SBU dismisses demand as pointless and hypocritical, ‘coming from the terrorist state itself’
Russia has demanded that Ukraine extradite a number of people, including the head of the country’s SBU security service, over claims they are connected with “terrorist” acts.
The SBU immediately dismissed the Russian demand as “pointless” and said the Russian foreign ministry had “forgotten” that Vladimir Putin was the subject of an international arrest warrant.
Continue reading...Lviv governor says more people may be under rubble after cruise missile attack as Moscow ratchets up targeting of infrastructure
Russia has carried out another round of missile and drone strikes against Ukraine’s much-depleted energy network, killing at least two people.
One man died in a cruise missile attack on infrastructure in the western Lviv region, and another was killed after a projectile hit a petrol station in the north-eastern Kharkiv region, officials said on Sunday.
Continue reading...Ukrainian president says Kaniv and Dnister plants attacked by Russia overnight, following other attacks on energy facilities
Russian prosecutors have asked the justice ministry to label Alla Pugacheva, the queen of Soviet pop music, as a “foreign agent”, Reuters reported citing the state RIA news agency.
Ukraine has received a $1.5 billion tranche of funding under a World Bank programme, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said on Friday, helping it pay for its budget and social spending as it defends itself against the Russian invasion.
Continue reading...Rights groups say Antonina Favorskaya is accused of links to Alexei Navalny’s ‘extremist organisation’ and is one of six journalists held this month
A journalist who filmed the last video of Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny before he died, Antonina Favorskaya, has been detained by authorities.
Favorskaya covered the trials of Navalny for several years and media freedom organisation Reporters Without Borders said on Thursday she was one of six journalists across the country held this month.
Continue reading...Ukraine’s foreign minister calls veto ‘guilty plea’ amid claims Pyongyang is aiding Moscow’s war against Kyiv
Russia has blocked the renewal of a UN panel monitoring sanctions against North Korea, weeks after the body said it was investigating reports of arms transfers between Moscow and Pyongyang.
The move was met with a flurry of criticism, including by Ukraine’s foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, who took to social media to call the veto “a guilty plea” amid allegations that Pyongyang is aiding Moscow in its war against Kyiv.
Continue reading...National security spokesperson says US passed on warnings and dismissed Russian allegations Ukraine was involved as ‘nonsense’
The US repeatedly alerted Russia that extremists were planning to attack large gatherings in Moscow ahead of last week’s concert hall attack that claimed more than 140 lives, the White House has said.
The national security spokesperson, John Kirby, said on Thursday that US officials passed on warnings – including one in writing – and dismissed Russian allegations that Ukraine was involved as “nonsense”.
Continue reading...US describe Russian’s allegation that Ukraine was involved in attack as ‘nonsense’ and says it passed warning to Russian security services
The Russian communications watchdog Roskomnadzor has restricted access to 11 channels in the Telegram messaging app “with terrorist content” over the past two days, reports Reuters citing an article by the state-owned news agency RIA Novosti on Thursday.
Poland’s prime minister on Thursday hosted his Ukrainian counterpart for long-awaited talks designed to ease friction over Ukrainian farm imports and border blockades by disgruntled Polish farmers, reports news agency Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Continue reading...State investigations say they have received numerous reports as officials repeat claims that Ukraine and west involved in assault
The final death toll from the Moscow concert hall terrorist attack could be much higher than 140 confirmed dead, with Russian state investigations saying they have received 143 reports about people who had gone missing.
The investigative committee said in a statement that 84 bodies had so far been identified.
Continue reading...Russian officials have repeatedly cast doubt over who was behind attack despite IS claiming responsibility and Western intelligence evidence. This live blog is closed
Here are some of the latest images from Ukraine:
Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered his government to look at how to organise the production of homegrown gaming consoles, state news agency TASS reports.
Continue reading...Attack on energy infrastructure on last week still causing blackouts; Poland’s deputy foreign minister warns Russia of consequences if missiles enter territory. This live blog is closed
The Kremlin has refused to be drawn on whether it believed there was a link between the Ukrainian leadership and Friday’s Moscow concert hall attack, in which at least 139 people were killed.
Asked during a call with reporters whether there was a direct link between Ukraine and the attack, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said: “I have nothing to add to what has already been said on this topic.”
