Ukraine destroys railway bridge deep inside Russia

Ukrainian servicemen of the 28th Separate Mechanised Brigade fires a 122mm mortar towards Russian positions - Efrem Lukatsky/AP

Ukraine said it blew up a railway bridge in Russia’s southwestern Samara region on Monday because it was being used to transport “military cargo”.

The incident is the latest in a string of explosions targeting Russia’s rail network, which Kyiv says Moscow uses to move troops and equipment for its invasion of Ukraine.

“A railway bridge over the Chapaevka River in Russia’s Samara region was blown up. On 4 March 2024, at around 6am [local time], the bridge was damaged by blowing up its support structures,” Ukraine’s military intelligence said.

Russia was using the railway line to transport ammunition from a plant in the town of Chapayevsk, it said.

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02:58 PM GMT

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02:57 PM GMT

More than 40 countries demand investigation into Alexei Navalny’s death

More than 40 countries on Monday demanded an independent international investigation into the death of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny - and said President Vladimir Putin bore ultimate responsibility.

European Union members, the United States, Britain, Ukraine, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and Norway were among countries to voice outrage over Navalny’s death at the UN Human Rights Council.

Navalny, 47, who died in an Arctic prison colony, was laid to rest in Moscow on Friday, surrounded by crowds of defiant mourners who chanted his name.

“We are outraged by the death of the Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny, for which the ultimate responsibility lies with President Putin and the Russian authorities,” EU ambassador Lotte Knudsen told the UN rights body on behalf of 43 countries.

02:35 PM GMT

Germany accuses Russia of leaking recording of German military discussions

Germany accused Russia on Monday of leaking an intercepted recording of German military discussions about how to support Ukraine against the Kremlin’s invasion in an attempt to divide Europe.

Russian media last week published an audio recording of a meeting of senior German military officials held by Webex discussing weapons for Ukraine and a potential strike by Kyiv on a bridge in Crimea.

Germany has confirmed the authenticity of the 38-minute call, saying it is investigating what it called an apparent act of eavesdropping by Russia that was part of an “information war”.

02:03 PM GMT

Russia re-routes trains after rail bridge explosion

Russia’s state railway company said on Monday it had been forced to cancel and re-route some trains in the Samara region after an explosion at a rail bridge, which Ukrainian military intelligence claimed was used by trains carrying ammunition.

An explosion rocked the bridge, which spans the River Chapayevka near the Russian city of Samara, around 530 miles (850 km) southeast of Moscow, early on Monday morning, Russian news agencies reported, citing emergency services.

Located on the Volga river, the Samara region is one of Russia’s heavy industry hubs.

01:46 PM GMT

Polish farmers’ blockade of border with Ukraine has not impacted delivery of humanitarian aid

Polish farmers’ blockade of the border with Ukraine has not impacted the delivery of military or humanitarian aid to the war-torn country, Prime Minister Denys Shmygal said Monday.

Farmers have been blocking the border and other highways to protest what they say is unfair competition from goods entering the Polish market from Ukraine.

“There have been no cases of delivery of weapons and military equipment, humanitarian aid, or fuel to Ukraine being blocked,” Shmygal said in a press conference in Kyiv.

01:25 PM GMT

Germany denies ‘preparing a war’ against Russia

The German government on Monday vehemently rejected allegations that Russia’s leak of a conversation by high-ranking German military officers was an indication that Berlin was preparing for war against Russia.

At the same time, the government sought to contain the domestic fallout from the leak and promised a quick investigation into how it was possible that a conversation by top German military personnel could be intercepted and published.

“It is absolutely clear that such claims that this conversation would prove, that Germany is preparing a war against Russia, that this is absurdly infamous Russian propaganda,” a spokesman for German Chancellor Olaf Scholz told reporters in Berlin.

12:57 PM GMT

Kyiv: Ukrainian food producers must be allowed access to EU markets

The European Union must allow Ukrainian food producers access to EU markets long term, rather than just extending measures year by year, leaving them at the mercy of political pressures, a senior Ukrainian official said on Monday.

Ukraine wants to permanently remove tariffs and quotas on EU agricultural imports by updating its trade deal with the EU, or at least extend the current suspension for three years, Markiyan Dmytrasevych, deputy minister for agrarian policy and food, said.

“We need something more convenient for planning,” he told Reuters in an interview during a trip to Brussels. “A lot of resources go into these talks every year. Then we have new demands, new protests in the EU and its member states.”

12:18 PM GMT

UN nuclear watchdog to visit Russia

UN nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi plans to visit Russia on March 5, the RIA news agency reported, citing the IAEA head.

11:54 AM GMT

Poland calls for ‘full’ sanctions on Belarus

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk on Monday called on the European Union to impose “full” sanctions on food and agricultural imports from Russia and Belarus in response to bloc-wide farmer protests.

“I would prefer that we, as the entire European Union, decide on sanctions against Russia and Belarus regarding food and agricultural products,” Tusk told reporters in Vilnius, adding that a joint EU decision would be “more effective” than individual decisions by its member states.

