Ukraine updates: Western powers call free anti-war Putin critic

Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov arrived in Brazil as President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s pushed for dialogue in Ukraine.

Brazil’s Lula has so far refused to provide weapons to Ukraine while proposing a club of nations, including Brazil and China, to mediate peace.

On Saturday, in Beijing, Lula said the US must stop “stimulating” the continued fighting and start discussing peace.

He also suggested this month that Kyiv should relinquish Crimea to end the war, which the spokesperson for Ukraine’s foreign ministry, Oleg Nikolenko, rejected.

Lula’s position has apparently been appreciated in Moscow.

One document in the leaked Pentagon files, viewed by the Associated Press, said that, as of late February, Russia’s foreign affairs ministry supported Lula’s plan to establish a club of supposedly impartial mediators, as it “would reject the West’s ‘aggressor-victim’ paradigm”.

US Ambassador to Russia Lynne Tracy says she visited Evan Gershkovich in Russia and found him in good spirits. Moscow has accused the Wall Street Journal reporter of spying.

“This is the first time we’ve had consular access to Evan since his wrongful detention over two weeks ago. He feels well and is holding up. We reiterate our call for Evan’s immediate release,” Tracy said in a short statement in Russian on Telegram.

Germany is pushing for the EU to include the nuclear sector in a new sanctions package against Russia, the economy ministry says.

“The federal government spoke to the European Commission in favour of including the civilian nuclear sector. That should be part of the next sanctions package,” the ministry said in a statement.

Economy Minister Robert Habeck said the fact that the nuclear sector was still given preferential treatment in sanctions could not be justified.

“Nuclear technology is an extremely sensitive area. There can no longer be ‘business as usual’,” Habeck told the ntv broadcaster.

All EU countries must agree for the bloc to impose sanctions, but Hungary has vowed to oppose any curbs on the Russian nuclear energy industry.

Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich plans to appeal against his arrest and detention in Moscow’s notorious former KGB prison.

According to a public Russian judicial document, Lefortovo District Court will hear a complaint on Tuesday filed by Gershkovich against the decision to keep him in custody in Lefortovo prison while the espionage case against him is being investigated.

The Lefortovo prison was run in Soviet times by the KGB but is now operated by the Federal Penitentiary Service.

The Kremlin has said Gershkovich was carrying out espionage “under the cover” of journalism.

Norway and France are the latest European countries to condemn a Moscow court decision to sentence anti-war critic Vladimir Kara-Murza to 25 years in prison.

“This is a deeply alarming and harsh sentence for exercising the right to freedom of expression,” Norwegian Foreign Minister Anniken Huitfeldt said in a statement.

France’s foreign ministry said the Russian justice system had become a tool for oppression and another illustration of the authorities’ campaign of repression against critical voices.

Russian recruiters in Crimea are using prop guns and grenades to entice people to join the military.

Click here for a roundup of the war’s pivotal events from day 418.

Keep reading:

• Putin meets China’s defence minister, hails military ties
• ‘An Easter exchange’: 130 Ukrainian prisoners of war freed
• Hungary threatens to extend ban on Ukrainian grain
• Ukraine reports ‘unprecedented bloody battles’ in Bakhmut

The Group of Seven (G7) large economies will keep a $60-per-barrel price cap on seaborne Russian oil despite calls to lower the amount, a G7 official says.

The G7 and Australia made the decision to maintain the cap over the past few weeks after a review of the $60 price, the official told the Reuters news agency on the condition of anonymity.

The decision was made after four weeks of increases in benchmark oil prices, helped by an output cut announced by OPEC+.

Brent and US crude futures were trading above $80 per barrel on Monday.

Russian crude has been selling at a discount of around $30 a barrel to Brent, the official said.

The EU has slammed the sentencing of Kremlin critic Vladimir Kara-Murza to 25 years in prison, describing the ruling as “outrageous” and “politically motivated”.

“Today’s outrageously harsh court decision clearly demonstrates yet again the political misuse of judiciary in order to pressure activists, human rights defenders and any voices opposing Russia’s illegitimate war of aggression against Ukraine,” EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said in a statement.

“We call on Russia to immediately and unconditionally release all those imprisoned for politically motivated charges.”

Ukraine’s Restoration Ministry says the Black Sea Grain Initiative was in danger of being shut down after Russia again blocked inspections of ships under the deal in Turkish waters.

“For the second time in 9 months of operation of the Grain Initiative, an inspection plan has not been drawn up, and not a single vessel has been inspected. This threatens the functioning of the Grain Initiative,” the restoration ministry said on Facebook.

Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein has discussed the latest developments in Ukraine with his Ukrainian counterpart, Dmytro Kuleba, who is visiting Baghdad.

The diplomats reviewed issues related to the region, the economic dimensions of the war and how to continue trade relations.

Hussein also said Iraq wants to be part of the solution to the conflict through dialogue.

Chinese Defence Minister Li Shangfu has hailed ties with Moscow during a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin on Sunday.

“We have very strong ties. They surpass the military-political alliances of the Cold War era … They are very stable,” he said in translated remarks broadcast on Russian TV.

He added that Russia-China ties have “already entered a new era”.

“This is my first overseas visit since taking over as China’s defence minister. I specifically chose Russia for this in order to emphasise the special nature and strategic importance of our bilateral ties,” Li said.

Putin welcomed military cooperation between the two countries and said, “we are also working actively through the military departments, regularly exchange useful information, cooperate in the field of military-technical cooperation, conduct joint exercises”.

“This is, undoubtedly, another important area that strengthens the exclusively trusting, strategic nature of our relations,” he added.

The United Nations human rights chief has called on Moscow to free Kremlin critic Vladimir Kara-Murza, who was sentenced to a 25-year prison sentence on charges including treason.

“No one should be deprived of their liberty for exercising their human rights, and I call on the Russian authorities to release him without delay,” said Volker Turk, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, in a statement.

He added that the sentence was “another blow to the rule of law and civic space in the Russian Federation”.

The German foreign ministry also condemned the sentencing of Kara-Murza.

The European Union’s executive arm denounced bans imposed by Poland and Hungary on imports of grain and other food from Ukraine.

Ukraine’s grain exports have been transiting through the EU to other countries since Russia’s invasion blocked traditional Black Sea routes.

But, because of logistical issues, the grain had been piling up and driving down prices.

A spokeswoman for the commission said it was “requesting further information from the relevant authorities to be able to assess the measures”.

“In this context, it is important to underline that trade policy is of EU exclusive competence and, therefore, unilateral actions are not acceptable,” spokeswoman Miriam Garcia Ferrer said.

“In such challenging times, it is crucial to coordinate and align all decisions within the EU.”

Slovakia has handed over all 13 MiG-29 fighter jets it had pledged to Ukraine, the Slovak Defence Ministry said.

Slovakia joined Poland in promising the planes in March and delivered the first four planes last month.

A Moscow court sentenced Kremlin critic Vladimir Kara-Murza to 25 years, the harshest sentence of its kind since Russia invaded Ukraine.

Kara-Murza, 41, an opposition politician with Russian and British passports, spent years speaking out against President Vladimir Putin and lobbied Western governments to impose sanctions on Russia for human rights violations.

On being sentenced, Kara-Murza said “Russia will be free”, a Russian opposition slogan.

State prosecutors, who had requested the court jail him for 25 years, had accused him of treason and of discrediting the Russian military after he criticised what Moscow calls its “special military operation” in Ukraine.

Shortly after the invasion of Ukraine, “discrediting” the army can currently be punished by up to five years in prison, while spreading deliberately false information can result in a 15-year jail sentence.

Russia says Wagner mercenary units captured two more city blocks in Bakhmut on Sunday.

Russia’s defence ministry said Wagner assault squads had taken two blocks in the northwestern and southeastern parts of Bakhmut, which was largely destroyed in the fighting.

It added that Russian army paratrooper units supported Wagner by holding back Ukrainian forces on the flanks.

Serhiy Cherevatyi, the spokesperson for Ukraine’s eastern military command, said Wagner troops acted as a battering ram and attacked dozens of times daily.

“The enemy continued to attack our positions with satanic zeal,” he told the Ukrainian parliament’s television channel.

The British government has summoned the Russian ambassador after what it described as the “politically motivated” conviction and sentencing of outspoken Kremlin critic Vladimir Kara-Murza, a British dual national.

“Russia’s lack of commitment to protecting fundamental human rights, including freedom of expression, is alarming,” British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said in a statement.

“We continue to urge Russia to adhere to its international obligations including Vladimir Kara-Murza’s entitlement to proper healthcare.”

The UK has already sanctioned the judge that presided over the trial for previous involvement in human rights violations and said it would consider further measures to hold to account those involved in Kara-Murza’s “detention and mistreatment”.

Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu has reported to President Vladimir Putin about the Pacific Fleet drills.

In footage broadcast on state television, Shoigu was shown saying that the drills included “imitation strikes on enemy navy groups” in the Pacific.

Putin said that snap checks had shown the fleet, which is based in Far Eastern Russia, was at a high level of readiness and that Russia’s priority was Ukraine.

The drills occurred while Chinese Defence Minister Li Shangfu was visiting Moscow, who met with Putin on Sunday.