Russian military plane crashes on takeoff

A Russian military transport plane with 15 people on board crashed on Tuesday while taking off from an air base in western Russia, the Defence Ministry said.

It said the Il-76 aircraft with eight crew and seven passengers crashed in the Ivanovo region. It didn’t say whether there were any survivors.

Stanislav Voskresensky, the governor of Ivanovo, offered condolences to the victims’ families. He said there was no damage on the ground.

The Defence Ministry said in a statement that an engine fire during takeoff was the likely cause of the crash. It said a team of investigators flew to Ivanovo to conduct a probe.

Russian media broadcast a video showing the aircraft heading down with at least one of its engines ablaze.

The four-engine Il-76 is a heavy-lift transport plane that has been in service since the 1970s with the Soviet and then Russian air force.

Tuesday’s crash came on a day when the Defence Ministry reported dozens of attacks on Russia by Ukrainian drones. In the past, Ukrainian drones hit some military air bases deep inside Russia.

03:01 PM GMT

That’s all for today. Thanks for following the Telegraph’s live blog.

We’ll be back tomorrow with the latest updates on the war.

02:56 PM GMT

Ukraine starts checking LPG from EU, fearing Russian supply

Ukrainian energy customs have started inspections of imported liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) produced in the European Union by blending components, fearing that some of them may have come from Russia, the customs agency said on Tuesday.

Ukraine bans imports of products made in Russia, which invaded Ukraine in 2022.

“In case of receipt of information about goods produced by simple mixing, the components of which originate from the country of aggressor Russia, such goods will be banned for import into Ukraine,” the agency said on Facebook.

02:42 PM GMT

Denmark announces £260 million military aid package for Ukraine

Denmark will provide a new military aid package including Caesar artillery systems and ammunition to Ukraine worth around 2.3 billion Danish crowns (£260 million), the Danish Defence Ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.

02:23 PM GMT

French parliament to vote on Macron’s Ukraine strategy

French president Emmanuel Macron’s Ukraine strategy is to be put to a symbolic vote in parliament’s lower house on Tuesday as political tensions rage in the run-up to June’s European Parliament elections.

Macron has been seeking to hammer home the importance of greater support for Ukraine, which is running out of ammunition, insisting that Europe’s security is at stake.

Following a debate, the National Assembly will hold a non-binding vote on the government’s Ukraine strategy, including a bilateral security agreement signed by Mr Macron and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky last month.

With the symbolic parliament vote, the French president is forcing political parties to take a public stance on the conflict as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine stretches into its third year.

02:05 PM GMT

Vatican seeks to defuse pope’s ‘white flag’ comments

The Vatican secretary of state is seeking to defuse outrage over Pope Francis’ latest diplomatic foray, insisting in media interviews that a primary condition for negotiations to end the war in Ukraine is an end to Russia’s aggression and that any peace must be a “just peace.”

Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s chief diplomat, made the rounds with friendly Italian media the same day Kyiv summoned the Holy See ambassador to complain about the Pope’s comments that Ukraine should have the “courage of the white flag” to negotiate an end to the war.

Francis’ remarks to Swiss broadcaster RSI, recorded in early February but only aired on Saturday, elicited immediate criticism from Ukraine and its allies, even after the Vatican press office tried to redirect attention to the Pope’s remark in the interview that “negotiation is never a surrender.”

01:48 PM GMT

Russia says Ukrainian drone hit Belgorod city hall

A Ukrainian drone hit city hall in the Russian border city of Belgorod, injuring two people and blowing out the building’s windows, the regional governor said on Tuesday.

“In Belgorod, an enemy drone crashed into the city administration building,” governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said on Telegram.

01:16 PM GMT

Lawmakers set to sue EU leaders for ‘horse-trading’ with funds to Hungary

The European Parliament will sue the European Union’s executive for unblocking funds to Hungary while trying to persuade the country to drop its veto on aid to Ukraine last year, despite concerns about rule of law in Budapest, two lawmakers said.

The case centres on the European Commission’s decision to restore Hungary’s access to some 10.2 billion euros ($11.15 billion) in aid last December, while Budapest was blocking 50 billion euros in aid for Kyiv.

Despite the EU criticising Hungary for years for undercutting democratic checks and balances under Prime Minister Viktor Orban, the Commission said last year that Hungary had fulfilled the necessary rule of law conditions to access the funds.

12:46 PM GMT

Pro-Kyiv militia claims it has captured Russian border village

A group of Russian volunteer forces fighting with Ukraine have captured the village of Tyotkino inside Russia, the group said on Tuesday, after Moscow claimed to have pushed back attacks on two border regions.

“The settlement of Tyotkino in the Kursk region is entirely under the control of Russian liberation forces,” the Freedom of Russia Legion wrote on social media, claiming that the Russian military were withdrawing from the village.

12:23 PM GMT

Russia says it takes over village in Ukraine’s Donetsk region

Russian forces have taken control of the village of Nevelske in Ukraine’s Donetsk region, the RIA news agency cited Russia’s defence ministry as saying on Tuesday.

