March 30, 2023 Russia-Ukraine news

We’ve wrapped up our live coverage for the day. You can read more about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine here, or scroll through the updates below.

Local monitoring groups reported two explosions in the southern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia just after midnight local time Friday (5 p.m. ET Thursday).

As sirens blared in the city, the Ukrainian Secretary of the Zaporizhzhia City Council Anatolii Kurtiev urged residents on Telegram to immediately head to shelters and stay there.

The head of a Russian-installed governing council in occupied parts of the Zaporizhzhia region also reported explosions.

“It’s loud in Zaporizhzhia!” the Russia-backed official, Vladimir Rogov, said on his Telegram channel.

Rogov said “several explosions were heard in the regional center.”

Despite fierce criticism from many of the alliance’s members over its invasion of Ukraine, Russia will assume the presidency of the United Nations Security Council Saturday as part of the position’s regularly scheduled rotation of countries.

In condemning Russia’s assumption of the post, Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba noted Saturday is April 1, and called it the worst kind of “April Fool’s Day joke.”

Kuleba made the remarks Thursday in a conversation hosted by the policy institute Chatham House.

The foreign minister downplayed Moscow’s ability to wield significant power during the course of its presidency, though.

The foreign minister also said he expects the other members of the UNSC, both permanent and non-permanent, to “corner Russia as much as they can within existing procedures and rules during its presidency, not allow it to abuse the UNSC rules and to continue pushing the narratives which tell the truth about this war that Russia is conducting.”

Why this is happening: The presidency of the Security Council is held by each member in turn for one month, following the English alphabetical order of the member states’ names. The council requires consensus to adopt most decisions, regardless of which country sits at the head of its meetings. You can read more about how it functions here.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, right, and Finland's President Sauli Niinistö shake hands during a welcome ceremony at the presidential palace in Ankara, Turkey, on March 17.

Turkey’s parliament unanimously approved Finland’s accession to NATO after a vote Thursday, clearing the path for the Nordic country to become the 31st NATO member.

The vote fulfills Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s promise to allow Finland into the defense alliance. It comes after Hungary’s parliament passed a bill Monday approving Finland’s NATO membership.

The Turkish parliament vote was the last major hurdle facing Finland’s bid to join the alliance.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg welcomed the Turkish parliament’s decision Thursday.

Finnish President Sauli Niinistö celebrated the news, saying “Finland is now ready to join NATO.” Niinistö added that he hopes neighboring country Sweden will also be able to join as soon as possible. 

How we got here: Finland announced its intention to join NATO in May 2022, along with Sweden, after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine caused the two countries to abandon their long-held non-aligned status.

Turkey had stalled the approval process after accusing both countries of housing Kurdish “terrorist organizations.” In late February, Stoltenberg said it appeared the diplomatic hold-up was predominantly concerning Sweden.

Turkey has not yet indicated whether it will now approve Sweden’s NATO membership.

More background: NATO has an open-door policy, meaning that any country can be invited to join if it expresses an interest, as long as it is able and willing to uphold the principles of the bloc’s founding treaty. However, under the accession rules, any member state can veto a new country from joining.

Turkey is a powerful NATO member, with the bloc’s second-largest military after the US. Its location at the southeastern flank of the alliance makes it a strategically important member. It acts as a buffer between the West and a swathe of Middle Eastern nations with a history of political instability, and where Western states have major interests. The fact it joined the alliance in 1952, just three years after its founding, adds to its clout.

CNN’s Jennifer Deaton contributed reporting.

The Wall Street Journal journalist Evan Gershkovich is shown in this undated photo.

Wall Street Journal reporter and US national Evan Gershkovich was detained in Russia on suspicion of “espionage” and placed under arrest until May 29, according to a Moscow court Thursday. It comes amid a crackdown in Russia on independent journalists and foreign news outlets in the wake of its invasion of Ukraine.

The US State Department is tasked with officially determining if Americans are detained wrongfully abroad.

Here’s what we know so far:

Headlines from the war:

Russian shelling caused destruction in the village of Bogoduhiv, Kharkiv on Wednesday.

Russia fired at least six missiles at Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, Thursday night, according to the head of Kharkiv’s regional military administration.

The European Union on Thursday condemned the Russian detention of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and denounced the country’s “systematic disregard” for media freedom.

“Journalists must be allowed to exercise their profession freely and deserve protection. The Russian authorities demonstrate yet again their systematic disregard for media freedom,” EU’s top diplomat Josep Borrell said in a tweet.

Other world leaders also are expressing concern for the arrest. It is the first time an American journalist has been detained on accusations by Moscow of spying since the Cold War.

The French foreign ministry said on Thursday that Paris was “particularly worried and we have had the opportunity on several occasions to condemn the repressive attitude of the Russian authorities towards the press, whether Russian or international, present in Russia,” a spokesperson said.

“We will continue to convey the message of defending press freedom and calling on the Russian authorities to respect fundamental rights, including those attached to freedom of information,” the foreign ministry spokesperson added. 

An aerial view shows smoke billowing, in Bakhmut, Ukraine, in still image taken from an undated video obtained from social media.

The Ukrainian military said its units repelled nearly 50 Russian assaults across the front lines in the eastern Donetsk region over the past day – but there have been far fewer missile and air strikes than normal.

