Nato chief ‘confident’ Ukraine is ready to retake more territory; suspect in Pentagon leaks posted information earlier than previously thought – report

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The Nato secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, has said he is “confident” that Ukraine is prepared to retake more territory as Kyiv readies for a new offensive against invading Russian forces. Stoltenberg told journalists in Germany when asked if Ukraine has what it needs to successfully execute the offensive: “I’m confident that they will now be in a position to be able to liberate even more land.” He also invited the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, to the Nato summit in July and emphasised the need to support Ukraine’s battlefield logistics.

Jack Teixeira, the US air national guardsman accused of leaking classified defence documents to a small group of gamers, posted sensitive information months earlier than previously known and to a much larger chat group, the New York Times has reported. In February 2022, soon after the invasion of Ukraine, a user profile matching that of Teixeira began posting secret intelligence on the Russian war effort on a previously undisclosed chat group of about 600 members on the social platform Discord. The Pentagon has declined to comment on the new report.

A Moscow court has ordered the arrest in absentia of Bulgarian investigative journalist Christo Grozev, adding him to its list of “foreign agents”, state-owned news agency RIA has reported. Grozev is the lead Russia journalist for the Bellingcat news outlet, and played a key role in its investigation into the poisoning of the opposition politician Alexei Navalny.

Germany, Poland and Ukraine signed an agreement on Friday for a hub to repair Leopard tanks used in Ukraine to fight Russian forces, Germany’s defence minister, Boris Pistorius, said at a meeting of allies at the Ramstein airbase. He sounded a note of caution about any early invitation for Ukraine to join Nato. All parties agreed on how to finance such a hub, which will cost €150m-€200m a year and could begin operations at the end of May.

International backing for Ukraine holds “strong and true”, said the US defence secretary, Lloyd Austin, as he opened a meeting in Germany with allies to discuss further support for Kyiv. Austin confirmed the US is helping to train nine Ukrainian “storm” brigades for the counteroffensive and stressed the need to make Ukraine’s air defence system “robust” and “rigorous”. Austin said: “Our support for the forces of freedom in Ukraine holds strong and true. At today’s contact group meeting, we’ll focus on three key issues: air defence, ammunition and enablers.”

Ukraine’s defence minister, Oleksii Reznikov, has tweeted about the meeting of the Ukraine defence contact group in Ramstein, Germany, saying that Ukraine is “de facto already a part of the alliance’s security space” having reached “unprecedented levels of interoperability”.

A Moscow court has issued a warrant for the arrest of the head of Ukrainian military intelligence, Kyrylo Budanov, accusing the spy chief of organising “terrorist attacks” inside Russia, state-owned news agency RIA reported. RIA cited the court as saying that Budanov was accused of offences related to terrorism and arms smuggling. The move against him was announced “in absentia”, in an apparent acknowledgment that Budanov cannot be immediately detained.

The Canadian government announced C$39m (£23.26m) in new military assistance for Ukraine including 40 sniper rifles, 16 radio sets and a donation to a Nato fund to help in the war. The latest round of Canadian aid, which also includes ammunition for the rifles, was announced by Canada’s defence minister, Anita Anand, at the Ramstein airbase in Germany where Nato defence officials met to discuss further military supplies for Ukraine.

The UK has imposed sanctions on five people linked to the arrest of the Kremlin critic Vladimir Kara-Murza, who was jailed this week for 25 years. Elena Lenskaya, a judge who approved Kara-Murza’s arrest, along with Denis Kolesnikov and Andrei Zadachin, investigators involved in the arrest of Kara-Murza, will all be hit with sanctions. FSB agents Alexander Samofal and Konstantin Kudryavtsev, who followed Kara-Murza on multiple trips before he was poisoned in 2015, will be sanctioned as well.

Jens Stoltenberg says Ukraine will be able to retake more land; Kyrylo Budanov accused of ‘terrorist attacks’ and arms smuggling. This live blog is closed

• Russia-Ukraine war: day 422 at a glance

China’s foreign ministry said on Friday that no country had the right to interfere in its relationship with Russia.

Reuters reports ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin made the remark at a news briefing when asked to comment on the US Treasury secretary Janet Yellen saying that China’s “no limits” partnership with Russia indicated it was not serious about ending the war in Ukraine.

