Russia-Ukraine live updates: Suspect arrested in St. Petersburg cafe blast that killed pro-war blogger

(NEW YORK) — More than a year after Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale invasion of neighboring Ukraine, the countries are fighting for control of areas in eastern and southern Ukraine.

Ukrainian troops have liberated nearly 30,000 square miles of their territory from Russian forces since the invasion began on Feb. 24, 2022, but Putin appeared to be preparing for a long and bloody war.

Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:

Apr 03, 5:11 AM EDT
Suspect arrested in St. Petersburg explosion, report says

A suspect in a St. Petersburg cafe blast that killed a Russian military blogger on Sunday has been arrested, Inferfax reported.

The Russian Investigative Committee said on Telegram that Darya Trepova was arrested on suspicion of involvement, the Russian wire service reported.

-ABC News’ Joe Simonetti

Apr 02, 5:21 PM EDT
Russia to move tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus’ western border

Russia plans to move tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus to the country’s western borders, Boris Gryzlov, the Russian ambassador to Belarus, said Sunday.

Gryzlov’s announcement comes just three days after Russia and the United States clashed in the United Nations over the Kremlin’s plans to deploy tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus. U.S. officials denounced the move as a desperate attempt by Russia to avoid military defeat and “threaten the world with nuclear apocalypse.”

Gryzlov said in an address aired on the Belarusian STV channel that tactical nuclear weapons “will be moved to the western borders of our Union State and will increase the possibilities for ensuring our security.”

The western border of Belarus is shared by Poland, a NATO country supporting Ukraine. Russian forces have used Belarus as a staging ground for the war in Ukraine.

“This will be done despite the noise in Europe and the United States,” Gryzlov said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy condemned the decision and slammed Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, saying he “no longer decides which weapons are on his territory.”

“And does (Vladimir) Putin threaten the world? Of course, if Ukraine does not resist, it will fall, Putin will move on, we have emphasized this many times,” Zelenskyy said. “With the help of our friends and partners, our army will stand firm and win what is rightfully ours. Victory and our independence.”

-ABC News’ Will Gretsky

Apr 02, 4:20 PM EDT
Zelenskyy condemns deadly Russian missile strike on Kostiantynivka

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy condemned a Russian missile strike on Sunday in the eastern Ukraine city of Kostiantynivka that killed six people and injured at least 11.

In an address to his country Sunday night, Zelenskyy called Russia an “evil state” for targeting residential buildings in Kostiantynivka with long-range missiles.

“The evil state must be defeated,” Zelenskyy said.

Kostiantynivka, which is close to Bakhmut, is being used as a second-line staging area for Ukrainian troops holding the line on that part of the front.

Zelenskyy said the fighting in Bakhmut was “especially hot” on Sunday.

He predicted a day would come when Ukraine will “celebrate the last Russians being killed or driven out of currently Russian occupied territories, including Donetsk, Luhansk and Kherson Oblasts, as well as Crimea.”

-ABC News’ Edward Szekeres

Apr 02, 5:45 PM EDT
St. Petersburg bomb attack kills pro-war blogger

A top Russian pro-war blogger has been killed in a bomb attack on a cafe in Russia, according to police.

The explosion on Sunday tore through a cafe in St. Petersburg, killing Vladlen Tatarsky, one of the best-known of the Russian military bloggers who have become influential during the war in Ukraine.

At least 30 other people were injured in the blast, according to the Ministry of Health. Video circulating online appeared to capture the aftermath, showing bloodied people emerging from the heavily damaged cafe.

The Russian Interior Ministry said an explosion has occurred in a cafe on the city’s Universitetskaya Embankment.

“One person was killed in the incident, it was military correspondent Vladlen Tatarsky, the Russian Interior Ministry press center told reporters on Sunday.

Denis Pushilin, acting head of the Russian-backed Donetsk People’s Republic, issued a statement describing Tatarsky as “a great patriot” of the Donbass region of eastern Ukraine and Russia. Pushilin blamed the attack on the Kyiv regime, calling it a terrorist regime.

“A man with a difficult fate, Vladlen earned the respect of his comrades-in-arms because he lived and worked for the sake of truth and justice, for the sake of victory,” Pushilin said of Tatarsky. “He managed to fight, and in the status of a military correspondent to make his contribution.”

