Russia-Ukraine war live: Finland to officially join Nato; Russia drone strikes hit Odesa port | Ukraine

This is the latest news summary from Suspilne, Ukraine’s state broadcaster:

At night, the Russian Federation attacked Ukraine from the south with 17 “Shahed” drones: 14 of them were destroyed by air defence forces. In the Odesa region, a business was hit, there were no casualties.

In the morning, Russian troops shelled Kupyansk in the Kharkiv region. As a result of the impact, an economic building caught fire, the state emergency service reported. On 3 April, one man was injured as a result of shelling in the Chuhuiv district.

During the day, Russian troops shelled the Kherson region 61 times: ten shells were aimed at a residential quarter and the territory of a medical facility, one person died.

In Donetsk region, four people were killed by shelling of the Russian army last night, two in Toretsk, one each in Avdiivka and Torske. Three more residents of the region were injured.

Suspilne, Ukraine’s state broadcaster, is reporting that overnight there has been shelling in the Sumy region – specifically in the communities of Seredyna-Buda and Esmansk. It reports “there are injuries and damage”, citing the regional authority. The claims have not been independently verified.

The UK Ministry of Defence has posted its daily update, in which it says Russia may be looking to sponsor and develop alternatives to Wagner – private military companies that could eventually replace Wagner.

“This takes place in the context of the high-profile feud between the Russian Ministry of Defence and the 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 power.”

Ukrainian defence forces destroyed 14 of 17 Iranian-made Shahed drones Russia launched overnight, Ukraine’s military has said, with 13 drones destroyed over the Odesa region in the country’s south-west.

“In total, up to 17 launches of UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) attacks were recorded, presumably from the eastern coast area of the Sea of Azov,” the command said in a statement on the Telegram messaging app.

Ukraine’s South military command said one drone hit an enterprise in the Odesa region, causing a fire, which was eliminated by the morning.

“According to preliminary information, there were no human losses,” the command said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has given his consent to transfer 94.8bn roubles ($1.21bn) to Shell for its stake in the Far East Sakhalin-2 gas project, Russian daily Kommersant reported.

Russian gas company Novatek has received Putin’s consent to transfer the money to Shell, the newspaper reported citing sources familiar with the matter.

Novatek said on Monday it had submitted an application to acquire a stake in Sakhalin Energy, the operator of the Sakahlin-2 gas project.

So, why does Finland’s ascension into Nato matter?

First, Finland’s Nato membership will double the length of the alliance’s border with Russia, with which Finland shares a 1,300 km border. It has also happened extraordinarily fast – completing the ratification in well under a year still makes this the fastest membership process in the alliance’s recent history.

Joining Nato places Finland under the alliance’s Article Five, the collective defence pledge that an attack on one member “shall be considered an attack against them all”.

If one of the allies were to invoke the article, and the other allies are unanimous in agreeing that the member is indeed under attack, each will take “such action as it deems necessary, including the use of armed force, to restore and maintain the security of the North Atlantic area.”

During the cold war, this principle translated as an effective US security guarantee for smaller allies facing the implied threat of the Soviet Union and its Warsaw Pact allies in Europe.

Russian drones struck the strategic Ukrainian port of Odesa, local authorities said early this morning, adding that “damage” had been recorded.

“The enemy has just struck Odesa and the Odesa district with attack UAVs,” local authorities said in a statement on Facebook, referring to unmanned aerial vehicles.

“There is damage,” the statement said without providing further details.

Citing the head of the Odesa district military administration, Yuriy Kruk, the statement said Ukraine’s air defence forces were at work and warned of a possible second wave of attacks.

No other details were immediately provided.

Finland to officially join Nato

Jon Henley

Russia has said it will bolster its defences near its 1,300km border with Finland after the Nato secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, announced that the Nordic country would formally join the transatlantic defence alliance on Tuesday.

The accession marks the end of an accelerated process that began last May, when Finland and neighbouring Sweden abandoned decades of military nonalignment to seek security as Nato members after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Turkey last week became the last of the alliance’s 30 member states to ratify Finland’s application, but Turkey and Hungary continue to hold up Sweden’s bid. Stockholm said last week it was not sure it would join in time for a planned Nato summit in July.

