For full coverage of the crisis in Ukraine, visit Flashpoint Ukraine.
The latest developments in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. All times EDT:
9:31 a.m.: Russia’s Gazprom halted gas exports to neighboring Finland after Helsinki refused to agree to Russian demands to pay for Russian gas supplies in rubles because of Western sanctions imposed over the invasion of Ukraine, Reuters reported. The move comes days after Finland and Sweden decided to apply to join the NATO military alliance, a decision spurred by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
9:04 a.m.: Russia said it was banning entry to 963 Americans, including U.S. President Joe Biden, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and CIA chief William Burns, Reuters reported. The travel bans have only symbolic impact but form part of a continued downward spiral in Russia’s relations with the United States and its allies since its Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine.
8:31 a.m.: Ukraine’s ambassador to neighboring Poland, Andrii Deshchytsia, said his country is grateful for the welcome that Poles have given to millions of Ukrainians, but hopes the European Union will soon release billions of euros to Poland so that helping those fleeing the war does not come “at the cost of the Polish people,” The Associated Press reported. Deshchytsia said there have been no real social tensions in the three months since Ukrainians began crossing into Poland seeking safety, but he worries they could appear in the future given how much Poland has done, AP reported. Warsaw has extended free medical care, education and other social services to the Ukrainians, while more than 80% of them are being housed in private Polish homes, AP reported.
8:05 a.m.: While visiting Seoul, South Korea, President Joe Biden signed a $40 billion bill set to ensure a steady supply of weaponry and economic support for Ukraine in its fight against Russia, the White House said. The legislation, passed Thursday, includes $20 billion in military assistance, $8 billion in general economic support, $5 billion to address global food shortages that could result from the collapse of Ukrainian agriculture and more than $1 billion to help refugees.
7:32 a.m.: The Ukrainian government is using facial recognition software to identify Russian soldiers captured and dead. VOA’s Julie Taboh spoke with one software company CEO and an official with the Ukrainian national police about how the technology is contributing to the war effort.
5:58 a.m.: Al Jazeera reports that the U.K. wants to arm Moldova to protect it from any Russian threat. British Foreign Secretary Liz TRuss told The Telegraph newspaper that Russian President Vladimir Putin intended to form a “greater Russia.”
5:06 a.m.: The latest intelligence update from the U.K.’s defense ministry details the role of drones in the Ukraine conflict. They’ve played a pivotal role for both sides, the update says, though they remain “vulnerable to being shot down and to electronic jamming.” If Russia continues to lose drones at its current rate, the update says, it’ll affect its intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities.
Russia has been avoiding used manned aircraft over Ukrainian territory, the update says, because of Ukrainian air defenses.
4:07 a.m.: Reuters reports that representatives of several nations, including the United States, walked out of a trade ministers meeting in Bangkok to protest Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The ministers were at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting. Representatives from New Zealand, Japan, Australia, the United States and Canada walked out during the Russian representative’s remarks.
3:04 a.m.: Al Jazeera reports that Russia is considering opening its military to older recruits, specifically Russians older than 40 and foreigners older than 30 who would join the military as contract soldiers.
2:02 a.m.: In its latest assessment of the war in Ukraine, the Institute for the Study of War, a U.S. think tank, says Russian forces are digging in around Kharkiv and may be preparing for a major Ukrainian counter-offensive. Additionally, the update notes that Russia may be overstating the number of Ukrainians it captured at the Azovstal steel plant, either to make the victory sound more impressive or to maximize the number of Russian prisoners of war it hopes to get in exchange.
1:03 a.m.: Al Jazeera reports that Russia has removed the last bodies from the Mariupol theater it bombed in March. Ukrainian officials said that more than 1,300 people were hiding in the theater when it was hit and that some 300 died.
12:02 a.m.: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy took to Telegram to criticize Russia’s destruction of a cultural center in the city of Lazova, CNN reports.
The airstrike injured at least seven people, including a child, when it hit the “newly renovated House of Culture,” he wrote.
“The occupiers identified culture, education and humanity as their enemies,” he wrote. “They do not spare missiles or bombs for them. What is in the minds of people who choose such targets? Absolute evil, absolute stupidity.”
Some information in this report came from The Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse.