Ukraine-Russia news – live: Document leak has forced Kyiv to change war plans

Ukraine has already altered some of its military plans after a large leak of classified documents, a source close to Volodymyr Zelensky said.

The apparent leak of Pentagon documents from late February revealed, among other classified intelligence, that Ukraine’s air defence systems are at risk of running out of missiles and ammunition within weeks.

One of the documents marked “Secret” shows how Ukraine’s Soviet-era S-300 air defence systems will be depleted by 2 May if the Ukrainian forces continue to use the ammunition at the current rate.

It comes as Ukraine is seeing intense fighting along the western approaches leading to Bakhmut, the general staff of Ukraine’s armed forces has said.

“The enemy is trying to take our city-fortress at any cost,” said Serhiy Cherevatyi, a spokesperson for Ukraine’s eastern military command.

Bakhmut has been the setting for the longest single battle of the Ukraine war so far, and has been besieged by Russian forces for many months.

Key Points

• Ukraine has altered military plans after leak – CNN

• Putin’s offensive slowing as forces ‘struggling to advance’

• Two killed after Russian forces strike residential building in Zaporizhzhia, Ukrainian authorities say

• Pentagon investigating leak of secret US and Nato war plans for Ukraine

• More than 30 children reunited with families in Ukraine

Ukraine has altered military plans after leak – CNN

04:01 , Arpan Rai

A source close to Volodymyr Zelensky has said that Ukraine has already altered some of its military plans after a large leak of classified documents, reported CNN.

The documents also show the degree to which the US has penetrated the Russian defence ministry and its proxy mercenary Wagner Group, mostly through intercepted communications and human sources, while also likely raising their chances of being cut off.

Among the leaks was information on key weaknesses in Ukraine’s weaponry, air defence, and battalion sizes and readiness at a crucial point in the war as Ukraine seeks to turn the corner with its spring offensive.

Ukraine says Russia switching to 'scorched earth' tactics in Bakhmut

08:48 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

The commander of the Ukrainian ground forces said on Monday that Russian troops had switched to “scorched earth” tactics in the embattled eastern city of Bakhmut and were destroying buildings and positions with air strikes and artillery.

Russia‘s assault on Bakhmut, a small city in the Donetsk region, has been the focus of the biggest battle of Moscow’s full-scale invasion launched in February 2022.

“The enemy switched to the so-called scorched earth tactics from Syria. It is destroying buildings and positions with air strikes and artillery fire,” said Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskyi, commander of Ukraine‘s ground forces.

Ukraine‘s defence of the city of Bakhmut continued, he said.

“The situation is difficult but controllable,” he said in comments quoted by Ukraine‘s Media Military Centre.

He said Russian forces were bringing in special forces and airborne assault units to help their attack on the city as members of Russia‘s Wagner military group had become “exhausted”.

Reuters could not verify the battlefield account.

South Korea to discuss 'issues raised' from leaked documents with US

08:25 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

South Korea is aware of news reports about a leak of several classified U.S. military documents and it plans to discuss “issues raised” as a result of the leak with the United States, a South Korean presidential official said on Sunday.

Several classified U.S. military documents have recently been posted on social media offering a partial, month-old snapshot of the war in Ukraine, three U.S. officials told Reuters on Friday, adding that Russia or pro-Russian elements were likely behind the leak.

Reuters has not been able to verify the authenticity of the documents. The U.S. Justice Department has said it is investigating the leak.

One of the documents, obtained by Reuters, showed details about internal discussions among top South Korean top officials about U.S. pressure on Seoul to help supply weapons to Ukraine, and its policy of not doing so.

The document, which does not appear to have a date on it, said that South Korea had agreed to sell artillery shells to help the United States replenish its stockpiles, insisting that the “end user” should be the U.S. military. But internally, top South Korean officials were worried that the United States would divert them to Ukraine.

The report was based in part on signals intelligence, which suggests the United States had been spying on South Korea, one of its most important allies.

The South Korean presidential official, speaking to reporters, declined to respond to questions about U.S. spying or to confirm any details from the leaked documents.

Asked if South Korea planned to lodge a protest or demand an explanation from the United States, the official, who declined to be identified, said the government would review precedents and cases involving other countries.

