Islamic State claims Moscow concert hall attack
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Islamic State claimed responsibility on Friday for a deadly attack that saw gunmen in combat gear burst into a concert hall in Moscow, spraying bullets into the crowd and throwing explosives.
At least 60 people were killed and more than 145 injured after the attack at Crocus Concert Hall in north-west Moscow, with a major fire burning through the building for hours.
Several children taking part in a dance competition at the same venue were among those injured in the attack, according to reports, with one apparently killed.
Russian security services said they were urgently searching for the perpetrators, but that three or four of the perpetrators “in green camouflage suits” may have escaped in a white car.
Earlier this month, the US embassy in Moscow took the unusual step of issuing an alert warning of a potential terror attack, advising US citizens to avoid large gatherings, including concerts.
At the time, the Kremlin dismissed the warning as a “provocation” intended to destabilise Russian society.
Messages of condolence have poured in from world leaders.
Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, has yet to make a public statement on the attack, although his spokesman said he was being briefed.
12:16 AM GMT
That’s all for today
Thank you for following. Our live coverage has now concluded until later in the morning.
12:01 AM GMT
Ukraine seeks emergency power after Russian strikes
Russia pounded Ukrainian power facilities on Friday in an attack described by Kyiv as the largest airstrike on its energy infrastructure in two years of war, and portrayed by Moscow as revenge for Ukrainian attacks during its presidential election.
The missile and drone attack hit a vast dam over the Dnipro river, killed at least five people and left more than a million others without power, forcing Kyiv to seek emergency electricity supplies from Poland, Romania and Slovakia, Kyiv officials said.
President Volodymyr Zelensky, speaking in his nightly video address, said the strikes proved again that Russian attacks on infrastructure could be halted only with more air defence systems and that required political will from Ukraine’s allies. “Russian terror is only possible now because we don’t have enough modern air defence systems which, to be honest, requires enough political will to provide them,” Mr Zelensky said.
11:56 PM GMT
Images of the scene after the attack
11:43 PM GMT
Intelligence backs Islamic State claim, says US official
The United States has intelligence confirming Islamic State’s claim of responsibility for a deadly shooting at a concert near Moscow, a US official said on Friday.
IS has claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement posted on affiliated channels on social media, which couldn’t be independently verified. It wasn’t immediately clear what happened to the attackers after the raid, which Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin described as a “huge tragedy” and state authorities were investigating as terrorism.
In a statement posted by its Aamaq news agency, IS said it attacked a large gathering in Krasnogorsk on Moscow’s outskirts, killing and wounding hundreds. It was not immediately possible to verify the authenticity of the claim.
11:41 PM GMT
Further details emerge of how assailants attacked
Video from outside showed the building on fire, with a huge cloud of smoke rising through the night sky. The street was lit up by the blinking blue lights of dozens of firetrucks, ambulances and other emergency vehicles, as several fire helicopters buzzed overhead to dump water on the blaze that took hours to contain. The prosecutor’s office said several men in combat fatigues entered the concert hall and fired on concertgoers.
Repeated volleys of gunfire could be heard in videos posted by Russian media and on Telegram channels. One showed two men with rifles moving through the venue. Another showed a man inside the auditorium saying the assailants had set it on fire, as gunshots rang out incessantly in the background. Other videos showed up to four attackers, armed with assault rifles and wearing caps, shooting screaming people at point-blank range.
Guards at the concert hall didn’t have guns, and some could have been killed at the start of the attack, Russian media reported. Some Russian news outlets suggested the assailants fled before special forces and riot police arrived. Reports said police patrols were looking for several vehicles the attackers could have used to escape.
11:32 PM GMT
UN Security Council condemns ‘heinous, cowardly terrorist attack’
The UN Security Council on Friday condemned what it called the “heinous and cowardly terrorist attack” at a concert hall in Moscow that killed at least 40 people and wounded 145.
Islamic State, the militant group that once sought control over swaths of Iraq and Syria, claimed responsibility for the attack.
French President Emmanuel Macron, in a statement, said he “firmly condemns this terrorist attack, claimed by the Islamic State’’. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Friday condemned an “odious act of terrorism” in a statement, saying ‘‘the horror of the massacre of innocent civilians in Moscow is unacceptable’’ and expressing her “full solidarity with the affected people and the victims’ families”.
