Russia Ukraine war live: Kyiv planning ‘serious operation’ in Crimea as Zelensky slams Pope’s white flag claim

Russia says its air defence systems destroyed a drone launched from Ukraine that was flying towards Moscow.

Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin said on the Telegram messaging app there were no casualties and no damage at the site in the Ramensky district where the drone debris fell.

A Russian student has been jailed for 10 days for naming his WiFi after a pro-Ukrainian slogan, the latest case of an ordinary citizen being swept up in Vladimir Putin’s crackdown on freedom of speech around the war, reports my colleague Shweta Sharma.

A court in Moscow found Oleg Tarasov guilty of spreading propaganda and the “public display of Nazi symbols” on Thursday as it sent him to prison, reported state-run Ria. The Kremlin accuses the Ukrainian government of being composed of neo-Nazis, despite the fact it has a democratically elected Jewish leader in Volodymyr Zelensky.

Tarasov, a student at Moscow State University, had named his WiFi network “Slava Ukraini!”, a popular anti-war slogan that translates to “Glory to Ukraine” in English, according to the independent Russian Telegram news channel Ostorozhno Novosti.

The student was arrested on Wednesday morning after a police officer reported the WiFi network to the authorities.

The mother of a young man who took his own life after fighting on the frontline in Ukraine has accused Liz Truss of “having blood on her hands” for previously encouraging Britons to join the war.

Harry Gregg was just 23 when he enlisted to fight in Ukraine. His only previous military experience was six years in the Army Cadets during secondary school.

According to his family, he decided to go after the then-foreign secretary, who was Mr Gregg’s local MP at the time, said she “absolutely” supported Britons who wanted to travel to fight the Russians, arguing they would be joining a battle “for democracy”.

At the time, Downing Street quickly distanced itself from the comments, while a week later Ms Truss retracted her statement, saying there were “better ways” to contribute to the war effort. But Mr Gregg’s mother, Sandi Gregg, 57, said the damage had already been done.

My colleague Tom Watling has the full report:

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov has declined to comment on a media report which said that Nikolai Yevmenov, the head of the Russian Navy, had been replaced.

Mr Peskov said he did not comment on decrees which were classified.

The Izvestia newspaper said that Alexander Moiseyev, who previously served as commander of Russia’s Northern Fleet, had reportedly been appointed as acting Navy chief.

US president Joe Biden and Czech prime minister Petr Fiala will meet in Washington on 15 April in a show of support for Ukraine and Nato, the White House has announced.

Washington will tomorrow host Polish prime minister Donald Tusk and the country’s president Andrzej Duda, who has said he intends to press for Nato countries to spend 3 per cent of GDP on defence.

UK government ministers are warring among themselves about the UK’s defence commitments, Labour’s shadow defence secretary John Healey has said.

“While Putin wages war in Europe, ministers are warring with each other, challenging defence policy in public,” he told the Commons. “The security minister on TV this morning calling for 2.5 per cent [of GDP] now. While this is a serious breakdown in collective ministerial responsibility, I am most concerned about the serious state of the UK armed forces.”

The Labour frontbencher had earlier said: “The defence secretary owes the public and parliament an explanation. He said we are moving into a ‘pre-war world’, and ahead of last week’s Budget he wrote to the chancellor: ‘we must take bold action in your Budget to commit to defence spending increasing to 2.5 pe cent in 2024. It would re-establish our leadership in Europe.’

“But there is a growing gap between the defence’s secretary’s rhetoric and the reality for our armed forces that are charged with preparing for this new, dangerous era. In the budget there was no new money for defence, nothing new for Ukraine, nothing for Gaza or the UK’s operations in the Middle East.”

Mr Healey asked: “Where is the plan for better defending Britain?”

Defence minister James Cartlidge has said he “totally and utterly” rejects the idea that the UK is unable to defend itself amid rising tension in Europe.

Labour MP Barry Sheerman told the Commons: “I was born on the night that this House was bombed and this chamber was burnt out.

“And I asked myself as I listened to the Secretary of State, and I hope he will recall this, that he represents the party of Winston Churchill, of Margaret Thatcher and in this most dangerous world that I can recall in all my years, we are not able to defend this country adequately … this is a wake-up call, we must act now.”

The minister replied that he respected Mr Sheerman’s “longevity and seniority and to whichever war it was, I think it was the second, in which this was bombed on the day he was born”.

But he added: “All I would say is, he says we’re unable to defend ourselves, I totally and utterly reject that. If Putin had succeeded in his invasion of Ukraine, yes, we would have been looking at a similar situation to the late 1930s. It hasn’t succeeded and the reason it hasn’t succeeded is because of the involvement of this government.”

He added: “Without that the world would be an even less safe place, but I accept it is becoming more dangerous and that is why we are supporting our armed forces.”

German Catholic bishops have called on the Vatican to clarify remarks in which Pope Francis said Ukraine should have “the courage of the white flag” and negotiate an end to the conflict with Russia.

In a statement published on its website, the German Bishops’ Conference said it was ultimately up to Ukraine to decide, “after careful consideration, when the moment has come for peace negotiations.”

“The fact that Pope Francis did not address the points mentioned here in his interview caused irritation among many observers, which we can understand. It would be good if the Holy See communicated a substantive clarification of its position on these issues,” the bishops said.

In the yet-to-be-aired interview with Swiss broadcaster RSI, Francis was asked for his position on a debate between those who say Ukraine should give up, and those who say doing so would legitimise actions by the strongest party. The interviewer used the term “white flag” in the question.

Vatican spokesperson Matteo Bruni said on Saturday the pope had picked up on the term “white flag” and used it “to indicate a stop to hostilities [and] a truce achieved with the courage of negotiations”.

German bishops said it was “unfortunate” that Francis repeated the words “white flag”, but also said it was “self-evident and widely proven to us that the Pope – like the German Bishops’ Conference – is committed to a just and lasting peace in Ukraine”.