April 3, 2023 - Russia-Ukraine news

Finnish President Sauli Niinistö will travel to Brussels on Tuesday to attend an accession ceremony at NATO headquarters, officially marking the start of the country's membership of the military alliance.

"Finland will deposit its instrument of accession to the North Atlantic Treaty with the US State Department in Brussels on Tuesday, 4 April, before the start of the meeting of NATO Ministers of Foreign Affairs. The deposit will be made by Minister for Foreign Affairs Pekka Haavisto," the presidency said in a statement Monday.

A flag-raising ceremony marking Finland's accession to NATO will follow.

Niinistö and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg will hold a bilateral meeting followed by a press conference and both are expected to deliver remarks at the ceremony. 

Finland submitted a joint application for NATO membership alongside Sweden shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.

While Finland's membership has been ratified by all member states, Sweden's bid has been stalled due to opposition from Hungary and Turkey. 

German Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck arrived in Kyiv on Monday, accompanied by a business delegation, to discuss rebuilding Ukraine from the war with Russia.

"The purpose of this trip is to give Ukraine a clear sign that we believe that it will be victorious, that it will be rebuilt, that there is an interest from Europe not only to support in times of need, but also that Ukraine will be an economically strong partner in the future," Habeck told journalists upon arrival in Kyiv.

This is his first visit to Kyiv since the beginning of Russia's war in Ukraine over a year ago.

Two independent organizations in Russia have denied any association with the woman alleged to have carried out the bombing in St. Petersburg that killed military journalist and blogger Vladlen Tatarsky on Sunday.

Daria Trepova, the alleged assailant, "has never been a member of our party," said the Libertarian Party, a small political party in Russia, in a statement Monday. "According to our records, she has never been a supporter of the Libertarian Party either.”

Her husband, Dmitry Rylov, who is a party member, "has been abroad for a long time and, according to him, has nothing to do with Daria's alleged actions and was not aware of them," the organization added, condemning "aggressive violence against civilians."

Separately, Alexey Navalny's longtime associate rejected accusations that the jailed opposition leader's Anti-Corruption Foundation was involved with the explosion.

Russia’s state media RIA Novosti carried a statement Monday from the National Anti Terrorism Committee, saying that the explosion involved agents of the Ukrainian special services and associates of Navalny-founded Anti-Corruption Foundation "of which the detained Daria Trepova is an active supporter."

"This is a rather idiotic situation. To refute the fact that we did it is idiocy. Obviously, we are not involved in this," Ivan Zhdanov said, adding that the accusation was an attempt to prolong Navalny's jail term.

Zhdanov said that it seemed Russia needed "not only an external absolute enemy in the form of Ukraine, but also an internal one in the form of Navalny's team."

Ukraine has said little about the attack, beyond blaming in-fighting in Russia.

Russia claims the explosion that killed military journalist Vladlen Tatarsky on Sunday involved agents of the Ukrainian special services and associates of the jailed Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny.

"The terrorist act committed on April 2 in St. Petersburg against the well-known journalist Vladlen Tatarsky was planned by the special services of Ukraine with the involvement of agents from among persons collaborating with the so-called Anti-Corruption Fund of Navalny, of which the detained Daria Trepova is an active supporter," Russia’s National Anti Terrorism Committee (NAC) said Monday in a statement carried by state media outlet RIA Novosti.

Earlier Monday, the Russian interior ministry announced Trepova's arrest in connection with the explosion, which injured at least 32 people.

Ukraine has said little about the attack, beyond blaming in-fighting in Russia. Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to the Ukrainian President’s office, wrote on Twitter on Sunday evening: "Spiders are eating each other in a jar. Question of when domestic terrorism would become an instrument of internal political fight was a matter of time."

Some context: Tatarsky was one of Russia’s most outspoken and ultranationalist military bloggers, known for his ardent pro-war commentary and occasional criticism of Moscow’s battlefront failures. 

His hardline views in support of the war were unremittingly hostile towards Ukraine, and made little distinction between civilian and military targets.

Tatarsky gained prominence after attending a Kremlin ceremony that marked the annexation of four Ukrainian regions — a move dismissed as illegal under international law by Ukraine and Western allies.

"I congratulate everyone, everyone who waited till this moment. We will defeat everyone, we will kill everyone, we will rob everyone we need. Everything will be as we like," he said in September.

A foreign citizen has been detained in St. Petersburg, Russia, for allegedly committing "indecent acts" against a 15-year-old girl, Russia’s state-run TASS news agency reports, citing the Russian interior ministry press service.