10:53 PM GMT
Health authorities: 145 injured in attack
A total of 145 people have been listed as injured in the attack so far, Russian health authorities said.
Of those, 115 have been hospitalised, including five children.
Some Russian news reports suggested that more could have been trapped by the blaze that erupted after the assailants threw explosives.
10:38 PM GMT
UN secretary-general condemns attack
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned the concert hall attack “in the strongest possible terms”, a spokesperson said on Friday.
“The Secretary-General conveys his deep condolences to the bereaved families and the people and the Government of the Russian Federation. He wishes those injured a speedy recovery,” deputy spokesperson Farhan Haq said in a statement.
09:53 PM GMT
Analysis: ‘Russia is a target to Islamists’
Our Russia reporter, James Kilner, shares this insight:
Islamic State (IS) is active in Russia and the five neighbouring Muslim former Soviet Central Asian states, fertile recruiting grounds during its war in Syria in the 2010s.
Earlier in March, Russia’s FSB security services said that it killed two Kazakh nationals near Moscow who were part of an Islamic State terrorist plot to kill Jews. It also said that six Islamic State terrorists were killed in a shoot in Ingushetia earlier in March.
The FSB says that it deals with dozens of Islamic terrorist plots every year. Most are low-level plots which don’t make headlines and are mainly constrained to the North Caucasus where, despite heavy government spending and support for hardmen loyalists, anti-Russia and Islamist sentiment combine to generate a threat.
Russia is a potential target in the eyes of Islamists because it helped defeat Islamic State in Syria and helps the security services of its allies in Central Asia root out and defeat Islamist cells.
09:44 PM GMT
Analysis: ‘This is a reminder IS remains a potent threat’
Friday’s attack on Moscow has the hallmarks of an Islamic State (IS) attack, and they have the motive and the capability.
Thousands of Russian and Russian speaking jihadists headed to Syria at the height of Islamic State’s so-called Caliphate in the 2010s.
Many were actively encouraged to leave, and reportedly even given passports, by Russian security officials keen to see the back of them.
This is a reminder that IS remains a potent threat - and also that Russia’s security services, preoccupied with Ukraine, may have neglected it.
09:27 PM GMT
Islamic State group claims Russia gun attack
The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for the deadly gun attack, which Russian authorities said killed at least 40 people.
Isil fighters “attacked a large gathering... on the outskirts of the Russian capital Moscow”, the group said in a statement on the Telegram messaging app.
09:19 PM GMT
EU: ‘Shocked and appalled’
The European Union was “shocked and appalled by the reports of a terrorist attack in the Crocus City Hall in Moscow,” a spokesman for the bloc said.
“The EU condemns any attacks against civilians. Our thoughts are with all those Russian citizens affected.”
09:17 PM GMT
Events cancelled across Russia
All entertainment and mass events across the country have been cancelled, the Russian Culture Ministry said on Friday.
Earlier, all mass events were cancelled in Moscow due to the shooting at the Crocus City Hall concert, in a western suburb of the city.
09:03 PM GMT
US Embassy expresses ‘shock’ at attack
The US Embassy in Moscow expressed its “sincere condolences” to the Russian people.
The embassy said it was “shocked by the attack”.
Earlier this month, it issued an unusual security alert warning of reports that “extremists” had “imminent plans to target large gatherings in Moscow”. The warning included concert venues.
At the time, it advised US citizens to avoid large gatherings for the next 48 hours.
08:59 PM GMT
France condemns ‘odious acts’
France’s foreign ministry said its thoughts are with the victims of the shooting in Moscow, and with the Russian people.
“The images from Moscow tonight are horrifying. Our thoughts go to the victims and to those injured as well as to the Russian people,” the French foreign ministry wrote on X, the former Twitter.
“All effort has to be made to determine the cause of these odious acts,” it added.
08:58 PM GMT
Victims include children
Children are among those injured in the shooting, according to the state-owned RIA news agency. which cited Moscow’s children’s ombudsman.
There were unconfirmed reports earlier that a ballroom dancing competition for kids was taking place when the shooting started.
“Children and teenagers were at the competition. People came and said there was shooting. A crush ensued,” one eye witness told the BBC.
