VOLODYMYR ZELENSKY invited China’s Xi Jinping to Ukraine and said he has not spoken to the leader since Russia’s large-scale invasion in February last year.
The Ukrainian president told the AP: “We are in a position to see him here. I need to communicate with him. I had contact with him before the total war. But for this whole year, more than a year, I didn’t. “Take one. “
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Mao Ning said Beijing had not obtained any information about Zelensky’s invitation and maintained “communication with all relevant parties, including Ukraine. “
Xi Jinping held talks with Russia’s Vladimir Putin last week where they showed signs of intelligent dialogue, however, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that despite this, Moscow will not oppose the Chinese leader’s scale in Kiev.
He said: “We know China’s balanced position, we appreciate it very much and we know that the Chinese leader makes his own decisions on whether to secure contacts. We have no right to give recommendations here. “
Read our blog about the war in Ukraine below for the latest news. . .
There have been statements suggesting that “several U. S. administration officials have been in the U. S. administration. “”U. S. ” they are “in favor of creating a special court in Russia. “
The Russian embassy in the United States responded overnight with a statement: “Such comments are absolute blasphemy that has nothing to do with justice. The United States continues to favor the rules of foreign law in favor of its own geopolitical interests. “
“The outrageous and baseless accusations of alleged assaults, crimes against humanity and other violations are but a detail of Washington’s Russophobic crusade as of the hybrid war unleashed against us.
“The United States, hypocritically and cynically, does not evaluate the acts of the Nazis who settled in Kiev and terrorized civilians for many years.
“Washington says nothing about its own role in inciting the Ukrainian conflict. It continues [the] Zelenskiy regime through the incessant source of deadly weapons, as a result of which the civilian population continues to die, adding young people and kindergartens, schools and hospitals are destroyed.
“How can Washington speculate on ‘responsibility for aggression’ when the foreign network has still recovered from the catastrophic consequences of America’s adventurous interventions in Iraq, Afghanistan, the bombing of Yugoslavia, and the atrocities in Vietnam?”
President Zelensky today thanked Italy for following a phone call with Giorgia Meloni.
Speaking to Twitter, the Ukrainian leader wrote: “I had a productive call with @GiorgiaMeloni. We discussed our bilateral initiatives.
“The path to peace in Ukraine is the full withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukrainian territory and the implementation of our peace formula. Thank you friends for your support. Let’s keep it up!”
More than 5,000 former criminals have been pardoned for completing their Russian military contracts with the Wagner Group, the head of the mercenary group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, said on Saturday.
He said on Telegram: “Right now, more than 5,000 people have been pardoned after completing their contracts with Wagner. “
After suffering several defeats last year, Wagner recruited thousands of men from prisons, whom he released in exchange for their fight against Ukraine.
Wagner’s boss added that only 0. 31 percent of those pardoned went on to engage in crime, a figure 10 to 20 times lower than popular metric.
An explosion has reportedly rocked an airbase of Russian fighter jets in Crimea following an alleged Ukrainian drone attack.
Black smoke was noted emerging in the sky near Vladimir Putin’s key Su-24M bomber base in the village of Hvardiyske.
Images of the aftermath of the explosion, which shook the windows of nearby houses.
The Gvardeyskoye base houses the 37th Guards Composite Aviation Regiment piloting the Sukhoi Su-24M, which will most likely be very important for Russia’s air operations in the war in Ukraine.
Learn here.
Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk issued a warning on Telegram to Russian citizens, warning them to adopt “stolen” children from Ukraine.
Ukraine’s Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin is currently investigating more than 16,000 cases of deportation of children, Vereshchuk said.
She wrote: “Taking orphaned children out of Ukraine and giving them up for adoption to Russian citizens is illegal and despicable. It’s especially disgusting when other people publicly boast about adopting stolen children from Ukraine. “
Vereshchuk added that the “dozens” of Russians who have to “adopt orphans stolen from Ukraine” deserve to “answer for it” sooner or later.
Ukrainian infantrymen have returned home to continue their fight against Russia’s illegal invasion, after completing their Challenger 2 tanks in the UK.
The British Army trained the Ukrainian Corps of Painters to command and drive tanks, identify and target interaction, and paint as a team.
Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said: “It is indeed inspiring to see the determination of Ukrainian infantrymen who have finished their education in British Challenger 2 tanks on British soil.
“They return to their homeland better equipped, but no less dangerous. We will continue with them and do everything we can for Ukraine for as long as it takes. “
Lt. Col. John Stone, who oversaw the mission, said: “It has been a privilege for the Combat Maneuver Center team to supply this to our Ukrainian partners.
