Ukraine-Russia news – live: Germany delivers much-awaited Leopard tanks to Kyiv

Germany on Monday confirmed it has delivered Leopard battle tanks to Ukraine two months after Berlin gave a green light for them to be sent.

"Yes, we delivered Leopard tanks as we announced," chancellor Olaf Scholz said in Rotterdam.

"We're providing very modern (tanks) which we have now delivered."

Kyiv has appealed to its western allies to send heavy machinery required to push back Russian forces, ahead of a possible spring counter-offensive by Kyiv.

Berlin delivered 18 of the advanced Leopards, with the last of the tanks having left Germany at the end of last week, The Spiegel reported.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky met with UN atomic energy chief Rafael Mariano Grossi in southern Ukraine.

The two discussed the precarious situation at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, which has lost several of its power transmission cables during the conflict and on multiple occasions has had to switch to emergency diesel generators.

Mr Grossi, who is director-general of the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency, plans to visit the plant, which is held by Russian forces, this week.

Key points

  • Germany delivers promised Leopard battle tanks to Ukraine

  • Zelensky meets UN atomic energy chief ahead of Zaporizhzhia visit

  • Russia’s nuclear rhetoric dangerous and irresponsible, says Nato

Ukraine downs 12 kamikaze drones near Kyiv

05:42 , Alisha Rahaman Sarkar

Ukrainian forces downed Russian drones near Kyiv on Monday as falling debris set a non-residential site ablaze, the authorities said.

Serhiy Popko, head of the Kyiv city military administration, said Russia had launched 12 drones towards Kyiv but Ukraine’s air defence forces had identified and destroyed “all enemy targets”.

The General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces said in its daily morning update that Russia launched a total of 15 Iranian-made Shahed drones overnight on Ukraine, with Ukrainian forces destroying 14 of them.

Drone wreckage fell in the western Kyiv district of Sviatoshyno, sparking a fire across a 200-square-metre area in a non-residential building, he added.

Open advert for Wagner mercenary group appears in Moscow

05:30 , Alisha Rahaman Sarkar

A giant recruitment advert for Russia’s Wagner mercenary group has appeared on the facade of an office building in north-east Moscow.

The advert, which covers 17 storeys, shows the group’s logo and slogans such as “Join the winning team!” and “Together we will win”, along with a picture of a masked man holding a weapon.

Wagner, which fights alongside Russian forces in eastern Ukraine, has sought to replenish troop numbers ahead of a potential Ukrainian counteroffensive.

The group is thought to have sustained heavy losses as it battles for control of the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut.

The group’s boss Yevgeny Prigozhin, a 61-year-old ex-convict whose company grew wealthy by catering events and fulfilling contracts for the Kremlin and government ministries, said earlier in March that he aimed to recruit 30,000 new fighters by mid-May.

Zelensky says Russia is holding Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant ‘hostage’

05:19 , Alisha Rahaman Sarkar

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said Russian troops were holding the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant “hostage” and its safety could not be guaranteed until they left it.

Russian troops have occupied the nuclear power plant, Europe’s largest, since March last year, shortly after Vladimir Putin waged the unprovoked war in Ukraine.

“Holding a nuclear power station hostage for more than a year - this is surely the worst thing that has ever happened in the history of European or world-wide nuclear power,” Mr Zelensky said in his nightly video address.

He added that Russia was using it for “radiation blackmail”.

Putin ally issues another nuclear threat to US

05:03 , Andy Gregory

An ally of Vladimir Putin has warned that Russia has the weapons to destroy any enemy, including the United States, if its own existence is threatened.

The comments from Nikolai Patrushev, the influential secretary of Russia’s Security Council, are the latest from a senior Russian official to raise the spectre of a nuclear showdown between the world’s two largest nuclear powers, something Moscow says it wants to avoid.

“American politicians trapped by their own propaganda remain confident that, in the event of a direct conflict with Russia, the United States is capable of launching a preventive missile strike, after which Russia will no longer be able to respond. This is short-sighted stupidity, and very dangerous,” Mr Patrushev told the state Rossiiskaya Gazeta newspaper on Monday.

“Russia is patient and does not intimidate anyone with its military advantage. But it has modern unique weapons capable of destroying any adversary, including the United States, in the event of a threat to its existence”, he said.

Germany delivers promised tanks to Ukraine

04:15 , Alisha Rahaman Sarkar

Germany has delivered 18 Leopard battle tanks to Ukraine, chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Monday.

The delivery of the “very modern” German-made battle tanks comes some two months after Berlin finally gave the green light for them to be sent.

Ukraine has appealed to its Western allies to send the heavy weaponry required to push back Russian forces, ahead of a possible spring counter-offensive by Kyiv.

“Yes, we delivered Leopard tanks as we announced,” Mr Scholz told a press conference with Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte in Rotterdam.

Russia fires anti-ship missile at mock target

03:59 , Alisha Rahaman Sarkar

The Russian navy has fired supersonic anti-ship missiles at a mock target in the Sea of Japan, the defence ministry said today.

“In the waters of the Sea of Japan, missile ships of the Pacific Fleet fired Moskit cruise missiles at a mock enemy sea target,” the ministry said in a statement.

“The target, located at a distance of about 100 kilometres, was successfully hit by a direct hit from two Moskit cruise missile.”

Belarus hits out at Poland over border delays

03:55 , Andy Gregory

Belarus has accused Poland of causing long delays at its border with the European Union by slowing the movement of trucks, alleging that Warsaw was failing to implement bilateral agreements.

Poland, a fierce critic of veteran Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko, in February closed one of its key border crossings with Belarus, citing security concerns – a decision Minsk called “catastrophic”.

“Since Friday, a queue in front of the only accessible border crossing point on the Belarusian-Polish border ... has doubled in size and now totals 1,000 vehicles,” the Belarusian border committee said in a statement.

“The main reason is the failure of the Polish side to implement bilateral agreements on the passage of trucks,” it said, accusing Poland of only processing 61 per cent of the typical number of trucks crossing the border over the weekend.

Putin taking Belarus as ‘nuclear hostage’, says top Ukrainian official

02:59 , Andy Gregory

Ukraine's top security official has denounced the Kremlin's plans to station tactical atomic weapons in Belarus, saying that Russia was taking its ally as a “nuclear hostage”, reports Karl Ritter.

Oleksiy Danilov, the secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, warned on Sunday that Putin's announcement was “a step towards internal destabilisation” of Belarus that maximised “the level of negative perception and public rejection” of Russia and Putin in Belarusian society.

The Kremlin, Mr Danilov added, “took Belarus as a nuclear hostage.”

Ukraine official: Putin taking Belarus as 'nuclear hostage'

Analysis | No country can afford to ignore the war in Ukraine

01:52 , Andy Gregory

In case you missed it, our world affairs editor Kim Sengupta wrote last week that the presence of China’s Xi Jinping in Moscow, and the Japanese prime minister Fumio Kishida in Kyiv, had “illustrated the global impact of this conflict in the heart of Europe, with old strategic alliances being strengthened and new ones being formed”.

You can read his analysis in full here:

Analysis: It is becoming clear that no country can ignore the war in Ukraine

Watch: Ron DeSantis backtracks on claims made about Ukraine

Tuesday 28 March 2023 00:41 , Andy Gregory

Ukrainian ambassador ‘expects' Switzerland to remove block on re-exporting arms to Ukraine

Monday 27 March 2023 23:32 , Andy Gregory

Ukraine’s ambassador to Switzerland has said she expects the nation to change its mind on blocking re-exports of arms to Ukraine – despite its longstanding foreign policy of neutrality.

An opinion poll published by the Sotomo Institute in Zurich in late January found that 55 per cent of respondents favoured re-exporting Swiss-made war materiel to Ukraine.

Speaking to Reuters, ambassador Iryna Venediktova said she expected Switzerland to change its position very soon as support for the re-export of Swiss arms to her country increases.

“We need these weapons and ammunition as fast as possible,” she said. “It is a question of survival of our people, our nation, our state.”

Swiss neutrality should not block re-export of arms to Ukraine, insists ambassador

Monday 27 March 2023 22:28 , Andy Gregory

Switzerland’s tradition of neutrality should not include blocking re-exports of Swiss weapons to Ukraine, Kyiv’s ambassador has insisted, claiming the “whole world expects a fair position” instead.

Switzerland’s government reiterated this month it would not change its long-standing policy of banning any country that buys Swiss arms from sending them to the party of a conflict.

But speaking to Reuters at the Ukrainian embassy in Bern, Iryna Venediktova said neutrality and the re-export of arms to Ukraine should be viewed as separate issues.

“I respect Swiss neutrality because it is a pillar of the Swiss state,” she said. “But every day I stress that neutrality and re-export are two absolutely different terms.”

“We don’t ask, ‘Give your weapons to us directly.’ We just ask not to block [re-exports] ... not to contribute to this crime of aggression,” Ms Venediktova said. “The whole world is watching, and the whole world expects a fair position, nothing more than a fair position.”

Switzerland has denied requests from Germany, Denmark and Spain to re-export Swiss war materiel to Ukraine. Switzerland, however, has adopted the European Union’s sanctions against Russia over the invasion, which it has repeatedly condemned.

EU Council chief vows support, ammunition for Ukraine

Monday 27 March 2023 22:18 , Andy Gregory

Here is more information on European Council president Charles Michel’s remarks on Ukraine during his visit to Bucharest today:

EU Council chief vows support, ammunition for Ukraine

Ukraine says defending Bakhmut a ‘military necessity’ as Russia turns attention to ‘post-apocalyptic’ Avdiivka

Monday 27 March 2023 21:12 , Reuters

Ukraine’s ground forces commander has said that Kyiv is planning its next move after Russia shifted the focus of its offensive from Bakhmut to Avdiivka, a town some 55 miles south now described as post-apocalyptic, reports Dan Peleschuk.

Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskyi, who said last week that the Ukrainian counterattack could come “very soon”, visited frontline troops in the east on Monday and said his forces were still repelling Russian attacks on Bakhmut.

Defending the small city in the industrialised Donbas region that Russia has tried to seize for months was a “military necessity”, he said, praising Ukrainian resilience in “extremely difficult conditions”.

“We are calculating all possible options for the development of events, and will react adequately to the current situation”.

Ukraine says defending Bakhmut a ‘military necessity’

Hungarian parliament approves Finland’s Nato bid after months of delay

Monday 27 March 2023 20:07 , Andy Gregory

Hungary's parliament has approved a bill to allow Finland to join Nato once its application has been ratified by all 30 members of the alliance – bringing months of delay by Viktor Orban’s ruling Fidesz party to an end.

The bill on Sweden's Nato accession remains stranded in the Hungarian parliament. Finland and Sweden asked to join the transatlantic military alliance last year in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. But the process has been held up by Turkey and Hungary.

Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan agreed earlier this month to start ratifying Finland’s bid, but is still refusing to allow Sweden to join the alliance.

EU will ‘massively ramp up’ ammunition production for Ukraine, vows Michel

Monday 27 March 2023 19:14 , Andy Gregory

European Council president Charles Michel has pledged that EU leaders will “massively ramp up” ammunition production to send to Ukraine, and will continue supporting Kyiv “for as long as necessary”.

“We are again stepping up our military support,” Mr Michel told a news conference in Bucharest’s Cotroceni Palace, where he discussed EU support for Ukraine, security issues in Moldova and Romania’s bid to join the Schengen area with president Klaus Iohannis.

“Last week, we agreed to urgently deliver one million rounds of ammunition to Ukraine. We will massively ramp up our production capacity,” Mr Michel said.

Last week, EU foreign and defense ministers approved a plan for a fast-track purchasing procedure for direct negotiations with industrial providers of ammunition in Europe, and plan to send one million rounds to Ukraine within the next 12 months.

Footage shows devastation in Bakhmut

Monday 27 March 2023 18:34 , Andy Gregory

Huge recruitment advert for Wagner Group appears in Moscow

Monday 27 March 2023 17:29 , Andy Gregory

A giant recruitment advert for Russia’s Wagner mercenary group has appeared on an office building next to a motorway in Moscow.

The advert, which covers 17 storeys, shows the group’s logo and slogans such as “Join the winning team!” and “Together we will win”, along with a picture of a masked man holding a weapon.

Wagner, which fights alongside Russian forces in eastern Ukraine, has sought to replenish troop numbers ahead of a potential Ukrainian counterattack, and is believed to have suffered heavy losses in the frontline city of Bakhmut.

Its boss Yevgeny Prigozhin, a 61-year-old whose company grew wealthy by catering events and fulfilling contracts for the Kremlin and government ministries, has expressed an aim to recruit 30,000 new fighters by mid-May.

 (REUTERS/Evgenia Novozhenina)
(REUTERS/Evgenia Novozhenina)

Germany’s Leopard 2 tanks claimed to have reached Ukraine

Monday 27 March 2023 16:41 , Andy Gregory

The Leopard 2 battle tanks pledged by Germany have arrived in Ukraine, a security source has told Reuters, corroborating a report by Spiegel news magazine.

In addition to the 18 main battle tanks, 40 German Marder infantry fighting vehicles, and two armoured recovery vehicles had also reached Ukraine, the security source said.

The German army trained the Ukrainian tank crews as well as the troops assigned to operate the Marder vehicles for several weeks on training grounds in Muenster and Bergen in northern Germany.

Beyond the German vehicles, three Leopard tanks donated by Portugal also reached Ukraine, according to the security source.

Orlando Bloom praises 'courage and determination' of Ukrainians during meeting with Zelensky

Monday 27 March 2023 15:34 , Joe Middleton

Zelensky meets UN atomic energy chief Grossi ahead of Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant visit

Monday 27 March 2023 14:59 , Joe Middleton

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky met with UN atomic energy chief Rafael Mariano Grossi in southern Ukraine on Monday.

The two discussed the precarious situation at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, which has lost several of its power transmission cables during the conflict and on multiple occasions has had to switch to emergency diesel generators.

Mr Grossi, who is director-general of the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency, plans to visit the plant, which is held by Russian forces, this week.

Two dead and 29 injured after Russian forces shell Ukrainian city of Sloviansk

Monday 27 March 2023 14:47 , Joe Middleton

Two people have been killed and 29 others were wounded when Russian forces shelled the Ukrainian city of Sloviansk, in the partially occupied eastern Donetsk region, local officials said.

Video footage of the aftermath showed damaged residential buildings, debris in the streets and vehicles on fire. Ukraine‘s President Volodymyr Zelensky described the attack as “terrorism”.

Russian officials have denied targeting residential areas, even though artillery and rocket strikes have hit Ukrainian apartment buildings and civilian infrastructure daily during the war.

The Sloviansk attack followed a typical pattern of long-range shelling adopted by the Kremlin’s forces, especially in recent months as the fighting became deadlocked during the bitterly cold winter months.

In the eastern Donetsk region, some 10 cities and villages were shelled by Russian forces over the previous 24 hours, Ukraine‘s presidential office reported.

On Monday morning, Russian missiles hit the city of Avdiivka, damaging residential buildings, a hotel and a courthouse, officials added.

Avdiivka mayor Vitali Barabash said utility companies are being evacuated from the frontline city, as it “resembles more and more a landscape from post-apocalyptic movies”.

Attacks also intensified in the partially occupied south-eastern Zaporizhzhia region, where 14 settlements on the front line were shelled, authorities said.

Zelensky visits frontline positions in Zaporizhzhia

Monday 27 March 2023 14:12 , Joe Middleton

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky visited frontline positions in the southeastern Zaporizhzhia region on Monday, according to his Telegram channel.

“I am honoured to be here today, next to our military,” he wrote in a post accompanied by a video of him handing out medals to Ukrainian troops.

A steel plant ready for war shows hit to Ukraine's economy

Monday 27 March 2023 13:15 , Joe Middleton

Flak jackets are piled up at Ukraine’s Zaporizhstal steel plant, and anti-tank traps guard the entrance. Whenever air raid sirens sound — and they go off every day — most workers head to one of the 16 bomb shelters scattered across the sprawling grounds.

But some keep working — braving not only the intense heat and sparks flying from blast furnaces forging steel used in everything from railway cars to household appliances, but the threat of shelling — to keep the molten metal moving.

A steel plant ready for war shows hit to Ukraine's economy

IOC should stick to plan to ban Russian and Belarusian athletes, say Britain, Poland and Baltic states

Monday 27 March 2023 12:32 , Joe Middleton

Russian and Belarusian athletes should be banned from the 2024 Olympics in Paris unless Moscow pulls its forces out of Ukraine, according to Poland, Britain and the Baltic states, despite the IOC saying it plans to let them compete as neutrals.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) sanctioned Russia and Belarus after Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 but is now reluctant to exclude their athletes from the Olympics entirely for fear of a return to the boycotts of the Cold War era.

It set out a pathway in January for competitors from Russia and Belarus to earn Olympic slots through Asian qualifying and to compete as neutral athletes in Paris next year.

“We strongly believe that now is not the time to consider the opening up of a pathway for Russian and Belarusian athletes to return to the Olympic Games in any status,” the Polish foreign ministry said in a statement issued jointly with Britain, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia.

Neutral athletes are not considered to be representing their nations and their successes are not accompanied by the flying of flags or playing of national anthems.

The President of the IOC Thomas Bach has said that the body cannot be a referee in global political disputes. However, the plan has faced opposition, with Germany and others coming out in favour of maintaining the ban.

Kyiv calls for emergency meeting of UN Security Council

Monday 27 March 2023 11:55 , Joe Middleton

Kyiv has called for an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council to “counter the Kremlin’s nuclear blackmail” after Russian president Vladimir Putin revealed plans to station tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus.

In a statement, Ukraine’s foreign ministry said: “Ukraine expects effective action to counter the Kremlin’s nuclear blackmail by the UK, China, the U.S. and France.

The statement added: “The world must be united against someone who endangers the future of human civilization,” the statement said.

Nato has also criticised Russian president Putin for his “dangerous and irresponsible” nuclear rhetoric.

Hollywood star Orlando Bloom hails strength of Ukrainian people on visit to the country

Monday 27 March 2023 10:52 , Joe Middleton

Orlando Bloom has praised the strength of the Ukrainian people as he met the country’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, and encouraged him to “go win” the war.

The British actor, 46, who is a Unicef Goodwill Ambassador, travelled to Kyiv in his first visit back to Ukraine since 2016.

In the meeting, Bloom told Mr Zelensky it is “remarkable to see how you are holding this country” and said it was a “real honour” to meet the Ukrainian president.

He said: “(It is) so encouraging in so many ways to see just the remarkably stoic nature of the people of Ukraine. And of course, your messaging that I think is reflected in their courage, and in their determination and in their perseverance and resilience.

“To see the children, to see in their eyes, it’s palpable the anxiety and yet, the strength of the Ukrainian people is something that is really awe-inspiring in truth and, of course, your messaging is the reason for that.”

 (EPA)
(EPA)

Poland detains foreign citizen for spying

Monday 27 March 2023 10:21 , Joe Middleton

Poland has detained a foreign citizen on charges of spying for Russia, prosecutors said on Monday, as the largest country on NATO’s eastern flank finds itself increasingly targeted by Moscow’s intelligence services.

The war in Ukraine has plunged what were already strained relations between Poland and Russia to new lows, with Warsaw saying it is frequently the subject of Russian espionage and disinformation.

Prosecutors in the northern Polish city of Gdansk said in a statement that the suspect had been detained on March 21.

“The findings made in the case show that the suspect acted for the benefit of Russian intelligence by obtaining and collecting information... on critical infrastructure in the Pomeranian and Kuyavian-Pomeranian Regions and on the activities of services and bodies responsible for security,” they said.

“The information obtained was passed on to the Russian intelligence service,” the statement added.

The arrest comes after Poland dismantled a Russian espionage network that had been preparing acts of sabotage and monitoring rail routes to Ukraine.

If found guilty the suspect could face up to 10 years in prison.

Ukraine’s force continuing to repel Russian troops, says general

Monday 27 March 2023 09:24 , Joe Middleton

Ukraine‘s ground forces commander said on his troops were continuing to repel heavy Russian attacks on the eastern city of Bakhmut and that defending it was a “military necessity”.

Ukraine‘s military said Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskyi had acted during a visit to the eastern front line to solve “problematic issues that prevent effective execution of combat tasks” and taken “operational decisions aimed at strengthening our capabilities to deter and inflict damage on the enemy.”

It gave no details, and did not say when the visit took place, but Syrskyi’s comments signalled Ukraine‘s intention to keep fighting in Bakhmut despite the heavy death toll there.

Nato countries are a party to the conflict in Ukraine, says Russian official

Monday 27 March 2023 08:47 , Joe Middleton

The secretary of Russia’s Security Council, Nikolai Patrushev, said that Nato countries are a party to the conflict in Ukraine, according to excerpts from an interview with Russian government newspaper Rossiyskaya Gazeta on Monday.

Rossiyskaya Gazeta cited Patrushev as saying: “In fact, Nato countries are a party to the conflict. They made Ukraine one big military camp. They send weapons and ammunition to the Ukrainian troops, provide them with intelligence”.

Patrushev, a former chief of the FSB internal security service, is widely seen as one of the most hawkish members of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s inner circle.

Moscow may seek compensation over Nord Stream gas pipelines explosion - reports

Monday 27 March 2023 08:00 , Joe Middleton

Moscow may seek compensation over damage from last year’s explosions on the Nord Stream gas pipelines, news agency RIA Novosti reported on Monday, citing a Russian diplomat.

The pipelines, which connect Russia and Germany under the Baltic Sea, were hit by unexplained blasts last September in what Moscow called an act of “international terrorism”.

“We do not rule out later the raising of the issue of compensation for damage as a result of the explosion of the Nord Stream gas pipelines,” Dmitry Birichevsky, the head of Russia’s Foreign Ministry department for economic cooperation, said in an interview with the news agency.

He added that Western countries were opposing a Russia-prepared draft U.N. Security Council resolution urging an independent international investigation of the Nord Stream blasts.

“Despite this, we intend to continue to insist on a comprehensive and open international investigation with the mandatory participation of Russian representatives,” Birichevsky said.

ICYMI: King Charles says he is determined to visit Ukraine before he 'gets too old’

Monday 27 March 2023 07:41 , Joe Middleton

Russia’s nuclear rhetoric dangerous and irresponsible, says Nato

Monday 27 March 2023 06:16 , Arpan Rai

Nato officials have called Vladimir Putin’s nuclear rhetoric “dangerous” after the Russian president announced plans to station tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus.

“Russia’s nuclear rhetoric is dangerous and irresponsible,” Nato spokesperson Oana Lungescu said yesterday.

She added: “Nato is vigilant and we are closely monitoring the situation. We have not seen any changes in Russia’s nuclear posture that would lead us to adjust our own”.

The Russian president’s “non-proliferation pledge and his description of US weapons deployment overseas were way off the mark”, she added.

Putin taking Belarus as ‘nuclear hostage’ – Ukraine official

Monday 27 March 2023 05:34 , Arpan Rai

Ukraine’s top security official denounced the Kremlin’s plans to station tactical atomic weapons in Belarus, saying that Russia was taking its ally as a “nuclear hostage.”

Moscow said it was making the move in response to the West’s increasing military support for Ukraine.

Russian president Vladimir Putin announced the plan in a television interview that aired on Saturday, saying it was triggered by a UK decision this past week to provide Ukraine with armour-piercing rounds containing depleted uranium.

Read the full story here:

Ukraine official: Putin taking Belarus as 'nuclear hostage'

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