Continue reading...Friday will mark one year since the journalist was arrested on espionage charges
A Russian court has extended by three months the pre-trial detention of Evan Gershkovich, a Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reporter arrested almost a year ago on suspicion of espionage while on a reporting trip in the city of Ekaterinburg.
Gershkovich, 32, became the first US journalist arrested on spying charges in Russia since the cold war when he was detained by the Federal Security Service (FSB) on 29 March 2023.
Continue reading...Footage of four gunmen appears to support Islamic State’s claim that it masterminded the worst terrorist attack in Russia in two decades. But the Kremlin has put Ukraine in the frame. Andrew Roth reports
The attack on Crocus concert hall near Moscow was the worst act of terrorism carried out in Russia in more than 20 years. More than 130 people were killed after gunmen stormed the venue on Friday night.
Islamic State quickly claimed responsibility for the attack and provided additional video footage of the massacre.
Continue reading...This live blog is now closed. For the latest on the Moscow concert hall attack, read our latest report:
Dmitry Medvedev, Russia’s former president and prime minister, discussed the suspects charged over the terrorist attack on the Crocus City concert hall on his Telegram channel on Monday.
“Everyone asks me. What to do? They were caught. Well done to everyone who caught it,” he wrote.
Continue reading...At least five people injured and a three-storey building damaged in latest wave of strikes
Russia has launched its third wave of missile strikes against Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, in five days, as part of its escalating aerial bombardment of the city.
Five people were injured in the strike, with two of them taken to hospital, said the Kyiv mayor, Vitali Klitschko, as Ukraine’s foreign minister called on international allies to supply more air defences to his country.
The injuries and damage appear to have been the result of falling missile debris as the Ukrainian air force said it had shot down two missiles over the city.
Continue reading...Russians lay flowers and light candles outside Crocus concert hall on day of mourning. This live blog is closed
Pope Francis has condemned the shooting attack at the concert hall near Moscow as a “vile” act that offends God.
“I assure my prayers for the victims of the vile terrorist attack carried out in Moscow, may the Lord receive them in his peace, comfort their families and convert the hearts of those who … carry out these inhuman actions that offend God,” the pope said in St. Peter’s Square after the Palm Sunday mass.
I think we have very little confidence in anything the Russian government says.
We know that they are creating a smokescreen of propaganda to defend an utterly evil invasion of Ukraine.
Continue reading...Footage of gunmen reinforces Islamic State’s claim to have masterminded worst terror attack on Russia in two decades
Four suspects have appeared in court in Moscow charged over the terrorist attack on the Crocus City concert hall on Friday that left 137 people dead.
The men were officially identified as citizens of Tajikistan, the Tass state news agency said, and were remanded in custody for two months at Sunday’s hearing.
Continue reading...Russian missile was targeting Ukraine’s Lviv region while Kyiv suffers third pre-dawn attack in four days
Poland said it would demand an explanation from Moscow after a Russian missile briefly breached Polish airspace during a massive missile attack on Ukraine, prompting the Nato member to put its forces on heightened readiness.
Russia and Ukraine have been engaged in a series of deadly aerial attacks, with Sunday’s early morning strikes coming a day after the Russian military said it had seized the Ukrainian village of Ivanivske, west of Bakhmut.
Continue reading...This blog has now closed. You can read our full report on the attack on Crocus City Hall in Moscow here
State-owned media RIA reports that so many people have turned up to donate blood after the attack that the Buyanov hospital in Moscow has had to ask people to return in the following days.
Maia Sandu, the president of Moldova, has posted to social media to say that they were “terrible images” at the scene of the attack. She said “Moldova condemns all forms of terrorism. Our thoughts are with those who lost loved ones and the injured.”
Continue reading...The ISKP regional affiliate has a haven in Afghanistan and carried out recent bombings in Iran, suggesting it has capacity for major atrocities
Speculation about who carried out the shooting at the Crocus City Hall in Moscow has quickly indicated that the terror attack will have outsized political implications in Russia and abroad.
A claim has surfaced that the attack was carried out by Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP) a regional affiliate of the IS terrorist organisation. IS has been implicated in some of Russia’s largest recent terror attacks, including the 2017 bombing in the St Petersburg metro that killed 15 and injured 45.
Continue reading...This blog has closed, read our full report here:
The roof of Crocus City Hall where gunfire and flames were heard and seen on Friday night is collapsing, RIA reports.
Here are videos emerging through social media:
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