Russia claims to have captured the final Ukrainian-held position in the Kursk region, and has pledged to “destroy” any remaining units. Meanwhile, Kyiv says its troops are still operating and holding their positions in the Russian territory.
Sunday 27 April 2025 19:45, UK
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A Moscow court has remanded in custody a Ukrainian citizen facing terrorism charges over the killing of a senior Russian military officer near the capital, Russia’s Investigative Committee says.
The Kremlin has blamed Ukraine for Friday’s car bomb that killed 59-year-old Yaroslav Moskalik, the latest in a series of Russian military officers and pro-war figures to be assassinated.
Ukraine has not commented on the incident.
The Investigative Committee, which deals with serious crimes in Russia, said the suspect had pleaded guilty to killing Moskalik and had said he was recruited by Ukraine’s security services.
Moskalik, who was deputy head of the Main Operations Directorate of Russia’s General Staff, was killed in the town of Balashikha, hours before Donald Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff was due to hold talks with Vladimir Putin.
More comments to bring you now from secretary of state Marco Rubio’s interview with our US partner network, NBC News.
Rubio said that the coming week will be “very critical” for the White House as it makes a “determination about whether this is an endeavor that we want to continue to be involved in”.
“Throughout this process, it’s about determining do both sides really want peace and how close are they or how far apart they are after 90 days of effort here … that’s what we’re trying to determine this week.”
He added:” We cannot continue, as I said, to dedicate time and resources to this effort if it’s not going to come to fruition.”
There were reasons to be optimistic, said Rubio, but there were “reasons to be realistic” as well.
“We’re close, but we’re not close enough.”
The proposals put forward by Donald Trump have been seen by European allies as giving in to Russia’s demands, with German defence minister Boris Pistorius going so far as to brand it a “capitulation”.
The US president has been ready to accept handing swathes of Ukraine to Russia and denying Kyiv NATO membership.
Across the Ukrainian border, in Bydgoszcz, Poland, civilians have been taking part in military training sessions.
Billed as “Train with the Army” by the country’s defence ministry, the initiative was started in 2022 to boost defence readiness.
Prime Minister Donald Tusk also wants to launch a new program to build an army of reservists next year, aiming to train 100,000 volunteers in 2027.
Germany has urged Ukraine not to accept Donald Trump’s latest peace proposal, calling it akin to “capitulation”.
Trump has proposed Kyiv cede swathes of territory in return for a ceasefire with Russia.
German defence minister Boris Pistorius said that while Ukraine knows it might need to part with some territory, they “should not go as far as the latest proposal by the American president”.
“Ukraine on its own could have got a year ago what was included in that proposal, it is akin to a capitulation. I cannot discern any added value,” he told German public broadcaster ARD.
Trump’s so-called “final offer” includes US recognition of Crimea as part of Russia and unofficial recognition of Russian control of nearly all areas occupied since the 2022 invasion, Axios reported earlier this week.
It would also ban Ukraine from joining NATO and lift sanctions imposed on Russia since 2014.
Vladimir Putin has phoned commanders in Kursk to congratulate them for expelling Ukrainian forces, Russian news agencies quoted the Kremlin as saying.
“Putin congratulated them on the victory and thanked them for their heroic work,” Dmitry Peskov said.
Kyiv said its forces had not been completely expelled from Kursk and said they were also still operating in Belgorod, another Russian region bordering Ukraine.
“The statements of representatives of the high command of the aggressor country about the alleged end of hostilities in the Kursk region of the Russian Federation are not true,” Ukraine’s general staff said yesterday.
“The defensive operation of the Ukrainian Defense Forces in certain areas in the Kursk region continues.
“The operational situation is difficult, but our units continue to hold designated positions and carry out assigned tasks, while inflicting effective fire damage on the enemy with all types of weapons.”
The US remains adamant a minerals deal will be struck with Ukraine – an agreement it sees as financial reward for aid donated by Joe Biden, despite it not having any conditions attached.
Trump is pushing for a compact that gives America privileged access to Ukraine’s natural resources and critical minerals.
Negotiators were “working hard” over the weekend, national security adviser Mike Waltz told Fox News.
“The Ukraine deal is going to get done.”
Ukrainian finance minister Serhii Marchenko met with US treasury secretary Scott Bessent on Wednesday to discuss the deal.
There were issues to resolve before signing an agreement, but Kyiv officials were working to seal a deal “as fast as we can,” Marchenko said.
Both sides had been poised in February to sign a deal on natural resources, but it was delayed – and has since been revised – after an Oval Office meeting between Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy turned into a shouting match.
Moscow continues to deny it targeted civilians in its missile strike on a residential building in Kyiv last week that killed at least 12 people.
A 17-year-old boy was among the dead and 10 children were among the 87 injured, according to the Ukrainian president’s office.
Yet Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov told CBS the target was not civilian.
“We will continue to target the sites used by the military of Ukraine, by some mercenaries from foreign countries and by instructors whom the Europeans officially sent to help target Russian civilian sites,” he said.
More than 12,300 civilians have been killed in Ukraine including 650 children since Russia’s invasion, according to United Nations deputy human rights chief Nada Al-Nashif.
Pictures have emerged from a commemoration held on Friday, where Volodymyr Zelenskyy honoured the memory of 12 people killed in Kyiv by a Russian ballistic missile strike.
He laid flowers at the wall of a residential building destroyed as a result of the massive attack on 24 April.
Among the victims were a couple and their 17-year-old son.
Their 14-year-old daughter remains in the hospital. She is one of 10 children who were injured, out of a total of 87 wounded people.
“I would like to once again express condolences personally and, I am sure, on behalf of all our people, sadly, for the tragic losses. For such a horrific strike by the Russian aggressor against our people, against our civilians,” the president said.
Search-and-rescue efforts at the scene were only completed Friday morning, with recovery efforts still underway, according to minister of internal affairs Ihor Klymenko.
Ambassadors from the UK, US, Germany and China were among dozens of representatives who attended the event.
Russian bombing has killed three civilians and wounded four others in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kostyantynivka, local prosecutors say.
Three glide bombs were dropped on the city, situated about six miles from the front line, according to a Facebook post by the Donetsk region prosecutor’s office.
Russian forces have inched closer towards it over the past year.
A couple, aged 47 and 48, were killed, along with a 78-year-old pensioner, the post said, and 21 homes were damaged.
Pictures attached to it showed a destroyed single-storey house and the burnt-out shell of a car.
The US is weighing up whether to continue as a mediator, Marco Rubio has said.
The US’s top diplomat told Sky’s US partner network NBC News that “we cannot continue to dedicate time and resources to this effort if it (peace) is not going to come to fruition.”
He said a deal must come soon.
“The last week has really been about figuring out how close are these sides really, and are they close enough that this merits a continued investment of our time as a mediator.”
Rubio did not say how long the Trump administration is willing to wait for a breakthrough.
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