“The children were running out in their ballroom gowns.”
08:44 PM GMT
Photos from the scene
08:37 PM GMT
Where did the attack take place?
08:31 PM GMT
Security services: Gunmen may have fled
Basa, a Telegram channel linked to the Russian security services, said that three or four of the gunmen who attacked the concert may have escaped in a white car.
“There may be several armed men in green camouflage suits in the car. A large number of roadblocks have been set up around the Moscow region,” it said.
08:22 PM GMT
Russian forces searching for Moscow attack perpetrators
Russia’s national guard said it was searching for the perpetrators of the attack.
“Special units of the Russian Federal Guard are working at the site of the terrorist attack at the Crocus City Hall. A search for criminals is underway and citizens are being evacuated from the building,” Rosgvardia said.
08:14 PM GMT
Ukraine denies involvement
Ukraine denied any involvement in the incident. “Regarding the events in Crocus City in the Russian suburbs … let’s be clear, Ukraine absolutely has nothing to do with these events,” Ukraine’s presidential aide, Mykhailo Podolyak, said on Telegram.
But Moscow was quick to retort that it was too early to rule out a Ukrainian link to the attack on the concert in Moscow, as the US has signalled.
“On what basis do officials in Washington draw any conclusions about anyone’s innocence in the midst of a tragedy?” the foreign ministry said.
“If the United States has or had reliable information in this regard, then it must be immediately transferred to the Russian side. And if there is no such data, then the White House has no right to issue indulgences to anyone,” it added.
Former president Dmitry Medvedev said that if Ukraine was found to be behind the attack, Russia would hunt the perpetrators down and kill them.
“If it is established that these are terrorists of the Kyiv regime... all of them must be found and ruthlessly destroyed as terrorists,” Mr Medvedev wrote in a post on Telegram.
“Official representatives of the state that committed such a crime” would also be punished, he added.
08:11 PM GMT
Moscow vows tough response
Dmitry Medvedev, deputy head of Russia’s Security Council, promised a tough response.
“Terrorists understand only retaliatory terror. No trials or investigations,” he said.
He also said that it was not possible to rule out Ukrainian involvement in the attack.
“If it is established that these are terrorists linked to Kyiv regime, it is impossible to deal with them and their ideological inspirers any differently,” he said.
“All of them must be found and mercilessly destroyed as terrorists. Including officials of the state that committed such an atrocity.”
08:06 PM GMT
Moscow mayor: This is a ‘terrible tragedy’
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said that a “terrible tragedy” unfolding at the concert venue.
“I am sorry for the loved ones of the victims,” he said.
08:00 PM GMT
Kremlin: ‘Too early to rule out Ukrainian link’
Russia’s foreign ministry said that it was too early to rule out a Ukrainian link to the attack on the concert in Moscow.
“On what basis do officials in Washington draw any conclusions about anyone’s innocence in the midst of a tragedy? If the United States has or had reliable information in this regard, then it must be immediately transferred to the Russian side. And if there is no such data, then the White House has no right to issue indulgences to anyone,” it said.
07:59 PM GMT
Fire brigades halt fire
Fire brigades have stopped the fire in the Crocus City Hall from spreading, Russia’s Interfax news agency reported.
07:37 PM GMT
‘We heard a burst of gunfire and then screams’: eyewitness
An eyewitness has told Reuters how they heard shots and then a stampede began.
“Suddenly there were bangs behind us - shots. A burst of firing - I do not know what,” one witness who asked not to be named said.
“A stampede began, everyone ran to the escalator,” the witness added. “Everyone was screaming, everyone was running.”
07:31 PM GMT
Death toll rises to 40: FSB
At least 40 people have been killed and more than 100 wounded, state news agency TASS cited Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) as saying.
It was not immediately clear who the gunmen were. Russian news agencies said 70 ambulance crews had been sent to the scene.
“A terrible tragedy occurred in the shopping center Crocus City today,” Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said. “I am sorry for the loved ones of the victims.”
07:12 PM GMT
‘Children were running out in their ballroom gowns’: report
Parents were reportedly attending a ballroom dancing competition with their children when the shooting started, according to an unnamed witness cited by the BBC.
“Children and teenagers were at the competition. People came and said there was shooting. A crush ensued,” the witness said.
