Connect with us

World

Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 1,133

Published

on

Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 1,133

These are the key events on day 1,133 of Russia’s war on Ukraine.

These are the key events from Tuesday, April 1:

Fighting

  • Ukraine’s Air Force reported that the country had experienced its first night free of attack by Russian drones since December, though Moscow had launched two cruise missiles, which were successfully shot down. It was not immediately known why Russia had not launched drone attacks.
  • More than 10,700 combat drones and decoy drones – which are intended to draw fire from Ukrainian air defences – have been launched by Russia since the start of the year, Ukraine said.
  • The Russian Ministry of Defence said its forces took control of the village of Rozlyv in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region. Ukraine’s military said Russian forces had launched five attacks on Rozlyv and the nearby village of Kostiantynopil, but did not acknowledge whether Rozlyv had fallen into Russian hands. The Ukrainian General Staff said late on Monday that three battles were still going on in the area.
  • DeepState, a Ukrainian blog that tracks the 1,000km (600-mile) front line between Russia and Ukraine, reported Russian advances over the past 24 hours near Rozlyv, as well as heavy fighting further east near the contested town of Toretsk.
  • The governor of Ukraine’s Zaporizhia region, Ivan Fedorov, said Russian shelling killed one person in a front-line settlement that he did not identify.
  • Ukrainian officials in the Dnipropetrovsk region said Russian shelling injured three people in the town of Nikopol.
  • The acting governor of Russia’s Rostov region, Yury Slyusar, said Ukrainian drones damaged two high-rise buildings in Taganrog city. He said 85 residents were evacuated from one of the buildings.
  • Russia advanced 240 sq km (93 sq miles) into Ukrainian territory in March, marking a slowdown for four months in a row, according to data from the United States-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW). Moscow’s advances slowed each month since peaking at 725 sq km (279 sq miles) in November 2024, ISW data shows. Russia took nearly 150 sq km (57.9 sq miles) less in March than in February. Despite these slowdowns, the last 12 months have been marked by Russian troops advancing in Ukraine.
  • Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha told a news conference that tens of thousands of people in southern Ukraine’s Kherson were left without power after Russian strikes damaged a power facility.
The abandoned town of Marinka, in a Russian-occupied area of Ukraine’s Donetsk region, on April 1, 2025 [Alexander Ermochenko/Reuters]

Ceasefire

  • German Minister for Foreign Affairs Annalena Baerbock said that “due to the deadlock” between the US and Russia on forging a ceasefire deal, support by European allies for Ukraine in its war against Moscow was “absolutely crucial”.
  • Russia cannot accept US proposals to end the war in Ukraine in their current form because they do not address problems Moscow regards as having caused the conflict, Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said. He suggested that Moscow and Washington have so far been unable to bridge differences which Russian President Vladimir Putin raised more than two weeks ago when he said US ceasefire proposals needed reworking.
  • Senior officials in the administration of US President Donald Trump discussed in recent days the likelihood that the US will be unable to secure a Ukraine peace deal in the next few months and are drawing up new plans to pressure both Kyiv and Moscow, two US officials familiar with the matter told the Reuters news agency. White House and US State Department officials acknowledge that Putin is actively resisting Washington’s attempts to strike a lasting peace accord and have discussed what, if any, economic or diplomatic punishments could push Russia closer to a deal, the sources said.
  • Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy again accused Russia of violating recent ceasefire agreements mediated by the US and called for sanctions on Moscow.
  • Russia’s Defence Ministry likewise accused Ukraine of launching new drone attacks on energy facilities in Russia’s Belgorod region and in the Russian-occupied part of Ukraine’s Zaporizhia region.
  • Half of the US Senate – 25 Republicans and 25 Democrats – joined together to propose sanctions that would be imposed on Russia if it refuses to engage in good-faith negotiations for peace with Ukraine.

Aid

  • Zelenskyy said he hopes Germany’s presumptive next chancellor, Friedrich Merz, will approve the delivery of Taurus cruise missiles to bolster Ukraine’s defence against Russia. Outgoing Chancellor Olaf Scholz had firmly opposed sending Taurus missiles, citing fears of escalating violence.
  • Zelenskyy said a closed-door meeting with military officials from several partner countries will take place on Friday to further discuss the possible deployment of foreign troops to Ukraine as part of future security guarantees.
  • Ukraine has received another $3.8bn in financial support from the European Union, Kyiv said.

Sanctions

  • The value of Russian assets frozen in Switzerland since the start of Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine has risen by nearly $2bn in the past year to more than $8bn, the Swiss government said.

