Ukraine-Russia war – live: Explosions rock Kyiv as Putin fires overnight strikes on Ukrainian cities

At least two people were killed as loud explosions rocked Ukraine’s capital and adjoining cities in the early hours today after Russian forces rained missiles on Kyiv and other areas.

The mass missile attack on Ukraine comes after several weeks and ahead of Kyiv’s planned counteroffensive.

“A young woman and a three-year-old child has been killed,” Borys Filatov, mayor of the central city of Dnipro, said on Telegram.

Officials said air raid sirens were activated around 5am as explosions were reported across the country.

Dnipro, Kremenchuk and Poltava in central Ukraine and in Mykolaiv in the south and another online source reported an explosion in the Kyiv region.

The attack from Vladimir Putin’s forces invading Ukraine comes just a day after the Kremlin said it would welcome anything that could bring the end of the conflict closer.

In early March, Russia had attacked Ukraine with “almost all types” of cruise missiles and drones during a mass attack across the war-torn nation.

Key points

• Mass missile attack kills 2, injures 5 in Ukraine

• Wagner chief says Bakhmut ceasefire was just ‘humour’

• Russia digs in as Ukraine prepares to attack

• Putin installs ‘Devil’s Teeth’ defence on front line

• ‘We are on the verge of a new world war,’ Russia’s Medvedev says

Death toll from overnight missile barrage rises to 12

09:45 , Matt Mathers

The death toll following last night’s attacks has risen to 12.

Russia hurled missiles at cities across Ukraine as people slept early on Friday.

It was the first large scale attack by Russia in nearly two months

Pope to give vision for Europe in Hungary

08:45 , Matt Mathers

Pope Francis plans to outline his vision for the future of Europe during a three-day visit to Hungary starting Friday, with Russia’s war in Ukraine, migration flows and Hungary’s tense relations with Brussels looming large over the pontiff’s weekend journey.

Hungarian officials say Francis’ pilgrimage was designed primarily to let the pope minister to the country’s Catholic community and to encourage its members in their faith.

But with the war unfolding next door and Hungary butting heads with other European Union nations over rule of law issues and LGBTQ+ rights, Francis’ words and deeds in the heart of Europe will carry strong political undertones.

After his arrival, Francis is scheduled to meet with President Katalin Novak and Prime Minister Viktor Orban, and then to deliver his main political speech to Hungarian authorities and diplomats. He has a chance to speak to Hungarian society and Europe at large in his final event Sunday, when he’ll address academic and cultural figures at Budapest’s Catholic University.

In between, Francis is set to meet with some of the 35,000 Ukrainian refugees who have remained in Hungary after 2.5 million fled across Ukraine’s border with Hungary’s early on in Russia’s invasion. It will be another opportunity for Francis to raise immigration as a topic and and to reiterate his belief that European countries should, within their means, open their arms and borders to people fleeing poverty as well as conflicts.

Death toll from overnight strikes rises to eight

08:15 , Matt Mathers

Russia has fired more than 20 cruise missiles and two drones at Kyiv and other parts of Ukraine, killing at least eight people and hitting a residential building in central Ukraine, officials said.

Air raid sirens sounded around the capital in the first attack against the city in nearly two months and Ukraine’s air force intercepted 11 cruise missiles and two unmanned aerial vehicles over Kyiv, according to the city administration.

There were no immediate reports of any missiles hitting targets in Kyiv but fragments from intercepted missiles or drones damaged power lines and a road in one neighbourhood.

No casualties were reported.

Russian defence minister says US and allies trying to restore military presence in Central Asia

07:22 , Matt Mathers

Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu said on Friday that the United States and its allies are trying to restore their military presence in Central Asia under the pretext of fighting terrorism, Russian state-owned news agency RIA reported.

RIA cited Shoigu as saying that Russia was increasing combat readiness at its bases in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan as a result.

Russian ‘terrorists’ shelling claimed the life of a child’, says Zelensky

07:10 , Arpan Rai

Civilians are still trapped under the rubble of attacked buildings in Ukraine, president Volodymyr Zelensky said on Telegram as he confirmed Russian missiles and drones struck the war-hit city overnight.

