Summary
Volodymyr Zelenskiy, the president of Ukraine, visited Ukrainian troops on Tuesday in Avdiivka, Donetsk region, his office have said. Zelenskiy listened to commanders’ reports on the battlefield situation and gave awards to soldiers, it said.
A Russian judge has rejected an appeal by the Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich against the decision to hold him in detention before his trial on charges of espionage.
Ukraine’s government has criticised Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva for his efforts to broker a peace deal between Kyiv and Moscow, and invited the Brazilian leader to visit the war-torn country and see for himself the consequences of the Russian invasion.
The Ukrainian First Deputy Prime Minister, Yulia Svyrydenko, has said that the Black Sea grain deal faced the threat of being halted.
“It is under threat of being halted and Russia has again blocked the inspection of ships,” Svyrydenko told a news conference in Warsaw.
Poland has said that it has reached an agreement on restarting transit of Ukrainian grains through its territory as of Friday, according to Polish Agriculture Minister Robert Telus.
The maker of Sweden’s Absolut vodka has said it is ceasing all exports to Russia after calls to boycott the brand flared up in Sweden and on social media, Agence France-Presse reported.
Security concerns have prompted Russian authorities this year to cancel traditional nationwide victory day processions where people carry portraits of relatives who fought against Nazi Germany in the second world war, Reuters has reported a lawmaker as saying on Tuesday.
Russia is “not yet” planning to block Wikipedia, its minister of digital affairs said on Tuesday as a Moscow court handed the online encyclopaedia another fine for failing to remove content Russia deems illegal.
Reuters reports that the US Justice Department on Tuesday announced new charges against four Americans in Florida and three Russians for allegedly working on behalf of the Russian government “to conduct a multi-year foreign malign influence campaign in the United States.”
The superseding indictment from a federal grand jury in Tampa adds charges to Moscow resident Aleksandr Viktorovich Ionov and Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) officers Aleksey Borisovich Sukhodolov and Yegor Sergeyevich Popov, the department said.
Additionally, a separate unsealed case in Washington charges Russian national Natalia Burlinova “with conspiring with an FSB officer to act as an illegal agent of Russia in the United States.”
Ukraine’s government has criticised Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva for his efforts to broker a peace deal between Kyiv and Moscow, and invited the Brazilian leader to visit the war-torn country and see for himself the consequences of the Russian invasion.
The comments came a day after Russia’s minister of foreign affairs, Sergei Lavrov, visited Brasília, and praised Lula’s calls for a negotiated settlement.
A spokesperson for Ukraine’s foreign ministry said on Tuesday that Kyiv was watching Lula’s efforts to resolve the conflict “with interest” but criticised the Brazilian government for giving equal weight to “the victim and the aggressor”.
The spokesperson, Oleg Nikolenko, confirmed that Lula had been invited to visit Kyiv “to understand the real causes of Russian aggression and its consequences for global security”.
Lula has refused to supply weapons to Ukraine and suggested that Brazil could lead a “peace club” of neutral countries to mediate discussions between the two sides, as part of his efforts to return the South American country to international relevance after the isolation of the Jair Bolsonaro years.
A non-aligned approach is coherent with Brazil’s longstanding foreign policy tradition of peace and cooperation. But the west increasingly views Brazil’s neutrality in the war as skewed towards Russia.
The Ukrainian First Deputy Prime Minister, Yulia Svyrydenko, has said that the Black Sea grain deal faced the threat of being halted.
“It is under threat of being halted and Russia has again blocked the inspection of ships,” Svyrydenko told a news conference in Warsaw.
“It is extremely important for us to unblock transit, otherwise Ukraine will remain blocked. We cannot together with our partners give Russia the opportunity to take advantage of this situation,” she said.
This follows the news that Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is expected to discuss the Black Sea grain deal with United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres during a visit to New York next week.
Poland has said that it has reached an agreement on restarting transit of Ukrainian grains through its territory as of Friday, according to Polish Agriculture Minister Robert Telus.
Reuters reports:
Pressure has been mounting on Brussels to work out a European Union-wide solution after Warsaw and Budapest announced bans on some imports from Ukraine at the weekend, with other countries in eastern Europe saying they are also considering action.
Farmers say cheap imports from Ukraine, which has faced difficulties exporting by sea due to Russia’s invasion, have lowered prices and reduced their sales.
In Poland, the issue has created a problem in an election year for the ruling nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) party that relies on rural areas for much of its support.
Ukraine had said its priority was to reopen transit through Poland.
“We managed to create such mechanisms that will ensure that not a single ton of grain will remain in Poland,” Telus told journalists after two days of talks in Warsaw.
Russia has warned that the outlook for the deal allowing the safe wartime export of grain and fertiliser from Ukrainian Black Sea ports beyond the 18 May is “not so great”.
Reuters reports:
“Of course, he will be raising that during his bilateral (meeting with Guterres),” Vassily Nebenzia, the Russian U.N. Ambassador told reporters.
