia to strengthen military in northwest in response to Finland's NATO accession, state media reports
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko said Russia would strengthen its military capacity in its western and northwestern regions in response to Finland's expected accession to NATO on Tuesday, state-owned news agency RIA reported.
1:44pm: Belarus defence ministry says combat readiness inspections have begun
Belarus' defence ministry said on Monday it had started combat readiness inspections of the armed forces, a latest round of military activity in the close Russian ally that has lent logistical support to Moscow's war in Ukraine.
In a statement published on Telegram, the ministry said the inspections would determine the capacity of military units to perform at "the highest levels of combat readiness".
A flurry of military drills in Belarus, which allowed Russia to use its territory to launch part of its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, has raised concerns in Ukraine that it might directly enter the war on Russia's side.
Minsk has denied any such plans, but warned that any incursions against Belarusian territory will invite a response.
1:39pm: NATO chief demands Russia release US journalist
NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg on Monday demanded the "immediate release" of US journalist Evan Gershkovich, who has been detained in Russia on suspicion of spying.
"His arrest is of great concern. It is important to respect freedom of the press, the rights of journalists and the right to ask questions and to do their job," he said.
Gershkovich, a 31-year-old US citizen, was detained by Russian security agents last week and "is believed to be the first foreign journalist held for spying in post-Soviet Russia".
His employer has dismissed the claim that he was engaged in espionage, and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has already demanded his release in a call to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
>> Read more: Russia arrests US journalist Evan Gershkovich on espionage allegations
1:04pm: Finland to become NATO member on Tuesday
Finland's flag will be hoisted outside NATO headquarters on Tuesday when it becomes the 31st member of the Western alliance, Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said.
"Tomorrow we will welcome Finland as the 31st member," Stoltenberg told reporters on the eve of a historic meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Brussels.
11:29am: Russia accuses Ukraine, Navalny 'agents' of blogger killing
Russian anti-terror investigators on Monday accused Ukraine's security services and "agents" linked to opposition leader Alexei Navalny of being behind a bomb attack that killed a top Russian military blogger.
"The terrorist attack was planned by Ukrainian security services with the help of agents working with the so-called Anti-Corruption Foundation," Russia's anti-terror committee said, referring to Navalny's organisation.
11:05am: Ukraine says Russian forces 'very far' from capturing Bakhmut
Ukraine said on Monday that Russian forces were "very far" from capturing the eastern town of Bakhmut and that fighting raged around the city administration building where the Wagner mercenary group claimed to have raised the Russian flag.
"Bakhmut is Ukrainian and they have not captured anything and are very far from doing that to put it mildly," Serhiy Cherevatiy, spokesperson for the eastern military command, told Reuters by telephone.
11:03am: Putin creates fund for soldiers fighting in Ukraine
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday signed a decree creating a special fund to support soldiers fighting in Ukraine and their families.
The decree in support of the "Defenders of the Fatherland" was published on the official government website.
The measures are "aimed at ensuring a decent life" for soldiers involved in the Ukraine offensive, and for their partners and children, according to the decree.
Putin had announced the support measure at the Federal Assembly on February 21, almost a year after he sent his troops to Ukraine. "Our duty is to support the families that have lost their loved ones and to help them raise their children and give them an education and a job," Putin then said.
10:58am: Control in Bakhmut ‘a symbolic victory’ for Russia, but Ukraine vows to fight on
A video released Monday appeared to show the leader of Russia's Wagner paramilitary group standing on the roof of the city hall in Bakhmut, claiming Russian forces had gained ‘legal’ control of the city.
“People who know Bakhmut well say that, judging by what’s in the background, this looks plausible. It looks like he really was there [in Bakhmut],” reports FRANCE 24's correspondent in Kyiv, Gulliver Cragg.
“It’s a symbolic victory for the Russians, but it doesn’t mean that the fight for Bakhmut is over. The Ukrainian armed forces still occupy a sizeable chunk and say they’re going to fight on,” Cragg adds.
