We will be pausing our live coverage of the war in Ukraine and returning in a few hours to bring you all the latest developments. You can find a summary of where things stand here.
Summary
It’s 2am in Kyiv. Here’s where things stand:
- A Ukrainian paramedic has been released from Russian captivity, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy announced on Saturday. Zelenskiy said that Ukraine has been able to secure the release of Yulia Payevska, a civilian parademic who was captured by Russian forces in Mariupol on March 16.
- The Biden administration’s plan to sell four large, armable drones to Ukraine has been paused on the fear its sophisticated surveillance equipment might fall into enemy hands, according to two people familiar with the matter. The objection to the export of the drones arose due to concerns the radar and surveillance equipment on the drones could create a security risk for the United States if it fell into Russian hands.
- Viktoria Apanasenko, a civic volunteer from Chernihiv, Ukraine has been chosen to represent the country at the 2022 Miss Universe pageant. “Victoria helps the capital Naíve [a Kyiv-based restaurant] cook food for battalions of the Armed Forces and the elderly. She and her friend are engaged in addressing food, medicine and hygiene products for children, the elderly and internally displaced people,” said a statement by Ukraine’s Miss Universe organization.
- Dozens of Ukrainian civilians performed military exercises on Friday in fortified positions left by Russian troops in Bucha, a town synonymous with war crimes blamed on Moscow’s forces. “Most of those who are here aren’t soldiers. They’re just civilians who want to defend their country - 50 percent of them have never held a weapon until today,” said a sergeant known as “Ticha”.
- Ukraine has received a $733 million loan from Canada. In a statement released on Friday, Ukraine’s finance ministry said that funds, which were “raised in accordance with the loan agreement between Ukraine and Canada”, will be “directed to the state budget to finance priority expenditures, in particular, to ensure priority social and humanitarian expenditures.”
- German chancellor Olaf Scholz said that it is “absolutely necessary” for leaders to speak directly with Russian president Vladimir Putin in attempts to end the war. Speaking to German news agency DPA on Friday, Scholz said, “It is absolutely necessary to speak to Putin, and I will continue to do so – as the French president will also.”
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Russian media has supposedly shown images of two US citizens captured in Ukraine. On Friday, the Izvestia newspaper showed footage of what it said was an interview with Andy Huynh, 27. The Russian channel RT also posted a photo of a man that it identified as Alexander Drueke, 39.
- A group of international investigators and experts have visited war-torn areas near Kyiv, including a burnt-out school, as part of Ukraine’s ongoing investigation into alleged war crimes. “The scale of these crimes, the systematic nature of them, it very clearly appears to be crimes against humanity ... it runs the whole gamut of violations of international humanitarian law,” one expert told Reuters.
That’s it from me, Maya Yang, as I hand over the blog to my colleagues in Australia, who will bring you the latest updates. I’ll be back tomorrow, thank you.
A Ukrainian paramedic has been released from Russian captivity, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy announced in his nightly address.
⚡️Ukrainian paramedic released from captivity.
— The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) June 17, 2022
President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his nightly address that Ukraine was able to secure the release of civilian paramedic Yulia Payevska, known as Tyra, who was captured by Russian forces in Mariupol on March 16.
Updated
The Biden administration’s plan to sell four large, armable drones to Ukraine has been paused on the fear its sophisticated surveillance equipment might fall into enemy hands, according to two people familiar with the matter.
Reuters reports:
The technical objection to the sale was raised during a deeper review by the Pentagon’s Defense Technology Security Administration charged with keeping high value technology safe from enemy hands. Previously the plan, which has been circulating since March, had been approved by the White House, three people said.
The objection to the export of the drones arose due to concerns the radar and surveillance equipment on the drones could create a security risk for the United States if it fell into Russian hands.
The sources said this consideration had been overlooked in the initial review but came up in meetings at the Pentagon late last week.
“Technology security reviews are a standard practice for the transfer of U.S. defense articles to all international partners. All cases are reviewed individually on their own merit. Through the established process, national security concerns are elevated to the appropriate approving authority,” said Pentagon spokesperson Sue Gough.
The decision on whether or not to continue with the deal is now being reviewed higher up the chain of command at the Pentagon, but the timing of any decision is uncertain, one of the people a U.S. official said on condition of anonymity.
One solution to move the sale forward would be to swap out the existing radar and sensor package for something less sophisticated, but that could take months to complete, one of the sources.
If the case to sell the drones is allowed to progress, Congress would be given a chance to block it, though that was seen as unlikely.
The four General Atomics-made Gray Eagle drones were originally slated to go to the U.S. Army, people familiar with the process said.
According to Army budget documents, the Gray Eagles cost $10 million each.
Viktoria Apanasenko, a civic volunteer from Chernihiv, Ukraine has been chosen to represent the country at the 2022 Miss Universe pageant, Euromaidan Press reports.
“She is actively fighting for Ukraine’s victory on the information front and is volunteering. Victoria helps the capital Naíve [a Kyiv-based restaurant] cook food for battalions of the Armed Forces and the elderly. She and her friend are engaged in addressing food, medicine and hygiene products for children, the elderly and internally displaced people,” said a statement by Ukraine’s Miss Universe organization.
Chernihiv civic volunteer to represent Ukraine at Miss Universe 2022 pageant
— Euromaidan Press (@EuromaidanPress) June 17, 2022
Social worker by education, Viktoria Apanasenko helps the Kyiv-based Naїve restaurant to prepare food for the army battalions and the elderly.https://t.co/m1Rddia0cJ pic.twitter.com/vuGlns39so
Updated
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty released aerial footage on Saturday showcasing contrasting images of Mariupol before and after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February.
Aerial footage captures contrasting images of the city of Mariupol before and after February 24, when Russia launched its military invasion of Ukraine - RFE/RL https://t.co/0wsDEFSSuA pic.twitter.com/GiRV3yyXxR
— Euromaidan Press (@EuromaidanPress) June 17, 2022
Dozens of Ukrainian civilians performed military exercises on Friday in fortified positions left by Russian troops in Bucha, a town synonymous with war crimes blamed on Moscow’s forces.
Agence France-Presse reports:
Wielding rifles and wearing balaclavas, the volunteers are trained by the Ukrainian army and have signed up to defend their country against Russia’s onslaught.
“Most of those who are here aren’t soldiers. They’re just civilians who want to defend their country - 50 percent of them have never held a weapon until today,” said a sergeant known as “Ticha”.
Russian troops invaded Bucha, a northwestern suburb of Kyiv, three days after their offensive in Ukraine began on February 24.
They withdrew in April as part of a major redeployment to the east, leaving a trail of civilian corpses - some with their hands bound - behind them, sparking accusations of war crimes.
Many of the Ukrainians who have swelled the ranks of the army following the invasion have received training in a forest previously occupied by Russian soldiers.
The volunteers have reclaimed the area, now pockmarked by piles of earth, shelters and gigantic holes after the invading troops abandoned the site.
“The Russians dug these holes, 7,000 big holes for armoured vehicles, tanks, tankers. It’s a lot, and they were preparing to stay here for a long time,” said Ukrainian territorial defence force spokesman Valentyn Kalachnyk.
Ticha told AFP the exercises, which took place under the watchful eye of Ukrainian army staff, would leave the locals better prepared if Moscow’s forces invaded Bucha again.
“If the Orcs (Russian soldiers) come back, God forbid, we will be able to deal with them, unlike the first time. We weren’t prepared for that,” he said.
“We teach them what we know, more than what you learn from the instructors sent by NATO.”
Updated
Ukraine has received a $733 million loan from Canada.
In a statement released on Friday, Ukraine’s finance ministry said that funds, which were “raised in accordance with the loan agreement between Ukraine and Canada”, will be “directed to the state budget to finance priority expenditures, in particular, to ensure priority social and humanitarian expenditures”.
