Financial Times Ukraine news

2022-04-18 15:42:09 Officials in Lviv said six people including a child were killed in Russian missile strikes on Monday morning on the city in western Ukraine, which has been a haven for people fleeing the war from other parts of the country. The attacks on the city came as concerns grew for civilians hiding out in a steelworks in the besieged south-eastern port of Mariupol, where Moscow’s troops have tightened their control after weeks of fighting. (free to read)

A third of the Russian Orthodox church's parishes in Russia and Ukraine lie in Ukraine, but clergymen who condemn the war find themselves at odds with a church that has thrown its ideological weight behind Vladimir Putin.

The origins of the war in Ukraine lie in Russian economic stagnation, corruption and the president’s dwindling popularity. But with the war not going Putin’s way, we are seeing his dictatorship turn from one based on spin to one based on fear, writes economics professor Sergei Guriev. Open / Comment

2022-04-14 16:45:45 Russia's former president Dmitry Medvedev warned on Thursday of nuclear expansion in the Baltics if Finland and Sweden joined Nato. His comments are the toughest yet from Moscow on Nato’s enlargement. (Free to read)
https://on.ft.com/3jEDY5c

US president Joe Biden announced that the Pentagon would send $800mn in additional military aid to Ukraine, including artillery, armoured vehicles and helicopters, and would share more intelligence with Kyiv. The move comes ahead of a possible Russian assault on the south-eastern Donbas region that threatens to be the bloodiest yet of the two-month conflict.
https://on.ft.com/3jzGiKO

Should Russian composers be banned in the wake of the war? Gillian Tett is torn: ‘I want to signal my support for Ukraine, but banning music written long before Putin was born strikes me as odd.’
https://on.ft.com/37mHkqR

For the latest on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in maps, bookmark our visual guide:
https://on.ft.com/3jDRk1v Open / Comment

2022-04-14 13:41:14 Breaking news: Elon Musk has made an offer to buy Twitter with a bid that values the company at $43.4bn in a move that could turn the Tesla chief executive into a social media mogul. Open / Comment

2022-04-13 21:56:50 A full EU embargo on Russian energy would trigger a major recession in Germany, sending output down 2.2% next year and wiping out more than 400,000 jobs, according to Berlin's top economic institutes. Half of Germany's gas and thermal coal imports last year came from Russia, which also supplies a third of the country’s oil imports. https://on.ft.com/3jC8soq

US President Joe Biden is expected to announce $800mn in additional military aid for Ukraine on Wednesday, including artillery and armoured vehicles.
https://on.ft.com/3E9YXpX

Editorial: Governments must maintain popular support for backing Ukraine by sheltering households from the worst of inflation’s economic pain. The war might be fought in the Ukraine, but politicians must tend to the home front as well.
https://on.ft.com/3xqU1f1 Open / Comment

2022-04-13 18:06:54 Just in: A court in Jersey has issued an order freezing more than $7bn in assets linked to Roman Abramovich in a major blow to the Russian oligarch’s fortune. Open / Comment

2022-04-13 15:41:58 Breaking news: Finland will decide within ‘weeks’ whether to apply to join Nato, its prime minister said, as Sweden also edged closer to membership. Open / Comment

2022-04-12 17:50:33 Moscow appointed a new military commander, Alexandr Dvornikov, to overhaul Russia’s war in Ukraine and lead the expected offensive on the southern Donbas region. Dvornikov is known for his military operations in Syria in 2015. (Free to read)
https://on.ft.com/3xo7sMK

Ukraine’s finance minister has appealed for immediate financial support of tens of billions of dollars to plug a gaping fiscal deficit caused by Russia’s invasion of the country. Ukraine has suffered an estimated $600bn total in economic losses from the war.
https://on.ft.com/3JxK1CX

Russia threatened to sue if sanctions cause it to default on its bonds. Moscow has already missed payments on two of its dollar bonds, and shareholders are preparing for a default. It is unclear what bearing any Russian legal action might have on the process of a default.
https://on.ft.com/3E4j098 Open / Comment

2022-04-11 23:01:06 Kyiv was saved by Ukrainian ingenuity as well as Russian blunders. Modern arms such as smartphones and gym mats also helped Ukraine’s forces win the battle for the capital. (Free-to-read)
https://on.ft.com/3JwhuO8

The Austrian chancellor Karl Nehammer spoke with Vladimir Putin for 75 minutes to try to broker an end to the war in Ukraine. He is the first European leader to meet Russia’s president face-to-face since the invasion began, but the meeting left him with ‘no positive impression’.
https://on.ft.com/3KzUOOj

For millions of misplaced Ukrainians, the immediate fight for survival focuses on food, shelter and medical aid. But the history of mass trauma suggests the mental health needs could exceed the medical needs.
https://on.ft.com/3LVlqcV Open / Comment

2022-04-08 16:45:29 Nato states have agreed to supply advanced weaponry to Ukraine, as Kyiv prepares for an offensive by Russia in the country’s east. (free to read)
https://on.ft.com/3jjxHM0

Dozens of Ukrainian civilians are dead after Russian missiles hit a railway station in the country’s eastern Donbas region. Russia has denied any involvement in the attack, claiming that the missiles were used solely by Ukrainian forces.
https://on.ft.com/3jAQrqJ

Japan will ban Russian coal imports, joining its EU and G7 allies to target the country’s energy sector. ​To make up for lost supplies, Japan will potentially import coal from Indonesia or Australia and turn to renewables and nuclear energy.
https://on.ft.com/3O8IEhV

Ukraine's battle of the airwaves comes down to three things: the interception of communications between Russian soldiers, how broadcasters are using radio to combat censorship online, and the mysterious silence of a radio transmitter known as 'The Russian Lady'. Watch our video to learn more.
https://on.ft.com/3JtR5kk Open / Comment

2022-04-07 17:32:16 ‘Weapons, weapons, weapons’ was Ukrainian foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba’s one demand of Nato, after warnings that Russia is preparing an offensive in the Donbas region. (free to read)
https://on.ft.com/3ug0gQU

The EU imports about 30% of its oil and 40% of its gas from Russia, paying Moscow roughly $850mn a day. Weaning Europe off Russian oil would be challenging. Getting rid of Russian gas would be even harder.
https://on.ft.com/3v1s36H

Will there be a backlash against the US dollar? Sanctions freezing Russia’s foreign currency reserves have created an incentive for countries to bypass the US currency, and risk splitting the global financial system into rival blocks that could leave everyone worse off. (free to read)
https://on.ft.com/3Km6STt Open / Comment