Russia Ukraine war live: Nuclear risk at ‘highest point in decades’ as Putin addresses Red Square crowds

The British Embassy in Ukraine has been forced to deny rumours that King Charles III has died after Kremlin-approved state media channels, some with millions of followers on social media, began spreading the fake news.

The first false claims appeared out of nowhere on the Telegram messenger service yesterday followed by a photoshopped image with the Buckingham Palace logo on the top, which read: “The following announcement is made by royal communications. The King passed away unexpectedly yesterday afternoon.”

Yesterday’s date was then posted on the bottom of the fake letter, which appears to have been modelled on the palace’s announcement of the late queen’s death that said: “The Queen died peacefully at Balmoral this afternoon.”

The Kremlin claimed that Vladimir Putin won more than 87 per cent of the vote, by far the biggest landslide in post-Soviet Russian history. That follows years of repression and a crackdown on dissent that has accelerated since Moscow invaded Ukraine two years ago and the whole election process being controlled. In claiming victory, Putin again sought to threaten the West against deploying troops to Ukraine, saying that a possible conflict between Russia and Nato would put the world “a step away” from a third world war.

China, India and North Korea were among the nations to congratulate Russian president Vladimir Putin yesterday following his landslide victory in Moscow’s deeply flawed election.

Chinese president Xi Jinping congratulated Mr Putin, saying that Beijing would maintain close communication with Moscow to promote the “no limits” partnership they agreed in 2022.

“I believe that under your leadership, Russia will certainly be able to achieve greater achievements in national development and construction,” Mr Xi told his Russian counterpart in his message, according to Xinhua News.

Indian prime minister Narendra Modi said he looked forward to strengthening New Delhi’s “time-tested special and privileged strategic partnership” with Moscow.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and Iran’s president Ebrahim Raisi, both accused by the West of supplying weapons to Russia, also extended congratulations to Putin, stressing their desire for further expansion of bilateral relations with Moscow.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman offered his congratulations on Mr Putin’s “decisive” victory and the Kremlin said the two men expressed readiness on the telephone to pursue their “effective coordination” in the OPEC+ oil producers group.

Askold Krushelnycky talks to soldiers on the front line around the city of Kupiansk as they face an increasingly intense assault by Russia, including glide bombs that can destroy bunkers. Kyiv’s forces are fortifying their defences with razor wire, trenches and metal ‘dragon’s teeth’ to ensnare any tanks that seek to break through

Vladimir Putin yesterday hailed the “return” of illegally annexed Ukrainian territories at a concert in Moscow’s Red Square, one day after claiming victory in the country’s sham election.

Mr Putin addressed thousands of people in Moscow at a concert to mark the 10th anniversary of the annexation of Crimea from Ukraine. His three token opposition candidates appeared on stage beside him and publicly supported him.

He said the “return” of the four Ukrainian regions – Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia – had turned out to be “much more grave and tragic than Crimea”.

Russia claims to have annexed all four provinces in their entirety but in truth only controls portions of them.“But in the end we did it,” he said, adding: “It is a big event in the history of our country”.

“This is how together, hand in hand, we will move on. This is what – not in words, but in deeds – makes us really stronger,” the president added.

Mr Putin announced a new railway service that would ply from the Russian city of Rostov-on-Don to Crimea to provide an alternative route of travel to the current bridge, which has been vulnerable to attempted sabotage since the war began.

It comes just days after it was revealed that an RAF jet transporting Mr Shapps back to England from Poland earlier this week had its GPS signal jammed while flying over the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad.

Footage published by Mr Shapps showed him in the capital of Kyiv on 8 March.

At least 249 people have been detained in Russia-occupied regions of Ukraine for refusing to take part in Moscow’s sham elections and for criticising the Russian authorities, the Ukrainian Eastern Human Rights Group said.

“Voting in the occupied territories took place literally at gunpoint, when members of election commissions walked from door to door accompanied by military men with weapons,” said Pavlo Lysianskyi, head of the organisation.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky slammed the election and voting in the illegally annexed regions saying “everything Russia does on the occupied territory of Ukraine is a crime”.

Western governments lined up yesterday to condemn Russian president Vladimir Putin’s landslide reelection as unfair and undemocratic.

“Mr Putin has imprisoned political opponents and prevented others from running against him,” said John Kirby, White House national security spokesperson.

British foreign secretary David Cameron said the election outcome highlighted the “depth of repression” in Russia.

“Putin removes his political opponents, controls the media, and then crowns himself the winner. This is not democracy,” Lord Cameron said.

France, Britain and others condemned the fact that Russia had also held its election in occupied regions of Ukraine that it claims to have annexed during the war.

The Kremlin claims the 87 per cent of the vote won by Mr Putin during the three-day election showed the Russian people were consolidating around him.

North Korea has shipped around 7,000 containers filled with munitions and other military equipment to Russia since last year to help support its war in Ukraine, South Korea’s defense minister said Monday.

Shin Won-sik shared the assessment at a news conference hours after the South Korean and Japanese militaries said the North fired multiple short-range ballistic missiles into its eastern waters, adding to a streak of weapons displays amid growing tensions with rivals.

Since the start of 2022, North Korea has used Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as a distraction to ramp up its weapons tests and has also aligned with Moscow over the conflict, as leader Kim Jong Un tries to break out of diplomatic isolation and join a united front against the United States.

Three men in Ukraine’s Kherson Oblast died while disassembling a drone that detonated, according to reports.

The men, aged 45, 55, and 67, found a first-person view (FPV) kamikaze drone and began disassembling it. “As a result, the ammunition detonated,” said Oleksandr Prokudin, head of Kherson Оblast military administration.

The men died while on their way to the hospital, he said, urging people to not pick up suspicious items.