Updates: Russia accuses Kyiv of recruiting youth for ‘sabotage’

The United States says there is no evidence to suggest that Egypt is supplying Russia with lethal weapons after a leaked American document claimed Cairo secretly planned to supply rockets to Moscow.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi planned to manufacture 40,000 rockets for Russia, according to the Washington Post, which cited a portion of a top-secret document dated February 17.

El-Sisi reportedly directed officials to keep the production and delivery covert to prevent issues with Western nations.

“We’ve seen no indication that Egypt is providing lethal weaponry and capabilities to Russia,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters.

UN says no ships were inspected on Tuesday under the Ukraine Black Sea grain deal “as the parties needed more time to reach an agreement on operational priorities”.

Routine inspections are due to resume on Wednesday, the UN added.

The family of American Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, jailed by Russia on espionage charges, say they have spoken to US President Joe Biden on Tuesday.

“We appreciate President Biden’s call to us today, assuring us that the US government is doing everything in its power to bring him home as quickly as possible,” the family said in a statement.

Ukraine’s youth and sports minister says Kyiv will keep up the pressure on the International Olympic Committee to prevent Russians from taking part in the Paris Games next year.

“It is necessary to continue to put pressure,” Ukraine’s Youth and Sports Minister Vadym Gutzeit told the AFP news agency.

“And maybe the IOC will understand that, while there is a war in Ukraine, it is not the time for Russian and Belarusian athletes to return.”

As Moscow’s assault on Ukraine stretches into a second year, the International Olympic Committee recommended allowing athletes from Russia and Moscow ally Belarus to compete as individual neutrals in upcoming international competitions.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Canada imposed new sanctions on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine and pledged new military support for Kyiv.

Ottawa will send 21,000 assault rifles, 38 machine guns and 2.4 million rounds of ammunition to Ukraine and impose sanctions on 14 Russian individuals and 34 entities, including security targets linked to Wagner Group, Trudeau said after meeting Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal in Toronto.

“We will continue to support Ukraine with everything needed for as long as necessary,” he said.

Canada is also imposing sanctions on nine entities tied to the Belarusian financial sector to further pressure Russia’s “enablers in Belarus”, Trudeau said.

An online project is documenting and preserving the experiences of people living with war in Ukraine.

The Museum of Civilian Voices is both an historical record and an experiment in collective healing.

It’s been gathering personal testimonies since Russia’s invasion of Crimea in 2014.

Al Jazeera’s Jonah Hull reports from Bucha, Ukraine.

President Joe Biden says Russia’s jailing of US journalist Evan Gershkovich on spying charges is “out of bounds”.

Biden, departing Washington for a trip to Northern Ireland and Ireland, also told reporters that The Wall Street Journal correspondent’s jailing was “totally illegal”.

On Monday, the Department of State formally classified the reporter as “wrongfully detained” – a status that puts the case in the hands of the special envoy for hostages, Roger Carstens.

Gershkovich, an experienced reporter for The Wall Street Journal in Russia, was detained in Yekaterinburg, some 1,800 kilometres (1,100 miles) east of Moscow.

Hungary signed new agreements Tuesday to ensure its continued access to Russian energy, a sign of the country’s continuing diplomatic and trade ties with Moscow that have confounded some European leaders amid the war in Ukraine.

Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said Russian state energy company Gazprom had agreed to allow Hungary, if needed, to import quantities of natural gas beyond the amounts agreed to in a long-term contract that was amended last year.

The price of the gas, which would reach Hungary through the Turkstream pipeline, would be capped at 150 euros ($163) per cubic metre, Szijjarto said, part of an agreement that will allow Hungary to pay down gas purchases on a deferred basis if market prices go above that level.

Szijjarto’s trip to Russia’s capital was unusual for an official from a European Union country. Most members of the 27-nation bloc have distanced themselves from Russian President Vladimir Putin over his invasion of Ukraine and sought to wean their countries off of Russian fossil fuels.

Ukraine’s foreign minister says US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has assured him that Washington still backs Kyiv’s effort to win the war.

The minister, Dmytro Kuleba, made a comment after a recent Washington Post report detailed a downbeat assessment by US intelligence officials of Kyiv’s ability to retake Russian-occupied territory.

“During our call today, [Blinken] reaffirmed the ironclad U.S. support and vehemently rejected any attempts to cast doubt on Ukraine’s capacity to win on the battlefield,” he tweeted.

“The U.S. remains Ukraine’s trustworthy partner, focused on advancing our victory and securing a just peace.”

During our call today, @SecBlinken reaffirmed the ironclad U.S. support and vehemently rejected any attempts to cast doubt on Ukraine’s capacity to win on the battlefield. The U.S. remains Ukraine’s trustworthy partner, focused on advancing our victory and securing a just peace.

— Dmytro Kuleba (@DmytroKuleba) April 11, 2023

The Moscow-appointed leader of Crimea said the region is on guard for a possible Ukrainian counteroffensive.

Sergey Aksyonov told reporters that Russian forces in Crimea had built “modern, in-depth defences” and had “more than enough” troops and equipment to repel a possible assault after 13 months of war following Russia’s full-scale invasion.

“We cannot underestimate the enemy, but we can definitely say that we are ready [for an attack] and that there will be no catastrophe,” he said.

An analysis of satellite images by Al Jazeera also confirmed that Russian forces are fortifying the Crimean Peninsula through an extensive network of trenches that extend across the border villages.

The head of Russia’s Wagner mercenary group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, said that his forces controlled more than 80 percent of Bakhmut.

In a video published by a Russian military blogger on Telegram, Prigozhin is seen showing on a map of the area how his forces are continuing their encirclement of the city.

“In Bakhmut, the larger part, more than 80 percent is now under our control, including the whole administrative centre, factories, warehouses, the administration of the city,” said Prigozhin.

He used a red marker pen to highlight the relatively small, mainly residential area of the city that remained to be captured by Russian forces.

“There, the war continues,” he said.

Prigozhin’s comments come a day after the Russian-installed head of Donetsk visited Bakhmut and said, “More than 75 percent of the city is under the control of our units.”

Bakhmut has seen the heaviest fighting in the nearly 14-month war.

Spanish Economy Minister Nadia Calvino said that Europe could not ignore China’s role as a key trading partner and geopolitical player that could help end the war in Ukraine.

“I think we cannot just turn our back to China and try to ignore it,” Calvino told an Atlantic Council event in Washington, DC.

“We have a shared interest, I think, in ensuring that they engage constructively to put an end to the war in Ukraine as soon as possible and to avoid global market fragmentation, which is going to be lose-lose for everyone,” he said.

Russia will introduce electronic military draft papers for the first time in its history, making it harder for men to avoid being drafted.

The State Duma backed the necessary legislation in two separate votes, but some lawmakers complained the changes were being rushed through without giving them enough time to scrutinise them.

The move is part of a push by Moscow to perfect a system it has used to bolster its military forces in Ukraine, though government officials say there are currently no plans to compel more men to fight in Ukraine.

“We need to perfect and modernise the military call-up system,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told a news briefing, in which he also recalled “problems” experienced last year with the mobilisation campaign.

Russia may experience a wider budget deficit and a smaller current account surplus this year, while global isolation dampens its economic growth prospects, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said.

The IMF raised its 2023 Russia GDP forecast to growth of 0.7 percent from 0.3 percent, but lowered its 2024 prediction to 1.3 percent from 2.1 percent, saying it also expected labour shortages to further harm affect the economy.

By 2027, the IMF expects Russia’s economic output to be 7 percent lower than forecasts made before Moscow invaded Ukraine.

Denmark’s defence minister said he expects a decision on whether to donate fighter jets to Ukraine “before the summer”, as deliveries of Polish and Slovak MiG-29s have begun.

Discussions are taking time because countries have to act together, acting Defence Minister Troels Lund Poulsen said during a visit to Ukraine.

“Denmark will not do it alone,” Poulsen said, adding that a decision was still achievable “in the near future”.

“We need to do this together with several countries. We will also have a dialogue with the Americans about this,” the minister said.

Slovakia and Poland began deliveries of MiG-29 fighter jets to Ukraine in late March and early April.

Despite requests from Kyiv, no modern fighter jets, such as the US-designed F-16 have been pledged, and Washington has so far said it would not send fighter jets.

Click here for a roundup of the key events from day 412 of the war.

Keep reading:

• South Korea, US claim leaked Pentagon documents ‘altered’
• US formally deems WSJ reporter ‘wrongfully detained’ in Russia
• Ukraine, Russia exchange more than 200 troops in prisoner swap
• Pentagon documents leak sparks US national security fears

Romania aims to buy the latest generation of US F-35 fighter planes to boost its air defences, the country’s supreme Defence Council (CSAT) said.

“Having robust, credible, interoperable, flexible and efficient air defence operational capabilities … as part of our commitments as a NATO and EU state is key to Romania meeting its defence policy objectives,” the statement said.