11:44 AM GMT

Ukraine urges the West to transfer confiscated Russian assets to Kyiv

Ukraine urged the West on Monday to transfer control of confiscated Russian assets to Kyiv so they could be used to rebuild the country and support its recovery.

“The confiscation of Russian assets should become a reliable source of support for our state and funding for our recovery,” Prime Minister Denys Shmygal told a press conference.

11:23 AM GMT

Germany denies ambassador to Russia summoned by Moscow

Germany’s foreign ministry on Monday denied that Berlin’s ambassador to Russia had been summoned by Moscow following the publication of a tapped Germany army discussion on Ukraine.

“Our ambassador went to a long-planned meeting in the Russian foreign ministry (on Monday) morning,” a foreign ministry spokesman said, contradicting a report from Russian news agencies.

10:57 AM GMT

Moscow ‘will not forget’ Germany allegedly discussing strike on Russia

A senior ally of President Vladimir Putin said on Monday that Moscow would show restraint in response to a purported intercept of the German military discussing a strike on Russia, but would not forget about it.

Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council, made the comments at a youth forum in southern Russia, the RIA news agency reported.

RIA also cited Medvedev as saying that peace talks with the current Ukrainian leadership were impossible and that any new Ukrainian government would first have to recognise the “new reality” on the ground for talks to take place.

10:25 AM GMT

Berlin: Delaying EU accession for Western Balkans countries risks Russian ‘infiltration’

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said Monday delaying European Union accession for the countries of the Western Balkans risked leaving them open to Russian “infiltration”.

“Taking the six states in the region under our wing on their way into the European Union has become a geopolitical necessity in light of Russia’s brutal imperialism,” Baerbock said in a statement.

“We cannot allow any grey areas in Europe and together we must do everything we can to protect the flanks that Russia can use for destabilisation, disinformation and infiltration,” she said ahead of a visit to the Western Balkans.

Support for the countries of the region could include “strengthening their democratic institutions, improving their resilience and offering their people economic prospects”, she said.

09:49 AM GMT

Ukraine says it blew up Russian railway bridge transporting ‘military cargo’

Ukraine said it blew up a railway bridge in Russia’s southwestern Samara region on Monday because it was being used to transport “military cargo”.

The incident is the latest in a string of explosions targeting Russia’s rail network, which Kyiv says Moscow uses to move troops and equipment for its invasion of Ukraine.

“A railway bridge over the Chapaevka River in Russia’s Samara region was blown up. On 4 March 2024, at around 6:00 am (0200 GMT), the bridge was damaged by blowing up its support structures,” Ukraine’s military intelligence said.

Russia was using the railway line to transport ammunition from a plant in the town of Chapayevsk, it said.

09:18 AM GMT

Kremlin: Leaked German conversations prove West ‘directly involved’ in Ukraine

The Kremlin said on Monday the content of a leaked conversation between German officials, where they discussed potential strikes on Crimea, proved Western countries were participating in the conflict in Ukraine.

The conversations “once again highlight the direct involvement of the collective West in the conflict in Ukraine”, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

08:54 AM GMT

War in pictures

08:21 AM GMT

Germany spills British military secrets to Russia

Germany accidentally leaked British military secrets to Russia by using off-the-shelf video phone technology to discuss missiles in Ukraine, writes James Jackson.

The head of the Luftwaffe told air force officers and a general who dialled in from his hotel room how British and French officials were delivering Storm Shadows to Ukrainian soldiers.

He also said British troops were “on the ground”, a highly sensitive detail that has already caused division and infighting among Nato allies.

Read the full piece here.

07:52 AM GMT

Nato exercises underway in Scandinavia

Nato will kick off an exercise on Monday to defend its newly expanded Nordic territory when more than 20,000 soldiers from 13 nations take part in drills lasting nearly two weeks in the northern regions of Finland, Norway and Sweden.

With over 4,000 Finnish soldiers taking part, the Norway-led Nordic Response 2024 represents the largest ever participation in a foreign exercise, according to Finland’s military.

“For the first time, Finland will participate as a Nato member nation in exercising collective defense of the alliance’s regions,” the Finnish Defense Forces said in a statement.

07:28 AM GMT

Russian warship docks in Qatar

Russia’s Pacific Fleet frigate Marshal Shaposhnikov entered the Qatari port of Hamad where it will take part in the DIMDEX-2024 defence exhibition, Interfax news agency reported on Monday, citing the press service of fleet.

“A welcoming ceremony for the Russian warship took place at the pier, in which representatives of the Russian Embassy in Qatar and officers of the naval forces of the host country took part,” the agency cited the press service as saying.

The destroyer, which in January conducted an anti-submarine exercise in the South China Sea, has been on “a long-distance voyage,” since Jan. 22, Russian agencies reported.

The Doha International Maritime Defence Exhibition and Conference (DIMDEX) will take place March 4-6, according to the exhibition’s website.

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