“Last night the enemy attacked Ukraine again with missiles and UAVs. Terrorists targeted civilians and objects. A rocket attack on Uman damaged about 10 apartment buildings. The entire block of one of them was destroyed. People are still trapped under the rubble,” he said on Telegram today.

He added: “Unfortunately, there are casualties, including a child. In Dnipro, terrorists’ shelling claimed the life of a child. My condolences to everyone who lost their loved ones because of the Russian terror!”

Russian missile attacks residential building, three killed

06:51 , Arpan Rai

Ukraine down 21 Russian missiles, 2 drones – air defence

06:50 , Arpan Rai

Ukrainian air defence has downed 21 missiles over Ukraine, out of which 11 were shot down over Kyiv.

The Kyiv Military Administration said 11 Russian cruise missiles and two drones were downed by air defence over the capital in a morning update.

Russian forces launched a mass attack against Ukraine at 4am using strategic Tu-95 aircraft, Ukraine’s air force said.

Anti-aircraft missile units of the Ukrainian Air Force together with the air defence destroyed 21 of the 23 X-101 and X-555 cruise missiles.

Ukraine says overnight missiles fired from strategic bombers

06:33 , Arpan Rai

The Ukrainian Ministry of Defence has said they shot down 21 out of 23 missiles fired by Russia in an overnight attack.

“Last night, the terrorist state attacked Ukraine with missiles launched from the strategic bombers Tu-95. Ukrainian air defenders shot down 21 of 23 missiles and 2 drones. At least five civilians were killed,” the ministry said in its latest update.

Five killed after Russia unleashes overnight missile barrage on Ukrainian cities

06:17 , Arpan Rai

The barrage of missile attack in Ukrainian cities has led to five deaths, officials said.

While two were killed in Dnipro, another three were killed in the central town of Uman and another eight were injured after a missile pierced an apartment building, said Ihor Taburets, head of the military administration in the area.

The mass-missile attack comes 51 days after Russian forces fired most weapons, including drones on Ukraine in early March.

Russia’s attacks from previous day damaged houses, college, says Zelensky

06:16 , Arpan Rai

Volodymyr Zelensky has accused Russia of using the “Kalibrs” missile on civilian areas in Ukraine.

“The rockets damaged dozens of ordinary houses and two educational institutions. ‘Kalibrs’ against a school and a college, against residential buildings,” he said in his nightly address.

He said Russia fired another rocket in the evening at Kostiantynivka in Donetsk region. “A school, hospital and residential buildings were damaged. Unfortunately, there are people injured,” he said.

“In Mykolaiv, the debris has been cleared from the site of a rocket attack that took place last night. More than 20 people were wounded, one person was killed...,” he said.

Hours later, Russia released another missile barrage across Ukraine, raining ammunition on several regions.

Mass missile attack kills 2, injures 5 in Ukraine

04:53 , Arpan Rai

At least two people were killed after loud explosions rocked Ukraine’s capital and adjoining cities in the early hours today, officials said. Russian forces rained missiles on Kyiv, and other areas from central Ukraine to southern Mykolaiv.

"A young woman and a three-year-old child have been killed," Borys Filatov, mayor of the central city of Dnipro, said on Telegram.

Air raid sirens were activated around 5am as explosions were reported across the country.

Dnipro, Kremenchuk and Poltava in central Ukraine and in Mykolaiv in the south and another online source reported an explosion in the Kyiv region.

The mass missile attack on Ukraine comes after several weeks and ahead of Kyiv’s planned counteroffensive.

An apartment building in the central town of Uman was also seen on fire.

At least five have been injured in the attack, regional governor Ihor Taburets said on Telegram.

Wagner chief says Bakhmut ceasefire was just ‘humour’

04:11 , Arpan Rai

Russia’s Wagner mercenary group head said he had been joking when he offered to suspend artillery fire on Ukrainian forces in besieged Bakhmut.

“A decision has been taken to suspend artillery fire so that American journalists can safely film Bakhmut and go home,” Yevgeny Prigozhin said in an audio message:

He later added: “Guys, this is military humour. Humour, and nothing more ... it was a joke.”

At least 4,000 civilians have been killed in the fighting in Bakhmut, according to estimates from Kyiv, and thousands more soldiers from both sides.

