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The day was marked by news that Russian authorities had arrested a Wall Street Journal correspondent on suspicion of espionage. It is the first case of this nature since 1986. This Thursday the Russian whose daughter drew a drawing in favor of Ukraine and who had fled before being sentenced was also arrested. Alexei Moskalyov was reportedly captured in Belarus.

Wall Street Journal correspondent detained in Russia on suspicion of espionage. Newspaper denies accusations

These are the main news for this Thursday:

What happened during the afternoon?

• Sergey Lavrov, Russia’s foreign minister, will visit Turkey next week, Turkish television NTV reported on Thursday. The day before, the Turkish president indicated that his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, should visit the country in April.
• Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister clarified that Moscow will continue to inform the United States of America about any missile tests, CNN reports.
• European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen admitted that the way China “continues to interact with Putin’s war will be a determining factor for EU-China relations moving forward.”
• The Wall Street Journal “vehemently” denied suspicions of spying on its correspondent, expressing “deep concern for his safety.” Reacting to the arrest, Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said he was too early to talk about a prisoner exchange.

What happened in the morning?

• Dmytro Kuleba, Ukraine’s foreign minister, said on Twitter that “Russia’s presidency of the UN Security Council on April 1 is a bad joke.” “Russia has usurped the place,” said the Ukrainian ruler.
• Four bankers who helped Sergey Roldugin, a close friend of Putin, move millions of francs through Swiss accounts have been convicted of lack of diligence in financial transactions.
• The daily bulletin of the information services of the Ministry of Defense of the United Kingdom indicates that Russia will be preparing a campaign of recruitment of soldiers, with the ambition of recruiting another 400,000 soldiers.
• The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) shared in its usual daily analysis that Russian forces have managed to advance over the past two days in the south-east and south-west of Bakhmut.
• Ukraine’s Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov announced that Ukraine is preparing a counteroffensive with Leopard tanks provided by various Western countries. The revelations were made in an interview with the Estonian channel ERR.