Summary
That’s all from me, Samantha Lock, for now. Please join me a little a later when we launch our new live blog covering all the latest developments from Ukraine.
Here is a comprehensive run-down of where things currently stand as of 3am.
- Ukrainian forces are finding it hard to stave off Russian attacks in the centre of Sievierodonestk but Moscow’s forces do not control the frontline eastern city, regional officials say. Russian forces have seized residential quarters of the key eastern city and are fighting to take control of an industrial zone on its outskirts and the nearby towns, Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu said. The Luhansk governor, Serhiy Haidai, conceded that Russian forces control the industrial outskirts of the city. Satellite imagery from Maxar Technologies showed significant damage in Sievierodonetsk and nearby Rubizhne.
- Some 800 civilians have taken refuge in a chemical factory in Sievierodonetsk, according to a lawyer for Dmytro Firtash, whose company owns the facility. “These 800 civilians include around 200 out of the plant’s 3,000 employees and approximately 600 inhabitants of the city of Sievierodonetsk,” Lanny J. Davis, a US lawyer, noted in a statement published on the company website.
- More than 1,000 Ukrainian soldiers who surrendered in the southern port city of Mariupol have been transferred to Russia, according to Russian state-owned news agency, Tass. More Ukrainian prisoners of war will be taken to Russia “later on”, the outlet cited a Russian law enforcement source as saying. Some residents who managed to escape are saying they were given no choice but to travel to Russia in what Kyiv regards as “deportations”, Agence France-Presse added.
- A stalemate with Russia is “not an option”, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has said, reiterating a plea for foreign help in the war. “Victory must be achieved on the battlefield,” he said in an interview with the Financial Times on Tuesday, adding that he “simply cannot see the preconditions for ending the war”. Victory meant restoring “all” of Ukraine’s territory, including Crimea – annexed by Russia in 2014 – and separatist-held areas, he suggested.
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Russian proxy fighters in east Ukraine have said they are opening a trial against two Britons, Aiden Aslin and Shaun Pinner, who were captured fighting alongside Ukrainian soldiers in Mariupol. The two men, who are serving in the Ukrainian military, and Ibrahim Saadun, a captive from Morocco, were shown sitting in a courtroom cage reserved for defendants in a video released on pro-Russian social media channels on Tuesday.
- Ukraine’s first deputy minister of agrarian policy and food, Taras Vysotskyi, said it would take six months to clear the coast of Russian and Ukrainian mines. His remarks dealt a blow to a proposal under discussion where ships leaving Ukrainian ports would be given safe escort by Turkish naval vessels.
- The European Union needs to build warehouses and extend railway tracks across the Ukrainian border to help Kyiv in its attempts to move more grain out of the country to those who need it, says the country’s trade representative. Ukraine will not be able to export more than 2m tonnes of grain a month, around a third of pre-war levels, as long as its main trade routes through its Black Sea ports remain blockaded by Russia, said Taras Kachka.
- The World Bank has approved $1.49bn of additional financing for Ukraine to help pay wages for government and social workers, expanding the bank’s total pledged support for Kyiv to over $4 billion. The latest round of funding is supported by financing guarantees from Britain, the Netherlands, Lithuania and Latvia.
- Russia is ramping up oil exports from its major eastern port of Kozmino as it aims to offset the impact of EU sanctions with the surging demand from Asian buyers. Sources told Reuters that Russia has already increased the amount of crude pumped to Kozmino on its main Asian oil route, the East Siberia Pacific Ocean (ESPO) pipeline, by 70,000 barrels per day (bpd).
- The United States Treasury Department has banned US money managers from buying any Russian debt or stocks in secondary markets, on top of its existing ban on new-issue purchases, in its latest sanctions on Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine.
- Former German chancellor Angela Merkel said she tried to prevent the situation in Ukraine and has no regrets while in office. “It’s a great sadness that it didn’t work out, but I don’t blame myself for not trying,” Merkel said during a televised interview on Tuesday, speaking on the 2014 Minsk agreement with Russia.
- Moscow’s Chief Rabbi has reportedly fled Russia, after coming under pressure to support Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. Journalist Avital Chizhik-Goldschmidt tweeted late on Tuesday: “Can finally share that my in-laws, Moscow Chief Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt and Rebbetzin Dara Goldschmidt, have been put under pressure by authorities to publicly support the ‘special operation’ in Ukraine — and refused.”
Ukraine is launching a ‘Book of Executioners’, a system to collate evidence of war crimes Kyiv says were committed during Russia’s occupation, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Tuesday.
Ukrainian prosecutors say they have registered more than 12,000 alleged war crimes involving more than 600 suspects since the Kremlin started its invasion on 24 February.
Next week, a special publication is to be launched - ‘The Book of Executioners’ - an information system to collect confirmation of data about war criminals, criminals from the Russian army,” Zelenskiy said in a video address.
Zelenskiy said this would be a key element in his longstanding pledge to bring to account Russian servicemen who have committed what Ukrainian authorities have described as murders, rape and looting.
“These are concrete facts about concrete individuals guilty of concrete cruel crimes against Ukrainians,” Zelenskiy said.
He cited the Kyiv suburb of Bucha, where investigators found what they say is evidence of mass executions.
Moscow’s Chief Rabbi has reportedly fled Russia, after coming under pressure to support Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
Journalist Avital Chizhik-Goldschmidt tweeted late on Tuesday: “Can finally share that my in-laws, Moscow Chief Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt and Rebbetzin Dara Goldschmidt, have been put under pressure by authorities to publicly support the ‘special operation’ in Ukraine — and refused.”
Moscow's Chief Rabbi has fled Russia, after coming under pressure to support Putin's invasion of Ukraine (and the propaganda campaign presenting it as a "de-Nazification" effort) https://t.co/mARx5WOJb8
— Emma Graham-Harrison (@_EmmaGH) June 7, 2022
More than 31,000 Russian servicemen have already died in Ukraine, president Zelenskiy has claimed, adding that the frontline situation has not changed significantly over the past 24 hours.
“The hottest spots are the same. First of all, Severodonetsk, Lysychansk, Popasna,” he said in his latest address.
More than 31,000 Russian servicemen have already died in Ukraine. Since February 24, Russia has been paying almost 300 lives a day for a completely pointless war against Ukraine. And still the day will come when the number of losses, even for Russia, will exceed the permissible limit.”
Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskiy has also provided an update as to Ukraine’s application to join the EU.
In his latest address, he said he held a meeting on Tuesday on communication with the European Union and with individual EU member states on Ukraine’s application and candidate status.
Diplomatic activity in this direction does not stop even for a day. I hear daily reports, including on the preparation of procedural decisions in the European Union.
The team of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, our diplomats, the team of the government in general - all, absolutely all are working to achieve a significant historical decision already in June, which we all expect. For its part, Ukraine has done all, absolutely all the necessary work for this.
As they say in such cases: the ball is in the court of European structures, European countries.”
Stalemate with Russia ‘not an option’, says Zelenskiy
A stalemate with Russia is “not an option”, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said, reiterating a plea for foreign help in the war.
Ukraine’s fierce resistance of Russia’s invasion led to a stalemate in parts of the country, with Moscow re-focussing its forces in the east.
In an interview with the Financial Times newspaper on Tuesday, he said:
Victory must be achieved on the battlefield.
We are inferior in terms of equipment and therefore we are not capable of advancing.
We are going to suffer more losses and people are my priority.”
Asked what Ukraine would consider a victory, Zelenskiy said restoring the borders Ukraine controlled before Russia’s invasion on 24 February would be “a serious temporary victory”.
But he said the ultimate aim was the “full de-occupation of our entire territory”.
Asked about talks with Russia, which have been suspended since late March, Zelenskiy said he had not changed his position, adding that war should be ended at the negotiating table.
He said he was ready for direct talks with Vladimir Putin, adding that there was “nobody else to talk to” but the Russian president.
Today so far
It’s not long before 2am on Wednesday in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv.
News continues to come in about Ukrainian prisoners of war captured by Russian invading forces in Mariupol.
We’ll have more coming up, so please stay tuned as the blogging passes from the Guardian US team over to our colleagues in Australia, where Samantha Lock will keep you abreast as things happen.
Here’s where things stand:
- More than 1,000 Ukrainian soldiers who surrendered in the southern port city of Mariupol after weeks taking a last stand have been transferred to Russia, the Russian state-owned news agency Tass reports.
- The World Bank approved $1.49 billion of additional financing for Ukraine to help pay wages for government and social workers, expanding the bank’s total pledged support for Kyiv to over $4 billion.
- Rubizhne, on the outskirts of the embattled industrial hub of Sievierodonetsk, in the Luhansk area of the Donbas has been severely damaged after weeks of bombardment, new images show.
- The United States Treasury Department has banned US money managers from buying any Russian debt or stocks in secondary markets, on top of its existing ban on new-issue purchases, in its latest sanctions on Moscow.
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Ukraine’s ambassador to Israel, Yevgen Korniychuk, is urging Israel to sell its Iron Dome rocket interception system and provide anti-tank missiles to defend civilians against Russia’s invasion.
- Radiation levels in the area surrounding Ukraine’s Chornobyl, or Chernobyl, nuclear power plant are normal after detectors came back online today.
- Some residents of devastated Mariupol who managed to escape are saying they were given no choice but to travel to Russia in what the Kyiv government regards as “deportations”.
- Russian proxy fighters in east Ukraine have said they are opening a trial against two Britons, Aiden Aslin and Shaun Pinner, who were captured fighting alongside Ukrainian soldiers in Mariupol.
- Those are the main developments since our last summary, but prior to that, the leading news emerged of alleged “torture chamber” detention by Russian soldiers of abducted residents in the Kherson region.
More than a thousand Ukrainian soldiers who surrendered in Mariupol transferred to Russia - Russian source
Breaking news is coming through from Tass, the Russian state-owned news agency, declaring that more than 1,000 Ukrainian soldiers who surrendered in the southern port city of Mariupol after weeks taking a last stand have been transferred to Russia, Reuters reports.
More Ukrainian prisoners of war will be taken to Russia “later on”, Reuters is further reporting, with Tass citing a “Russian law enforcement source”.
Ukraine has said it is working for all the prisoners to be returned while some Russian legislators say they should be put on trial.
More details will be forthcoming, no doubt, and we’ll bring them to you as they emerge.
Previously, the Guardian’s Pjotr Sauer had reported, more than 900 Ukrainian troops who had been trapped at Mariupol’s besieged Azovstal steel plant, where Ukrainian forces held out for weeks, had been sent to a prison colony on Russian-controlled territory within Ukraine, Moscow has said, and their fate had been uncertain.
Now, it appears, they and more of their comrades, have been taken to Russia proper.
It’s probably fair to say that, if that is confirmed, their fate is currently even more uncertain.
Surrender at the besieged steel works came in the middle of last month, after it became clear that any remaining troops would, in fairly short order, be obliterated by Russian forces, with hope of rescue or reinforcements expired.
Just a few days earlier in May, the last remaining civilians holed up at the steel works were evacuated, and my colleague Emma Graham-Harrison sent this dispatch.
What remains of Mariupol is now under Russian control, and there are reports of an “epidemic of cholera” among those remaining in the occupied city, with sewage and water supply problems and dead bodies rotting in the streets.
Updated
The World Bank said on Tuesday its board of executive directors approved $1.49 billion of additional financing for Ukraine to help pay wages for government and social workers, expanding the bank’s total pledged support for Kyiv to over $4 billion.
The World Bank said in a statement that the latest round of funding for Ukraine is supported by financing guarantees from Britain, the Netherlands, Lithuania and Latvia.
Ukraine’s economy is in tatters.
The project is also being supported by parallel financing from Italy and contributions from a new Multi-Donor Trust Fund.
The news came as the bank also warned that the global economy faces a protracted period of weak growth and high inflation reminiscent of the 1970s as the impact of a two-year pandemic is compounded by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, my colleague Larry Elliott reported earlier.
In its half-yearly economic health check, the Washington-based Bank said echoes of the stagflation of four decades ago had forced it to cut its growth forecast for this year from 4.1% to 2.9%.
David Malpass, the Bank’s president, said: “The war in Ukraine, lockdowns in China, supply chain disruptions and the risk of stagflation are hammering growth. For many countries, recession will be hard to avoid.”
Read more of Larry’s report here.
Rubizhne, on the outskirts of the embattled industrial hub of Sievierodonetsk, in the Luhansk area of the Donbas that invading Russian forces are trying to subdue, some new satellite images are emerging showing severe damage.
The US satellite firm Maxar Technologies has just tweeted these pictures.
Before (March 29, 2022) and after (June 6, 2022) #satellite #images showing the destruction of buildings in Rubizhne, #Ukraine. Location: 48.985938, 38.403.274. pic.twitter.com/XTjsNTudz4
— Maxar Technologies (@Maxar) June 7, 2022
The Kyiv Independent news outlet reminds us that there has been heavy fighting over Rubizhne for weeks.
⚡️Satellite picture shows heavy destruction in Rubizhne.
— The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) June 7, 2022
A satellite image released by Maxar Technologies shows significant destruction in the city of Rubizhne, Luhansk Oblast, where heavy fighting has been ongoing for weeks.
Photo: Maxar Technologies pic.twitter.com/SFgDGIGboL
Also this:
Parts of the #Ukrainian cities of #Rubizhne and #Severodonetsk are significantly destroyed, new satellite images taken on Monday by Maxar Technologies show. #Ukraine #Russia #Donbas #Donetsk #Luhansk pic.twitter.com/ebT0MWv4NT
— Said Pulido (@Super_Said) June 7, 2022
Fighters with the resisting Ukrainian forces and the invading Russians appear to be bogged down in some key parts of southern and south-eastern Ukraine, fighting old-school trench warfare amid the boom of artillery.
Footage is often hard to verify in terms of exact location and time of filming in this 100+ days of conflict, but the sight and sound in this clip is in some way timeless.
POV from a Ukrainian trench taking Russian artillery fire pic.twitter.com/4HZF26HLmR
— OSINTtechnical (@Osinttechnical) June 7, 2022
CNN’s Matthew Chance just aired a dispatch from Kryvyi Rih in southern Ukraine, where he reported on forces dug in and “grinding front lines” as the “bone-shaking” artillery guns pound away at each side.
He indicated that from what he was witnessing, in an exclusive report, that the Ukrainian and Russian forces have “fought themselves to a standstill” right now.
That was despite messages coming out from the Ukrainian authorities that Ukraine was making progress. But officers on the ground were also expressing grim satisfaction that Russia had not toppled the country within days as they claimed Vladimir Putin must have envisioned.
Here was Chance’s recent online report about Russia striking the capital Kyiv again after a long hiatus.
Russian missiles strike Kyiv for the first time in weeks. Why are Putin’s sights back on the capital? @mchancecnn reports https://t.co/DC7HpQobkZ
— The Lead CNN (@TheLeadCNN) June 6, 2022
US bars investors from buying Russian debt, stocks on secondary market
In more international news, the United States Treasury Department has banned US money managers from buying any Russian debt or stocks in secondary markets, on top of its existing ban on new-issue purchases, in its latest sanctions on Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine, Reuters reports.
Despite Washington’s sweeping sanctions in recent months, Americans were still allowed to trade hundreds of billions of dollars worth of assets already in circulation on secondary markets.
The ban extends to all Russian debt and that all Russian firms’ shares are affected, not just those of ones specifically named in sanctions.
Consistent with our goal to deny Russia the financial resources it needs to continue its brutal war against Ukraine, Treasury has made clear that U.S. persons are prohibited from making new investments in the success of Russia, including through purchases on the secondary market,” a Treasury spokesperson said on Tuesday.
The rules do still allow US investors to sell or continue to hold Russian assets that they already own. Buying shares in US funds that contain Russian debt or equities will also still be possible.
Western funds have already dumped Russian assets en masse since the war in Ukraine started.
The US banned investors from buying any Russian debt or stocks in the secondary market. US firms can hold or sell Russian debt, but can’t purchase it. The measure was added through an update in the FAQ, rather than through a new round of sanctions.https://t.co/kjhQdGHaMR
— Dr Maria Shagina 🇺🇦 (@maria_shagina) June 7, 2022
Another headache for Russian president Vladimir Putin.
The Treasury is blocking US investors from buying all Russian debt and stocks as sanctions against Moscow continue to pile up https://t.co/yZ1sfOyeQd pic.twitter.com/oPEgyEMpeo
— Tech News Tube (@TechNewsTube) June 7, 2022
Ukraine’s ambassador is urging Israel to sell its Iron Dome rocket interception system and provide anti-tank missiles to defend civilians against Russia’s invasion, the Associated Press writes.
Yevgen Korniychuk on Tuesday stopped short of accusing Israel of blocking the sale of the missile defense system.
But he wants the Israeli government to back up its verbal support for Ukraine with military assistance.
At a news conference in Tel Aviv, he said Ukraine wants to buy the Iron Dome system, contending that the United States would not oppose such a sale.
The US has been financially supporting Israel’s Iron Dome for about a decade, providing about $1.6 billion for its production and maintenance, according to the Congressional Research Service.
The system is designed to intercept and destroy short-range rockets fired into Israel.
Korniychuk also said Israel last week declined a US request for Germany to deliver Israeli-licensed “Spike” anti-tank missiles to Ukraine.
Israel has limited its support for Ukraine to humanitarian aid and was the only country operating a field hospital inside the country earlier in the year. Israel fears helping Ukraine militarily would inflame Russia, which has a military presence in neighboring Syria.
Israel, which carries out frequent strikes on enemy targets in Syria, relies on Russia for security coordination. The Israeli Defense Ministry had no comment.
Former German chancellor Angela Merkel said today that she tried to prevent the situation in Ukraine while in office, adding that she does not blame herself for not trying hard enough, reports Reuters.
During a televised interview with German author and journalist Alexander Osang, Merkel spoke on the war in Ukraine and the failure to prevent the current situation during her tenure as chancellor: “It’s a great sadness that it didn’t work out, but I don’t blame myself for not trying,” said Merkel, speaking on the 2014 Minsk agreement with Russia.
Merkel also said that there was no justification for Russia’s “brutal disregard of international law” in Ukraine, adding that she was against allowing Ukraine into Nato because she wanted to prevent further escalation with Russia and believed Ukraine was not ready for such membership.
Radiation levels in the area surrounding Ukraine’s Chernobyl nuclear power plant are normal after detectors came back online today, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
The radiation detectors in the Exclusion Zone around the defunct nuclear power plant began transmitting data for the first time since Russia seized the area on 24 February.
The UN nuclear watchdog reported today that readings show radiation levels in the area are normal.
“Most of the 39 detectors sending data from the Exclusion Zone ... are now visible on the IRMIS (International Radiation Monitoring Information System) map,” said the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in a statement. “The measurements received so far indicated radiation levels in line with those measured before the conflict.”
Radiation detectors from the area around the #Chornobyl Power Plant, for the first time since 24 February, are transmitting data to the IAEA monitoring system. Measurements received so far indicate levels in line with those before the conflict. https://t.co/HxfPphlLO1 pic.twitter.com/zfNoGQw3q5
— IAEA - International Atomic Energy Agency (@iaeaorg) June 7, 2022
Updated
Some 800 civilians have taken refuge in a chemical factory in Ukraine’s strategic eastern city of Sievierodonetsk, according to a lawyer for Dmytro Firtash, whose company owns the facility, AFP reports.
“About 800 civilians have taken refuge in the bunkers of the Azot chemical plant, owned by Dmytro Firtash’s Group DF,” Lanny J. Davis, a US lawyer ,noted in a statement published on the company website.
Russian troops have been pushing for control of the key city over the past weeks as part of their effort to conquer eastern Ukraine.
These 800 civilians include around 200 out of the plant’s 3,000 employees and approximately 600 inhabitants of the city of Sievierodonetsk,” he added.
The workers had remained at the factory in an attempt to “secure” the remaining part of “the plant’s highly explosive chemicals” the statement said.
Contacted by AFP, the Ukrainian presidency had not confirmed the information by the end of the afternoon.
Moscow announced earlier Tuesday that it had “completely liberated” residential areas of the south-eastern hub city, following Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s comments on Monday that Ukrainian fighters were “holding” their positions.
Dmytro Firtash, 57, one of Ukraine’s wealthiest citizens, is a close ally of former pro-Russian Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych.
In June 2021, Volodymyr Zelensky signed a decree imposing sanctions on the tycoon, including the freezing of his assets and withdrawal of licences from his companies, after accusing him of selling titanium products to Russian military companies.
Firtash had nonetheless denounced the Russian invasion at the end of February and helped to establish a 24/7 television news network alongside the presidential administration.
Some residents of the devastated Ukrainian city of Mariupol who managed to escape are saying they were given no choice but to travel to Russia in what the Kyiv government regards as “deportations”, AFP writes.
After spending weeks in a Mariupol basement and following the death of her father, who was killed in a rocket attack, Tetyana decided to leave her city to try to save her nine-year-old daughter.
With no mobile network or any possibility of communicating, she took advantage of a lull in the shelling to go to an assembly point arranged by pro-Russian authorities to find out about exit routes.
There, she was told going to Russia was the only option.
We were in shock. We did not want to go to Russia. How can you go to a country that wants to kill you?” the 38-year-old accountant said on the phone from Riga in Latvia where she has since sought refuge with her family.
For several weeks, Ukrainian authorities have been accusing Moscow of “illegally transferring” more than a million Ukrainians to Russia or to the parts of Ukraine currently controlled by Russian forces.
A Russian defence ministry official, Mikhail Mizintsev, confirmed the one million number but said the transfers of civilians was only being done to “evacuate” them away from “dangerous areas”.
Some civilians have indeed been forced to go towards Russia because travel to Ukrainian-held areas was blocked by fighting.
Speaking to AFP after crossing from Russia into Estonia, Yelyzaveta, originally from Izyum, a city in the east currently held by Russian forces, said this was the case for her.
It was impossible to go towards Ukraine. [But] uou can’t really say no,” Yelyzaveta told AFP of being forced into Russia.
Like Tetyana, two other families from Mariupol - where the Ukrainian government says 20,000 people were killed, said they too were forced to go to Russia.
The Russian defence minister, Sergei Shoigu, is talking of the residential parts of the pivotal south-eastern city of Sievierodonetsk having been “liberated” by the invading forces.
Outnumbered Ukrainian troops are continuing to prevent the total takeover of the city that is a key hub and has become a flashpoint in the Donbas region, where Russia is now concentrating its military might, Agence France-Presse reports.
“The residential areas of the city of Sievierodonetsk have been fully liberated,” Shoigu said.
The Russian army was still seeking to establish control over the city’s “industrial zone and the nearest settlements”, he added.
Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has said Ukrainian forces in the city, heavily armed with artillery, are outnumbered and the Russians “are stronger”.
Updated
Pro-Russia officials open trial against Britons captured fighting in Ukraine
Russian proxy fighters in east Ukraine have said they are opening a trial against two Britons, Aiden Aslin and Shaun Pinner, who were captured fighting alongside Ukrainian soldiers in Mariupol.
The two men, who are serving in the Ukrainian military, and Ibrahim Saadun, a captive from Morocco, were shown sitting in a courtroom cage reserved for defendants in a video released on pro-Russian social media channels on Tuesday.
Prosecutors from the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic, a proxy government in east Ukraine controlled by Russia, have said that the men face the death penalty for “terrorism” and for fighting as “mercenaries” against the Russian invasion.
Aslin and his fellow defendants have said they were regular soldiers fighting in the Ukrainian military and should be treated as prisoners of war.
If the images from the courtroom are confirmed, the men would be the first Ukrainian soldiers to be tried by pro-Russian forces in what observers warn could be a series of show trials meant to justify Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“Do you know the information in your indictment,” an interpreter asked Aslin, a 28-year-old from Newark, Nottinghamshire, who was sitting in a metal cage reserved for defendants. “Tak tochno,” he replied, a military response meaning “affirmative”. Shaun Pinner, 48, from Watford and Bedfordshire, also said he understood the charges against him.
Russian officials have threatened to hold military tribunals they have called “Nuremberg 2.0”, meant to mirror war crimes trials being held in Kyiv for atrocities committed by invading Russian soldiers. Observers say the trials may be deliberately constructed to put maximum pressure on the west and to prompt prisoner exchanges for Russian soldiers captured and tried in Ukraine.
Updated
Ukraine’s governor of Luhansk, Serhiy Haidai, said Kyiv’s forces are finding it hard to stave off Russian attacks in the centre of Sievierodonestk but Moscow’s forces do not control the frontline eastern city.
In an online update, Haidai also said Russian troops were constantly shelling Sievierodonetsk’s twin city Lysychansk.
Russia is ramping up oil exports from its major eastern port of Kozmino as it aims to offset the impact of EU sanctions with the surging demand from Asian buyers.
Sources told Reuters that Russia has already increased the amount of crude pumped to Kozmino on its main Asian oil route, the East Siberia Pacific Ocean (ESPO) pipeline, by 70,000 barrels per day (bpd).
Russia has previously said that its gas deliveries to Europe could be entirely redirected to Asia, where demand is rising, but doing so via long tanker journeys from European sea ports would be expensive – and complicated by western sanctions.
Last week, the EU announced its embargo on Russian oil, saying it would stop imports of 90% of oil and products from Russia from the end of the year.
Updated
The European Union needs to build warehouses and extend railway tracks across the Ukrainian border to help Kyiv in its attempts to move more grain out of the country to those who need it, says the country’s trade representative.
Ukraine will not be able to export more than 2m tonnes of grain a month, around a third of pre-war levels, as long as its main trade routes through its Black Sea ports remain blockaded by Russia, said Taras Kachka.
Kachka told the Guardian:
We are already using to the maximum the current possibilities for supply and it still very low, that is below 2m tonnes per month. In order to increase it we need to construct additional entry points to the EU, the additional lines [of railway] to cross the border, deeper into both markets.
He added that export limitations were related to lack of necessary infrastructure, rather than trade processes.
“We cancelled all certificates that were previously required, simplified all administrative procedures, so now it’s the question of infrastructure either temporary or permanent,” Kachka said on the sidelines of the annual conference of the International Grains Council (IGC), an intergovernmental organisation that seeks to promote cooperation in the global grain trade.
Kachka, who is also Ukraine’s deputy minister for economic development, trade and agriculture and current IGC chair, said the Ukrainian government was already investing in extra grain storage facilities on the country’s border with Poland, in the northern Volyn region and in the western Lviv region.
Before Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, 90% of the grain sent overseas by the world’s fifth-biggest wheat exporting country travelled by ship from the Black Sea.
Since then, Kyiv and international allies have been ramping up the quantity exported by road, rail and river through Ukraine’s Danube ports.
However, this is not without certain logistical challenges.
Ukraine’s railway network has, like Russia, a slightly wider gauge, or distance between the two rails of a railway track, than its European neighbours such as Poland. As a result, grain transported by rail has to be unloaded and put on to different trains when it reaches Ukraine’s European borders.
Kachka said the Ukrainian government is working on extending Ukrainian railway tracks into Poland, and vice versa, at several border crossings, as well as building grain storage facilities, which should ensure a smoother flow of exports.
International talks with Russia, brokered by Turkey, continue over proposals to allow an armada of ships carrying grain from Ukraine through a naval corridor to the Bosphorus.
However, Ukrainian representatives struck a pessimistic tone about how quickly the country’s Black Sea ports could return to operations, even if a ceasefire were to be called.
Updated
Today so far...
It’s just past 8pm in Kyiv. Here is where we stand:
- Russia’s defence minister, Sergei Shoigu, said Moscow’s forces have control of 97% of Luhansk in eastern Ukraine. Russian forces have seized residential quarters of the key eastern city of Sievierodonetsk and are fighting to take control of an industrial zone on its outskirts and the nearby towns, Shoigu said. The Luhansk governor, Serhiy Haidai, conceded that Russian forces control the industrial outskirts of the city.
- Ukraine accused the Russian army of abducting about 600 residents in the Kherson region in the south of the country and keeping them in “torture chambers”. Tamila Tacheva, the Ukrainian presidency’s permanent representative in Crimea, said about 300 people, who are “mainly journalists and activists”, are being held in Kherson city and the rest are in other settlements in the region.
- One person was killed and three injured after a Russian strike hit Ukraine’s second city, Kharkiv, according to the mayor, Ihor Terekhov. Russia “does not leave Kharkiv alone and constantly keeps people in fear”, Terekhov said on national television.
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The leader of Ukraine’s pro-Russian separatists in Donetsk, Denis Pushilin, has confirmed the death of a Russian general, Maj Gen Roman Kutuzov, during the war in Ukraine. A reporter of state-run Rossiya 1 earlier said Kutuzov was killed while leading forces from the Russian-controlled east into battle. If confirmed, he would be at least the fourth Russian general to have been killed in combat since February, and Ukraine claims the number is higher.
- Some Russian fighters have gone public with appeals to Vladimir Putin for an investigation into battlefield conditions and whether their deployments to the front are even legal. Russia’s assault on Ukraine’s east has brought it some battlefield success but there is evidence that high-level casualties are growing and that some units may be approaching exhaustion.
- The European Council president, Charles Michel, accused Russia of using food supplies as “a stealth missile against developing countries” and blamed the Kremlin for the looming global food crisis. Michel’s remarks prompted Moscow’s UN ambassador, Vassily Nebenzia, to walk out of a security council meeting.
- Ukraine’s first deputy minister of agrarian policy and food, Taras Vysotskyi, said it would take six months to clear the coast of Russian and Ukrainian mines. His remarks dealt a blow to a proposal under discussion where ships leaving Ukrainian ports would be given safe escort by Turkish naval vessels.
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Russian lawmakers voted to take Moscow out of the jurisdiction of the European Court of Human Rights. The Russian state Duma approved two bills, one removing the country from the court’s jurisdiction and a second setting 16 March as the cut-off point, with rulings against Russia made after that date not to be implemented.
- Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, declared himself “very happy” at the UK prime minister, Boris Johnson’s, confidence vote win. Zelenskiy described Johnson’s narrow victory on Monday evening as “great news”. In a cabinet meeting today, Johnson said Zelenskiy must not be “pressured” into accepting a bad peace deal with Russia and said Britain would “remain at the forefront” of support for Kyiv.
- The former Russian president and a close ally of Vladimir Putin, Dmitry Medvedev, lashed out at those who “hate” Russia, calling them “degenerates” and vowing to “make them disappear”. Medvedev, who is now deputy head of the security council, did not say who “they” were but his remarks are an example of the increasingly aggressive language used by Russian officials.
- Russia has begun handing over the bodies of Ukrainian fighters killed at the Azovstal steelworks in the destroyed city of Mariupol. Dozens of bodies have been transferred to Kyiv, where DNA testing is under way to identify the remains, according to a military leader and a spokesperson for the Azov battalion.
- Russian officials in occupied Mariupol have shut down the southern port city for quarantine over a possible cholera outbreak, according to Ukrainian authorities. Petro Andryushchenko, an adviser to the mayor of Mariupol, said the Russian-occupied city is bracing itself for an epidemic as dead bodies and litter are piling up.
- The “unprecedented” displacement of millions of Ukrainians following Russia’s invasion is “turning into a human trafficking crisis”, according to the UN. Pramila Patten, the UN special representative on sexual violence, told the security council that “sexual violence is the most consistently and massively under-reported violation”.
Hello from London, it’s Léonie Chao-Fong still with you as we unpack all the latest developments from the war in Ukraine. I’m on Twitter or you can email me.
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The former Russian president and a close ally of Vladimir Putin, Dmitry Medvedev, has lashed out at those who “hate” Russia, calling them “degenerates” and vowing to “make them disappear”.
Medvedev, who is now deputy head of the security council, wrote on Telegram:
I am often asked why my Telegram posts are so harsh. The answer is I hate them. They are bastards and degenerates.
They want death for us, Russia. And while I’m alive, I will do everything to make them disappear.
He did not say who “they” were. Medvedev, who served as president between 2008 and 2012, has published increasingly hardline posts on social media since Russian troops invaded Ukraine in February.
The BBC’s Steve Rosenberg writes that Medvedev’s latest remarks are an example of the increasingly aggressive language used by Russian officials.
One change I’ve noticed in Russia: the increasingly aggressive language/tone of officials. Today ex-president Medvedev posted: “I hate them. They are bastards & degenerates. They want us, Russia, dead…I’ll do all I can to make them disappear.” (he didn’t say who ‘they’ were...)
— Steve Rosenberg (@BBCSteveR) June 7, 2022
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A Russian footballer has spoken out against the war in Ukraine, saying she “can’t just look at this inhumanity and stay silent”.
Nadya Karpova, a member of the Russian women’s team and striker for Espanyol in Spain, is one of the very few Russian sportspeople to have publicly come out against what Moscow calls its “special military operation” in Ukraine.
Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, “took everything from us, he took our future”, Karpova said in an interview with the BBC in Barcelona, adding:
At the same time, he did it with our tacit consent. They [the government], didn’t witness strong resistance. Most people were just closing their eyes to injustice, thinking it’s not their business.
She said people in Russia who justify the war in Ukraine are “hostages to propaganda” and that she “feels sorry for them”, adding: “I believe we need to do everything to release them from it.”
Karpova added:
I wish more and more Russians – Russian athletes, too – would speak out so other people who are against the war know that they are not a minority. You can’t just pretend that nothing is happening, not any more. The time of silence should be over.
[This government] will go away one day, they are all old. When this happens, we will still be alive, and we should be ready to sort everything out. I hope it will happen very soon.
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Nearly 600 people ‘detained in torture chambers’ in Kherson, says Ukraine
Ukraine has accused the Russian army of abducting residents in the Kherson region in the south of the country and keeping them in “torture chambers”.
Tamila Tacheva, the Ukrainian presidency’s permanent representative in Crimea, said in a briefing:
According to our information, about 600 people are detained in specially equipped basements, in torture chambers, in the Kherson region.
About 300 people are “in the basement” in Kherson city and the rest are in other settlements of the region, Tacheva said, according to Ukrainian state news agency, Ukrinform.
She added:
They are detained in inhuman conditions and are victims of torture.
Those being detained are “mainly journalists and activists” who organised “pro-Ukrainian rallies in Kherson and its region” after Russian troops occupied the territory, as well as prisoners of war, Tacheva said.
Some Ukrainians held in the Kherson region – civilians but also detained combatants – have been sent to jails in Crimea, she added.
Repr Ukraine's President in Crimea: in Kherson region about 600 people abducted by russia's invaders.They're facing inhuman treatment&torture. Some (both civilians &POWs) are taken to Crimea. Abducted people from the Zaporizhzhia region are also being taken to Crimea pic.twitter.com/TFP2iI5FYW
— Ukrainian Mission to OSCE & UN in Vienna (@UKRinOSCE) June 7, 2022
It was not possible to independently verify these claims.
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One killed after fresh Russian strike on Kharkiv, mayor says
One person was killed and three injured after a Russian strike hit Ukraine’s second city, Kharkiv, according to the mayor, Ihor Terekhov.
Russia “does not leave Kharkiv alone and constantly keeps people in fear”, Reuters quoted Terekhov as saying on national television.
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A plan mediated by Turkey amid a global food crisis to open shipping corridors out of Ukrainian ports has been dealt a blow as officials in Kyiv said it would take six months to clear the coast of mines.
Turkey’s defence minister, Hulusi Akar, said in a statement on Tuesday that his government was making progress with the UN, Russia and Ukraine on reopening ports under Russian blockade in the Black Sea. The ships leaving Ukrainian ports would be given safe escort by Turkish naval vessels under the plan.
The development appeared to offer some hope as the UN warned that the war in Ukraine – a major exporter of grain – was fuelling crippling shortages of food around the world and pushing millions of people into famine. However, Ukraine’s first deputy minister of agrarian policy and food, Taras Vysotskyi, responded that even if Russia lifted its blockade, thousands of mines would remain floating off the port of Odesa and elsewhere.
Vysotskyi said that Ukraine was only able to export a maximum of 2m tonnes of grain a month – compared with the 6m tonnes before the war – and that it would take until the end of the year to clear the mines.
“I think we reached the limit,” Vysotskyi told participants at an International Grains Council conference. “The biggest amount we can export is about 2m tonnes a month.”
It is estimated that more than 20m tonnes of grain are stuck in Ukraine’s silos. The country has faced severe capacity constraints while trying to export its grain by road, river and rail.
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Russian parliament votes to leave European Court of Human Rights
Russian lawmakers have voted to take Moscow out of the jurisdiction of the European Court of Human Rights after more than 20 years as a member of the Council of Europe, the continent’s top rights organisation.
The Russian state Duma approved two bills, one removing the country from the court’s jurisdiction and a second setting 16 March as the cut-off point, with rulings against Russia made after that date not to be implemented.
After the vote, the speaker of the lower house of parliament, Vyacheslav Volodin, said:
The European Court of Human Rights has become an instrument of political battle against our country in the hands of Western politicians.
Some of the court’s decisions “were in direct contradiction to the Russian constitution, our values and our traditions”, he said in a statement.
Appeals to the ECHR had become a last resort for plaintiffs in several high-profile cases rejected by Russian courts, and so today’s move marks an end to what many activists saw as the last hope for justice.
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Oleksandr Senkevych, the mayor of the city, has just posted to Telegram that there is an air raid warning in effect in Mykolaiv.
Berlin and Vilnius will prepare to expand the multinational Nato combat unit in Lithuania to the size of a brigade eventually, the countries’ leaders said in a joint statement.
Reuters reports the statement was published after a meeting of the German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, with the Lithuanian president, Gitanas Nausėda, and the prime ministers of Latvia and Estonia.
It is unlikely that the move will be welcomed in Moscow, which has repeatedly stated that any increase in Nato’s presence in the Baltic region would be met with a response.
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Allegations that Russia is stealing grain from a wide variety of areas in Ukraine are very serious and must be investigated immediately, British farming minister Victoria Prentis has said.
Reuters reports Prentis, speaking at an International Grains Council conference in London, said she had heard allegations of grain theft by Russia first-hand from sources in the Kherson region in south Ukraine.
Russia has previously denied allegations of stealing wheat from Ukraine.
Ukraine last week said that Russia was shipping stolen grain to Turkey out of Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014. It also accused Russia of sending its ally Syria 100,000 tonnes of stolen Ukrainian wheat, and of sending looted metal via ship from Mariupol to Rostov-on-Don.
Russia says its forces have seized 97% of Luhansk
Russia’s defence minister, Sergei Shoigu, said Moscow’s forces have control of 97% of Luhansk in eastern Ukraine.
Russian forces have seized residential quarters of the key eastern city of Sievierodonetsk and are fighting to take control of an industrial zone on its outskirts and the nearby towns, Shoigu said.
The Luhansk governor, Serhiy Haidai, conceded that Russian forces control the industrial outskirts of the city, telling Associated Press:
Toughest street battles continue, with varying degrees of success. The situation constantly changes, but the Ukrainians are repelling attacks.
In nearby Lysychansk, the other Donbas city holding out against the Russian invasion, Russian troops shelled a local market, a school and a college building, destroying the latter, Haidai said. He said:
A total destruction of the city is underway, Russian shelling has intensified significantly over the past 24 hours. Russians are using scorched earth tactics.
Shoigu also said Russian troops were pressing their offensive toward the town of Popasna, about 30km south of Sievierodonetsk, and that they had taken control of Lyman and Sviatohirsk and 15 other towns in the region.
The minister said 6,489 Ukrainian troops had been taken prisoner since the start of the military action in Ukraine, including 126 over the past five days.
It has not been possible to independently verify either side’s claims.
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The leader of Ukraine’s pro-Russian separatists in Donetsk, Denis Pushilin, has confirmed the death of a Russian general during the war in Ukraine.
The death of Maj Gen Roman Kutuzov was reported earlier by a reporter of state-run Rossiya 1, who said he was killed while leading forces from the Russian-controlled east into battle.
A Russian journalist, Alexander Sladkov, wrote in a post on Telegram:
The general had led soldiers into attack, as if there are not enough colonels.
Pushilin expressed his “sincere condolences to the family and friends” of Kutuzov, “who showed by example how to serve the fatherland”, he wrote on Telegram, adding:
As long as our generals fight shoulder to shoulder with soldiers, our country and our nation will be invincible.
If Kutuzov’s death is confirmed, he would be at least the fourth Russian general to have been killed in combat since February, and Ukraine claims the number is higher.
On Sunday, Ukraine’s armed forces announced that Kutuzov had been “officially denazified and demilitarised”.
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Ukraine would need about six months to clear the water around its Black Sea ports of mines, even if the Russian blockade were lifted, according to Ukraine’s first deputy minister of agrarian policy and food, Taras Vysotskyi.
If Russia refused to lift its blockade, then Ukraine would only be able to export a maximum of 2m tonnes of grain a month, Vysotskyi said. Before the war, Ukraine was able to export up to 6m tonnes of grain a month.
More than 20m tonnes of grain are stuck in Ukraine’s silos and the country has faced severe capacity constraints while trying to export its grain by road, river and rail to help avert a global food crisis.
Vysotskyi told participants at an International Grains Council (IGC) conference:
I think we reached the limit. The biggest amount we can export is about 2m tonnes a month.
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Britain’s prime minister, Boris Johnson, said Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, must not be “pressured” into accepting a bad peace deal with Russia, at a cabinet meeting with his ministers.
Johnson pledged the UK would “remain at the forefront” of support for Ukraine, his spokesperson told reporters following the cabinet meeting:
He said it was vital that President Zelenskiy was not pressured into accepting a bad peace, noting that bad peace deals do not last. He said the world must avoid any outcome where Putin’s unwarranted aggression appears to have paid off.
Johnson’s remarks came after Zelenskiy said he was “very happy” at the PM’s confidence vote win, describing Johnson’s narrow victory as “great news”.
The British foreign secretary, Liz Truss, also said the UK was preparing further sanctions against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine, the spokesperson said.
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Kremlin tells Ukraine to de-mine approaches to ports to allow grain exports
The Kremlin said Ukraine needed to demine the approaches to its ports in order for ships to resume exporting grain.
At his regular briefing with reporters, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said:
This will allow ships, once checked by our military, to enter the ports, load grain and with our help, proceed to international waters.
Russia’s army has seized much of Ukraine’s southern coastline and its warships control access to the country’s Black Sea ports. Moscow has blamed Ukraine and the west for the resulting disruption of Ukrainian grain exports.
Last week, President Vladimir Putin said reports of a Russian export ban were a “bluff” and that western nations were trying to cover up their own policy mistakes by blaming Russia for problems in the global food market.
In separate remarks, Russia’s defence minister Sergei Shoigu said the Ukrainian ports of Berdyansk and Mariupol, which Russian forces have seized, have been de-mined and are ready to resume grain shipments.
Shoigu said:
The de-mining of Mariupol’s port has been completed. It is functioning normally, and has received its first cargo ships.
He also claimed Russian armed forces had created the “necessary preconditions for the full resumption of railway traffic between Russia, the Donbas, Ukraine and Crimea” and had started delivery of cargo to the Ukrainian cities of Mariupol, Berdyansk and Kherson” on 1,200 km (750 miles) of reopened railway tracks.
Creating a so-called “land corridor” between Russia and the Crimean peninsula, annexed by Moscow in 2014, has been a major part of Russia’s strategy since the start of its offensive, Reuters reports.
Shoigu also said 6,489 Ukrainian military personnel had surrendered to Russian forces since the start of what Russia calls its “special military operation”, including 126 in the past five days.
It is not possible to independently verify these claims.
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Zelenskiy ‘very happy’ Boris Johnson is still PM
Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said he was “very happy” Boris Johnson survived yesterday’s vote of confidence and said the British prime minister was a “true friend of Ukraine”.
Zelenskiy was speaking at a Financial Times event where he was asked about Jonhson remaining in power after last night’s confidence vote.
Zelenskiy said Johnson’s political survival was “great news” and that he was “very happy”, adding:
Boris Johnson is a true friend of Ukraine. I regard him as our ally, and Great Britain as a great ally.
The Ukrainian leader described the war in his country against Russia’s invasion as a “war for independence and the freedom of our country”.
Stalemate is “not an option for us”, he said as he appealed for western military support to restore his country’s territorial integrity.
We are inferior in terms of equipment and therefore we are not capable of advancing. We are going to suffer more losses and people are my priority.
Ukraine must achieve full control of its entire territory, Zelenskiy said:
We have already lost too many people to simply cede our territory.
Hello, it’s Léonie Chao-Fong with you again today to bring you all the latest developments from the war in Ukraine. