Ukraine updates: 10 people killed in Russian shelling barrage

Ukraine will launch an international campaign to prevent Russian athletes from competing in the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, President Zelenskyy said.

“Today we will a start a marathon for fair play aimed at clearing the management of international Olympic structures of hypocrisy as well as [preventing] any attempts to drag representatives of the terrorist state into world sport,” Zelenskyy said in a video address.

“It is obvious that any neutral flag of Russian athletes would be stained with blood … Olympic principles and war are fundamentally opposed to each other.”

Sport minister Vadim Guttsait earlier said Ukraine would not rule out boycotting the Games if Russian and Belarusian athletes took part. They have been banned in some sports while they are allowed to compete under a neutral flag in others.

Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said any attempt to squeeze Moscow out of international sport was “doomed to fail”.

A total of 321 heavy tanks have been promised to Ukraine by several countries, according to Ukraine’s ambassador to France.

“As of today, numerous countries have officially confirmed their agreement to deliver 321 heavy tanks to Ukraine,” Ambassador Vadym Omelchenko said in an interview with French TV station BFM.

“Delivery terms vary for each case and we need this help as soon as possible,” he added.

Omelchenko did not provide a breakdown of the number of tanks per country.

Several Western nations led by Germany and the United States said they would send tanks to Ukraine.

The Ukrainian foreign ministry will summon Hungary’s ambassador to complain about “unacceptable” remarks Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban made about Ukraine, a ministry spokesman said.

Oleg Nikolenko wrote on Facebook that Orban told reporters that Ukraine was a no man’s land and compared it with Afghanistan.

“Such statements are completely unacceptable. Budapest is continuing a deliberate course aimed at destroying Hungarian-Ukrainian relations,” he said.

“The Hungarian ambassador will be summoned to the Ukrainian foreign ministry for a frank discussion. We reserve the right to take other measures in response.”

Orban earlier said that Hungary would veto any EU sanctions against Russia affecting nuclear energy. Hungary has a Russian-built nuclear plant it plans to expand.

Ukraine’s President Zelenskyy said the situation at the front remained extremely acute, particularly in the eastern Donetsk region where Russia is stepping up an offensive.

Zelenskyy in an evening address said Russian forces were not just storming Ukrainian positions but also destroying the towns and villages around them.

Zelenskyy also invited the International Olympic Commission (IOC) President Thomas Bach to visit the front-line city of Bakhmut.

“I am inviting Mr Bach to Bakhmut so that he can see for himself that neutrality does not exist,” Zelenskyy said. “It is obvious that any neutral banner of Russian athletes is stained with blood.”

Ukraine said it was setting up drone assault companies within its armed forces as part of an idea to build up an “army of drones” that will be equipped with Starlink satellite communications.

Commander-in-chief Valeriy Zaluzhnyi signed off on the creation of the units in a project that will involve several ministries and agencies, the General Staff said.

“The most professional servicemen” have already been chosen to lead the companies, each of which will receive drones and ammunition, Starlink terminals and other equipment, it said on Facebook.

“We are doing everything to provide soldiers with modern technologies,” it said.

Starlink is a satellite internet system operated by Elon Musk’s SpaceX company, and widely used both by civilians and the military in Ukraine.

European Union ambassadors discussed extending sanctions to Belarus, Moscow’s ally, to crack down on Russian companies routing banned products through its neighbour.

EU diplomats said the discussions were intended to align sanctions on Belarus closer to those on Russia.

Among the proposals are restrictions on imports from Belarus of oil, coal and gold, as well as exports of certain machinery and technology that could be used by the military, officials said.

An agreement will likely be made next week as discussions among EU countries would continue, according to an EU official.

The official said the bloc was trying to strike a balance, making clear Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko’s support for Moscow was unacceptable, while trying to not inflict too much hardship on the civilian population.

Russia said that Latvia’s ambassador had two weeks to leave the country after Latvia ordered the Russian ambassador to leave.

“Latvia’s ambassador Maris Riekstins was ordered to leave the Russian Federation within two weeks,” the foreign ministry in Moscow said in a statement.

Latvia’s decision to downgrade ties would “have consequences”, the ministry added.

The latest expulsion comes after Russia downgraded diplomatic relations with Estonia, ordering its ambassador to leave the country on Monday.

In retaliation, Estonia asked Russian ambassador to leave Tallinn. Latvia on Monday also ordered the Russian ambassador to leave and said it was downgrading diplomatic ties in solidarity with Estonia.

Moscow has accused both Baltic countries of “total Russophobia” and taking “hostile steps against Russia”.

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki accused Russian President Putin of building “new camps” on Holocaust Remembrance Day.

“On the anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi German death camp Auschwitz-Birkenau, let us remember that to the east Putin is building new camps,” Morawiecki said on Facebook.

“Solidarity and consistent support for Ukraine are effective ways to ensure that history does not come full circle,” he added.

The prime minister did not elaborate on his accusation against Russia but it was a claim previously made by Zelenskyy last year.

In an address in October, Zelenskyy spoke of Olenivka, “a concentration camp where our prisoners are kept”.

The latest wave of Russian shelling killed at least 10 Ukrainian and wounded 20 others, the office of Ukraine’s president said.

Six people died in the Donetsk region, two in Kherson, and two in the Kharkiv region.

The attacks come a day after a Russian missile attack that left at least 11 people dead.

Donetsk Governor Pavlo Kyrylenko said the Russian military used phosphorus munitions in its shelling of the village of Zvanivka, north of Bakhmut.

The shelling also damaged apartment buildings and two schools in the nearby town of Vuhledar, Kyrylenko said.

Ukraine will need an additional $17bn in financing this year for energy repairs, de-mining and rebuilding infrastructure, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said.

He told a government meeting that five high-voltage substations across Ukraine were hit during Russia’s air attacks on Thursday.

Russia’s communications regulator Roskomnadzor says it has blocked the websites of the CIA and FBI, accusing the US government agencies of spreading false information, the state-owned TASS news agency reported.

“Roskomnadzor has restricted access to a number of resources belonging to state structures of hostile countries for disseminating material aimed at destabilising the social and political situation in Russia,” Roskomnadzor said in a statement published by Russian news agencies.

TASS quoted Roskomnadzor as saying that the two websites had published inaccurate material and information that had discredited the Russian armed forces.

In light of the invasion of Ukraine, Russia has made it a criminal offence to speak badly about its armed forces, which could result in up to five years in jail, while “false information” about the military carries a maximum sentence of 15 years.

There is no basis for allegations that China provides aid to Russia, China’s embassy in Washington said.

The US Treasury sanctioned on Thursday the China-based Changsha Tianyi Space Science and Technology Research Institute Co Ltd, known as Spacety China, accusing it of providing radar satellite imagery over locations in Ukraine to a Russia-based technology firm.

Chinese embassy spokesperson Liu Pengyu said China opposed unilateral sanctions and that Beijing is committed to dialogue for peace.

“The allegation that China provides ‘aid’ to Russia has no factual basis, but is purely speculative and deliberately hyped up,” he said.

“The US must not undermine China’s legitimate rights and interests in any form when handling the Ukraine issue and the US-Russia relations.”

After weeks of pressure, Germany approved the delivery of Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine this week.

The US followed shortly after and signed off on sending M1 Abrams tanks that Kyiv’s forces desperately want to fight back against Russian troops and reclaim occupied territory.

So much focus has been on these Western arms, but how much difference will they make to the current landscape of the war?

Al Jazeera’s Inside Story speaks to experts to examine what effects the tanks could have on the battlefield.

Tennis star Novak Djokovic defended his father after a video showed him posing at the Australian Open with some holding Russian flags, saying he was “misused” by the individuals and that his family was against the war.

“He [Srdjan] was passing through, made a photo, it has escalated. He was misused in this situation by this group of people,” Djokovic told reporters.

“I can’t be angry with him or upset because I can say it was not his fault. He went out to celebrate with my fans.

“After that, he felt bad and he knew how that’s going to reflect on me, the whole media pressure and everything that has happened in the last 24-48 hours.”

The video led to Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese reiterating support for Ukraine and criticising supporters of Russia’s invasion.

President Vladimir Putin spoke with top security officials about the status of Russia’s efforts to legally expand the outer boundaries of its continental shelf in the Arctic Ocean.

In 2021, Russia filed a submission to the UN seeking to redefine its continental shelf, which is believed to contain vast untapped oil and gas reservoirs.

A continental shelf is an area of typically shallow water bordering a country’s shoreline that is considered an extension of its territory.

“We have several important issues today, colleagues, concerning both the domestic agenda and the issue of the outer limit of Russia’s continental shelf in the Arctic Ocean. Let’s get to work,” the Kremlin website cited Putin as saying.

A 74-year-old Spanish man arrested for sending several letter bombs sent to institutions, including the prime minister’s office and the Ukrainian Embassy in Madrid in late 2022, wanted to pressure Spain to drop its support for Ukraine, an investigating magistrate said.

The man, Pompeyo Gonzalez Pascual, is under formal investigation over possible aggravated “terrorism charges”, according to court documents.

The suspect used Russian messaging apps such as VK and the encrypted email service Protonmail, which could indicate a risk of him fleeing to Russia, the magistrate added.

“There is no indication that the person under investigation belongs to or collaborates with any terrorist gang or organised group,” the statement said.

The RIA news agency reported that Russia’s defence ministry carried out massive missile bombardment of Ukraine’s energy infrastructure during the last 24 hours.

It said that the same attacks had hit Ukrainian defence industry targets and that one of the attacks had disrupted a shipment of Western-made arms.

Click here for a roundup of the war’s key events from day 338.

Keep reading:

• Russia: NATO war involvement ‘growing’ with arms to Ukraine
• IAEA reports blasts near Zaporizhzhia plant, Russia rejects claim
• Fresh US sanctions target Russia’s Wagner mercenary group
• How will US and German tanks help Ukraine?

Any attempt to push Moscow out of international sports is “doomed to fail”, Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova says.

Ukraine says it does not rule out boycotting the Olympic Games if Russian and Belarusian athletes are allowed to compete in the 2024 Summer Games in Paris.

The International Olympic Committee, which is eager to see Russia and Belarus back in international competitions, has said the Olympic Council of Asia has offered Russian and Belarusian athletes the chance to compete in Asia, giving them a qualification pathway for the Paris Olympics.

A planned guest appearance by Zelenskyy at Italy’s biggest showbiz event, the Sanremo Music Festival, is attracting criticism as Italian public support for Kyiv’s war effort turns tepid.

Zelenskyy is expected to participate briefly via video link on the closing night.

“I expect songs from the Italian song festival, not something else,” Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini, the right-wing League party leader, said on the La7 TV channel.

“If Zelenskyy has time … to link up to the Sanremo festival, it’s his choice,” Salvini said, adding that he was not sure “how appropriate” it is to mix entertainment with talk of war.

Other Italian politicians echoed Salvini’s comments.