Pushilin said Tatarsky was to be awarded a medal “for the liberation of Mariupol” in eastern Ukraine.

It was the most serious bomb attack on a pro-war Russian figure inside Russia since the high-profile assassination of the Daria Dugina, the daughter of the ultra-nationalist Alexander Dugina, who was killed in a car bombing last year.

Tatarsky was a Russian ultra-nationalist and one of the best-known military bloggers, who strongly supported the war in Ukraine. He had also criticized the execution of the war by Russia’s military command.

Tatarsky had become a significant source of information for how the war was being fought on the Russian side.

His killing will likely set off speculation on whether Ukraine or Russia was behind his killing, similar to the Dugina episode.

In the Dugina case, U.S. intelligence sources eventually told The New York Times that Ukraine was behind the attack.

-News Patrick Reevell

Apr 02, 4:20 PM EDT
Zelenskyy condemns deadly Russian missile strike on Kostiantynivka

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy condemned a Russian missile strike on Sunday in the eastern Ukraine city of Kostiantynivka that killed six people and injured at least 11.

In an address to his country Sunday night, Zelenskyy called Russia an “evil state” for targeting residential buildings in Kostiantynivka with long-range missiles.

“The evil state must be defeated,” Zelenskyy said.

Kostiantynivka, which is close to Bakhmut, is being used as a second-line staging area for Ukrainian troops holding the line on that part of the front.

Zelenskyy said the fighting in Bakhmut was “especially hot” on Sunday.

He predicted a day would come when Ukraine will “celebrate the last Russians being killed or driven out of currently Russian occupied territories, including Donetsk, Luhansk and Kherson Oblasts, as well as Crimea.”

-ABC News’ Edward Szekeres

Apr 02, 1:53 PM EDT
St. Petersburg bomb attack kills pro-war blogger

A top Russian pro-war blogger has been killed in a bomb attack on a cafe in Russia, according to police.

The explosion on Sunday tore through a cafe in St. Petersburg, killing Vadim Tatarsky, one of the best-known of the Russian military bloggers who have become influential during the war in Ukraine.

At least 16 other people were injured in the blast, according to Russian police. Video circulating online appeared to capture the aftermath, showing bloodied people emerging from the heavily damaged cafe.

The Russian Interior Ministry said an explosion has occurred in a cafe on the city’s Universitetskaya Embankment.

“One person was killed in the incident, it was military correspondent Vladlen Tatarsky. Sixteen people were injured and are being examined by medics,” the Russian Interior Ministry press center told reporters on Sunday.

It was the most serious bomb attack on a pro-war Russian figure inside Russia since the high-profile assassination of the Daria Dugina, the daughter of the ultra-nationalist Alexander Dugina, who was killed in a car bombing last year.

Tatarsky was a Russian ultra-nationalist and one of the best-known military bloggers, who strongly supported the war in Ukraine. He had also criticized the execution of the war by Russia’s military command.

Tatarsky had become a significant source of information for how the war was being fought on the Russian side.

His killing will likely set off speculation on whether Ukraine or Russia was behind his killing, similar to the Dugina episode.

In the Dugina case, U.S. intelligence sources eventually told The New York Times that Ukraine was behind the attack.

-News Patrick Reevell

Apr 02, 12:26 PM EDT
6 Ukrainian civilians killed, 8 injured in Russian missile strike

At least six civilians were killed and eight others were injured Sunday when Russian missiles slammed into houses and apartment buildings in an eastern Ukrainian city, Ukrainian officials said.

The attack occurred in downtown Kostiantynivka, a city in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine, the site of the war’s fiercest fighting.

Andriy Yermak, deputy head of the Ukrainian Presidential Office, said at least six people were killed in the attack.

Three Russian S-300 long-range missiles and four other rockets hit homes and apartment buildings in Kostiantynivka, according to Pavlo Kyrylenko, the regional governor.

Kostiantynivka is about eight miles west of the embattled town of Bakhmut, currently the main hotspot of the war.

-ABC News’ Tatiana Rymarenko

Apr 02, 11:33 AM EDT
Blinken speaks to Russian counterpart about arrested US journalist

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged the Kremlin to release imprisoned Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich in a phone call Sunday with his Russian counterpart, according to a State Department spokesperson.

Blinken spoke with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, conveying the United States’ “grave concern” over the “unacceptable detention” of a U.S. citizen, according to Vedant Patel, a deputy spokesperson for the State Department.

“The secretary called for his immediate release. Secretary Blinken further urged the Kremlin to immediately release wrongfully detained U.S. citizen Paul Whelan,” said Patel, referring to the American held in Russia on espionage charges since 2018.

According to a read out of the phone call released by the Kremlin, Lavrov emphasized that Gershkovich “was taken red-handed while trying to obtain classified information, collecting data constituting a state secret under the guise of journalistic status.”

“In the light of the established facts of illegal activity of a U.S. citizen, of whose detention the U.S. Embassy in Moscow was notified in accordance with the established procedure, his further fate will be determined by the court,” the Kremlin said in a statement.

The Kremlin said that during the conversation, Lavrov emphasized officials in Washington and the Western media are “escalating the hype with the clear intention of giving this case a political coloring.”

Blinken and Lavrov also spoke of the “importance of creating an environment that permits diplomatic missions to carry out their work,” according to Patel.

Apr 02, 9:27 AM EDT
World media groups demand Kremlin release Wall Street Journal reporter

More than three dozen of the world’s top news media organizations are calling on Russia to release Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich.

The news groups joined the Wall Street Journal and the Committee to Protect Journalists, in penning a letter to Anatoly Antonov, Russia’s ambassador to the United States, writing Gershkovich’s “is a journalist, not a spy.” The media organizations — including the Associated Press, New York Times, the Washington Post and The Times of London — wrote that Kershkovich’s “unwarranted and unjust arrest” represents “a significant escalation” of anti-press actions by the Russian government.

“Russia is sending the message that journalism within your borders is criminalized and that foreign correspondents seeking to report from Russia do not enjoy the benefits of the rule of law,” the letter reads.

The media groups urged Russia to immediately give Gershkovich access to a lawyer hired by the Wall Street Journal and allow him to communicate with his family.

The Kremlin has yet to publicly respond to the letter.

-ABC News’ Patrick Reevell

Mar 31, 1:09 PM EDT
Finland set to join NATO in ‘coming days,’ Stoltenberg says

Finland will formally join NATO in the “coming days,” after the country was able to clear its final hurdle, according to NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.

“Their membership will make Finland safer and NATO stronger. Finland has highly capable forces, advanced capabilities and strong democratic institutions. So Finland will bring a lot to our alliance,” Stoltenberg said in a statement Friday.

Turkey was the last of the 30 NATO allies to approve Finland’s bid to join the alliance.

Mar 30, 4:22 PM EDT
6 missiles fired at Kharkiv

Russia just struck Kharkiv in eastern Ukraine with multiple missiles, Ukrainian officials said Thursday night.

Local officials in Kharkiv said Russia fired six Soviet-era S-300 surface-to-air missiles.

ABC News reporters heard explosions outside the city center and saw Ukrainian air defense active just before and during the attacks.

There are currently no reports of casualties or damage to infrastructure as a result of the strikes in Ukraine’s second-largest city.

There are also reports of Russian strikes in the Dnipro region.

-ABC News’ Tom Soufi Burridge

Mar 30, 1:37 PM EDT
Russia to enlist 147,000 soldiers in April

Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on Thursday ordering a spring conscription. Russia will call up 147,000 people to join the Russian Armed Forces from April 1 to April 15.

-ABC News’ Will Gretsky

Mar 30, 11:10 AM EDT
Russia preparing to start another soldier recruitment, UK says

Russian media reporting suggests authorities are preparing to start a major military recruitment aiming to sign up an additional 400,000 troops, the United Kingdom’s Defense Ministry assessed.

Russia is presenting the campaign as a drive for volunteer, professional personnel, rather than a new, mandatory mobilization. There is a realistic possibility that in practice this distinction will be blurred, and that regional authorities will try to meet their allocated recruitment targets by coercing men to join up, UK officials said.

Russian authorities have likely selected a supposedly ‘volunteer model’ to meet their personnel shortfall in order to minimize domestic dissent. It is highly unlikely that the campaign will attract 400,000 genuine volunteers, according to UK officials.

However, rebuilding Russia’s combat power in Ukraine will require more than just personnel; Russia needs more munitions and military equipment supplies than it currently has available, UK officials said.