Russian shelling has been centered around the embattled city of Bakhmut, as well as Avdiivka and Mariinka in Donetsk, and Kupyansk in the Kharkiv region, the military said.

Positions in the area appear to have changed very little.

Accounts from units in Bakhmut also suggest that Thursday was quieter than most days. The State Border Guard Services said two of Russia’s Wagner assault groups were eliminated.

An unofficial Telegram account of the 46th separate airmobile brigade said that while Russian units had become more active in the city, the pressure on outlying settlements to the west and northwest had eased. The account also said that there was little coordination between Wagner mercenaries and regular forces, and claimed that a Wagner detachment in the city had been struck by Russian combat planes.

Pavlo Kyrylenko, head of Donetsk region military administration, said that the front lines around Bakhmut, Chasiv Yar (northwest of Bakhmut), Avdiivka and Mariinka were still under constant shelling.

In the town of Avdiivka, the situation is “really tense,” Vitalii Barabash, the head of the city military administration told Ukrainian media. He said that in his opinion, “it cannot be called completely critical, especially since the Russians are now in positions that are not very favorable for them, but more favorable for us.”

Russian forces have put considerable effort into encircling Avdiivka, but their most recent assaults have gained no ground, according to the General Staff. 

In other parts of Ukraine: The General Staff said cross-border shelling in the north persisted, with settlements in Chernihiv, Sumy and Kharkiv regions coming under attack. It said that Ukrainian forces continued to strike at concentrations of Russian troops, weapons and ammunition depots behind the front lines. 

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre speaks during the daily briefing on Thursday, March 30.

President Joe Biden’s administration says the US is still investigating Russia’s allegations against a detained Wall Street Journal reporter, but voiced skepticism Thursday over the Kremlin’s claim he was spying in the country.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was responding to a question about whether the White House would call journalist Evan Gershkovich’s plight a “hostage situation.”

Earlier, a White House spokesperson deferred to the US State Department and said officials were still assessing whether the US considers the reporter’s arrest a wrongful detention. The Biden administration has, however, condemned the arrest.

In response to a follow-up question, Jean-Pierre said the Kremlin detaining Americans and using them for leverage in negotiations is a familiar tactic.

She also urged US residents to stay out of the country.

“The State Department is going to continue to reiterate that: It is not safe at this time to be in Russia or to travel in Russia,” the press secretary said.

The United States and 44 other countries in the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) invoked a special mechanism Thursday to investigate alleged human rights violations by Russia during its war in Ukraine, “particularly with regard to the forced transfer and deportation of children by the Russian Federation.”

According to the US and several European governments, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s administration forcibly deported thousands of Ukrainian children to Russia, often to a network of dozens of camps where the minors underwent political reeducation. 

The International Criminal Court (ICC) earlier this month issued arrest warrants for Putin and another Russian official related to the reported forced deportation.

In a joint statement, the group of OSCE countries said the so-called Moscow Mechanism, which is a serious step taken to look into allegations of human rights abuses, was invoked “as we continue to have concerns regarding violations of international humanitarian law and international human rights law following Russia’s full-scale war of aggression against Ukraine.”

The statement noted that recent reports from OSCE’s independent expert missions confirmed the group’s shared concerns about Russia’s “violations of international humanitarian law in Ukraine, and, in particular, credible reports of forced transfer and deportation of Ukrainian civilians, including unaccompanied children.” 

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba welcomed the move, saying in a tweet, “we need resolute joint actions to stop this genocidal practice, return children back to Ukraine, and ensure that perpetrators are held accountable.” 

The OSCE does not have the authority to legally punish Russia if it finds evidence of war crimes and crimes against humanity, but the organization’s findings can be given to other bodies that do. 

Both Russia and Ukraine are members of the 57-nation OSCE. 

The US Embassy in Moscow has requested official notification of the arrest of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, according to the State Department.

“Russia is required to provide that under our bilateral consular convention,” State Department deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel said.

Patel also said the US has requested consular access to Gershkovich, but noted that “due to Russia’s administrative procedures and security requirements, it will likely be several days before that happens.”

He said consular access is the “number one priority” for the State Department so that officials can access Gershkovich’s well-being and gather information.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the Biden administration is also “fighting for” consular access, adding the president was briefed on the case Thursday morning.

The administration has said there is a process that must be completed before they can officially call a situation a wrongful detention case.

Asked if the State Department would designate Gershkovich as wrongfully detained, Patel said “the Department regularly reviews the circumstances surrounding the detentions of US nationals overseas for indicators that these detentions are wrongful.”

Patel urged Americans not to travel to Russia and said that Americans residing in Russia should leave “immediately.”

CNN’s Sam Fossum contributed reporting to this post.

US State Department principal deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel on Thursday said it was important “that we not make comparisons” between the cases of Evan Gershkovich and Paul Whelan.

Whelan, a former Marine who is a US, Irish, British and Canadian citizen, was detained in December 2018 by Russian authorities who alleged he was involved in an intelligence operation. He was sentenced to 16 years in a Russian prison in 2020 after a trial US officials called unfair.

Gershkovich, a Wall Street Journal reporter, was arrested Thursday on suspicion of “espionage,” according to a Moscow court.

Patel said the US Embassy will speak with Whelan Thursday, and consular officers last visited him in person in late January. Embassy officials regularly speak by phone with Whelan.

