Closing summary
This blog is now closing. Here is a roundup of the today’s stories:
Hungary’s parliament has approved a bill to allow Sweden to join Nato, clearing the way for the Nordic country to join the alliance after years of delay. The vote, which took place in Budapest on Monday, followed Friday’s meeting between the Swedish prime minister, Ulf Kristersson, and his Hungarian counterpart, Viktor Orbán, in which they agreed to put aside their differences – saying they were “prepared to die for each other”.
Several Nato and EU members are considering sending soldiers to Ukraine on a bilateral basis, Slovak prime minister Robert Fico said on Monday. Fico, who has long opposed military supplies to Ukraine and has taken a position seen by some critics as pro-Russian, offered no details and other European leaders did not immediately comment on his remarks.
Denmark said it had dropped its investigation into the explosions in 2022 on the Nord Stream pipelines carrying Russian gas to Germany, becoming the second nation to do so after Sweden also closed a separate probe. The multi-billion dollar Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines transporting gas under the Baltic Sea were ruptured by a series of blasts in the Swedish and Danish economic zones in September 2022, releasing vast amounts of methane into the air.
Russian troops have captured the Ukrainian village of Lastochkyne, about five kilometres northwest of Avdiivka, the Russian Defence Ministry said. Earlier on Monday, Ukraine’s military said it had retreated from the village of Lastochkyne in eastern Ukraine, saying the move would help it better contain Russian troops’ westwards advance.
Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny was close to being freed in a prisoner swap at the time of his death, Maria Pevchikh, a Navalny ally, said. Speaking on YouTube, Pevchikh said talks about exchanging Navalny and two unnamed US nationals for Vadim Krasikov, a Russian FSB Security Service hitman in jail in Germany, were in their final stages at the time of his death.
Russia launched 14 attack drones and a barrage of missiles at Ukraine over Sunday night and Monday morning, with air defence systems destroying nine drones as well as three guided missiles over the Kharkiv and Dnipropetrovsk regions, Ukraine’s air air force said. Russia also launched two S-300 missiles from anti-aircraft missile systems and one air-to-surface Kh-31P missile, the air force said.
European leaders are due to gather in Paris on Monday to send Vladimir Putin a message of European resolve on Ukraine and, France has said, to counter the Kremlin’s narrative that Russia is bound to win. Emmanuel Macron, the French president, has invited his European counterparts to the Élysée Palace for a working meeting at short notice because of what his advisers say is an escalation in Russian aggression. The German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, the British foreign secretary, David Cameron, and the Dutch PM, Mark Rutte, as well as leaders from Scandinavian and Baltic countries are among those scheduled to attend.
An attack on Sunday destroyed the train station, shops and homes in the town of Kostiantynivka near the frontline of Ukraine’s two-year-old war against Russia. Police said a guided aerial bomb hit the station and four S-300 missiles followed in the pre-dawn hours. Kostiantynivka lies 30km (18 miles) west of Bakhmut, which fell to Russian forces in May 2023, and north of Avdiivka, captured by the Russians last week.
Volodymyr Zelenskiy has for the first time put a number on Ukrainian soldier deaths, saying 31,000 troops have been killed since Russia’s full-scale invasion. The Ukrainian president told a news conference in Kyiv that he could not disclose the number of wounded because it would help Russian military planning.
Ukraine’s defence minister, Rustem Umerov, said his country was “losing territory” in its grinding war with Russia because “50%” of weapons promised by western partners failed to arrive on time.
Russian forces would attempt another offensive in late May or summer, Zelenskiy said. “We will prepare for their assault. Their assault that began on 8 October has not brought any results, I think.” Ukraine had a “clear” plan for a new counteroffensive, Zelenskiy said, but he could not disclose details. Troop rotations were critically important for the war effort and Ukraine needed to better prepare its reserve forces, he said.
Joe Biden plans to meet with congressional leaders on Tuesday for discussions including a stalled national security bill that provides assistance to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, according to the US president’s aides.
Rishi Sunak, Britain’s prime minister, has urged the west to be “bolder” in seizing Russian assets and to give Ukraine any interest already accrued on frozen Russian funds.
Russia’s defence ministry said its forces had taken a more advantageous position near Avdiivka in Ukraine and repelled counterattacks.
Andriy Yermak, Zelenskiy’s chief of staff, said Russia could be invited to a peace summit if the Kremlin “want[s] to genuinely end this war”.
Updated
Miranda Bryant, our Nordic correspondent, has this write up of Hungary’s vote to approve Sweden’s Nato membership.
Hungary’s parliament has approved Sweden’s Nato membership nearly two years after the historically neutral country applied to join the western military alliance, bringing to an end months of limbo and diplomatic wrangling.
