Ukraine-Russia war latest: 'Putin did not order Navalny death,' - US report; Russian oil refinery suspends operations after 'Ukrainian drone attack'

In April 2023 116 Russian military personnel were convicted of murder - 900% higher than the previous year. 

The same time this year, Russian media outlet Vertska reported that 190 former convicts were prosecuted again in criminal cases - 20 of whom were for murder or attempted murder.

One of those included an ex-Wagner prisoner who was sentenced to 22 years after murdering an elderly woman after his release.

The UK's Ministry of Defence puts this high number of murders by serving and veteran Russian soldiers down to enduring war-related chronic poor mental health issues. 

It says post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and battlefield desensitisation to violence are also likely contributors. 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has issued a new appeal for air defence systems after the latest strike on Ukraine's energy sector.

Mr Zelenskyy said Ukraine needed sufficient quantities of air defence and other weapons to protect its cities and prevail on the frontline.

"Terror should always lose, and anyone who helps us stand against Russian terror is a true defender of life," he said.

Earlier, we reported that Ukraine's air force said that it had intercepted 21 out of 34 drones launched across the country.

Energy facilities in Dnipropetrovsk in the south of the country and Ivano-Frankivsk and Lviv in the west had been attacked.

Private energy operator DTEK reported "casualties" after four of its thermal power plants were damaged.

Maxim Timchenko, DTEK chief executive, said the strikes are a cause for stronger defence. 

"Last night's attacks underline the continued urgent need for Ukraine's allies to provide stronger air defence systems," he said.

The newest appeal comes in spite of a military aid package from the US which will provide munitions and equipment for its air defence launchers.

One person has died and 14 have been injured after attacks on several regions in Ukraine, local authorities have said.

The areas of Kherson, Donetsk, Kharkiv, and Dnipropetrovsk were all targeted overnight.

Kherson

In the Kherson region, one person died and eight others were injured, according to governor Oleksandr Prokudin.

Kharkiv

While in Kharkiv, Russian forces hit a psychiatric hospital, injuring a 53-year-old patient.

Governor Oleh Syniehubov said 60 patients and five employees were in the hospital at the time. 

Donetsk

Russian troops launched a total of 16 attacks against settlements in the Donetsk region, destroying or damaging 12 houses and five other unnamed buildings, Vadym Filashkin, the regional governor, said.

Three people were injured.

Dnipropetrovsk

An 82-year-old woman was injured during several strikes in the Dnipropetrovsk area.

Governor Serhii Lysak said seven blocks of flats, a market and a beauty salon were among the buildings damaged.

Following on from our last post, the Kremlin has said China and Russia will continue to develop ties after efforts by the US to curb relations between the two nations. 

It follows US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, saying he had reiterated to China's top diplomat Wang Yi the serious concerns the US has about the country providing dual-use goods that are "powering Russia's brutal war of aggression against Ukraine".

Those weapons are being used to "demolish a power grid and other civilian infrastructure and to kill innocent children, women and men", Mr Blinken said.

When asked about Mr Blinken's comments, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said China is an "absolutely sovereign state".

He added: "At the same time, it [China] is our close partner. We will further develop our co-operation." 

China maintains that it has not provided weaponry to any party and is "not a producer of or party involved in the Ukraine crisis".

The Kremlin has said there are currently no grounds for peace talks with Ukraine.  

Dmitry Peskov, Kremlin spokesperson, said the two nations would not discuss an end to the conflict after Kyiv put in place a formal refusal to negotiate. 

The comments refer to a 2022 decree signed by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy which declared the prospect of any talks with Russian leader Vladimir Putin "impossible".

The decree states that the possibility for a discussion is still open to what Mr Zelenskyy called "another president of Russia".

Russia launched a barrage of missiles against Ukraine overnight, appearing to target the country's energy infrastructure.

Ukraine's air force said that it had intercepted 21 out of 34 drones launched across the country.

Energy minister Herman Halushchenko said energy facilities in Dnipropetrovsk in the south of the country and Ivano-Frankivsk and Lviv in the west had been attacked.

An engineer was reportedly injured, Mr Halushchenko said.

Private energy operator DTEK said four of its thermal power plants were damaged and that there were "casualties" but did not provide any further detail.

It comes after the security service of Ukraine confirmed that it had launched drones at the Slavyansk and Ilsky oil refineries in Russia's Krasnoyarsk region.

The source said drones also targeted Russia's Kushchevsk military airfield in the same region. 

Intelligence agencies in the US have determined that Russian President Vladimir Putin most likely did not order opposition leader Alexei Navalny to be killed, according to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ).

Mr Navalny, one of Mr Putin's fiercest critics, died at an Arctic prison camp in February at the age of 47.

His allies, including his wife, accused the Russian leader of having him murdered - an accusation the Kremlin has always denied. 

But after a recent assessment based on a range of information - including some classified intelligence and an analysis of public facts - US intelligence agencies do not believe Mr Putin ordered the death of his opponent.

The assessment also took into account the timing of the death and how it overshadowed Mr Putin's presidential re-election in March, the WSJ cited some of its sources as saying.

The paper quoted sources as saying the finding had been "broadly accepted within the intelligence community and shared by several agencies, including the Central Intelligence Agency, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the State Department's intelligence unit".

Responding to the report, Leonid Volkov, a senior Navalny aide, called the findings naive and ridiculous, the WSJ reported.

A Russian oil refinery has partially suspended operations after being damaged in a suspected Ukrainian drone attack, the Russian TASS news agency says.

A large fire broke out at the Slavyansk oil refinery in the Krasnoyarsk region after being hit with 10 Ukrainian drones, the security director at Slavyansk ECO Group, was quoted as saying. 

They said some of the damage caused may be hidden so the "work of the plant has been partially suspended".

Earlier today, Roman Siniagovskyi, head of the Slavyansk administrative district said the distillation column was damaged during the alleged strike. 

Russia's Defence Ministry said its air defence units had intercepted and destroyed 66 Ukrainian drones over the Krasnoyarsk region, and two more over the Crimean Peninsula.

A source from the Security Service of Ukraine confirmed that Ukrainian drones had been launched at the Slavyansk and Ilsky oil refineries and had caused fires at the facilities. 

The source said drones also targeted Russia's Kushchevsk military airfield in the same region. 

A Ukrainian court has ordered the detention of the country's farm minister in the latest high-profile corruption investigation.

The country's High Anti-Corruption Court ruled that agriculture minister Oleksandr Solskyi should be held in custody for 60 days, but he was released after paying bail of 75 million hryvnias (£1.5m), a statement said.

He is alleged to have led an organised crime group that unlawfully obtained land worth 291 million hryvnias (£5.87m) and attempted to obtain other land worth 190 million hryvnias (£3.83m) between 2017 and 2021.

Over the past two years, a number of senior Ukrainian officials have lost their jobs, causing embarrassment as they receive thousands in foreign aid. 

US military aid is currently on the way to Ukraine, which may take several weeks to arrive.

The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) says due to this, it will be a little while until any of the much-needed aid makes much of an impact on the battlefield.

It says forces in Ukraine will first have to use the aid to stabilise the frontlines and try to stop ongoing Russian advances, particularly in the areas of Avdiivka and Chasiv Yar in the Donetsk region.

No matter what way Ukraine uses the new aid, the US has not claimed that it would be enough to allow the country to regain all of its territory. 

The ISW also warns of a potential summer Russian offensive operation that may begin as soon as June.

"Ukraine's ability to regain all of its territory in the long term rests on numerous future decisions in the West, in the Kremlin, and in Kyiv," the ISW says.