Key points
- US secretary of state Marco Rubio flies in for Ukraine talks with Emmanuel Macron
- Michael Clarke: Why Paris meeting is sign of hope
- Children among dead and injured in mass drone attack by Putin's forces
- Live reporting by Mark Wyatt
In pictures: Putin meets freed Russian Gaza hostage
Vladimir Putin met with Alexander Troufanov at the Kremlin yesterday, a former hostage held by Hamas in Gaza.
The Russian-Israeli spent 498 days in captivity in Gaza after being taken hostage during the 7 October attacks alongside his mother and fiancé, both of whom were released in an earlier deal.
In a video circulated by Russian state media, Putin is seen presenting flowers to Yelena and Sapir and shaking Sasha's hand.
Marco Rubio lands in Paris
US secretary of state Marco Rubio has just landed in Paris ahead of talks with Emmanuel Macron on ending the war in Ukraine.
Special envoy Steve Witkoff is also expected to join Rubio for those talks but was not seen on the tarmac.
Analysis: Why Paris meeting could be sign of hope
As we're reporting, two of Donald Trump's top national security aides are in Paris today for talks with Emmanuel Macron.
US secretary of state Marco Rubio and special envoy Steve Witkoff are expected to hear European concerns about the war in Ukraine as America attempts to negotiate a peace deal.
Security and defence analyst Professor Michael Clarke says the fact that US officials are bringing their European counterparts into the fold after Witkoff held talks with Vladimir Putin last week could be a sign there is "something more specific, something more hopeful" for them to discuss.
Watch Clarke's full analysis here:
Russia launched five missiles and 75 drones in overnight attack, Ukraine says
Ukraine's air force says Vladimir Putin's forces launched five missiles and 75 drones at the country overnight.
It added that 25 drones were shot down and another 30 failed to reach their targets, likely due to Ukraine's use of electronic warfare to misdirect them.
It did not specify what happened to the remaining 20 drones, or the missiles.
Earlier, we reported on a Russian drone attack that the regional governor of Dnipro said killed three people and injured at least 30 (see 6.35am post).
In pictures: Firefighters tackle blazes after Russian drone attack
Pictures show the destruction wrought by Russian drones on the Ukrainian city of Dnipro, where at least three people have been killed and 30 injured.
Firefighters were photographed tackling blazes trigged by the blasts in buildings and cars.
Moscow plans to use seized US-owned company to feed Russian army, letter shows
Russia plans to use an American-owned company seized by the Kremlin to supply food to the Russian army, according to a letter from the firm to Russia's prosecutor general.
The correspondence, seen by Reuters, said the canned food maker Glavprodukt was taken under state control in October to ensure future supplies to the national guard and defence ministry.
Glavprodukt was seized from Los Angeles-based Leonid Smirnov, who Russian prosecutors have accused Smirnov of moving about 1.38 billion roubles ($17m) out of Russia from 2022 to 2024, the RBC daily reported in March.
A hearing is scheduled for 18 April. Smirnov denies wrongdoing and says the lawsuit is a "Russian-style corporate raid" to steal his company.
The letter said the Russian state hasappointed Glavprodukt's new director general at the request of food producer Druzhba Narodov,the sole supplier to Russia's national guard for 2019-20.
A person familiar with the matter said that Glavprodukt never previously supplied Russia's army.
US secretary of state to meet Macron in Paris
Two of Donald Trump's top national security aides are set to hold talks in Paris with French President Emmanuel Macron today.
US secretary of state Marco Rubio and special envoy Steve Witkoff are expected to hear European concerns about the war in Ukraine as the US attempts to negotiate a peace settlement.
Donald Trump's frustration with Russia and Ukraine has grown during the talks, which have largely excluded the European continent.
European leaders have grown more concerned as Trump has madediplomatic gestures to Vladimir Putin andapplied pressure on Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Polish foreign minister Radoslaw Sikorski said he hoped Trump and his administration would see that Putin was "mocking their goodwill" following Moscow's missile strike on the Ukrainian city of Sumy last week, which killed at least 35 people.
Besides Macron, the French foreign ministry said Rubio will also meet his counterpart Jean-Noel Barrot to discuss Ukraine and the Middle East.
Separately, French defence minister Sebastien Lecornu is travelling to Washington to meet with his counterpart, US Pete Hegseth, as well as with Keith Kellogg, Trump's Ukraine envoy, and Tulsi Gabbard, the US director of national intelligence.
Children among dead and injured in Russian mass drone attack, authorities say
A Russian mass drone attack has killed three people and injured at least 30 in thesoutheastern Ukrainian city of Dnipro, the regional governorsaid.
Serhiy Lysak said one child was among the dead and five were among the wounded.
A young woman and an elderlywoman were killed and 16 people were being treated in hospital, he said, adding that the attack triggered several fires.
Dnipro Mayor Borys Filatov said one strike came within 100 metres of the municipal offices, and at least 15 dwellings have been damaged, alongside an educationalinstitution and a food processing plant.
In the northeastern Kharkiv region, governor Oleh Syniehubovsaid a Russian missile attack injured two people in the town ofIzium.
Meanwhile, Russia's defence ministry said it destroyed or intercepted 71 Ukrainian drones over six Russianregions overnight, 49 of which were in the Kursk region.
Good morning
Welcome back to our live coverage of the war in Ukraine.
We'll be bringing you updates and analysis throughout the day, but before we begin, here is a recap of the key developments over the last day.
- Ukraine said talks were progressing quickly with the US over a revived minerals deal;
- America lowered the repayments it was demanding from Ukraine for previously issued aid - not loans - from $300bn to $100bn;
- On the ground, drone attacks continued across Ukraine, injuring dozens;
- In Russia, the former governor of the Kursk region was detained "on suspicion of fraud";
- Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani was travelling to Moscow to meet with Vladimir Putin;
- And a "strategic partnership" treaty between Russia and Iran came into effect.
We've pausing our live coverage
Thanks for following along today, that's it for our live coverage.
Before we go, here's a round-up of the key events today:
- A high-level US delegation including Marco Rubio and Steve Witkoff are travelling to Paris this evening for talks with European partners on Ukraine;
- Ukraine said talks were progressing quickly with the US over a revived minerals deal with the US;
- On the ground, however, drone attacks continued;
- And in Russia, the former governor of the Kursk region was detained "on suspicion of fraud".
If you want more coverage, military analyst Professor Michael Clarke answered your questions on the war in Ukraine earlier today.
He looked at Donald Trump's position when it comes to Russia - and how two particular issues may be influencing his stance there.
And as for Russia, Clarke explained why they can't have all of Ukraine and what will happen when the time comes for someone to succeed Putin.
Watch the full Q&A here...
