Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is in its third month, with mounting casualties on both sides.

Ukrainian forces continue to resist, while its President Volodymyr Zelensky regularly calls on the world to do more to help. Governments around the world have imposed heavy sanctions on Moscow but refrained from direct intervention for fear of triggering a wider conflict.

Meanwhile, rising geopolitical risks and volatility in energy and financial markets are rocking Asia.

For all of our coverage, visit our Ukrainian War page.

Read our detailed coverage:

— India says Ukraine crisis a ‘wake-up call’ for Europe to look to Asia

– How Russia spread its false pretenses to invade Ukraine

– The sinking of the Moskva flagship reveals the fragility of the Russian navy, according to experts

— Japan drops plans to send aid supplies to Ukrainian refugees via India

— Tech deals between China and South Korea crumble amid Ukraine war woes

Entries include material from news agencies and other sources.

To note: Nikkei Asia decided on March 5 to temporarily suspend its reporting from Russia until further information becomes available regarding the scope of the revised penal code.

Here are the latest developments:

Thursday, April 28 (Tokyo time)

5:52 p.m. A Russian court has fined social media network Twitter 3 million rubles ($41,000) for failing to remove banned content from its site, Interfax news agency reports. The fine was imposed after Twitter failed to remove content banned in Russia, including posts containing instructions on how to make Molotov cocktails, Interfax said, citing the court. Earlier, Interfax reported that Russia imposed the same amount on US internet giant Google for refusing to remove banned content from video-sharing site YouTube.

5:00 p.m. British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said it would be legitimate for Ukrainian forces to target Russian logistics, but they were unlikely to use British weapons. Moscow accused London of inciting Ukraine to strike targets in Russia, saying there would be an “immediate response” if it continued. “If Ukraine chose to target Russian military logistical infrastructure, it would be legitimate under international law,” Wallace told BBC TV. He said the long-range weapons were unlikely to come from Britain, as Ukrainian forces tend to use mobile launchers, while the British military would deliver them by air or sea.

4:19 p.m. Japan Tobacco has announced that it is considering selling its Russian operations, JT International Russia, in response to that country’s invasion of Ukraine. The company controls nearly 40% of the Russian cigarette market, but said it “continues to evaluate various options for its business in Russia, including a possible transfer of ownership.”

12:52 p.m. Russian President Vladimir Putin warns of “lightning-fast” retaliation if countries intervene in Ukraine. Russia has told the United States to stop sending arms to Ukraine, saying large Western arms shipments are fueling the conflict. Addressing lawmakers in St. Petersburg on Wednesday, Putin said: “If anyone intends to intervene from the outside in current events and create strategic threats to Russia that are unacceptable to us , he must know that our retaliatory strikes will be lightning fast. “, according to the video of his speech provided by Russian media. “We have all the tools for this, things that no one else can boast of having now. And we won’t brag about them – we’ll use them when necessary. And I want everyone to know that.”

12:36 p.m. In the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson, which has been occupied by Russian forces since the start of the war, a series of explosions erupted near the TV tower on Wednesday night and at least temporarily shut down Russian channels , Ukrainian and Russian news agencies report. Russian state news agency RIA Novosti said missiles and rockets were fired at the city from the direction of Ukrainian forces to the northwest. Russian channels started broadcasting from Kherson last week.

US President Joe Biden will visit South Korea and Japan from May 20 to 24 to strengthen ties with Washington’s two main Asian allies. © Reuters

11:20 a.m. US President Joe Biden will visit South Korea and Japan May 20-24 to advance a “free and open Indo-Pacific” and strengthen ties with the two Asian allies, the White House says. It will be his first trip to the region since taking office last year. Through a series of meetings, including the Quad summit of the United States, Japan, Australia and India, Biden is likely to affirm with Indo-Pacific countries their responses to the war of Russia in Ukraine, China’s assertion in the region and North Korea’s nuclear power and missiles. ambitions.