“Our family is sorry to hear that another American family will have to experience the same trauma that we have had to endure for the past 1,553 days,” Paul’s brother David Whelan said in an email to the press earlier Thursday.

Pentagon spokesman Air Force Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder speaks during a briefing at the Pentagon in Washington, DC on Thursday.

More than 7,000 Ukrainian troops have received training by United States forces since the beginning of Russia’s invasion last year, Pentagon spokesman Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder said Thursday. 

This week, 65 Ukrainians who were training on the Patriot air defense system at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, returned to Europe after completing that training.

Ryder also said that more than 4,000 Ukrainian soldiers will have completed combined arms training in Germany at the end of this month, including two brigades — one equipped with Bradley Fighting Vehicles and the other with Stryker vehicles. 

“Additional combined arms training is currently underway at Grafenwoehr and Hohenfels training areas in Germany, with two motorized infantry battalions consisting of 1,200 Ukrainian Armed Forces personnel,” Ryder said.

Russia aims to send a delegation to North Korea as part of the Kremlin’s ongoing effort to acquire more weapons from Pyongyang, according to a spokesperson for the United States National Security Council.

Alleged arms dealer Ashot Mkrtychev is at the center of this latest effort by Russia to circumvent unprecedented Western sanctions and export controls over its brutal invasion of Ukraine, Kirby said Thursday.

The US Treasury Department issued sanctions against Mkrtychev earlier Thursday morning, accusing him of trying to facilitate an arms deal between Russia and North Korea.

“With this new pariah status also comes risks for those who provide support to him, as we will not hesitate to target such malign actors in the future,” Kirby said, vowing to “continue to identify, expose and counter Russian attempts to acquire military equipment from North Korea or any other state that is prepared to support its war in Ukraine.”

Some background: The US says Russia started purchasing millions of rockets and artillery shells from North Korea last year, as CNN has earlier reported. And toward the end of 2022, North Korea supplied infantry rockets to the private military company Wagner Group for use in the war in Ukraine.

US officials have characterized the purchases as a sign that Moscow’s military has dwindling stocks of the weapons it needs to sustain the invasion.

National Security Council spokesman John Kirby speaks during a press briefing at the White House on Wednesday, March 29, in Washington, DC.

The Biden administration was not given any advance warning ahead of the Russian detention of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich Thursday, National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby said

“We were just as surprised by this as all of you were, and it’s too soon to know or to be able to indicate that this is some sort of larger movement afoot here,” Kirby said, adding the administration is “single-mindedly focused” on getting consular access to Gershkovich so they can assess his condition on their own.

Kirby wouldn’t say if he believes if Gershkovich, who was credentialed to practice journalism in Russia, has been wrongfully detained, deferring to the State Department, which is tasked with officially determining if Americans are detained wrongfully abroad.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement Thursday the department is in contact with the Wall Street Journal.

The US Treasury has sanctioned a man accused of trying to facilitate an arms deal between Russia and North Korea, as the Kremlin looks for new avenues to circumvent Western sanctions over its invasion of Ukraine.

Thursday’s announcement, leveled against Slovakian national Ashot Mkrtychev, is particularly notable since it’s rare for the Treasury to publicly acknowledge efforts to disrupt a deal that’s still underway.

“We remain committed to degrading Russia’s military-industrial capabilities, as well as exposing and countering Russian attempts to evade sanctions and obtain military equipment from the DPRK or any other state that is prepared to support its war in Ukraine.”

The alleged scheme: Starting at the end of 2022, Mkrtychev has been working with North Korean officials to secure “over two dozen” types of weapons and munitions for Russia, according to the Treasury. In exchange, Russia would provide items like commercial aircraft, raw materials and commodities.

Moscow had prepared its end of the deal and was ready to make the exchange, according to the Treasury, which cited the accused dealer’s correspondence with the countries.

Dwindling supplies? The US says Russia started purchasing millions of rockets and artillery shells from North Korea last year, as CNN has earlier reported.

The purchases suggest Russia’s military has suffered from severe supply shortages in Ukraine, due in part to export controls and sanctions, a US official said at the time.

The Treasury repeated that narrative with Thursday’s announcement.

The US has accused North Korea of trying to conceal its weapons shipments to Russia, making it appear as if the ammunition is being sent to countries in the Middle East or North Africa, according to declassified US intelligence.

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre talks to reporters during the daily news conference in the Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House on March 27 in Washington, DC. 

The Biden administration is “deeply concerned” over reports Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich has been detained in Russia on charges of espionage, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Thursday. 

“The targeting of American citizens by the Russian government is unacceptable. We condemn the detention of Mr. Gershkovich in the strongest terms,” she added.

The press secretary also noted the State Department’s advise for Americans to not travel to Russia, and added that if they are currently residing or traveling there, then they should “depart immediately.”

The United States government is “deeply concerned over Russia’s widely-reported detention of a U.S. citizen journalist,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement Thursday following the arrest of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich.

Blinken said the department is in contact with the Wall Street Journal, according to the statement which did not directly name Gershkovich.

“In the strongest possible terms, we condemn the Kremlin’s continued attempts to intimidate, repress, and punish journalists and civil society voices,” the statement added.

Gershkovich is the first journalist to be accused of spying by Russia since 1986, when reporter Nick Daniloff was detained on a similar charge while working for the US.

In this screengrab from a video posted on Twitter, Ukraine’s Air Assault Forces stands with US-provided Stryker and Cougar fighting vehicles.

Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov posted video of Ukrainian units training on US-provided Stryker and Cougar fighting vehicles — part of a military aid package worth billions of dollars. 

The vehicles “are now in the capable hands of Ukraine’s Air Assault Forces. Took them for a test drive. I’m glad that the best soldiers in the world are getting the best vehicles from our partners,” he said in a tweet Thursday.

The Strykers are eight-wheel armored fighting vehicles. The Pentagon announced in January that it would send 90 Strykers to Ukraine.

Cougars are mine-resistant ambush-protected vehicles. The US Defense Department announced it would send 37 to Ukraine in December.

Photographs published earlier this week by Reznikov showed a variety of western hardware assembled at an undisclosed location in Ukraine, including British Challenger 2 tanks, Roshel Senator armored vehicles, and German Marder infantry fighting vehicles.

David Whelan, brother of Paul Whelan, poses in his house in Newmarket, Ontario, Canada on January 5, 2019.

The family of Paul Whelan responded to the news of Russia arresting American journalist Evan Gershkovich and said they were “sorry to hear that another American family will have to experience the same trauma that we have had to endure for the past 1,553 days.”

“Unfortunately, the White House does not seem to have found a way to resolve cases like Paul’s, where an American is falsely charged with espionage by the Kremlin,” Paul’s brother David Whelan said in an email to the press Thursday.

Paul Whelan was arrested in December 2018 on espionage charges. He was convicted and sentenced in June 2020 to 16 years in prison in a trial US officials denounced as unfair.

The United States government was informed of reporter Evan Gershkovich’s arrest by the Wall Street Journal, according to a US official.

The WSJ declined to comment on the report.

The US has not yet formally approached the Kremlin about the correspondent’s detainment, according to Russia’s foreign ministry.

What the paper has said so far: The newspaper “vehemently denies the allegations from the (Russian security service) and seeks the immediate release of our trusted and dedicated reporter,” it said in a statement.

In a memo informing staff of the arrest, Editor-in-Chief Emma Tucker said she is very concerned for Gershkovich’s safety.

The paper is in contact with the reporter’s family, a person familiar with the situation told CNN.

Russian President Vladimir Putin talks at the Grand Kremlin Palace, on March 21, in Moscow, Russia.

President Vladimir Putin has conceded that Western sanctions designed to starve the Kremlin of funds for its invasion of Ukraine could deal a blow to Russia’s economy.

“The illegitimate restrictions imposed on the Russian economy may indeed have a negative impact on it in the medium term,” Putin said in televised remarks Wednesday reported by state news agency TASS.

It is a rare admission by the Russian leader, who has repeatedly insisted that Russia’s economy remains resilient and that sanctions have hurt Western countries by driving up inflation and energy prices.

Putin said Russia’s economy had been growing since July, thanks in part to stronger ties with “countries of the East and South,” likely referring to China and some African countries. He also stressed the importance of domestic demand to the economy, saying it was becoming the leading driver of growth.

Russia’s economy has showed surprising resilience to unprecedented sanctions imposed by the West, including an EU ban on most imports of oil products. Preliminary estimates from the Russian government show that economic output shrank by 2.1% last year — a contraction more limited than many economists initially predicted.

Yet while China has thrown the Kremlin an economic lifeline by buying Russian energy and providing an alternative to the US dollar, cracks are starting to appear.

The Russian government’s revenue plunged 35% in January compared with a year ago, while expenditures jumped 59%, leading to a budget deficit of about 1,761 billion rubles ($23.3 billion).

The World Bank and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development are forecasting contractions of 3.3% and 5.6%, respectively, in 2023. The International Monetary Fund expects Russia’s growth to remain flat this year, but for the economy to shrink by at least 7% in the medium term.

In response to Russia’s aggression in Ukraine, Western countries have announced more than 11,300 sanctions since the February 2022 invasion, and frozen some $300 billion of Russia’s foreign reserves.

An outspoken Russian oligarch, Oleg Deripaska, said earlier this month that Russia could find itself with no money as soon as next year.

— Rob North and Livvy Doherty contributed reporting.

The United States has not yet formally approached the Russian Federation about the case of Wall Street Journal correspondent Evan Gershkovich, according to the foreign ministry.

The official state news agency TASS quoted Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Yevgeny Ivanov as saying there had been no contact so far.

“No, they haven’t inquired yet,” he said in response to a question from TASS.

Lawmakers and organizations across America are responding to Russia’s arrest of US journalist Evan Gershkovich of the Wall Street Journal. Here’s what some of them are saying:

US Rep. Jared Moskowitz, a Florida Democrat, described Gershkovich’s detention on espionage charges as a “kidnapping”, telling CNN, “we are in very dangerous territory with (Putin). This is all about leverage and so now we have a human life in the balance.” 

“This is not the game that Putin should be playing. I think Joe Biden has shown that he’s not someone who’s going to be toyed with when it comes to these sort of things,” said Moskowitz, who sits on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, adding Gershkovich “should be released immediately.”

US Rep. Adam Schiff, a California Democrat, said that this is “very typical Russian behavior.”

“This is very typical Russian behavior, and that is to grab Americans, use them as leverage — in this case a reporter — make spurious allegations against them and detain them, you know, potentially for long periods of time. In this case, you know, I think we can see it in concert with their nuclear announcements — the abrogation of the treaty obligations — as a way of just ramping up pressure on the West, signaling that Moscow is going to use whatever tools it has, including essentially hostage-taking, to try deter the United States and the West from opposing its ambitions in Ukraine.”

The National Press Club on Thursday called on Russia to immediately release Gershkovich, calling his detention “unjust.” The organization also urged the State Department to act.

“Evan Gershkovich is a journalist. He should be released immediately and unharmed and allowed to return to his important work,” said Eileen O’Reilly, president of the National Press Club, and Gil Klein, president of the National Press Club, in a statement.

Wall Street Journal Editor-in-Chief Emma Tucker told staff in a memo Thursday she is very concerned for the safety of reporter Evan Gershkovich, who Russian security forces arrested Wednesday in the city of Yekaterinburg.

“I am very sorry to let you know you that one of our reporters Evan Gershkovich was yesterday detained outside Moscow according to a statement put out by the Russian security services,” Tucker wrote in a memo to the newspaper’s staff at 5:11 a.m. ET.

The memo was later obtained by CNN.

Gershkovich was arrested in Russia on suspicion of espionage, the first time a US journalist has been detained by Moscow on accusations of spying since the Cold War. 

In a statement, the Wall Street Journal said it “vehemently denies the allegations from the FSB and seeks the immediate release of our trusted and dedicated reporter.”

“We stand in solidarity with Evan and his family,” the newspaper said.

Austrian MPs from the right-wing Austrian Freedom Party (FPOe) leave the assembly room as a sign of protest during a video address by Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky amid a session of the Austrian National Council in Vienna, Austria, on March 30.

Far-right Austrian lawmakers walked out of the country’s lower house of parliament on Thursday during a virtual address by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, protesting that it was an “infringement” of Austria’s neutrality status.

Members of the Freedom Party of Austria (FPO) left their seats as Zelensky started his video address, leaving small place cards on their desks featuring the party logo and a message that read “space for peace,” according to the Austrian public broadcaster ORF.

In a video message on its Twitter account Thursday, the party said, “Yes to neutrality, no to warmongering.”

The FPO had warned days before that it would stage some form of protest against the Ukrainian president’s virtual address to Austria’s parliament.

“It is sad that the FPO is the only party in parliament that takes our ever-lasting neutrality seriously, thereby also standing up for peace,” FPO leader Herbert Kickl said in a statement on Tuesday. He also blamed the Austrian government and other opposition parties of showing “unilateral support for a war party.”

In his address, Zelensky thanked Austria for its humanitarian aid and help with projects, such as clearing land mines, adding that it is “important not to be morally neutral towards evil.”

Austria is not part of NATO and does not supply weapons to Ukraine. It has, however, provided Ukraine with humanitarian aid and helmets and protection vests for civilian use. Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer last week took to Twitter to emphasize his country’s neutrality status and said that while his country is militarily neutral, “we understand we have to help where injustice and war crimes take place.”

The FPO has in the past maintained close ties to Russia. In 2016, it signed a cooperation agreement with United Russia, a conservative party holding a majority in the Russian parliament. In 2018, Russian President Vladimir Putin was spotted in Austria as a guest at the wedding of Karin Kneissl, a member of the FPO and an Austrian foreign minister at the time.

Moscow will continue to give the United States advance notice about its missile tests despite suspending participation in the nuclear arms treaty called New START, Russia’s deputy foreign minister, Sergei Ryabkov, clarified Thursday according to Russian state media TASS.

What happened: On Wednesday, Ryabkov had said that all types of notifications between Russia and the United States under the nuclear NEW START treaty were suspended. To this, the State Department had said Wednesday that the US had not received notice from Russia “indicating a change” in nuclear notifications.

However, Ryabkov clarified and told reporters that Moscow will in fact voluntarily continue to notify the US of missile launch.

He also stressed that Moscow has stated its position to Washington both orally and in writing. “There is no ambiguity here,” he said.

The US has been “concerned Russia’s reckless behavior as it relates to the New START Treaty,” US State Department principal deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel said Wednesday.

CNN’s Jennifer Hansler contributed to this reporting.

A van carrying Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich leaves the Lefortovsky court, in Moscow, Russia, on March 30.

Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who was detained in Russia on suspicion of “espionage,” has been placed under arrest for nearly two months, until May 29, the court’s press service said Thursday.

Here’s the statement from the court’s press service:

The case of arrested Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich is marked “top secret” and he did not admit guilt, Russian state news agency TASS reported on Thursday, citing law enforcement agencies.

Gershkovich was formally arrested Thursday in a case of “espionage” in the Lefortovo court in Moscow. 

The court decided that the journalist — as a measure of restraint — should be detained in a pre-trial center, TASS reported. 

Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich is escorted by officers from the Lefortovo court to a bus in Moscow, Russia, on March 30.

The Russian state news agency TASS has reported that the Lefortovo court in Moscow has formally arrested Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich in relation to espionage allegations, according to law enforcement agencies.

TASS reported, “The Lefortovo court arrested journalist Evan Gershkovich in a case of espionage, law enforcement officials told us. He was chosen as a measure of restraint in the form of detention, the source of our agency said.”

The lawyer representing Gershkovich was not allowed to attend the Moscow hearing, according to TASS.

TASS reported that Daniil Berman was not allowed to participate in the hearing at the Lefortovo court, where a measure of detention is being chosen.

“They told me they already have an assigned lawyer,” Berman said, according to TASS.

Another lawyer working on the case, Evgeny Smirnov, told CNN, “There is no (contact with Gershkovich) and there will be none in the coming weeks.”

A journalist with the Wall Street Journal, Evan Gershkovich, has been arrested in Russia on suspicion of espionage, according to Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB), the country’s main security force.

State news agency TASS reported he was detained in Yekaterinburg, on the eastern side of the Ural Mountains.

Here’s what we know:

About Gershkovich: According to Gershkovich’s bio page on the Wall Street Journal’s website, he covers Russia, Ukraine and the former Soviet Union. He previously worked for news agency Agence France-Presse, the Moscow Times and the New York Times. 

How the FSB described the arrest: “The illegal activities of the correspondent of the Moscow bureau of the American newspaper The Wall Street Journal, US citizen Evan Gershkovich, born in 1991, accredited at the Russian Foreign Ministry, suspected of espionage in the interests of the American government, have been suppressed,” it said in a statement. Gershkovich was detained “while trying to obtain secret information” relating to “the activities of one of the enterprises of the Russian military-industrial complex.”

What the Russian government is saying: Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said the arrest was a “prerogative of the FSB.” In a regular call with reporters, he added, “as far as we know, he was caught red-handed.” Russian authorities often make baseless claims about the work of foreign journalists.

Russian Foreign Ministry’s response: Its spokesperson, Maria Zakharova, said Gershkovich’s work in Yekaterinburg, Russia, had “nothing to do with journalism.”

Zakharova and the ministry routinely make baseless claims about the work and the motives of foreign journalists in Russia.

How the Wall Street Journal is responding: The newspaper has had a decades-long presence in Moscow. In a statement, the company said it “vehemently denies the allegations from the FSB and seeks the immediate release of our trusted and dedicated reporter, Evan Gershkovich. We stand in solidarity with Evan and his family.”

A first since the Cold War: Gershkovich is the first US journalist to be accused of spying by Russia since 1986, when journalist Nick Daniloff was detained on a similar charge amid strained US-Soviet Union ties. Daniloff was arrested during the end of his assignment for working for US News and World Report, and he was imprisoned for weeks in isolated conditions while before the Reagan administration negotiated his release. 

Russia has been cracking down on independent journalists: Gershkovich’s arrest comes amid a crackdown in Russia on independent journalists and foreign news outlets in the wake of its invasion of Ukraine. In March 2022, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin signed a censorship bill into law making it impossible for news organizations to accurately report the news in or from Russia. The law, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists, makes it a crime to disseminate what it deems “fake” information about the invasion of Ukraine, with a penalty of up to 15 years in prison for anyone convicted.

Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) has formally requested the arrest of US journalist Evan Gershkovich of the Wall Street Journal, Russian state news agency TASS reported citing Moscow’s Lefortovo district court.

Gershkovich was arrested in Russia on suspicion of espionage, according to the FSB. He was detained in Yekaterinburg, on the eastern side of the Ural Mountains, TASS reported.

Britain's King Charles III, center, addresses the Bundestag, Germany's Parliament, in Berlin, Germany, on March 30.

King Charles III spoke on the Ukraine war during his historic address to Germany’s parliament on Thursday.

The British sovereign is in Germany on the inaugural state visit of his reign with the Queen Consort until Friday.

“Countless lives have been destroyed; freedom and human dignity have been trampled in the most brutal way. The security of Europe has been threatened, together with our democratic values,” he said.

He added that Germany and the United Kingdom have together shown vital leadership in the face of Russian aggression, and praised Berlin for providing Kyiv with military equipment.

King Charles on Thursday became the first British monarch to address the Bundestag, the German parliament, paying tribute to the deep historical bonds and longstanding ties between the two nations.

Alternating between German and English, Charles said it was a “great honor” to be addressing the Bundestag on Thursday, adding he was proud to be in Berlin to “renew the special bond of friendship between our two countries.”

The Wall Street Journal’s Evan Gershkovich is the first US journalist to be accused of spying by Russia since 1986, when journalist Nick Daniloff was detained on a similar charge. 

Back then Ronald Reagan was US president, Russia was part of the Soviet Union and ties were badly strained over the Cold War.

Daniloff was arrested during the end of his assignment for working for US News and World Report in 1986. He was imprisoned for weeks in isolated conditions while before the Reagan administration negotiated his release. 

Speaking at a press conference after his release in 1986, Daniloff called it a “very complex situation,” stressing that without President Reagan’s “very deep and personal interest” in his case he would have likely been imprisoned for much longer.  

“In my case, the FBI had arrested a Soviet in New York for espionage, and the Russians then arrested me,” Daniloff told CNN. He added that negotiation eventually secured his release, involving a “solution for the guy who was arrested in New York.” 

The Kremlin did not comment when asked if Gershkovich’s arrest was a tit-for-tat move following the arrest last week of Sergey Vladimirovich Cherkasov in the US, who is accused of being a Russian spy. 

Kremlin spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, was asked by CNN during a daily briefing Thursday if Gershkovich’s arrest could be a “retaliatory measure” after the US arrested a Russian on espionage charges last week. 

“I do not have such information. I have nothing to say on this topic,” he replied. 

Some more Russian reaction now to the arrest of the Wall Street Journal’s Evan Gershkovich.

A Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov, when asked to comment said “as far as we know, he was caught red-handed.”

“This is the prerogative of the FSB [Federal Security Service]. They have already made a statement. We have nothing to add. The only thing I can add, as far as we know, he was caught red-handed,” Peskov said during a regular call with journalists.

The Russian authorities often make baseless claims about the work of foreign journalists.

When asked by CNN to clarify what that means in regards to a journalist accused of espionage, Peskov said: “No, I cannot clarify. I do not have the details. Once again, this is the prerogative of the special services who are fighting spies.”

Peskov was also asked if Gershkovich’s arrest was related to reporting he had carried out before or something he was working on now. Peskov responded: “I can’t say. I don’t know the details.”

The Kremlin spokesperson said “of course” the Kremlin knows his work and is familiar with his publications.

In a statement the Wall Street Journal said it “vehemently denies the allegations from the FSB and seeks the immediate release of our trusted and dedicated reporter, Evan Gershkovich. We stand in solidarity with Evan and his family.”

Russian foreign ministry's spokeswoman Maria Zakharova attends a meeting with heads of foreign media outlets in Moscow, Russia, on February 15.

The spokeswoman for Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA), Maria Zakharova, said the Wall Street Journal’s Evan Gershkovich’s work in Yekaterinburg, Russia, had “nothing to do with journalism.”

CNN has contacted the US Embassy in Moscow for comment on Gershkovich’s arrest. 

The Wall Street Journal has had a decades-long presence in Moscow.

Zakharova and the Russian MFA routinely make baseless claims about the work and the motives of foreign journalists in Russia.

Evan Gershkovich was arrested in Russia on suspicion of espionage, Russia’s security service the FSB says.

Wall Street Journal journalist Evan Gershkovich.

The founder and head of the Wagner private military company, Yevgeny Prigozhin, said in a voice note Thursday he was “not aware” of the arrest of Wall Street Journal journalist Evan Gershkovich.

The message came in response to a question from a journalist regarding Gershkovich’s reporting.

In its statement on Thursday, the Wall Street Journal did not comment on what story Gershkovich was working on at the time of his arrest.

Some context: A journalist with the Wall Street Journal – Evan Gershkovich – has been arrested in Russia on suspicion of espionage, Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) said Thursday.

An FSB statement said: “The illegal activities of the correspondent of the Moscow bureau of the American newspaper The Wall Street Journal, US citizen Evan Gershkovich, born in 1991, accredited at the Russian Foreign Ministry, suspected of espionage in the interests of the American government, have been suppressed.”

The arrest of the Wall Street Journal’s Evan Gershkovich comes amid a crackdown in Russia on independent journalists and foreign news outlets in the wake of its invasion of Ukraine.

In March 2022, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin signed a censorship bill into law making it impossible for news organizations to accurately report the news in or from Russia.

The law, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists, makes it a crime to disseminate “fake” information about the invasion of Ukraine, with a penalty of up to 15 years in prison for anyone convicted.

In the wake of the law passing, several major international news outlets including CNN, the BBC and CBS News, announced they would initially suspend reporting in Russia.

Western publications and social media sites have been blocked online, forcing Russians seeking alternatives to the official propaganda to go underground using virtual private networks, or VPNs, which allow people to browse the internet freely by encrypting their internet traffic.

Data from Sensortower, an apps market research company, show the top eight VPN apps in Russia were downloaded almost 80 million times in Russia this year, despite the government’s efforts against their use.

An undated ID photo of journalist Evan Gershkovich.

A journalist with the Wall Street Journal – Evan Gershkovich – has been arrested in Russia on suspicion of espionage, Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) says.

An FSB statement said: “The illegal activities of the correspondent of the Moscow bureau of the American newspaper The Wall Street Journal, US citizen Evan Gershkovich, born in 1991, accredited at the Russian Foreign Ministry, suspected of espionage in the interests of the American government, have been suppressed.”

State news agency TASS reported he was detained in Yekaterinburg, on the eastern side of the Ural Mountains. 

The FSB statement said Gershkovich was detained “while trying to obtain secret information” relating to “the activities of one of the enterprises of the Russian military-industrial complex.”

According to Gershkovich’s bio page on the Wall Street Journal’s website, he covers Russia, Ukraine and the former Soviet Union. He previously worked for news agency Agence France-Presse, the Moscow Times and the New York Times. 

CNN has contacted the Wall Street Journal for comment.

Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs Dmytro Kuleba addresses the media during a press encounter at the United Nations at U.N. headquarters in New York City, on February 24.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba says Russia’s presidency of the UN Security Council (UNSC) from April 1 is a “bad joke.”

Russia takes up the presidency for a month this weekend for the first time since invading Ukraine last year.

As a result of the conflict Russia is economically and diplomatically isolated but it remains one of five permanent members of the Council.

“Russia has usurped its seat; it’s waging a colonial war; its leader is a war criminal wanted by the ICC for kidnapping children. The world can’t be a safe place with Russia at [the] UNSC,” Kuleba tweeted.

Earlier this week, Russia suffered a setback after it failed to gain enough votes at the UNSC for its proposed resolution to investigate attacks on the Nordstream pipeline. 

Olesya Krivtsova speaks to CNN in Vilnius, Lithuania.

Olesya Krivtsova thinks it’s because she was neither the first, nor the last, to criticize the war in Ukraine that she scared Russian authorities as much as she did.

