Closing summary
The White House could be prepared to send Ukraine long-range Army Tactical Missile Systems (Atacms) if Congress approves a new funding package, NBC News reported.
The Red Cross said it was trying to find out what happened to 23,000 people who have disappeared over the course of Russia’s war in Ukraine. The International Committee of the Red Cross said it was seeking to determine whether they had been captured, killed or had lost contact after fleeing their homes,
Russia’s defence ministry said on Monday that Ukraine previously poisoned the Moscow-installed governors of Ukraine’s Kherson and Luhansk regions, though both were still alive. In an online briefing, Moscow said Ukraine poisoned Moscow-appointed Kherson head Vladimir Saldo in August 2022 and Luhansk governor Leonid Pasechnik in December 2023.
European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, has won the backing of her German centre-right party for a second term, putting her in a strong position to clinch another five years running the European Union’s executive body.
Ukrainian troops are facing “heavy fire” from Russian forces in the southern Zaporizhzhia region, a Ukrainian army spokesperson was quoted by AFP as saying. It comes after Russia said it had taken full control of the eastern Ukrainian city of Avdiivka, its biggest gain since capturing Bakhmut last May, after a retreat by Ukrainian troops.
Ukraine’s military said it shot down two more Russian warplanes used to drop highly destructive guided aerial bombs on Kyiv’s troops, army chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said. The destroyed planes were an Su-34 fighter-bomber and an Su-35 fighter, Syrskyi wrote on Telegram. Over the weekend, Ukraine said it shot down three Russian Su-34s and one Su-35.
Yulia Navalnaya, the widow of Alexei Navalny, said she would continue the work of the Russian opposition leader as she accused Vladimir Putin of killing him. “I want to live in a free Russia, I want to build a free Russia,” Navalnaya said. “Vladimir Putin killed my husband,” she continued, adding that she would work with the Russian people to battle with the Kremlin to create a new Russia. “By killing Alexei, Putin killed half of me - half of my heart and half of my soul,” Navalnaya said. Navalny’s mother and his lawyers were not allowed into the morgue in the Russian town of Salekhard, near the prison colony where authorities said he died, Navalny’s spokesperson, Kira Yarmysh, said earlier.
Speaking on his way into the summit of foreign ministers in Brussels on Monday, Estonia’s foreign minister, Margus Tsahkna, called Vladimir Putin a “murderer” and said Ukraine urgently needs more ammunition.
The Kremlin said that the west’s reaction to Alexei Navalny’s death was “absolutely unacceptable”. “We consider it absolutely unacceptable to make such, well, frankly obnoxious statements,” the Kremlin’s spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, told reporters.
Austria’s defence minister, Klaudia Tanner, announced the procurement of 225 Pandur armoured personnel carriers for around €1.8bn (£1.5bn). The procurement is “an investment in the future, the security and the Austrian economy,” Tanner said during a press conference.
Belgium’s foreign minister, Hadja Lahbib, has called on the EU to develop an army amid increasing nervousness about Russia’s capacity to defeat Ukraine.
Journalists at Mediazona, a Russian independent media outlet, together with BBC Russia, confirmed the names of over 44,000 Russian soldiers who have been killed since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine two years ago.
Tests on Alexei Navalny’s body will take 14 days to complete, Ivan Zhdanov, an ally of the late Russian opposition leader, said on Monday, citing an investigator.
Earlier on Monday, Navalny’s aides said his mother and his lawyers had not been allowed into the morgue in the Russian town of Salekhard near the prison colony where authorities said he had died.
In London, a Foreign Office minister is shortly expected to make a statement in the House of Commons following the death of Alexei Navalny, No 10 has said. You can follow all of the latest UK political coverage in this blog.
Updated
European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, has vowed to defend democracy from those who sought to destroy it as she won the backing from German conservatives for another five-year term running the EU’s executive body (see earlier post at 12.50 for more details).
“The most important thing is democracy, the rule of law that we defend and the peace that we have together,” von der Leyen said at a news conference in Berlin.
She said her election campaign wanted to make it clear to Vladimir Putin and far-right parties in Europe that “democracy in Europe is in their way”.
“They want to destroy it, they want to destroy Europe and that is why it is so important that people help to ensure that their Europe is preserved,” she said.
Biden administration considering supplying Ukraine with long-range missiles - report
The White House could be prepared to send Ukraine long-range Army Tactical Missile Systems (Atacms) if Congress approves a new funding package, NBC News reported.
The US outlet reported:
After months of requests from Ukrainian officials, the Biden administration is working toward providing Ukraine with powerful new long-range ballistic missiles, according to two US officials.
