Karim Khan visits site of alleged atrocities as the International Criminal Court investigates the conduct of Russian forces.
Post-war, France’s Le Pen wants closer NATO-Russia links
French far-right presidential candidate Marine Le Pen has said that if she were elected to office then she would propose closer links between NATO and Russia once the war is over.
A Le Pen victory in France’s presidential election runoff on April 24 would reverberate through Europe and across the Atlantic, installing a deep eurosceptic in the Elysee Palace and someone who had long professed admiration for Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“As soon as the Russian-Ukrainian war is over and has been settled by a peace treaty, I will call for the implementation of a strategic rapprochement between NATO and Russia,” Le Pen told a news conference packed with international reporters.
Czech Republic reopens embassy in Kyiv
The Czech Republic has reopened its embassy in Kyiv in a move its foreign ministry said was “one of many steps expressing our support for Ukraine”.
“Czechia has and always will stand behind Ukraine,” the ministry tweeted.
Russia says US, NATO weapon transports in Ukraine are ‘legal military targets’
Russia will view any United States and NATO vehicles transporting weapons on Ukrainian territory as “legal military targets”, Sergei Ryabkov, the country’s deputy foreign minister has told the TASS news agency.
Washington and several other members of the US-led alliance have supplied arms to Kyiv as it faces down Moscow’s offensive, but both have also moved cautiously to try and prevent the conflict from escalating further, potentially drawing Western powers into direct confrontation with Russia.
Russian artist faces jail for supermarket price tags protest
A Russian artist has been arrested after replacing price tags in supermarkets with anti-war appeals and graphic images of alleged atrocities in Ukraine.
Alexandra Skochilenko, who was detained on Monday, is accused of spreading “deliberately false information” about the Russian Armed Forces, the Moscow Times newspaper reported, adding she faces up to 10 years in jail.
Skochilenko, 31, denies any wrongdoing. Her case comes amid a crackdown on dissent by the Kremlin.
