Ukraine Update…767 Days of the Russian Conflict…Ukraine draft age lowered for more troops….

• A Ukrainian drone struck the primary unit of the third-largest Russian oil refinery in the Tatarstan region, more than 1,100km (690 miles) from Ukraine, one of their deepest attacks into Russia yet. Russia claimed to have intercepted a drone meant to strike Tatneft’s Taneco refinery, which has a production capacity of about 360,000 barrels of oil a day. Reuters reported that pictures indicated a drone hit the primary refining unit, CDU-7, at the Taneco refinery. The attacks in Tatarstan also hit a facility where Russia produces Iranian-designed Shahed drones, which are frequently used in assaults on Ukrainian territory, causing a fire. Ukraine has launched a series of attacks against Russian oil refineries in an attempt to strike at the Russian economy and limit supplies to its military. The region’s head, Rustam Minnikhanov, confirmed there had been drone strikes “against enterprises in Yelabuga and Nizhnekamsk” and claimed there was no serious damage or disruption to industrial output.

• Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Tuesday signed into law a measure lowering the army mobilisation age from 27 to 25. Mobilisation has been a divisive issue in a nation exhausted by more than two years of war with Russia, which has seen huge military losses. But the move comes as Ukraine lacks soldiers to battle the Russian invasion now in its third year.

• Nato foreign ministers will meet on Wednesday to discuss how to put military support for Ukraine on a long-term footing, including a proposal for a €100bn ($107bn) five-year fund and a plan seen as a way to “Trump-proof” aid for Kyiv. The proposals by Nato secretary general Jens Stoltenberg would give the western alliance a more direct role in coordinating the supply of arms, ammunition and equipment to Ukraine, diplomats say. The plans will be discussed during a two-day meeting in Brussels that will celebrate the 75th anniversary of the founding of Nato and prepare for a summit of alliance leaders in Washington in July.

• British foreign minister David Cameron will call for Nato allies to bolster defence spending and production in support of Ukraine. “Allies need to step up and spend more on defence in the face of continued Russian aggression and a more dangerous world,” Cameron will say in a speech on the occasion of 75 years of Nato history.

• The Register of Damages for Ukraine opened formally in the Hague, during a conference bringing together senior ministers and officials from Ukraine, the Netherlands and European institutions. Ukrainians can enter claims for damage to their property as a result of Russia’s invasion via a new mechanism launched on Tuesday, with officials expecting as many as 10m requests overall. The initial launch focuses on claims of damage or destruction to residential property from the invasion. Between 300,000 and 600,000 claims are expected in this category.

• Russia has announced new military commanders in the wake of the Moscow concert hall attack claimed by Islamic State and amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The Russian defence ministry on Tuesday announced that it was appointing several officers to senior military positions. Adm Alexander Moiseev was appointed head of the navy, Vice Adm Konstantin Kabantsov was appointed as commander of the Northern Fleet, and Vice Adm Sergei Pinchuk was named as commander of the Black Sea fleet.

• The US secretary of state Antony Blinken has said it is “absolutely essential” that Ukraine gets more munitions and air defences, when speaking to media in France on Tuesday.

• France announces plans to propose EU-wide level sanctions on Russian companies spreading ‘disinformation’.

• Pytor Verzilov, the unofficial spokesperson of the feminist opposition group Pussy Riot, has been sentenced in absentia by a Moscow court to eight years and four months in jail for criticising the war in Ukraine online. He left Russia in 2020, and announced last spring that he had joined the Ukrainian army, although it is unclear if he is still there. Reuters reports he could not immediately be contacted for comment.

• Russia accused International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach on Tuesday of taking part in a “conspiracy” with Ukraine to exclude its strongest athletes from this year’s Paris Games. Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova posted on Telegram that Bach had “entered into a political-administrative and, apparently, criminal conspiracy with one specific party” – meaning Ukraine – “to exclude strong sports competitors from international competitions”…..

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