South Korea has signed major deals providing hundreds of tanks, aircraft and other weapons to NATO member Poland since Russia invaded Ukraine. But President Yoon Suk Yeol has said that a South Korean law that forbids supplying weapons to countries engaged in conflict makes it difficult to send arms to Ukraine.

The South Korean official said there was no change to South Korea’s policy.

Russian offensive ‘approaching culmination’, say analysts

08:00 , Liam James

The Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank, said it thinks Russia’s overall offensive “is approaching culmination”.

The institute cited Ivan Tymochko, the head of the Ukrainian Council of Reservists for the country’s ground forces, as reporting that recent Russian attacks appeared designed to distract and disperse Ukrainian troops preparing for a potential counter-offensive.

“Tymochko stated that Russian forces are not making serious advances anywhere on the front line,” the think tank said.

Noting that Russia has made heavy use of artillery to “offset key shortcomings in combat capability”, the institute said reported ammunition shortages would “undermine the Russian military’s ability to continue offsetting its other weaknesses and limitations”.

Below is the latest daily conflict map from the ISW:

Ukraine could run out of weapons and missiles within weeks, leaked documents show

07:16 , Arpan Rai

Ukraine’s air defence systems are facing the risk of running out of missiles and ammunition within weeks, according to an apparent leak of Pentagon documents from February.

One of the documents marked “Secret” shows how Ukraine’s Soviet-era S-300 air defence systems will be depleted by 2 May if the Ukrainian forces continue to use the ammunition at the current rate.

It is likely that Ukraine’s Buk air defence systems could run into trouble by mid-April, a report by the New York Times showed. The air defence system counters Russia’s air power sites along with the S-300.

The air defence systems protecting troops on the battle field front line could be “completely reduced” by 23 May, the report added.

Ukraine children back home after alleged deportation

07:00 , Liam James

More than 30 children were reunited with their families in Ukraine this weekend after being taken by invading forces to Russia or Russian-occupied Crimea.

Kyiv estimates nearly 19,500 children have been taken by Russian troops since Moscow invaded in February last year, in what it condemns as illegal deportations.

Moscow, which control chunks of Ukraine’s east and south, denies abducting children and says they have been transported away for their own safety.

On the frontline with Belarusian volunteers for Ukraine

06:00 , Liam James

Troops from Kastus Kalinouski, a regiment of Belarusian volunteers fighting for Ukraine, have been pictured on the frontline near Bakhmut, Donetsk.

A recent Foreign Policy profile of the volunteers heard how they were risking lengthy prison sentences, including for family members, for fighting with Ukraine against the Russian invasion, which Belarus has aided.

US Department of Justice starts investigation into crucial leak

05:54 , Arpan Rai

The US Department of Justice has started an investigation to check the source behind the leak of significant US intelligence documents shared on social media platforms like Twitter, Discord and Telegram among others in recent weeks.

It will also investigate if the documents were altered.

These documents have been labelled secret and resemble routine updates that the US military’s joint staff would produce daily but not distribute publicly.

They are dated ranging from 23 February to 1 March, and provide what appears to be details on the progress of weapons and equipment going into Ukraine with more precise timelines and amounts than the US generally provides publicly.

The US officials have said that this leak is being taken seriously as they look to probe and work toward a more formal assessment of what is in the documents and how they were leaked.

Russia trying to take Bakhmut fortress ‘at any cost’ as heaviest fight rages

05:27 , Arpan Rai

The heaviest fighting was seen along the western approaches leading to Bakhmut, the general staff of Ukraine’s armed forces has said.

“The enemy is trying to take our city-fortress at any cost,” Serhiy Cherevatyi, a spokesperson for Ukraine’s eastern military command, said.

He added: “Although it is extremely difficult, we are still in control of the situation. Our units are holding back the enemy and inflicting a maximum of damage.”

Volodymyr Zelensky and his military have said that the Ukrainian forces will keep defending Bakhmut against repeated Russian attacks, though Mr Zelensky last week acknowledged that if troops risked being encircled they could be pulled back.

Bakhmut has been the setting for the longest single battle of the Ukraine war so far, and has been besieged by Russian forces for many months.

Russia fired 40 airstrikes overnight, says Ukraine

05:00 , Liam James

Between Saturday and Sunday mornings, Russian forces launched 40 airstrikes, four missile strikes and 58 attacks from multiple-rocket launchers on various parts of Ukraine, the General Staff of the Ukrainian armed forces reported.