Regional security

  • Polish authorities said they charged a 47-year-old Ukrainian citizen with working for Russian intelligence after he was discovered last month conducting reconnaissance of military facilities in Poland.
  • Sweden, where authorities have warned that the country should prepare for the risk of war, has announced a 100-million krona ($10m) investment to check and renovate its civil defence shelters. Sweden has 64,000 defence bunkers with space overall for about 7 million people. The move comes as Sweden and other European nations have announced plans to step up defence spending in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and doubts about Trump’s commitment to NATO.
  • Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo said the country plans to withdraw from the international treaty banning antipersonnel mines, the latest signatory moving to ditch the ban over threats from Russia.
  • France said it will deliver several hundred Mistral surface-to-air missiles to Denmark, as French President Emmanuel Macron and Denmark’s King Frederik X pledged a “stronger” Europe. The move comes as Denmark has sought European backing to counter Trump’s threats to take over Greenland.
  • The United Kingdom government said that anyone working in the UK for the Russian state will have to register on a new list launching in July or face jail. UK Minister of State Security Dan Jarvis told parliament that Russia would be subject to the most stringent restrictions of the Foreign Influence Registration Scheme.

Diplomacy

  • Chinese President Xi Jinping is to be the guest of honour when Russia marks the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II with the annual Victory Day parade in Moscow’s Red Square on May 9, Putin said.
  • Putin received the wanted leader of Bosnia’s ethnic Serbs, Milorad Dodik, in the Kremlin, a day after Dodik had announced a visit to Moscow.
  • Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov discussed with his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, the situation on the Korean Peninsula, Iran’s nuclear programme, the state of affairs in Central Asia, as well as the conflict in Ukraine and the need for a lasting peace agreement, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Moscow said.
  • France’s new ambassador to Russia arrived in Moscow, several months after his predecessor left, as tensions between Paris and the Kremlin remain high over Ukraine.
  • Senior Russian official Kirill Dmitriev is expected to visit Washington, DC, this week and will meet with Steve Witkoff, a Trump administration official, for talks about strengthening relations between the two countries as they seek to end the war in Ukraine.
  • Ukraine said that Kyiv and Washington were holding new talks on an agreement that would give the US access to Ukrainian natural resources in return for more support.

World

Iran closes Strait of Hormuz over ceasefire violations

Published

on

Iran closes Strait of Hormuz over ceasefire violations
Iran’s top joint military command, ​Khatam al-Anbiya Central ‌Headquarters, said on Saturday that the Strait ​of Hormuz would ​be closed to vessel ⁠traffic, citing ​alleged violations of a ​ceasefire agreement by the U.S. and Israel, Iran’s ​Mehr state ​news agency reported.
Continue Reading

World

Keir Starmer reportedly considering stepping down as PM and could announce timetable for departure

Published

on

Keir Starmer reportedly considering stepping down as PM and could announce timetable for departure

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is reportedly considering stepping down and could announce a timetable for his departure as early as Monday, according to a report published Saturday.

Advertisement

Britain’s Observer newspaper reported that Starmer was discussing his future with his wife at his Chequers country residence before making a final decision.

The outlet reported that senior Labour Party figures expect a statement addressing his future as early as next week.

A government source told Reuters that Starmer remains focused on governing and pointed to previous comments in which he vowed to remain in office.

AS EPSTEIN-LINKED APPOINTMENT SPARKS BACKLASH, UK PM STARMER FACES PARTY REVOLT AMID RESIGNATION CALLS

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer awaits Switzerland’s Federal President Guy Parmelin on the sidelines of the G7 summit, in Evian-les-Bains, France, Tuesday. (Isabel Infantes/Pool Reuters via AP)

Advertisement

Fox News Digital has reached out to the prime minister’s office for comment.

Pressure on Starmer has been building for months amid growing dissatisfaction within his party and concerns over the government’s handling of the economy and cost-of-living issues.

The political threat to Starmer intensified Friday after rival Andy Burnham won a seat in Parliament, positioning him to mount a formal leadership challenge.

LABOUR MP PUTS CABINET ‘ON NOTICE,’ THREATENS TO TRIGGER LEADERSHIP CHALLENGE AGAINST STARMER BY MONDAY

Britain’s Labour party candidate Andy Burnham speaks to supporters after the Makerfield by-election in Ashton in Makerfield, England, Friday. (Jon Super/AP)

Advertisement

Starmer congratulated Burnham following the victory, writing on X that voters, “chose Labour’s campaign of hope and optimism over division and hate.”

When asked about Burnham’s apparent ambitions to replace him, Starmer insisted he intends to remain in office.

“I’ve said repeatedly I’m not going to walk away from that,” Starmer said.

UK’S STARMER JUGGLES TROUBLE AT HOME AS HE WALKS GEOPOLITICAL TIGHTROPE WITH TRUMP

Sir Keir Starmer is battling to save his position and refusing to stand aside despite dozens of Labout MP’s demanding he resigns. (Leon Neal/Getty Images)

Advertisement

Starmer has led the Labour Party since 2020 and became prime minister in 2024.

Calls for his resignation intensified last month, with more than 100 Labour lawmakers publicly urging him to step aside or set out a timetable for his departure. Several parliamentary aides also resigned in protest.

The internal revolt followed a series of disappointing local election results for Labour, which lost hundreds of council seats across England, surrendered long-held ground in Wales and fell behind political rivals in Scotland.