“Nothing is moving, efforts are being made but unfortunately they are fruitless for us,” he said, referring to U.N. attempts to help facilitate Russia’s own food and fertiliser exports despite broad Western sanctions imposed on Moscow over the invasion.
“So far, no optimistic news ... We clearly said we want to see progress,” Nebenzia said.
The grain export deal was brokered by the United Nations and Turkey in July last year to help tackle a global food crisis that U.N. officials said had been worsened by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the most deadly war in Europe since World War Two.
It was extended in November and then last month Russia only agreed to renew the deal for at least 60 days, half the intended period. Moscow said it would only consider a further extension if several demands in relation to its own exports were met.
To help persuade Russia to allow Ukraine to resume Black Sea grain exports, a separate three-year pact was also struck in July in which the U.N. agreed to help Russia export food and fertiliser.
According to the TASS news agency, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is expected to discuss the Black Sea grain deal with United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres during a visit to New York next week.
The Black Sea grain export deal was renewed for 60 days last month, but Russia has signalled it may not agree to extend it further unless the West removes what it says are obstacles to the export of Russian grain and fertiliser.
Agence France-Presse in Stockholm reports that the maker of Sweden’s Absolut vodka has said it is ceasing all exports to Russia after calls to boycott the brand flared up in Sweden and on social media.
The Absolut Company said it had “decided to stop the export of its brand to Russia”.
Stephanie Durroux, the firm’s chief executive, said in a statement that the company was exercising its “duty of care” towards its employees and partners. “We cannot expose them to massive criticism in all forms,” she added.
Absolut’s owner, Pernod Ricard, confirmed earlier in April that it had resumed some exports to Russia after previously halting them in March 2022, soon after Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine.
The company noted that since November last year, Russia had changed importation regulations allowing for parallel imports of alcohol without the permission of authorised importers, thus bypassing the EU sanctions.
Pernod Ricard stressed that the decision to resume exports was made in part to protect its staff in Russia from “criminal liability” and accusations of “intentional bankruptcy”.
Here are some images Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s visit to the Donetsk region.
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy visits an injured Ukrainian service member at a military hospital, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Donetsk region, Ukraine April 18, 2023. Photograph: Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/Reuters
Updated
Volodymyr Zelenskiy has visited Ukrainian troops in Avdiivka in eastern Ukraine, according to officials from the country who released video footage of the trip. The president heard reports from military commanders on the situation on the battlefield and handed out awards to soldiers.
Updated
Security concerns have prompted Russian authorities this year to cancel traditional nationwide victory day processions where people carry portraits of relatives who fought against Nazi Germany in the second world war, Reuters has reported a lawmaker as saying on Tuesday.
Since 2012, the “immortal regiment” processions have become an important feature of national celebrations on 9 May, a public holiday when Russia honours the 27 million Soviet citizens who died in the struggle to defeat Adolf Hitler’s invasion.
But Tass news agency quoted the lawmaker Yelena Tsunayeva as saying the marches would not take place this year since a number of regions, including Russian-annexed Crimea, had pulled out “because of the threat”.
Tsunayeva did not specify a threat, although Russia has claimed that Ukraine has been behind bomb attacks on Russian soil.
Tass quotes Tsunayeva as saying: “This is still a single indivisible story, the immortal regiment procession, if somewhere people do not have such an opportunity, let’s use other options.”
She said everyone was invited to post photos of their veteran relatives on social networks, on clothes, on a car and on the website of the movement.
Vladimir Putin took part in last year’s march in Moscow, carrying a picture of his father.
Updated
Russia’s state-owned news agency Tass reports that the ambassadors of the US, UK and Canada have been summoned to the foreign ministry over their comments about the sentencing yesterday of the opposition activist Vladimir Kara-Murza.
Tass quotes the ministry saying:
In connection with gross interference in the internal affairs of Russia and activities that do not correspond to diplomatic status, the ambassadors of the US, Britain and Canada have been summoned to the foreign ministry.
The report also cites Russia’s foreign ministry spokesperson, Maria Zakharova, saying she “stressed that Moscow considers unacceptable the statements of British ambassador Deborah Bronnert after the sentence of Kara-Murza and warned London against the politicisation of international human rights issues. Zakharova also called ‘the height of cynicism’ the demands of the US and Canadian ambassadors to release Kara-Murza, while in their homeland human rights are shamelessly violated and dissidents are persecuted.”
Updated
Russia is “not yet” planning to block Wikipedia, its minister of digital affairs said on Tuesday as a Moscow court handed the online encyclopaedia another fine for failing to remove content Russia deems illegal.
“We are not blocking Wikipedia yet, there are no such plans for now,” Interfax news agency quoted the digital affairs minister, Maksut Shadaev, as saying at a data forum in Moscow.