10:00 a.m. US President Joe Biden will deliver a speech on Thursday morning “on supporting Ukrainians who are defending their country and their freedom against Russia’s brutal war,” the White House said.

6:29 Canadian lawmakers are voting unanimously to label Russia’s attacks in Ukraine as “genocide”, with MPs agreeing that there is “ample evidence of systemic and massive war crimes against humanity” committed by Moscow.

4:38 The European Commission is proposing a one-year suspension of import duties on all Ukrainian products not covered by an existing free trade agreement to help the country’s economy during the war with Russia. The measures apply in particular to fruit and vegetables, subject to minimum price requirements, agricultural products subject to quotas and certain industrial products.

The European Union would also exempt Ukraine from safeguard measures that limit steel imports and lift the anti-dumping duties that the EU currently imposes on Ukrainian steel tubes, hot-rolled steel flat products and iron. The proposal must be approved by the European Parliament and EU governments to enter into force.

00:12 Exxon Mobil’s Russian unit, Exxon Neftegas, is declaring force majeure for its Sakhalin-1 operations, Reuters reports. The Sakhalin-1 project produces oil off the coast of the Russian Far East, exporting crude mainly to South Korea but also to Japan and other countries.

Project stakeholders, including Exxon and India’s oil and gas industry, are struggling to charter tankers to ship oil out of a region that typically needs ice ships to navigate, as shippers fear a risk of reputation, reports Reuters.

Wednesday April 27

A group of 20 finance ministers and central bank governors met at the Jakarta Convention Center in February. © Reuters

11:21 p.m. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy tweets that Indonesian President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has invited him to attend the Group of 20 major economies summit in the Southeast Asian country in November.

Zelenskyy has not confirmed whether he will accept the invitation. Russia has said President Vladimir Putin plans to attend. Indonesian officials, the current G-20 chair, did not immediately respond to requests for confirmation.

10:20 p.m. The United States and Russia announce a prisoner swap that freed a former U.S. Marine in an unexpected diplomatic breakthrough. Trevor Reed was released in exchange for Konstantin Yaroshenko, a Russian pilot sentenced to a long sentence in the United States for trafficking cocaine.

“Trevor, a former U.S. Marine, is free from Russian detention,” President Joe Biden said in a statement. “I heard in the voices of Trevor’s parents how worried they were for his health and how much they missed his presence. And I was thrilled to be able to share with them the good news about Trevor’s freedom.”

6:31 p.m. Greece will offer help to Bulgaria, whose gas supply has been cut off by Russia, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has told his Bulgarian counterpart. The leaders discussed the issue over the phone. “The prime minister said that Greece will help Bulgaria deal with the new situation caused by Russian energy decisions,” Mitsotakis’ office said in a statement, without giving further details.

6:07 p.m. Russia expects its economy to contract by 8.8% in 2022 in its baseline scenario, or by 12.4% in a more conservative scenario, an economy ministry document shows, proving that international sanctions are wreaking havoc. The conservative forecast is in line with that of former finance minister Alexei Kudrin, who said earlier this month that the economy was on track to contract by more than 10%, which would be its strongest decline since 1994.

5:09 p.m. The Russian Defense Ministry said Kalibr missiles hit an arms depot in Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region housing weapons from the United States and European countries. The ministry said its air force destroyed 59 Ukrainian military targets overnight. He added that “sheds containing a large number of foreign weapons and ammunition supplied to Ukrainian troops by the United States and European countries” were destroyed. Russia’s report could not be independently confirmed.

4:25 p.m. Russian energy giant Gazprom cut off gas supplies to Bulgaria and Poland for failing to pay for gas in roubles, the Kremlin’s toughest response to crippling Western sanctions for Russia. invasion of Ukraine. Poland and Bulgaria are the first countries to have their gas cut off by Europe’s main supplier since the Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine that killed thousands, displaced millions and raised fears of further conflict. large.

For previous updates, click here.