War between Russia and Ukraine: list of important events, day 405

As the war between Russia and Ukraine enters its 405th day, we take a look at the main developments.

This is the state of affairs on Tuesday, April 4, 2023:

Diplomacy

• The Czech and Slovak Prime Ministers have called on the European Union to abide by the sanctions imposed on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine. Allies must also “prevent sanctions being circumvented and create mechanisms to punish those responsible for crimes related to this aggression,” they added.
• Finland will join NATO on Tuesday, said Jens Stoltenberg, head of the world’s largest military alliance. In response, Russia said it will strengthen its military capability in its western and northwestern regions.
• The Polish Presidential Office has announced that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will visit Warsaw this week.
• The director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Grossi, will visit Moscow on Wednesday, Russia’s permanent representative to international organizations in Vienna, Mikhail Ulyanov, told state television.
• The United States government is pushing hard for the release of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who was arrested in Russia on espionage charges, the White House said.
• The West is trying to drive a wedge between Russia and China, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in an interview with the website Argumenty i Fakty (arguments and facts).
• Russia’s children’s rights commissioner, wanted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes related to Ukraine, is likely to brief an informal meeting of the United Nations Security Council, according to a note seen by Reuters.
• Russian President Vladimir Putin has awarded the highest Order of Bravery to Vladlen Tatarsky, whose real name was Maxim Fomin, a high-profile military blogger and supporter of Moscow’s attack on Ukraine, who died in an explosion at a St Petersburg cafe.
• The woman arrested on suspicion of killing the military war blogger has admitted bringing a figurine to the cafe which exploded, Russian news agency TASS reported.

To fight

• According to a report by the non-governmental organization Save the Children, at least 501 Ukrainian children died in the war, but the real number is likely much higher.
• Zelensky has paid tribute to nearly 400 residents of a village in northern Ukraine who were held in a school basement under Russian occupation for 27 days before being released a year ago.
• Wagner Group chief Yevgeny Prigozhin claimed his troops had raised a Russian flag on the administrative building in central Bakhmut as Ukraine said it still holds the eastern city.
• Russia will move its tactical nuclear weapons close to Belarus’ western borders, the Russian envoy in Minsk said.
• The Belarusian Defense Ministry says it has begun inspections of the armed forces’ combat readiness.

Economy

• A UN agency says Russia’s war against Ukraine has so far damaged the country’s heritage and cultural sites, estimated at about $2.6 billion.
• German arms company Rheinmetall says it will soon open a maintenance center in Romania for military equipment used in the war in Ukraine.

Aid and sanctions

• Ukraine on Monday received $2.7 billion in funding, the first tranche of aid under the International Monetary Fund’s Extended Fund Facility program.

Weapons

• Poland says it has already transferred some of its promised MiG-29 fighter jets to Ukraine after fellow NATO member Slovakia announced it had sent a first batch of its own.