“The air force’s modernisation process will continue through the acquisition of last generation F-35 jets.”

The EU and NATO state have raised defence spending to 2.5 percent of gross domestic product this year from 2 percent, in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

But the council did not elaborate on timing or numbers.

Last year, President Klaus Iohannis said Romania was mulling acquiring F-35 planes, which US weapons maker Lockheed Martin Corp makes.

The head of Russia’s FSB security service, Alexander Bortnikov, accused Ukraine and the West of recruiting young Russians to stage armed attacks.

“In the conditions of Russia conducting the special military operation, Ukrainian special forces and their Western curators have launched an aggressive ideological indoctrination and recruitment of our citizens,” Bortnikov told a meeting in Moscow of the National Anti-Terrorism Committee.

“Especially the younger generation, to involve them in sabotage, terrorist and extremist activities,” he added, according to a statement from the committee.

On April 2, a famous Russian military blogger Vladlen Tatarsky was killed in a blast in a café in St Petersburg after a woman handed him a bust that later exploded, wounding more than 40 others.

While little is known about the attack, Russia has blamed Ukraine and said it was orchestrated with help from supporters of jailed critic Alexey Navalny.

The Kremlin says Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reporter Evan Gershkovich had “violated Russian law” and been caught “red-handed” after the US Department of State officially designated him as having been “wrongfully detained” by Russia.

The US determined that the WSJ reporter was “wrongfully detained”, which means that it believes he was targeted primarily because he is an American citizen.

Asked about the US designation, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov repeated Russia’s position that Gershkovich broke the law.

“I don’t understand what kind of innovations this new regime is introducing. As for what it means, I don’t know,” Peskov said.

He added Gershkovich had “been caught red-handed and violated the laws of the Russian Federation”.

“This is what he’s suspected of, but of course, the court will make a decision.”

A United Nations body confirms that nearly 8,500 civilians have been killed in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, with the likely number much higher.

The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) said it had recorded 8,490 people killed and 14,244 injured between the launch of the invasion on February 24, 2022, and April 9, 2023.

The body has described its figures as “the tip of the iceberg” due to its limited access to battle zones.

“OHCHR believes that the actual figures are considerably higher, as the receipt of information from some locations where intense hostilities have been going on has been delayed and many reports are still pending corroboration,” it said in a statement.

Most deaths were recorded in territory controlled by the Ukrainian government, including 3,927 people in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.

The Kremlin says there are no plans for a second military mobilisation for the war in Ukraine.

“There is no second wave,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

In response to a question about whether there are any changes on this issue, Peskov stressed: “No.”

Russia announced the mobilisation of 300,000 reservists in September, seven months into the war.

Russia will consider sending electronic call-up papers in addition to traditional draft letters, according to legislation in the Federal Assembly.

Currently, conscription papers in Russia have to be delivered in person by the local military enlistment office or via an employer.

Once they receive the documents, conscripts who fail to show up at the military enlistment office are automatically banned from travelling abroad.

“The summons is considered received from the moment it is placed in the personal account of a person liable for military service,” Andrei Kartapolov, chairman of the Russian parliament’s defence committee, said in comments on television.

Since the war in Ukraine began, more than 300,000 former soldiers and conscripts are believed to have been called up in an emergency draft drive last year.

Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki says Japan will chair a Group of Seven (G7) financial leaders’ meeting on April 12 in Washington, DC to discuss the underlying global economy, global supply chains, inflation and the Ukraine crisis.

Suzuki will travel to the US to hold the G7 financial leaders’ meeting on the sidelines of IMF and World Bank annual gatherings.

The G7 comprises Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States.

Hungarian foreign minister, Peter Szijjarto, has arrived in Moscow for talks on energy supply, the Russian Tass news agency reported.

“Today in Moscow, we will discuss the most important issues of cooperation in order to ensure the security of the Hungarian energy supply – first with Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak, who deals with energy, and then with Rosatom CEO Alexei Likhachev,” Szijjarto wrote on his Facebook page.

The General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces says Russia’s military has targeted nine regions in 24 hours, including Luhansk and Donetsk.

“The enemy launched 39 air strikes and seven missile strikes, four of which were from the S-300 air defence system against the peaceful city of Kramatorsk,” Ukraine said in its daily military update.

“They carried out 47 rounds from MLRS [multiple-launch rocket systems] on the positions of our troops and the civilian infrastructure of populated areas,” it said.