“The children were running out in their ballroom gowns.”
07:07 PM GMT
‘18 dead and 43 injured’ amid reports roof is about to collapse
Eighteen people have been killed and forty-three injured at the attack on Crocus City Hall, Russian media outlet Baza reported on Friday.
Russian state media says the roof of the concert hall is close to collapsing.
‼️ Partial roof collapse in the "Crocus City Hall" building in #Moscow pic.twitter.com/iXjAQA50ma
— NEXTA (@nexta_tv) March 22, 2024
07:03 PM GMT
Helicopter trying to put out fire at venue
A helicopter has been called in to put out a fire at the Crocus City Hall, Russia’s state-owned news agency TASS reported.
Two blasts have been reported at the venue.
All large-scale sporting, cultural and other public events will be cancelled in Moscow this weekend, Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said on Friday.
07:00 PM GMT
Pictured: Inside of Crocus City Hall as shooting began
06:56 PM GMT
Watch: Attendees duck for cover as gunmen open fire
Warning: This video may be distressing to some viewers
06:54 PM GMT
People crawled to safety to escape gunmen: eyewitness
Members of the public crawled on the ground to escape the gunmen, according to a journalist for the RIA Novosti news agency who was at the scene.
Attackers dressed in camouflaged outfits entered the building, opened fire and threw a grenade or incendiary bomb, the journalist said.
“People who were in the hall were led on the ground to protect themselves from the shooting for 15 or 20 minutes,” the journalist was quoted as saying.
People started crawling out when it was safe, the journalist reported, adding that security forces were at the scene.
“Around 100 people have been evacuated from the basement by the firefighters. Work is ongoing to save people from the roof of the building with lifting equipment,” the Moscow region’s emergency situations ministry wrote on Telegram.
06:47 PM GMT
Footage of shooting ‘hard to watch’
John Kirby, the White House’s national security spokesman, said the footage of the shooting was “hard to watch” and that the administration’s thoughts were with victims.
“We’ve all seen the reports in the video coming out of Moscow, this violent shooting in what looks like a shopping mall,” he said at a White House press briefing.
“The images are just horrible and just hard to watch, and our thoughts obviously are going to be with the victims of this terrible, terrible shooting attack.
“You’ve got to recognise that there’s some mums and dads, brothers and sisters and sons and daughters that haven’t gotten the news yet. And this is going to be a tough day. So our thoughts are with them.”
Mr Kirby added that the State Department was advising Americans in Moscow to avoid large gatherings and concert halls, and to check the department’s website for further updates.
06:46 PM GMT
‘No indication Ukraine is behind attack’: US
The White House said on Friday it had no indication that Ukraine, which is under attack by Russia, was involved in a deadly attack on concert hall in Moscow.
“There is no indication at this time that Ukraine, or Ukrainians were involved in the shooting,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters.
“I would disabuse you at this early hour of any connection to Ukraine.”
06:43 PM GMT
Second blast heard at concert hall near Moscow
A second explosion has been heard at Crocus City Hall near Moscow, the site of a shooting incident, Russian news agencies reported.
Russian authorities said they had stepped up security measures at Moscow airports and railway stations.
06:42 PM GMT
Moscow facing a ‘bloody terrorist attack’, says Russia
Moscow is facing “a bloody terrorist attack” after a deadly shooting and fire at a Moscow concert hall, Russia’s foreign ministry spokeswoman said.
“The entire world community must condemn this despicable crime!” Maria Zakharova wrote on Telegram.
Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) said it was taking “all necessary measures” in connection with the shooting, Russian news agency Interfax reported.
Russian ombudsman Tatyana Moskalkova also called the incident a “terrorist attack.”
06:38 PM GMT
Pictured: Crocus City Hall in flames
06:34 PM GMT
The gunmen
06:33 PM GMT
At least three people filmed opening fire
Warning: This video may be distressing to some viewers
06:28 PM GMT
People being evacuated, some still trapped inside
People are currently being evacuated, but an unspecified number of people could have been trapped by the blaze, Russian media reported.
Andrei Vorobyov, the governor of the Moscow region, said he was heading to the area and set up a task force to deal with the damage. He didn’t immediately offer any further details.
Riot police units were being sent to the area.
It is not known how many people were inside the building. The Crocus City Hall can accommodate over 6,000.