Ukraine’s minister of finance, Sergii Marchenko, thanked the Canadian government for the loan, saying: “I am grateful to the government of Canada and personally to the deputy prime minister, minister of finance of Canada Chrystia Freeland for the unwavering support for Ukraine in the fight for our freedom. This decision once again demonstrates Canada’s leadership in supporting the Ukrainian people and crucial timeliness to help Ukraine.”
Updated
German chancellor Olaf Scholz said that it is “absolutely necessary” for leaders to speak directly with Russian president Vladimir Putin in attempts to end the war.
Speaking to German news agency DPA on Friday, Scholz said, “It is absolutely necessary to speak to Putin, and I will continue to do so – as the French president will also.”
Scholz’s comments came a day after he and several other European leaders visited Ukraine and held talks with President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
There are some countries needed, and some leaders needed, that speak to him – and it is necessary that they are clear,” he said. “When I speak to Putin, I say, for instance, the same things I said to you … Please understand that there will be no dictate(d) peace, and if you really believe that you will rob some land and then hope that the times will change and all the things will become normal again, this is a mistake.”
Updated
Russian media has supposedly shown images of two US citizens captured in Ukraine.
On Friday, the Izvestia newspaper showed footage of what it said was an interview with Andy Huynh, 27. The Russian channel RT also posted a photo of a man that it identified as Alexander Drueke, 39.
Both men lived in Alabama and volunteered alongside Ukrainian forces. According to their family members, the two men have been missing in Ukraine for a week.
In a six-second video uploaded onto Telegram and reviewed by Reuters, a man with a beard and an American accent speaks into a camera and says, “My name is Alexander Drueke, I am against war.”
In another video, the man Izvestia identified as Huynh says in Russian, “I am against war.”
Updated
A group of international investigators and experts have visited war-torn areas near Kyiv, including a burnt-out school, as part of Ukraine’s ongoing investigation into alleged war crimes.
The scale of these crimes, the systematic nature of them, it very clearly appears to be crimes against humanity ... it runs the whole gamut of violations of international humanitarian law,” one expert told Reuters.
International experts helping Ukraine investigate alleged war crimes visited a village near Kyiv and toured a burnt-out school as well as a kindergarten and houses that were reduced to rubble when Russian troops pulled back from the area in April https://t.co/FMFaCOGdQV pic.twitter.com/BY87Je6huE
— Reuters (@Reuters) June 17, 2022
Updated
A major highway leading out of the bombarded city of Lysychansk has been the target of such severe Russian shelling that it is no longer passable, said Luhansk regional governor Serhiy Haidai on Friday.
The road links Lysychansk and the town of Bakhmut some 55 km to the south west. Haidai said Lysychansk was still completely under Ukrainian control.
Updated
UK prime minister Boris Johnson visits Ukraine and president Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Friday, marking his second visit to the country since Russia’s invasion in February.
Updated
Summary
It’s 9pm in Kyiv. Here’s where we stand:
- The European Commission has said Ukraine should be given candidate status to join the EU, in a show of confidence in the wartime government of Volodymyr Zelenskiy and a diplomatic blow to Vladimir Putin. The EU executive also recommended candidate status for Moldova, but it gave a more guarded response to Georgia, saying the country needed to carry out further anti-corruption and judicial reforms.
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Vladimir Putin has delivered a combative speech repeating his critique of the west and saying the sanctions “blitzkrieg” against Moscow never had any chance of succeeding. In an address to the St Petersburg economic forum, which the Kremlin had billed as “extremely important”, Putin claimed Russia’s decision to start its “special military operation” in Ukraine was difficult but forced and said all tasks of its operation would be fulfilled. Putin’s address was delayed by nearly two hours after the event was hit by “large-scale” cyberattacks, according to the Kremlin.
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Boris Johnson has announced that the UK will oversee a new three-week training programme for Ukrainian soldiers, as he visited Kyiv for the third time this year for talks with the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy. Zelenskiy’s official spokesperson, Andriy Yermak, said that at the meeting with “Boris”, they had discussed “the much-needed heavy weapons and air defence systems supplies, economic support for Ukraine” and “increasing sanctions pressure on the Russian Federation”.
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It is now “impossible and physically dangerous” for civilians to leave the Azot chemical plant in Sievierodonetsk due to “constant shelling and fighting”, according to Luhansk’s governor, Serhiy Haidai. There were 568 people in the shelter, including 38 children, Haidai said, adding: “Exiting the plant is possible only with a complete ceasefire.” A pro-Russian separatist leader claimed Russian-backed forces would reopen a humanitarian corridor for civilians to leave the plant, the Interfax news agency reported.
- Ukraine’s navy has claimed it has struck the Russian rescue tug Spasatel Vasily Bekh, which it says was in the process of the “transportation of ammunition, weapons and personnel of the Black Sea fleet to Snake Island.” Ukraine’s armed forces strategic communications directorate said the tug boat was hit with two Harpoon missiles. If so, that would mark the first time Ukraine has said it hit a Russian vessel with this type of western-supplied anti-ship rocket.
- At least two people have been killed and 20 injured in a Russian missile attack on Mykolaiv in southern Ukraine, according to governor Vitaliy Kim. The attack also damaged four residential buildings and an infrastructure facility, he said. The claims have not been independently verified.
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A third American volunteer fighting in Ukraine has been reported as missing amid concerns that all three may have been captured by Russian or pro-Russian forces. The family of the former Marine Corps officer Grady Kurpasi said he had been missing in the Kherson area since late April following the earlier disclosure that two other American military veterans had lost contact with their families. The US president, Joe Biden, said he had been briefed on the three Americans missing in Ukraine and reiterated that Americans should not be going to the country.
- A Russian warship violated Danish territorial waters north of the Baltic Sea island of Bornholm, where a democracy festival was taking place, the Danish armed forces said. Denmark’s foreign minister, Jeppe Kofod, condemned the “deeply irresponsible, gross and completely unacceptable Russian provocation” in the middle of the festival, which was attended by senior lawmakers and business people.
- The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) said Ukraine was not capable of hosting next year’s Eurovision song contest. The EBU said it had “with deep regret” concluded that it would not be possible to provide the security and operational guarantees required to hold the contest in Ukraine. It has asked the BBC to host next year’s competition, a decision that has angered the Ukrainian government.
That’s it from me, Léonie Chao-Fong, today. I’ll be back on Monday. My colleague, Maya Yang, will be here shortly with the latest from Ukraine.
The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said she spoke with Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, following the Commission’s recommendation to grant Ukraine EU candidate status.
She said Ukrainians “can count on” the Commission’s support “as they move along the path to the European Union”.
I was very moved by President @ZelenskyyUa's kind words over the phone today, following our recommendation to grant Ukraine the candidate status.
— Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) June 17, 2022
The Ukrainians can count on the @EU_Commission's constant support as they move along the path to the European Union. pic.twitter.com/ey8BVCLgzo
Rival plans to export Ukraine’s vitally needed grain have been drawn up by France and Turkey, as concern grows over the potential impact on the world’s poorest people of failures so far to get the grain out of the country.
The Italian prime minister, Mario Draghi, said it was vital a timeline to release the grain is prepared by the time the G7 summit starts next weekend. “A series of deadlines are fast approaching and the drama of a world famine naturally concentrated in the poorest parts of the world, especially Africa, is approaching,” he said following talks with the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, on Thursday.
Italy is backing the idea of a UN resolution, so far rejected by Russia, that would allow a UN convoy to police grain ships that left the Ukrainian-held Black Sea port of Odesa and other ports and then sailed towards the Bosphorus. But the French president, Emmanuel Macron, is sceptical that a UN resolution will be agreed and is proposing instead a massive stepping up of grain exports out of Romanian ports.
