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Russia's Isolation over Ukraine Grows with US Reporter Arrest, NATO Expansion

Reporter for US newspaper The Wall Street Journal Evan Gershkovich, detained on suspicion of espionage, leaves a court building in Moscow, Russia March 30, 2023. REUTERS/Evgenia NovozheninaREUTERS
Reporter for US newspaper The Wall Street Journal Evan Gershkovich, detained on suspicion of espionage, leaves a court building in Moscow, Russia March 30, 2023. REUTERS/Evgenia NovozheninaREUTERS
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Russia's Isolation over Ukraine Grows with US Reporter Arrest, NATO Expansion

Reporter for US newspaper The Wall Street Journal Evan Gershkovich, detained on suspicion of espionage, leaves a court building in Moscow, Russia March 30, 2023. REUTERS/Evgenia NovozheninaREUTERS
Reporter for US newspaper The Wall Street Journal Evan Gershkovich, detained on suspicion of espionage, leaves a court building in Moscow, Russia March 30, 2023. REUTERS/Evgenia NovozheninaREUTERS

Russia has charged an American journalist with spying while Finland moved closer to becoming a NATO member, deepening tensions between Moscow and the West as the war in Ukraine reached its 400th day on Friday.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy spoke in his Thursday evening video address of the "tremendous path" his country had taken in 400 days since Russia's invasion on Feb. 24, 2022, Reuters said.

"Ukraine will win at the front ... We will not leave a single trace of Russia on our land, and we will not leave any enemy unpunished either. We are preparing news about this," he said. He did not give details, but the Ukrainian military has been planning a counteroffensive.

Earlier on Thursday, the Wall Street Journal denied espionage allegations against its reporter, Evan Gershkovich, and demanded his immediate release. The Kremlin said he had been "caught red-handed" but presented no documentary or video evidence.

The White House condemned Russia's action and urged US citizens living or traveling in Russia to leave immediately.

"These espionage charges are ridiculous. The targeting of American citizens by the Russian government is unacceptable," White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said at a news briefing.
The Russian FSB security service said it arrested Gershkovich, a 31-year-old who has worked in Russia as a journalist for six years, in the Urals industrial city of Yekaterinburg, "suspected of spying in the interests of the American government".

He was brought to Moscow, where a court at a closed hearing ordered him held in pre-trial detention until May 29. Espionage under Russian law can be punishable by up to 20 years in jail.
Western political analysts speculated Moscow could seek to barter Gershkovich in a prisoner swap with Washington or use him as diplomatic leverage in some other way.

'MORE NATO, NOT LESS'

Separately, Türkiye’s parliament approved a bill on Thursday to allow Finland to join NATO. The Turkish parliament was the last among the 30 members of the Western defense alliance to ratify Finland's membership after Hungary's legislature approved a similar bill on Monday.

Sweden has also sought NATO membership as a response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. One of Russia's main justifications for the invasion was to prevent the Western military alliance from expanding. The alliance and its members have supplied Kyiv with military and economic aid.

"Soon both Finland and Sweden will be members, meaning that President Putin is getting the exact opposite of what he wanted," NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told Fox News. "He wanted less NATO. He is getting more NATO."

Ukraine said Russian forces pressed on with their assault in the east, in particular on Bakhmut and nearby towns as well as on the town of Avdiivka, about 60 km (37 miles) to the southwest of Bakhmut.

Bakhmut has been the site of the bloodiest infantry battle in Europe since World War Two, with Russian forces seeking their first victory since mid-2022.

"Our defenses are holding the city and repelling numerous enemy attacks," Ukraine's military said on Facebook on Thursday evening.

Ukrainian military analyst and journalist, Andriy Tsaplienko, interviewed on Ukrainian NV Radio, said Russian forces were trying to repeat in Avdiivka what happened in Bakhmut.

"The city is under constant, daily shelling. They understand that they cannot simply capture it and instead are starting to destroy Avdiivka as much as possible," Tsaplienko said.

Reuters could not independently confirm the battlefield reports.

The Ukrainian military had said a day earlier that Russian fighters were having some success in Bakhmut. Evhen Dikyi, a Ukrainian military analyst interviewed on Ukrainian NV Radio, said Russian forces controlled more than half the city.

"I can tell you that Bakhmut is holding firm. But there is heavy fighting in the city and it is getting closer to the city center," he said.

"If Russian forces are reported to have made 'some progress' it is probably because they have crossed the Bakhmutka River. They have come wave upon wave and we are talking about a few hundred meters," Dikyi added.

A month ago, the Ukrainian military seemed likely to abandon Bakhmut but has since decided to stay and fight for it, hoping to exhaust and deplete Russia's attacking force.

Russia's invasion has destroyed Ukrainian cities and set millions of civilians to flight. Tens of thousands of Ukrainian civilians and soldiers on both sides are believed to have died.