According to the General Staff, Russia focused attacks on the Donetsk province communities of Lyman, Bakhmut, Avdiivka and Marinka.

Donetsk regional governor Pavlo Kyrylenko said on Sunday morning that two civilians were wounded on Saturday.

Officials in Kherson province, where Ukrainian forces forced a partial Russian retreat in November, said the southern region also received numerous attacks. They did not report any casualties.

Russia carrying out cultural genocide in occupied Ukraine, systematic religious persecution – ISW

04:57 , Arpan Rai

Russian occupation authorities are likely conducting a campaign of systematic religious persecution in occupied Ukraine, the Institute for the Study of War has said in its special assessment.

It added that Russian religious persecutions are likely also part of an ongoing Russian cultural genocide and ethnic cleansing campaign by Vladimir Putin’s forces looking to “extirpate the idea of an independent Ukrainian nationality or Ukrainian Orthodox Church.”

“Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February last year Russian soldiers or occupation authorities have reportedly committed at least 76 acts of religious persecution in Ukraine,” the US-based think-tank monitoring the war said.

It added: “Russian authorities have closed, nationalised, or forcefully converted at least 26 places of worship to the Kremlin-controlled Russian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate, killed or seized at least 29 clergy or religious leaders, and looted, desecrated, or deliberately destroyed at least 13 places of worship in occupied Ukraine.”

These cases of religious repression are likely not isolated incidents but rather part of a deliberate campaign to systematically eradicate “undesirable” religious organisations in Ukraine and promote the Moscow Patriarchate, the ISW said.

South Korea to raise classified doc leak with US

04:00 , Liam James

South Korea is aware of news reports about a leak of several classified U.S. military documents and it plans to discuss “issues raised” as a result of the leak with the United States, a South Korean presidential official said on Sunday.

Several classified US military documents have recently been posted on social media offering a partial, month-old snapshot of the war in Ukraine, three US officials told Reuters on Friday, adding that Russia or pro-Russian elements were likely behind the leak.

The US Justice Department said it is investigating the leak.

One of the documents, obtained by Reuters, showed details about internal discussions among top South Korean top officials about US pressure on Seoul to help supply weapons to Ukraine, and its policy of not doing so.

Is the world on the precipice of a second cold war? | Voices

03:00 , Liam James

In the space of just one week, the influential American news and opinion outlet Foreign Policy published no less than six pieces demanding US and Western policymakers confront China more forcefully on human rights, shipping, finance, climate change, quantum computing, and microchips.

Just in case anyone missed the point, another called on Washington to create an “economic war council” to add a financial component to the military posture against China.

A new cold war is being thrust upon the world – one that could shape lives and nations for decades to come.

Borzou Daragahi reports:

Is the world on the precipice of a second cold war? | Borzou Daragahi

Seven civilians killed in weekend attacks, says Ukraine

02:00 , Liam James

Weekend shelling by Russian forces killed at least seven civilians, Ukrainian officials reported on Sunday.Kharkiv governor Oleh Syniehubov said two men died Sunday in shelling in Kupiansk, a city that Russia held before Ukrainian forces regained control of almost all of the province.

The city remained under attack later Sunday as Russian forces targeted residential areas with multiple rocket launchers, Syniehubov said. Elsewhere in the province, a 30-year-old man was hospitalized in serious condition after Russian shelling of the city of Chuhuiv, he said on Telegram.

Shelling also killed two people overnight, one of them a child born in 2012, in the city of Zaporizhzhia, the capital of that province, according to City Council Secretary Anatoliy Kurtev.

The Zaporizhzhia region’s governor, Yurii Malashko, said 18 communities in all were shelled. Three people were killed and five were wounded on Saturday, Malashko said.

Pentagon reviewing whether Ukraine war documents were leaked

01:00 , Joe Middleton

The Defense Department is reviewing a handful of documents that were released on several social media sites and appear to detail U.S. and NATO aid to Ukraine, but may have been altered or used as part of a misinformation campaign.

The documents, which were posted on sites such as Twitter, are labeled secret and resemble routine updates that the U.S. military’s Joint Staff would produce daily but not distribute publicly. They are dated ranging from Feb. 23 to March 1, and provide what appears to be details on the progress of weapons and equipment going into Ukraine with more precise timelines and amounts than the U.S. generally provides publicly.

