Ukraine-Russia war latest: Funeral homes refuse to stage Navalny ceremony – as Putin ‘preparing for potential large-scale war against NATO’
Key points
- Funeral venues refuse to stage Navalny farewell ceremony, team says
Putin ‘preparing for potential large-scale war against NATO’, says ISWSweden’s NATO accession means Moscow could be ‘militarily excluded’ from Baltic SeaDominic Waghorn:‘NATO lake’ now stands on Putin’s doorstep – and it’s all his faultRussian human rights campaigner jailedElection day protest plan will be Navalny’s ‘last testament’, says aideLive updates by Katie Williams
11:57:13 No plans for large-scale deployment of troops in Ukraine, Number 10 says
There are “no plans” for there to be a “large scale deployment” of troops in Ukraine, Rishi Sunak’s spokesperson has said, in response Emmanuel Macron’s comments yesterday.
Asked about the French leader not ruling out Western troops fighting in Ukraine, the spokesperson said a deployment was not in the works but the UK was helping with “equipment, supplies and training”.
They added the issue was a “matter for France”.
11:41:01 Blackout after Russian drone debris damages power line
Hundreds of people in central Ukraine were plunged into a blackout after Russian drone debris damaged a power line, an official has said.
Philip Pronin, governor of the Poltava region, said remnants of the drone fell in the Lubensky district, leaving 208 households without electricity.
“Currently, specialists are intensively working to restore the electricity supply,” he said this morning.
Ukraine said Russia launched 13 drones at the country overnight, with 11 downed by air defences.
11:27:23 Hungary and Germany latest to reject idea of troops on ground in Ukraine
More European leaders are reacting this morning to Emmanuel Macron refusing to rule out the idea that Western troops could be sent to Ukraine.
Hungarian foreign minister Peter Szijjarto said Budapest was not willing to send Kyiv weapons or troops and that its stance on the matter was “rock solid”.
Meanwhile, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said there would be no European or NATO soldiers on the ground in Ukraine.
“Once again, in a very good debate, it was discussed that what was agreed from the outset among ourselves and with each other also applies to the future, namely that there will be no ground troops, no soldiers on Ukrainian soil sent there by European countries or NATO states,” he said.
11:03:04 Navalny’s team repeatedly denied access to venues for farewell ceremony, says ally
Multiple venues in Russia are refusing to host the farewell ceremony of Alexei Navalny, the Kremlin critic’s spokeswoman has said.
Kira Yarmysh said Mr Navalny’s team has been calling “most private and public funeral agencies, commercial sites and funeral halls” since yesterday.
Some venues say their space is occupied while others refuse to mention Mr Navalny’s name, she said in a post to X.
“In one place, we were told that the funeral agencies were forbidden to work with us. After a day of searching, we still haven’t found the farewell hall.”
10:46:19 Ukraine claims to shoot down Russian fighter jet
Ukraine’s military claims to have shot down another Russian Su-34 fighter jet this morning.
In a Telegram post, air force commander Mykola Oleschuk said: “Russian pilots managed to evade our missiles, but this will not always be the case.”
Ukraine claims to have shot down a number of Russian military planes in recent months, including an A-50 spy aircraft in January – estimated to cost more than $300m.
10:29:53 10:26:33 NATO chief says ‘no plans’ for soldiers to be deployed to Ukraine
Following on from our last post, we’re also hearing from the NATO chief on Emmanuel Macron’s remarks.
Secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg said while the alliance has provided “unprecedented support” to Kyiv, there are “no plans” for countries to put combat troops on the ground in Ukraine.
Any decision to send soldiers would need unanimous backing from all members.
The leaders of Sweden, Slovakia, Poland and the Czech Republic have all said today that they are not planning on deploying troops to the conflict.
10:15:08 Kremlin suggests European troops on ground in Ukraine would make NATO conflict ‘inevitable’
The Kremlin has been reacting in the past few moments to Emmanuel Macron’s comments that sending Western troops on the ground in Ukraine is not “ruled out” for the future.
The French president told a conference in Paris yesterday that there was “no consensus at this stage” but “nothing should be excluded”.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said if this were to happen, talks would shift to the “inevitability” of a conflict with NATO.
Kyiv, meanwhile, has reacted positively to Mr Macron’s comments.
Senior Ukrainian presidential official Mykhailo Podolyak said discussion over potential Western intervention in the war was good.
“This shows, firstly, an absolute awareness of the risks posed to Europe by a militaristic, aggressive Russia,” he said.
09:55:01 Ukraine claims Russian drone crossed Moldovan border
A Russian drone crossed the border with Moldova overnight and flew for “several tens of kilometres” before entering Ukraine’s airspace, the Ukrainian military has claimed.
The route was “provocatively directed” by Russian forces “along a trajectory crossing the Ukrainian-Moldovan section of the state border in the Odesa region”, Ukraine’s southern defence forces said in a Telegram post.
“The drone flew over the territory of the neighbouring state for several tens of kilometres and again entered the airspace of Ukraine, where it was later destroyed by the air defence forces,” it said.
Moldova’s defence ministry denied late last night that a drone had entered its territory, in response to reports on Ukrainian Telegram channels.
09:35:05 Russian human rights campaigner jailed
Prominent human rights campaigner Oleg Orlov has been sentenced by a Russian court to 30 months in prison.
Mr Orlov, 70, was found guilty of “discrediting” Russia’s armed forces in a trial deemed a “sham” by Human Rights Watch, after he wrote an article criticising the invasion of Ukraine.
A district court had initially asked the activist to pay a fine with no jail sentence after he was found guilty in October, but a higher court ordered a retrial after an appeal by prosecutors.
Mr Orlov has served as one of the leaders of Russian human rights group Memorial for over two decades.
The group won a share of the Nobel Peace Prize in 2022.
In a statement published by Human Rights Watch yesterday, Mr Orlov said he had committed “no crime”.
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