Live blog: Car bomb kills Russian-backed official in eastern Ukraine

Monday, April 1, 2024

1330 GMT — A car bomb in Russian-controlled territory in Ukraine's eastern Lugansk region has killed a Moscow-supported government official, local authorities said.

The local branch of Russia's Investigative Committee, which probes major crimes, said the deputy head of a state-run administrative agency was killed when "an unidentified device detonated in a car" on Monday afternoon.

Several Moscow-backed officials in eastern Ukraine have been killed in apparent attacks orchestrated by Kiev or pro-Kiev forces since Russia launched its military offensive in February 2022.

The Investigative Committee posted a photo of a light-coloured SUV with its windows and doors blown out and wreckage strewn across the street in Starobilsk, a town in Lugansk.

"The circumstances of the incident and the people involved in the commission of the crime are being established," it said, adding that an investigation into a "terrorist act" had been opened.

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1516 GMT — Concerns grow for jailed veteran Russian rights campaigner

Russia's Nobel-Prize winning Memorial human rights group has expressed concern over the condition of its jailed co-founder, Oleg Orlov, imprisoned for criticising Moscow's offensive on Ukraine.

A Russian court in February sentenced veteran human rights advocate Orlov, 70, to two and a half years in prison for "discrediting" Russia's army after he spoke out against the military campaign and the Kremlin.

"His health is threatened with irreversible consequences," Memorial said in a statement Monday.

1330 GMT — Zelenskyy holds meeting on drone production plans for 2024

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has held a meeting with military and government officials on drone production plans for 2024.

“We revised and specified production plans for all types of drones this year, including FPV (first-person view), bombers, reconnaissance, and long-range drones for special missions,” Zelenskyy said on X.

Zelenskyy said he an d the officials discussed how to ensure the flexibility of Ukraine’s defense industry, adding that needs on the front line are constantly changing and thus manufacturers “must respond in a timely manner.”

1256 GMT — Russia extends detention of US-Russian journalist Kurmasheva

A Russian court has extended until June 5 the pre-trial detention of US-Russian journalist Alsu Kurmasheva, who faces 15 years in prison on charges of spreading "false information," according to her employer.

In court in the western city of Kazan on Monday, Kurmasheva smiled but complained about the poor state of the cell where she was being held, an AFP news agency reporter said.

A journalist at the US-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), she was arrested last year for failing to register as a "foreign agent".

RFE/RL says she was subsequently charged with spread ing false information under new censorship laws following Russia's military offensive on Ukraine in 2022.

1224 GMT — Ukraine's energy system far from collapse despite weeks of Russian strikes

Recent Russian attacks have caused significant damage to the Ukrainian power system, but a total collapse is unlikely, the head of Ukraine's national grid company Ukrenergo Volodymyr Kudrytskyi said.

Since March 22, the Russian forces have been attacking Ukrainian thermal and hydropower stations as well as main networks on an almost daily basis, which has led to blackouts in many regions of the country.

"Their (the Russians') goal is to impose blackouts in some major Ukrainian cities, and our goal is to prevent it," Kudrytskyi told Reuters in an interview.

1219 GMT — Russia says US ‘intensifying efforts’ to create ‘distorted picture’ of Moscow concert hall attack

Russia has said the current US administration is “intensifying efforts” to create a “distorted picture” of the March 22 concert hall attack in Moscow region that killed 144 people.

The Foreign Intelligence Service in a statement said Washington risks being suspected of involvement in “international terrorism” by providing aid to Ukraine, where Russia launched a "special military operation" more than two years ago.

“The Americans are unable to achieve a unified assessment of the tragedy near Moscow even among NATO and EU members, not to mention the states of the Global South,” the statement said.

The intelligence service said the US began to defend Zelenskyy immediately after the attack, which “seems reckless to many in the West, and suspicious to many in the East.”

0942 GMT — Zelenskyy's term set to expire in May: Kremlin

Russia believes that Zelenskyy's presidential term is set to end in May, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

0936 GMT — Russia demands Kiev give up security chief for 'terrorist acts'

Russia has demanded Ukraine arrest and extradite Vasyl Maliuk, the head of Ukraine's security service, and those implicated in "terrorist acts" in Russia.

A statement by the Russian Foreign Ministry on Sunday said that Moscow has put forward a demand to Kiev to "immediately arrest and extradite" those implicated in "terrorist acts" in the country since the start of the Russia-Ukraine war over two years ago.

Expressing that the demand was put forward under the International Convention for the Suppression of Terrorist Bombings and the International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism, the statement claimed Maliuk is one of those involved in such acts.

Maliuk "cynically admitted on March 25 that Ukraine was behind the bombing of the Crimean Bridge in October 2022 and revealed details of the organisation of other attacks in the Russian Federation," the statement said.

0930 GMT — Russia fired five hypersonic missiles at Kiev this year: Ukraine

Russia has used five hypersonic Zircon missiles to attack Kiev since the start of the year, the city's military administration said.

Moscow had in total launched 180 weapons of various types, including missiles and drones, at the Ukrainian capital in the first three months of the year.

0908 GMT — France wants 'clear message' from China to Russia over Ukraine war

France's top diplomat has said that Paris wants China to send "clear messages" to its strategic ally Russia over its war in Ukraine, after meetings with his counterpart in Beijing.

France and China have sought to strengthen ties in recent years and, during meetings in Paris in February, Foreign Minister Wang Yi told President Emmanuel Macron that Beijing appreciated his country's "independent" stance.

But Paris has also sought to press Beijing on its ties with Moscow, which have only grown closer since the war on Ukraine.

2144 GMT — Multiple deaths after Russian shelling in eastern Ukraine

Russian shelling killed at least three people in different regions of eastern Ukraine on the front of the more than two-year-old war against Russia, local officials said, and two more in Lviv region, far from the front lines.

In the centre of the northeastern city of Kharkiv, a frequent target of Russia's intensifying assaults on energy and other infrastructure, regional governor Oleh Synehubov said a strike targeted civilian infrastructure in the evening.

Regional news outlets said aerial bombs had been dropped on different areas of the region. No injuries were reported.

For our live updates from Sunday, March 31, click here.