Europe

KYIV, March 26 (Reuters) - A top security adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Sunday that Russian plans to station tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus would destabilise that country, which he said had been taken "hostage" by Moscow.

Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the decision on Saturday, sending a warning to NATO over its military support for Ukraine and escalating a standoff with the West.

BERLIN (AP) — Lufthansa’s operations were disrupted Sunday at Frankfurt airport because of technical problems, German news agency dpa reported.

Check-in systems on the airline’s website and at the counter, as well as boarding, were affected at Germany’s biggest airport, a Lufthansa spokeswoman told dpa. Some flights were delayed or would have to be canceled because of the problems.

Check-in was still possible using cellphone browsers on smartphones or tablets, and the Lufthansa app.

BERLIN (AP) — An increased number of travelers in Germany boarded trains and planes on Sunday, a day before a major one-day strike that aims to bring the country’s transportation system to a standstill.

But even advance travel was met with disruption in some places as Munich airport already shut down because of the impending strike on Monday, and technical problems affecting German airline Lufthansa in Frankfurt led to flight delays and cancellations at the country’s biggest airport.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine’s top security official on Sunday denounced the Kremlin’s plans to station tactical atomic weapons in Belarus, saying that Russia was taking its ally as a “nuclear hostage.”

But Moscow said it was making the move in response to the West’s increasing military support for Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the plan in a television interview that aired on Saturday, saying it was triggered by a U.K. decision this past week to provide Ukraine with armor-piercing rounds containing depleted uranium.

25 Mar 2023; MEMO: The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has called for the trial of those responsible for the attack on the Church of Gethsemane in occupied Jerusalem.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — The courtyards of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra have been busy with more than just the usual worshippers, going to and from its churches in the sprawling monastic complex that is Ukraine’s most revered Orthodox site.

Also busy Friday were people in civilian clothes, loading cars with plasma televisions, furniture and other items from the buildings — helping the resident monks remove belongings of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, or UOC, before a threatened government eviction on March 29.

TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — Advertisements promise cash bonuses and enticing benefits. Recruiters are making cold calls to eligible men. Enlistment offices are working with universities and social service agencies to lure students and the unemployed.

A new campaign is underway this spring across Russia, seeking recruits to replenish its troops for the war in Ukraine.

As fighting grinds on in Ukrainian battlegrounds like Bakhmut and both sides prepare for counteroffensives that could cost even more lives, the Kremlin’s war machine badly needs new recruits.

MOSCOW, March 22. /TASS/: It is the results of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Russia that matter, not the Western coverage that was predictably hostile, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Wednesday.

"Undoubtedly, the most important thing is not the West’s reaction after all, but the results of these talks that have taken place. The main thing is the results of the state visit itself," the Kremlin spokesman said.

MOSCOW, March 25. /TASS/: The Russian armed forces eliminated more than 155 Ukrainian servicemen and a D-30 howitzer in the Donetsk area in the past 24 hours, the Russian Defense Ministry’s spokesman, Lieutenant-General Igor Konashenkov, reported on Saturday.

"In the Donetsk direction, over 155 Ukrainian servicemen, three armored combat vehicles, five cars and a D-30 howitzer were destroyed as a result of active operations by units and artillery of the southern battlegroup," he said.

MOSCOW, March 25. /TASS/: 2023 will turn out to be a heterogenous year, but it will be a good, happy year for Russia, the deputy chairman of the Russian Security Council, Dmitry Medvedev, opined in an interview with Russian media, including TASS, and users of the VKontakte social media network.

"I believe that 2023 will be a heterogenous year, dramatic, too, but, on the other hand, it will enable us to answer the most challenging questions. It will reveal the true heroism of our people," the politician said.