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World

Austria Denies US Use of Airspace for Iran Military Operations

18 March 2026, ---: A US Navy F/A-18E Super Hornet with the Tomcatters of Strike Fighter Squadron 31 launches from the flight deck of the Ford-class aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford in support of Operation Epic Fury. (Navy Handout/US Navy/Planet Pix via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa)
18 March 2026, ---: A US Navy F/A-18E Super Hornet with the Tomcatters of Strike Fighter Squadron 31 launches from the flight deck of the Ford-class aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford in support of Operation Epic Fury. (Navy Handout/US Navy/Planet Pix via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa)
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Austria Denies US Use of Airspace for Iran Military Operations

18 March 2026, ---: A US Navy F/A-18E Super Hornet with the Tomcatters of Strike Fighter Squadron 31 launches from the flight deck of the Ford-class aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford in support of Operation Epic Fury. (Navy Handout/US Navy/Planet Pix via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa)
18 March 2026, ---: A US Navy F/A-18E Super Hornet with the Tomcatters of Strike Fighter Squadron 31 launches from the flight deck of the Ford-class aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford in support of Operation Epic Fury. (Navy Handout/US Navy/Planet Pix via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa)

Austria has denied the United States use of its airspace for military operations against Iran due to Austria's neutrality law, the country's defense ‌ministry said ‌on Thursday.

A spokesperson ‌for ⁠the ministry confirmed ⁠a report from Austrian news agency APA that the US had made "several" flyover requests to ⁠Austria, without specifying ‌how ‌many.

All US flyover requests ‌of a military ‌nature relating to the conflict in Iran had been rejected, the spokesperson ‌said.

Austria applies the same principle to ⁠other ⁠countries that are engaged in military conflict, the spokesperson added.

Individual cases were reviewed in consultation with the Austrian foreign ministry, the APA report noted.

World

Iran Fires on Israel as Trump Claims Threat from Tehran Nearly Eliminated

Iranian women clad in black chadors wave national flags and hold posters of Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei (C) and of his late father, former Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei (R), during the annual Nature Day festival in Tehran, Iran, 02 April 2026. (EPA)
Iranian women clad in black chadors wave national flags and hold posters of Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei (C) and of his late father, former Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei (R), during the annual Nature Day festival in Tehran, Iran, 02 April 2026. (EPA)
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Iran Fires on Israel as Trump Claims Threat from Tehran Nearly Eliminated

Iranian women clad in black chadors wave national flags and hold posters of Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei (C) and of his late father, former Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei (R), during the annual Nature Day festival in Tehran, Iran, 02 April 2026. (EPA)
Iranian women clad in black chadors wave national flags and hold posters of Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei (C) and of his late father, former Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei (R), during the annual Nature Day festival in Tehran, Iran, 02 April 2026. (EPA)

Iran fired more missiles at Israel and Gulf Arab states Thursday, demonstrating Tehran’s continued ability to strike its neighbors even as US President Donald Trump claimed the threat from the country was nearly eliminated.

Iran’s attacks on Gulf states along with its chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz have disrupted the world’s energy supplies with effects far beyond the Middle East. That has proved to be Iran’s greatest strategic advantage in the war. Britain held a call with nearly three dozen countries about how to reopen the strait once the fighting is over.

Trump has insisted the strait can be taken by force — but said it is not up to the US to do that. In an address to the American people Wednesday night, he encouraged countries that depend on oil from Hormuz to “build some delayed courage” and go “take it.”

Before the US and Israel started the war on Feb. 28 with strikes on Iran, the waterway was open to traffic and 20% of all traded oil passed through it.

Iran continues to strike Israel

Iran responded defiantly to Trump’s speech, in which the American president claimed US military action had been so decisive that “one of the most powerful countries” is “really no longer a threat.”

A spokesman for Iran’s military, Lt. Col. Ebrahim Zolfaghari, insisted Thursday that Tehran maintains hidden stockpiles of arms, munitions and production facilities. He said facilities targeted so far by US strikes are “insignificant.”

Just before Trump began his address — in which he said US “core strategic objectives are nearing completion” — explosions were heard in Dubai as air defenses worked to intercept an Iranian missile barrage.

Less than a half-hour after the president was done, Israel said its military was also working to intercept incoming missiles. Sirens sounded in Bahrain immediately after the speech.

Attacks continued across Iran on Thursday, with strikes reported in multiple cities.

Even amid the conflict, families went to a park in Tehran to play games and grill food to mark the last day of Iranian New Year, or Nowruz.

In Lebanon — home to Iran-backed Hezbollah who is fighting Israel, which has launched a ground invasion — an Israeli strike killed four people in the south, the Health Ministry said.

More than 1,900 people have been killed in Iran during the war, while 19 have been reported dead in Israel. More than two dozen people have died in Gulf states and the occupied West Bank, while 13 US service members have been killed.

More than 1,300 people have been killed and more than 1 million displaced in Lebanon. Ten Israeli soldiers have also died there.

Nearly three dozen nations talk about securing the Strait of Hormuz

Iranian attacks on about two dozen commercial ships, and the threat of more, have halted nearly all traffic in the waterway that connects the Gulf to the open ocean.

