Russia-Ukraine war latest: Putin appoints new war commander; Johnson Kyiv visit ‘very important’ – live

Alexander Dvornikov has record of brutality against civilians in Syria, say US officials; Zelenskiy adviser praises UK prime minister’s ‘timely’ visit

A school and several apartment buildings were hit by shelling in Ukraine’s Luhansk and Dnipro regions early on Sunday morning, wounding one person and causing a fire, officials said.

A school and a high-rise apartment building were shelled in the city of Sievierodonetsk in the besieged region of Luhansk, the region’s governor said.

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France election: calls begin for voters to block far-right Le Pen

As in 2017 and 2002, debate over whether leftwing voters should back centrist, stay home or not vote at all

France now faces a frantic electoral fortnight after Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen made it to the second round of the presidential election, with the two remaining candidates attempting to convince the country’s voters – many of whom do not support them – that they deserve their vote in a fortnight.

For many of France’s almost 48 million voters, this will be a difficult time, particularly for those on the left of the political spectrum. Many will be asking themselves whether to select what they consider the least bad option between the centrist Emmanuel Macron or far-right Marine Le Pen, or stay at home and not vote at all.

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How Le Pen tried to soften image to reach French election runoff

Centrist Macron may find it hard to make criticism of far-right opponent’s racist, anti-Muslim platform stick in next round

When the far-right Marine Le Pen posed for a selfie with a smiling teenager in a Muslim headscarf in Dunkirk on the northern coast, it was a turning point in the presidential campaign.

Le Pen wants to ban the Muslim headscarf from all public places, including the streets, calling it a “uniform of totalitarian ideology”. So after posing happily with a girl in hijab, she was attacked for going soft by her far-right rival, the TV pundit Éric Zemmour. “Let me teach you about humanity,” Le Pen shot back at one of Zemmour’s lieutenants in a TV debate that went viral. “What would you have done? Pulled her veil off and mistreated her?”

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Macron on 28% to Le Pen’s 23% in projected first round French election results

Centrist leader predicted to win first round of presidential race against far-right candidate

France faces a brutal two-week campaign over the country’s future, as the centrist incumbent, Emmanuel Macron, faces the far-right Marine Le Pen for the presidency, positioning himself as a pro-European “progressive” against what he calls her anti-Muslim, nationalist programme and “complacency” about Vladimir Putin.

Macron topped Sunday’s first round of the French presidential election with 28.5% of the vote, ahead of Le Pen’s 23.6%, according to initial projected results.

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French election 2022: Projected result and latest vote tallies

Emmanuel Macron is asking French voters for another term as president. The far right’s Marine Le Pen, and 10 others, are challenging him. Find out the latest results department by department

Live blog: latest developments and reaction

The French president is elected by a direct vote. There is no electoral college, and no involvement of parliament. A candidate who wins more than 50% of the popular vote is elected. If, as seems likely, no candidate wins that majority in the first round, the top two candidates go through to a run-off election two weeks later, on April 24.

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Russia-Ukraine war: what we know on day 46 of the invasion

Volodymyr Zelenskiy calls for oil embargo on Russia as Boris Johnson pledges more military aid during Kyiv visit

Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has warned his country “does not have time to wait” while pushing for an oil embargo on Russia in his latest national address. He also said he is committed to pressing for peace despite Russian attacks on civilians that have stunned the world, and renewed his plea for countries to send more weapons ahead of an expected surge in fighting in the country’s east.

Zelenskiy said his country is ready for a tough battle with Russian forces amassing in the east of the country. “This will be a hard battle; we believe in this fight and our victory. We are ready to simultaneously fight and look for diplomatic ways to put an end to this war.”

The British prime minister, Boris Johnson, pledged a major new infusion of British arms and financial aid during a surprise trip to Kyiv on Saturday. Johnson said the UK and its partners and allies will provide support so that “Ukraine will never be invaded again”. The UK confirmed it will send 120 armoured vehicles and new anti-ship missile systems.

Johnson praised Zelenskiy’s “resolute leadership and the invincible heroism”. “Putin’s monstrous aims are being thwarted,” Johnson said. The reputations of the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, and his government have been “permanently polluted” by war crimes against civilians in Ukraine, he added.

Russia’s withdrawal from northern Ukraine has left evidence of “disproportionate targeting” of civilians, mass graves, the use of hostages as human shields, according to the latest British intelligence report. The report also claimed Russian forces continue to use improvised explosive devices (IEDs) to inflict casualties, lower Ukrainian morale and restrict freedom of movement.

Five people have been killed in east Ukraine shelling, according to the Donetsk governor. Four were reported killed in the city of Vugledar, and one in the town of Novomikhaylovka.

In the town of Borodianka, north-west of Kyiv, rescue teams sorted through the rubble of houses destroyed in Russian bombardments, looking for those missing. Heavy Russian bombardment has razed residential buildings and Ukrainian authorities are attempting search, clear-up and, hopefully, some rescue activities.