06:22 PM GMT
Concert hall was hosting Russian band that played in Crimea
Crocus City Hall, where the attack is taking place, was due to host a concert by Russian rock band Picnic tonight.
The band performed in Russian-occupied Crimea in 2016, saying at the time, “We don’t care about sanctions at all.”
06:17 PM GMT
Attack on concerts warning issued earlier this month
A few weeks ago, the UK and US warned of the possibility of an extremist group attack at Moscow-area concerts.
The security alert, first issued by the US embassy and repeated by the UK, urged American citizens to “avoid large gatherings over the next 48 hours” back on March 7.
The US embassy said at the time that it was “monitoring reports that extremists have imminent plans to target large gatherings in Moscow, to include concerts”.
It did not specify what kind of threats it referred to, or who might be behind them.
06:12 PM GMT
Police and ambulances arrive on the scene
Special units of Russia’s National Guard have arrived on the scene of a shooting at a concert venue near Moscow, Russian state news agency TASS said.
More than 50 ambulance crews have been sent to the scene, the RIA news agency reported.
03:30 PM GMT
Russia preparing 100,000 soldiers for major offensive as Kremlin says it is ‘at war’
Russia is building up a force of more than 100,000 soldiers in preparation for a major offensive this summer, Ukraine’s ground forces commander has warned.
“They are creating a group of more than 100,000 people,” Lieutenant General Oleksandr Pavliuk said, adding that the troops could be used to launch an offensive by the beginning of summer.
Gen Pavliuk’s warning comes as the Kremlin admitted it was in “in a state of war” with Ukraine as it launched a wave of 90 missiles and more than 60 kamikaze drone strikes overnight, in what Ukrainian officials said was an attempt to cripple the country’s energy infrastructure.
Kharkiv experienced a near city-wide blackout with water supplies cut off, according to local reports. Elsewhere in Zaporizhzhia, strikes on Europe’s largest nuclear power plant left the facility in an “extremely dangerous” position, while Ukraine’s largest dam, a hydroelectric power plant on the Dnipro river, is in a “critical” condition following a missile attack, officials reported.
Moscow carried out the strikes “in response” to attacks by pro-Kyiv soldiers on Russian border cities over the past week, the defence ministry said in a statement.
03:26 PM GMT
Pictured: Ongoing strikes on Belgorod
03:15 PM GMT
France and Germany reach ‘breakthrough’ on laser-armed battle tank
France and Germany have reached a “breakthrough” over joint plans to develop a next-generation battle tank.
“We have achieved a breakthrough,” Boris Pistorius, Germany’s defence minister announced at a Berlin press conference, flanked by his French counterpart Sebastien Lecornu. “We have agreed on the distribution of all tasks for this major project.”
Dubbed the Main Ground Combat System (MGCS), the new-age tank is a successor to the French Leclerc and German Leopard tanks from 2035.
The MGCS will consist not just of one armoured fighting vehicle but a system of manned and unmanned vehicles, including drones to protect the tank as well as the use of artificial intelligence and laser technology, the ministers said.
Germany and France agreed to jointly develop the tank in 2019, but the project was delayed amid rivalry between French and German industrial companies, and different priorities in Berlin and Paris.
Mr Lecornu hailed the innovative tank system as a “generational leap in terms of technology” with “impressive” connectivity.
03:04 PM GMT
Over 1,000 miners trapped underground due to power outage
Coal mining facilities in Dnipropetrovsk were left without electricity during the large-scale attack overnight, leaving 1,060 miners trapped underground, Ukraine’s energy ministry reported.
“Several mines in Donetsk and Dnipropetrovsk oblasts are left without electricity. Over 1,000 people are underground. There is no threat to their lives,” the ministry of energy said in a statement.
DTEK, the energy company, said that an emergency evacuation plan has been implemented, with back-up generators switched on to bring the miners back up to the surface. Nobody has been injured.
03:01 PM GMT
Russian missile strike leaves heating and electricity ‘completely’ cut off in Kharkiv
Russian overnight strikes have “completely” cut off the electricity and heat supply to Ukraine’s second largest city, Kharkiv, its mayor said.
“The city is completely without power and as a result the water and heating supply are not working,” Igor Terekhov, Kharkiv’s mayor, said in a video on his social media.
“Utilities and power engineers need time to cope with the challenges posed by this hostile shelling... I ask everyone to stay calm and remain patient,” he said in a post.
Other areas across Ukraine also reported blackouts, including at least 200,000 in the western Khmelnytsky region and around 260,000 in the southern region of Odesa.
02:59 PM GMT
Pictured: Ukrainian pilots earn their wings
02:12 PM GMT
Update: Ukraine restores Zaporizhzhia power line
Ukraine has restored a power line at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant damaged by Russian strikes, officials reported.
“Ukrainian power engineers returned the Dniprovska PL-750kV overhead power line to service, which was damaged this morning during a massive missile attack of the Russian Federation,” Ukraine’s energy regulator said in a statement.
The fix means the plant is once again connected to Ukraine’s energy grid via two power lines, reducing the risk of a blackout.
See post at 8.11am for more details.
01:39 PM GMT
Russian Navy accidentally sinks own fishing boat, reports suggest
Moscow’s Black Sea Fleet accidentally sunk a Russian fishing trawler with a missile during training exercises, reports suggest.
Footage of the alleged incident posted on social media shows a fishing vessel, painted navy and red, with its hull on fire and black smoke rising into the air.
Three people were killed in the strike and four others injured, a relative of one of the dead men claimed to TV Rain, a Russian independent TV channel, yesterday.
The incident reportedly took place on March 19 when Russia’s Baltic Sea Fleet, taking part in war exercises in occupied Kaliningrad, launched a live missile which hit a Russian fishing trawler, the Captain Lobanov.
Russian authorities claimed the incident was caused by a fire onboard the ship and said only one person had died, TV Rain reported.
“When the survivors were taken away, everyone knew perfectly well that three people had died and everyone knew perfectly well that a rocket had hit,” the relative said to TV Rain.
01:06 PM GMT
Pictured: The aftermath of Russia’s overnight strikes
12:33 PM GMT
Russia arrests seven alleged pro-Ukraine rebels in Moscow
Russia’s FSB security service has arrested seven Moscow residents linked to a pro-Ukraine militia accused of raiding Russia’s border regions, state news agencies reported.
“The seven detained residents of Moscow maintained contacts with the Russian Volunteer Corps, acting as part of (the) Ukrainian army,” the FSB was quoted as saying.
The accused had “discussed ways of carrying out violent actions against representatives of law enforcement agencies, servicemen and foreigners”, it said.
Video published by state news agencies showed FSB officers bursting into an apartment and detaining one of the suspects, as well as a photo allegedly showing a cache of seized weapons.
The coordinated arrests come a few days after Vladimir Putin ordered the FSB to wage an unrelenting crackdown on the fighters, whom he called “scum” and traitors.
After last week’s raids, which targeted the Russian border regions of Kursk and Belgorod, Putin ordered the FSB to punish the fighters “without statute of limitations”.
12:12 PM GMT
Ukraine experience blackouts across seven regions amid massive Russian attacks
Ukraine has experienced emergency blackouts in seven regions with numerous energy facilities damaged following Russia’s overnight missile strikes, Kyiv’s power grid operator has said.
“Dozens of power system facilities have been damaged. Emergency blackouts in seven regions,” Ukrenergo, the state-run grid operator, said on Telegram.
Denys Shmyhal, Ukraine’s prime minister, said that despite the shortages of supply, the situation is under control.
“As a result of the shelling, there are problems with electricity supply in some areas,” he wrote on Telegram. “In general, the situation in the energy sector is under control, there is no need for blackouts throughout the country.”
11:38 AM GMT
Watch: The impact of Moscow’s overnight strikes
It was such a difficult night for Ukraine. Mixed air attack of 151 different kind of missiles and kamikaze drones targeted Ukrainian cities. One of the largest hit on the energy infrastructure. Zaporizhzhia, Khmelnytskyy, Kharkiv, Dnipro suffered the most. Video by @United24media pic.twitter.com/wFFNohhSIX
— Mykhailo Fedorov (@FedorovMykhailo) March 22, 2024
11:19 AM GMT
Support for Ukraine could go beyond arms supplies, says France’s top general
Russia should not expect the West to limit its support for Ukraine to arms supplies, France’s military chief has warned.
General Thierry Burkhard, France’s chief of the defence staff, has warned that Russia’s military gamble is based on the premise that the West will only provide arms to Kyiv - an assumption the General described as “not correct”.
Vladimir Putin “has built his operation on the idea that the West will never go into Ukraine but will simply supply weapons,” Gen Burkhardt told reporters after talks in Paris with his Swedish counterpart, Gen Mikael Boden. “We have to show him that he cannot use this logic to go all the way, because this idea is not correct.”
“The war in Ukraine concerns us because we are involved in its aftermath. Therefore, Europeans must be able to take risks to ensure the security of Europe in the next decade,” the general said.
His comments echo those of Emmanuel Macron, the French president, whose suggestion earlier this month that the West could deploy troops in Ukraine led to widespread controversy.
“The president’s intention is to let Vladimir Putin know that we are aware of what is at stake in Ukraine,” Gen Burkhardt said.
10:41 AM GMT
Ukrainian army official ‘embezzled £1m meant to feed soldiers’
A senior Ukrainian army official who allegedly embezzled more than £1 million meant to buy rations for the military has been detained.
The suspect, named locally as Oleksandr Kozlovsky, was working as the head of a military department that procured food for soldiers before his arrest.
Ukraine’s State Bureau of Investigation claimed he had used the funds to buy an apartment in Kyiv, a dozen plots of land and a car instead of spending the money on supplies for the military.
“From 2022 to 2023, the official acquired unsubstantiated assets in the amount of almost 58 million hryvnia (£1.18 million),” the agency said.
10:29 AM GMT
Watch: Russian missile strikes Dnipro dam
10:10 AM GMT
Russia is in a ‘state of war’, says the Kremlin
Russia is in a “state of war” with Ukraine, the Kremlin has said, in a major escalation of its official language used to describe the conflict.
“We are in a state of war. Yes, it started as a special military operation, but as soon as this bunch was formed there, when the collective West became a participant on Ukraine’s side, for us it already became a war,” Dmitry Peskov, a Kremlin spokesman, said in an interview to a pro-Kremlin newspaper published on Friday.
Mr Peskov’s remarks represent one of very few times Moscow has addressed the true nature of its so-called “special military operation” in Ukraine.
His comments come after Vladimir Putin referred to the conflict as a “war” in his state of the federation speech last month.
09:53 AM GMT
Ukraine’s largest dam in ‘critical’ condition amid wave of Russian strikes
Ukraine’s largest dam has been left in “critical” condition after a wave of Russian strikes damaged its generators, officials reported.
The Dnipro hydroelectric power plant contains two generator units - called HPP-1 and HPP-2 - the first of which is out of service and the latter of which is in a “critical condition” following a direct hit.
“We are losing the plant,” said Ihor Syrota, the director of Ukrhydroenergo which manages the dam. “HPP-2 is in jeopardy and we don’t know to what extent and with what capacity it will be able to operate. This is all due to missile strikes.”
“There were two missile strikes. HPP-2 suffered a direct hit. One missile damaged overhead crane beams, hitting the supports. So HPP-2 is in critical condition and HPP-1 is also currently out of service.”
Mr Syrota added that Ukrhydroenergo is taking measures to raise the floodgates, as water is currently unable to pass through the generation turbines, and must completely restore the facility’s engine room and electrical equipment.
“We will assess the aftermath within a day and get a clearer picture of the damage. And whether it [HPP-2] will be able to operate, at least in a limited capacity, or whether it will be out of service entirely,” he said.
09:37 AM GMT
Zelensky blames Western politicians after Russia launches strikes across Ukraine
Russia attacked Ukraine overnight with over 90 missiles and 60 drones, Volodymyr Zelensky said.
The strikes targeted Ukrainian cities and energy infrastructure, including the Dnipro dam in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine’s largest hydroelectric power plant.
The Ukrainian president called on the country’s allies to deliver air defence systems to protect against airborne attacks.
“Russian missiles have no delays, unlike aid packages for Ukraine. ‘Shahed’ drones have no indecision, unlike some politicians. It is critical to understand the cost of delays and postponed decisions.”