Her social media posts were neither particularly strident nor unusual, she told CNN, reflecting those of so many other university students across the country. And that, she believes, is where her troubles started: when her fellow students denounced her to authorities in need of an example.

Now in Lithuania and on Moscow’s list of most wanted criminals, the softly spoken, slight 20-year-old from Russia’s northwestern Arkhangelsk region makes for an unlikely villain. But from the start, Russian authorities seemed to have singled her out for harsh punishment with particular zeal.

According to OVD-Info, a Russian human rights media group, most of the 447 Russians prosecuted for anti-war activity since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine last year have been charged with “disseminating false information.” But Krivtsova was placed under house arrest in January, and banned from using the internet on the far more serious charges of discrediting the Russian army and justifying terrorism. OVD-Info reports 49 people have been charged for discrediting the army and 30 for justifying terrorism.

Those charges relate to an Instagram story she posted about the Crimean bridge blast last October, which also criticized Russia for invading Ukraine, and for making an allegedly critical repost of the war in a student chat on the Russian social network VK.

Her voice should have remained a little one, she said, but for the repression she faced.

Read more here.

A Ukrainian tank rolls on a muddy road near Bakhmut on Wednesday.

Russia’s Wagner mercenary group is “suffering an enormous amount of casualties in the Bakhmut area,” Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley told US lawmakers Wednesday, describing the battle for the eastern city as a “slaughter-fest” for the Russians.

Meanwhile, Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin said in an audio message Wednesday that the battle for the city “has already practically destroyed the Ukrainian army,” but added his troops had “been pretty battered” as well.

Here are the latest developments:

The German federal government has agreed to allocate an additional 12 billion euros ($13 billion) worth of military support to Ukraine over the next decade, it announced Wednesday in a statement.

Around $4.3 billion will go to the German military to replace the military aid Berlin has given to Kyiv since the invasion, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius added.

Earlier this year, Berlin made a historic move to arm Ukraine with Leopard 2 tanks.

The whole of Ukraine is traumatized since Russia’s invasion last year, according to Ukraine’s Deputy Foreign Minister Emine Dzhaparova.

Speaking to CNN’s Christiane Amanpour from Kyiv, Dzhaparova said she thinks “a long-term process of recovery will be happening after the resolution of war,” but added that “at this stage of the war it’s still an existential matter of survival so we need to survive physically and after that, we can speak about the mental recovery.” 

The deputy minister told CNN she has seen her two daughters, who are abroad, only three times since the invasion. 

The four main battlefields, according to Dzhaparova, are Lyman, Mariinka, Avdiivka and Bakhmut.  

The situation in Bakhmut is “still terrible,” she said.   

Approximately 17% of Ukrainian soil is “still under occupation,” down from what she said was 20% at the beginning of the invasion.  

Mark Milley, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, during a House Armed Services Committee hearing in Washington, DC, US, on March 29.

There are roughly 6,000 Wagner group mercenaries fighting in the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley told US lawmakers on Wednesday. 

The battle over Bakhmut has turned into a “slaughter-fest” for the Russians, Milley said.

The head of the Russian private military company, Yevgeny Prigozhin, said in an audio message earlier Wednesday that the battle for the city “has already practically destroyed the Ukrainian army,” but added that Wagner has “been pretty battered” as well.

The situation at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant has not improved, according to director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency Rafael Grossi.

The plant has been occupied by Russian forces since March of last year and is now run by the Russian atomic agency, ROSATOM. 

Grossi said military activity and the number of troops in the area were increasing, without specifying whether he meant both Russian and Ukrainian forces. Ukrainian troops are stationed several miles across the reservoir from the plant. 

He said original plans to create a demilitarized zone around the plant had “evolved” toward greater protection of the plant itself and added there should not be heavy military equipment at the plant. Ukraine has accused the Russians of basing rocket systems at the plant, which Moscow has denied.

Grossi said he was trying to formulate “realistic, viable proposals” that would be acceptable to both sides.

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley told lawmakers Wednesday that China, Russia, and Iran would be a problem for the US “for many years to come” as the three are working more closely together.

Speaking before the House Armed Services Committee alongside Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, Milley said Russia and China are “getting closer together.”

While the US has made clear for years now that the three countries are focuses of the military — particularly China and Russia — tensions with all three have been on the rise in recent months and even weeks.

Read more here.

Vladyslav Heraskevych of Ukraine compete in the Men's Skeleton during the BMW IBSF Bob & Skeleton World Cup at the Veltins-EisArena on January 6, in Winterberg, Germany

The International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) decision to allow Russian and Belarussian athletes to participate in international competitions comes as a “slap in the face” to Ukrainian skeleton star Vladyslav Heraskevych.

On Tuesday, IOC president Thomas Bach outlined new guidelines that would allow Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete as neutrals, paving the way for their return.

Athletes from the two nations were banned from most international competitions in February 2022 after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and following the IOC executive board’s recommendation.

Heraskevych, who shot to fame at the Beijing Winter Olympics last year when he held up a “No War in Ukraine” banner to protest the impending Russian invasion, said the decision is a shocking one for him and his compatriots.

According to the IOC’s latest recommendations, athletes with a Russian or Belarusian passport must compete only as individual neutral athletes and meet all anti-doping requirements, while those who support the war or are contracted to military or national service cannot compete.

Read more here.