Key events
Ukraine has fired more than 40 drones into Russia, Moscow says
Moscow defence officials say Ukraine have fired more than 40 drones into Russia’s bordering Rostov region in what appears to be one of its biggest aerial attacks in the war, which is extending into its third year.
Russia’s defence ministry said 44 drones were “intercepted and destroyed” Friday in the Morozovsky district, more than 62 miles (100km) from the border.
Officials say the attack damaged a power substation. Russian media reported that there is a military airfield near the town of Morozovsk, but it is unclear whether the airfield was the target of the attack.
Ukrainian officials rarely comment on such strikes and provided no immediate response. The Guardian has not been able to independently verify the claims.
Last week, Moscow launched a a mass barrage of 99 drones and missiles against Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, hitting regions across the country.
Russia says pro-Ukraine data found on Moscow attack suspect’s phone
Pjotr Sauer
Russian investigators claim to have found pro-Ukraine data on the phone of one of the Moscow attack suspects, in the latest sign the Kremlin is intent on blaming Kyiv for the deadly Crocus City Hall shooting despite the Islamic State’s claim of responsibility.
Russian investigators on Friday said one of the attackers behind last month’s massacre at a Moscow concert hall – claimed by the Islamic State (IS) – had pro-Ukrainian content on his phone.
Ukraine and the West have accused Moscow of trying to exploit the tragedy by implying, without providing evidence, that Kyiv was behind the terror attack, the most deadly in Russia for two decades.
Islamic State (IS) has repeatedly claimed responsibility for the attack, its deadliest on European soil and the deadliest by any group in Russia since the 2004 Beslan school siege.
Gunmen in camouflage stormed the Crocus City Hall venue on the outskirts of Moscow before setting the building on fire. More than a dozen suspects have been arrested including the four assailants, who are all from the Central Asian nation of Tajikistan.
Hours after the attacks, Russian media and state officials began to lay the groundwork for blaming Ukraine for the terrorist attack which killed over 140 people, despite evidence that Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP), an Afghan offshoot of the terrorist group, was responsible.
Russian investigators said Friday that data from one of the suspects’ phones showed that on the morning of February 24 this year – the second anniversary of Russia’s military campaign in Ukraine – he had trawled for photographs of the Crocus City Hall and sent it to others.
It said the suspect “had confirmed all this in his statements”.
Human rights experts however have warned that any statements or confessions from the suspects should be met with scepticism given that the men appeared to have been repeatedly tortured, according to gruesome videos and photographs circulating of their interrogations.
Russia’s investigative committee also said it had found photos on the same phone showing men in camouflage holding the Ukrainian flag in front of destroyed buildings.
“This data may indicate a link between the attack” and the conflict in Ukraine, it said.
The United States said it had publicly and privately warned Russia in early March that extremists were planning an attack on a concert hall in Moscow.
Unnamed US intelligence officials told American media outlets after the massacre that they specifically had told Moscow it was the Crocus City Hall that IS was planning to attack.
Reuters last week reported that Iran, a close ally of Russia, also tipped off the Kremlin about the possibility of a major “terrorist operation” on its soil ahead of the concert hall massacre.
Russia rejected western warnings. Just three days before the attack, president Vladimir Putin accused Washington of “blackmail” and trying to “intimidate” Russians.
The Ukrainian military denied on Friday that Russian forces had entered the suburbs of Chasiv Yar, a town in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region, but said there was fighting ongoing in the area.
“The situation there is very difficult, the fighting continues, but they are not there,” Andriy Zadubinnyi, spokesman for Ukraine’s eastern command told Reuters.
Russia’s RIA news agency cited an adviser to the Russian-appointed regional head earlier as saying that Russian forces were in the suburb of Chasiv Yar.
Ukraine military shoot down 13 Russian drones over southern regions
Good morning, the time has just passed 10am in Kyiv and Moscow.
Reuters has reported that Ukraine’s air force shot down all 13 drones used in Russia’s overnight attack on the southern regions of Zaporizhzhia, Odesa and Dnipropetrovsk.
One of the attacks targeted energy infrastructure in the Odesa region but air defences repelled the attacks, Ukraine’s military said.
Local officials also reported explosions in an attack in the eastern city of Kharkiv, a regular target of Russian attacks, late on Thursday. The region’s governor, Oleh Syniehubov, said there were no casualties reported as of Friday morning.
Russia has stepped up attacks on Ukrainian grid infrastructure in recent weeks, aiming to disrupt the country’s power and energy network