“We’ve all been incredibly inspired by the point shown and have no doubt that our friends will make better use of Challenger 2 tanks in the battles ahead as they fight to protect their homeland. “
A UK-trained Ukrainian tank commander said: “I am fighting for my long term, for the long term of my country and for the long term of my family. We will fight. “
“For us, this tank is like a diamond. I think it’s the most productive tank in the world.
A member of the punk band Pussy Riot has been placed on the list of wanted suspects by Russian authorities.
Russian media outlet Mediazona discovered that Nadezhda Tolokonnikova today entered the database of other people wanted by the Russian Interior Ministry.
The Associated Press reported that the Pussy Riot member faced felons’ fees, but did not specify what the fees were.
Tolokonnikova became widely known in 2012, when she participated in a Pussy Riot protest inside the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow.
In early March, Russian human rights lawyer Pavel Chikov said that a thief case had been opened against the member for offending the emotions of devout believers, who has been a thief crime since 2012 in Russia.
Reports recommend that Ms. Tolokonnikova left Russia for the United States.
Raphael Grossi visited the nuclear power plant in the occupied city of Zaporizhzhia.
The head of the UN nuclear firm seeks to succeed in a compromise that gains advantages in both Moscow and Kiev, as he previously admitted that the scenario at the plant “is not improving”, under pressure that there has been an increase in military activity in the region.
He said: “I am looking to prepare and propose realistic measures that will be approved by all parties. We will have to avoid a catastrophe. I’m optimistic and I think it’s possible. “
“The concept is to agree on safe principles, secure commitments, and add the one to attack the plant. “
An explosion was reported near a Russian army air base in Crimea.
Russia-appointed Crimean leader Sergey Aksyonov said on Telegram that “a drone shot down in the Simferopol region. “
He added: “It crashed into a field. There were no casualties or damage. “
An object discovered near the Nord Stream 2 fuel pipeline connecting Russia to Europe in the Baltic Sea.
The Danish Energy Agency showed it looks like a sea buoy after the Danish Navy recovered it during an inspection of the last intact pipeline through Swiss-based operator Nord Stream 2 AG.
Denmark said in a statement: “Investigations imply that the object is an empty sea smoke buoy, which is used for visual marking. The object provides a security risk. “
A map shows how Russian forces are digging new trenches near Crimea, reports analyst Brady Africk of the American Enterprise Institute.
Crimea is strategically vital territory for Russia in the Black Sea and was transferred to Ukraine via Russian Prime Minister Nikita Khrushchev in 1954.
In 2014, Vladimir Putin illegally annexed the region.
Ukraine’s Sports Ministry opposes Russian and Belarusian athletes at the Olympics and has addressed the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in a statement.
He said: “The Ministry of Youth and Sports of Ukraine condemns the partial replacement in the position of the International Olympic Committee regarding the non-admission of Russian and Belarusian athletes.
“We have defended and will continue to insist that in situations of unprecedented and unprovoked military aggression by the Russian Federation with the help of the Republic of Belarus against Ukraine, which contradicts the principles of the Olympic Charter, the reproachers of the aggressor states deserve to be not foreseen in foreign sports forums. “
From 2024, the Czech Republic’s two nuclear power plants will transfer fuel from Russia to Westinghouse, said the electric power organization CEZ, a public operator.
“After the outbreak of war in Ukraine last year, CEZ started talks without delay to locate a new fuel supplier for security reasons,” CEZ spokesman Ladislav Kruz said in a statement.
An agreement was signed between CEZ and Westinghouse to obtain one of the power plants, Dukovany.
The occupied city of Melitopol, which suffered several explosions this morning, saw its railway depot hit by a Ukrainian strike that cut off the electricity supply, Sky News reports.
The city is far from the front line.
Before the war, the city was home to 150,000 citizens, but today it is a railway logistics hub for Russian troops and is a component of the land bridge connecting Russia to the occupied Crimean peninsula.
The head of the UN nuclear agency, Raphael Grossi, spoke to the media on his stopover at Europe’s largest nuclear plant in Zaporizhzhia, recently occupied by Russia.
He told Russian news agencies and added to Tass: “Obviously, the scenario is not improving, on the contrary, hostilities on this territory are intensifying. Every conceivable measure must be taken to protect the station from attack. “
Tass reports that Grossi showed “broken objects as a result of the shelling of the Ukrainian armed forces. “
Russia claimed that Ukraine bombed the exercise station and the nearby residential domain of Enerhodar, while Ukraine claimed that the bombing was carried out through Putin’s troops.
The Polish government is expanding munitions production, as Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki says that, in combination with other nations, they are preparing for an imaginable Ukrainian offensive in the spring.
He told a news conference: “I inspire personal companies, state-owned enterprises, foreign entities. . . to temporarily face the challenge of new munitions production plants on Polish territory.
“We will allocate 2 billion zlotys (£375. 91 million) to budget investments. “
Reuters reports that Spanish Defense Minister Margarita Robles will send six Leopard 2A4 tanks to Ukraine after Easter.
The tanks have been used since the 1990s, and Robles told lawmakers they had been repaired and would be tested to verify their combat readiness before being sent to Ukraine.
He added that Spain will arrange 4 more bronzers to be shipped “in the near future. “
However, Russian and Belarusian athletes from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) will compete in Paris 2024 as neutrals, without their country’s flag or national anthem.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov responded to the decision, having “elements of discrimination. “
He said: “These recommendations have been characterised by elements of discrimination, which is unacceptable. We will continue to protect the interests of our athletes in any and all possible ways. “
Meanwhile, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki opposed letting those athletes compete.
He took to Twitter and said: “The IOC’s resolution to send Russian athletes back to the festival is a scandal and a betrayal of the true spirit of sport.
“I have told Minister @KamilBortniczuk to raise our company’s objection to the IOC authorities. We will do everything we can to keep the game away from Russian influence. “
Wagner leader Yevgeny Prigozhin said the Bakhmur war “practically destroyed” the Ukrainian army while its forces were “severely damaged. “
In an audio message, he said: “The Bakkhmut war has already almost destroyed the Ukrainian army and, unfortunately, also seriously bankrupted the Wagner personal army corporation. “
CNN reported that Prigozhin also asked about Zelensky’s troops who protected Bakhmut to the end, telling him that his forces would win at “the greatest turning point in this war and in the entire history of fashion. “
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov showed Moscow had stopped sharing information about its nuclear forces, such as recommendations on missile tests, with the United States.
Russian news agencies report that all exchanges were cut off after the United States suspended its participation in the newest nuclear arms pact.
Moscow added that it would not abandon the pact at all and would respect the nuclear weapons ceilings.
During his interview with The Associated Press, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky invited Chinese President Xi Jinping, with whom he has spoken since last year’s large-scale invasion of Russia, for a visit.
He said: “We are in a position to see him here. I need to communicate with him. I had contact with him before the total war. But all this year, more than a year, I haven’t had one. “
This comes after the Chinese president visited Vladimir Putin in Moscow, after the Foreign Ministry responded to Ukraine’s invitation without giving details.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Mao Ning added that China maintains “communication with all relevant parties, Ukraine. “
Meanwhile, the Kremlin responded: “We know China’s balanced position, we appreciate it very much, and we know that the Chinese leader is making his own decisions on whether to secure contacts. We have no right to give recommendations here. “
The Russian Defense Ministry showed that its military had conducted training with its strategic missile forces.
He deployed cell launchers in Siberia to show Russia’s great nuclear capability, as the ministry said: “From the exercises, Yars cellular missile launchers will maneuver in 3 regions of Siberia.
“The moves will include measures to conceal the deployment of foreign satellites and intelligence assets. “
The army training came after Putin announced plans to deploy tactical nuclear weapons to wipe out Belarus’ best friend and neighbor.
Raphael Grossi, head of the UN nuclear watchdog, arrived at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant.
Renat Karchaa, an advisor to Russia’s Rosenergoatom who runs the plant, responded to his visit and said it will bring important breakthroughs.
Russian news agencies quoted him as saying: “We are far from having illusions that Grossi’s scale in will radically replace something. For us, this is a painting event. Of course, anything can happen. “
©News Group Newspapers Limited in England No. 679215 Registered office: 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF. “The Sun”, “Sun”, “Sun Online” are registered trademarks or industrial names of News Group Newspapers Limited. This service is provided under the popular terms and situations of News Group Newspapers’ Limited in accordance with our Privacy and Cookie Policy. For information about a license to reproduce material, our syndication site. Check out our online press kit. For other requests, please contact us. To view all The Sun content, use the sitemap. Sun’s website is regulated by the Independent Press Standards Organization (IPSO)
Our bloodhounds verify that they are accurate, but we make mistakes. To learn more important points about our claims policy and to register a claim, click on this link: thesun. co. uk/editorial-complaints/