Late last year, the US began to supply Ukraine with Army Tactical Missile Systems, known as Atacms, but so far it has provided only the older medium-range Atacms. Now, the U.S. is leaning toward sending the longer-range version of the missile, the officials said, which would allow Ukraine to strike farther inside the Russian-held Crimean Peninsula.
But US funding for arms shipments to Ukraine remains uncertain because of opposition from former President Donald Trump and his Republican allies in Congress.
Last week the Senate passed a $95bn foreign aid package for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan. But it’s not clear whether or when the GOP-controlled House will vote on the measure or whether it would survive the vote…
Defence officials told NBC News that the US has a limited inventory of Atacms and that it is not likely to send them to Ukraine without money to replenish US stockpiles.
If Congress approves more funding for Ukraine, the US could include the long-range Atacms in one of the first packages of military aid paid for with that money, according to the two US officials.
The US also has ammunition and artillery ready to send to Ukraine immediately if the funding is approved, the officials added.
Germany is to propose a new batch of sanctions against Russia over the death of Alexei Navalny.
“We have seen the brutal force with which the Russian president represses his own citizens who take to the streets to demonstrate for freedom or write about it in newspapers,” the German foreign minister, Annalena Baerbock, said on Monday. “We will propose new sanctions in light of the death of Alexei Navalny.”
Sanctions could include the use of frozen Russian assets, a move that would be in addition to a levy Belgium exacts from interest on immobilised cash reserves.
I am proposing to EU Member States to rename our Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime the "Navalny Regime".
— Josep Borrell Fontelles (@JosepBorrellF) February 19, 2024
To honour his memory, for his name to be written on the work of the EU in the defence of human rights around the world. pic.twitter.com/yIGfpcDWBE
The death of the Russian opposition leader in a penal colony cast a long shadow over the Brussels meeting, with the EU’s chief diplomat, Josep Borrell, proposing that the EU’s global human rights sanctions regime be renamed.
You can read the full story by the Guardian’s Brussels correspondent, Lisa O’Carroll, here:
Updated
Eleven Ukrainian children were setting off from Russia to Ukraine on Monday to be reunited with their families in the latest transfer under a Qatari-mediated scheme.
The children, aged between two and 16, were hosted at the Qatari embassy in Moscow on Monday ahead of a long journey via Belarus which should see them cross into northwestern Ukraine on Tuesday, AFP reports.
This latest operation reportedly includes several children with special medical needs, including two aged five and six who have chronic conditions.
Red Cross investigating status of 23,000 people who have disappeared during war
The Red Cross said it was trying to find out what happened to 23,000 people who have disappeared over the course of Russia’s war in Ukraine, which is shortly approaching its two-year mark.
The International Committee of the Red Cross said it was seeking to determine whether they had been captured, killed or had lost contact after fleeing their homes, AFP reports.
Shortly after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the ICRC created a special bureau of its Central Tracing Agency (CTA), dedicated to searching for those missing on both sides in the conflict.
“Not knowing what happened to a loved one is excruciating, and this is the tragic reality for tens of thousands of families, who live in a state of constant anguish,” CTA bureau chief, Dusan Vujasanin, said in a statement.
“Families have the right to know what happened to their relatives and, when possible, to exchange news with them.”
The ICRC said that over the past two years it had received more than 115,000 phone calls, online requests, letters and in-person visits from desperate family members from both Russia and Ukraine looking for missing relatives.
By the end of January, the organisation and its partners had helped provide 8,000 families with information, it said.
Updated
The head of Ukraine’s steel giant Metinvest has called Russia’s advance in eastern Ukraine, where its has some of its biggest operations, “alarming” and urged the US to urgently approve a stalled military aid package, Reuters reports.
Russia’s capture of Avdiivka saw it claim full control of Metinvest’s vast Soviet-era coking coal plant on Monday, marking the loss of another of the company’s facilities after the Azovstal steel plant that became a symbol of Ukrainian resistance in the early days of the war.
“The (Russian) advances we have seen in the last week are quite alarming,” Yuriy Ryzhenkov, Metinvest’s chief executive, told Reuters on Monday in the firm’s first reaction to Avdiivka’s fall.
Asked whether Metinvest was now preparing for Pokrovsk and Zaporizhzhia to come under attack, he said the huge scale of the infrastructure meant little could be done other than basic evacuation plans.
“You don’t really prepare for something like that,” he said. “You do as much as possible to avoid that.”
Updated
Donald Trump has reacted to the death of Alexei Navalny.
