Closing summary
This blog is now closing. Below is a summary of today’s stories:
Lithuanian president Gitanas Nauseda blamed a hammer attack on Leonid Volkov, the top aide to late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny who lives in Lithuania, on Moscow, saying it was clearly pre-planned and ties in with other provocations against the Baltic nation. Addressing Russian president Vladimir Putin, Nauseda said: “I can only say one thing to Putin – nobody is afraid of you here.”
Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova has warned that the war in Ukraine could spin out of control due to the actions of countries in the west. She told Reuters she believed the west was walking “on the edge of the abyss” and pushing the world to the edge too with its actions over Ukraine.
Russia has claimed to have thwarted a drone attack on a thermal power plant in Belgorod, according to state-owned Russian news agency Tass. The agency quotes State Duma deputy Alexander Khinshtein saying: “When [Ukrainian forces were] trying to break through the state border in the Belgorod region, military personnel and employees of the Russian Guard did an excellent job … six attack drones were neutralised, including when approaching the Belgorod thermal power plant.”
Ukrainian justice minister Denys Maliuska said on Wednesday that he had received “quite optimistic” messages from lawmakers in the US House of Representatives and Senate about the passage of a bill that would provide aid for Ukraine. “What we call for is to put aside any divisions or political disputes aimed at internal needs, since we see that in both camps – Republicans and Democrats – they all agree that support shall be provided,” Maliuska told reporters during a news conference at the Ukrainian embassy in Washington.
Vladimir Putin signalled that he intends to boost forces along the country’s border with Finland. The Russian leader criticised Finland and Sweden’s Nato accession and said: “This is an absolutely meaningless step [for Finland and Sweden] from the point of view of ensuring their own national interests. We didn’t have troops there [at the Finnish border], now they will be there.”
European lawmakers are stepping up calls for the return of Ukrainian children who had been forcibly moved to Russia. “At least 20,000 Ukrainian children have been forcibly deported to Russia or relocated to Belarus,” said Michaela Šojdrová, a Czech centre-right member of the European parliament.
Ukrainian minister: 'quite optimistic' messages from US politicians about Ukraine aid bill
Ukrainian justice minister Denys Maliuska said on Wednesday that he had received “quite optimistic” messages from lawmakers in the US House of Representatives and Senate about the passage of a bill that would provide aid for Ukraine, Reuters reports.
“What we call for is to put aside any divisions or political disputes aimed at internal needs, since we see that in both camps – Republicans and Democrats – they all agree that support shall be provided,” Maliuska told reporters during a news conference at the Ukrainian embassy in Washington.
Maliuska said he and deputy justice minister Iryna Mudra met with a large number of lawmakers during their visit to Washington, but not with house speaker Mike Johnson.
He said they were reassured that US lawmakers understood the stakes involved for Ukraine’s two-year struggle to repel Russian forces and warned that failure to secure the funds would result in “a disaster on the battlefield.”
He said he expected US assistance to be provided in the short term, and that it was essentially a matter of resolving certain technical issues.
Asked about a proposal to transform $8.5bn of the $61bn in direct budget assistance proposed for Ukraine into a loan, instead of a grant, Maliuska said the final decision would be up to the finance ministry. He said Kyiv would clearly prefer a grant, but would probably accept was offered.
“If this sort of discussion will delay the process of the provision of financial assistance, then let’s put the discussion aside and take whatever is given,” he said.
The first deliveries of artillery ammunition under a Czech-led plan to boost supplies by buying shells outside Europe should reach Ukraine by June at the latest, a senior Czech official said on Wednesday, Reuters reports.
"At the moment we are supplying large-calibre ammunition secured under previous orders. First deliveries from the so-called 'Czech ammunition initiative' can be expected in Ukraine in June at the latest," national security adviser Tomas Pojar told Reuters.
Norway's prime minister Jonas Gahr Stoere will meet with leaders of rival political parties in parliament on Thursday to discuss the upcoming long-term plan for the country's military, the government said in a statement on Wednesday, Reuters reports.
Stoere has said the minority Labour-led coalition government plans to raise military spending as Norway, a NATO member, lags the defence alliance's goal of each nation spending at least 2% of their gross domestic product.
The prime minister, the finance minister and the defence minister will be present at a press conference on Thursday morning, the government said.
Russia: Ukraine war could spin out of control due to Nato actions
Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova has warned that the war in Ukraine could spin out of control due to the actions of countries in the west.
She told Reuters she believed the west was walking “on the edge of the abyss” and pushing the world to the edge too with its actions over Ukraine.
She said that the war in Ukraine could spin out of control and expand geographically due to the ill-considered actions of one or two member states from the Nato military alliance, and advised the West to give up on the idea of strategically defeating Russia.
In a message on Telegram, Zakharova accused Kyiv of “terrorist activities”, which she linked to attempts to disrupt the forthcoming Russian election.
Earlier, in a televised interview, president Vladimir Putin said that Russia would be stationing troops and equipment on the border with Finland, where there were none before, as a result of Finland and Sweden joining the Nato alliance.
Russia claims it thwarted drone attack on Belgorod thermal power plant
State-owned Russian news agency Tass is reporting that Russia has claimed to have thwarted a drone attack on a thermal power plant in Belgorod.
It quotes State Duma deputy Alexander Khinshtein saying:
When [Ukrainian forces were] trying to break through the state border in the Belgorod region, military personnel and employees of the Russian Guard did an excellent job … six attack drones were neutralised, including when approaching the Belgorod thermal power plant.
Moldova’s foreign minister Mihail Popșoi is in Kyiv where he has met his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba. Kuleba has spoken to the media about the meeting, assuring Moldova of Ukraine’s support.
Ukrinform quotes Kuleba saying:
I’d like to publicly assure my colleague and all citizens of Moldova that Ukraine will continue to firmly defend not only its freedom and independence, but also the peace and tranquility in Moldova. Ukraine is interested in a strong democratic pro-European Moldova, and Moldova is also interested in the same Ukraine. Together we can help each other.
Kuleba added “We fully support the integrity of Moldova, we condemn any attempts to involve Russia in solving Moldova’s domestic political issues.”
Death toll rises to three in Russian overnight attacks on eastern Ukraine
Reuters reports that at least three people were killed in overnight Russian drone and bomb attacks in Ukraine’s eastern Sumy and Donetsk regions, local officials said on Wednesday.
Russians dropped a bomb on Myrnohrad town in Donetsk region, killing two and injuring five people, local governor Vadym Filashkin said on the Telegram messaging app.
The Sumy regional military administration said a Russian drone hit an apartment block overnight.
One body was pulled out from under the rubble in Sumy as rescuers continued working at the site, emergency services said on Telegram. Eight people were injured, and more may stay under the collapsed building constructions.
The administration said 30 apartments of a five-storey residential building were damaged, 15 of them largely destroyed.
Late on Tuesday, two apartment buildings caught fire as a result of a Russian missile attack in the central Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih. The death toll there rose to five people on Wednesday, local authorities said, with at least 50 more injured.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who was born and raised in the city, praised rescue teams on Telegram and vowed Russia would be brought to account.
Russian officials in regions bordering Ukraine on Wednesday reported Kyiv had launched a sweeping drone attack for the second night in a row, again targeting energy facilities.
Updated
Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova claimed on Wednesday that the US planned to stage cyber-attacks on Russia’s electronic voting system during its presidential election from to be held this week.
Zakharova also said Washington had tasked US non-governmental organisations with undermining the election by decreasing voter turnout.
Her comments echoed similar accusations by Russia’s foreign intelligence service made this week.
Reuters reports that Polish farmers protesting at the Dorohusk border crossing with Ukraine will let all trucks stuck there pass through as a gesture of goodwill, a protest leader told state news agency PAP on Wednesday.
Leonid Volkov told Reuters hours before an assailant attacked him with a hammer and tear gas outside his home in Lithuania that he and other exiles feared for their lives.
Volkov, the top aide to Alexei Navalny, said leaders of the late Russian opposition leader’s organisation knew they were facing “high individual risks” in an interview filmed on Tuesday hours before an unidentified attacker assaulted him outside his home.
“They know that Putin not only kills people inside Russia, he also kills people outside of Russia”, he said. “We live in very dark times”.
Lithuania has accused Moscow of being behind the attack. Volkov blamed Russian president Vladimir Putin. There was no immediate comment from Moscow on the incident.
In his interview with Reuters hours before the attack, Volkov said the death of Navalny last month in an arctic prison had inspired Navalny’s supporters to ensure that his sacrifice was not in vain.
“Alexei’s death was a devastating loss, and it’s a bleeding wound (in) our hearts, but also of course it produced a lot of energy, a lot of political momentum,” he said. “It’s our task and responsibility to convert this energy into meaningful political action that would make Putin weaker.”
Navalny’s followers believe he was killed in prison by the Russian authorities. Moscow says he died of natural causes.
Volkov said he drew encouragement from initial moves by Navalny’s widow Yulia Navalnaya to assume her husband’s mantle, and from the tens of thousands who had risked arrest by turning out in Moscow for his funeral. The number of small private donors to Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation, where Volkov is chief of staff, had risen by half, he said. Nevertheless, he said, the death of Navalny was a severe blow.
“The situation is terrible … It can’t be underestimated – there is no other Navalny, no spare Navalny, no other person like him,” Volkov said.
Lithuanian president says Volkov attack was clearly pre-planned
Lithuanian president Gitanas Nauseda said the attack on Leonid Volkov, the top aide to late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny who lives in Lithuania, was clearly pre-planned and ties in with other provocations against the Baltic nation.
Addressing Russian president Vladimir Putin, Nauseda said: “I can only say one thing to Putin – nobody is afraid of you here.”
Volkov was attacked with a hammer outside his home in Lithuania and briefly hospitalised on Tuesday night. In a video clip post on Telegram on Wednesday, Volkov said “We will work and we will not give up” and claiming that the attack that left him with a broken arm was a “characteristic bandit hello” from Putin’s henchmen.
The Lithuanian state security department said on Wednesday the attack was likely organised and executed by Russia.
Updated
EU lawmakers push for more action on Ukrainian children taken to Russia
European lawmakers are stepping up calls for the return of Ukrainian children who had been forcibly moved to Russia.
“At least 20,000 Ukrainian children have been forcibly deported to Russia or relocated to Belarus,” said Michaela Šojdrová, a Czech centre-right member of the European parliament.
“We urge the EU and international humanitarian organisations not only to condemn the forcible deportations and treat them as part of Russia’s genocidal policy but also to step up their efforts to bring these children back to their families and ensure that they receive appropriate care,” she said in a statement.
'Ramping up our defence industry is priority number one,' Finnish prime minister says
In a speech to the European parliament this morning, the Finnish prime minister, Petteri Orpo, said “the war in Ukraine has been a wake-up call for all of us.”
We must never again be so reliant on others for our energy and security. We must take care of our own defence. Ramping up our defence industry, improving our preparedness and strengthening our borders are critical pillars of our shared security architecture.
He added:
We have to improve European comprehensive security. This includes defence and border security, but also preparedness more broadly.
Firstly, ramping up our defence industry is priority number one. The European Union has the regulation and the resources, and we need to use those tools. Even as a member of NATO, we think that Europe can do a lot. NATO and the EU do not exclude each other – they complement each other.
The Finnish leader also emphasised the need to address border security.
Russia has weaponised migration to put pressure on Finland and the entire EU. Russia is pushing third country nationals towards our eastern land border. This is not acceptable. The numbers are still relatively low, but the phenomenon is worrisome. If we can’t stop this phenomenon now, it will also become a question of numbers and a greater threat to national and European security.
Here are the latest images from Ukraine.
Drone attacks intended to hit Russian economic potential, Ukrainian source tells Reuters
Ukraine’s SBU security service carried out drone attacks on three Russian oil refineries in Ryazan, Kstovo and Kirishi overnight, a Ukrainian source told Reuters.
The move is as part of a strategy to reduce Russia’s economic potential, the source said.
Updated
Fire extinguished at Russian oil refinery, governor says
Pavel Malkov, governor of Russia’s Ryazan region, said this morning that a fire at an oil refinery has been extinguished, Reuters reported.
He had earlier said a drone attack had caused a fire to break out.
Ukrainian defence minister thanks US for package
Rustem Umerov, the Ukrainian defence minister, said he is “grateful to the American people” and to the defence secretary, Lloyd Austin, for their support, citing a $300 million package.
The United States will send a new military aid package for Ukraine worth $300 million, which includes air defense, artillery, and anti-tank weapons.
— Rustem Umerov (@rustem_umerov) March 13, 2024
I am grateful to the American people and @SecDef Austin personally for their unwavering support.
Putin says Russian forces and 'systems' will be placed at Finnish border
In an interview with Russia’s RIA state news agency and Rossiya-1 state television, Russia’s Vladimir Putin signalled that he intends to boost forces along the country’s border with Finland.
The Russian leader criticised Finland and Sweden’s Nato accession, Reuters reported.
“This is an absolutely meaningless step (for Finland and Sweden) from the point of view of ensuring their own national interests,” he said, adding:
We didn’t have troops there (at the Finnish border), now they will be there. There were no systems of destruction there, now they will appear.
At least 6 killed in Ukraine as Russian strikes hit residential buildings
At least 6 people were killed and over 50 wounded as a result of Russian missile, drone and airstrikes in Myrnohrad, Sumy and Kryvyi Rih, Ukrainian authorities said.
Tonight, Russia attacked residential high-rise buildings in Myrnohrad, Sumy and Kryvyi Rih
— MFA of Ukraine 🇺🇦 (@MFA_Ukraine) March 13, 2024
At least 6 people were killed, over 50 were injured as a result of missile, drone & airstrikes
Russia's war crimes will never be forgiven. Justice will be served#RussiaIsATerroristState pic.twitter.com/jsi23FJMcL