They are not war plans and they provide no details on any planned Ukraine offensive. And some inaccuracies — including estimates of Russian troops deaths that are significantly lower than numbers publicly stated by U.S. officials — have led some to question the documents’ authenticity.

Pentagon reviewing whether Ukraine war documents were leaked

Russia loses election to three UN bodies over Ukraine

Sunday 9 April 2023 23:59 , Joe Middleton

Russia lost elections to three United Nations bodies this week, a sign that opposition to its invasion of Ukraine over a year ago remains strong.

The votes in the 54-member U.N. Economic and Social Council follow approval of six non-binding resolutions against Russia by the 193-member U.N. General Assembly. The latest — on Feb. 23, the eve of the first anniversary of the invasion — called for Moscow to end hostilities and withdraw its forces and was adopted by a vote of 141-7 with 32 abstentions.

In the ECOSOC votes, Russia was overwhelmingly defeated by Romania for a seat on the Commission on the Status of Women. It lost to Estonia to be a member of the executive board of the U.N. children’s agency UNICEF. And it was defeated by Armenia and the Czech Republic in secret ballot votes for membership on the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice.

Russia loses election to three UN bodies over Ukraine

ICYMI: Putin’s forces ‘reach centre’ of key Ukrainian city Bakhmut in bloody battle

Sunday 9 April 2023 23:00 , Joe Middleton

Russian forces are likely to have reached the centre of Bakhmut in their push to take over the city, according to UK intelligence.

Moscow’s troops have also seized the west bank of the river in the devastated area – endangering a key supply route to Ukraine.

Kyiv said Russia was concentrating all its efforts on capturing the eastern city, describing the situation as “difficult”, but said Ukrainian forces were holding out despite Russia’s numerical advantage during heavy fighting.

Putin’s forces ‘reach centre’ of key Ukrainian city Bakhmut in bloody battle

ICYMI: Blinken thanks Vladimir Putin for Finland joining Nato

Sunday 9 April 2023 22:00 , Joe Middleton

ICYMI: Russia digging trenches in Crimea and redeploying weapons as it fears Ukraine counteroffensive

Sunday 9 April 2023 21:00 , Joe Middleton

There are signs Russia is taking key equipment from occupied Crimea and redeploying it in Ukraine’s southern sector while also fortifying the contested peninsula ahead of an expected Ukrainian spring counteroffensive.

This comes as Ukraine has said talks with Russia on Crimea will take place if the planned counteroffensive succeeds.

“Russian forces may have withdrawn equipment from occupied Crimea for redeployment elsewhere in southern Ukraine out of fear of a Ukrainian counteroffensive,” the US-based Institute for the Study of War has said.

Russia digging trenches in Crimea as it fears Ukraine counteroffensive

Ukraine's coal miners dig deep to power a nation at war

Sunday 9 April 2023 20:00 , Joe Middleton

Deep underground in southeastern Ukraine, miners work around the clock extracting coal to power the country’s war effort and to provide civilians with light and heat.

Coal is central to meeting Ukraine’s energy needs following the Russia‘s military’s 6-month campaign to destroy power stations and other infrastructure, the chief engineer of a mining company in Dnipropetrovsk province said.

Elevators carry the company’s workers underground to the depths of the mine. From there, they operate heavy machinery that digs out the coal and moves the precious resource above ground. It is hard work, the miners said, but essential to keep the country going.

Ukraine's coal miners dig deep to power a nation at war

ICYMI: Defecting Russian protection officer labels Vladimir Putin 'war criminal'

Sunday 9 April 2023 19:00 , Joe Middleton

ICYMI: US sanction officials plan missions to clamp down on Russia

Sunday 9 April 2023 18:00 , Joe Middleton

Top sanctions officials from the U.S. Treasury Department plan special international trips this month to pressure firms and countries still doing business with Russia to cut off financial ties because of the war on Ukraine.

US sanction officials plan missions to clamp down on Russia

Ukrainians celebrate Palm Sunday in church marred by dispute

Sunday 9 April 2023 17:05 , Joe Middleton

Willow branches in hand, Ukrainians marked Palm Sunday in the country’s most revered Orthodox site that has been at the heart of a religious dispute playing out in parallel with the war against Russia.