In a social media post, he wrote:
The sudden death of Alexei Navalny has made me more and more aware of what is happening in our Country.
It is a slow, steady progression, with CROOKED, Radical Left Politicians, Prosecutors, and Judges leading us down a path to destruction. Open Borders, Rigged Elections, and Grossly Unfair Courtroom Decisions are DESTROYING AMERICA. WE ARE A NATION IN DECLINE, A FAILING NATION! MAGA2024
Yulia Navalnaya, widow of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, has addressed EU foreign ministers in Brussels.
“Never forget Russia is not Putin and Putin is not Russia,” she told them.
The upcoming elections in her home country, she said, were “fake” and “should not be recognised by the international community”.
She also implored the EU and the west to “do more to target Putin’s circle/wealthy corrupt oligarch” allies.
Navalnaya, who since Friday is mourning the sudden death of her husband in a penal colony in the Russian arctic, vowed to “continue the work of her husband for a vision of a better and free Russia”.
She told the ministers her husband “was a hero and died a hero”
Josep Borrell, the EU’s foreign policy chief, has said that the bloc’s foreign ministers “expressed the EU’s deepest condolences to Yulia Navalnaya.”
“Vladimir Putin & his regime will be held accountable for the death of Alexei Navalny,” he said.
We expressed the EU’s deepest condolences to Yulia Navalnaya
— Josep Borrell Fontelles (@JosepBorrellF) February 19, 2024
Vladimir Putin & his regime will be held accountable for the death of Alexei @navalny
As Yulia said, Putin is not Russia. Russia is not Putin
We will continue our support to Russia’s civil society & independent media pic.twitter.com/LbXNerR9nI
Finland has summoned the Russian ambassador.
“The Finnish MFA today summoned the Russian Ambassador regarding the death of Alexei Navalny, to emphasise that Russia is responsible and to demand a full and transparent investigation. We continue to call for the release of all political prisoners in Russia,” the ministry said.
Updated
Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskiy is visiting the Kharkiv region today.
In the Kharkiv region today. Battalion command post of the 14th Mechanized Brigade "Prince Roman the Great," which is defending Kupyansk.
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) February 19, 2024
We discussed important issues with the brigade commander, spoke with the warriors, and presented them with awards. It is always an honor to… pic.twitter.com/5HeBa06iFA
“Putin may have got rid of Alexei Navalny but he can’t get rid of his legacy,” said the Czech foreign minister, Jan Lipavský, as EU ministers gather in Brussels.
Today in Brussels, joined by a remarkable woman - @yulia_navalnaya. I made clear that Czechia stands with those seeking a better Russia - one that is free of dictatorship, cronyism, and violence.
— Jan Lipavský (@JanLipavsky) February 19, 2024
Putin may have got rid of Alexei Navalny but he can’t get rid of his legacy. https://t.co/R2LuwEn0Gg
Geert Wilders, the Dutch far-right politician, has railed against Ukrainian refugees.
Writing on social media this morning, he said:
Ukrainians flock to the Netherlands from all over the EU, not because of the war, but for free housing, free healthcare and our jobs.
The Netherlands is once again the village idiot of Europe.
Oekraïners massaal naar Nederland vanuit de hele EU, niet vanwege de oorlog, maar voor gratis huisvesting, gratis zorg en onze banen. Nederland is opnieuw de dorpsgek van Europa. https://t.co/RuTERRd77T
— Geert Wilders (@geertwilderspvv) February 19, 2024
Pictures have now been published of Alexei Navalny’s widow, Yulia, meeting EU foreign ministers at a meeting in Brussels today.
Here she sits with Josep Borrell, the EU’s foreign policy chief.
And again here with Borrell, Luxembourg’s Xavier Bettel and Belgium’s Hadja Lahbib.
Summary of the day so far...
Russia’s defence ministry said on Monday that Ukraine previously poisoned the Moscow-installed governors of Ukraine’s Kherson and Luhansk regions, though both were still alive. In an online briefing, Moscow said Ukraine poisoned Moscow-appointed Kherson head Vladimir Saldo in August 2022 and Luhansk governor Leonid Pasechnik in December 2023.
European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, has won the backing of her German centre-right party for a second term, putting her in a strong position to clinch another five years running the European Union’s executive body.
Ukrainian troops are facing “heavy fire” from Russian forces in the southern Zaporizhzhia region, a Ukrainian army spokesperson was quoted by AFP as saying. It comes after Russia said it had taken full control of the eastern Ukrainian city of Avdiivka, its biggest gain since capturing Bakhmut last May, after a retreat by Ukrainian troops.