Since March 1, traffic through the strait has dropped 94% over the same period last year, according to the Lloyds List Intelligence shipping data firm. Two ships are confirmed to have paid a fee, the firm said, while others were allowed through based on agreements with their home governments.

Saudi Arabia piped about 1 billion barrels of oil away from the Strait of Hormuz in March, according to maritime data firm Kpler, while Iraq said Thursday that it had started to truck oil across Syria to avoid the strait.

The 35 countries that spoke Thursday, including all G7 countries except the US, as well as the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, signed a declaration last month demanding Iran stop blocking the strait.

Thursday’s talks were focused on political and diplomatic measures, but British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said military planners from an unspecified number of countries will also plot ways to ensure security once fighting ends, including potential mine-clearing work and “reassurance” for commercial shipping.

No country appears willing to try to open the strait by force while the war is raging. French President Emmanuel Macron, while on a visit to South Korea, called a military operation to secure the waterway “unrealistic.”

But there is a concern that Iran might limit traffic through the waterway even after US and Israeli attacks cease.

The idea of an international effort has echoes of the “coalition of the willing,” led by the UK and France, that was assembled to underpin Ukraine’s security in the event of a ceasefire in that war. The coalition is, in part, an attempt to demonstrate to Washington that Europe is doing more for its own security in the face of frequent criticism from Trump.

Oil prices rise again

The conflict is driving up prices for oil and natural gas, roiling stock markets, pushing up the cost of gasoline and threatening to make a range of goods, including food, more expensive.

On Thursday, Brent crude, the international standard, rose again and was around $108, up about 50% from Feb. 28.

Though the oil and gas that typically transits the strait is primarily sold to Asian nations, Japan and South Korea were the only two countries from the region joining Thursday's call about the strait. The supply of jet fuel has also been interrupted, with consequences for travel worldwide.

World

Medical Needs Surging in Iran and Supplies Under Threat, Red Cross Warns

Smoke rises after an airstrike in central Tehran, Iran, 01 April 2026. (EPA)
Smoke rises after an airstrike in central Tehran, Iran, 01 April 2026. (EPA)
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Medical Needs Surging in Iran and Supplies Under Threat, Red Cross Warns

Smoke rises after an airstrike in central Tehran, Iran, 01 April 2026. (EPA)
Smoke rises after an airstrike in central Tehran, Iran, 01 April 2026. (EPA)

Emergency medical needs in Iran are rising exponentially, and stocks of trauma kits and other gear could run low if the war persists, the head of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies delegation there said on Thursday.

More than 1,900 people have been killed since the US-Israeli airstrikes on Iran began on February 28, and more than 21,000 injured, according to the agency - the only humanitarian group working across the country. Other estimates are higher.

Maria Martinez told Reuters three of the agency's own workers had died on duty, including one during an airstrike on March 31 that hit a medical clinic in Zanjan ‌province. She did not ‌attribute blame for the killings.

'YOU CAN SENSE THE FEAR'

"Our concern ‌is ⁠really how the ⁠humanitarian needs are escalating so rapidly and (over) our ability to bring all the support into the country," Martinez said.

Hopes for a swift end to the conflict faded on Thursday after US President Donald Trump vowed to conduct more aggressive strikes.

Washington has said its Iran strikes are being carried out with precision. Israel's military has said it takes measures to mitigate harm against civilians during its operations.

Martinez said there were no shortages of emergency stocks for now, but the ⁠situation would worsen if the fighting continued, especially as the price ‌of supplies went up and their insufficient funding ran ‌low.

“The needs are exponentially increasing. Resources are not unlimited," she said.

She was concerned that people's fears of ‌bombings would stop them from venturing out to seek aid.

"The streets are completely empty ... ‌You can sense the fear, you can sense the uncertainty in people's eyes,” she said in a video interview from Tehran.

MORE INTERNATIONAL SUPPORT "IS ESSENTIAL"

The aid group says it has 100,000 responders across the country's 31 provinces as well as helicopters and rescue dogs, and provides first aid for those ‌injured by airstrikes and support for the displaced.

One IFRC rescue worker called to help clear rubble discovered his own family were among ⁠the dead buried there. Others ⁠take turns sleeping at the IFRC offices to be on standby in the case of bombings, she added.

Work was frequently disrupted and staff were transcribing documents by hand because of power and Internet cuts.

"We are in the middle of a meeting and the alarms are activated. We need to evacuate immediately and this happens three, four, six times per day," she said.

The agency had been unable to import vital supplies from its Dubai warehouse for weeks amid a logistical quagmire exacerbated by Iran's shutting down of the Strait of Hormuz in retaliation for US-Israeli strikes.

It now aims to ship them overland from Türkiye on April 7, IFRC supply chain director Cecile Terraz said, but it will take weeks.

The IFRC may have to use its 40 million Swiss Franc ($50.05 million) emergency appeal even though it is currently only 6% funded, Martinez said. "Increasing international support is essential to protect civilians and sustain this emergency response operation."