In a change of tack, Turkey is now promoting the option of safe routes out of three Ukrainian ports, even though the ports have not been de-mined. Previously it had been assumed that more than 400 mines would need to be removed, but Ukraine is wary of clearing a passage for Russian ships to enter its ports unless it has cast-iron UN security guarantees if Russia was to mount a surprise attack.
The Turkish foreign minister, Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, claimed on Wednesday that “since the location of the mines is known certain safe lines would be established at three ports”. He said commercial ships, possibly guided by Ukrainians, could come and go safely without a need to clear the mines. Officials under Turkish monitoring would be able to inspect the commercial ships for smuggled weaponry on Russia’s behalf.
Read the full article here: France and Turkey propose rival plans to get grain out of Ukraine
Ukraine’s presidential adviser, Mykhailo Podolyak, has hit back at Vladimir Putin’s speech earlier today in St Petersburg, accusing the Russian president of making up a new explanation for his “cannibalistic” war.
Putin earlier said Russia’s “special military operation” in Ukraine “has become a lifeline” for the west and allowed it to blame all of its problems on Russia.
Poldoyak tweeted:
You attack Ukraine, wipe off the map entire cities, commit mass executions, turn Russia into the middle ages, and then call it a … “lifeline for the west”?
New explanation for Putin's cannibalistic war. You attack 🇺🇦, wipe off the map entire cities, commit mass executions, turn 🇷🇺 into the Middle Ages, and then call it a…"lifeline for the West"? Rape for good, kill to enter Heaven? Who has to believe in this, except for the Z-camp?
— Михайло Подоляк (@Podolyak_M) June 17, 2022
Updated
Putin: Russia has ‘nothing against’ Ukraine joining EU
Vladimir Putin said he has no objections to Ukraine joining the EU following the European Commission’s decision to back Kyiv’s bid to become a member of the bloc.
The Russian president was speaking at the St Petersburg international economic forum, when he was asked about the prospects of Ukraine joining the EU.
Putin replied:
We have nothing against it. It is not a military bloc. It’s the right of any country to join economic unions.
However, he questioned whether it was “advisable” for the EU to permit Ukraine to join, saying Kyiv would need huge economic subsidies that other EU members may not be willing to give.
Earlier today, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Russia was closely following Ukraine’s efforts to become an EU member.
The issue “requires our heightened attention, because we are all aware of the intensification of discussions in Europe on the subject of strengthening the defence component of the EU”, Peskov said in a briefing with reporters.
Updated
China’s president, Xi Jinping, spoke in a video address at the St Petersburg international economic forum, where he said Chinese-Russian cooperation was showing good momentum across the board.
Speaking after Xi’s pre-recorded address, Vladimir Putin said Russia’s close relations with China were unrelated to “recent geopolitical events”.
Updated
The US president, Joe Biden, said he had been briefed on the three Americans missing in Ukraine and reiterated that Americans should not be going to the country.
Biden told reporters:
I have been briefed. We don’t know where they are, but I want to reiterate: Americans should not be going to Ukraine now.
I’ll say it again: Americans should not be going to Ukraine now.
The US said yesterday that it was aware of reports that a third American citizen was missing after travelling to Ukraine.
Updated
UK prime minister promises to give Ukraine 'strategic endurance' to prevail against Russia
Johnson says Britain will give Ukraine the “strategic endurance” to prevail against Russia’s invasion and that it will continue to intensify sanctions against Russia.
He also pledges to work with Kyiv to free up grain for export via the Black Sea, which he describes as being “held hostage” by Vladimir Putin.
Johnson says:
We’re going to work together to liberate the grain which is being held hostage right now by Putin, depriving people around the world of the food that they need.
Updated
Boris Johnson says it is great to be back in the Ukrainian capital and to see “how life is coming back to the streets, to the cafes, the restaurants” and says it’s a “very positive thing” to see how Kyiv is much “livelier” than a few weeks ago.
Johnson says:
But we’ve got to face the fact that only a couple of hours away, a barbaric assault continues on entirely innocent people, towns and villages are being reduced to rubble.
He says there has been continued evidence of the deliberate targeting of civilians and “what is unquestionably a war crime”.
Johnson says he “completely understands” why Zelenskiy and his people “can make no compromise with Putin”.
“All the evidence” shows that Russian forces are suffering “acute pressure” and “taking heavy casualties”, he says, describing the Russian expenditure on weaponry and munitions as “colossal”.
Despite this, after 114 days of attack, “they have still not achieved the objectives they set out for the first week”, Johnson says.
The “overwhelming majority” of Russian missile strikes are targeted against civilians and civilian infrastructure, Zelenskiy says. These attacks hit residential buildings, schools, hospitals, transport and enterprises, he says.
The “paramount” task for the west is to help Ukraine defend itself from Russian rockets that will be “a key to guaranteed normal lives” for Ukrainians, he says.
The two leaders also discussed how to “step up” sanctions against Russia, Zelenskiy says, adding that he believes Johnson has a “principled stance in this regard”.
Zelenskiy says:
We can make sanctions very, very tangible in order to make sure that Russia feels the consequences of his or its terrorist acts against Ukraine and international stability.
Updated
Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has been speaking at a joint news conference with Boris Johnson, following the UK prime minister’s surprise visit to Kyiv.
Zelenskiy says he is grateful for this attention to Ukraine, to its people, to Johnson’s leadership and the “unparalleled” support by Britain to Ukraine.
He says talks with Johnson has been “very substantial” and “full of important details”.
The pair discussed the current situation on the front line in the east and the south of Ukraine, as well as “our opportunities in defending Ukraine against the Russian occupier”, Zelenskiy says
He says the UK and Ukraine have a “common position on how to move towards our victory” and that he appreciates Britain’s “understanding of our military requirements” to bolster the supplies of heavy weaponry.
Updated
Today so far...
Here’s where we stand:
- The European Commission has said Ukraine should be given candidate status to join the EU, in a show of confidence in the wartime government of Volodymyr Zelenskiy and a diplomatic blow to Vladimir Putin. The EU executive also recommended candidate status for Moldova, but it gave a more guarded response to Georgia, saying the country needed to carry out further anti-corruption and judicial reforms.
- Vladimir Putin has described western sanctions against Russia as “reckless and insane” and accused western countries of trying to isolate or cancel “wrong” states. In an address to the St Petersburg economic forum, Putin claimed Russia’s decision to start its “special military operation” in Ukraine was difficult but forced and said all tasks of its operation would be fulfilled. Putin’s address was delayed by nearly two hours after the event was hit by a denial-of-service cyberattack, according to the Kremlin.
- The UK’s prime minister, Boris Johnson, has made a surprise visit to Kyiv to meet Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy. It is Johnson’s second trip to Ukraine since the beginning of the war and follows a visit of prominent EU leaders – Emmanuel Macron, Olaf Scholz and Mario Draghi – earlier this week. Johnson offered to launch a major training operation for Ukrainian forces, with the potential to train up to 10,000 soldiers every 120 days, his office said.
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It is now “impossible and physically dangerous” for civilians to leave the Azot chemical plant in Sievierodonetsk due to “constant shelling and fighting”, according to Luhansk’s governor, Serhiy Haidai. There were 568 people in the shelter, including 38 children, Haidai said, adding: “Exiting the plant is possible only with a complete ceasefire.” A pro-Russian separatist leader claimed Russian-backed forces would reopen a humanitarian corridor for civilians to leave the plant, the Interfax news agency reported.
- Ukraine’s navy has claimed it has struck the Russian rescue tug Spasatel Vasily Bekh, which it says was in the process of the “transportation of ammunition, weapons and personnel of the Black Sea fleet to Snake Island.” Ukraine’s armed forces strategic communications directorate said the tug boat was hit with two Harpoon missiles. If so, that would mark the first time Ukraine has said it hit a Russian vessel with this type of western-supplied anti-ship rocket.
- At least two people have been killed and 20 injured in a Russian missile attack on Mykolaiv in southern Ukraine, according to governor Vitaliy Kim. The attack also damaged four residential buildings and an infrastructure facility, he said. The claims have not been independently verified.
- The head of the UK’s armed forces said Russia had already “strategically lost” the war in Ukraine and was now a “more diminished power”. Adm Sir Tony Radakin said Russia was suffering heavy losses, running out of troops and advanced missiles. “Russia will never take control of Ukraine,” Radakin told PA Media.
- A third American volunteer fighting in Ukraine has been reported as missing amid concerns that all three may have been captured by Russian or pro-Russian forces. The family of the former Marine Corps officer Grady Kurpasi said he had been missing in the Kherson area since late April following the earlier disclosure that two other American military veterans had lost contact with their families.
- A Russian warship violated Danish territorial waters north of the Baltic Sea island of Bornholm, where a democracy festival was taking place, the Danish armed forces said. Denmark’s foreign minister, Jeppe Kofod, condemned the “deeply irresponsible, gross and completely unacceptable Russian provocation” in the middle of the festival, which was attended by senior lawmakers and business people.
- The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) said Ukraine was not capable of hosting next year’s Eurovision song contest. The EBU said it had “with deep regret” concluded that it would not be possible to provide the security and operational guarantees required to hold the contest in Ukraine. It has asked the BBC to host next year’s competition, a decision that has angered the Ukrainian government.
- Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said Russia was “not ashamed of showing who we are” in an interview with the BBC. “We didn’t invade Ukraine, we declared a special military operation because we had absolutely no other way of explaining to the west that dragging Ukraine into Nato was a criminal act,” he said.
Good afternoon from London. I’m Léonie Chao-Fong and I’ll be bring you the latest news from Ukraine for the next few hours. I’m on Twitter or you can email me.
Updated
Boris Johnson has offered to launch a major training operation for Ukrainian forces, with the potential to train up to 10,000 soldiers every 120 days, his office said.
Johnson, who has arrived in Kyiv to meet with Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said in a statement:
My visit today, in the depths of this war, is to send a clear and simple message to the Ukrainian people: the UK is with you, and we will be with you until you ultimately prevail.
The new military training programme “could change the equation of this war – harnessing that most powerful of forces, the Ukrainian determination to win”, he added.
Andriy Yermak, head of the Ukrainian president’s office, tweeted about the talks which covered “the much needed heavy weapons and air defence systems supplies, economic support for Ukraine, increasing sanctions pressure on Russia”, he said.
Today, together with @ZelenskyyUa, the Office and Government team, we met with our good friend and ally, @BorisJohnson.
— Andriy Yermak (@AndriyYermak) June 17, 2022
With Boris, we discussed the much needed heavy weapons and air defense systems supplies, economic support for 🇺🇦, increasing sanctions pressure on RF. pic.twitter.com/MggAl33c1f
Updated
Zelenskiy 'grateful for powerful support' of Great Britain
Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has posted to his official Telegram channel about the visit of the UK prime minister to Ukraine’s capital. He says:
Many days of this war have proved that Great Britain’s support for Ukraine is firm and resolute. Glad to see our country’s great friend Boris Johnson in Kyiv again.
Alongside some pictures of the visit, he added:
This is Boris Johnson’s second visit to Kyiv since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of our land. We have a common view of the movement towards Ukraine’s victory. I’m grateful for a powerful support!
Reuters reports that the head of the president’s office said items of discussion included the supply of heavy weapons, air defence systems and further economic support for Ukraine.
Updated
Boris Johnson has just tweeted an image of his unexpected visit to Kyiv.
Mr President, Volodymyr,
— Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) June 17, 2022
It is good to be in Kyiv again. pic.twitter.com/wbpMuf6YqY
Boris Johnson makes surprise second visit to Kyiv
The UK’s prime minister, Boris Johnson, has made a surprise visit to Kyiv to meet Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
The British prime minister cancelled a planned visit to a summit in Doncaster at the last minute, where he was due to make a speech to Conservative MPs and local councillors from the north of England.
It is Johnson’s second trip to Ukraine since the beginning of the war. The trip follows the visit of leading EU leaders Emmanuel Macron, Olaf Scholz and Mario Draghi earlier this week.
Updated
Ukraine culture minister demands further talks over hosting of Eurovision 2023
The Ukrainian culture minister, Oleksandr Tkachenko, has insisted that Ukraine is still prepared to host the Eurovision song contest in 2023, and has criticised the announcement that the EBU was in talks with the BBC to host it in the UK instead.
He posted to Telegram:
Ukraine does not agree with the nature of such a decision when we were confronted with the fact without discussing the possibility of other options. Ukraine believes that it has every reason to hold further negotiations and find a joint solution that will satisfy all parties. We honestly won Eurovision 2022 and have now fulfilled all the conditions in the specified time for the process of approval of its holding in Ukraine
The holding of Eurovision 2023 in Ukraine is a strong signal to the whole world that it supports Ukraine now. We will demand that this decision be changed, because we believe that we will be able to fulfil all the commitments we have made. That is why we demand additional negotiations.
As our media editor, Jim Waterson, notes, it has the makings of a diplomatic row.
This is rapidly becoming a proper diplomatic row.
— Jim Waterson (@jimwaterson) June 17, 2022
While UK councils issue jolly press releases about how they want to host Eurovision, the Ukraine culture minister just posted on Telegram demanding his country gets to host. Suggests if BBC/UK hosts then undermines Ukraine. pic.twitter.com/udh4sQ8CDi
Updated
Denmark summons Russian ambassador after warship violated Danish territorial waters
A Russian warship violated Danish territorial waters north of the Baltic Sea island of Bornholm where a democracy festival attended by senior lawmakers and business people was taking place, the Danish Armed Forces said.
Denmark called this morning’s actions an unacceptable provocation.
Reuters reports the Russian warship entered Danish waters without authorisation at 0030 GMT on Friday and again a few of hours later. The armed forces said in a statement that the warship left after the Danish navy established radio contact, it said.
“A deeply irresponsible, gross and completely unacceptable Russian provocation in the middle of #fmdk,” Denmark’s foreign minister Jeppe Kofod said on Twitter, referring to the Democracy Festival of Denmark.
Et russisk militærfartøj har i nat to gange krænket dansk territorialfarvand
— Jeppe Kofod (@JeppeKofod) June 17, 2022
En dybt uansvarlig, grov og fuldstændig uacceptabel russisk provokation midt under #fmdk
Bøllemetoder virker ikke mod Danmark
Russiske ambassadør hasteindkaldt i Udenrigsministeriet#dkpol #WeAreNATO
The annual festival is attended by senior government officials, including Kofod and prime minister Mette Frederiksen.
“Bullying methods do not work against Denmark,” Kofod said. The Russian ambassador had been summoned, he added.
Updated
Putin claims Russia was 'forced' to launch 'special operation' in Ukraine
Putin says Russia’s decision to start its “special military operation” in Ukraine was difficult but forced.
He claims Russian forces are defending the country’s rights for secure developments and that the operation is meant to defend the people of the Donbas.
All tasks of Russia’s “special military operation” will be fulfilled, Putin adds.
Updated
Putin says Russia will “expand” its engagement “with everyone who is interested” despite the west’s desire for it to “choose the path of self-isolation”.
The Russian president says there are so many countries who want to work with Russia that he is not going to name them, but that this amounts to an “overwhelming number of people on Earth”.
Updated
The European Union has “completely lost sovereignty” and is “dancing to someone else’s tunes”, Putin says.
He accuses the EU of “taking everything that is dictated to them and dealing harm” to its population, business and economy.
Turning to the global food crisis, Putin claims the problem “did not emerge today” and accuses Europe of “trying to blame it on someone else”.
