Ukrainian presidential aide, Mykhaylo Podolyak, has also criticised the comments made by the Chinese ambassador to France. Podolyak said the status of post-Soviet countries was “enshrined in international law”, while he also took issue with Lu’s comments on Crimea, which was occupied by Russia in 2014.
All post-Soviet Union countries have a clear sovereign status enshrined in international law. Except for Russia, which fraudulently took a seat in the UN Security Council. It is strange to hear an absurd version of the "history of Crimea" from a representative of a country that…
— Михайло Подоляк (@Podolyak_M) April 23, 2023
Updated
It’s just after 8pm in Kyiv. Here is a summary of today’s events.
Ukraine’s military have set up positions on the eastern side of the Dnieper River near Kherson. Infiltrating the area could be a first step towards trying to dislodge Russians from positions they are using to shell and shoot at Kherson.
France and the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania expressed dismay that China’s ambassador in Paris questioned whether Crimea is part of Ukraine. France stated its “full solidarity” on Sunday, with all the allied countries affected, which it said had acquired their independence “after decades of oppression”. EU foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, said the comments were “unacceptable” and that he hoped they did not reflect Beijing’s official stance. Ukrainian presidential aide, Mykhaylo Podolyak, said the status of post-Soviet countries was “enshrined in international law”, while he also took issue with Lu’s comments on Crimea.
The Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, has said Moscow “will not forgive” Washington for denying US visas to Russian journalists who were meant to accompany him on a visit to UN headquarters.
Russia is advising citizens to avoid travel to Canada. Russia cited what it calls numerous cases of discrimination against its citizens, including physical violence, its foreign ministry has said.
Russia appeals for “real men” in new military recruitment drive. Russia’s Defence Ministry has launched a major drive for volunteer recruits, pitching to their masculine pride and appealing for “real men” amid a limited pool of fighting-age men in Russia, the UK Ministry of Defence says.
Evacuations in Russian city of Belgorod after bomb scare. More than 3,000 people in the Russian city of Belgorod were returning to their homes on Saturday after being evacuated while an explosive was disposed of, the local governor said.
At least five Russian missiles hit the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv and surrounding districts late on Saturday night, damaging civilian buildings, local officials said. One missile hit a house in the village of Kotliary, just to the south of Kharkiv, while another caused a fire in the city itself, said the regional governor, Oleh Sinegubov.
Russia’s Defence Ministry claimed it had captured another three districts in the western part of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine. Troops who have continued into the heavily contested city are thought to be part of the Wagner group of mercenaries.
Updated
There is more reaction to comments made by the Chinese ambassador to France questioning the sovereignty of post-Soviet countries.
EU foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, said they were “unacceptable” and that he hoped they did not reflect Beijing’s official stance.
Borrell tweeted:
Unacceptable remarks of the Chinese ambassador to France.
The EU can only suppose these declarations do not represent China’s official policy.
His was the latest sign of indignation in Europe over remarks the Chinese envoy made to French television on Friday, Agence France-Presse reports.
Ambassador, Lu Shaye, suggested countries that emerged after the fall of the Soviet Union “don’t have effective status under international law because there is not an international agreement confirming their status as sovereign nations”.
Unacceptable remarks of the Chinese Ambassador to France questioning the sovereignty of the countries which became independent with the end of the Soviet Union in 1991.
— Josep Borrell Fontelles (@JosepBorrellF) April 23, 2023
The EU can only suppose these declarations do not represent China’s official policy.
Updated
Here are some pictures coming to us over the wires.
Updated
Moscow 'will not forgive' US after Russian journalists are denied visas for UN visit
The Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, has said Moscow “will not forgive” Washington for denying US visas to Russian journalists who were meant to accompany him on a visit to UN headquarters.
Russia took up the presidency of the UN security council in April – a move which Kyiv said was a “slap in the face” – and Lavrov will chair several UN security council meetings in New York.
Lavrov denounced a “stupid” failure of the United States to give visas to Russian journalists.
He said:
We won’t forget, we will not forgive this.
A country that calls itself the strongest, smartest, freest and fairest, chickened out.
He added this “showed the worth of their solemn assurances on freedom of speech”, Agence France-Presse reports.
Updated
France, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania have expressed dismay after China’s ambassador in Paris questioned the sovereignty not only of Ukraine, but all the former Soviet Republics including the Baltic states.
