Ukraine live briefing: Zelensky, Putin make dueling visits to troops; WSJ reporter’s appeal rejected

Here’s the latest on the war and its ripple effects across the globe.

Key developments

• A Moscow court rejected U.S. journalist Evan Gershkovich’s appeal of spying charges on Tuesday. The Wall Street Journal reporter, 31, stood inside a glass-enclosed defendant’s dock as he appealed the charges, which could bring up to 20 years in prison if he is convicted. “We’re deeply concerned by the news that Russia will continue to wrongfully detain Evan following a sham judicial proceeding today,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in response to the news. Russia’s Federal Security Service accused Gershkovich in last March of trying to obtain classified information — a claim that the reporter, the Wall Street Journal and the U.S. government have denied.
• “The Biden-Harris administration is engaging with Russia through every available channel to bring Evan and fellow American Paul Whelan home, who is also a priority for us,” Jean-Pierre said in a White House briefing Tuesday. "As we have said before, the charges against Evan are baseless, and we call on Russia ... to immediately release him. We also call for the immediate release of Paul, who has been wrongfully detained on sham espionage charges for more than four years. We remain in touch with their families and admire their courage in the face of these unimaginable circumstances.”
• Putin visited Kherson and Luhansk to inspect the progress of Russia’s so-called “special military operation,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. He said Putin visited the two regions, which Russia last year illegally claimed to annex, on Monday.
• Western officials called for the immediate release of Vladimir Kara-Murza, a top Kremlin critic and opposition lawmaker. He was convicted of treason and sentenced by a Russian court to 25 years in prison, the harshest penalty handed down yet to an opponent of the invasion of Ukraine. Kara-Murza, a dual national of Britain and Russia and a Washington Post Opinions contributor, described the closed trial as “politically motivated.”
• The Russian Foreign Ministry summoned U.S. ambassador Lynne M. Tracy in protest of U.S. comments about Kara-Muza’s case. The ministry accused Washington of “blatant interference in Russia’s internal affairs, which is hypocritical and absurd.”

Battleground updates

• Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is traveling to Sweden and Germany this week to meet his counterparts and for a meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group at Ramstein Air Base. In his nightly address Monday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky expressed hope that the Ramstein gathering will help Kyiv achieve its “ambitious” battleground goals ahead of a long-planned spring offensive.
• Russia’s Wagner mercenary group appears to be back in favor with the Kremlin, according to analysts at the Institute for the Study of War. Wagner troops were being expended in the bloody front-line battle for Bakhmut. Now they appear to be “receiving reinforcements, ammunition, and political recognition,” the U.S. think tank said. People affiliated with Wagner claim to be training up to three motorized rifle brigades to reinforce their ranks in Bakhmut. The Washington Post could not independently verify those claims.

Global impact

• Top diplomats of the Group of Seven major industrialized nations said Tuesday that Russia’s threat to put nuclear weapons in Belarus was “unacceptable.” The group vowed to impose “severe costs” on countries helping Russia in its war effort.
• Ukrainian officials accused Russia of sabotaging a deal allowing Ukrainian grain to be exported — which was intended to help ease a global food crisis — by stopping the registration of vessels for required inspections. According to the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, some 50 ships are awaiting approval to enter Ukrainian ports and load grain.
• Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva met with Russia’s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, on Monday as the White House issued a stern rebuke of his weekend accusations that the United States was “encouraging” the war. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby accused the Brazilian leader — who visited Beijing last week — of “parroting Russian and Chinese propaganda without looking at the facts.”

From our correspondents

Egypt nearly supplied rockets to Russia, agreed to arm Ukraine instead, leak shows: Five leaked U.S. intelligence documents that have not been previously reported show Egypt made detailed plans to export rockets at Moscow’s request, but later approved artillery production for Kyiv after a diplomatic offensive from Washington, Missy Ryan, Evan Hill and Siobhán O’Grady report.

The Post last week reported on a secretive plan in February by Egyptian President Abdel Fatah El-Sisi to provide Russia with up to 40,000 122mm Sakr-45 rockets. He appeared to shelve that plan in favor of a deal to sell weapons to the United States for transfer to Ukraine, in what would be a diplomatic win for the Biden administration.

John Hudson, Mary Ilyushina and Natalia Abbakumova contributed to this report.