Law enforcement authorities told TASS that the suspect is an American citizen, but did not provide a name.

CNN has reached out to the US State Department for comment but has not heard back.

"Journalists were informed of this on Sunday during a Russian Interior Ministry press service for St. Petersburg and Leningrad Oblast," TASS said in its report.

"On April 2, 2023, a criminal investigation operative group was formed in light of operational and investigative measures taken to detain a foreign national born in 1986 on suspicion of committing the specified act at a residence on Central Street, 4A, Metallostroy, Kolpinsky district," the Russian Interior Ministry Press service said, reports TASS.

"The mother of the assaulted girl approached them with a statement that an unknown man committed indecent acts against a child on a bus," the press service said, according to TASS.

The investigating authorities opened a criminal case according to Part 1 of Article 135 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (Indecent acts).

A Russian-appointed official was injured in a car explosion in the Ukrainian city of Melitopol on Monday, the Ukrainian mayor of the city, Ivan Fedorov, said in a Telegram post. 

The injured person, Maksym Zubarev, is reportedly the head of the Russian-occupied Yakymivka community, located about 30 kilometers (18.6 miles) southwest of Melitopol, Fedorov said. 

According to Ukraine's Security Service, Zubarev was among the organizers of pseudo-referendums in Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine. 

In September, four Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine staged votes on joining Russia. The polls, which are contrary to international law, paved the way for Russian annexation of the areas.

Some context: The occupied city of Melitopol is a hub for Russian forces nearly 100 kilometers (62 miles) from the front lines.

Last week, Ukrainian forces shelled the city causing power supply suspensions and damaging railway infrastructure.

Poland has already delivered "several" MiG-29 fighter aircraft to Ukraine, the Polish president's foreign affairs adviser Marcin Przydacz said Monday during an interview with Polish radio RMF FM.

Poland announced it would send the aircraft, which were about to be decommissioned by the country’s air force, on March 16.

"When it comes to the MI-29 aircraft, which are still operating in the defense of Polish airspace, a decision has been taken at the highest levels, we can say confidently that we are sending MiGs to Ukraine," Polish President Andrzej Duda said at the time.

"We have a dozen or so MiGs that we got in the '90s handed down from the German Democratic Republic and they are functional and play a part in the defense of our airspace. They are at the end of their operational life but are still functional," he added.

"We will replace them with deliveries of `south Korean FA-50s and American F-35s," said Duda.

Ukraine has long pushed for deliveries of fighter jets from its allies. So far only Poland and Slovakia, which has promised to deliver 13 MiG-29 fighter jets, have answered that call.

Some context: Warsaw has taken the lead among NATO allies in supplying Kyiv with heavy weapons, and Poland had been one of the most vocal European nations against Russia – even before the invasion of Ukraine.

Russia is still seen by many in Poland’s political and diplomatic circles in a Cold War context. Russian President Vladimir Putin has always been seen by Warsaw as untrustworthy and Russian expansion is something to be fought against at all costs.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky thanked the Ukrainian military for defending the country, particularly Bakhmut, after fresh claims that the embattled eastern city had fallen to Russian forces.

"I am grateful to our warriors who are fighting near Avdiivka, Maryinka, near Bakhmut ... Especially Bakhmut. It's especially hot there today," Zelensky said in his evening address Sunday, without elaborating further on the situation in Bakhmut. 

Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin claimed in a short video published Sunday that "in legal terms, Bakhmut has been taken. The enemy is concentrated in the western districts."

In its operational update Sunday, the Ukrainian military said Russian forces continued to storm Bakhmut but Ukrainian forces were "bravely holding the city and repelling numerous enemy attacks."

There is no independent evidence to suggest that Wagner now holds Bakhmut. However, its fighters are inside the city limits, as they have been for several weeks.

Some background: On March 28, the Commander of Ukrainian Land Forces, Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskyi, said that their main task in Bakhmut was to "deplete the enemy’s overwhelming forces and inflict heavy losses on it."

"We are now at a time when the enemy, trying to capture Bakhmut, has thrown all its best units in to achieve victory," said Syrskyi. 

"Our task is to destroy as many enemies as possible and create the conditions for us to launch an offensive."

A suspect has been detained in connection with the explosion that killed ultranationalist military blogger Vladlen Tatarsky at a cafe in St. Petersburg on Sunday, the Investigative Committee of Russia has said.

Earlier, Daria Trepova had been added to a Russian wanted list as a suspect in connection with the explosion, which injured at least 32 people, state media reported.