Britain to deliver laser-guided Paveway bombs to Ukraine

The Russian Orthodox Church has imposed a three-year suspension on a priest, Dmitry Safronov, who presided over the memorial service for the late opposition leader Alexei Navalny. The Moscow diocese did not provide a reason for the discipline but has forbidden Safronov from giving blessings, wearing the frock, or bearing the church’s priestly cross until 2027.

Safronov will also be transferred to another church in Moscow to act as a psalm-reader. He led the memorial service for Navalny on 26 March, attended by thousands, and was one of the priests who publicly called for the release of Navalny’s body to his family after his death in February.

In another development, a top Russian military official, Deputy Defence Minister Timur Ivanov, has been arrested on bribery charges. Ivanov, accused of accepting “large scale” bribes, could face 15 years in prison if found guilty. He was in charge of large construction projects in the eastern Ukrainian city of Mariupol, which was heavily bombarded and taken by Russia during the invasion of Ukraine.

These incidents come amidst escalating tensions between Russia and Ukraine, with reports of a Russian missile attack injuring six people in Kharkiv and fires breaking out in Russia’s Smolensk district after a drone attack launched from Ukraine. The US Senate’s approval of a $61 billion aid package for Ukraine has been hailed by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as a testament to the US’s role as a “beacon of democracy.”