Ukraine’s general staff in a routine morning update from the front line said that Russian attacks on the area of Nevelske had been repelled.

12:01 PM GMT

Schools closed in Russian city of Kursk after attack

Schools in the Russian city of Kursk are switching to online classes, the TASS news agency cited local authorities as saying on Tuesday, after an attempted Ukrainian incursion into the region.

Ukraine-based armed groups claimed on Tuesday they had crossed the border into Russia’s Kursk and Belgorod regions, while Russia said it had prevented such incursions. The Kursk region also came under attack from Ukrainian drones overnight.

11:37 AM GMT

Russian military transport plane crashes on takeoff

A Russian military transport plane with 15 people on board crashed on Tuesday while taking off from an air base in western Russia, the Defense Ministry said.

The ministry said the Il-76 aircraft crashed in the Ivanovo region with eight crew and seven passengers on board. It did not say whether there were any survivors.

The ministry’s statement said that an engine fire during takeoff was the likely cause of the crash.

The four-engine Il-76 is a heavy-lift transport plane that has been in service since the 1970s with the Soviet and then Russian air force.

11:07 AM GMT

EU leaders to mull measures against Iran over Russian missile transfers

European Union leaders are ready to respond with new and significant measures against Iran amid reports that Tehran may transfer ballistic missiles to Russia for use against Ukraine, draft conclusions of a summit to be held next week said.

“The European Council calls on third parties to immediately cease providing material support to Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine,” said the draft text, seen by Reuters.

09:48 AM GMT

UN: No safety issue from barred staff at Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant

UN nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi said on Tuesday there is no direct safety issue from Ukrainian staff being barred from accessing the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which Ukraine has called a “grave concern”.

“The situation is not sustainable in the long term. At the same time, in the present configuration in shutdown, the staff that is there can do the job,” Mr Grossi, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief, said in an interview with Reuters.

He responded: “Not directly” when asked whether there were any safety issues arising from the staff who are banned from the plant.

The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, formerly controlled by Ukrainian state-owned company Energoatom, was seized by Russian forces during its invasion of Ukraine two years ago and continues to be on the frontline of the war.

09:14 AM GMT

Russia’s NORSI refinery damage is ‘serious’

The main crude distillation unit (AVT-6) at Russia’s NORSI refinery is damaged which means that at least half of the refinery’s production is halted, industry sources told Reuters.

08:49 AM GMT

Russian volunteers fighting for Ukraine claim village attack

Russian volunteers fighting for Ukraine said on Tuesday they had launched a cross-border attack on Russian territory and were assaulting a village on the border between the warring countries.

The Freedom of Russia Legion said on social media its forces had “destroyed” a Russian armoured military vehicle in the village of Tyotkino in the Kursk region. The Russian governor of Kursk confirmed the attack but denied any Ukrainian “breakthrough”.

08:27 AM GMT

Moscow: Russia destroys 25 Ukraine-launched drones overnight

Russia’s air defence systems destroyed 25 Ukraine-launched drones overnight, RIA state news agency reported, citing Russia’s defence ministry.

08:10 AM GMT

Watch: Fallout from drone attack on Russia last night

07:59 AM GMT

South Korean held in Russia for spying was a ‘missionary’

A South Korean citizen arrested in Russia on suspicion of espionage was a missionary who supported North Korean labourers based in Russia’s Far East, South Korean media reports said on Tuesday.

The man, named as Baek Won-soon, was transferred from Vladivostok to Moscow and is accused of handing over classified information to foreign intelligence agencies, Russian state news agency Tass reported.

Mr Baek, 53, was described as a “deeply religious” person who was also registered as the founder of a travel company based in Vladivostok, according to Tass.

The agency said it was the first time a South Korean has been detained in Russia for alleged espionage.

07:42 AM GMT

Biden to reassure Polish leaders as Ukraine fears mount

US President Joe Biden hosts Poland’s President Andrzej Duda and Prime Minister Donald Tusk at the White House on Tuesday to try to reassure key Nato ally Warsaw of Washington’s support after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Mr Duda urged Nato allies before the visit to up their spending in response to growing fears about Moscow’s aggression, and will reportedly ask Biden to send more US troops to the alliance’s eastern flank with Russia.

Alarm is growing among US allies as Congress blocks aid for Ukraine, and after Biden’s election rival Donald Trump threatened to cut funding for Kyiv if elected while encouraging Russia to invade Nato countries that fail to pay their dues.

07:24 AM GMT

Vatican says Russian aggression must end for peace in Ukraine

The first condition for any negotiations to end the war in Ukraine is that Russia should halt its aggression, the second in command to Pope Francis said in a newspaper interview on Tuesday.

Ukraine’s foreign ministry summoned the papal nuncio on Monday to express “disappointment” with previous comments by Francis that Ukraine should “show the courage of the white flag” and open talks with Russia to end the two-year-old war.

Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s secretary of state, told Corriere della Sera daily on Tuesday that the Vatican was pressing for a ceasefire and “first of all it should be the aggressors who stop firing”.

Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.