Alastair Jamieson reports:

‘It was a joke’: Wagner group chief says Bakhmut ceasefire was just ‘humour’

Building ablaze in central Ukrainian town

04:09 , Arpan Rai

An apartment building has been found ablaze early today in the central Ukrainian town of Uman. Police in the region said emergency services were operating.

The pictures, posted on various news and other websites, showed flames shooting out from a heavily damaged building in the town. Parts of the building had collapsed.

Zoya Vovk, a police spokesman in the surrounding region, said emergency teams were operating.

No immediate casualties have been reported so far.

Putin and Erdogan speak before inauguration of Turkish nuclear plant

04:00 , Katy Clifton

Russia’s Vladimir Putin and Turkey’s Tayyip Erdogan held talks by telephone yesterday, their offices said, before the two countries marked the inauguration of Turkey’s first nuclear power reactor.

The Akkuyu nuclear power plant in Turkey’s southern Mersin province has been built by Russia’s state nuclear energy company Rosatom.

Mr Erdogan thanked Mr Putin during their call for his help on the power plant, the Turkish leader’s office said. They also discussed the Black Sea grain initiative and the situation in Ukraine, it said.

Mr Putin said they agreed to deepen economic, trade and agricultural cooperation.

Both presidents took part virtually in a ceremony marking the loading of nuclear fuel into the first power unit at Akkuyu.

The $20 billion, 4,800 megawatt (MW) project to build four reactors in the Mediterranean town of Akkuyu will allow Turkey to join the small club of nations with civil nuclear energy.

Wagner chief says Bakhmut ceasefire was just ‘humour’

03:52 , Arpan Rai

Russia’s Wagner mercenary group head said he had been joking when he offered to suspend artillery fire on Ukrainian forces in besieged Bakhmut.

“A decision has been taken to suspend artillery fire so that American journalists can safely film Bakhmut and go home,” Yevgeny Prigozhin said in an audio message:

He later added: “Guys, this is military humour. Humour, and nothing more ... it was a joke.”

At least 4,000 civilians have been killed in the fighting in Bakhmut, according to estimates from Kyiv, and thousands more soldiers from both sides.

Alastair Jamieson reports:

‘It was a joke’: Wagner group chief says Bakhmut ceasefire was just ‘humour’

Italian judge drops case on alleged Russian funding to League party

02:01 , Katy Clifton

An Italian judge agreed yesterday to drop a case in which a former adviser to League leader Matteo Salvini and two other people were being investigated for alleged illicit party funding from Russia, according to a court document.

The League is part of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s right-wing coalition government.

Milan prosecutors had in January asked the judge to dismiss the case in a statement explaining that they had failed to gather sufficient evidence to pursue the investigation after Moscow failed to respond to requests for assistance submitted by the Italian judicial authority.

In the court document reviewed by Reuters, the office of Milan judge Stefania Donadeo notified the lawyers of the three suspects that a decree of dismissal had been filed on Thursday.

Putin claims Russia’s drone industry could be worth 1tn roubles

Friday 28 April 2023 00:01 , Katy Clifton

President Vladimir Putin has claimed the Russian drone industry could soon be worth 1 trillion roubles ($12.25 billion) once a plan to boost production is put into place.

Late last year Mr Putin said Russia must increase its output of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and create infrastructure for their widespread use in military and civilian applications.

Mr Putin said he and executives involved in drone production had looked over figures that showed the industry could in the near future be worth 500 billion roubles. Everyone agreed this was a very conservative estimate, he said.

“Most likely, if we are all together, along with the state, we’ll work actively and it will be 1 trillion rubles,” he said in remarks that were shown on state television.

Ex-Wagner commander cleared of violence against Oslo police

Thursday 27 April 2023 23:01 , Katy Clifton

A former commander of Russia’s Wagner group seeking asylum in Norway has been convicted of being involved in a bar fight and of carrying an air gun but was acquitted of committing violence against police.

Andrei Medvedev, 26, was handed down a suspended sentence of 14 days, with a probation period of two years.

“I want to thank the court for a fair ruling,” Medvedev told Reuters, adding he was looking to the future. “I am studying Norwegian and I hope I will get asylum.”

Medvedev crossed the Russian-Norwegian border in January and has spoken out about his time fighting in Ukraine.

On Tuesday he pleaded guilty to fighting outside an Oslo bar on February 22 and preventing a police officer from doing his or her duty. He also pleaded guilty to carrying an air gun in public on a separate occasion on March 14.

