Summary
Here’s a roundup of today’s news and developments in the war between Russia and Ukraine.
Russian opposition activist Vladimir Kara-Murza has been jailed for 25 years for his opposition to the Russia’s war in Ukraine.
A number of countries, including the UK and France have raised concerns about his imprisonment. UK foreign secretary James Cleverly has summoned the Russian ambassador to the UK, Andrei Kelin for an explanation. Kara-Murza holds dual Russian-British citizenship.
His wife, Evgenia Kara-Murza, told British broadcaster LBC that she was “baffled” by the UK government’s “weak” response.
The British ambassador in Russia, Deborah Bronnert, said the verdict of a 25-year sentence was “shocking” and called for his immediate release.
The UN’s human rights head has urged Russia to release him. Volker Türk said: “No one should be deprived of their liberty for exercising their human rights.”
Baltic neighbour Latvia has sanctioned 10 Russian officials and lawyers involved in the case.
Away from Kara-Murza’s sentencing.
The Kremlin has said prospects for a renewal of the Black Sea grain initiative, in which Russia allows Ukraine to ship agricultural exports from its Black Sea ports via Turkey, were “not so bright”. Russia has repeatedly complained that western economic sanctions are preventing it from exporting agricultural products, and that these need to be lifted in order for it to agree to any extension.
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’s restoration ministry has said the Black Sea grain initiative is in danger of being shut down after Russia again blocked inspections of ships under the deal in Turkish waters.
The US ambassador to Russia has been able to visit the imprisoned journalist Evan Gershkovich for the first time. Posting on Twitter, the embassy’s official account said the ambassador Lynne Tracey visited him in Lefortovo prison. It is the first time the US has had consular access since Gershkovich was arrested on espionage charges.
The United States and dozens of other UN members called for Russia to release Gershkovich. “We protest Russian efforts to limit and intimidate the media,” said Linda Thomas-Greenfield, US ambassador to the United Nations, reading a statement supported by 45 other UN member states, including the UK, France, Germany and Japan, AFP reports.
Slovakia has handed over all 13 MiG-29 fighter jets it had pledged to Ukraine, the Slovak defence ministry said on Monday.
Almost 500 children have been killed in Ukraine since Russia’s invasion, according to a report by the Ukrainian prosecutor general. It said that as of Monday, a total of 1,418 children had been affected. They had counted 470 children killed and 948 who had been injured – although the department believes that the number of injured children is higher.
The Russian aluminium tycoon Oleg Deripaska, who has been subjected to sanctions, bemoaned a “primitive” Russian finance system dominated by state banks, saying it was sliding into the past while other countries took advantage of a realignment in global finance.
That’s all for today. Thank you for following along.
The chair of the UK foreign affairs select committee, Alicia Kearns, has told the broadcaster Andrew Marr that the government should “absolutely” introduce sanctions against 31 people complicit in crimes against the Russian opposition activist Vladimir Kara-Murza.
She said: “[Sanctions are] one of the things I called for today in my [urgent question]. The reality is we’ve only sanctioned two of the 31 people complicit in crimes against him. And those both happen to be sanctioned because of their treatment of Magnitsky.
“There are 29 people [involved] that the British government was given evidence about this over six months ago – and it’s time for them to take action.”
Updated
Kara-Murza's wife 'baffled' by UK's 'weak' response to his imprisonment
The wife of Vladimir Kara-Murza has told the UK broadcaster LBC that the UK government’s response to her husband’s jailing has been “weak”.
Evgenia Kara-Murza told Andrew Marr that she would like to see the UK government introduce sanctions against her husband’s perpetrators and described herself as “baffled” by the UK’s response.
She said:
Yes, it definitely is quite a weak position. They do express concern, and I am of course grateful for that. But I need to see some actual actions, you know, some real actions because Vladimir is a British citizen, and I believe that the British government has a responsibility to protect his rights and to defend him in this absolutely atrocious situation. And expressions of concern are no longer enough because Vladimir’s health is deteriorating … Introducing sanctions against his perpetrators would actually be a very practical step that I would very much like to see.
I am, of course, grateful for the presence of UK diplomats at my husband’s hearings throughout this year. And I’m, of course, very grateful for the FCDO for summoning the Russian ambassador to ask him questions related to the illegal unlawful persecution of my husband. But if we talk about sanctions, I am honestly slightly baffled. Vladimir is a dual Russian British citizen, and I believe it is the duty, the responsibility, of the British government to stand with him and show with any instruments available, show to the Russian authorities that they know who the perpetrators are, and they will not let them get away with committing such atrocious human rights violations as we’re committed in my husband’s case.
Vladimir is not for example, a Canadian citizen. However, Canada was the first country to introduce sanctions against Vladimir’s perpetrators. This initiative was then followed by the United States that introduced sanctions in March. Today the Latvian Foreign Office announced that they would be introducing sanctions against 10 people involved in the illegal prosecution of my husband. So far, I have not seen any response from the FCDO on that matter. And I am slightly baffled, to tell the truth.
Updated
The United States and dozens of other UN members called for Russia to release imprisoned the American journalist Evan Gershkovich.
“We protest Russian efforts to limit and intimidate the media,” said Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the US ambassador to the United Nations, reading a statement supported by 45 other UN member states, including the UK, France, Germany and Japan, AFP reports.
The signatories said they were “deeply concerned” by Russia’s detention of the Wall Street Journal’s Gershkovich, who has been held for more than two weeks.
“We will continue to advocate for press freedom and the safety of journalists worldwide,” the statement said. “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.”
Gershkovich has been charged with espionage and faces up to 20 years in prison. Moscow accuses him of trying to obtain classified defence information for the US government.
The reporter, the Wall Street Journal and US officials vehemently deny the allegations.
Updated
Brazil’s foreign minister, Mauro Vieira has hosted his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, in Brasília, where they discussed the conflict in Ukraine.
Reuters reports that Vieira told reporters after the meeting he reiterated Brazil’s intention to form a group of countries to negotiate peace , reaffirming Brazil’s position as pro-ceasefire and against unilateral sanctions.
Updated
A great article here from Rob Davies and David Conn on how the former Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich’s network of oil companies helped fund the Premier League club’s success.
As Chelsea’s players celebrated victory in the 2021 Champions League final, Roman Abramovich made one of his rare public appearances.
The club’s owner had been unable to attend home matches at Stamford Bridge for three years, after the UK government indicated it was unlikely to renew his visa.
But that year’s Champions League final was held at the Estádio do Dragão in Portugal, a country that had granted Abramovich citizenship just months earlier. Grinning in the warm Iberian night air, he hugged his players and drank in the fans’ gratitude.
The oligarch hadn’t just transformed Chelsea.
His free-spending strategy was among the factors that forced the footballing authorities to overhaul the regulation of the game, via financial fair play rules.
More recently, it has reignited debate over who is “fit and proper” to run a football club, particularly since 2022, when sanctions were imposed on Abramovich over “clear connections” to the Kremlin, jeopardising Chelsea’s very existence.
Read more:
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Aluminium tycoon criticises Russia's financial system
The Russian aluminium tycoon Oleg Deripaska, who has been subjected to sanctions, bemoaned a “primitive” Russian finance system dominated by state banks, saying it was sliding into the past while other countries took advantage of a realignment in global finance.
The billionaire founder of the aluminium company Rusal is one of the few Russian business leaders to have criticised the management of the economy at a time when the full-scale invasion of Ukraine has sent western investors fleeing and triggered a host of international economic sanctions on Russia.
Those sanctions have pushed Russia to do more business with China in particular, and even hold reserves in yuan rather than dollars, helping to erode the primacy of the U.S. currency.
Sanctions have been imposed on Deripaska by the UK, US and EU. He said many countries were working to take advantage of a developing a multi-currency financial order for their own benefit, according to Reuters.
“Everyone – apart from us,” he wrote on his Telegram channel. “With our financial system of bondage and usury based on state banks, with our most primitive understanding of the role of debt, credit, capital in the economy, we are sliding further and further into the past.”
While political criticism of the Kremlin is strictly off-limits in Russia, some business leaders have been allowed to address the shortcomings of the economy as Moscow tries to maintain broad standards of living despite the human and financial cost of the invasion.
Last month Deripaska urged the government to stop interfering in business. And in June he suggested the invasion of Ukraine would reverse decades of Russian economic progress.
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Ukraine foreign minister sceptical on peace effort, saying Putin 'wants war'
Ukraine’s foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, has said he is sceptical of efforts to halt the conflict with Russia, saying that Vladimir Putin “wants war”.
In a visit to Iraq, the first by a Ukrainian foreign minister for 11 years, he said: “Russia is seeking war. And this is the biggest impediment, the biggest hurdle on the way to peace.
“You don’t behave like this when you want peace. So whatever Russian officials are saying … today Russia wants war.
“We need Russia to agree with a very simple fact: it has to stop the war and withdraw from the territory of Ukraine. This will give space to diplomacy.”
Baghdad said it was ready to help negotiate a ceasefire, according to Agence France-Presse. At the weekend the Brazilian president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, said he discussed joint mediation with China and the United Arab Emirates during a visit to Xi Jinping’s country.
On Saturday, the French president’s office said Emmanuel Macron had “discussed the next steps in the organisation of a peace summit” with his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
In 2021 and 2022 Iraq mediated several rounds of talks between officials from the regional rivals Saudi Arabia and Iran.
Updated
Russia has launched attacks across Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, Sumy, Chernihiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Kherson, and Donetsk oblasts over the past 24 hours, injuring three people.
A 61-year-old man was injured in Zaporizhzhia oblast as a wave of rocket, artillery and drone attacks hit homes, according to governor Yurii Malashko.
Meanwhile, in Dnipropetrovsk oblast in central Ukraine, two people were injured, including a woman who was admitted to hospital. Yevhen Yevtushenko, the head of Nikopol’s military administration, reported that a church, five homes and power lines were damaged.
Updated
The US ambassador to Russia has been able to visit the imprisoned journalist Evan Gershkovich for the first time.
Posting on Twitter, the embassy’s official account said the ambassador Lynne Tracey visited him in Lefortovo prison. It is the first time the US has had consular access since Gershkovich was arrested on espionage charges.
Tracey reported that the journalist was in “good health and remains strong”.
#AmbTracy: I visited @WSJ’s Evan #Gershkovich today at Lefortovo Prison - the first time we've been permitted access to him since his wrongful detention more than two weeks ago. He is in good health and remains strong. We reiterate our call for his immediate release. #FreeEvan
— Посольство США в РФ/ U.S. Embassy Russia (@USEmbRu) April 17, 2023
Updated
The Ukrainian infrastructure minister, Oleksandr Kubrakov, will visit Turkey on Tuesday to discuss the status of the Black Sea grain initiative, the Turkish defence ministry said on Monday.
Reuters reports that Kubrakov will meet the Turkish defence minister, Hulusi Akar, in the central Turkish city of Kayseri, according to a ministry statement.
Earlier today the Kremlin said prospects for a renewal were “not so bright”. Russia has repeatedly complained that western economic sanctions are preventing it from exporting agricultural products, and that these obstacles need to be lifted in order for it to agree to any extension. Ukraine has previously said it wants to extend the deal for a year and expand it to include more ports.
Updated
Czech Republic won't ban Ukraine gran imports
Reuters reports that the Czech Republic’s agriculture ministry will not follow neighbours in banning Ukrainian grain imports.
It said the market impact of Ukrainian grain imports to neighbouring countries needed a EU-wide solution and not individual bans on imports like those taken in Poland, Hungary and Slovakia
It added in a statement: “The Czech Republic is for now not planning to ban imports of Ukrainian grain and other agricultural commodities from Ukraine.”
Updated
China’s defence minister has toured a top Russian military academy on a visit to the Russian capital that appeared to underscore the increasingly close ties between Moscow and Beijing amid the fighting in Ukraine.
Associated Press reports the Russian defence ministry noted in a statement issued after Gen Li Shangfu’s visit to the military academy of the Russian general staff – the elite institution for training senior military officers – that the academy would welcome more than 20 senior military officers from China for a training course in the autumn.
On Friday, the Chinese foreign minister emphasised that Beijing would not sell weapons to either side in the conflict in Ukraine. However a senior adviser in president Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s office has said Ukrainian forces are finding a growing number of components from China in Russian weapons used in Ukraine.
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Norway condemns jailing of Kremlin critic
Norway’s foreign ministry has added to the chorus of condemnation of Russia’s justice system by criticising the sentencing of the Kremlin critic Vladimir Kara-Murza.
Reuters reports that the Norwegian foreign minister, Anniken Huitfeldt, said in a statement: “This is a deeply alarming and harsh sentence for exercising the right to freedom of expression,”
On Thursday Norway said would it expel 15 Russian embassy officials who it said were spies.
Updated
The US and more than 40 other countries said in a joint statement on Monday that they were deeply concerned over Russia’s detainment of a Wall Street Journal reporter and protested against Moscow’s “efforts to limit and intimidate the media”.
Reuters reports that they also said in the statement due to be read at the UN later on Monday by the US ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield: “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.”
Updated
France condemns jail sentence for Kara-Murza
There is a quick snap from Reuters that the French foreign ministry has condemned the sentencing of the Kremlin critic Vladimir Kara-Murza to 25 years in prison for treason.
It said that the Russian justice system had become a tool for oppression.
It added that the sentencing was another illustration of the Russian authorities’ campaign of repression against all voices critical of the Russian leadership and its war of aggression against Ukraine.
Updated
An alliance of five countries has been formed that aims to diminish Russia’s hold on the global nuclear energy market.
The UK, US, Canada, Japan and France came to the agreement at the nuclear energy forum at the G7 summit in Sapporo, Japan.
According to a UK government release on Sunday, the group will use “respective resources and capabilities” of their nuclear power stations to undermine Russia’s grip on supply chains.
It added: “This agreement will support the stable supply of fuels for the needs of today, as well as guarantee the safe and secure development and deployment of fuels for the advanced reactors of tomorrow.”
The World Nuclear Association said “exports of nuclear goods and services are a major Russian policy and economic objective”.
According to a Colombia University paper in 2022, almost 10% of nuclear reactors outside Russia were made with Russian technology. Those within the country also make up almost 10% of the global share, with more under development.
Russia is also influential in uranium conversion infrastructure, taking up the majority of global share. In contrast, the US has only one uranium conversion facility, in Illinois, which has been on standby since November 2017 but it is hoped it will return to use this year.
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Latvia imposes sanctions on Russian officials over jailing of Kremlin critic
Latvia, one of the Baltic countries that borders Russia, has imposed sanctions on 10 Russian officials involved in the sentencing of Vladimir Kara-Murza.
The foreign minister, Edgars Rinkēvičs, said he would lobby the EU to impose sanctions.