Dozens of worshippers filled the grand Refectory Church of Anthony and Theodosius located inside the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra monastic complex. Many more waited outside in the sprawling courtyard and observed the service there.

The occasion marks the first significant religious service to be held in the complex following the March 29 eviction order issued by the Ukrainian government against Orthodox monks residing in the monastery over their alleged links with Russia. The monks had refused to leave the premises before the eviction deadline.

Ukrainians celebrate Palm Sunday in church marred by dispute

Russia launches 40 air strikes and four missile strikes on Ukraine over Easter

Sunday 9 April 2023 16:01 , Joe Middleton

Between Saturday and Sunday mornings, Russian forces launched 40 air strikes, four missile strikes and 58 attacks from multiple-rocket launchers on various parts of Ukraine, the General Staff of the Ukrainian armed forces reported.

According to the General Staff, Russia focused attacks on the Donetsk province communities of Lyman, Bakhmut, Avdiivka and Marinka.

Officials in Kherson province, where Ukrainian forces forced a partial Russian retreat in November, said the southern region also received numerous attacks. They did not report any casualties.

Putin’s offensive slowing as forces ‘struggling to advance’

Sunday 9 April 2023 15:13 , Joe Middleton

Russian forces are operating at a decreased rate and its offensive in Ukraine is reaching “culmination”, according to an assessment from the Institute for the Study of War (ISW)

Military sources have contributed to the analysis which indicates that Vladimir Putin’s forces in the country are now focused more on distracting and dispersing the Ukrainian army.

Council of Reservists of the Ukrainian Ground Forces Head Ivan Tymochko has said that “Russian forces are not making serious advances anywhere on the frontline” and that attacks have slowed down.

Meanwhile, a prominent Russian military blogger has suggested that “Russian forces are struggling to advance anywhere in Ukraine.”

The assessment adds: “Several Russian commentators are emphasizing Russian preparations for an anticipated Ukrainian counteroffensive, suggesting that the overall focus of the Russian information space is shifting away from discussing Russian offensive capabilities and towards assessing Ukraine’s potential to regain significant ground.”

More than 30 children reunited with their families in Ukraine

Sunday 9 April 2023 13:24 , Joe Middleton

More than 30 children were reunited with their families in Ukraine this weekend after a long operation to bring them back home from Russia or Russian-occupied Crimea, where they had been taken from areas occupied by Russian forces during the war.

Kyiv estimates nearly 19,500 children have been taken to Russia or Russian-occupied Crimea since Moscow invaded, in what it condemns as illegal deportations.

Moscow says they have been transported away for their own safety.

The latest pictures from Ukraine

Sunday 9 April 2023 12:23 , Joe Middleton

Pope appeals to Russians over Ukraine in Easter message

Sunday 9 April 2023 11:40 , Joe Middleton

Pope Francis appeared to ask Russians to seek the truth about their country’s invasion of Ukraine in his Easter message to the world on Sunday and appealed for dialogue between Israelis and Palestinians following recent violence.

Francis, 86, presided at a solemn Easter day Mass in a sunny St. Peter’s Square after unseasonal cold forced him to skip an outdoor service on Friday - a precaution following his hospitalisation for bronchitis at the end of March.

A carpet of 38,000 flowers donated by the Netherlands bedecked the square for the most important and joyous date in the Church’s liturgical calendar - commemorating the day Christians believe Jesus rose from the dead. Honour units of Vatican Swiss Guards and Italian Carabinieri police - both in ceremonial dress - stood at attention.

But the traditional pomp and sacred singing then gave way to modern realities. Francis later went up to the central balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica to deliver his twice-yearly “Urbi et Orbi” (to the city and the world) message and blessing, addressing a crowd the Vatican estimated at about 100,000.

There, from the same spot where he first appeared to the world as pope on the night of his election in 2013, he spoke of “the darkness and the gloom in which, all too often, our world finds itself enveloped”, and prayed to God for peace.

“Help the beloved Ukrainian people on their journey towards peace, and shed the light of Easter upon the people of Russia,” he said.

Since Russia invaded Ukraine in February last year, Francis has at least twice a week referred to Ukraine and its people as being “martyred” and has used words such as aggression and atrocities to describe Russia’s actions.

On Sunday he asked God to “comfort the wounded and all those who have lost loved ones because of the war, and grant that prisoners may return safe and sound to their families. Open the hearts of the entire international community to strive to end this war and all conflict and bloodshed in our world.”

South Korea plans to discuss ‘issues raised’ in leaked US military documents

Sunday 9 April 2023 10:40 , Joe Middleton

South Korea is aware of news reports about a leak of several classified US military documents and it plans to discuss “issues raised” as a result of the leak with the United States, a South Korean presidential official said.

Several classified U.S. military documents have recently been posted on social media offering a partial, month-old snapshot of the war in Ukraine, three U.S. officials told Reuters on Friday, adding that Russia or pro-Russian elements were likely behind the leak.

The U.S. Justice Department has said it is investigating the leak.

The New York Times reported on Sunday that the leaked documents contain details about internal discussions among top South Korean top officials about US pressure on the staunch ally to help supply weapons to Ukraine, and its policy of not doing so.

The newspaper said that South Korea had agreed to sell artillery shells to help the United States replenish its stockpiles, insisting that the “end user” should be the US military. But internally, top South Korean officials were worried that the United States would divert them to Ukraine.

“The secret report was based on signals intelligence, which meant that the United States has been spying on one of its major allies in Asia,” the New York Times reported.

The South Korean presidential official, speaking to reporters, declined to respond to questions about U.S. spying or to confirm any details from the leaked documents.

Asked if South Korea planned to lodge a protest or demand an explanation from the United States, the official, who declined to be identified, said the government would review precedents and cases involving other countries.

Ukraine's coal miners dig deep to power a nation at war

Sunday 9 April 2023 09:59 , Joe Middleton

Deep underground in southeastern Ukraine, miners work around the clock extracting coal to power the country’s war effort and to provide civilians with light and heat.

Coal is central to meeting Ukraine’s energy needs following the Russia‘s military’s 6-month campaign to destroy power stations and other infrastructure, the chief engineer of a mining company in Dnipropetrovsk province said.

Elevators carry the company’s workers underground to the depths of the mine. From there, they operate heavy machinery that digs out the coal and moves the precious resource above ground. It is hard work, the miners said, but essential to keep the country going.

Ukraine's coal miners dig deep to power a nation at war

Archbishop of Canterbury to warn of ‘divine justice’ in Ukraine nod

Sunday 9 April 2023 09:15 , Joe Middleton

The Archbishop of Canterbury will use his Easter sermons to warn that “those who oppress and subjugate others will face divine justice”, as he reflects on the Russian invasion of Ukraine

Justin Welby will tell Canterbury Cathedral that while “cruel and oppressive rulers” may look as though they are only becoming stronger, they will “vanish”.

Turning to the war in Ukraine, as well as other conflicts around the world, the Archbishop will tell congregants that “we must not lose heart” in the face of conflict.

He will add that this is because “true peace is no aimless daydream, but a reality offered because Christ was raised from the dead. Life triumphs over death, light over darkness”.

Two killed after Russian forces strike residential building in Zaporizhzhia, Ukrainian authorities say

Sunday 9 April 2023 08:47 , Joe Middleton

A 50-year-old man and his 11-year-old daughter were killed after Russian forces struck a residential building in the southeastern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia early on Sunday, authorities said.

Ukraine‘s State Emergency service also reported that a 46-year-old woman, who it described as the wife and mother of the victims, was pulled from the wreckage.

City council secretary Anatoliy Kurtev said two missiles had destroyed one building and damaged dozens of others during the overnight strike.

“The cursed Russian terrorists attacked Zaporizhzhia again and lost human lives,” he wrote on the Telegram messaging app.

The strike was the latest in a series of recent attacks on civilian targets in the region as Moscow’s full-scale invasion drags into its second year.

Ukraine children back home after alleged deportation

Sunday 9 April 2023 08:00 , Peony Hirwani

More than 30 children were reunited with their families in Ukraine this weekend after a long operation to bring them back home from Russia or Russian-occupied Crimea, where they had been taken from areas occupied by Russian forces during the war.

In videos of the reunion, mothers can be seen hugging their sons and daughters as they crossed the border from Belarus into Ukraine.