Ukraine carried out a prisoner exchange with Russia on Saturday, the third such swap since the start of the war, with 12 soldiers confirmed to be coming home, the Ukrainian deputy prime minister, Iryna Vereshchuk, wrote online.

A total of 4,553 people were evacuated from Ukrainian cities through humanitarian corridors on Saturday, fewer than the 6,665 who escaped on Friday, Vereshchuk said. Ten humanitarian corridors to evacuate people from embattled areas across the country had been agreed on Saturday.

The European Commission is pledging €1bn to support Ukraine and countries receiving refugees fleeing the war following Russia’s invasion, said the commission’s president, Ursula von der Leyen.

The Czech Republic has delivered tanks, multiple-rocket launchers, howitzers and infantry fighting vehicles to Ukraine among military shipments that have reached hundreds of millions of dollars and will continue, two Czech defence sources told Reuters.

The Austrian chancellor, Karl Nehammer, met Zelenskiy earlier on Saturday, following a visit to the city of Bucha to the north-west of Kyiv, where mass civilian graves and street killings by Russian forces were discovered last week.

Russia has reorganised the command of its battle operations in Ukraine, installing a new general with extensive experience in Russian operations in Syria, according to a western official. The commander of Russia’s southern military district, Gen Alexander Dvornikov, now leads the invasion, the source told the BBC, adding: “We would expect the overall command and control to improve.”

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‘The Russians are trying to obliterate us. You think that we’d agree to half-measures now?’

Ivan Fedorov, the exiled mayor of occupied Melitopol, says the battle for Donbas is also a fight for global security

The sun was shining in Zaporizhzhia on Saturday and teams of city workers were out planting flowers on roadside borders. Market stalls were doing a healthy trade in everything from food and drink to electronics, and there were even a few cafes and bars open.

But the frontlines are barely a half-hour drive from this industrial city, and much of the region of which it is the capital is under Russian occupation. Underneath the calm exterior, most people here – and across the southern and eastern parts of Ukraine – are anxious about what lies in wait in the coming days and weeks.

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With bloodied gloves, forensic teams uncover gruesome secrets of Bucha in Ukraine

While investigators uncover the remains of civilians, heartbroken families wait nearby to reclaim their loved ones

Sometimes the dead have more to say than the living. Those lying beneath the soft, yellow earth in the grounds of the church of Andrew the Apostle, in the Ukrainian town of Bucha, have many terrible stories to tell.

In a deep mass grave, a forearm and hand, the fingertips turning black, lay under a foot at a sickening angle; another man’s arm looked like it was clawing its way out of the disturbed soil in an attempt to escape his fate.

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US officials warn Putin may cite Ukraine war to interfere in American politics

Intelligence believes Russia’s president may see US backing of Ukraine as direct affront, giving him further incentive to meddle

Vladimir Putin may use the Biden administration’s support for Ukraine as a pretext to order a new campaign to interfere in American politics, US intelligence officials have assessed.

Intelligence agencies have not found any evidence Putin has authorized measures like the ones Russia is believed to have undertaken in the 2016 and 2020 elections in support of Donald Trump, according to several people familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity.

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Boris Johnson meets Volodymyr Zelenskiy in unannounced visit to Kyiv

Two leaders will ‘discuss UK’s long-term support to Ukraine’ and Johnson will set out new aid package, says No 10

Boris Johnson is meeting the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy during an unannounced visit to Kyiv, Ukrainian officials have said.

A picture posted on Twitter by the embassy of Ukraine to the UK showed the two leaders sitting across a table in the capital, with their respective flags in the background.

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Russia-Ukraine war latest: Boris Johnson makes surprise trip to Kyiv for talks with Volodymyr Zelenskiy – live

The Ukrainian embassy to the UK shared a photograph of the two leaders in talks on Saturday afternoon

Here are some images from across Ukraine over the past 24 hours.

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Luhansk residents told to evacuate as Russia moves focus to east Ukraine

Governor issues warning as US says Moscow likely planning to deploy tens of thousands of soldiers in east

Residents remaining in eastern Ukraine’s embattled city of Luhansk must evacuate, the governor has said as shelling intensifies and Russia bolsters its forces.

Ukraine has been warning that Moscow is withdrawing from areas to the north of Kyiv in order to focus its offensive military operations on the country’s east. Moscow, which initially justified its invasion by claiming to need to protect Russian-speaking civilians in the self-proclaimed republics in Donbas, has confirmed the change in strategy.

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‘Firms will go bust’: Germany prepares for a future without Russian gas

Germany is bracing for supplies to be cut by Moscow in retaliation for sanctions or as part of an energy embargo

In Germany, they call it “Day X”. Businesses up and down the land are making contingency plans for what is seen as a growing likelihood that Russian gas will stop flowing into Europe’s biggest economy.

“It would be a disaster – one which would have seemed almost unthinkable just two months ago, but which right now feels like a very realistic prospect,” the owner of a hi-tech mechanical engineering company in western Germany said. The firm produces everything from battery cases for electric cars to train clutch systems.