10:07am: Suspect detained in St Petersburg blast that killed blogger, Russia says
Russia's Investigative Committee on Monday said that Darya Trepova, a suspect in the killing of war blogger Vladlen Tatarsky in a St Petersburg bomb blast on Sunday, had been detained, Reuters reported.
The interior ministry's website said Trepova is 26 years old, was born in St Petersburg and is a Russian national. State news agency TASS said Trepova had previously been detained for protesting against the war in Ukraine
8:10am: Ukraine's Zelensky to visit Poland on Wednesday
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky is expected to visit Poland on Wednesday, April 5, Polish President Andrzej Duda's foreign affairs adviser Marcin Przydacz said on Monday.
7:28am: German Vice Chancellor Habeck arrives in Ukraine on surprise visit
German Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck has arrived in Ukraine on a surprise visit, Germany's energy and economy ministry said on Monday, in his first trip to the country since the outbreak of war.
On the agenda is the reconstruction of Ukraine and cooperation in the energy sector, the Spiegel news magazine reported.
6:47am: Bomb that killed Russian war blogger wounded 32, Russian state media reports
The number of people wounded in the bomb blast that killed a prominent Russian military blogger in St Petersburg on Sunday has risen to 32 from 25 reported earlier, Russia's RIA state news agency reported.
Citing the ministry of health, RIA reported on Monday that 10 of the people were in a serious condition.
Vladlen Tatarsky was killed in a St Petersburg café in what appeared to be the second assassination on Russian soil of a figure closely associated with the war in Ukraine.
It was not immediately known who was behind the killing. Russia's state Investigative Committee said it had opened a murder investigation.
3:11am: Russia to place nuclear weapons near Belarus's borders with NATO
Russia will move its tactical nuclear weapons close to the western borders of Belarus, the Russian envoy to Minsk said on Sunday, placing them at NATO's threshold in a move likely to further escalate Moscow's standoff with the West.
The weapons "will be moved to the western border of our union state and will increase the possibilities to ensure security", the ambassador, Boris Gryzlov, told Belarusian state television.
President Vladimir Putin said on March 26 that Moscow will station tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, one of Russia's most pronounced signals on nuclear weapons since the beginning of its invasion of Ukraine 13 months ago,
2:40am: Ukraine says army still 'holds' Bakhmut
Ukraine's army said Sunday it still "holds" the eastern city of Bakhmut, after Russia's Wagner mercenary group claimed it had captured the town "in a legal sense" by occupying its administration building.
"The enemy has not stopped its assault of Bakhmut. However, Ukrainian defenders are courageously holding the city as they repel numerous enemy attacks," the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said on its Facebook page.
12:43am: Russia says US behind Ukraine's pressure on Moscow-linked Orthodox Church
Russia's foreign ministry said late on Sunday that the US was behind the pressure that Ukrainian authorities have been exerting on the Russian-aligned wing of the Orthodox Church in Kyiv.
The Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC), which Kyiv says has ties with Russia, defied an eviction order last week from the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra monastery in the capital. On Saturday, a top Ukrainian cleric from the church was sentenced to house arrest.
"It's no secret that the (President Volodymyr) Zelensky regime is not independent in its anti-clerical policy. The Orthodox schism, hitting this sphere of life, is a goal that has been long proclaimed in Washington," the foreign ministry said in a statement, without providing evidence.
12:00am: Wagner Group claims capture of Ukraine's Bakhmut 'in a legal sense'
The head of Russia's Wagner mercenary group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, said late on Sunday that his forces have raised the Russian flag over the administration building of the city of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine.
"From a legal point of view, Bakhmut has been taken," Prigozhin said in an audio message posted by his press service on the Telegram messaging app. "The enemy is concentrated in the western parts."
>> Read our live blog for all of yesterday's developments as they unfolded.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP and Reuters)
