Ukraine war live updates: Kremlin critic sentenced to 25 years in jail; Putin and China’s defense minister hail military ties

The Kremlin claimed Monday that the U.S. had “never abandoned” attempts to spy on Russia and said a recent Pentagon document leak demonstrated this.

When the Kremlin’s press secretary Dmitry Peskov was asked whether the Kremlin is concerned about “the level of penetration of U.S. intelligence agencies into Russian structures” following a recent leak of purported intelligence collected by Washington, Peskov said:

“Our special services and counterintelligence units are performing their functions. The United States has never abandoned work and attempts to conduct intelligence activities with us. This is met with appropriate opposition, and in this case, our special services are doing their job,” Peskov told reporters on Monday, news agency Interfax reported.

Peskov’s comments come after a trove of Pentagon documents were leaked and published online, appearing to show intelligence Washington had collected on Russia, the war in Ukraine and other nations.

— Holly Ellyatt

Slovakia transferred 13 Soviet-era fighter jets to Ukraine, the country’s defense minister said Monday.

Slovak Defense Minister Jaroslav Nagy said on Twitter that “all 13 Slovak MIG-29 have been safely handed over to Ukrainian Air Force. Proud to be on the right side, doing the right thing to help protect lives. We Stand with Ukraine.”

The Slovak government approved the delivery of the jets to Ukraine in March, with several aircraft delivered last month. Poland has also offered MiG-29s to Ukraine.

— Holly Ellyatt

Outspoken Kremlin critic Vladimir Kara-Murza was jailed for a quarter of a century by a Moscow court on Monday, the harshest sentence of its kind since Russia invaded Ukraine, after it found him guilty of treason and other offences he denied.

Kara-Murza, 41, a father of three and an opposition politician who holds Russian and British passports, spent years speaking out against President Vladimir Putin and lobbied Western governments to impose sanctions on Russia and individual Russians for purported human rights violations.

State prosecutors, who had requested the court jail him for 25 years, had accused him of treason and of discrediting the Russian military after he criticized what Moscow calls its “special military operation” in Ukraine.

In a CNN interview broadcast hours before he was arrested, Kara-Murza had alleged that Russia was being run by a “regime of murderers.” He had also used speeches in the United States and across Europe to accuse Moscow of bombing civilian targets in Ukraine, a charge it has rejected.

In his final speech to the court last week, Kara-Murza had compared his own trial, which was held behind closed doors, to Josef Stalin’s show trials in the 1930s and had declined to ask the court to acquit him, saying he stood by and was proud of everything he had said.

— Reuters

Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu on Monday reported to President Vladimir Putin about drills conducted by the Pacific Fleet.

In footage broadcast on state television, Shoigu was shown saying that the drills included “imitation strikes on enemy navy groups” in the Pacific.

Putin responded by saying that snap checks had shown the Pacific Fleet, which is based in Far Eastern Russia, was at a high level of readiness, and that Russia’s priority was Ukraine.

The drills are occurring while Chinese Defence Minister Li Shangfu is visiting Moscow. On Sunday, he held a meeting with Putin.

— Reuters

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is beginning a tour of Latin America on Monday, with scheduled visits to Brazil, Venezuela, Nicaragua and Cuba.

The trip, which lasts until Friday, will see Russia’s top diplomat hold talks with the leaders and foreign ministers of those countries, Russia’s Foreign Ministry said.

It added that Lavrov has a “specific agenda aimed at strengthening mutually beneficial cooperation of our countries in the political, trade, economic, educational, humanitarian, cultural and other spheres,” the ministry said.

The key goal of Lavrov’s tour is to strengthen cooperation between the countries in the political, economic, trade and humanitarian and cultural spheres, it said.

“For us, Latin America is a friendly region, one of the centers of the formation of a multipolar world, with which Russia intends to maintain a dynamic dialogue, develop constructive cooperation, not subject to any dictate from outside,” the ministry said on Telegram.

Russia frequently promotes the concept of a “multipolar world” and criticizes the perceived hegemony of the West in global affairs. Since its invasion of Ukraine, Moscow has stepped up efforts to strengthen alliances and friendships abroad, such as with China, Brazil and India.

— Holly Ellyatt

Mine-clearing in Ukraine, an activity that is taking place in regions previously occupied by Russian forces in the northeast and south of Ukraine, could take at least a decade, Britain’s Ministry of Defense said Monday.

“Mine-related civilian casualties continue to be reported daily in Ukraine. The most affected areas are Kherson and Kharkiv oblasts [regions]: areas Russia has previously occupied,” the ministry said in an intelligence update on Twitter.

With the arrival of spring, and more people involved in agricultural work, the risk of civilian mine incidents will increase, the ministry warned.

“Over 750 mine related casualties among civilians have been reported since the start of the invasion – one in eight has involved a child. It will likely take at least a decade to clear Ukraine of mines,” the ministry said.

— Holly Ellyatt

Russian President Vladimir Putin met with China’s Defense Minister Li Shangfu on Sunday, marking the latest high-profile meeting between Russian and Chinese officials in recent months.

Footage of the meeting showed Putin shaking hands with Li and then sitting down at a table at which Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu was also seen.

“We are working actively through our military departments, regularly exchange useful information, work together in the field of military-technical cooperation, and hold joint exercises,” Putin said, Reuters reported.

Recent joint drills, he said, strengthened “the extremely trusting, strategic nature of our relations.”

Russia’s defense ministry said Friday that Li would make his first foreign trip to Russia on April 16-18 since his appointment to the post. The ministry said negotiations between Li and Shoigu would take place during the visit, which concludes Tuesday, and that the officials would discuss cooperation in the defense sphere and issues of global and regional security.

Putin’s latest meeting with a senior Chinese official comes almost a month after Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Moscow in March in which the leaders reaffirmed their strategic cooperation. Putin also met one of China’s top diplomats, Wang Yi, in February.

China’s State Council released a statement Sunday saying Beijing is willing to work with Russia to deepen “strategic communication between the two militaries, strengthen multilateral coordination and cooperation, and make new contributions to the maintenance of world and regional security and stability.”

— Holly Ellyatt

More than 100 Ukrainian prisoners of war have been released as part of a major Easter exchange with Russia, a top official said Sunday, as Orthodox Ukrainians marked the holiday for a second time since Moscow unleashed its full-scale war more than a year ago.

While celebrations were subdued because of security risks, with a curfew barring the faithful from customary all-night services, Ukrainian authorities and ordinary people shared messages of hope, linking the story of Jesus’ resurrection to their longing for peace and a Ukrainian victory.

Dozens of families had special reasons to rejoice, as presidential adviser Andriy Yermak announced that 130 soldiers, sailors, border guards and others captured by Moscow were on their way back home following a “big Easter prisoner exchange.”

Yermak said in a Telegram post on Sunday that those released included troops who fought near Bakhmut, the eastern mining city which has for months been the focus of Russia’s grinding offensive.

“The lives of our people are the highest value for us,” Yermak said, adding that Kyiv’s goal was to bring back all remaining POWs.

— The Associated Press