Ukrainian troops are fighting to keep control of parts of the strategic northeastern town of Lyman, the country's defence ministry said on Friday as Russia extended a relentless offensive in the Donbas region, including the Severodonetsk area where authorities say 1,500 people have died since the start of the war. Read our live blog to see how all the day's events unfolded.
10:01pm: Russia expects $14 billon in additional energy revenue this year
Russia expects to receive one trillion rubles in additional oil and gas revenues this year, the finance minister said Friday, adding that some of these additional funds will be allocated towards Moscow's offensive in Ukraine.
"We expect to receive up to a trillion rubles ($14.4 billion) in additional oil and gas revenues, according to the forecast that we have developed with the ministry of economic development," Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said in remarks broadcast on state television.
He said the money will be spent on "additional payments" to pensioners and families with children and conducting a "special operation" in Ukraine, referring to Moscow's offensive in the pro-Western country.
9:05pm: Ukraine's Moscow-backed Orthodox church has cut ties with Russia
The Moscow branch of Kyiv's Orthodox church said Friday it was cutting ties with Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, declaring "full independence" in a historic move against Russia’s spiritual authorities.
"We disagree with the position of Patriarch Kirill of Moscow... on the war," the church said in a statement after holding a council focused on Russia’s "aggression" against Ukraine, where it declared the "full independence and autonomy of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church".
5:01pm: Putin says Ukraine is 'sabotaging' negotiating process
Russian President Vladimir Putin accused Ukraine of "sabotaging" the negotiating process between the two countries, the Kremlin said, citing comments he made to Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer in a phone call on Friday.
Putin also informed Nehammer that Russia was taking action to secure safe passage for vessels in the Azov and Black Seas and that it was ready to discuss a prisoner swap with Ukraine, the Kremlin said in a statement.
3:22pm: Ukraine’s defence ministry says troops are fighting to keep control of the key town of Lyman
Ukrainian troops are fighting to keep control of the northwestern and southeastern parts of the town of Lyman, the country's defence ministry said on Friday, as Russia's offensive in east Ukraine gathers momentum.
Ukrainian troops were "counteracting attempts" by Russia to push its offensive towards the key Ukrainian town of Sloviansk, defence ministry spokesman Oleksandr Motuzyanyk said at a briefing.
2:32pm: UN says more than 4,000 civilians have been killed in Ukraine so far
More than 4,000 civilians have been killed in Ukraine since Russia's invasion began on February 24, although the true number is likely much higher, the UN rights office (OHCHR) said in a statement on Friday.
In total, 4,031 people have been killed, including nearly 200 children, according to OHCHR, which has dozens of monitors in the country. Most were killed by explosive weapons with a wide impact such as shelling from heavy artillery or airstrikes.
It did not attribute blame for the deaths. Russia has denied targeting civilians in the conflict.
12:45pm: Russia looking to boost grain production, exports
Russia said Friday it was looking to ramp up its production of grain to export in the coming season, amid a global food crisis exacerbated by Moscow's military campaign in Ukraine.
The military action and sanctions imposed on Russia over the offensive have disrupted global supplies of grain, wheat and other commodities. Russia and Ukraine alone produce 30 percent of the global wheat supply.
"In the current season (2021-2022) we have already exported over 35 million tonnes of grain, including 28.5 million tonnes of wheat," Agriculture Minister Dmitry Patrushev said at a Russian grain forum, adding that before the end of the season on June 30 the export volume will exceed 37 million tonnes.
"In the coming season (starting July 1, 2022) we estimate our export potential for grain at 50 million tonnes," he said.
12:34pm: Unclear what Ukraine wants: Kremlin on stalled peace talks
The Kremlin said on Friday that it blames Ukraine for the fact that peace talks between the two countries are frozen, saying it was unclear what Kyiv wanted.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said in a call with reporters: "The Ukrainian leadership constantly makes contradictory statements. This does not allow us to fully understand what the Ukrainian side wants."
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said earlier that he had tried repeatedly to organise a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin to end the war, but that Russia did not appear to be ready yet for serious peace talks.
12:01pm: West has declared 'total war' on Russia, Lavrov says
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Friday accused Western countries of waging a "total war" on Russia and its people and culture as Moscow pushes on with its military operation in Ukraine.
"The West has declared war on us, on the whole Russian world. The culture of cancelling Russia and everything connected with our country is already reaching the point of absurdity," Lavrov said at a ministry meeting.
He accused the West of banning Russian writers, composers and other cultural figures.
"It is safe to say that this situation will be with us for a long time," he added.
11:22am: Johnson says Putin making slow but palpable progress in Donbas
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Friday that Russian President Vladimir Putin was making slow but palpable progress in the Donbas region of Ukraine. "I'm afraid that Putin, at great cost to himself and to the Russian military, is continuing to chew through ground in Donbas," he told Bloomberg TV.
"He's continuing to make gradual, slow, but I'm afraid palpable, progress and therefore it is absolutely vital that we continue to support the Ukrainians militarily.
10:55am: Pro-Russia separatists say have captured strategic town of Lyman
Moscow-backed separatist forces in Ukraine said Friday they had captured Lyman, a strategic town that sits on a road leading to key eastern cities still under Kyiv's control.
Separatist forces have "taken full control of 220 settlements, including Krasny Liman", the breakaway region of Donetsk said on its Telegram channel, using an old name for the town.
Lyman, site of a key railway hub, has been a major front line as Russian forces press down from the north, one of three directions from which they have been attacking Ukraine's industrial Donbas region. The pro-Russian Donetsk People's Republic separatists said they were now in full control of it.
Oleksiy Arestovych, adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, appeared to confirm the fall of Lyman in an interview overnight, and said the battle there showed that Moscow was improving its tactics.
7:16am: Zelensky condems Russia's assault on Donbas
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky condemned Moscow's brutal assault on the Donbas – where it has redirected its forces after having failed to capture Kyiv – adding that its bombardment could leave the entire region "uninhabited".
"All this, including the deportation of our people and the mass killings of civilians, is an obvious policy of genocide pursued by Russia," he said. Pro-Moscow separatist groups have since 2014 controlled parts of Donbas, but Russia now appears set on taking the whole region.
Invading forces are closing in on several cities, including the strategically located Severodonetsk and Lysychansk, which stand on the crucial route to Ukraine's eastern administrative centre in Kramatorsk.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP)