During the night air alert, the Russian military released 12 “Shahed” drones over Ukraine, eight of them shot down by air defence forces, the air force said.

At night in Poltava, the Russian army targeted a civilian infrastructure object, there is damage. There were no victims.

Russian warplane accidentally strikes city of Belgorod near Ukraine, injuring two; Zelenskiy calls on Nato to give timeframe for Ukraine accession

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The Nato secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, has said all member countries have agreed that Ukraine will eventually join the transatlantic military alliance once the war is over, ahead of a meeting of western defence ministers discussing further military aid for Kyiv. He also told the media that, once the war in Ukraine ends, Kyiv must have “the deterrence to prevent new attacks”.

Ukraine’s defence minister, Oleksii Reznikov, posted that he had a “fruitful” bilateral meeting with his US counterpart at Ramstein airbase in Germany Friday morning. US defence secretary Lloyd Austin said international backing for Ukraine holds “strong and true”.

Ukraine’s future lies in Nato, Stoltenberg chief had said Thursday during, his first visit to the country since Russia’s invasion 14 months ago. Nato’s chief pledged continued military support for Ukraine, saying: “Nato stands with you today, tomorrow and for as long as it takes.” He invited the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, to the Nato summit in Vilnius in July.

Zelenskiy said Nato needed to invite Ukraine to become a member and give it a timeframe for accession. “There is not a single objective barrier to the political decision to invite Ukraine into the alliance,” he said. “And now, when most people in Nato countries and the majority of Ukrainians support Nato accession, is the time for the corresponding decisions.”

A Russian warplane has accidentally fired a weapon into the city of Belgorod near Ukraine, causing an explosion and damaging buildings, the Tass news agency cited the Russian defence ministry as saying. Late on Thursday, local authorities reported a large blast in the city, which lies just across the border from Ukraine. Belgorod’s regional governor, Vyacheslav Gladkov, said two women had been injured and four apartment buildings and four cars damaged. Announcing a state of emergency, he said on the Telegram messaging app there was a “huge” crater 20 metres (65ft) wide in the city centre.

Ukraine’s air defence has claimed to have downed eight Iranian-manufactured “Shahed” drones overnight.

Germany, Poland and Ukraine signed an agreement on Friday for a hub to repair Leopard tanks used in Ukraine to fight Russian forces

The first trucks carrying Ukrainian food products including corn and eggs were bound to start transit via Poland to the Netherlands on Friday morning, a Polish customs official said, as rules allowing the shipments took effect overnight.

The G7 is considering a near-total ban on exports to Russia, Kyodo news agency reported on Friday, citing Japanese government sources.

EU countries are haggling over how to fulfil a promise to supply Ukraine with ammunition, following criticism from Kyiv that delays were costing lives. France, backed by Greece and Cyprus, is pressing to ensure that an EU plan to purchase €1bn (£880m / $1.1bn) of ammunition for Ukraine is fulfilled via a fully-EU supply chain.

A Moscow court issued a warrant for the arrest of the head of Ukrainian military intelligence, Kyrylo Budanov, accusing the spy chief of organising “terrorist attacks” inside Russia.

The UK imposed sanctions on five people linked to the arrest of Kremlin critic Vladimir Kara-Murza, who was jailed for 25 years this week. Elena Lenskaya – a judge who approved Kara-Murza’s arrest, along with Denis Kolesnikov and Andrei Zadachin – investigators involved in the arrest of Kara-Murza, will all be hit with sanctions. FSB agents Alexander Samofal and Konstantin Kudryavtsev, who followed Kara-Murza on multiple trips before he was poisoned in 2015, will also be receive sanctions. Kara-Murza holds dual British-Russian citizenship.

Sergei Lavrov, Russia’s foreign minister, will meet the UN secretary general, António Guterres, on Monday, according to Russia’s ambassador to the UN. The two last met at the G20 summit in Bali in November. According to ambassador Vassily Nebenzia, the Black Sea grain deal will be an item for the meeting on Monday.

A group of Ukrainian servicemen has been accused of treason for giving away information during an unauthorised mission that enabled Russia to attack a military airfield, Ukraine’s SBU security agency said. It announced in a statement that the servicemen had attempted, “without coordination with the relevant state authorities”, to seize a Russian plane last July after its pilot said he would defect.