Russia Ukraine war live: Kyiv and Moscow exchange prisoners of war in first swap since plane crash

French President Emmanuel Macron today blamed war-torn Ukraine for intensifying the European agricultural crisis by exporting sub-standard produce.

He spoke out on Tuesday as farmers continued to besiege major cities including Paris as they demanded better pay and conditions, and a reduction in EU red tape.

At a press conference in Sweden, Mr Macron said: ‘We have asked for clear measures on imports from Ukraine, because today we have things in volume and quality that are destabilising the European market, whether it comes to chickens or cereals.’

Saying it was ‘facile’ to blame all farming problems on the EU, Mr Macron continued: ‘As far as poultry is concerned, it is indeed the arrival, in particular, of poultry that was much cheaper from Ukraine.’ In turn, one French union leader called for all imports from Ukraine – which has been at war with Russia for a decade – to be cut completely.

Franck Laborde, head of France’s AGPM association of maize producers, said cheap Ukrainian poultry was not reared to adequate standards.

“We are opening our doors wide in Europe to Ukrainian production so that they can finance the war,” he said. “This is not acceptable. Agriculture is being sacrificed on the altar of war.”

It came after riot police prevented a tractor convoy blockading the largest fresh food market in Europe as militant French farmers attempted to “starve Paris”.

They aimed to surround Rungis, to the south of Paris, in the early hours of Tuesday morning. This would have caused chaos to the city’s food supply, which can last for three days before crisis shortages are announced.

Citing a Russian Telegram news channel Astra, they said the first bomb landed on a farm in Postnikov, whilst the second landed on an urban street in Strelestkoye – prompting an evacuation of up to 150 civilians.

“The increasing frequency of these occurrences likely demonstrates a degree of air and ground crew fatigue within the Russian front line, as well as exposing inadequate training,” the UK’s latest defence intelligence update reads.

The wail of air raid sirens is commonplace in Belgorod, a Russian border city whose residents are on edge following a Ukrainian missile attack on a New Year’s holiday weekend that left dozens of people dead and injured.

A spectacular explosion rocked a huge fuel export terminal on the Baltic Sea southwest of St. Petersburg this month from a Ukrainian drone, forcing the energy company Novatek to suspend operations for several days.

Last week, an apparent drone attack in the Black Sea port of Tuapse in the southern Krasnodar region hit one of Russia’s largest refineries and ignited a fire, while another big refinery in the Volga River city of Yaroslavl, north of Moscow came under attack early Monday, but officials said there was no damage.

Zelensky has denied claims he moved to dismiss Valerii Zaluzhny as tensions between the two appear to reach their boiling point after months of simmering.

The Financial Times cited four sources familiar with the situation claiming that the president offered the popular general a new role as a defence adviser but he refused.

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Foreign secretary David Cameron said he was “deeply concerned” by the disappearance of British-Russian journalist and activist Vladimir Kara-Murza, who is reportedly missing from a jail in a Siberian city where he is serving a 25-year sentence.

The 42-year-old Kremlin critic was lodged in a prison in the Omsk region where he being held in solitary confinement. Efforts by his wife and lawyers to reach him in person and through letters failed, and jail authorities have now said Mr Kara-Murza is no longer present in the facility.

After successful testing in the US, Ukraine will soon receive it first big batch of long-range missiles made by Boeing that promise to extend its range deep into Russian-held territory, according to sources familiar with the matter.

They could arrive “on the battlefield” as soon as Wednesday, Politico reported.

Ukraine needs Boeing’s Ground Launched Small Diameter Bombs (GLSDB) to augment the limited number of 100-mile range Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) rockets the US has sent.

The glide-bomb will allow Ukraine‘s military to hit targets at twice the distance reachable by the rockets it now fires from the U.S.-supplied High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) and could force Russia to move supplies even farther from the front lines.

“It’s long past time to finding creative means to provide the capability and capacity needed to strike deep and often behind Russian lines,” said Tom Karako, a weapons and security expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Russian attack drones hit civilian targets in Ukraine’s second city, Kharkiv, on Tuesday, triggering a fire and causing damage to infrastructure, local officials said.

Details on casualties and damage were being clarified. Emergency services were taking action.

Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov, writing on the Telegram messaging app, said one drone had hit a residence and started a fire.

Kharkiv Region Governor Oleh Synehubov said there had been a number of strikes in the city and civil infrastructure had been damaged. At least six drones had been deployed in the region, he wrote on Telegram.

Ukrainian billionaire Kostyantyn Zhevago has won a bid to throw out a London lawsuit over allegations he embezzled money from the now bankrupt lender Finance & Credit Bank.

Zhevago, who controls London-listed iron pellet producer Ferrexpo, was being sued on behalf of the bank by WWRT Ltd.

They brought the case at London’s High Court and accused Zhevago of procuring loans from the bank to companies controlled by him.

Zhevago, who served in Ukraine’s parliament from 1998 to 2019, has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing and argued that any case relating to the alleged fraud should not be heard in London.

Judge Richard Jacobs upheld Zhevago’s challenge in a written ruling delivered on Friday. Lawyers representing Zhevago and WWRT did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The Moral Rating Agency (MRA) criticised the UK-headquartered firm and its Brazilian parent company Natura &Co after a BBC investigation found that Avon is still recruiting sales agents and continuing production at a plant near Moscow.

“We believe restricting their access to products would have an outsize impact on women and children there,” the firm wrote on its website.

“For 135 years, Avon has stood for women wherever they are in the world, regardless of ethnicity, nationality, age, or religion.

“There is no financial advantage to Natura &Co being in Russia. We will continue to assess our position as the situation evolves.”

But in light of the BBC’s new findings, the MRA accused the companies over maintaining operations in Russia and its support of the Russian economy under the guise of supporting women and children.

Mark Dixon, MRA founder, said: “This is not just a company failing to get out of Russia but also moralwashing what it has failed to do.”

He added: “By hiring new people, keeping production going, and keeping products on the shelves, Avon is supporting the economy that pays for the invasion of Ukraine.

“We are approaching the two-year anniversary of the invasion of Ukraine and they are actually hiring new reps.”