Mar 30, 6:22 AM EDT
WSJ ‘vehemently denies’ spying allegation against reporter

The Wall Street Journal said on Thursday that it “vehemently denies” the spying allegations brought by Russia’s intelligence service against its reporter.

“The Wall Street Journal vehemently denies the allegations from the FSB and seeks the immediate release of our trusted and dedicated reporter, Evan Gershkovich,” a spokesperson for the WSJ said in a statement to ABC News. “We stand in solidarity with Evan and his family.”

Mar 30, 4:24 AM EDT
WSJ reporter detained in Russia on spying charge

Russia’s FSB intelligence agency said on Thursday it had detained a journalist working for The Wall Street Journal on spying charges.

Russian state media cited an FSB statement saying Evan Gershkovich was detained in Ekaterinburg, a city in central Russia, and accusing him of collecting “state secrets” on an enterprise belonging to Russia’s military industrial complex on behalf of the United States.

A criminal case has been opened against him, the officials said.

“It is established that Evan Gershkovich, acting on the instruction of the American side, was collecting information consisting of state secrets, about the activity of one of the enterprises of the Russian military industrial complex. He was arrested in Ekaterinburg during an attempt to receive secret information,” Russian media said, quoting FSB officials.

Earlier reports from local media said that Gershkovich had been in Ekaterinburg reporting on the Wagner private military company.

Gershkovich is a reporter for the WSJ covering Russia, Ukraine and the former Soviet Union. He previously reported for Agence France-Presse and The Moscow Times, according to his WSJ profile. He also served as a news assistant at The New York Times.

Mar 28, 4:45 PM EDT
US will support special tribunal to try ‘crime of aggression’ against Russia

The U.S. will support the creation of a special tribunal to prosecute top Kremlin officials for Russia’s aggression toward Ukraine, State Department officials said Tuesday, marking a significant shift for the Biden administration and a notable step toward outlining what accountability on the international stage might look like after the conflict.

A department spokesperson said the administration envisioned the tribunal would take the form of an international court that is “rooted in Ukraine’s judicial system” but ideally located in another European country.

The spokesperson added that such a mechanism would work to “facilitate broader international support and demonstrate Ukraine’s leadership in ensuring accountability for the crime of aggression” as well as “maximize the chances of achieving meaningful accountability for the crime of aggression.”

Ukraine and other Western countries have long called for a special tribunal, but until now, the U.S. has not publicly declared if it would support the creation of a new structure.

Mar 27, 12:21 PM EDT
Two dead, 29 hurt in Russian missile strike on Sloviansk

At least two people were killed and 29 were injured Monday morning when a pair of long-range Russian missiles slammed into buildings in a city in eastern Ukraine, Ukrainian officials said.

The two S-300 Russian missiles hit administrative and office buildings, and private homes in Sloviansk, according to Pavlo Kyrylenko, the regional governor.

Sloviansk is in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine, where heavy fighting has been waged since the start of the war.

The missiles struck the city around 10:30 a.m. local time, Kyrylenko said.

He said the town of Druzhkivka in the Donetsk region was also targeted in Monday’s missile attacks. Kyrylenko said a Russian missile “almost completely destroyed” an orphanage in Druzhkivka, but there were no immediate reports of casualties.

“Another day that began with terrorism by the Russian Federation,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a statement.

Zelenskyy said Ukraine “will not forgive the torturing of our people.”

“All Russian terrorists will be defeated,” Zelenskyy said. “Everyone involved in this aggression will be held to account.”

Mar 26, 1:47 PM EDT
Ukrainian drone injures 3 inside Russia

Three people were injured in an explosion in the Kireevsky district of the Tula region on Sunday, Yekaterina Makarova, press secretary of the region’s Ministry of Health, told Interfax.

Russian authorities and law enforcement agencies said a Ukrainian drone with ammunition caused the explosion in the town far from the two countries’ border.

Kireevsk is about 180 miles from the border with Ukraine and 110 miles south of Moscow.

The Russian state-run news agency Tass reported authorities identified the drone as a Ukrainian Tu-141. The Latvia-based Russian news outlet Meduza reported that the blast left a crater about 50 feet in diameter and 16 feet deep.

-ABC News’ Anastasia Bagaeva