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Kyiv’s tango partners refuse to let war slow passion for dancing

What remains of Kyiv’s tango community is looking forward to Saturday night event

Air raid sirens were near constant and Russian troops were on the outskirts of the city, but that didn’t stop some people in Kyiv from dancing.

A group of Ukrainian tango dancers wrapped up warm against the freezing weather to meet in the botanic gardens: they circled around each other to an Argentinian milonga, embracing and laughing with relief to see those around them were still alive.

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Russia-Ukraine war: what we know on day 45 of the invasion

Volodymyr Zelenskiy calls for ‘firm global response’ to Kramatorsk station attack; 10 humanitarian corridors agreed for Saturday

The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has described a missile strike on a railway station in eastern Ukraine as a Russian war crime and called for a “firm global response”. At least 52 people, including five children, were killed in the missile strike on Kramatorsk train station. The US believes Russia used a short range ballistic missile on the train station. Russia has denied responsibility.

Ten humanitarian corridors have been agreed for Saturday for people from besieged regions, including the city of Mariupol, according to Ukraine’s deputy prime minister Iryna Vereshchuk. The governor of Luhansk earlier called for more evacuations, warning that shelling had increased over recent days and that more Russian troops had arrived in the region.

Russian air activity is expected to increase in the south and east of Ukraine, according to the UK’s Ministry of Defence, which said Russian operations continue to focus on the Russian-controlled territories in Donbas, as well as Mariupol and Mykolaiv, supported by continued cruise missile launches into Ukraine by Russian naval forces.

A curfew will be in place in Ukraine’s southern city of Odesa from Saturday evening until Monday evening, in response to the shelling of the train station in Kramatorsk, and the threat of a missile strike.

Two UN agencies have called for urgent action to help an estimated 1,000 seafarers stranded in Ukrainian ports and waters with dwindling supplies.

The US-based Institute for the Study of War says Ukrainian forces retain control of defensive positions in eastern and south-western Mariupol. Russian forces are continuing to attempt to redeploy units in eastern Ukraine. However, such troops are “unlikely to enable a Russian breakthrough and face poor morale”, ISW says.

Some Russian military units have experienced major losses, a senior US defence official said, and the Pentagon estimates Russia’s combat power is between 80% and 85% of pre-invasion levels.

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French presidential election could see historically low turnout, pollsters say

80% of those polled felt the campaign was ‘poor quality’, with many complaining of a lack of ideas or vision

A majority of French people feel the 2022 presidential election campaign has been poor quality and never really got off the ground, which could lead to protest votes and a historically low turnout in Sunday’s first round, pollsters and analysts have said.

An Ifop poll this month found 80% of French people felt the campaign was “poor quality”. Voters have complained of a lack of new political ideas or vision, and few solutions to their problems, after two years of the Covid pandemic, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and a cost-of-living crisis.

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Russia-Ukraine war latest: children among at least 50 people killed in Kramatorsk train station attack – live

The mayor of Kramatorsk says there were 4,000 people, most of them elderly, women and children, at the station at the time of the attack

The President of the European Commission and EU representative Josep Borrell appear to be on their way to Kyiv this morning.

Ursula von der Leyen shared a photo of herself stepping off a Ukrainian train alongside the caption “looking forward to Kyiv”.

We have significant losses of troops. And it’s a huge tragedy for us.

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Germany will stop importing Russian gas ‘very soon’, says Olaf Scholz

Chancellor declines to endorse claim by Boris Johnson during London visit that goal will be achieved by mid-2024

The German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, has said his country is doing all it can to wean itself off Russian energy, but declined to endorse a claim by Boris Johnson that it would stop importing Russian gas by the middle of 2024.

Scholz said only that the goal would be achieved very soon, and that Germany would stop using Russian coal by the summer and Russian oil by the end of the year.

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Germany’s Watergate: 1950s chancellor used spy agency to infiltrate rival party

Covert flow of information from BND enabled Konrad Adenauer to cement his hold on power, historians reveal

Germany’s first democratically elected chancellor used the country’s foreign intelligence service to systematically spy on his biggest political rivals for almost a decade, a group of independent historians tasked with researching the formerly West German spy agency’s history have discovered.

The covert and illegal flow of information between the offices of Konrad Adenauer and the Bundesnachrichtendienst (BND) chief, Reinhard Gehlen, enabled the conservative politician to cement his hold on power through accurate insider knowledge on the campaign strategies, parliamentary manoeuvres and internal power struggles of the Social Democratic party (SPD), which led the opposition in the Bundestag at the time.

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Over 300 villagers near Kyiv trapped in basement for weeks, say residents

Survivors in Yahidne recount writing names of the dead on wall during Russian occupation north of Ukrainian capital

Residents of a village north of Kyiv have said that more than 300 people were trapped in a school basement for weeks by Russian occupiers, scrawling the names of the dead on a peeling wall.

Halyna Tolochina, a member of the Yahidne village council, struggled to compose herself as she went through the list, scribbled in black on the plaster either side of a green door, in the gloomy warren where she said she and hundreds of others were confined.

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