But Medvedev had pleaded not guilty to a fourth charge, the most serious one, of committing violence against a police officer. He was acquitted on that charge on Thursday.

Nearly 98% of combat vehicles pledged ‘have been delivered’

Thursday 27 April 2023 22:00 , Katy Clifton

NATO allies and partner countries have delivered more than 98 per cent of the combat vehicles promised to Ukraine during Russia’s war, the military alliance’s chief has said, giving Kyiv a bigger punch as it contemplates launching a counteroffensive.

Along with more than 1,550 armoured vehicles, 230 tanks and other equipment, Ukraine‘s allies have sent “vast amounts of ammunition” and also trained and equipped more than nine new Ukrainian brigades, NATO secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg said.

More than 30,000 troops are estimated to make up the new brigades. Some NATO partner countries, such as Sweden and Australia, have also provided armoured vehicles.“This will put Ukraine in a strong position to continue to retake occupied territory,” Mr Stoltenberg told reporters in Brussels.

US guardsman in military leak case ‘wanted to kill a ton of people'

Thursday 27 April 2023 20:45 , Katy Clifton

The Massachusetts Air National Guardsman accused of leaking highly classified military documents kept an arsenal of guns and said on social media that he would like to kill a “ton of people”, prosecutors have said.

The judge at 21-year-old Jack Teixeira’s detention hearing put off an immediate decision on whether he should be kept in custody until his trial or released to home confinement or under other conditions. Teixeira was led away in handcuffs pending that ruling.

The prosecution today put forward a submission of what it says are Teixeira’s social media posts, stating in November that he would “kill a (expletive) ton of people” if he had his way, because it would be “culling the weak minded”.

The court filings raise new questions about why Teixeira had such a high security clearance and access to some of the nation’s most classified secrets. They said he may still have material that has not been released, which could be of “tremendous value to hostile nation states that could offer him safe harbour and attempt to facilitate his escape from the United States”.

The leak stunned military officials, sparked an international uproar and raised fresh questions about America’s ability to safeguard its secrets. The leaked documents appear to detail US and Nato aid to Ukraine and US intelligence assessments regarding allies that could strain ties with those nations.

Some show real-time details from February and March of Ukraine‘s and Russia’s battlefield positions and precise numbers of battlefield gear lost and newly flowing into Ukraine from its allies.

ICYMI: Bianca Jagger hails Independent TV’s Ukraine documentary

Thursday 27 April 2023 19:01 , Katy Clifton

Bianca Jagger attended the UK premiere of Independent TV’s documentary on war crimes in Ukraine earlier this week, hailing it as a “powerful and moving” piece of reporting.

The 77-year-old veteran human rights defender joined more than 100 people at the Frontline Club in central London to watch The Body in the Woods.

The film follows the story of international correspondent Bel Trew’s bid to find out the identity of a young Ukrainian man shot dead by Russian soldiers. She stumbled across his corpse lying in woodland with his hands tied behind his back.

You can watch the documentary and read more about the UK premiere here.

US sanctions Russia’s domestic security service

Thursday 27 April 2023 18:15 , Katy Clifton

The US has imposed sanctions on Russia’s domestic security service FSB and the intelligence unit of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), accusing them of being responsible or complicit in the wrongful detention of Americans overseas.

The sanctions also targeted four senior commanders within IRGC’s IO, although among them were at least one individual who had already been subject to previous US sanctions. FSB was also subject to previous US sanctions.

Speaking to reporters in a briefing call on the condition of anonymity, senior Biden administration officials said the move aimed to show that there would be consequences for those who tried to use US citizens for political leverage or seek concessions from Washington.

“Our action is a warning to those around the world who would wrongfully detain U.S. nationals of the potential consequences of their actions,” a senior administration official briefing reporters on the condition of anonymity said.

“Today’s sanctions are one of a series of efforts - some public like this, some private - to secure the release of U.S. Nationals wrongfully held overseas, to promote accountability for the culprits, and by doing so, to prevent and deter the next set of cases from arising in the first place.”

I was only joking about Bakhmut ceasefire, says Wagner chief

Thursday 27 April 2023 17:06 , Joe Middleton

The head of Russia’s Wagner mercenary group said he had been joking when he offered to suspend artillery fire on Ukrainian forces in besieged Bakhmut.

Wagner has been spearheading Russia’s assault on the Ukrainian city since last summer in the longest and bloodiest battle of the war, but Ukrainian forces have so far thwarted its attempts to take full control.

Yevgeny Prigozhin said in an audio message: “A decision has been taken to suspend artillery fire so that American journalists can safely film Bakhmut and go home.”

Alastair Jamieson reports.

‘It was a joke’: Wagner group chief says Bakhmut ceasefire was just ‘humour’

Why does Russia want to block Ukraine from joining Nato?

Thursday 27 April 2023 16:40 , Matt Mathers

Tensions along Russia’s border with Ukraine finally erupted into open warfare on 24 February 2022 as Vladimir Putin announced a “special military operation” in the eastern regions of the neighbouring state, confirming fears that had lingered since the preceding December that he was amassing troops intent on an invasion.

The Kremlin leader said he believed that Russia had to take decisive action to extinguish a threat to its national security and that Moscow planned to carry out the “demilitarisation and de-Nazification” of Ukraine by toppling its leadership, also promising to put an end to eight years of war in which government forces have been battling pro-Russian separatists.

Joe Sommerlad reports:

Why does Russia want to block Ukraine from joining Nato?

Ex-Wagner commander hopes for asylum after being cleared of violence against Oslo police

Thursday 27 April 2023 16:00 , Matt Mathers

A former commander of Russia’s Wagner group seeking asylum in Norway was convicted on Thursday of being involved in a bar fight and of carrying an air gun but was acquitted of committing violence against police.

Andrei Medvedev, 26, was handed down a suspended sentence of 14 days, with a probation period of two years.

"I want to thank the court for a fair ruling," Medvedev told Reuters, adding he was looking to the future. "I am studying Norwegian and I hope I will get asylum."

Putin, Erdogan speak by phone before inauguration of Turkish nuclear plant

Thursday 27 April 2023 15:10 , Matt Mathers

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkey’s President Tayyip Erdogan held talks by telephone on Thursday, their offices said, before the two countries marked the inauguration of Turkey’s first nuclear power reactor.

The Akkuyu nuclear power plant in Turkey’s southern Mersin province has been built by Russia’s state nuclear energy company Rosatom.

Erdogan thanked Putin during their call for his help on the power plant, the Turkish leader’s office said. They also discussed the Black Sea grain initiative and the situation in Ukraine, it said.

Putin said they agreed to deepen economic, trade and agricultural cooperation.

Both presidents took part virtually in a ceremony marking the loading of nuclear fuel into the first power unit at Akkuyu.

Russia rejects US request to visit detained reporter over visa snub

Thursday 27 April 2023 14:30 , Matt Mathers

Russia’s Foreign Ministry said on Thursday it had rejected a request from the US embassy to visit detained Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich in response to Washington’s refusal to grant visas to a group of Russian journalists.

The ministry said it had summoned a senior US diplomat to hand over a formal note of protest against a decision by the United States to not grant visas to a group of Russian journalists meant to accompany Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov to the United Nations in New York this week.

There was no immediate comment on the Russian move from the US Embassy.

Ukraine wants pope to help get children back from Russia

Thursday 27 April 2023 13:58 , Matt Mathers

Ukraine’s prime minister said he has asked Pope Francis during a private Vatican audience to help facilitate the return of Ukrainian children forcibly taken to Russia.

Denys Shmyhal, briefing reporters on his half-hour audience with the pontiff, said he has also invited Francis to visit Ukraine.

"I asked the Vatican and the Holy Father for help in getting back children taken by force by Russia," the prime minister said.

Kremlin welcomes Xi-Zelensky call

Thursday 27 April 2023 13:30 , Matt Mathers

The Kremlin said on Thursday it welcomed anything that could bring the end of the Ukraine conflict closer when asked what it thought of a phone call a day earlier between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky

But it said it still needed to achieve the aims of its "special military operation" in Ukraine.

NATO allies send 1,500 combat vehicles, 230 tanks to Ukraine

Thursday 27 April 2023 13:00 , Matt Mathers

NATO countries have delivered more than 98% of the combat vehicles promised to Ukraine amid its war with Russia, the military alliance’s chief said Thursday, giving Kyiv a bigger punch as it appears poised to launch a counteroffensive.

Along with more than 1,550 armored vehicles, 230 tanks and other equipment, member nations have sent Ukraine "vast amounts of ammunition" and also trained and equipped more than nine new Ukrainian brigades, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said.

More than 30,000 troops are estimated to make up the new brigades.

"This will put Ukraine in a strong position to continue to retake occupied territory," Stoltenberg told reporters in Brussels.

Russian Defence Ministry says forces take four blocks in Bakhmut - RIA

Thursday 27 April 2023 12:27 , Matt Mathers

Russia’s Defence Ministry said on Thursday that its forces had taken four blocks in north-western, western and south-western Bakhmut, Russia state-owned news agency RIA reported.

Reuters could not independently confirm the claim. Russian forces have been struggling for months to capture the city in eastern Ukraine.

Bakhmut fighting in pictures

Thursday 27 April 2023 11:54 , Matt Mathers

Russia digs in as Ukraine prepares to attack

Thursday 27 April 2023 10:00 , Matt Mathers

The anti-tank ditches near Ukraine’s occupied southeastern town of Polohy stretch for 30 km (19 miles). Behind are rows of concrete “dragon’s teeth” barricades. Further back are defensive trenches where Russia’s troops will be positioned.

The defences visible in satellite imagery taken by Capella Space are part of a vast network of Russian fortifications sweeping down from western Russia through eastern Ukraine and on to Crimea built in readiness for a major Ukrainian attack.

Thousands of Ukrainian troops have been training in the West to use different military assets on the battlefield in a combined way ahead of a counteroffensive Ukrainian officials say will come when its forces are ready.

Reuters has reviewed satellite images of thousands of defensive positions inside both Russia and along Ukrainian front lines that show it is most heavily defended in the southern Zaporizhzhia region and the gateway to the Crimean Peninsula.

Six military experts said the defences, mostly built in the wake of Ukraine’s rapid autumn advances, could make it harder for Ukraine this time and that progress would hinge on its ability to carry out complex, combined operations effectively.

“It’s not the numbers for the Ukrainians. It’s can they do this kind of warfare, combined arms operations?” said Neil Melvin, an analyst at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI). “The Russians have shown they can’t do it and they’ve gone back to their old Soviet method of attrition.”

Military object found in Poland probably belongs to Polish army-RMF FM

Thursday 27 April 2023 09:33 , Matt Mathers

The military object found in a forest in Poland was probably not fired from another country, but belonged to the Polish army, private broadcaster RMF FM reported on Thursday quoting unofficial information.

Polish authorities said earlier on Thursday that the remains of a military object were found in northern Poland near the city of Bydgoszcz, confirming earlier media reports of the discovery of some kind of object in the area.

Russians pound frontline positions in Bakhmut, Ukraine military says

Thursday 27 April 2023 08:29 , Matt Mathers

Russian forces pounded the city of Bakhmut, the months-old focal point of their attempts to capture the eastern Ukrainian industrial region of Donbas, and the head of Russia’s Wagner mercenary force said Ukrainian troops were pouring in ahead of an "inevitable" counter-offensive.

The general staff of Ukraine’s armed forces, in a report on Facebook, said fighting gripped Bakhmut and nearby areas. It said Russian forces had failed to advance on two villages to the northwest. At least a dozen localities came under Russian fire.

Separately, Serhiy Cherevatiy, spokesman for Ukraine’s eastern group of forces, told national television on Wednesday that in the past 24 hours, Russian forces had attacked 324 times using artillery and multiple rocket launchers.

"The Russians are destroying buildings in Bakhmut to prevent our soldiers from using them as fortifications," Cherevatiy said.

‘Hyundai Motor to exit Russia, selling its plants’

Thursday 27 April 2023 07:30 , Namita Singh

South Korea’s Hyundai Motor Co plans to exit Russia and sell its manufacturing plants there to a Kazakh company, South Korean media reported yesterday.

South Korean TV network MBC reported that negotiations to sell Hyundai’s factories in Russia are in the final stage, adding that the automaker has been waiting for a final approval from the Russian government.

“It is true that there are ongoing discussions regarding the sale, but nothing has been decided,” Hyundai Motor said, according to the TV network.

Hyundai Motor suspended operations at its Russian operation last year. In March, the automaker said it was reviewing “various options” for its Russian operation.

In a statement to Reuters, Hyundai Motor said it was reviewing various scenarios for the future of its business in Russia, adding no decision had been made so far.

Ukrainians mark Chernobyl disaster amid nuclear threats

Thursday 27 April 2023 07:00 , Namita Singh

Workers at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant yesterday marked the 37th anniversary of the world’s worst nuclear disaster amid an ongoing war and nuclear threats, somberly laying flowers at a monument for victims.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky used the day to repeat his warnings about the potential threat of a new atomic catastrophe in Ukraine amid the war with Russia, drawing a parallel between the Chernobyl accident in 1986 to Moscow’s brief seizure of that plant and its radiation-contaminated exclusion zone following its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

“Last year, the occupier not only seized the (Chernobyl) nuclear power plant, but also endangered the entire world again,” Mr Zelensky said in a Telegram post in English.

Report:

Ukrainians mark Chernobyl disaster amid nuclear threats

Why is China trying to act as mediator in Russia’s war with Ukraine

Thursday 27 April 2023 06:30 , Namita Singh

Chinese leader Xi Jinping yesterday said that Beijing will send an envoy to Ukraine to discuss a possible “political settlement” to Russia’s war with the country.

Beijing has previously avoided involvement in conflicts between other countries but appears to be trying to assert itself as a global diplomatic force after arranging talks between Saudi Arabia and Iran in March that led to them restoring diplomatic relations after a seven-year break.

Mr Xi told Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky in a phone call that a Chinese envoy would visit Ukraine and “other countries” to discuss a possible political settlement, according to a government statement reported by state TV.

But why does this matter? Read this report to find out:

China tries to act as mediator in Russia's war with Ukraine

What is the significance of the Ukraine-China call

Thursday 27 April 2023 06:00 , Martha Mchardy

China said it will not “add fuel to fire” in the first call between Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky and Chinese president Xi Jinping since the Russian invasion.

China is the only major government that has friendly relations with Moscow as well as economic leverage as the biggest buyer of Russian oil and gas after the United States and its allies cut off most purchases.

Beijing, which sees Moscow as a diplomatic partner in opposing U.S. domination of global affairs, has refused to criticise the invasion and used its status as one of five permanent U.N. Security Council members to deflect diplomatic attacks on Russia.

Zelensky earlier said he welcomed a Chinese offer to mediate.

Xi’s government has pursued a bigger role in global diplomacy as part of a campaign to restore China to what the ruling Communist Party sees as its rightful status as a political and economic leader and to build an international order that favours Beijing’s interests.

That is a sharp reversal after decades of avoiding involvement in other countries’ conflicts and most international affairs while it focused on economic development at home.

In March, Saudi Arabia and Iran issued a surprise announcement, following talks in Beijing, that they would reopen embassies in each other’s capitals following a seven-year break. China has good relations with both as a big oil buyer.

Last week, Foreign Minister Qin Gang told his Israeli and Palestinian counterparts that his country is ready to help facilitate peace talks.

Wednesday’s statement warned against the dangers of nuclear war, suggesting Beijing might also have been motivated by what it sees as the growing danger of a more destructive conflict.

Mediating between Ukraine and Russia would increase China’s presence in Eastern Europe, where Beijing has tried to build ties with other governments. That has prompted complaints by some European officials that China is trying to gain leverage over the European Union.

US, Europe eyeing ways to improve Ukraine’s grain exports

Thursday 27 April 2023 05:30 , Namita Singh

US and European officials yesterday toured Ukraine’s southern port of Izmail that’s important in bringing Ukrainian grain to the world – and could become critical if a deal with Russia to allow grain exports from Ukrainian Black Sea ports expires.

From Izmail, which has been upgraded since the start of the war with the help of US and other funding, grain is taken by barge down a branch of the Danube through Romania to its Black Sea port of Constanta for shipment onward.

US ambassador Bridget Brink said after looking over the port facilities with Ukrainian and EU officials, as well as Ukrainian grain companies, that they were exploring ways to increase the exports from Danube ports.

More in this report:

US, Europe eyeing ways to improve Ukraine's grain exports