He says:
Russia [is] certainly not to blame even though [western countries] are trying to pin the blame on us, on everything that’s happening in the world economy.
He accuses the US of driving up food prices by printing money and “snapping up” food on global markets.
Russia stands ready to boost its exports of grain and fertilisers, Putin says, and will send food exports to Africa and the Middle East.
Updated
Putin describes sanctions as a “double-edged sword” and said western countries are considering imposing sanctions “not just on Russia, but on any country that falls out of favour”.
He says European leaders have “dealt a serious blow” to their own economies, adding:
We see an aggravation of social and economic issues in Europe. In the US, we see increases and the prices of goods, foods and electricity as well as car fuel. The standards of living of Europeans are going down and their enterprises are losing competitiveness.
Putin says this will have long-term consequences across Europe, warning that the systematic economic decline in Europe’s economy will “exacerbate the profound issues within western societies”.
Putin: sanctions against Russia 'reckless and insane'
Putin accuses western allies of thinking that the rest of the world “is their own backyard” and of trying to isolate or cancel “wrong” states.
Western countries are treating those countries “as their colonies” and as “second rate”, he says, adding:
This is the nature of the current bout of Russophobia in the west, as well as the regular sanctions against Russia.
He describes western sanctions against Russia as “reckless and insane” and of trying to “crush the Russian economy in one go by force”.
Putin says that in order to be successful, Russia must be independent and “draw our own conclusions”.
Updated
Putin says the world has seen the “emergence and increasing prominence of new power centres”, and that the “old world order” based around one powerful power is by its “very nature unstable”.
The world is seeing “truly revolutionary tectonic shifts in geopolitics”, he told attendees at the St Petersburg Economic Forum.
It is “no longer possible to ignore” that these “tectonic” shifts in global politics, global economy, technology and international relations will have “fundamental, unequivocally inexorable changes”.
Putin says:
It would be a mistake to think that during these tumultuous changes, you can simply sit it out [...] and that everything is going to be as it was.
It seems as if the ruling elites of certain western countries are labouring under precisely these very illusions of choosing to ignore the obvious, consistently playing into the ghosts of the past.
They think that the domination of the west and global politics and economics is a constant – but nothing is eternal.
Vladimir Putin gives address two hours later than planned after cyberattack
The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, is addressing the St Petersburg Economic Forum almost two hours behind schedule after a “denial of service” cyber-attack.
Putin begins by welcoming the participants and guests to the forum which is taking place at “a difficult time for the whole of the world community”.
The economy, markets and “the very principles of the global economic systems” have “come under threat”, Putin said.
Putin says:
The US declared victory in the Cold War as [did] London, and later came to think of themselves as gods on planet Earth, who have no duties, only interest.
Updated
Ukraine’s emergency services have released some images of the aftermath of a Russian missile attack on the southern Ukrainian city of Mykolaiv.
Two people were killed and 20 wounded, including a child, as a result of the missile attack, according to the region’s governor, Vitaliy Kim.
Updated
A third American volunteer fighting in Ukraine has been reported as missing amid concerns that all three may have been captured by Russian or pro-Russian forces.
The family of the former Marine Corps officer Grady Kurpasi disclosed that he had been missing in the Kherson area since late April following the earlier disclosure that two other American military veterans had lost contact with their families.
According to the Washington Post, which spoke to Kurpasi’s family, the 49-year-old had travelled to Ukraine in early March and was last in contact on 26 April when he was assigned to an observation post during a civilian evacuation.
A family representative said Kurpasi’s mobile phone signal was recently traced to the vicinity of a large shopping mall.
The fears over the safety of the missing US volunteers follows the handing down of death sentences by a court in the self-proclaimed separatist republic of Luhansk to two UK volunteers and a Moroccan who were in captivity after surrendering in Mariupol.
The reported disappearance of Kurpasi follows the announcement that Alexander Drueke, 39, and Andy Tai Ngoc Huynh, 27, had gone missing. If confirmed they would be the first Americans fighting for Ukraine known to have been captured since the war began in February. One US citizen has been killed fighting as a volunteer.
The White House spokesperson John Kirby said he could not confirm the disappearance of the two Americans but said: “If it’s true, we’ll do everything we can to get them safely back home.”
Read the full story: Third American volunteer fighter reported missing in Ukraine
A quick snap from Reuters: Ukraine is scrapping visa-free entry for Russians, according to Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
From 1 July, Russians will be required to obtain visas to enter Ukraine.
The 2023 Eurovision song contest cannot be held in Ukraine given the ongoing war, the European Broadcasting Union has said.
Organisers were in talks with the BBC to host the event in the UK instead, it said.
In a statement, the EBU said it had concluded “with regret” that next year’s contest could not be held in Ukraine.
The EBU has issued the statement below regarding the hosting of next year’s Eurovision Song Contest
— EBU (@EBU_HQ) June 17, 2022
Find it online here ➡️ https://t.co/kPWQzTM218#Eurovision #ESC2023 pic.twitter.com/9AV5X9R1Be
Updated
Moldova’s president, Maia Sandu, has welcomed the European Commission’s recommendation to grant it EU candidate status.
In a statement, Sandu said:
The recommendation is based on the understanding that our country would put more efforts in such key areas as justice reform, fight against corruption, public administration and human rights.
Strong signal of support for #Moldova & our citizens! @EU_Commission has recommended granting🇲🇩 the 🇪🇺candidate status on the understanding that additional efforts will be taken to advance on reforms already started. We’re committed to working hard &count on @EUCouncil’s support.
— Maia Sandu (@sandumaiamd) June 17, 2022
Scheduled address by Vladimir Putin delayed by cyberattack
A scheduled address by Russia’s president has been delayed by an hour after a cyberattack, the Kremlin has said.
Vladimir Putin had been due to address the St Petersburg Economic Forum but the event was hit by a denial of service cyberattack, it added.
The Kremlin spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, told reporters specialists were trying to fix the problem.
Updated
The Kremlin has also responded to the recommendation by the European Union’s executive commission that Ukraine and Moldova be designated candidates for membership of the bloc.
During his regular briefing with reporters, the Kremlin spokesperson said Russia was closely after Ukraine’s efforts to become an EU member.
Dmitry Peskov said the issue “requires our heightened attention, because we are all aware of the intensification of discussions in Europe on the subject of strengthening the defence component of the EU”.
He added:
There are various transformations that we are observing in the most careful way.
Peskov told reporters that the goal of Russia’s “special military operation” in Ukraine continued to be to “save and secure” the population of the eastern Donbas region from what he called “barbaric attacks” by Kyiv’s forces.
Russia was in contact with Turkey regarding the export of grain from Ukraine but there were a lot of uncertainties from the Ukrainian side, Peskov added.
Updated
The EU’s executive arm has recommended that Ukraine and its neighbour, Moldova, be designated candidates for membership of the bloc.
The announcement by the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, came a day after the EU’s most powerful leaders visited Kyiv in a show of support.
Zelenskiy: Ukraine's EU candidacy status will 'bring victory closer'
Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has responded to the European Commission’s recommendation that it be designated a candidate for EU membership.
Zelenskiy tweeted that the move marks “the first step on the EU membership path that’ll certainly bring our Victory closer”.
He said he was grateful to European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, for the “historic decision”, adding that he expects a positive result from the Commission next week.
Leaders of the 27 EU member states are expected to discuss the Commission’s recommendation at a summit next week in Brussels.
I commend the positive @EU_Commission Conclusion on 🇺🇦’s candidate status. It’s the 1st step on the EU membership path that’ll certainly bring our Victory closer. Grateful to @vonderleyen & each EC member for a historic decision. I expect the positive result from #EUCO next week.
— Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) June 17, 2022
European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, has been speaking at a news conference following the announcement that the Commission has proposed that Ukraine become an EU membership candidate.
She said:
We have one clear message - and that is, yes, Ukraine deserves European perspective, yes, Ukraine should be welcomed as a candidate country.
She said the decision was “based on the understanding that the country will carry out a number of further reforms”.
The process of reaching EU membership is “merit-based”, she said, “so it goes by the book and progress depends entirely on Ukraine. So it is Ukraine that has it in its hands.”
Updated
European Commission backs Ukraine's EU candidacy status
The European Union’s executive commission has recommended that Ukraine and its neighbour Moldova be designated candidates for membership of the trade bloc.
The announcement by the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, came a day after the the EU’s most powerful leaders visited Kyiv in a show of support.
From our Jennifer Rankin:
Official: European Commission recommends EU candidate status for Ukraine.
— Jennifer Rankin (@JenniferMerode) June 17, 2022
The clue was in Ursula von der Leyen's outfit. pic.twitter.com/v0rn0mXyJp
Speaking in Brussels, Von der Leyen said the Commission recommends that Ukraine “is given candidate status”, adding:
This is of course on the understanding that the country will carry out a number of further reforms.
She said:
In the view of the Commission, Ukraine has clearly demonstrated the country’s aspiration and determination to live up to European standards.
Hello everyone. It’s Léonie Chao-Fong here, taking over the live blog from Martin Belam to bring you all the latest news from the war in Ukraine. As always, feel free to drop me a message if you have anything to flag, you can reach me on Twitter or via email.
Updated
Today so far …
- The European Commission will meet today to give its fast-tracked opinion on Ukraine’s bid for EU candidacy, a step closer to membership for the country a day after the bloc’s most powerful leaders visited Kyiv in a show of support. Never before has an opinion been given so quickly on EU candidacy, which must be approved by all 27 member states.
- It is now “impossible and physically dangerous” for civilians to leave the Azot chemical plant in Sievierodonetsk due to “constant shelling and fighting”, according to Luhansk’s governor Serhai Haidai. He said “There are 568 people in the shelter, including 38 children. Exiting the plant is possible only with a complete ceasefire”. A pro-Russian separatist leader claimed Russian-backed forces would reopen a humanitarian corridor for civilians to leave the plant, the Interfax news agency reported.
- Ukraine’s navy has claimed it has struck the Russian rescue tug Spasatel Vasily Bekh, which it says was in the process of the “transportation of ammunition, weapons and personnel of the Black Sea Fleet to Snake Island.” Ukraine’s armed forces strategic communications directorate said the tug boat was hit with two Harpoon missiles. If so, that would mark the first time Ukraine has said it hit a Russian vessel with this type of western-supplied anti-ship rockets.
- At least two people have been killed and 20 injured in a Russian missile attack on Mykolaiv in southern Ukraine, according to governor Vitaliy Kim.
- The head of the UK’s armed forces has said Russia has already “strategically lost” the war in Ukraine and is now a “more diminished power”. Admiral Sir Tony Radakin said Russia was suffering heavy losses, running out of troops and advanced missiles and would never be able to take over all of Ukraine.
- Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said Russia is “not ashamed of showing who we are” in an interview with the BBC. “We didn’t invade Ukraine, we declared a special military operation because we had absolutely no other way of explaining to the west that dragging Ukraine into Nato was a criminal act,” he said.
- France’s President Emmanuel Macron has said he thinks it is unlikely a deal can be done with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin about exporting grain from Ukraine’s Odesa port.
- Nato said on Thursday it is committed to providing equipment to maintain Ukraine’s right to self-defence, and will be making more troop deployments on its eastern flank. Nato’s secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, condemned “a relentless war of attrition against Ukraine” being waged by Russia, and said Nato continued to offer “unprecedented support so it can defend itself against Moscow’s aggression”.
- Chinese President Xi Jinping will host a virtual summit with top leaders from Russia, India, Brazil and South Africa next week, marking the first such meeting since the Ukraine crisis unfolded.
- Australia’s new Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has said he will consider whether to accept President Volodymyr Zelenskyi’s invitation to visit Ukraine during an upcoming European trip. Albanese said he only became aware of the invitation to visit Ukraine when he read a newspaper report.
- Zelenskiy appeared as a hologram while referencing Star Wars in an attempt to secure more aid from big tech firms. Zelenskiy told a crowd of hundreds at the VivaTech trade show in Paris on Thursday that Ukraine was offering technology firms a unique chance to rebuild the country as a fully digital democracy.
Mykolaiv in southern Ukraine was struck by a Russian missile attack this morning, according to a post on Telegram from governor Vitaliy Kim.
Kim initially posted to the messaging service:
4 residential multi-storey buildings and an infrastructure facility suffered from a missile attack. At the moment, one dead and six injured (one of them is a child)
A later update raised the death toll to two, with twenty injured. The claims have not been independently verified.
Updated
Russia’s ministry of defence has issued a lengthy operational briefing for today. It notably does not make any mention of the reported attack by the Ukrainian navy on the Spasatel Vasily Bekh tug boat from the Black Sea Fleet. It does, however, claim:
- “high-precision air-launched missiles hit 18 areas of concentration of manpower and military equipment, as well as 10 firing positions of Ukrainian artillery and mortar batteries”
- “operational-tactical and army aviation hit 58 areas of concentration of manpower and military equipment” leading to the deaths of 200 Ukrainian troops
- two launchers of anti-aircraft missile systems Buk-M1 and Osa-AKM were destroyed, along with an ammunition depot in Lysychansk
- a Ukrainian Su-25 aircraft was shot down over Kharkiv, and 15 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles were destroyed
- 350 further Ukrainian soldier were killed by rocket troops and artillery
None of the claims have been independently verified.
Ukraine’s ministry of defence have issued a tweet suggesting that they have sunk the Spasatel Vasily Bekh and that the Moskva, which was sunk in April, will now not be alone at the bottom of the Black Sea.
Spasatel Vasily Bekh, a tug of the russian black sea fleet, successfully demilitarized by the @UA_NAVY. The ship was transporting personnel, weapons and ammunition to the occupied Snake Island.
— Defence of Ukraine (@DefenceU) June 17, 2022
Moskva never be alone... pic.twitter.com/3slXr6qtEl
Ukraine’s armed forces strategic communications directorate said on Telegram the tug boat was hit with two Harpoon missiles. If so, that would mark the first time Ukraine has said it hit a Russian vessel with this type of western-supplied anti-ship rockets.
The headquarters of the territorial defence of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic has issued its operational briefing for today, stating that Ukrainian forces fired on 14 settlements in the occupied region the DPR controls in the last 24 hours. It claims that one person was killed, ten people were injured, and that 10 civil infrastructure facilities were damaged. In another Telegram post, the DPR says Ukraine attacked hospital no 21 in Donetsk, damaging gas pipes. The claims have not been independently verified.
Macron says deal with Putin to get grain out of Odesa port unlikely
Returning from Kyiv, France’s President Emmanuel Macron has said he thinks it is unlikely a deal can be done with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin about exporting grain from Ukraine’s Odesa port. Reuters reports Macron told BFM TV:
We have to talk with Russia on food security and it can be justified by liaising directly with the UN secretary general to get grains out of Odesa. But I don’t believe a lot in this path, because I already had talks a few weeks ago with President Putin, but he didn’t want to accept a UN resolution on this subject.
'Impossible and physically dangerous' for civilians to leave chemical plant in Sievierodonetsk due to 'constant shelling and fighting'
It is now “impossible and physically dangerous” for civilians to leave the Azot chemical plant in Sievierodonetsk due to “constant shelling and fighting”, according to Luhansk’s governor Serhai Haidai.
He posted to Telegram that “There are 568 people in the shelter, including 38 children. Exiting the plant is possible only with a complete ceasefire.”
He also stated that “Sievierodonetsk is not blocked, there is communication with the city.”