Lu Shaye’s remarks in a TV interview late on Friday raise fresh questions about the faith the French president, Emmanuel Macron, has placed in China to act as a mediator between Russia and Ukraine.
Lu had been asked whether he considered the peninsula of Crimea, which was annexed by Russia in 2014, part of Ukraine under international law.
Lu said:
Even these ex-Soviet Union countries do not have effective status, as we say, under international law because there’s no international accord to concretise their status as a sovereign country.
Lu’s comments appeared to brush aside the sovereignty of countries, including ironically Russia, that formally recognised each other after the Soviet Union’s dissolution and are represented at the United Nations and in European security organisations.
Asked if Crimea was part of Ukraine, he said the answer depended on one’s position, and it was not so simple.
He added:
There is a history here where Crimea was originally part of Russia. It was Khrushchev who offered Crimea to Ukraine during the period of the Soviet Union.
Summary
Ukraine’s military have set up positions on the eastern side of Dnipro river near Kherson city. Infiltrating the area could be a first step towards trying to dislodge Russians from positions they are using to shell and shoot at Kherson.
France and the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania expressed dismay that China’s ambassador in Paris questioned whether Crimea is part of Ukraine. France stated its “full solidarity” on Sunday, with all the allied countries affected, which it said had acquired their independence “after decades of oppression”.
Russia is advising citizens to avoid travel to Canada. Russia cited what it calls numerous cases of discrimination against its citizens, including physical violence, its foreign ministry has said.
Russia appeals for “real men” in new military recruitment drive. Russia’s defence ministry has launched a major drive for volunteer recruits, pitching to their masculine pride and appealing for “real men” amid a limited pool of fighting-age men in Russia, the UK Ministry of Defence says.
Evacuations in Russian city of Belgorod after bomb scare. More than 3,000 people in the Russian city of Belgorod were returning to their homes on Saturday after being evacuated while an explosive was disposed of, the local governor said.
At least five Russian missiles hit the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv and surrounding districts late on Saturday night, damaging civilian buildings, local officials said. One missile hit a house in the village of Kotliary, just to the south of Kharkiv, while another caused a fire in the city itself, said the regional governor, Oleh Sinegubov.
Russia’s defence ministry claimed it had captured another three districts in the western part of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine. Troops who have continued into the heavily contested city are thought to be part of the Wagner group of mercenaries.
Russia confirmed it would expel 20 German diplomats in retaliation for its own diplomats being sent home from Berlin, the Tass news agency said, citing Russia’s foreign ministry.
Brazil’s president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, has again refused to take sides in the war in Ukraine, calling for a “negotiated political solution” between Kyiv and Moscow. “We urgently need a group of countries to sit round a table with both Ukraine and Russia,” he said after a meeting with the Portuguese president, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, in Lisbon.
Updated
The former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev said on Sunday that if the G7 moved to ban exports to Russia, Moscow would respond by terminating the Black Sea Grain deal that enables vital exports of grain from Ukraine, Reuters reports.
G7 countries are reportedly considering a near-total ban on exports to Russia, Japan’s Kyodo news agency reported last week, citing Japanese government sources.
Updated
Ukraine’s military reported to have set up positions on the eastern side of Dnipro near Kherson city
Ukraine’s military have set up positions on the eastern side of Dnipro river near Kherson city, the Institute for the Study of War reported, citing Russian military bloggers.
Infiltrating the area could be a first step towards trying to dislodge Russians from positions they are using to shell and shoot at Kherson.
The constant attacks have made it impossible for residents to return to normal life, months after Ukrainan troops liberated the city from Russian occupation.
Ukrainian military forays across the river could also mark the first tentative steps towards launching a long-awaited spring offensive.
The think tank said in an update on the war:
This is the first time ISW has observed reliable geolocated imagery of Ukrainian positions on the east bank along with multi-sourced Russian reports of an enduring Ukrainian presence there.
The Russian military bloggers said Ukrainian forces had established stable supply lines to their positions and “regularly conduct sorties in the area”, the ISW said.
The reported positions were in marshy territory of islets and tributaries, near the settlements of Oleshky and Dachi, the report said. Russia still holds the settlements.
A Ukrainian military spokeswoman for the southern region declined to comment on the reports that Ukrainan troops had achieved a foothold across the river.
Natalia Humenyuk told TV channel 24:
There is an ongoing military operation that requires informational silence. And when it is allowed we will be sure to notify you.
Government officials and Ukrainian commanders have signalled for months that when the weather and troops are ready, they will try to dislodge Russian forces from the south.
An autumn campaign liberated swathes of northeastern Kharkiv and pushed Russian troops out of Kherson, at the time their last stronghold on the western banks of the Dnipro.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Friday he is “confident” Ukraine is prepared to retake more of its territory in the next offensive.
The son of the spokesperson for the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, said he had served in Ukraine as an artilleryman in the Wagner mercenary force, Reuters reports, citing the Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper.
Nikolai Peskov, the 33-year-old son of Dmitry Peskov, told the privately owned newspaper he had served in Ukraine. Reuters reports it as a rare, public example of the son of a senior Russian official fighting in the war.
“It was on my initiative,” Nikolai Peskov, whose father has served as Putin’s spokesperson since 2008, said in an interview. “I considered it my duty.” He said that he had served out his contract for a little under half a year under an assumed name to hide his true identity. He received a medal for bravery, the newspaper said.
When asked about his father’s views of his service, Nikolai Peskov said:
He’s proud of me, I think. My father told me that I made the right decision.
Nikolai Peskov was born in 1990 and lived in Britain in the decade following the 1991 fall of the Soviet Union, Reuters reporting, citing the Kommersant newspaper. He then returned to Russia and served in the strategic rocket forces from 2010 to 2012.
Reuters also writes that in 2022, an associate of the jailed opposition politician Alexei Navalny pretending to be a Russian military official phoned Nikolai Peskov and demanded he report to a draft office. Nikolai Peskov reportedly told him he would not be going anywhere and would solve the situation at a different level, according to a recording of the call posted online.
Updated
France and the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania expressed dismay that China’s ambassador in Paris questioned whether Crimea is part of Ukraine, Reuters reports.
When asked about his position on whether Crimea is part of Ukraine or not, the Chinese ambassador Lu Shaye said in an interview aired on French television on Friday that historically it was part of Russia and had been offered to Ukraine by the former Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev.
He said:
These ex-USSR countries don’t have actual status in international law because there is no international agreement to materialise their sovereign status.
In response to these comments, France stated its “full solidarity” on Sunday, with all the allied countries affected, which it said had acquired their independence “after decades of oppression”.
A foreign ministry spokesperson said:
On Ukraine specifically, it was internationally recognised within borders including Crimea in 1991 by the entire international community, including China.
The spokesperson called on China to clarify whether these comments reflect its position or not.
The three Baltic states, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, all formerly part of the Soviet Union, reacted along the same lines as France.
China’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comment.
Updated
Morning from London, this is Aamna Mohdin taking over the blog from Adam Fulton.
Russia is advising citizens to avoid travel to Canada, citing what it calls numerous cases of discrimination against its citizens, including physical violence, its foreign ministry has said.
Reuters reported that Canada is one of the most vocal backers of Ukraine in the war and has imposed sanctions on hundreds of Russian officials and companies as well as wide-scale trade bans.
The Russian foreign ministry said in an advisory on Saturday posted on Telegram:
Due to the numerous instances of discrimination against Russian citizens … in Canada, including physical violence, we recommend you refrain from travelling to this country for the purposes of tourism, education and in the context of business relations.
If you are already in Canada, we urge you to be vigilant, especially in public places.
Shortly after the war started last year, Canada advised citizens to avoid all travel to Russia.
Russia last week imposed sanctions on 333 Canadian officials and public figures, including prominent Olympians, in what it said was a tit-for-tat response to Canadian restrictions on Moscow and support for Ukraine.
Updated
Russia appeals for 'real men' in new military recruitment drive
Russia’s defence ministry has launched a major drive for volunteer recruits, pitching to their masculine pride and appealing for “real men” amid a limited pool of fighting-age men in Russia, the UK Ministry of Defence says.
The ministry’s latest intelligence briefing said a “pervasive” advertising campaign had been seen on Russian social media sites, billboards and television and it also highlighted the financial benefits of signing up.
But it was highly unlikely the campaign would attract Russia’s reported target of 400,000 volunteers, the ministry said in its briefing, posted on Twitter.
Since its access to prisoner recruitment was stopped, the Wagner Group private military company is also competing for the limited pool of Russian fighting-age men.
… The authorities are almost certainly seeking to delay any new, overt mandatory mobilisation for as long as possible to minimise domestic dissent.
Latest Defence Intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine - 23 April 2023.
— Ministry of Defence 🇬🇧 (@DefenceHQ) April 23, 2023
Find out more about Defence Intelligence's use of language: https://t.co/EAO2VGwncm
🇺🇦 #StandWithUkraine 🇺🇦 pic.twitter.com/S5hmwFoNdq
Updated
Evacuations in Russian city of Belgorod after bomb scare
More than 3,000 people in the Russian city of Belgorod were returning to their homes on Saturday after being evacuated while an explosive was disposed of, the local governor said.
Reuters reported that two days earlier, a Russian warplane accidentally dropped a bomb on the city, damaging local houses, authorities said. Those evacuated lived in the same area.
Military explosive experts decided to “neutralise” the explosive at a training ground, Belgorod’s region governor, Vyacheslav Gladkov, wrote on the Telegram messaging app.
The operational headquarters decided to evacuate 17 apartment buildings within a radius of 200 metres. According to preliminary data, it is more than 3,000 people. Anyone who needs help with temporary accommodation, it will be provided.
Gladkov said later that people had started to return to their homes after a “shell” was removed from the area.
On Thursday, a Russian Sukhoi-34 supersonic warplane accidentally fired a weapon into Belgorod, causing an explosion and injuring three people, Russian officials said.
Opening summary
Hello, welcome back to our ongoing live coverage of Russia’s war in Ukraine. This is Adam Fulton with the latest developments.
More than 3,000 residents in the Russian city of Belgorod were returning to their homes on Saturday, an official said, after 17 apartment buildings were evacuated following the discovery of an explosive device.
It was found in the area that was hit by a bomb accidentally dropped by a Russian warplane days earlier, injuring three people and leaving a large crater in the city, near the Ukrainian border.
More on that story shortly. In other news as it approaches 9.30am in Kyiv:
At least five Russian missiles hit the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv and surrounding districts late on Saturday night, damaging civilian buildings, local officials said. One missile hit a house in the village of Kotliary, just to the south of Kharkiv, while another caused a fire in the city itself, said the regional governor, Oleh Sinegubov.
Russia’s defence ministry claimed it had captured another three districts in the western part of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine. Troops who have continued into the heavily contested city are thought to be part of the Wagner group of mercenaries.
Russia confirmed it would expel 20 German diplomats in retaliation for its own diplomats being sent home from Berlin, the Tass news agency said, citing Russia’s foreign ministry.
Brazil’s president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, has again refused to take sides in the war in Ukraine, calling for a “negotiated political solution” between Kyiv and Moscow. “We urgently need a group of countries to sit round a table with both Ukraine and Russia,” he said after a meeting with the Portuguese president, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, in Lisbon.
Units from Belarus returned home from Russia on Saturday after training on how to use the Iskander tactical missile system to launch nuclear weapons, the Belarusian defence ministry said. It made the announcement exactly four weeks after Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, said Russia would station tactical nuclear weapons in neighbouring Belarus.
Ukraine plans to deploy software from the US data analytics provider Palantir Technologies to help it prosecute alleged war crimes committed by Russia, the company has said.
Ukraine’s operational command has reported that 11 Russian warships are in combat readiness in the Black Sea, including two submarines armed with Kalibr cruise missiles. The press service of Ukraine’s Operational Command South reported this on Facebook, according to Ukrinform.
Cyprus has cracked down on those named by the US and Britain for allegedly helping Russian oligarchs bypass sanctions on Moscow because of the Ukraine war, an official said. The financial commissioner, Pavlos Ioannou, told state broadcaster CyBC on Saturday that assets of the individuals and entities concerned had been frozen.
A Ukrainian soldier who lost his leg and has been fighting on the frontline wearing a prosthesis will run the London Marathon on Sunday to raise money and share a message of unity against Russian aggression. Roman Kashpur, from Khmelnyk in Vinnytska, stood on a landmine in 2019. He fought on the frontline in Ukraine wearing a prosthesis for six weeks after Russia’s invasion in February 2022.
The UK Ministry of Defence has said Russia is struggling to maintain consistency in a core narrative used to justify the Ukraine war: that the invasion is akin to the Soviet experience during the second world war.
The top Russian official in occupied Crimea said its air defence systems had been activated but there were no reports of damage or casualties. “Air defence forces worked in the sky over Crimea. No damage or casualties,” the official, Sergei Aksyonov, said on Telegram. “I ask everyone to remain calm and trust only trusted sources of information.”
