Ukraine updates: Putin visits troops in Kherson, Luhansk
Russian President Vladimir Putin has visited headquarters of the Russian troops fighting in Ukraine, the Kremlin said on Tuesday.

A video broadcast by Russian state television showed Putin arriving in the southern Kherson region in a helicopter and meeting top military commanders. He was then seen visiting the headquarters of the Russian National Guard in the eastern Luhansk region.

The Kremlin said the visit took place on Monday. The footage could not be independently verified.

While this was Putin's second visit to regions under Russia's control, it was the first time the Russian leader visited Kherson and Luhansk — regions that are partly controlled by Russian troops.

It comes as Ukrainian troops prepare for a fresh counteroffensive to reclaim the occupied territories.

Last month, Putin visited the Sea of Azov port city of Mariupolwhich came under Russia's control in May last year.

While meeting troops in Luhansk and Kherson, Putin wished them a happy Easter, which Orthodox Christians celebrated on Sunday, the Kremlin said.

In September last year, Russia annexed the regions of Kherson, Luhansk, Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia in a move that was internationally condemned as illegal.

Here are some of the other notable developments concerning Russia's war in Ukraine on Tuesday, April 18:

Retired general Ben Hodges: 'Bakhmut is all about Crimea'
As Ukrainian authorities reported increased Russian use of heavy artillery and airstrikes around the contested town of Bakhmut on Tuesday, DW spoke to retired US General Ben Hodges.

"Bakhmut is actually all about Crimea," Hodges said. "Ukraine has managed for nine months to stop Russian forces from capturing Bakhmut. In the meanwhile, they have been building up forces that they're going to use in their offensive, which I think happens in several more weeks, that will be aimed at isolating the Crimean Peninsula and then eventually making Crimea untenable for Russian forces."

The former commanding general of US Army Europe said he believed the counteroffensive might be likely to commence around June: "It was never going to be a spring offensive, it needs to be when they're ready to attack, and when the weather conditions are better, the ground specifically," he said.

If Ukraine could break through Russian lines to the Sea of Azov and isolate the peninsula off the southern coast, Hodges said that would be "the beginning of the end for Russians in Crimea."

It would then be possible to isolate Russian forces there and use long-range weaponry to target sites like the major naval base at Sevastopol, he said.

Russia annexed Crimea in 2014, years before its full-scale invasion. Sevastopol provides its navy with valuable access to the Black Sea and the Mediterranean.

G7 vows stricter sanction against Russia
Top envoys of the Group of Seven (G7) developed nations have pledged to join hands against Russia's war in Ukraine and intensify sanctions against it.

Ending their three-day summitin Karuizawa, Japan, on Tuesday, the G7 members said that they are committed to intensify, coordinate and "fully" enforce sanctions on Russia for its war in Ukraine.

"There can be no impunity for war crimes and other atrocities such as Russia's attacks against civilians and critical civilian infrastructure," the ministers said in a joint statement.

"We reiterate our call on third parties to cease assistance to Russia's war, or face severe costs," the statement said.

"Russia's irresponsible nuclear rhetoric and its threat to deploy nuclear weapons in Belarus are unacceptable," the ministers said.

The meeting comes after French President Emmanuel Macron suggested that the European Union should reduce its reliance on the United States and warned against being drawn into Taiwan's crisis.

The meeting, where the G7 members also discussed Chinese and North Korean aggression in Northeast Asia, comes ahead of a full summit of G7 leaders in Hiroshima, Japan, in May.

Brazil welcomes Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov visited Braziland thanked the country for its controversial efforts to mediate the Ukraine conflict.

"As for the process in Ukraine, we are grateful to our Brazilian friends for their excellent understanding of this situation's genesis. We are grateful (to them) for striving to contribute to finding ways to settle it," Lavrov said, sitting alongside his Brazilian counterpart, Mauro Vieira.

Lavrov also met with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who has drawn Western criticism for his recent comments on Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.

President Lula, on a recent trip to the United Arab Emirates, said Kyiv shares the blame for the conflict.

The US has described Brazil's approach to Russia as "deeply problematic."

Following the meeting between Lavrov and Vieira, US national security spokesman John Kirby said, "Brazil is parroting Russian and Chinese propaganda without at all looking at the facts."