Spain’s foreign minister José Manuel Albares Bueno has not ruled out Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy appearing in person at the Nato summit in Madrid at the end of June. Speaking on Sky News in the UK, the minister said it would obviously be difficult for Zelenskiy to travel, but at the very minimum he would be present via video link.
The minister also reiterated that Spain “is favourable to the accession of Sweden and Finland” to the alliance. He told viewers:
We have said it publicly already, many times. We understand that the security concerns of all Nato members must be addressed. Therefore, we’ve also listened very carefully to our Turkish friends. And we hope that through dialogue everything will be able to be solved.
Governor of Odesa, Maksym Marchenko, has repeated the claim about a successful Ukrainian attack on a Russian ship on Telegram, posting:
This morning in the Black Sea, the tugboat of the Black Sea Fleet “Vasily Bekh” was hit by missiles while transporting ammunition, weapons, personnel and SAM “TOR” to Snake Island. Congratulations to the team of the cruiser “Moscow”!
This unverified video of the strike is also being passed around on social media. There is no clear indication of when the video was filmed or that it shows what is claimed.
Better video, clearly shows the Russian tug being hit by two Ukrainian antiship cruise missiles https://t.co/spvmBlfFzK pic.twitter.com/wJni7UsgNy
— OSINTtechnical (@Osinttechnical) June 17, 2022
Ukraine’s navy has claimed on social media that it has struck the Russian rescue tug Spasatel Vasily Bekh, which it says was in the process of the “transportation of ammunition, weapons and personnel of the Black Sea Fleet to Snake Island.”
The claim has not been independently verified, and as yet there is no comment from the Russian navy on the status of the ship.
ВМС ЗС України уразили черговий "аналогов нет" - буксир із ЗРК "ТОР" на борту
— Військово-Морські Сили ЗС України (@UA_NAVY) June 17, 2022
В акваторії Чорного моря було уражено буксир чорноморського флоту "васілій бех", під час транспортування ним на острів Зміїний боєприпасів, озброєння та особового складу чорноморського флоту.
At least 10 private houses were damaged, and a school and an apartment building were destroyed in the Kharkiv region, according to governor Oleh Synyehubov.
He posted to Telegram describing these as “war crimes of the Russian occupiers”. He added:
Fighting continues on the line of contact. In the Kharkiv direction, the enemy tried to conduct reconnaissance by fighting in the Kochubeyevka area, but suffered losses and withdrew. In the Izium area, the occupiers are trying to continue the offensive in the direction of Slavyansk. Our defenders repel all attacks of the enemy.
The claims have not been independently verified.
The UK’s ministry of defence has issued its intelligence assesment for the day of the situation on the ground in Ukraine and Russia. On the military side of things, it writes:
Over the last 24 hours, Russian forces have likely continued to attempt to regain momentum on the Popasna axis, for which they seek to surround the Sievierodonetsk pocket from the south.
The assessment also offers some analysis of what British intelligence suggests the situation is within Russia. It claims “the war has accelerated the state’s long-term trajectory towards authoritarianism” and that “scepticism about the war is likely also particularly strong amongst Russia’s business elite and oligarch community”.
Latest Defence Intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine - 17 June 2022
— Ministry of Defence 🇬🇧 (@DefenceHQ) June 17, 2022
Find out more about the UK government's response: https://t.co/pljjAjMaRI
🇺🇦 #StandWithUkraine 🇺🇦 pic.twitter.com/b1WU2PBxHY
- This is Martin Belam taking over the blog here in London. You can reach me at martin.belam@theguardian.com
Chinese President Xi Jinping will host a virtual summit with top leaders from Russia, India, Brazil and South Africa next week, marking the first such meeting since the Ukraine crisis unfolded, AFP reports.
The influential club of BRICS emerging economies formed in 2009 is home to more than 40% of the global population and accounts for nearly a quarter of the world’s gross domestic product, according to the news agency.
Three of its members - China, India and South Africa - have abstained from voting on a UN resolution condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
China and India have strong military links with Russia and purchase significant amounts of its oil and gas.
Xi in a call on Wednesday assured his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin that China will support Moscow’s core interests in “sovereignty and security” - leading Washington to warn Beijing it risked ending up “on the wrong side of history”.
South Africa, one of the few African countries wielding diplomatic influence outside the continent, has also refused to condemn the Russian military action, to safeguard important economic ties.
Xi will chair the virtual BRICS summit on 23 June, state news agency Xinhua said on Friday, citing Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying.
This year’s theme focuses on “fostering high-quality BRICS partnerships (and) ushering in a new era for global development”, Hua said.
The ambassador of the European Union to Ukraine, Matti Maasikas, has spoken of his “positive anxiety” ahead of a meeting later today where leaders of the European Union will give their fast-tracked opinion on Ukraine’s membership bid.
Waiting for EU Commission opinion on Ukraine’s EU membership application, due today.
Cannot help recalling a similarly beautiful summer day 25 years ago when the Commission opened my native Estonia’s EU path. The same positive anxiety, the same feeling of history in the air.”
Waiting for @EU_Commission opinion on Ukraine’s EU membership application, due today. Cannot help recalling a similarly beatiful summer day 25 years ago when the Commission opened my native Estonia’s EU path. The same positive anxiety, the same feeling of history in the air.
— Matti Maasikas (@MattiMaasikas) June 17, 2022
Russia 'not squeaky clean' and 'not ashamed', Lavrov says
Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, gave an interview with the BBC on Thursday.
“We didn’t invade Ukraine,” he claimed. “We declared a special military operation because we had absolutely no other way of explaining to the west that dragging Ukraine into Nato was a criminal act.”
Responding to an official UN report detailing alleged war crimes against civilians committed by Russian forces in the Ukrainian village of Yahidne, in Chernihiv region, Lavrov was asked if that was “fighting Nazis”.
“It’s a great pity,” Lavrov said, “but international diplomats, including the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, the UN secretary general and other UN representatives, are being put under pressure by the west. And very often they’re being used to amplify fake news spread by the west.
“Russia isn’t squeaky clean. Russia is what it is & we're not ashamed of showing who we are.” In an exclusive interview, I question Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Producers @BBCWillVernon @LizaShuvalova Cameras @AntonChicherov @LizaVereykina pic.twitter.com/yFccy6Vtiu
— Steve Rosenberg (@BBCSteveR) June 16, 2022
Russia is not squeaky clean. Russia is what it is. And we are not ashamed of showing who we are.”
Addressing Moscow’s relations with the UK, Lavrov maintained he no longer believed there was any “room for manoeuvre”.
“Because both [Boris] Johnson and [Liz] Truss say openly that we should defeat Russia, we should force Russia to its knees. Go on, then, do it!”
Updated
Russia has ‘strategically lost’ war, says UK defence chief
The head of the UK’s armed forces has said Russia has already “strategically lost” the war in Ukraine and is now a “more diminished power”.
Admiral Sir Tony Radakin said Russia was suffering heavy losses, running out of troops and advanced missiles and would never be able to take over all of Ukraine.
“This is a dreadful mistake by Russia. Russia will never take control of Ukraine,” Tony Radakin told PA Media in an interview published on Friday.
The country’s highest-ranking military officer said the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, had lost 25% of Russia’s land power for only “tiny” gains and it would emerge a “more diminished power” while strengthening Nato.
Russia has strategically lost already. Nato is stronger, Finland and Sweden are looking to join,” he said.
Radakin said that while Putin may achieve “tactical successes” in the weeks to come, it had come at the expense of a quarter of his country’s army power for “tiny” gains and was running out of troops and hi-tech missiles.
The Russian machine is grinding away, and it’s gaining a couple of – two, three, five – kilometres every day.
And Russia has vulnerabilities because it’s running out of people, it’s running out of hi-tech missiles.