Ukraine’s military said it shot down two more Russian warplanes used to drop highly destructive guided aerial bombs on Kyiv’s troops, army chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said. The destroyed planes were an Su-34 fighter-bomber and an Su-35 fighter, Syrskyi wrote on Telegram. Over the weekend, Ukraine said it shot down three Russian Su-34s and one Su-35.
Yulia Navalnaya, the widow of Alexei Navalny, said she would continue the work of the Russian opposition leader as she accused Vladimir Putin of killing him. “I want to live in a free Russia, I want to build a free Russia,” Navalnaya said. “Vladimir Putin killed my husband,” she continued, adding that she would work with the Russian people to battle with the Kremlin to create a new Russia. “By killing Alexei, Putin killed half of me - half of my heart and half of my soul,” Navalnaya said. Navalny’s mother and his lawyers were not allowed into the morgue in the Russian town of Salekhard, near the prison colony where authorities said he died, Navalny’s spokesperson, Kira Yarmysh, said earlier.
Speaking on his way into the summit of foreign ministers in Brussels on Monday, Estonia’s foreign minister, Margus Tsahkna, called Vladimir Putin a “murderer” and said Ukraine urgently needs more ammunition.
The Kremlin said that the west’s reaction to Alexei Navalny’s death was “absolutely unacceptable”. “We consider it absolutely unacceptable to make such, well, frankly obnoxious statements,” the Kremlin’s spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, told reporters.
Austria’s defence minister, Klaudia Tanner, announced the procurement of 225 Pandur armoured personnel carriers for around €1.8bn (£1.5bn). The procurement is “an investment in the future, the security and the Austrian economy,” Tanner said during a press conference.
Belgium’s foreign minister, Hadja Lahbib, has called on the EU to develop an army amid increasing nervousness about Russia’s capacity to defeat Ukraine.
Journalists at Mediazona, a Russian independent media outlet, together with BBC Russia, confirmed the names of over 44,000 Russian soldiers who have been killed since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine two years ago.
Updated
Russian defence ministry says Ukraine poisoned two Moscow-installed governors
Russia’s defence ministry said on Monday that Ukraine previously poisoned the Moscow-installed governors of Ukraine’s Kherson and Luhansk regions, though both were still alive.
In an online briefing, Moscow said Ukraine poisoned Moscow-appointed Kherson head Vladimir Saldo in August 2022 and Luhansk governor Leonid Pasechnik in December 2023.
Kherson and Luhansk regions were among four Ukrainian provinces that Russia declared it had annexed in September 2022, even though it did not fully control any of them.
Both Russian and Ukranian media previously reported Saldo’s poisoning.
Russian-installed authorities in Kherson said in August 2022 that Saldo had fallen sick, but did not say that he had been poisoned. Saldo has since returned to public prominence in the Russian-controlled part of Kherson region.
According to unconfirmed reports, Saldo could have been poisoned by his chef.
Pasechnik’s alleged poisoning has not been previously reported. The defence ministry said he was “severely poisoned with phenolic compounds’.
On 11 December, less than a week after his alleged poisoning, Pasechnik was shown at a press conference in Moscow and appeared healthy.
There have been numerous Ukrainian attacks targeting Moscow-installed puppet officials since Vladimir Putin ordered the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Ursula von der Leyen wins party backing for second term as European Commission president
European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, has won the backing of her German centre-right party for a second term, putting her in a strong position to clinch another five years running the European Union’s executive body.
At a meeting of the party leadership, Germany’s opposition Christian Democrats gave their support to von der Leyen to be their candidate for Commission president, Reuters reports.
It confirms a widespread assumption that von der Leyen would seek another term (see earlier post at 10.16 for more details).
The 65-year-old former German defence minister is now likely to become the candidate of the pan-European centre-right umbrella group, the European People’s Party (EPP), at a congress in Bucharest in March.
“I am taking a very conscious and well-considered decision. I would like to run for a second term in office and I am very grateful to the CDU for nominating me as the top candidate for the EPP today,” von der Leyen said at a news conference following the party meeting in Berlin.
In April 2022, she was among the first European leaders to visit Kyiv, and in June she announced Ukraine was a candidate for EU membership, after overcoming sceptics inside the commission as well as national capitals.
Updated
Ukraine says Russia attacking with 'heavy fire' in Zaporizhzhia
Ukrainian troops are facing “heavy fire” from Russian forces in the southern Zaporizhzhia region, a Ukrainian army spokesperson was quoted by AFP as saying.