The vote, which took place in Budapest on Monday, followed Friday’s meeting between the Swedish prime minister, Ulf Kristersson, and his Hungarian counterpart, Viktor Orbán, in which they agreed to put aside their differences – saying they were “prepared to die for each other”.
The two countries signed a new military agreement during a warm yet tightly stage-managed joint press conference in the Hungarian capital, in which Sweden promised to sell four new Gripen planes to add to the 14 Hungary has previously bought.
Turkey gave its approval to the Nordic country’s Nato ratification last month, leaving Hungary the last remaining country to do so – despite assurances from Orbán that it would not be the final Nato member to sign.
The turnaround came after the ruling Fidesz parliamentary group leader suggested last week that the issue be raised in Hungary’s parliament on Monday when it reopened after its winter break.
Hungary becomes final Nato member to approve Sweden's membership into alliance
Hungary’s parliament has approved a bill to allow Sweden to join Nato, clearing the way for the Nordic country to join the alliance after months of delay.
Speaking to parliament before the vote, Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán said he recommended parliamentarians vote in favour of Sweden’s ascension to Nato because is strengthens “Hungary’s security [and will work towards ending] the killing and destruction [in Ukraine] where hundreds of thousands died and millions have fled their homeland”.
Swedish prime minister Ulf Kristersson hailed the news, calling it a historic day and adding that Sweden is ready take its responsibility in the alliance. Nato’s general-secretary Jens Stoltenberg said he welcomes the vote.
Hungary was the last among the 31 members of the alliance to ratify Sweden’s membership after months of foot-dragging by the ruling Fidesz party on the matter.
Victor Orbán recommends Hungary votes in favour of Swedish accession to Nato
Orbán said he recommends parliamentarians to vote in favour of Sweden’s ascension to Nato because is strengthens “Hungary’s security [and will work towards ending] the killing and destruction [in Ukraine] where hundreds of thousands died and millions have fled their homeland”.
Updated
Viktor Orbán is speaking now. He said “it is important that before we admit a new member to this alliance, we first settle our disputes. We have a long and controversial relationship with the Scandinavian countries, several people from outside have tried to settle our disputes. This did not help, instead it hindered the case.
“Hungary is a sovereign country and does not tolerate others dictating to it, whether it is about the content or timing of decisions.”
Updated
The Hungarian parliament is about to vote on Sweden’s ascension to Nato. We will be bringing you the latest.
Several Nato and EU members considering sending soldiers to Ukraine, Slovak PM says
Reuters reports that several Nato and European Union members are considering sending soldiers to Ukraine on a bilateral basis, Slovak prime minister Robert Fico said on Monday.
Fico, who has long opposed military supplies to Ukraine and has taken a position seen by some critics as pro-Russian, offered no details and other European leaders did not immediately comment on his remarks.
He was speaking ahead of a meeting of European leaders in Paris that he is due to attend later on Monday.
“I will limit myself to say that these theses (in preparation for the Paris meeting) imply a number of Nato and EU member states are considering that they will send their troops to Ukraine on a bilateral basis,” Fico told a televised briefing after a meeting of Slovakia’s security council.
“I cannot say for what purpose and what they should be doing there,” he said, adding that Slovakia, a member of the EU and the Nato military alliance, would not be sending soldiers to Ukraine.
Fico said he saw a risk of a large escalation of the conflict in Ukraine, and that more information could not be revealed to the public.
About 20 European leaders, including Fico, will gather in Paris on Monday to send Russian president Vladimir Putin a message of European resolve on Ukraine and counter the Kremlin’s narrative that Russia is bound to win a war now entering its third year, France said.
French president Emmanuel Macron has invited European leaders to the Élysée Palace for a working meeting announced at short notice because of what his advisers say is an escalation in Russian aggression over the past few weeks.
Fico said calling the meeting showed the West’s strategy on Ukraine had failed. He said he was going to take part in a constructive spirit although the material for discussions sent “shivers down his spine”.
A Russian prosecutor requested a prison term of two years and 11 months on Monday for veteran human rights activist Oleg Orlov, who is on trial for discrediting Russia’s armed forces, Reuters reports, citing the Memorial human rights organisation.
Orlov, 70, has served for more than two decades as one of the leaders of Memorial, which won a share of the Nobel Peace Prize in 2022 a year after being banned and dissolved in Russia.
A district court last year fined Orlov 150,000 roubles ($1,616) - a relatively light sentence for a critic of the Ukraine war, due to his age and health - after he penned an article saying that Russia under President Vladimir Putin had descended into fascism.