This night, Russia launched over 60 "Shahed" drones and nearly 90 missiles of various types at Ukraine. The world sees the Russian terrorists' targets as clearly as possible: power plants and energy supply lines, a hydroelectric dam, ordinary residential buildings, and even a… pic.twitter.com/5dX2fAMMiE
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) March 22, 2024
Images of the Dnipro dam posted on social media show a large fire with black smoke rising into the air. Officials later reported there is no threat of the dam breaching.
“Patriot systems must protect Kharkiv and Zaporizhzhia; air defence is required to protect people, infrastructure, homes, and dams,” added Volodymyr Zelensky, renewing his call for the west to resupply Ukraine with air defence systems.
“Our partners know exactly what is needed. They can definitely support us. These are necessary decisions. Life must be protected from these savages from Moscow.”
08:44 AM GMT
Washington urges Ukraine to ‘halt strikes on Russian oil refineries’
The US has called on Ukraine to stop its attacks on Russia’s energy infrastructure, cautioning the strikes risk driving up global oil prices and provoking retaliation, the Financial Times reported.
A series of warnings from Washington were delivered to senior officials at Ukraine’s state security service, the SBU, and its military intelligence directorate, called the GUR, three people familiar with the discussions told the paper.
One person said that the White House had grown more and more frustrated by Ukrainian drone attacks that have struck oil facilities across western Russia, hurting its oil production capacity.
The intervention comes amid a spate of Ukrainian strikes on Russian oil facilities - with nine carried out this year so far - that have wiped out around 12 per cent of Moscow’s overall oil production, leading to a spike in global prices.
The White House is also allegedly concerned that if Ukraine keeps hitting Russian facilities, including many that are hundreds of miles from the border, Russia could retaliate by lashing out at energy infrastructure relied on by the West.
08:20 AM GMT
Russian strikes on Kharkiv cause city-wide blackout
Russian overnight strikes on energy infrastructure in the city of Kharkiv have caused a near-complete loss of power in the city, with at least 15 explosions reported.
The city’s transportation network is also down and water supplies disrupted, according to local reports.
Kharkiv electricity facilities hit by 15 ballistic missiles from Russia, plunging the city into total blackout. Water supply disrupted, no city transportation. Now more than ever, people of Ukraine urgently need your voices of support. pic.twitter.com/H25lKbmaNo
— Maria Avdeeva (@maria_avdv) March 22, 2024
“The enemy launched one of the largest attacks on the Ukrainian energy sector in recent weeks,” Herman Halushchenko, Ukraine’s energy minister, wrote on Facebook.
“The goal is not just to damage it, but, just like last year, to cause a large-scale disruption in the country’s energy system.”
08:11 AM GMT
Europe’s largest nuclear plant in ‘extremely dangerous’ position after Russian strikes
The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant is in an “extremely dangerous” situation following a wave of Russian strikes overnight on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, officials reported.
“The situation is extremely dangerous and threatens an emergency,” said Petro Kotin, the head of Energoatom, Ukraine’s largest power supplier which runs the site.
The strikes took out a power line that links the station to Ukraine’s grid, leaving just one remaining connection to the country’s energy system. “If the last communication with the domestic power grid is severed, the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant will suffer another blackout,” said Mr Kotin.
The plant was occupied by Russia in March 2022 and is no longer generating power, but needs a supply of electricity to cool one of its four reactors.
Disruption to power lines at the site have caused several blackouts at the facility since Russia’s invasion, with Ukrainian officials repeatedly warning of the threat of nuclear catastrophe that power outages pose.
07:53 AM GMT
Pictured: the aftermath of yesterday’s strikes on Kyiv
07:50 AM GMT
In case you missed it: Kyiv blitzed by Russian missiles as revenge for raids
Volodymyr Zelensky urged European leaders to hand over dozens more air-defence systems on Thursday after at least 17 people were injured in a Russian missile barrage against Kyiv, writes Joe Barnes.
Ukraine’s air force said it had shot down all 31 hypersonic, ballistic and cruise missiles that were launched at the capital for the first time in more than a month.
Residential buildings, medical facilities and businesses were damaged as the burning debris of the intercepted projectiles were rained down on the city.
Moscow had vowed revenge for a recent spate of cross-border attacks on Russian border regions and also coincided with the two-year anniversary since the liberation of the Kyiv region in the early days of the war.