Reuters reports that on Tuesday, Moscow’s Tagansky district dourt fined Wikipedia owner Wikimedia Foundation 800,000 roubles (£7,900/$9,800) for what Russian news agencies said was a failure to remove information considered to be promoting train hopping, where a person rides on the side or top of a train.
The Wikimiedia Foundation has previously been fined for failing to remove what Russian courts have deemed false information about the war in Ukraine.
Updated
Russia’s leading opposition figure, Alexei Navalny, faces the prospect of new criminal charges, one of his lawyers has claimed.
Reuters reports that Vadim Kobzev alleged on Twitter that authorities had provoked Navalny by placing another inmate in his cell, and that Navalny had been given no choice but to drag him out.
He had then been told he would be charged with thwarting prison authorities, which carries a maximum sentence of five years, Kobzev said.
The penitentiary service, which has in the past denied allegations of mistreatment, did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
Poland this month presented a proposal for a new set of sanctions against Russia for waging war against Ukraine, according to a document seen by Reuters on Tuesday, including a ban on pipeline oil and diamond imports.
The written proposal, which a diplomatic source said was delivered to the EU executive European Commission, marks the opening of what is bound to be long and complex negotiations among the bloc’s 27 countries.
All EU members must agree to impose new sanctions. The bloc has already put in place 10 rounds of punitive steps against Russia since Vladimir Putin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Warsaw’s proposal would stop Russian oil imports via the northern leg of the Druzhba pipeline going to Germany. It would end imports of Russian diamonds and natural gas, including LNG, and curb nuclear energy cooperation. Germany and Lithuania are also for nuclear energy sanctions with leniency for those like Hungary and France who trade with Russia.
Hungary, which last week said it had agreed to modify its contract with Russia’s Rosatom for the expansion of the Paks nuclear plant, has so far firmly opposed any sanctions on Russian nuclear energy.
Belgium, home to the world’s biggest diamond trading hub Antwerp, has successfully lobbied against barring Russian imports so far.
Updated
A Russian judge has rejected an appeal by the Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich against the decision to hold him in detention before his trial on charges of espionage.
Gershkovich, 31, is the first US journalist to be detained in Russia on espionage charges since the end of the cold war and, if found guilty, could face up to 20 years in prison.
Russia’s FSB security service has accused him of collecting state secrets about Russia’s military for the benefit of US intelligence, charges that have been roundly condemned as political and unfounded.
Hearings in his case are being held in closed sessions because of the nature of the charges, but cameras were briefly allowed into the courtroom before Tuesday’s hearing started. The court was only deciding whether to hold Gershkovich in pre-trial detention, not on the substance of the case.
It was the first time the outside world has seen proper footage of Gershkovich since his arrest at the end of March. The reporter was standing inside a glass case known informally as an “aquarium”, where defendants in Russian court cases are often held. He appeared calm and was pictured smiling. Marks on one of his wrists appeared to show where he had been kept in handcuffs.
Updated
Zelenskiy visists troops in Avdiivka
Volodymyr Zelenskiy, the president of Ukraine, visited Ukrainian troops on Tuesday in Avdiivka, Donetsk region, his office have said.
Zelenskiy listened to commanders’ reports on the battlefield situation and gave awards to soldiers, it said.
“I have the honour to be here today, to thank you for your service, for defending our land, Ukraine, our families,” Zelenskiy was quoted as saying.
Updated
Ukraine has denied that Russian inspectors have restarted ship inspections under the Black Sea grain deal.
Speaking to Reuters, a senior Ukrainian official who asked not to be identified said: “Nothing has been resolved. There are no inspections.”
Russia’s RIA news agency reported earlier on Tuesday that inspections of ships moving grain from Ukraine had restarted, citing a senior Russian foreign ministry official.
Updated
The US journalist Evan Gershkovich, who denies a Russian accusation that he is a spy, appeared in a Moscow courtroom today at a hearing to appeal against a decision to keep him in pre-trial detention in a former KGB prison until at least 29 May.
Reuters reports:
Gershkovich, a reporter for the Wall Street Journal, looked calm and smiled as he stood in a glass and metal cage, wearing a checked shirt with his arms folded in front of him.
He did not say anything, but turned around when one of the Russian reporters in the courtroom told him to “Hold fast!” and relayed to him that everyone said “Hi”. U.S. Ambassador Lynne Tracy stood nearby.
Russia’s FSB security service arrested Gershkovich on March 29 in the Urals city of Yekaterinburg on espionage charges that carry a possible 20-year prison sentence for collecting what it said were state secrets about the military industrial complex, a charge he denies.
The Kremlin has said Gershkovich, the first U.S. journalist detained in Russia on espionage charges since the end of the Cold War, was caught “red-handed.”
The United States has deemed him “wrongfully detained,” his employer and colleagues have said he is innocent, and President Joe Biden has called his detention illegal.
Tuesday’s hearing is essentially procedural, covering how Gershkovich should be detained as he awaits trial, not about the substance of the charges against him as investigators are still working on the details of the case.
Court documents gave nothing more than basic details about the case. The court said it was forbidden to publish some documents. A Russian lawyer for Gershkovich did not respond to a request for comment.
Gershkovich, the American son of Soviet emigres, is being held at the Lefortovo prison, which in Soviet times was run by the KGB but is now operated by the Federal Penitentiary Service.
Traditionally it has been used to hold those suspected by the FSB of spying and other grave crimes.
Tracy, the US ambassador, said on Monday she had made her first visit to Gershkovich.
“He feels well and is holding up. We reiterate our call for Evan’s immediate release,” Tracy said in a statement.
In Washington, the White House said it hopes to get regular consular access to Gershkovich.
“It was good to get to see him today and again we want to make sure we can continue to do that,” White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said.
The United States last week designated Gershkovich as “wrongfully detained”, in effect saying that the spy charges were bogus and the case was political.
The US hostage envoy has pledged to do “whatever it takes” to bring home Gershkovich and Paul Whelan, an American ex-Marine who was convicted of espionage in 2020 and has also been designated by Washington as wrongfully detained.
A spokesperson for The Wall Street Journal did not respond on Monday to a request for comment.
Updated
Vladimir Putin has visited military headquarters in Russian-controlled Ukraine’s Kherson and Luhansk regions, the Kremlin has said. The president attended a military command meeting in the Kherson region to hear reports of the airborne forces and the ‘Dnieper’ army group and other senior officers on the situation in the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions, both of which Moscow has proclaimed part of Russia.
Russian troops retreated from Kherson, the regional capital, in November, and have been reinforcing their positions on the opposite bank of the Dnipro River in anticipation of a Ukrainian counter-offensive. The Kremlin did not say when Putin attended the meetings.
Switzerland has condemned Russia’s war against Ukraine in the strongest terms, it is very much committed to humanitarian aid for Ukraine and is doing everything possible to seriously implement sanctions against Russia, its president has said today.
At a joint news conference with Olaf Scholz, the German chancellor, Alain Berset said: “We adopted the (EU) sanctions and of course we take this completely seriously and we are simply doing everything that can be done in order to enforce them seriously.”
Updated
Romania’s ruling Social Democrat party (PSD) has said it will ask the coalition government to approve an emergency decree enforcing a temporary ban on Ukrainian grain imports, mirroring similar moves by countries in central and eastern Europe.
Reuters reports:
On Monday, Slovakia joined Poland and Hungary in banning grain imports from Ukraine as even Kyiv’s staunchest allies come under domestic pressure to shield their agriculture markets.
“PSD will ask the governing coalition to make a political decision to enable ... the government to issue the decree,” the party, to which the agriculture minister belongs, said in a statement.
“At the same time, Romania must continue to support Ukraine by facilitating the transit of farm products to other European Union states or to Black Sea commercial routes.”
Updated
Summary of the day so far …
Vladimir Putin has visited military headquarters in Russian-occupied areas Ukraine, the Kremlin has said. Putin was shown on Russian state television disembarking a military helicopter in Russian-held Ukraine and greeting senior military commanders. It was not stated when the visit took place.
The Kremlin said Putin attended a military command meeting in the Kherson region. He heard reports from commanders of the airborne forces and the “Dnieper” army group and other senior officers on the situation in Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions, both of which Moscow has proclaimed part of Russia. The Russian president also visited national guard headquarters in Ukraine’s Luhansk region in the eastern Donbas, which Moscow also claims to have annexed along with adjacent Donetsk region.
Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich has appeared in court to appeal on Tuesday against his detention in Moscow on charges of espionage. The court will hear a complaint filed by Gershkovich against the decision to keep him in custody in Lefortovo prison while the case is being investigated. The hearing is essentially procedural covering how Gershkovich should be detained as he awaits trial, not about the substance of the charges.
Poland and Ukraine will resume negotiations early on Tuesday to try to reopen the transit of food and grains, the Polish agriculture minister told public radio station PR1. The two countries held talks on Monday over bans by central eastern European countries seeking to shelter their farmers from the impact of an influx of cheaper Ukrainian grain.
Russian forces are stepping up their use of heavy artillery and air strikes in the devastated eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, the commander of Ukraine’s ground forces said on Tuesday.
Russia’s defence minister, Sergei Shoigu, told his Chinese counterpart on Tuesday that their countries’ military cooperation was a “stabilising” force in the world and helped to reduce the chances of conflict.
The Belarusian leader, Alexander Lukashenko, held a meeting with the Russian-installed head of Ukraine’s occupied Donetsk region, Denis Pushilin, on Tuesday.
The FT’s Max Seddon has published video from inside the court, noting that “media are allowed to take photos and videos of Evan [Gershkovich] in the cage, but not speak to him. He can’t say anything back either.”
Media are allowed to take photos and videos of Evan in the cage, but not speak to him. He can't say anything back either.
— max seddon (@maxseddon) April 18, 2023
At right, @usembru ambassador to Moscow Lynne Tracey, in the blue jacket. She visited Evan in prison yesterday. pic.twitter.com/Gn9jlwubb0
Updated
Here is the first picture that has come through of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich in court in Moscow.
US Ambassador to Russia Lynne Tracy is also present.
Max Seddon, the FT’s Moscow bureau chief, has tweeted:
The first proper picture of Evan Gershkovich, the WSJ reporter arrested in Russia on absurd charges, in court ahead of his appeal against his jailing today. So surreal to see Evan, who’s covered so many Kafkaesque hearings as a reporter, in the cage
Reuters has just snapped that Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich has appeared in person in a Moscow court, where he is appealing against being detained while awaiting trial.
More details soon …
Russia’s defence minister, Sergei Shoigu, told his Chinese counterpart on Tuesday that their countries’ military cooperation was a “stabilising” force in the world and helped to reduce the chances of conflict. The Chinese defence minister, Li Shangfu, is in Moscow as the countries look to deepen their military cooperation.
Reuters cites Interfax quoting Shoigu saying: “The coordination of our efforts in the international arena has a stabilising effect on the global situation and helps to reduce the potential for conflict.”
Updated
Russia’s state-owned news agency Tass is carrying further details of the meeting between the Belarusian leader Alexander, Lukashenko, and the Russian-imposed leader of the occupied Donetsk People’s Republic, Denis Pushilin, in Minsk.
Tass quotes Lukashenko saying:
I would like, as they say, first-hand, to hear the situation in the Donetsk People’s Republic, if possible. How are we doing there at the front? There are very intense battles going on. Both to the north and to the south. Yes, and in the direction of Donetsk. Shelling, it’s hard for people. And in this situation, what can Belarus do for Donetsk, how can we help? There is a lot of work ahead. We need to recover, we need to revive industrial enterprises, agriculture. In the end, people will live there. This is 100%. And people need to be fed.
Updated
Ukraine says Russian claim Black Sea grain shipments have resumed is untrue
Luke Harding reports for the Guardian from Ukraine:
Ukraine says Russia’s claim that grain shipments in the Black Sea had resumed was “a lie” and said Moscow was continuing to block inspections.
Officials said a statement by Russia’s RIA news agency that the UN-brokered initiative was working were categorically untrue.
They said Russia, for the second time, stopped inspections yesterday of Ukrainian ships waiting to return to port. Inspections had not yet resumed today.
Under the deal signed by Ukraine, Russia and Turkey, Ukraine submits names of bulk carriers each day to be inspected. Last week, and again on Monday, Russia scrubbed up the names, meaning no inspections were carried out and the grain corridor didn’t function.
“It’s unacceptable,” one official told the Guardian on Tuesday
Here is some of the video released by the Kremlin of Vladimir Putin’s visit to occupied Ukraine.
A quick snap from Reuters, citing the state-run Belta news agency, reports that the Belarusian leader, Alexander Lukashenko, held a meeting with the Russian-installed head of Ukraine’s occupied Donetsk region, Denis Pushilin, on Tuesday.
Updated
Russia’s ministry of defence has posted to its official Telegram about Vladimir Putin’s visit to occupied Ukraine. It said:
The situation in the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia directions was discussed during a meeting at the Dniepr group of forces headquarters. The president received reports from Col Gen Mikhail Teplinsky, the commander of the airborne troops, Col Gen Oleg Makarevich, the commander of the Dniepr group of forces, and other military commanders.
At the Vostok National Guard headquarters in Luhansk People’s Republic, Putin received reports from Col Gen Aleksandr Lapin and other high-ranking officers on the situation there.
Evan Gershkovich will appeal against arrest in Russian court today
Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich will appeal on Tuesday against his arrest and detention in Moscow on charges of espionage, according to court documents, Reuters reports.
According to a public Russian judicial document, a Russian court will hear on Tuesday a complaint filed by Gershkovich against the decision to keep him in custody in Lefortovo prison while the case is being investigated.
The court documents gave nothing more than basic details about the case. The court said it was forbidden to publish some documents. A Russian lawyer for Gershkovich did not respond to a request for comment from Reuters.
The hearing is essentially procedural covering how Gershkovich should be detained as he awaits trial, not about the substance of the charges as investigators are still working on the details of the case.
Russia increases shelling, air strikes in Bakhmut – Ukrainian general
Russian forces are stepping up their use of heavy artillery and air strikes in the devastated eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, the commander of Ukraine’s ground forces said on Tuesday.
Fighting in and around Bakhmut has for months been the focus of the war in Ukraine.
“Currently, the enemy is increasing the activity of heavy artillery and the number of airstrikes, turning the city into ruins,” Gen Oleksandr Syrskyi said in a statement, Reuters reports.