Dmytro Lykhoviy said that Russia was launching multiple attacks near the village of Robotyne - one of the few places where Ukraine had managed to regain ground during last year’s counteroffensive.
“The situation is dynamic here, the enemy is inflicting heavy fire,” he said on state TV.
He said Russia had attacked with armoured vehicles on Saturday - “which was repelled” - and was now trying to advance “with small assault groups, supported by armoured vehicles”.
It comes after Russia said it had taken full control of the eastern Ukrainian city of Avdiivka, its biggest gain since capturing Bakhmut last May, after a retreat by Ukrainian troops.
Updated
Russia loses six warplanes in three days, Ukraine says
Ukraine’s military said it shot down two more Russian warplanes used to drop highly destructive guided aerial bombs on Kyiv’s troops, army chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said.
The destroyed planes were an Su-34 fighter-bomber and an Su-35 fighter, Syrskyi wrote on Telegram. Over the weekend, Ukraine said it shot down three Russian Su-34s and one Su-35.
“In just three days, the enemy lost six aircraft,” Oleksandr Pavliuk, Ukraine’s new ground forces chief, said on Telegram.
Russia has not commented on the reported downing of warplanes and the Guardian has not yet verified the claims.
Kyiv accuses Moscow of hitting civilian targets using Su-34s, in particular in the southern Kherson region.
Warsaw fully supports Sweden joining Nato and it would be a mistake if any country blocked this, Poland’s prime minister, Donald Tusk, said, as the alliance waits for Hungary to ratify Stockholm’s application.
“It would be a mistake for one Nato country to block another country’s entry into Nato,” Tusk told a joint press conference with his Swedish counterpart. “Poland and I personally will be ready to give our full support in this matter,” he added.
Sweden’s prime minister, Ulf Kristersson, said on Monday that he looked forward to meeting his Hungarian counterpart, Viktor Orbán.
Orbán said over the weekend that the Hungarian parliament can ratify Sweden’s Nato membership when it convenes for its new spring session on 26 February.
Over the many months since Sweden applied for membership in May 2022, western officials say Hungary did not raise any formal objections or requests connected to the Swedish bid – yet kept delaying its ratification.
Hungary is the only Nato country not yet to have ratified Sweden’s application, a process that requires the backing of all of the alliance’s members.
Orbán’s ruling Fidesz party has cited what it called unfounded Swedish allegations that it has eroded democracy in Hungary as the reason why Sweden’s bid had been held up.
Updated
Navalny's widow says she will continue her husband's work as she accuses Putin of killing opposition leader
Yulia Navalnaya, the widow of Alexei Navalny, said she would continue the work of the Russian opposition leader as she accused Vladimir Putin of killing him.
“I want to live in a free Russia, I want to build a free Russia,” Navalnaya said in a video message entitled “I will continue the work of Alexei Navalny”.
“Vladimir Putin killed my husband,” Navalnaya said, adding that she would work with the Russian people to battle with the Kremlin to create a new Russia.
“By killing Alexei, Putin killed half of me - half of my heart and half of my soul,” Navalnaya said.
“But I still have the other half, and it tells me that I have no right to give up. I will continue the work of Alexei Navalny, continue to fight for our country.”
Navalny's widow Yulia:
— Pjotr Sauer (@PjotrSauer) February 19, 2024
"I will continue Alexei Navalny's work. Continue to fight for our country together with you...Against war and corruption...And I urge you to stand beside me."
Yulia that she "knows why Putin killed Alexei" and "will soon tell about it" pic.twitter.com/jBEM5M2faf
The Kremlin has denied involvement in his death but Western leaders have said they hold the Kremlin responsible for it.
Navalny, 47, died in jail on 16 February at 2.17pm local time, said his official spokesperson, Kira Yarmysh, citing a message from Navalny’s mother and challenging Russia’s official explanation that Navalny died after a fall at the Arctic penal colony where he was being held.
Updated
Alexei Navalny’s widow Yulia will address foreign ministers gathered in Brussels at 12.45pm today, with a separate meeting with the president of the European Council at 1.30pm.
Earlier, the EU’s chief diplomat Josep Borrell said their meeting would send a strong message of support to democrats in Russia.
He said it would “send a message, a political message about how to support opposition, the political opposition inside Russia, against the Putin regime”.
Navalny died in an Arctic prison last week, just days before the two-year mark of Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
“(EU) member states will propose sanctions for sure against those responsible,” said Borrell. “The great responsible is Putin himself.”
“We can go down the institutional structure of the penitentiary system in Russia,” he said, indicating whom the bloc would add to its list of people subjected to asset freezes and travel bans. “But don’t forget who is really responsible for Navalny’s death.”
Ukraine shot down four drones launched by Russia overnight on Sunday, the Ukrainian air force said in an update on Monday morning.
The drones were launched in the direction of Kharkiv region from Russia’s Belgorod region, the air force wrote on Telegram.
Journalists confirm identities of over 44,000 Russian soldiers killed in Ukraine
Journalists have confirmed the names of over 44,000 Russian soldiers who have been killed since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine two years ago.
Through open source research, Mediazona, a Russian independent media outlet, together with BBC Russia, confirmed the names of 44,654 Russian soldiers who had been killed since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Since Mediazona’s last update in early February, the names of 1,194 Russian soldiers have been added to the list of casualties.
The journalists specify that the actual figures are likely considerably higher since the information they have verified so far comes from public sources, including obituaries, posts by relatives, news in regional media, and reports by local authorities.
In the past two weeks, 15 military personnel with ranks from Lieutenant Colonel and higher have been added to the list…
Total estimates of Russia’s casualties since the full-scale invasion vary widely. Senior US defence officials estimate that about 315,000 Russian troops had either been killed or injured so far in the war.
As of 18 February, the General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces says that Russia lost 402,430 troops in Ukraine since the beginning of its full-scale invasion on 24 February, 2022.
At least 90 people have now been punished in Moscow and St Petersburg after the protests in Alexei Navalny’s name over the weekend, according to the human rights organisation, OVD-Info.
In the Russian capital, Moscow, 20 people were sentenced to various amounts of prison time - ranging form one day to nine days - and two people were fined 10,000 rubles (£85), BBC News reports.
Updated
Von der Leyen poised to seek second term as president of the European Commission
Ursula von der Leyen will announce she plans to seek a second term as president of the European Commission at a meeting of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party in Berlin on Monday.
The head of the most powerful institution in Brussels, von der Leyen, 65, has been cautiously guarding her intentions for the past year, deflecting all questions on the subject.
But announcing her candidacy for another five years will mark the first step in a four-month battle for election that could involve a wider field, with some speculating Estonia’s prime minister, Kaja Kallas, could be a candidate for the job in the summer when the final choice will be made.
You can read the full story by the Guardian’s Brussels correspondent, Lisa O’Carroll, here:
Updated
Kremlin says west's reaction to Navalny's death is 'absolutely unacceptable'
The Kremlin said that the west’s reaction to Alexei Navalny’s death was “absolutely unacceptable”.
“We consider it absolutely unacceptable to make such, well, frankly obnoxious statements,” the Kremlin’s spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, told reporters.
“These statements, of course, cannot cause any damage to our head of our state,” Peskov said.
Peskov said the investigation into Navalny’s death was ongoing and is being conducted in accordance with Russian law.
Asked how Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, reacted to news of the death, Peskov said: “I have nothing to add.”
The death of the jailed Kremlin critic drew swift condemnation from international leaders, senior western officials and Russian opposition figures on Friday, who placed the blame firmly on Russia and called the death a “further sign of Putin’s brutality”.
On Saturday, G7 foreign ministers gathered at the annual Munich security conference called on Russia to fully clarify the circumstances of Navalny’s death.
The US president, Joe Biden, on Friday blamed “Putin and his thugs” for Navalny’s death and warned there could be consequences.
Updated
Germany is proposing to host a Ukraine reconstruction conference at the end of June in Berlin, the foreign minister, Annalena Baerbock, has said.
She also said she hoped Hungary would be backing the 13th round of sanctions, following hesitation last week.
Arriving at the foreign ministers summit in Brussels, she promised the EU would continue to support the democracy in Russia for which Alexei Navalny had fought.
Baerbock said:
President (Putin) is taking action against freedom, the freedom of Ukraine, he is also taking action... against the freedom of his own country. We have not only seen this in the most brutal his brutality against freedom in Russia.
Alexei Navalny had to pay with his life. Our thoughts are not only with with his family, with the many, many courageous people around Alexei Navalny who stand up for freedom in Russia, but we will also be here today with Yulia Navalny here in Brussels today, because the spirit of freedom can never be silenced forever.
Updated
'Putin is a murderer,' Estonia's foreign minister says
Estonia’s foreign minister, Margus Tsahkna, did not mince his words on his way into the summit of foreign ministers in Brussels, calling Vladimir Putin a “murderer” and saying Ukraine urgently needs more ammunition.
“Putin is a murderer. He has murdered one person who fought for freedom for democracy and this is exactly why we have to keep going.”
“I’ve been asked many times during the last couple of days what our response is [to Navalny’s death] but the best response and most clear response would be this: finally do our job.
“We have to support Ukraine. We have to give support to Ukraine by military ways and by political ways. We have to give Ukraine this 1mn round of ammunition that EU actually has promised a year ago for this March,” he said.
EU diplomats have acknowledged that the EU has failed to meet this ammunition target, admitting recently it was only producing 500,000 rounds of ammunition and that the target would not be met until the end of the year.
Tsahkna’s remarks come as neighbouring Lithuanian foreign minister sharply criticised fellow EU leaders for not doing enough to see a decisive defeat of Russia in Ukraine.
Austria to purchase 225 tanks for around €1.8bn to strengthen its military
Austria’s defence minister, Klaudia Tanner, announced the procurement of 225 Pandur armoured personnel carriers for around €1.8bn (£1.5bn).
The procurement is “an investment in the future, the security and the Austrian economy,” Tanner said during a press conference.
Over 220 Austrian companies are involved in the tank’s manufacturing, the managing director of the producer, General Dynamics European Land Systems, added.
Updated
The EU will hopefully decide soon on a 13th package of sanctions against Russia, Germany’s foreign minister, Annalena Baerbock, said in Brussels on Monday, adding that this would take into consideration the death of Alexei Navalny.
Lithuania minister: It is a 'miracle' Ukraine has withstood Russian attacks with such low ammunition
Lithuania’s foreign minister, Gabrielius Landsbergis, has launched a scathing attack on his EU counterparts for failing to step up to the plate to provide Ukraine with enough ammunition to defeat Russia.
On arrival at the summit of foreign ministers in Brussels, he said it was a “miracle that it has been able to withstand so far” given the “6:1” advantage Russia has in terms of ammunition.
“We spent two years discussing; trying to figure out the way that we can help Ukraine bit by bit,” he said.
“But unfortunately, since we did not fall formulate a strategic goal for what we are trying to achieve, we’re unable to declare that we’re in this for the victory.”
He urged the EU to stop dithering about military funds, with Germany doing the heavy lifting with €17bn contributed so far and Europe still debating a fund of €5bn a year.
“Europe should be able or could be able to form a fund of €5bn when, you know, Germany alone is considering sending €7bn. So for the 27 countries of Europe, €5 bn should be a day’s work, an hour’s work.”
Landsbergis also told journalists:
The risk of war is not is not contained. And that is that the skeptical Russians are continuing and and we’re continuing debating.
I said that the main problem from the very onset of the war is that here in the west we could not; we were not able to formulate a goal of what we want to achieve.
Updated
Belgium minister calls for EU to develop army amid fears of Russian expansion
Belgium’s foreign minister, Hadja Lahbib, has called on the EU to develop an army amid increasing nervousness about Russia’s capacity to defeat Ukraine.
She said:
It’s been almost two years since Russia attacked Ukraine, trying to subjugate, to invade this country hungry for democracy and freedom, just like Putin’s fiercest opponent, Alexei Navalny, who died this weekend.
Here too, we must become aware of what is at stake today. If Ukraine is invaded, if Russia manages to expand, it is a dictatorship that will expand and move a little closer to the European Union.
It is essential that, here too, we are united, that we develop a defence capacity together, that we also develop an army, not only to defend our territory, but also our values.
Navalny's mother not allowed into the morgue in Russia - spokesperson
Alexei Navalny’s mother and his lawyers were not allowed into the morgue in the Russian town of Salekhard, near the prison colony where authorities said he died, Navalny’s spokesperson, Kira Yarmysh, said.
“One of the lawyers was literally pushed out,” Yarmysh wrote on X, adding that morgue staff would not answer a question about where Navalny’s body was.
Alexey’s mother and his lawyers arrived at the morgue early in the morning. They were not allowed to go in. One of the lawyers was literally pushed out. When the staff was asked if Alexey’s body was there, they did not answer
— Кира Ярмыш (@Kira_Yarmysh) February 19, 2024
Navalny’s mother, Lyudmila Navalnaya, and his lawyer travelled over the weekend to the notorious “Polar Wolf” IK-3 penal colony in Russia’s Arctic north, where Navalny had been held since last year, to track down his body, but received contradicting information from various institutions over its location and left without recovering or seeing her son.