“Tomorrow we will welcome Finland as the 31st member of Nato, making Finland safer and our alliance stronger,” Stoltenberg said in Brussels on Monday. “We will raise the Finnish flag for the first time here at Nato headquarters.”

Ankara and Helsinki would hand their official texts to the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, on Tuesday, at which point Finland would become a Nato member, he said, describing the moment as “historic”.

Hello, this is the Guardian’s continuing live coverage of the war in Ukraine. My name is Helen Sullivan and I’ll be bringing you the latest news as it happens.

Today Finland will officially join Nato. The alliance will welcome Finland as its 31st member in a flag-raising ceremony at Nato headquarters on the outskirts of Brussels.

And Russian drones struck the strategic Ukrainian port of Odesa, local authorities said in the early hours of Tuesday, adding that “damage” had been recorded.

More on these stories shortly. In the meantime, here are the key recent developments:

• Ukraine has said Russian forces are “very far” from capturing the eastern town of Bakhmut and that fighting raged around the city administration building where the Wagner mercenary group claims to have raised the Russian flag. Six civilians were killed and eight wounded in Russian shelling of Kostiantynivka near Bakhmut, a senior Ukrainian official said.
• Former US secretary of state Mike Pompeo visited Ukraine on Monday and said he would work towards Washington supplying F-16 fighter jets and long-range missiles for the country’s war against Russia. Asked whether he would back providing Ukraine with F-16 fighter jets and long-range missiles Pompeo said: “Yes. And the training and the software and all the things needed to actually protect and defend your own land.”
• Pompeo’s visit coincides with discussion in the United States around how much further support should be given to Ukraine. Washington has already provided $30bn in military aid since the beginning of what Moscow calls its “special military operation”.
• Russian police have arrested a woman suspected of delivering a bomb that killed a prominent pro-war Russian military blogger in a blast in a cafe in central St Petersburg on Sunday. Vladlen Tatarsky, whose real name was Maxim Fomin, was killed by a bomb blast as he hosted a discussion with other pro-war commentators at a cafe on the banks of the Neva River in the historic heart of the city. Police said they had identified a woman called Darya Trepova as the suspect and that she was arrested in a flat in St Petersburg after a search on Monday morning.
• The West is trying to put a wedge between Russia and China’s friendship, Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said in an interview. Lavrov also said that the EU had “lost’ Russia and that Moscow may get tough with Europe if need be.
• Russia’s commissioner for children’s rights, who is wanted by the international criminal court on war crimes charges arising in Ukraine, is likely to brief an informal meeting of the UN security council, according to a note seen by Reuters.
• Zelenskiy has paid tribute to the courage of nearly 400 villagers in north Ukraine who were held in a school basement under Russian occupation for 27 days before they were set free a year ago. The Ukrainian leader travelled to Yahidne on Monday, where he gave a speech recalling how villagers were kept captive in a space of less than 200 sq metres during the first month of Russia’s February 2022 invasion.
• Zelenskiy is scheduled to visit Poland on Wednesday for talks with his Polish counterpart, Andrzej Duda. Zelenskiy will be accompanied by his wife, Olena Zelenska, during his first official visit to Warsaw since Russia’s invasion 13 months ago. Zelenskiy is also expected to hold talks with Poland’s prime minister, Mateusz Morawiecki.
• Poland has already delivered the first batch of Soviet-era MiG-29 fighter jets to Ukraine, according to the Polish presidential office’s head of international policy, Marcin Przydacz. He did not specify how many jets had been transferred. Poland’s president, Andrzej Duda, last month said Warsaw would hand over the first four MiG-29 to Ukraine.
• Evan Gershkovich, the US journalist arrested on espionage charges in Russia last week, has appealed against his detention through his lawyers, according to a report. The Nato secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, said Gershkovich’s arrest was “of concern” and called for his “immediate release”. The US government is “pushing hard” for the release of Evan Gershkovich, the White House said on Monday.