TOP HEADLINES

•The Kremlin said on Monday that the International Criminal Court's (ICC) decision to issue an arrest warrant for President Vladimir Putin was a sign of the "clear hostility" that exists against Russia and against Putin personally.

•In response, Russia's Investigative Committee said on Monday that it had opened a criminal case against the International Criminal Court prosecutor and judges.

•The committee said the ICC prosecutor's actions showed signs of being crimes under Russian law - knowingly accusing an innocent person of a crime, and "preparing an attack on a representative of a foreign state enjoying international protection, in order to complicate international relations".

•EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said he hoped for a deal on the joint procurement of ammunition for Ukraine at a meeting of the bloc's foreign and defense ministers in Brussels on Monday, warning of problems should ministers fail to agree.

•Russia's presidential administration has told officials to stop using Apple AAPL.O iPhones because of concerns the devices are vulnerable to Western intelligence agencies, the Kommersant newspaper reported on Monday.

•Fierce fighting continued in the eastern town of Bakhmut with each side launching counter offensives. Ukrainian forces have held out in Bakhmut since last summer in the longest and bloodiest battle of the year-long war.

•Russia's Wagner mercenary group, which is spearheading the assault on Bakhmut and has suffered heavy losses, plans to recruit some 30,000 new fighters by mid-May.

•Ukrainian officials have claimed that some 30,000 of Wagner's fighters have deserted or been killed or wounded, a figure that could not be independently verified.

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IN DEPTH

Kremlin accuses West of hostility towards Putin 

The Kremlin said on Monday that the International Criminal Court's (ICC) decision to issue an arrest warrant for President Vladimir Putin was a sign of the "clear hostility" that exists against Russia and against Putin personally.

But Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that Russia was reacting "calmly" and was continuing its work.

"We are witnessing such a number of clearly hostile displays against our country and against our president," Peskov said at a regular news briefing.

"We note them, but if we took every one to heart, nothing good would come of it. Therefore we look at this calmly, note everything attentively and continue to work."

The impact of the ICC's move to issue an arrest warrant on Putin - as well as Russia's children's rights commissioner - for the mass abduction of children from Ukraine remains unclear.

Russia is not a party to the Rome Statute which underpins the court, meaning the warrant has no legal force in Russia. However, the move could impact Putin's travel to any of the 123 countries that do recognise the ICC's jurisdiction.

Russia has not denied taking thousands of children from Ukraine since the start of what it calls a "special military operation" but said it has done so to protect them.

The Kremlin described the warrant on its leader as "outrageous and unacceptable."

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