He said Russia remained committed to taking Bakhmut “at any cost” but was suffering significant losses in the battle for the city.
It has been difficult to independently verify the battlefield situation on the ground. The head of the Wagner mercenary group, which has spearheaded Russia’s attempt to take Bakhmut, said this month that its fighters controlled more than 80% of the city. Ukraine denied this, saying it still controlled considerably more than 20% of the city.
Here are some of the images of Vladimir Putin visiting occupied Ukraine, which have come from a video released by the Kremlin this morning. They appear to show the Russian president in occupied Kherson and occupied Luhansk, two of the regions of Ukraine which the Russian Federation claims to have annexed.
Photograph: Kremlin/Reuters
Updated
Volodymyr Zelenskiy has posted on his official Telegram channel to state that since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022, over 2,000 Ukrainian service personnel have been returned from captivity. Ukraine’s president posted:
Since 24 February, Ukraine has returned 2,235 Ukrainian men and women from Russian captivity. We remember everyone. We will bring back each and every one.
Here is a little more on what appears to have been a visit to occupied areas of Ukraine by Russian President Vladimir Putin, his second in two months.
Associated Press reports that the Kremlin video, broadcast by Russian state television showed Putin visiting the command post for Russian forces in the occupied southern Kherson region. It showed Putin arriving by helicopter to receive reports from the top military brass about the combat situation.
The Russian leader then moved by helicopter to the headquarters of the Russian National Guard of the occupied eastern Luhansk region to hear report from commanders.
In both locations, Putin congratulated the military on the Orthodox Easter that was celebrated Sunday, and presented them with icons.
The exact location and time the released footage of Putin in Ukraine was taken has not been independently verified.
Last month, Putin visited the Russian-held Sea of Azov port city of Mariupol, which was captured by Russian troops in May after two months of fierce fighting. It was interpreted as a show of defiance, coming days after the international criminal court issued an arrest warrant for him on war crimes charges.
Patrick Wintour, the Guardian diplomatic editor, reports on the thorny issue of corruption in Ukraine:
A fierce debate has broken out in Ukraine over allegations that a clampdown on corruption is being used to frame high profile business advocates of state reform, raising wider doubts about Ukraine’s internal political trajectory – and its ability to absorb billions in European reconstruction funds once the war ends.
The concerns have been expressed to the US Department of State and UK Foreign Office, and are shared in part by Ukrainian anti-corruption campaigners.
The issue is diplomatically sensitive since critics are wary of playing into a Russian narrative that Ukraine is endemically corrupt, or suggesting that anti-corruption institutions, which western allies and Ukrainian civil society played a large part in establishing, have gone off the rails.
Katya Ryzhenko, from Transparency International Ukraine, called for a review of the anti-corruption authority of Ukraine (known by its Ukrainian acronym Nabu).
“It is a good sign that despite being in the middle of a war, Ukraine’s anti-corruption ecosystem is not afraid to go after the big names and to have these cases transparently adjudicated by independent judges.” But, she added “the cases have highlighted serious problems in how Ukraine’s anti-corruption bodies operate”.
A former Ukrainian official who was instrumental in campaigning for the establishment of Ukraine’s anti-corruption bodies said that officials appeared to be targeting people for corporate governance breaches, rather than overt corruption . “This is a tragedy in which there will be no winners,” the former official said.
Read more of Patrick Wintour’s report here: High stakes for Ukraine as clampdown on corruption comes under scrutiny
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Poland and Ukraine to resume grain transit talks
Poland and Ukraine will resume negotiations early on Tuesday to try to reopen the transit of food and grains, the Polish agriculture minister told public radio station PR1.
The two countries held talks on Monday over bans by central eastern European countries seeking to shelter their farmers from the impact of an influx of cheaper Ukrainian grain.
“We are talking with the EU as well as with Ukraine to find solutions. We want these products to go to Europe, but go deep into Europe,” Reuters reports agriculture minister Robert Telus said.
“We talked yesterday, there were long talks. Today we are also sitting down for talks. These are typically technical talks to find a solution and let this transit go to Europe,” he added.
Some farmers in countries bordering Ukraine have complained that the additional availability of grain that the Ukrainians have not been able to export via sea routes has flooded the European market and depressed prices.
Reuters reports, citing Tass, that Russia’s defence ministry said on Tuesday two Russian strategic bombers – those capable of carrying nuclear warheads – carried out what it described as routine patrol flights over the Sea of Okhotsk and the Bering Sea, off Russia’s eastern coast, as part of the military exercises currently being carried out in Russia’s Pacific zone.
On Monday, Japan lodged a protest with Russia over its military activity near disputed islands in the region.
Updated
The exact sequencing of any major drawdown of forces in Bakhmut has become a “critical question” for both sides, the UK’s Ministry of Defence has said in its latest intelligence update.
Ukraine wants “to free-up an offensive force while Russia likely aspires to regenerate an operational reserve,” the update said, adding that Russian forces continue to make “creeping advances” in the devastated eastern city.
It also noted that heavy fighting was continuing along the Donbas front line.
“However, there is a realistic possibility that Russia has reduced troop numbers and is decreasing offensive action around Donetsk city, most likely to divert resources towards the Bakhmut sector.”
Latest Defence Intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine - 18 April 2023.
— Ministry of Defence 🇬🇧 (@DefenceHQ) April 18, 2023
Find out more about Defence Intelligence's use of language: https://t.co/STovWLVBpO
🇺🇦 #StandWithUkraine 🇺🇦 pic.twitter.com/TL7oXbxkov
Russian news agency Ria has posted footage of Putin’s trip to Ukraine, during which he also visited Russia’s national guard headquarters in the Luhansk region.
The footage shows him arriving by helicopter, before attending a meeting with military officials.
Путин прибыл в штаб войск "Днепр" на вертолетеhttps://t.co/Uw2CXnjLe3 pic.twitter.com/n7U4BrQqpG
— РИА Новости (@rianru) April 18, 2023
Kherson and Luhansk were among four regions annexed by Russia last year, a move unrecognised by the west.
Russian troops retreated from Kherson, the regional capital, last November, and have been reinforcing their positions on the opposite bank of the Dnipro river in anticipation of a Ukrainian counteroffensive.
Updated
G7 foreign ministers have condemned Russia’s “irresponsible nuclear rhetoric” and its threat to deploy nuclear weapons in Belarus as “unacceptable”, after a three-day meeting in the Japanese resort town of Karuizawa.
“Any use of chemical, biological or nuclear weapons by Russia would be met with severe consequences,” they warned.
Russia last month said it had reached an agreement with Belarus to station tactical nuclear weapons on its smaller neighbour’s territory, so bringing some of its arsenal closer to the rest of Europe.
The G7 group also called on Russian ally China “to act as a responsible member of the international community”. Leaked US government documents have revealed that China has approved the provision of weapons to Moscow but wants shipments to remain a secret.
Inspections of ships moving grains from Ukraine have restarted after a pause which threatened to shut down the Black Sea shipping corridor, the RIA news agency cited the Russian foreign ministry as saying on Tuesday.
A ministry official quoted by RIA blamed Monday’s interruption on Ukraine’s failure to observe agreed procedures but said the issue has been resolved, Reuters reported.
Kyiv said on Monday the UN-brokered initiative allowing the safe Black Sea export of Ukrainian grain was in danger of shutting down after Russia blocked inspections of participating ships in Turkish waters.
Pyotr Ilyichyov, head of the international organisations department at Russia’s foreign ministry, told RIA that the passage of grain ships depended both on the weather and on how well they observed the procedures.
It remains unclear if the grain deal, in place since last July, will be renewed, as Russia complains another agreement, aimed at facilitating its own agricultural and fertilizer exports, has not been upheld.
Speaking at a G7 meeting in Japan, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken accused Russia of breaking its promises to countries around the world that are dependent on grain that has not been able to get out of Ukraine over the last few days.
Putin attends military meeting in Kherson
Russian president Vladimir Putin has attended a military command meeting in Ukraine’s southern Kherson region which is partly held by Russia, the Kremlin has said.
Putin heard reports from commanders of the airborne forces and the “Dnieper” army group as well as other senior officers who briefed him on the situation in the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions, both of which Moscow has proclaimed part of Russia, Reuters reported.
Russian troops retreated from Kherson, the regional capital, last November, and have been reinforcing their positions on the opposite bank of the Dnipro river in anticipation of the Ukrainian counteroffensive.
The Kremlin did not say when Putin attended the military command meeting.
Updated
The White House has hit back after Brazil’s president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said on a trip to China that the US should stop “encouraging” the war in Ukraine
“In this case, Brazil is parroting Russian and Chinese propaganda without at all looking at the facts,” the US’s national security council spokesperson John Kirby said, adding that Lula’s comments were “deeply problematic”.
The spat came as Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov began a tour of Latin America in Brazil where he met Lula and thanked “our Brazilian friends for their clear understanding of the genesis of the situation [in Ukraine]”.
Lula also said the US and Europe “need to start talking about peace,” and that Kyiv shares the blame for the conflict, which began in February 2022 when Russian forces invaded Ukraine.
His remarks echoed a line frequently used by Moscow and Beijing, which blame the West for the war.
Brazilian foreign minister Mauro Vieira, who also met with his Russian counterpart earlier in the day, shot back, saying: “I don’t know how or why he reached that conclusion but I do not agree at all.”
AFP reports on the background to the spat:
Despite Lula‘s comments about the United States, the 77-year-old, who returned to power in January after serving two terms from 2003 to 2010, is also seeking closer ties with Washington.
His visit to China and the UAE, postponed by a bout of pneumonia, came after a White House meeting in February with US president Joe Biden.
