Live blog: Russian missile hits Ukrainian museum in Kharkiv

Tuesday, April 25, 2023

A Russian missile has hit a museum building in a Ukrainian city, killing at least two people and wounding ten others, part of a continuing barrage as Ukraine is readying its forces for an expected spring counteroffensive.

Ukrainian officials said the Russian military used S-300 air defence missiles to attack Kupiansk in the Kharkiv region, hitting the museum of local history in the city centre. 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy posted a video from the site that shows the ruined building and emergency responders examining the damage.

“The terrorist country is doing everything to destroy us completely," Zelenskyy said.

1332 GMT — Sweden expels 5 Russian Embassy staff on suspicion of spying

Sweden has informed Russia that five employees with the Russian Embassy in Stockholm have been asked to leave the country, saying they are suspected of spying.

Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom said their activities are “incompatible” with their diplomatic status.

In a statement, Billstrom said Russia’s Ambassador to Sweden, Viktor Tatarintsev, had been informed of the decision earlier Tuesday. 

A year ago, Sweden expelled three Russian Embassy staff as several countries kicked out Russian diplomats.

Sweden’s SAPO domestic security agency has said that “every third Russian diplomat in Sweden is an intelligence officer.” 

0906 GMT — Russia says Ukraine attacks on Black Sea Fleet jeopardize grain deal extension

The Russian Defence Ministry said that Ukraine's attacks on the Black Sea Fleet jeopardised the extension of the grain deal.

Investigations into the recent attacks on Russia's facilities revealed that Ukrainian unmanned vehicles launched these strikes from the port of Odessa, which is used for the implementation of the Black Sea Grain Initiative, the ministry said in a statement.

The ministry noted that the strikes were carried out on March 23 and April 24 and that Ukraine used the humanitarian corridor, which is exclusively served for the purposes of the grain deal, to launch the drone attacks.

"The terrorist actions of the Kiev regime threaten the next extension of the grain deal after May 18," the ministry said.

0318 GMT — UN chief and West berate Russia's top diplomat over Ukraine  

The United Nations chief and representatives from Western nations berated Russia’s top diplomat as he chaired a UN meeting, accusing Moscow of violating the UN Charter by attacking Ukraine and occupying part of its territory.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov responded by defending his country’s military action and accusing the US and its allies of undercutting global diplomacy, the foundation of the United Nations, which was created to prevent a third world war.

Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called cooperation among the UN's 193 member nations the organisation’s "beating heart" and "guiding vision," and he warned the Security Council that global collaboration is under the greatest strain since the creation of the United Nations in 1945 on the ashes of World War II.

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0224 GMT — New EU sanctions on Russia no earlier than "deep into May": Poland 

A new round of European Union sanctions against Russia for waging war against Ukraine is under discussion but adoption of the package is unlikely earlier than "deep into May", Poland's Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau has said.

It would be unrealistic to expect anything earlier, the Polish state-run news agency PAP cited Rau as saying.

"All of this still in the discussion phase ... I think that the matter will be closed no sooner than deep into May," Rau said. "You can't expect anything sooner."

Poland this month presented a proposal for a new set of sanctions against Russia, including a ban on pipeline oil and diamond imports.

0100 GMT — Ex-Wagner commander to appear in Norway court

A former commander in Russia's Wagner mercenary group who fled to Norway will appear in an Oslo court to answer charges he was involved in a bar fight, resisted arrest and carried an air gun.

Andrei Medvedev, 26, crossed the Russian-Norwegian border in January and has spoken out about his time fighting with Russian offensive forces in Ukraine. He has applied for asylum in Norway.

In one incident he is accused of fighting with another person outside an Oslo bar on Feb. 22. When police arrived, the charge sheet said, Medvedev resisted arrest and kicked at least one officer. 

0028 GMT — Russia warns again that risks of nuclear confrontation with US growing 

Risks of a direct military confrontation between the two nuclear powers, Russia and the United States, are steadily growing, the TASS news agency quoted a senior Russian diplomat as saying.

Vladimir Yermakov, the foreign ministry's head of nuclear non-proliferation, told the Russian state news agency that Washington is escalating the risks through its conduct with Moscow.

Since the start of its Ukraine offensive 14 months ago, Moscow has issued regular charges against the US and what it calls "the collective West" for raising the risks of a nuclear war, rhetoric intended to deter Kiev's allies.

"If the United States continues to follow its current course of confrontation with Russia, with the stakes constantly escalating on the verge of sliding into direct armed conflict, then the fate of START (nuclear arms treaty) may be a foregone conclusion," Yermakov said.

For our live updates from Monday (April 24), click here.