Navalny, the Russian opposition leader who was a fierce Kremlin critic, had been serving a decades-long prison term on various charges, the latest of which was a 19-year sentence on six counts, in the remote penal colony within the Arctic Circle. He had been behind bars since returning from Germany in January 2021 for charges that he rejected as politically motivated.
The 47-year-old former lawyer fell unconscious and died on Friday after a walk at the “Polar Wolf” penal colony in Kharp, about 1,900km (1,200 miles) northeast of Moscow, the prison service said.
Navalny’s mother was told on Saturday at the prison colony that he had died from “sudden death syndrome”, a vague term for different hearth conditions that end in death, according to Navalny’s team.
Yarmysh said Lyudmila Navalnaya, 69, and lawyers were told that the official verification of the cause of death had been extended and that it was unclear how long it would take.
“The cause of death is ‘undetermined’,” Yarmysh said, adding that the Russian authorities were lying and stalling.
Updated
Summary
Good morning, this is the Guardian’s live coverage of the Russian war against Ukraine. Here are the latest developments:
Russian troops launched multiple attacks to the west of just-captured Avdiivka in a bid for more gains, a Ukrainian army spokesperson said on Sunday. Kyiv also announced it had opened a war crimes investigation after two separate reports of Russian troops shooting captured Ukrainian soldiers emerged. On Monday, state news of Russia said its troops had also taken control of the coking coal plant where some Ukrainian troops had remained. There was no verification of this from trustworthy sources.
Russia’s Avdiivka offensive is now likely to be reaching the end of its potential, or the “culmination” point, as the Ukrainians are able to withdraw to prepared lines of defence not far from Avdiivka, the the Institute for the Study of War has assessed as of Monday morning. The ISW acknowledged there were varying accounts of the strength of Ukraine’s new defensive positions.
Ukraine’s forced withdrawal from Avdiivka in the eastern Donetsk region handed Moscow its first major territorial gain since May last year – a gain made at great cost of casualties and equipment. “The enemy is trying to actively develop its offensive,” said Dmytro Lykhoviy, a spokesperson for the Ukrainian army commander leading Kyiv’s troops in the area. Ukraine’s general staff reported failed Russian attacks on the village of Lastochkyne, around 2km (one mile) to the west of Avdiivka’s northern edge. “But our considerable forces are entrenched there,” Lykhoviy said.
Lykhoviy also reported failed Russian attacks near the villages of Robotyne and Verbove in the southern Zaporizhzhia region – one of the areas where Ukraine managed to regain ground during last year’s counteroffensive. He said it would be “very difficult” for Russia to break through there, given heavy Ukrainian defensive lines and natural conditions of the terrain. “The situation in the Zaporizhzhia sector is stable … No positions have been lost. The enemy was kicked in the teeth and retreated.”
Denmark has decided to donate all its artillery to Ukraine, the Danish prime minister, Mette Frederiksen, told the 60th Munich Security Conference on Saturday, pointing out that other European countries are also holding munitions they do not immediately need. “If you ask Ukrainians, they are asking us for ammunition now, artillery now,” he said. “From the Danish side, we decided to donate our entire artillery.”
The widow of Alexei Navalny, who died aged 47 in highly suspicious circumstances in an Arctic prison on Friday, will join EU foreign ministers in Brussels on Monday, days before the two-year mark of Russia’s war on Ukraine. Navalny was serving a three-decade sentence that was imposed for being an opponent of Vladimir Putin. He was subjected to years of persecution that included poisoning with a nerve agent in Siberia in 2020.
The EU foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, announced the visit by Yulia Navalnaya to highlight “support to freedom fighters in Russia and honour the memory of Alexei Navalny”. Ministers are due to discuss military support for Ukraine and what would be the EU’s 13th package of sanctions against Putin’s regime since the 24 February 2022 full-scale invasion.
Japan promised more aid for Ukraine as it hosted the country’s prime minister, Denys Shmyhal, on Monday in Tokyo. Japan has pledged more than $10bn worth of financial aid but cannot provide direct military support because the export of lethal weapons is forbidden. “Japan has stood with and continues to stand with Ukraine,” said Japan’s prime minister, Fumio Kishida. He announced a new bilateral tax treaty with Ukraine and negotiations towards an investment treaty.
More than 100 Kremlin documents obtained by a European intelligence service and reviewed by the Washington Post reportedly show that Russia ran a disinformation campaign to undermine Volodymyr Zelenskiy. The US publication said Kremlin instructions had “resulted in thousands of social media posts and hundreds of fabricated articles” that “tried to exploit what were then rumoured tensions” between Zelenskiy and his top army commander, Valerii Zaluzhnyi.