President Putin has used about 25% of his army’s power to gain a tiny amount of territory and 50,000 people either dead or injured. Russia is failing.”
Updated
EU to give fast-tracked opinion on Ukraine membership bid
The European Commission will meet today to give its fast-tracked opinion on Ukraine’s bid for EU candidacy, a step closer to membership for the country a day after the bloc’s most powerful leaders visited Kyiv in a show of support.
Never before has an opinion been given so quickly on EU candidacy, which must be approved by all 27 member states.
The opinion will serve as a basis for discussion at next week’s EU summit, where leaders are expected to approve Ukraine’s candidate status, but with stern conditions attached, and membership may take years or even decades.
France, Germany, Italy and Romania are all in favour of Ukraine receiving “immediate” candidate status, French President Emmanuel Macron said in Kyiv on Thursday.
“The most important message of our visit is that Italy wants Ukraine in the EU,” Draghi said at a joint press conference.
Scholz said Ukraine “belongs in the European family” and that Berlin would continue to send Kyiv weapons “for as long as it is needed.”
Zelenskiy promised Ukraine was ready to put in the work to become an EU member.
“Ukraine has gotten the closest to EU it has ever been in the history of its independence,” he said in his nightly address.
The Jacques Delors Institute think tank director said he expects a positive opinion on Ukraine’s EU status, but with conditions and a deadline, according to a rpeort from Agence France Presse.
“This is a very delicate exercise for the Commission because it cannot be less demanding for Ukraine than for other countries for which it has given a favourable opinion in the past. Its credibility requires the maintenance of high standards,” Sebastien Maillard said.
Australia’s new Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has said he will consider whether to accept President Volodymyr Zelenskyi’s invitation to visit Ukraine during an upcoming European trip.
Albanese said he only became aware of the invitation to visit Ukraine when he read a newspaper report.
Speaking to reporters on Friday, he said:
I’ll take appropriate advice, and obviously there are security issues as well in terms of such a visit.
I appreciate the spirit in which it’s been offered and one of the reasons why Australia has been invited to Nato is that Australia is the largest non-Nato contributor to give support to Ukraine in its defence of its national sovereignty against Russia’s illegal, immoral invasion. And we’ll continue to stand with the people of Ukraine.”
Zelenskiy reportedly gave the invitation when he wrote to congratulate Albanese on his election win on 21 May, said Ukraine Embassy in Australia’s deputy head of mission Volodymyr Shalkivski.
The invitation was for Albanese to “visit Ukraine at his convenience,” Shalkivski said, and the embassy handed the invitation over to the new administration 7 June.
Albanese also confirmed he will attend a Nato meeting in Spain at the end of this month.
Summary and welcome
Hello it’s Samantha Lock back with you to deliver all the latest developments from Ukraine.
The leaders of the European Union are due to give their fast-tracked opinion on Ukraine’s membership bid later today after the leaders of France, Germany and Italy vowed to support Ukraine in its application to join on a visit to Kyiv on Thursday.
Here are all the other major developments:
- Hundreds of civilians sheltering at the Azot chemical plant in Sievierodonetsk are no longer able to evacuate because of the sustained Russian artillery barrages, officials say. Luhansk governor Serhiy Haidai told CNN 568 people, including 38 children, are taking refuge in the Azot plant. A pro-Russian separatist leader claimed Russian-backed forces would reopen a humanitarian corridor for civilians to leave the plant, the Interfax news agency reported.
- The leaders of France, Germany and Italy have vowed to support Ukraine’s bid to join the European Union on a visit to Kyiv. Macron said all four EU leaders present supported the idea of granting an “immediate” EU candidate status to Ukraine.
- Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said Russia is “not ashamed of showing who we are” in an interview with the BBC. “We didn’t invade Ukraine, we declared a special military operation because we had absolutely no other way of explaining to the west that dragging Ukraine into Nato was a criminal act,” he said.
- Nato says it is committed to providing equipment to maintain Ukraine’s right to self-defence, and will be making more troop deployments on its eastern flank. Nato’s secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, condemned “a relentless war of attrition against Ukraine” being waged by Russia, and said Nato continued to offer “unprecedented support so it can defend itself against Moscow’s aggression”.
- The head of the UK’s armed forces says Russia has already “strategically lost” the war in Ukraine and is now a “more diminished power”. Admiral Sir Tony Radakin said Vladimir Putin had lost 25% of Russia’s land power for only “tiny” gains. In an interview with PA Media, he said Russia was running out of troops and advanced missiles and would never be able to take over all of Ukraine.
- Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, appeared as a hologram while referencing Star Wars in an attempt to secure more aid from big tech firms. Zelenskiy told a crowd of hundreds at the VivaTech trade show in Paris on Thursday that Ukraine was offering technology firms a unique chance to rebuild the country as a fully digital democracy.
- At least three civilians were killed and seven injured by a Russian airstrike in the eastern city of Lysychansk, according to local officials. The strike hit a building where civilians were sheltering, Luhansk governor Serhiy Haidai said.
- An overnight Russian air-launched rocket strike hit a suburb of the northern Ukrainian city of Sumy, killing four and wounding six, according to officials. Regional governor Dmytro Zhyvytskyi said another rocket strike hit the Dobropillia district, which lies next to the Russian border, at 5am on Thursday, followed by 26 mortar rounds fired from across the border.
- Children born in Ukraine’s Kherson region since 24 February will automatically receive Russian citizenship, according to an official. Kirill Stremousov, deputy head of the Russian-imposed military-civilian administration in the occupied Kherson region, claimed that thousands of citizens in the territory were applying for Russian citizenship. Ukraine has repeatedly accused Russia of abducting children from its territory and transferring them into Russia.
- A Russian spy tried and failed to secure an internship at the international criminal court (ICC) using the false identity as a Brazilian citizen that he had built up for as long as a decade, according to Dutch intelligence. Sergey Vladimirovich Cherkasov, 36, accused of being an agent of Russia’s GRU military intelligence, was detained when he arrived and sent back to Brazil the following day.
- The UK announced a fresh wave of sanctions against Russia aimed at people involved with the “barbaric treatment of children in Ukraine”. Those targeted by sanctions include the Russian children’s rights commissioner, Maria Lvova-Belova, military commanders, Vladimir Mikhailovich and Patriarch Kirill, the head of the Russian Orthodox church.
- The UK has purchased and refurbished more than 20 long-range guns – M109s – from a Belgian arms company which it is sending to Ukraine, Britain’s defence secretary, Ben Wallace, said. Russia outnumbers Ukraine in artillery fire by 20 to 1 in some areas but allies are beginning to give Ukraine the long-range artillery and rocket systems that will enable its forces to win, he told Sky News.
- Russia warned that gas flows to Europe via the Nord Stream 1 pipeline could be suspended, blaming problems with turbine repairs. Russia’s ambassador to the EU, Vladimir Chizhov, told the state-owned news agency Ria that a complete halt in gas flows in the pipeline, which supplies gas from Russia to Europe under the Baltic Sea, would be a “catastrophe” for Germany. Canada says it is in active discussions with Germany about a Siemens-made turbine equipment undergoing maintenance in Canada and unable to return due to sanctions.
- Temporary silos on Ukraine’s border would prevent Russia from stealing Ukrainian grain and ensure the winter harvest is not lost due to a lack of storage, US agriculture secretary Tom Vilsack said on Thursday. It follows comments from US President Joe Biden that temporary silos would be built along the border with Ukraine.
- Zelenskiy accused Russia of being unwilling to look for a way to peace, claiming it will “decide for himself that the war must end”. Ukrainian peace talks negotiator Mykhailo Podolyak also dismissed Russia’s most recent comments about being willing to continue negotiations as “an attempt to deceive the world”. Russia, he said, wanted to give the impression of being ready to talk while planning to stab Ukraine in the back.