“Vladimir Kara-Murza is one of the most prominent politicians of the Russian opposition, a human rights activist, a close associate of the opposition figure Boris Nemtsov, who was killed in 2015, and a longtime critic of Russia’s ruling regime. He was a facilitator of the adoption of the Magnitsky list. The politician is actively opposed to Russian aggression against Ukraine,” the ministry said, describing the charges against him as “absurd”.
Those involved have not been named by Latvia. The judge in the case, Sergei Podoprigorov, has already been subjected to sanctions by the UK, US and Canadian governments.
I condemn unjust and harsh sentence against prominent Russian opposition politician @vkaramurza handed down by the Russian court today.
— Edgars Rinkēvičs (@edgarsrinkevics) April 17, 2023
I have decided to impose travel ban ob 10 Russian individuals who are complicit in this sham case. I call on EU to impose sanctions as well
Updated
Almost 500 children have been killed in Ukraine since Russia’s invasion, according to a report by the Ukrainian prosecutor general.
It said that as of Monday, a total of 1,418 children had been affected. They had counted 470 children killed and 948 who had been injured – although the department believes that the number of injured children is higher.
Most casualties were recorded in the Donetsk region (451), Kharkiv region (275), Kyiv region (127), Kherson region (94), Zaporizhzhia region (89), the Ukrinform news website reports.
The latest juvenile casualties include a 17-year-old who was killed in a rocket attack on the Mykoliav region on Sunday.
Updated
Ukraine’s restoration ministry has said the Black Sea grain initiative is in danger of being shut down after Russia again blocked inspections of ships under the deal in Turkish waters.
The initiative allows the safe export of grain from some Ukrainian Black Sea ports following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“For the second time in 9 months of operation of the grain initiative, an inspection plan has not been drawn up, and not a single vessel has been inspected. This threatens the functioning of the grain initiative,” the restoration ministry said on Facebook.
As our Russia affairs reporter Pjotr Sauer reports in his article on Vladimir Kara-Murza’s sentencing, he mentioned his statement to the court in its final session last week.
He said: “I only blame myself for one thing. I failed to convince enough of my compatriots and politicians in democratic countries of the danger that the current Kremlin regime poses for Russia and for the world.”
The Washington Post has a full transcript and translation of his comments.
A couple of sections that are worth reading are below. He opened:
Members of the court: I was sure, after two decades spent in Russian politics, after all that I have seen and experienced, that nothing can surprise me any more. I must admit that I was wrong. I’ve been surprised by the extent to which my trial, in its secrecy and its contempt for legal norms, has surpassed even the “trials” of Soviet dissidents in the 1960s and ’70s. And that’s not even to mention the harshness of the sentence requested by the prosecution or the talk of “enemies of the state.” In this respect, we’ve gone beyond the 1970s – all the way back to the 1930s.
Kara-Murza later talked about the inevitability of his court hearing and eventual jailing.
In their last statements to the court, defendants usually ask for an acquittal. For a person who has not committed any crimes, acquittal would be the only fair verdict. But I do not ask this court for anything. I know the verdict. I knew it a year ago when I saw people in black uniforms and black masks running after my car in the rearview mirror. Such is the price for speaking up in Russia today.
But I also know that the day will come when the darkness over our country will dissipate. When black will be called black and white will be called white; when at the official level it will be recognised that two times two is still four; when a war will be called a war, and a usurper a usurper; and when those who kindled and unleashed this war, rather than those who tried to stop it, will be recognised as criminals.
This day will come as inevitably as spring follows even the coldest winter. And then our society will open its eyes and be horrified by what terrible crimes were committed on its behalf. From this realisation, from this reflection, the long, difficult but vital path toward the recovery and restoration of Russia, its return to the community of civilised countries, will begin.
UN human rights head tells Putin to release Kara-Murza
The United Nations human rights chief Volker Türk has called on Moscow to free the longtime Kremlin critic Vladimir Kara-Murza who has been sentenced to a 25-year prison sentence on charges including treason.
Türk said: “Kara-Murza was tried on charges that appear related to the legitimate exercise of his right to freedom of opinion, expression, and association, including his public criticism of the Russian Federation’s armed attack against Ukraine.
“No one should be deprived of their liberty for exercising their human rights, and I call on the Russian authorities to release him without delay.
“As long as he continues to be detained, he must be treated with humanity and respect for his dignity.”
He added that the sentence was “another blow to the rule of law and civic space” in Russia.
Updated
Hungary could extend its import ban on Ukrainian grains beyond the 30 June deadline if the EU does not take sufficient action to protect Hungarian farmers, the Hungarian ministry of agriculture state secretary, Sándor Farkas, said on Monday, Reuters reports.
Updated
Kremlin: prospects for extending Black Sea grain initiative 'not so bright'
The Kremlin has said prospects for a renewal of the Black Sea grain initiative, in which Russia allows Ukraine to ship agricultural exports from its Black Sea ports via Turkey, were “not so bright”, Reuters reports.
Russia has repeatedly complained that western economic sanctions are preventing it from exporting agricultural products, and that these need to be lifted in order for it to agree to any extension. Ukraine has previously said it wanted to extend the deal for a year and expand it to include more ports.
Updated
Summary of the day so far …
A court in Moscow has sentenced the opposition activist Vladimir Kara-Murza to 25 years prison, in one of the most high-profile cases to date of a Russian dissident being jailed for opposing the invasion of Ukraine. Kara-Murza, a father of three, was detained in April 2022 and charged with spreading false information about the Russian army in Ukraine. He was later also charged with “high treason” over a series of public speeches he made that criticised Kremlin policies and the war in Ukraine.
The British government on Monday summoned the Russian ambassador to make clear its condemnation of what it described as the “politically motivated” conviction of Kara-Murza, a British dual national. “Russia’s lack of commitment to protecting fundamental human rights, including freedom of expression, is alarming,” British foreign secretary James Cleverly said in a statement. “We continue to urge Russia to adhere to its international obligations including Vladimir Kara-Murza’s entitlement to proper healthcare.”
Slovakia will temporarily halt imports of grains and other selected products from Ukraine, a government spokesperson said on Monday. Talks between Ukraine and Poland over grain exports were due to start in Warsaw around noon local time (11am BST), Polish agriculture minister Robert Telus has said. EU member countries’ envoys in Brussels will discuss the weekend move by Poland and Hungary to ban grain imports from Ukraine to protect their own agricultural sectors.
Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu on Monday read a report to President Vladimir Putin about drills conducted by the country’s Pacific Fleet. In footage broadcast on state television, Putin responded by saying that snap checks had shown the Pacific Fleet at a high level of readiness, and that Russia’s priority was Ukraine. Shoigu said that more than 25,000 military personnel, 167 ships and vessels, 12 submarines, 89 aircraft and helicopters are participating in the exercises.
Japan’s chief cabinet secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said on Monday that Tokyo had lodged a protest with Russia over its military exercises around disputed islands near Japan’s Hokkaido.
Slovakia has handed over all 13 MiG-29 fighter jets it had pledged to Ukraine, the Slovak defence ministry said on Monday
The village of Krasnoe, which is in Belgorod in Russia, close to the border with Ukraine, came under fire from Ukrainian forces, according to regional governor, Vyacheslav Gladkov
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, the exiled Belarusian opposition leader, has condemned the sentencing of Vladimir Kara-Murza, describing him as a friend, and calling for his release. In a tweet, Tsikhanouskaya said:
He is a brave and intelligent voice of reason opposing Putin’s inhuman regime and the aggression against Ukraine. This sentence is yet another mockery of justice.
Updated
Speaking to journalists outside the court in Moscow, the British ambassador in Russia, Deborah Bronnert, said the verdict of a 25-year sentence for Vladimir Kara-Murza was “shocking” and called for his immediate release.
At the time of his arrest last year, Kara-Murza was one of the few prominent opposition figures who chose to stay in Russia. Most, including allies of jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny, have fled due to safety concerns since the outbreak of the war.
Hours before his detention, Kara-Murza appeared on CNN where he described the Kremlin as a “regime of murderers”.
In 2015 and 2017, Kara-Murza fell into two separate comas in Moscow after displaying symptoms that doctors said were consistent with poisoning.
Kara-Murza – a close friend of the former opposition leader Boris Nemtsov, who was shot and killed in 2015 – nearly died from kidney failure in the first poisoning that he blamed on the Kremlin.
Concerns over Kara-Murza’s health have been rising in recent weeks after he was too unwell to attend his hearing last month.
More than 450 people have had criminal cases opened against them for opposing the war in Ukraine, with some facing sentences of up to 15 years for offences as slight as posting anti-war messages on social media, making the past year the most repressive era in Russia’s modern history.
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Slovakia to halt imports of grain from Ukraine
Slovakia will temporarily halt imports of grains and other selected products from Ukraine, a government spokesperson said on Monday, Reuters reports.
The decision, to be discussed in a meeting later on Monday, follows similar steps by Poland and Hungary.
In a separate development, EU member countries’ envoys in Brussels will discuss the move by Poland and Hungary, a senior official said on Monday.
The official, speaking to Reuters under condition of anonymity, said low global prices and demand meant the grain was staying in the bloc rather than being sold on.
“We expect Poland and Hungary to offer some explanation and there will also be reaction by the European Commission,” said the official, adding that the matter was raised at the last summit of EU national leaders, including by Slovakia and Romania.
“There is an issue and we expect the commission to come up with a proposal on that. We’ll see what we can do in the coming weeks and months.”
Updated
British government summons Russian ambassador over Kara-Murza sentence
The British government on Monday summoned the Russian ambassador to make clear its condemnation of what it described as the “politically motivated” conviction and sentencing of the outspoken Kremlin critic Vladimir Kara-Murza, a British dual national.
Kara-Murza has spent years speaking out against President Vladimir Putin and lobbied western governments to impose sanctions on Russia and individual Russians for purported human rights violations.
He was jailed for 25 years by a Moscow court on Monday after it found him guilty of treason and other offences he denied.
“Russia’s lack of commitment to protecting fundamental human rights, including freedom of expression, is alarming,” Reuters reports British foreign secretary James Cleverly said in a statement.
“We continue to urge Russia to adhere to its international obligations including Vladimir Kara-Murza’s entitlement to proper healthcare.”
Britain has already sanctioned the judge that presided over the trial for previous involvement in human rights violations, and said it would consider further measures to hold to account those involved in Kara-Murza’s “detention and mistreatment”.
Updated
Russian activist Kara-Murza sentenced to 25 years for opposing invasion of Ukraine
A court in Moscow has sentenced the opposition activist Vladimir Kara-Murza to 25 years prison, in one of the most high-profile cases to date of a Russian dissident being jailed for opposing the invasion of Ukraine.
Kara-Murza, a father of three who holds Russian and British citizenship and studied at the University of Cambridge, was detained in April 2022 and charged with spreading false information about the Russian army in Ukraine. He was later also charged with “high treason” over a series of public speeches he made that criticised Kremlin policies and the war in Ukraine.
Kara-Murza’s ruling is the longest sentence yet given to a political opponent of Vladimir Putin, as the Kremlin further steps up its relentless crackdown on dissent.
In a final speech to the court last week, Kara-Murza struck a defiant tone, declined to ask the court to acquit him, and said he stood by everything he had said.
“I only blame myself for one thing,” Kara-Murza, 41, who Amnesty International has designated a ‘prisoner of conscience,’ said.
“I failed to convince enough of my compatriots and politicians in democratic countries of the danger that the current Kremlin regime poses for Russia and for the world.”
Talks between Ukraine and Poland over grain exports were due to start in Warsaw around noon local time (11am BST), Polish agriculture minister Robert Telus has said.
Poland’s ban on Ukrainian grains, in effect since Saturday evening, also applied to transit through the country.
Reuters reports Polish deputy foreign minister Pawel Jablonski told radio station RMF talks with Ukraine could at least relieve the tensions with farmers in central eastern Europe.
“We want to lead to a situation where not even the smallest grain transport, which is to be exported, (is) introduced to the Polish market,” he said. “The ultimate goal is not that the import ban will be in force indefinitely, but to ensure that grain from Ukraine, which is to be exported, goes (where it is intended).”
Earlier, Ukrainian agriculture minister Mykola Solsky said: “The first step, in our opinion, should be the opening of transit, because it is quite important and it is the thing that should be done unconditionally and after that we will talk about other things.”
Some farmers in central European countries have complained that Ukrainian grain which would normally be exported via the Black Sea is reaching European markets instead, depressing prices.
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The village of Krasnoe, which is in Belgorod in Russia, close to the border with Ukraine, has come under fire from Ukrainian forces, according to regional governor, Vyacheslav Gladkov. In a post on Telegram, Gladkov wrote:
According to preliminary information, there were no casualties. As a result of the shelling, a hay store caught fire on a farm. All operational and emergency services went to the place to eliminate the consequences of the shelling.
Updated
Japan’s chief cabinet secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said on Monday that Tokyo had lodged a protest with Russia over its military exercises around disputed islands near Japan’s Hokkaido. Matsuno also said that Russia informed Tokyo that it would conduct missile exercises around the disputed islands 18-22 April.
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Russia’s Gazprombank has expanded its links with banks in India to expedite trade between the two countries in national currencies, a key executive told Reuters on Monday, as Russia this year has become the biggest supplier of oil to India.
Trade between India and Russia has surged since the west imposed sanctions against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine last year, which has altered flows of oil and other goods.
Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu on Monday read a report to President Vladimir Putin about drills conducted by the country’s Pacific Fleet.
Reuters reports that in footage broadcast on state television, Putin responded by saying that snap checks had shown the Pacific Fleet at a high level of readiness, and that Russia’s priority was Ukraine.
Russia’s state-owned Tass news agency also carried quotes from the meeting. It reports that “Putin expressed his gratitude to the organisers of the exercises”.
It quoted Shoigu saying that more than 25,000 military personnel, 167 ships and vessels, 12 submarines, 89 aircraft and helicopters are participating.
Tass reports:
The forces of the Pacific Fleet, the minister noted, will conduct exercises to search for and destroy submarines and ship groups of a mock enemy, as well as carry out practical artillery firing at air and sea targets. “Upon completion of the check, the fleet forces will return to their permanent deployment points,” Shoigu informed. According to the minister of defence, the Pacific Fleet will begin the final stage of verification on 18 April.
Ukraine’s agriculture minister said Kyiv would aim to secure the reopening of food and grain transit via Poland as a “first step” at talks in Warsaw on Monday, after Poland and Hungary announced bans on some imports from Ukraine.
Agriculture minister Mykola Solsky also said there would be additional talks this week in Romania on Wednesday, and in Slovakia on Thursday. Reuters reports the minister’s comments were published on the Telegram messaging app by the agriculture ministry.
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Slovakia has handed over all 13 MiG-29 fighter jets it pledged to Ukraine
Slovakia has handed over all 13 MiG-29 fighter jets it had pledged to Ukraine, the Slovak defence ministry said on Monday, Reuters reports.
Slovakia joined Poland in promising the planes in March to aid Ukraine as it battles Russia’s invasion, and had delivered the first four planes last month.
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Suspilne, Ukraine’s state broadcaster, reports that in the last 24 hours, “the Russian military fired 56 times at 16 populated areas of the Zaporizhzhia region: 46 artillery strikes, four airstrikes, four with the use of UAVs and two attacks with MLRS. A man was injured as a result of the shelling.”
Zaporizhzhia is one of the region of Ukraine the Russian Federation has claimed to annex.
Updated
The UK’s Ministry of Defence has issued its daily intelligence briefing about the situation in Ukraine. This morning it has concentrated on the consequences of mining in the country, claiming that “over 750 mine related casualties among civilians have been reported since the start of the invasion” and that “it will likely take at least a decade to clear Ukraine of mines”.
Latest Defence Intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine - 17 April 2023.
— Ministry of Defence 🇬🇧 (@DefenceHQ) April 17, 2023
Find out more about Defence Intelligence's use of language: https://t.co/4mwUj4lkMJ
🇺🇦 #StandWithUkraine 🇺🇦 pic.twitter.com/WrzCRcYzAJ
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Most of Ukraine’s 41-million-strong population are Orthodox Christians and they celebrated Easter Sunday yesterday. Here are a few pictures from around the country:
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Russian military command appears to be increasingly shifting responsibility for offensive operations in Ukraine to the Russian Airborne troops (VDV), the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) has said in its latest update.
The US thinktank made the claim based on reports that VDV commander Col Gen Mikhail Teplinsky has returned to a “major” but unspecified role in Ukraine after the Russian MoD allegedly replaced him in January following a dispute with the chief of the Russian general staff, Valery Gerasimov.
His appointment further suggests that the Russian MoD wants to work more closely with the mercenary group Wagner in order to complete the capture of the embattled eastern city of Bakhmut, the ISW writes. Wagner Group financier Yevgeny Prigozhin had supported Teplinsky at the time of his dismissal in January.
The ISW writes further:
The Russian MoD and Prigozhin publicly acknowledged on April 11 that VDV elements are engaged in the Bakhmut area and holding Wagner’s flanks north and south of Bakhmut while Wagner pursues the main offensive effort in the city itself.
ISW has recently observed that elements of the 106th VDV division are operating in the Bakhmut area. Prigozhin has also scaled down his explicit rhetorical attacks on the MoD in recent days.
Russian milbloggers have reported that Wagner forces are operating T-90 tanks within Bakhmut, suggesting that Russian leadership has allocated more modern assets to Wagner in their efforts to take the city.
Teplinsky’s reappointment is therefore likely also an attempt by the Russian MoD to posture itself better to work with Wagner to finish the task of taking Bakhmut.
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Iran has sentenced 10 members of the armed forces to prison after finding them guilty of involvement in the 2020 downing of a Ukrainian airliner.
Iranian forces shot down Ukraine International Airlines flight PS752 shortly after its takeoff from Tehran on January 8, 2020, killing all 176 people on board. Most were Iranians and Canadians, including many dual nationals.
AFP reports:
According to the judiciary’s Mizan Online website, a commander received the heaviest penalty of 10 years in prison for having defied orders in shooting down the plane.
Nine other personnel were sentenced to between one and three years, Mizan reported.
The commander of a Tor M-1 surface-to-air missile system “fired two missiles” at the airliner “contrary to orders” and without obtaining authorisation, Mizan said.
It did not identify any of the accused.
Three days after the Kyiv-bound plane was shot down, the Iranian armed forces admitted there had been a “mistake”.
“Given the extent of the effects and consequences of this action, the main defendant was sentenced to the maximum penalty,” Mizan Online added on Sunday, without giving further details.
Tensions between Iran and the United States had been soaring at the time the airliner was shot down.
Iranian air defences were on high alert for a US counterattack after Tehran fired missiles at a military base in Iraq that was used by American forces.
Those missiles came in response to the killing in a US drone attack in Baghdad of Major General Qassem Soleimani who headed the foreign operations arm of Iran‘s Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Ukraine lost 11 citizens in the airline disaster.
Vladimir Putin and China’s defence minister Li Shangfu have vowed to deepen military cooperation between China and Russia after the men met in Moscow over the weekend.
Li, who met the Russian president on Sunday on his first trip overseas in the role, said China was willing to work with Russia to have close strategic communications between their militaries.
He said China was prepared to strengthen multilateral coordination and cooperation with Russia, according to state-run CCTV news.
“China is willing to work with Russia to make new contributions to the maintenance of world and regional security and stability,” Li said, according to the report.
He said ties between Russia and China “surpass the military-political alliances of the cold war era”, in translated remarks broadcast on Russian TV.
“This is my first overseas visit since taking over as China’s defence minister. I specifically chose Russia for this in order to emphasise the special nature and strategic importance of our bilateral ties,” Li said.
For more on this story, read our full report:
A Russian court is due to deliver a verdict in the case against opposition figure Vladimir Kara-Murza, who is being tried for treason for his criticism of the Ukraine offensive.
His high-profile trial is the latest in a string of cases against opposition voices in Russia in a crackdown that has intensified since the start of the war in Ukraine.
AFP reports:
Kara-Murza, 41, is accused of treason, spreading “false” information about the Russian army and being affiliated with an “undesirable organisation”.
Prosecutors have called for Kara-Murza to be sentenced to 25 years in jail.
In his last words in court following a closed-door trial, Kara-Murza said he stood by his political statements, including against Russia’s offensive in Ukraine.
“I subscribe to every word that I have said, that I am incriminated for today,” Kara-Murza said in comments published by journalist Alexei Venediktov.
“Not only do I not repent for any of it - I am proud of it,” he added.
Kara-Murza was detained in April last year on charges of spreading what the authorities consider false information about the Russian army over an address to members of the lower house of the Arizona legislature last March.
In August 2022, Kara-Murza was accused of being affiliated with an “undesirable organisation” for participating in a conference in support of political prisoners.
Then in October he was charged with treason over remarks critical of Moscow made at three public events abroad, his lawyer told state-run TASS news agency.
The opposition activist suffers from a nerve condition called polyneuropathy which his lawyers say was due to two poisoning attempts in 2015 and 2017.
The condition has worsened in prison, and he was too unwell to attend some of his hearings, his lawyers said.
Opening summary
Hello and welcome to the Guardian’s live coverage of the war in Ukraine with me, Helen Livingstone. Our top story today:
A Russian court is due to deliver a verdict in the case against opposition figure Vladimir Kara-Murza, who is being tried for treason for his criticism of the war in Ukraine.
The 41-year-old is accused of spreading “false” information about the Russian army and being affiliated with an “undesirable organisation”. He faces 25 years if convicted but in his closing statement to the court following a closed-door trial last week, he said he stood by what he had said.
“Not only do I not repent for any of it – I am proud of it,” he said in a statement that was distributed by his wife and lawyer.
Meanwhile after a meeting with China’s defence minister, Li Shangfu, in Moscow, Russian president Vladimir Putin said the two countries were “working actively through our military departments” and regularly exchanging “useful information”. Li said ties between the two countries had “already entered a new era” and surpassed “the military-political alliances of the cold war era”.
Other key developments:
A row is brewing over Poland and Hungary’s decision to ban grain imports from Ukraine to protect their own agricultural sectors. Reuters reports that a European Commission spokesperson said unilateral action on trade by European Union member states was “not acceptable”.
Following Poland and Hungary’s decision, Bulgaria is considering a similar move. Local news agency BTA reported that the agriculture minister, Yavor Gechev, said the country was mulling over a ban on Ukrainian grain imports.
Ukrainian and Russian armed forces are fighting extraordinarily bloody battles in the ruined eastern city of Bakhmut, but pro-Kyiv forces are still holding on, Ukraine’s military has said. Russia said that Wagner mercenary units supported by airborne troops had captured two more city blocks.
One hundred and thirty Ukrainian prisoners of war have been released and returned home in a “great Easter exchange”, a senior Ukrainian presidential official has said. It was not clear how many Russians were sent back the other way.
A Russian official has claimed four people were killed and 10 injured in Ukrainian shelling of a town in Russian-controlled Donetsk. Denis Pushilin said a seven-year-old girl was among those wounded in Yasynuvata.
Russia has been using drones to attack Ukrainian police in Kherson, according to the region’s police force. It said a police car was attacked in the Korabel area, injuring two officers and damaging the car, while in Beryslav one officer was injured and cars damaged.
A new international economic support package of $115bn (£93bn) is giving Ukraine more confidence it can prevail against Russian forces amid growing recognition the war could continue for longer than expected, the Ukrainian finance minister said on Saturday. Serhiy Marchenko said Group of Seven (G7) finance ministers assured him during International Monetary Fund and World Bank meetings in Washington this week that they would support Ukraine for as long as needed.
Volodymyr Zelenskiy spoke to the French president, Emmanuel Macron, on Saturday. In two tweets, the Ukrainian president said they had discussed Macron’s recent visit to Beijing to meet China’s president, Xi Jinping.
The Ukrainian foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, will visit Baghdad on Monday, his first trip to Iraq since Russia invaded Ukraine. Kuleba is expected to hold talks with the Iraqi prime minister, Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, and the foreign minister, Fuad Hussein.
The Brazilian president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, has called for the establishment of a group of countries that are not involved in the Russia-Ukraine war in order to broker peace. Lula, who has criticised the role of the US and the EU in the conflict, spoke of attempting to gather a group of leaders who “prefer to talk about peace rather than war”, citing China’s Xi Jinping and the president of the United Arab Emirates, sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed al-Nahyan, both of whom he met this week.