According to Reuters, Kyiv estimates nearly 19,500 children have been taken to Russia or Russian-occupied Crimea since Moscow invaded in February last year, in what it condemns as illegal deportations.

Moscow, which control chunks of Ukraine’s east and south, denies abducting children and says they have been transported away for their own safety.

Russia likely to blame for documents leak, says US

Sunday 9 April 2023 07:00 , Liam James

Russia or pro-Russian elements are likely behind the leak of several classified US military documents posted on social media that offer a partial, month-old snapshot of the war in Ukraine, three US officials told Reuters.

The documents appear to have been altered to lower the number of casualties suffered by Russian forces, the US officials said, adding their assessments were informal and separate from the investigation into the leak itself.

The Kremlin and Russia’s embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The US Justice Department said late on Friday it was in touch with the Defense Department and began a probe into the leak. It declined further comment.

Click here for more on this story.

Sunday 9 April 2023 06:50 , Peony Hirwani

The leader of Russia's Wagner private militia group Yevgeny Prigozhin attended Vladlen Tatarsky’s funeral on Saturday.

Russian investigators inspect the blasted ‘Street bar’ cafe

Sunday 9 April 2023 06:30 , Peony Hirwani

Moment ‘female assassin delivers bomb hidden in gift’ that killed pro-Putin blogger

Sunday 9 April 2023 06:00 , Peony Hirwani

A woman has been arrested after pro-Putin military blogger Vladlen Tatarsky was killed in a cafe blast in St Petersburg.

The 40-year-old blogger died while leading a discussion at the cafe on the banks of the Neva River. Russian reports claimed the bomb was concealed in a statuette of the blogger given to him as a gift just before the explosion.

CCTV footage has been released which appears to show a woman carrying a box walking towards the ‘Street Bar’ cafe in Russia where the blogger was killed.

The seconds-long clip sees the blonde-haired woman, wearing a long brown coat and heeled ankle boots, enter through the glass doors at the front of the establishment. Her face is not shown.

Emily Atkinson reports.

Moment ‘female assassin delivers bomb hidden in gift’ that killed pro-Putin blogger

Hundreds attend Moscow funeral of pro-war blogger

Sunday 9 April 2023 05:30 , Peony Hirwani

Hundreds of mourners, including the leader of Russia’s Wagner private militia group, attended the funeral on Saturday of pro-war blogger Vladlen Tatarsky, who was killed on 2 April in a cafe bomb blast that Moscow has blamed on Ukraine.

The 40-year-old blogger, whose real name was Maxim Fomin, was accorded military honours including a gun salute and an army band at the funeral at Moscow’s Troyekurovskoye cemetery due to his past participation in military operations in eastern Ukraine alongside Moscow-backed separatists battling Kyiv’s forces.

Crucified Filipino carpenter prays for end to war in Ukraine

Sunday 9 April 2023 05:00 , Liam James

Eight Filipinos were nailed to crosses to reenact Jesus Christ’s suffering in a bloody Good Friday tradition, including a carpenter, who was crucified for the 34th time with a prayer for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to end because it has made poor people like him more desperate.The real-life crucifixions in the farming village of San Pedro Cutud in Pampanga province north of Manila resumed after a three-year pause due to the coronavirus pandemic. About a dozen villagers registered but only eight people showed up, including 62-year-old carpenter and sign painter Ruben Enaje, who screamed as he was nailed to a wooden cross with a large crowd watching in the scorching summer heat.In a news conference shortly after his crucifixion, Enaje said he prayed for the eradication of the COVID-19 virus and the end of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which has contributed to gas and food prices soaring worldwide.

Ukraine can export electricity again, says minister

Sunday 9 April 2023 03:53 , Liam James

Ukraine can now resume exporting electricity after a six-month gap, given the success of repairs carried out after repeated Russian attacks, energy minister Herman Halushchenko said.

Last October, Ukraine halted exports of electricity to the European Union – its main export market for energy since the war began – following Russia strikes on energy infrastructure.

“The most difficult winter has passed,” Halushchenko said in a statement on the ministry’s website, noting that the system had been working normally for almost two months.

On Saturday, the British Ministry of Defence said Russia’s intense campaign of bombing Ukrainian power stations and generators had “likely failed” and attacks had subsided in the past few weeks.