Brazil has not joined Western nations in imposing sanctions on Russia for its invasion, and has refused requests to supply ammunition to Ukraine.
After meeting with his Brazilian counterpart on Monday, Lavrov said: “We are grateful to our Brazilian friends for their clear understanding of the genesis of the situation (in Ukraine). We are grateful for their desire to contribute to finding ways of settling this situation.”
“We are interested in resolving the conflict as soon as possible,” Lavrov said.
But he added that any solution would have to be based on “multipolarity,” accusing the West of “trying to dominate the international arena.”
Washington doesn’t have “any objection to any country that wants to try to bring an end to the war,” Kirby said.
“That could happen right now, today, if Mr (Russian President Vladimir) Putin would stop attacking Ukraine and pull its troops out.”
Lavrov’s trip to Brazil comes after Lula’s top foreign policy adviser, Celso Amorim, met with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin in March to discuss opening peace talks.
Brazil is Lavrov’s first stop on a weeklong Latin American tour that will also include Venezuela, Nicaragua and Cuba - countries whose leftist governments have hostile relations with the United States.
Lavrov and Vieira said their talks had also focused on energy and trade.
About a quarter of agricultural powerhouse Brazil’s fertilizer imports come from Russia, while the two countries engaged in a record $9.8 billion in bilateral trade last year.
Opening summary
Hello and welcome to the Guardian’s live coverage of the war in Ukraine with me, Helen Livingstone. Our top story today:
The US has accused Brazil of parroting Russian and Chinese propaganda on the war in Ukraine after president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said on a trip to China that the US “needs to stop encouraging war and start talking about peace”.
“In this case, Brazil is parroting Russian and Chinese propaganda without at all looking at the facts,” the US’s national security council spokesperson John Kirby said, adding that Lula’s comments were “deeply problematic”.
The spat came as Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov began a tour of Latin America in Brazil where he met Lula and thanked “our Brazilian friends for their clear understanding of the genesis of the situation [in Ukraine]”.
Other key developments:
Inspections of ships moving grains from Ukraine have restarted after a pause which threatened to shut down the Black Sea corridor, the RIA news agency, citing the Russian foreign ministry, said. A ministry official quoted by RIA blamed Monday’s interruption on Ukraine’s failure to observe agreed procedures but said the issue has been resolved.
The UK has condemned the sentencing of Russian opposition activist Vladimir Kara-Murza, who was jailed for 25 years for opposing the war in Ukraine. UK foreign secretary James Cleverly summoned the Russian ambassador, Andrei Kelin, for an explanation. Kara-Murza holds dual Russian-British citizenship.
Kara-Murza’s wife, Evgenia Kara-Murza, told British broadcaster LBC that she was “baffled” by the UK government’s “weak” response. “Introducing sanctions against his perpetrators would actually be a very practical step that I would very much like to see,” she said.
The UN’s human rights head, Volker Türk, urged Russia to release him, while Baltic neighbour Latvia sanctioned 10 Russian officials and lawyers involved in the case.
US ambassador to Russia Lynne Tracy said she had made her first visit to jailed Wall Street reporter Evan Gershkovich, who was arrested in Russia two weeks ago on charges of spying. “He feels well and is holding up. We reiterate our call for Evan’s immediate release,” Tracy said.
The United States and more than 40 other countries said in a joint statement that they were deeply concerned over Russia’s detainment of a Wall Street Journal reporter and protested Moscow’s “efforts to limit and intimidate the media.” The statement read further: “We urge Russian Federation authorities to release those they hold on political grounds, and to end the draconian crackdown on freedom of expression, including against members of the media.”
Two Russian fighter jets and a spy plane flying close to Nato airspace have been intercepted by the UK and German air forces. Eurofighter typhoons from the RAF and the German air force’s 71 Richtofen Wing were scrambled to intercept the jets as they flew over the Baltic Sea and Gulf of Finland.
The Pentagon said it expected findings within 45 days from a review into how the US military handles classified information after last week’s arrest of an airman over the leak a trove of highly classified documents online.
Russia said it had repelled an “illegal” Ukrainian attempt to infiltrate Russian territory in the southern border region of Bryansk, 11 days after reporting a similar incident. “The intruder stepped on a mined protection line,” said regional governor Alexander Bogomaz on Telegram.
Slovakia will temporarily halt imports of grains and other selected products from Ukraine to protect its farmers, joining Poland and Hungary in the move, a government spokesperson said on Monday. Ukraine and Poland meanwhile began talks aimed at reaching an agreement on imports.
Slovakia has handed over all 13 MiG-29 fighter jets it had pledged to Ukraine, the Slovak defence ministry.
Almost 500 children have been killed in Ukraine since Russia’s invasion, according to a report by the Ukrainian prosecutor general. As of Monday, 470 children had been killed and 948 injured, it said, adding that the department believes that the number of injured children is higher.
