Live Ukraine: Ukrainians stabbed to death in Germany were soldiers, says Kyiv

10:52

Kyiv: Ukrainians stabbed to death in Germany were soldiers

The two Ukrainians who were stabbed to death in Germany last Saturday were soldiers, according to Kyiv. The victims, men aged 23 and 36, were in Germany for rehabilitation after sustaining injuries in the war, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said.

At the end of the afternoon on Saturday, the men were attacked in front of a grocery store in the German town of Murnau am Staffelsee, in the German state of Bavaria. The older of the two died at the scene of his injuries, the other man died shortly afterwards in hospital.

After a manhunt, German police arrested a 57-year-old man of Russian nationality, and the public prosecutor’s office is investigating a double murder. It is not yet known whether the stabbing is related to the war in Ukraine. According to German police, the three men knew each other before the stabbing.

Jasper Daams

10:00

Ukrainian spy agency: Telegram blocked bots important for resistance against Russia

Messaging platform Telegram has blocked a number of official bots, according to the Ukrainian military spy agency GUR. The bots – software programs that can independently follow pre-programmed instructions – are important in the resistance against Russian aggression. Among other things, Telegram is said to have blocked the spy agency’s main bot.

Bots can, among other things, imitate conversations with people or collect information. On Telegram, bots also allow users to send social media content to Telegram, or provide followers with real-time information on a channel.

Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Telegram has played an important role in reporting on the war. Almost all major media, government agencies and public figures in both countries disseminate information through messaging channels. For example, Zelensky posts his daily video messages on the app, and warns the Ukrainian army about air strikes via the same route.

GUR writes that users’ personal data is safe despite the spy agency’s blocking of the bot. However, it warns users about bots with similar names, created by the enemy.

Jasper Daams

06:24

Ukraine increasingly vulnerable to Russian air strikes

The Russian army began its large-scale air raids on Ukrainian cities and critical infrastructure in October 2022, but the threat has increased sharply since the end of last year, according to an analysis by the Volkskrant of figures published daily by the Ukrainian army.

Read Pepijn de Lange’s analysis here

04:27

Fall of ‘village of nothing’ symbolic of Russian success

Russian troops are said to have captured Novobachmutivka, a tiny village in Ukraine. The victory appears to be a confirmation of the Russian advance in the area. It is expected that more villages will follow after Novobachmutivka, writes Michel Maas.

Read the whole story here

20:02, Yesterday

Welcome to the live blog of Monday April 29

This was the most important news of Saturday April 27 and Sunday April 28:

• Russia attacked power plants in three different regions on Saturday, according to Ukraine. The attacks took place in the central Dnipropetrovsk province and the western provinces of Lviv and Ivano-Frankivsk..

• A journalist from the Russian edition of Forbes, Sergei Mingazov, has been placed under house arrest. This was reported by the Russian state news agency RIA. He is accused of spreading disinformation about the Russian military. According to Forbes, Mingazov was arrested by Russian authorities on Friday.

• French President Emmanuel Macron wants to open a discussion about the possibility of using the French nuclear arsenal to defend the rest of the European Union. According to French nuclear doctrine, the country may use its nuclear weapons if France’s ‘vital interests’ are threatened. Macron believes that these ‘vital interests have a European dimension’.

Read the full live blog from last weekend here.