A retrial was ordered after Orlov appealed that verdict and prosecutors then sought a three-year jail sentence, accusing him of “political hatred of Russia”, which he denied.
A final verdict on the case and sentencing will be announced on Tuesday, Memorial said.
Russia has intensified a long-running clampdown on all forms of political dissent and criminalised any deviation from the government line on what Moscow calls its special military operation in Ukraine.
“Russia is going backwards,” Orlov told Reuters in an interview in Moscow last year.
“We left Communist totalitarianism but now have returned to a different kind of totalitarianism. I call it fascism.”
Summary of the day so far...
Here is a roundup of the day so far:
Denmark said it had dropped its investigation into the explosions in 2022 on the Nord Stream pipelines carrying Russian gas to Germany, becoming the second nation to do so after Sweden also closed a separate probe. The multi-billion dollar Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines transporting gas under the Baltic Sea were ruptured by a series of blasts in the Swedish and Danish economic zones in September 2022, releasing vast amounts of methane into the air.
Russian troops have captured the Ukrainian village of Lastochkyne, about five kilometres northwest of Avdiivka, the Russian Defence Ministry said. Earlier on Monday, Ukraine’s military said it had retreated from the village of Lastochkyne in eastern Ukraine, saying the move would help it better contain Russian troops’ westwards advance.
Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny was close to being freed in a prisoner swap at the time of his death, Maria Pevchikh, a Navalny ally, said. Speaking on YouTube, Pevchikh said talks about exchanging Navalny and two unnamed US nationals for Vadim Krasikov, a Russian FSB Security Service hitman in jail in Germany, were in their final stages at the time of his death.
Russia launched 14 attack drones and a barrage of missiles at Ukraine over Sunday night and Monday morning, with air defence systems destroying nine drones as well as three guided missiles over the Kharkiv and Dnipropetrovsk regions, Ukraine’s air air force said. Russia also launched two S-300 missiles from anti-aircraft missile systems and one air-to-surface Kh-31P missile, the air force said.
European leaders are due to gather in Paris on Monday to send Vladimir Putin a message of European resolve on Ukraine and, France has said, to counter the Kremlin’s narrative that Russia is bound to win. Emmanuel Macron, the French president, has invited his European counterparts to the Élysée Palace for a working meeting at short notice because of what his advisers say is an escalation in Russian aggression. The German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, the British foreign secretary, David Cameron, and the Dutch PM, Mark Rutte, as well as leaders from Scandinavian and Baltic countries are among those scheduled to attend.
An attack on Sunday destroyed the train station, shops and homes in the town of Kostiantynivka near the frontline of Ukraine’s two-year-old war against Russia. Police said a guided aerial bomb hit the station and four S-300 missiles followed in the pre-dawn hours. Kostiantynivka lies 30km (18 miles) west of Bakhmut, which fell to Russian forces in May 2023, and north of Avdiivka, captured by the Russians last week.
Volodymyr Zelenskiy has for the first time put a number on Ukrainian soldier deaths, saying 31,000 troops have been killed since Russia’s full-scale invasion. The Ukrainian president told a news conference in Kyiv that he could not disclose the number of wounded because it would help Russian military planning.
Ukraine’s defence minister, Rustem Umerov, said his country was “losing territory” in its grinding war with Russia because “50%” of weapons promised by western partners failed to arrive on time.
Russian forces would attempt another offensive in late May or summer, Zelenskiy said. “We will prepare for their assault. Their assault that began on 8 October has not brought any results, I think.” Ukraine had a “clear” plan for a new counteroffensive, Zelenskiy said, but he could not disclose details. Troop rotations were critically important for the war effort and Ukraine needed to better prepare its reserve forces, he said.
Joe Biden plans to meet with congressional leaders on Tuesday for discussions including a stalled national security bill that provides assistance to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, according to the US president’s aides.
Rishi Sunak, Britain’s prime minister, has urged the west to be “bolder” in seizing Russian assets and to give Ukraine any interest already accrued on frozen Russian funds.
Russia’s defence ministry said its forces had taken a more advantageous position near Avdiivka in Ukraine and repelled counterattacks.
Andriy Yermak, Zelenskiy’s chief of staff, said Russia could be invited to a peace summit if the Kremlin “want[s] to genuinely end this war”.
Updated
The German government is “very interested” in getting to the bottom of the blasts that ruptured the Nord Stream pipelines in 2022, a spokesperson said in Berlin on Monday, after Denmark became the latest country to end its probe into the matter, Reuters reports.
Navalny ally claims he was close to being freed in prisoner swap before death
Reuters reports that Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny was close to being freed in a prisoner swap at the time of his death, Maria Pevchikh, a Navalny ally, said on Monday, repeating her allegation that president Vladimir Putin had him killed.
Speaking on YouTube, Pevchikh said talks about exchanging Navalny and two unnamed US nationals for Vadim Krasikov, a Russian FSB Security Service hitman in jail in Germany, were in their final stages at the time of his death.
Navalny, 47, died at an Arctic penal colony on 16 February. The Kremlin has denied Russia had any involvement in his death. Navalny’s death certificate stated that he died of natural causes, according to his supporters.
Pevchikh did not name the two US nationals in contention to be swapped along with Navalny. But the US has said it is trying to return Evan Gershkovich, a reporter for the Wall Street Journal and Paul Whelan, a former US marine.
“Alexei Navalny could be sitting in this seat right now, right today. That’s not a figure of speech, it could and should have happened,” said Pevchikh.
“Navalny should have been out in the next few days because we got a decision about his exchange. In early February, Putin was offered to exchange the killer, FSB officer Vadim Krasikov, who’s serving time for a murder in Berlin, for two American citizens and Alexei Navalny.”
Pevchikh said she had confirmation that negotiations for the swap were in their final stages on the evening of 15 Febuary.
Navalny, she alleged, had been killed a day later because Putin could not tolerate the thought of him being free.
Pevchikh said Navalny’s allies had been working since the start of the Ukraine war on a plan to get him out of Russia as part of a prisoner exchange involving “Russian spies in exchange for political prisoners”.
She said they had made desperate efforts and tried to find intermediaries, even approaching the late Henry Kissinger, but said western governments had failed to show the necessary political will.
“Officials, American and German, nodded their heads in understanding. They recounted how important it was to help Navalny and political prisoners, they shook hands, made promises and did nothing.”
The Kremlin has responded to a decision made by Denmark to drop its investigation into the 2022 Nord Stream 2 pipeline explosions, saying it was “close to absurdity.”
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said that Denmark had recognised that the blasts had been an act of premeditatd sabotage, but had decided not to go further with the investigation anyway because the case involved Copenhagen’s close allies.
He said Denmark had refused requests to provide information about its investigation.
Russian troops recapture village near occupied city of Avdiivka
Russian troops have captured the Ukrainian village of Lastochkyne, about five kilometres northwest of Avdiivka, Reuters reports, citing the Russian Defence Ministry.
Earlier on Monday, Ukraine’s military said it had retreated from the village of Lastochkyne in eastern Ukraine, saying the move would help it better contain Russian troops’ westwards advance.
“Ukrainian Armed Forces units withdrew from the village of Lastochkyne in order to organise defences … and prevent the enemy from advancing further in a western direction,” Ukrainian military spokesperson Dmytro Lykhoviy said on television.
Updated
Russian president Vladimir Putin will visit Turkey and hold talks with Turkish president Tayyip Erdogan at some point after Russia's March presidential election, the Kremlin said on Monday.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said both leaders' schedules were too packed to meet in person before the election.
The Kremlin on Monday claimed the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) provided support and assistance to Ukrainian intelligence services before 2014, adding it was “well known”.
The Kremlin was responding to a question about a report in the New York Times detailing long-standing intelligence assistance provided to Ukraine by the CIA.
Reuters reports that Kyiv has urged Poland to punish those responsible for spills of a Ukrainian grain cargo at the border over the weekend, deputy prime minister Oleksandr Kubrakov said on Monday.
Around 160 tonnes of Ukrainian grain were destroyed at a Polish railway station amid protests in what a senior Ukrainian official said on Sunday was an act of "impunity and irresponsibility".
"Those who have damaged Ukrainian grain must be found, neutralized, and punished. Two friendly civilized European states are interested in this," Kubrakov said on X.
Polish farmers protesting over what they describe as unfair competition from Ukraine and European Union environment regulations have blocked border crossings with Ukraine as well as motorways, and deliberately spilled Ukrainian produce from train wagons.
Previous incidents of grain being spilled from trains took place on the border with Ukraine last week.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Sunday it was important for Ukraine to maintain close relations with Poland, but that Kyiv was also ready to defend businesses that have been hurt by border blockades by Polish protesters.
"Unfortunately, the blockage continues," Ukrainian border service spokesman Andriy Demchenko said on television.
"In total, 2,200 lorries are queuing on Polish territory and (Polish) farmers are letting several vehicles through (in total) per hour in both directions. More blocked are those lorries coming from Ukraine," he said.
Ukraine has said the blockade caused serious economic losses and has hampered its war effort.
It says cross-border transportation has increased because of the war with Russia and the fact that its main export and imports routes through the Black Sea were blocked.
Farmers across Europe have been demonstrating over a range of grievances, including what they say is unfair competition from abroad, particularly Ukraine, after an EU decision in 2022 to waive duties on Ukrainian food imports in the face of the war with Russia.
Denmark ends Nord Stream blast investigation but concludes deliberate sabotage at play
Denmark on Monday said it had dropped its investigation into the explosions in 2022 on the Nord Stream pipelines carrying Russian gas to Germany, becoming the second nation to do so after Sweden also closed a separate probe, Reuters reports.
The multi-billion dollar Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines transporting gas under the Baltic Sea were ruptured by a series of blasts in the Swedish and Danish economic zones in September 2022, releasing vast amounts of methane into the air.
Russia and the West, at loggerheads over Moscow's invasion of Ukraine in February that year, have pointed fingers at one another. Each has denied any involvement and no one has taken responsibility.
"There is not sufficient grounds to pursue a criminal case in Denmark ... and therefore the Copenhagen Police has decided to conclude the criminal investigation of the explosions," Denmark's police said in a statement.
Police added that they believe there was deliberate sabotage of the gas lines.
Sweden earlier this month dropped its investigation into the explosions saying it lacked jurisdiction in the case but had handed evidence uncovered over to German investigators, which are yet to publish any findings.
Our central and eastern European correspondent Shaun Walker has this analysis of the war as it enters year three.
Volodymyr Zelenskiy has an unenviable task over the coming months. As Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine enters its third year, the Ukrainian president has a very difficult balancing act to manage.
Ukrainian society is exhausted by the war and international support is splintering, leading to a critical shortage of ammunition at the front. At the same time, most Ukrainians are not willing to countenance the idea of a peace deal, given that there would be few mechanisms to force Russia to abide by it, and would risk merely giving Moscow time to replenish its forces and strike Ukraine again.
At a set-piece press conference on Sunday, a day after the second anniversary of the invasion, Zelenskiy underlined the stakes over the next year.
Opening summary
Russia launched 14 attack drones and a barrage of missiles at Ukraine over Sunday night and Monday morning, with air defence systems destroying nine drones as well as three guided missiles over the Kharkiv and Dnipropetrovsk regions, Ukraine’s air air force said. Russia also launched two S-300 missiles from anti-aircraft missile systems and one air-to-surface Kh-31P missile, the air force said.
European leaders are due to gather in Paris on Monday to send Vladimir Putin a message of European resolve on Ukraine and, France has said, to counter the Kremlin’s narrative that Russia is bound to win. Emmanuel Macron, the French president, has invited his European counterparts to the Élysée Palace for a working meeting at short notice because of what his advisers say is an escalation in Russian aggression. The German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, the British foreign secretary, David Cameron, and the Dutch PM, Mark Rutte, as well as leaders from Scandinavian and Baltic countries are among those scheduled to attend.
An attack on Sunday destroyed the train station, shops and homes in the town of Kostiantynivka near the frontline of Ukraine’s two-year-old war against Russia. Police said a guided aerial bomb hit the station and four S-300 missiles followed in the pre-dawn hours. Kostiantynivka lies 30km (18 miles) west of Bakhmut, which fell to Russian forces in May 2023, and north of Avdiivka, captured by the Russians last week.
Volodymyr Zelenskiy has for the first time put a number on Ukrainian soldier deaths, saying 31,000 troops have been killed since Russia’s full-scale invasion. The Ukrainian president told a news conference in Kyiv that he could not disclose the number of wounded because it would help Russian military planning.
Ukraine’s defence minister, Rustem Umerov, said his country was “losing territory” in its grinding war with Russia because “50%” of weapons promised by western partners failed to arrive on time.
Russian forces would attempt another offensive in late May or summer, Zelenskiy said. “We will prepare for their assault. Their assault that began on 8 October has not brought any results, I think.” Ukraine had a “clear” plan for a new counteroffensive, Zelenskiy said, but he could not disclose details. Troop rotations were critically important for the war effort and Ukraine needed to better prepare its reserve forces, he said.
Joe Biden plans to meet with congressional leaders on Tuesday for discussions including a stalled national security bill that provides assistance to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, according to the US president’s aides.
Rishi Sunak, Britain’s prime minister, has urged the west to be “bolder” in seizing Russian assets and to give Ukraine any interest already accrued on frozen Russian funds.
Russia’s defence ministry said its forces had taken a more advantageous position near Avdiivka in Ukraine and repelled counterattacks.
Andriy Yermak, Zelenskiy’s chief of staff, said Russia could be invited to a peace summit if the Kremlin “want[s] to genuinely end this war”.
Updated