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer speaks a news conference at Downing Street in London, March 5. (Tolga Akmen/EPA/Bloomberg via Getty Images, File)

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

Advertisement

Starmer’s popularity has also declined amid a persistently high cost of living, sluggish economic growth and criticism over his acceptance of gifts from wealthy donors.

Fox News Digital’s James Cirrone and Emma Bussey, and Reuters contributed to this report.

Continue Reading

World

Trump vows Iran will not charge Strait of Hormuz tolls, but says US might

Published

on

Trump vows Iran will not charge Strait of Hormuz tolls, but says US might

United States President Donald Trump has pledged there will be no tolls for passage through the Strait of Hormuz, unless they are collected by his own country.

Trump’s statement, made in a Saturday afternoon post on Truth Social, is the latest sign that a recently signed memorandum of understanding (MOU) may be unravelling.

Recommended Stories

list of 3 itemsend of list

“There will be NO TOLLS in the Hormuz Strait for 60 days during the Cease Fire Period, and there will be NO TOLLS after the 60 day period has expired,” Trump wrote, “unless they are imposed by and for the United States of America.”

Since the US and Israel launched a war against Iran on February 28, Iran has successfully used the Strait of Hormuz as a pressure point, closing the strategic waterway to traffic.

But under the terms of Wednesday’s ceasefire memorandum, the strait is supposed to reopen for an interim period of 60 days. During that time, Iran is barred from charging vessels for passage.

Advertisement

On Saturday, however, Iran’s joint military command said it had closed the Strait of Hormuz, citing a “clear breach” of the memorandum’s commitments.

US Central Command (CENTCOM), the agency that oversees military operations in the region, denied that report and maintained that the traffic continues to flow through the waterway.

The Strait of Hormuz has long been a flashpoint in the conflict between the US and Iran. Nearly 20 percent of the world’s oil and natural gas is transported through the strait, as well as about 30 percent of the global fertiliser trade.

Closure of the strait has caused global fuel costs to soar and has tested agricultural sectors across the world.

Trump had responded to Iran’s chokehold over the strait by imposing a US naval blockade on Iran’s ports in the region.

Advertisement

But that naval blockade was lifted under the terms of Wednesday’s memorandum. The deal also paused fighting on all fronts in the regional conflict, including in Lebanon.

The memorandum, though, was not intended as a long-term deal. It serves as a launching point for negotiations on key issues, including the future of Iran’s nuclear programme.

Several points of divergence also went unaddressed in the memorandum. Nowhere does the memo say that future tolls cannot be collected from the strait after the 60-day period expires.

Before the war, there was no charge for passage through the strait. Trump himself said in an interview with The New York Times that the waterway should remain “permanently toll-free”.

But he appeared to reverse course in Saturday’s post, once again floating the possibility that the US could extract tolls in the strait, while barring Iran from doing so.

Advertisement

No fees should be levied, Trump wrote, “unless they are imposed by and for the United States of America, should the deal not be completed”.

He explained that such a charge would compensate the US “for services rendered as the Guardian Angel to the countries of the Middle East for purposes of both past, present, and future reimbursement of costs”.

Trump used similar language in his New York Times interview earlier this week, floating the US becoming “the guardian of the Middle East” in exchange for 20 percent of its revenue.

Saturday’s post is not the first time Trump has mused about the US imposing tolls in the strait, either.

In April, for instance, he discussed the idea with reporters, saying, “What about us charging tolls? I’d rather do that than let them have them. Why shouldn’t we? We’re the winner. We won.”

Advertisement

 

There has been no indication that Trump’s plans have been officially presented to countries in the region, many of whom have struck a careful balance in their dealings with both the US and Iran during the war.

Iranian officials, meanwhile, have repeatedly said they will not rule out imposing tolls in the strait, framing the issue as a matter of sovereignty and regional negotiation. The strait sits between Iran and Oman.

Further discussions are expected on the matter in the coming weeks.

But such negotiations have been thrown into jeopardy amid ongoing Israeli military operations in Lebanon, which threaten to violate Wednesday’s ceasefire memorandum.

Advertisement

Iran claimed that Saturday’s closure of the strait was a result of new Israeli attacks in southern Lebanon, which killed dozens of people after the ceasefire was announced.

Iranian officials have also said that any upcoming talks should focus on proper implementation of the initial memorandum, and that the 60-day negotiating period stipulated in Wednesday’s deal would begin after that was settled.

Pakistan, a top mediator between the US and Iran, has said that follow-up talks are set to begin in Switzerland on Sunday.

Switzerland’s Federal Department of Foreign Affairs has confirmed that an Iranian delegation, led by parliamentary Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, has already arrived for the negotiations.

On the US side, Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, special envoy Steve Witkoff and Vice President JD Vance are expected to attend.

Advertisement

Vance departed for Switzerland late Saturday.

Continue Reading
Advertisement

Trending