Closing summary
It’s 9pm in Kyiv. Here’s where we stand:
A spokesperson for the Ukrainian armed forces has denied a claim by Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of Russia’s private Wagner mercenary group, who said Russian forces now controlled more than 80% of Bakhmut city. “I can confidently state that the Ukrainian defence forces control a much larger percentage of the territory of Bakhmut,” Serhii Cherevatyi, a spokesperson for the eastern grouping of the Ukrainian armed forces, told CNN.
Russia’s lower house of parliament has voted unanimously to introduce electronic callup papers via an online portal for the first time. The State Duma gave its preliminary approval to changes in the law that are intended to facilitate mobilisation, as Russia seeks to make it harder to avoid the draft. Changes to the legislation would mean that once an electronic summons is received, citizens who fail to show up at the military enlistment office are automatically banned from travelling abroad.
Hungary’s foreign minister, Péter Szijjártó, has announced new agreements to ensure the country’s continued access to Russian energy, a sign of the country’s continuing diplomatic and trade ties with Moscow amid the war in Ukraine. While in Moscow, Szijjártó met the Russian deputy prime minister for energy, Alexander Novak, and the chief executive of the Russian state nuclear energy company Rosatom, Alexey Likhachev.
The Russian-appointed leader of Crimea has said Moscow’s forces are ready for a possible Ukrainian assault, days after President Volodymyr Zelenskiy reaffirmed Kyiv’s intention to take back the Black Sea peninsula that Russia illegally annexed from Ukraine in 2014. Sergei Aksyonov said Russian forces in Crimea had built “modern, in-depth defences” and had “more than enough” troops and equipment to repel what may be an impending Ukrainian counteroffensive.
Almost 8,500 civilians are confirmed to have been killed in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, a UN body has said, with many thousands more unverified deaths feared. The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has long described its figures as “the tip of the iceberg” because of its limited access to battle zones. The majority of the deaths were recorded in territory controlled by the Ukrainian government and under attack by Russian forces.
A Danish decision on whether to supply western fighter jets to Ukraine is likely to take place “before the summer”, Denmark’s acting defence minister, Troels Lund Poulsen, has said. Discussions are taking time because countries have to act together, Poulsen said during a visit to Ukraine. Poulsen yesterday confirmed Denmark’s intention to provide refurbished 100 Leopard 1 battle tanks to Ukraine.
The UN-brokered deal that enables Ukraine to export grain via the Black Sea is in a “critical state” because of Russia’s actions, a Ukrainian government minister told the Guardian on Tuesday. Yurii Vaskov, Ukraine’s deputy minister responsible for seaports and maritime, said: “The Russians have violated the conditions of the Black Sea grain initiative. They decided to unilaterally change the plans of Ukrainian ports. It’s unacceptable.”
Canada’s prime minister, Justin Trudeau, has pledged fresh military support for Ukraine after meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart, Denys Shmyhal. Canada will send 21,000 assault rifles, 38 machine guns and 2.4m rounds of ammunition to Ukraine and impose sanctions on 14 Russian individuals and 34 entities, including security targets linked to the private mercenary Wagner group, Trudeau said.
Leaked US intelligence documents appear to indicate that Egypt was planning to covertly supply Russia with rockets and munitions. A document dated 17 February is claimed to summarise conversations between President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi and senior Egyptian military officials in which Sisi instructs officials to keep the production and shipment of rockets secret “to avoid problems with the west”, and additionally references plans to supply Russia with artillery rounds and gunpowder.
Ukraine needs more long-range weapons and “less contemplation on leaks”, said the senior presidential adviser, Mykhailo Podolyak, referring to the recent leak of Pentagon documents. “If we had time, we could watch the [Russian Federation] fall apart & its “elites” devour each other. But we don’t have it, as our people are dying,” he posted to Twitter.
The Kremlin, appearing to pre-judge any judicial hearing, said on Tuesday that the Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich had “violated Russian law” and been caught “red-handed”, after the US state department officially designated him as having been “wrongfully detained” by Russia. Russia has presented no evidence to support the case against Gershkovich. Next week, a court will hear an appeal from Gershkovich’s legal team against an order that he be held in pre-trial detention at Moscow’s Lefortovo prison until 29 May.
Updated
Canada’s prime minister, Justin Trudeau, has pledged fresh military support for Ukraine after meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart, Denys Shmyhal.
Canada will send 21,000 assault rifles, 38 machine guns and 2.4m rounds of ammunition to Ukraine and impose sanctions on 14 Russian individuals and 34 entities, including security targets linked to the private mercenary Wagner group, Trudeau said.
The Canadian government is also imposing sanctions on nine entities tied to the Belarusian financial sector to further pressure Russia’s “enablers in Belarus,” Trudeau said.
