Ukraine war live updates: Finland officially becomes the 31st member of NATO; Russia warns

Representatives from the U.S. Embassy in Moscow have not been granted consular access to detained Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich.

Gershkovich was detained nearly a week ago by Russian authorites over espionage allegations.

The Biden administration has repeatedly called for Gershkovich’s immediate release. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre has previously told reporters that Gershkovich’s case is “a priority for this president. It is a priority for the National Security Council. It is a priority for the State Department.”

Under Russian law, defendants are guaranteed regular access to their legal team, though sometimes Russian authorities will withhold access and make communication between the parties difficult.

— Amanda Macias

 President Joe Biden welcomed NATO’s newest member, calling Finland’s ascension into the world’s most powerful military alliance “the fastest ratification process” in modern history.

“When Putin launched his brutal war of aggression against the people of Ukraine, he thought he could divide Europe and NATO. He was wrong. Today, we are more united than ever,” Biden said in a statement.

Biden also called on Turkey and Hungary to complete Sweden’s ratification process. In May, both nations began the formal process of applying to the NATO alliance. All 30 NATO members must approve a country’s bid for it to be accepted into the alliance.

“Both countries are strong democracies with highly capable militaries, who share our values and vision for the world,” Biden added.

— Amanda Macias

The Historic Center of Odesa was added to the World Heritage List in January and UNESCO implemented emergency measures on the ground to help protect the port city located on the Ukrainian shores of the Black Sea.

Odesa, which has mostly been spared damage in the conflict, is one of seven cultural monuments and one natural site in Ukraine that are on UNESCO’s World Heritage List.

Finland officially became a member of the Western military alliance NATO, ending decades of military non-alignment.

On Tuesday, the Nordic country’s accession document was handed to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Brussels, where NATO foreign ministers are gathered until Wednesday.

Earlier NATO’s Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said it was a “truly historic” day as he welcomed Finland into the alliance.

Russia, which shares around an 800-mile border with Finland, said the expansion of NATO increases the risk of conflict with Moscow and warned it would take “countermeasures to ensure our own security both tactically and strategically.”

Finland’s President Sauli Niinisto released a statement saying “the era of military non-alignment in our history has come to an end. A new era begins” saying membership of the alliance “provides security for Finland. Finland, on the other hand, provides security for the Alliance.”

He said Finland’s membership “is not targeted against anyone” and that it remains “a stable and predictable Nordic country that seeks peaceful resolution of disputes.”

He also called for Sweden’s membership bid to be formally accepted, with NATO member Turkey yet to ratify its accession.

“Finland applied to join NATO together with Sweden. Finland’s membership is not complete without that of Sweden,” Niinisto said.

“The persistent efforts for a rapid Swedish membership continue. Similarly, close cooperation continues to build common security and defence across the Nordic region.”

—Holly Ellyatt

Hundreds of residents of the Ukrainian city of Ivano-Frankivsk turned out to mourn four-times world kickboxing champion Vitalii Merinov after he was killed in action fighting Russian troops.

Merinov, 32, died in a hospital last week after he was wounded in the eastern region of Luhansk, claimed and partially controlled by Russia. The Ukrainian flag was draped over his coffin as it was carried out of the church on Monday.

“To the hero of Ukraine, Vitalii Merinov, three-times glory,” his friend, Taras Mstyslav, said, with mourners calling out “Glory, glory, glory!” in response.

Citizens knelt on the street during the funeral procession, holding Ukrainian flags, while others threw flowers.

“He was a very active person,” said Merinov’s godfather, who goes by the call-sign “Boriusyk”. “I am not saying it because he was my godson, but because he helped everyone: the children, the people, the needy ones. I am speechless … Unfortunately, the enemy takes the best.”

Merinov’s mother and wife were in tears at the funeral, as were several mourners, while his two-year-old daughter Leia bid farewell to his portrait held aloft in the church.

“You can see for yourself, thousands of Ivano-Frankivsk residents came to say farewell to him,” Mstyslav said at the cemetery.

“This is the indicator that he loved people and the people loved him.”

— Reuters

China’s Premier Li Qiang spoke with Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin in a phone call on Tuesday, Chinese state media CCTV reported, according to Reuters.

Li told Mishustin that China-Russia relations should adhere to the non-alignment, non-confrontation and non-targeting of third parties, CCTV reported.

The call between Li and Mishustin comes as Ukraine continues to wait for an audience with China’s President Xi Jinping. A call between Xi and Ukraine’s President Zelenskyy was expected to take place following Xi’s high-profile visit to Russia last month but so far, as far as we know, it has not happened.

Russia has looked to Beijing for geopolitical support during its invasion of Ukraine and while China has refrained from outright backing for Moscow’s cause, it has not condemned the invasion either.

— Holly Ellyatt

With Finland set to formally become a member of NATO on Tuesday, Russia said the accession of a new member (and one it happens to share an 800-mile border with) increases the risk of conflict with Russia.

The Kremlin’s spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Tuesday that Finland’s accession to NATO “is another aggravation of the situation” calling it an “encroachment on our security and the national interests of the Russian Federation, we talked about this and this is how we perceive it,” Peskov said, Russian news agency RIA Novosti reported.

Elsewhere, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said NATO was “strengthening its anti-Russian course, which leads to an escalation of the conflict,” as he spoke with Russian military officials Tuesday.

Shoigu remarked that the West was increasing its military assistance to Ukraine in the form of tanks and armored vehicles but signaled that Russia was strengthening its own arsenal, saying that some Belarusian military jets are now capable of carrying nuclear warheads.

Last month, Russia announced that it would deploy tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus. Shoigu noted Tuesday that Iskander rocket systems, which can be used to carry conventional or nuclear missiles, had been transferred to Belarus.

Shoigu said Russia had “started training the Belarusian troops on how to use the missile system “for the defence of the Union State.” The ‘Union State’ refers to Russia and Belarus’ cooperation in a number of areas including economic and defense policy.

— Holly Ellyatt

Finland is set to formally become a member of the NATO defense alliance on Tuesday, with the military alliance’s Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg calling the accession “truly historic.”

Finland’s historic decision to apply to NATO — prompted by its neighbor Russia’s war against Ukraine — ends years of “military non-alignment” and is one of the biggest geopolitical changes in Europe to come about as a direct consequence of the war.

Turkey gave its approval on Finland’s membership bid on March 30 after months of wrangling with other NATO members over the accession of the Nordic nation. Sweden’s membership bid, made at the same time as Finland’s, is still awaiting approval.

Speaking to reporters ahead of a meting with the alliance’s foreign ministers, Stoltenberg said Tuesday that NATO would ensure that Sweden does become a fully fledged member of the alliance, Reuters reported.

Russia is extremely unhappy about the further expansion of NATO, it’s longtime adversary, particularly as it shares a roughly 800-mile-long border with Finland.

Stoltenberg said Tuesday that NATO does not seek to provoke conflict but to prevent it, and said there would be no NATO troops in Finland without the country’s consent.

The war in Ukraine has deepened divisions between Russia and NATO, with fears over the last year that the conflict in Ukraine could spill into a wider war between Russia and the military alliance, particularly with Russia wasting few opportunities to remind the world about its nuclear weaponry.

Stoltenberg said Tuesday that NATO had seen no change in Russia’s nuclear posture that would require any change its own stance, however.

— Holly Ellyatt

Lithuania’s parliament decided on Tuesday to ban Russian nationals from purchasing real estate in the Baltic country, citing risks to national security.

The ban, which will be in place until 2024, would not apply to Russians who are granted residency in the country.

Parliament also halted the issuing of new visas to nationals of Russia and its ally Belarus.

Many of the citizens of those two countries who carry other travel documents, such as previously issued visas, will be subject to “individual extended checks” at the border to determine if they pose a threat to national security.

“The vast majority of Russian citizens support their country’s aggressive military actions, and do not take actions to stop the aggression of their country’s regime, so they share the responsibility,” Deputy Foreign Minister Jurgita Neliupsiene told parliament in March as she introduced the bill.

— Reuters

Russia is likely seeking to sponsor and develop alternative private military companies (PMCs) to eventually replace the Wagner Group of mercenaries who currently have a significant combat role in Ukraine, Britain’s Ministry of Defense said.

In an intelligence update on Twitter, the ministry said this is taking place “in the context of the high-profile feud between the Russian Ministry of Defence and Wagner Group.”

“Russia’s military leadership likely wants a replacement PMC that it has more control over. However, no other known Russian PMC currently approaches Wagner’s size or combat power,” the ministry noted.

It added that Russia likely sees a “continued utility for PMCs in Ukraine because they are less constrained by the limited pay levels and inefficiency” which hamper the effectiveness of the regular army.

Russia’s leadership is also likely to believe that heavy casualties among PMCs will be better tolerated by Russian society than regular military losses, it said.

— Holly Ellyatt

Russia’s high-profile camp of pro-war, nationalist commentators looks suddenly vulnerable after the death of one of the country’s most influential military bloggers, analysts say.

The death of Vladlen Tatarsky following an explosion at a cafe in St Petersburg on Sunday has dominated headlines in Russia and beyond. The blast killed Tatarsky and injured at least 30 others, the authorities said, before detaining a woman on suspicion of involvement in what they described as a “high-profile murder.”

The death also sent shockwaves through Russia’s pro-war commentariat which has burgeoned since Russia invaded Ukraine over a year ago. The online community is now asking why Tatarsky was targeted, and by whom.

Read more on the story here

— Holly Ellyatt

The husband of a woman Russian authorities have accused of assassinating pro-war blogger Vladlen Tatarsky said Monday he believes his wife has been framed.

Russian investigators detained Daria Trepova on Monday, accusing her of carrying a hollow bust containing a bomb into a cafe in St. Petersburg where she presented it to Tatarsky before it exploded, killing the prominent pro-Kremlin figure and injuring at least 30 others.

Trepova’s husband Dmitry Rylov said Monday he believes his wife was being framed and “did not completely understand the purpose” of the bust that she had presented to Tatarsky.

“I think my wife was framed,” he told STV News according to an NBC translation. “I’m pretty sure she would never have been able to do something like that by her own will. Yes, Daria and I really do not support the war in Ukraine, but we believe that such actions are unacceptable. I am absolutely sure that she would never have agreed to such a thing if she had known.”

Russia released a video of Trepova on Monday, possibly recorded under duress, in which she admitted taking the statuette into the cafe, but refused to say who gave it to her to do so.

“[Daria] believed that [the bust] was needed for something else,” Rylov said amid suggestions she may have thought it was intended as a listening device. some secretive things that would remain unnoticed, perhaps always,” he added.

Tatarsky’s death has caused a stir among pro-war commentators in Russia, although analysts at the Institute for the Study of War noted there hadn’t been a uniform response both to the death and the authorities’ response.

On Monday, Russian President Vladimir Putin awarded Tatarsky with the Order of Courage “for courage and bravery in doing his professional duty” as a “war correspondent.”

— Holly Ellyatt

Finland will formally become a member of the NATO defense alliance on Tuesday, the Finnish president’s office said in a Monday statement.

President Sauli Niinisto will travel to the NATO headquarters in Brussels on the occasion.

NATO Secretary-General Jens…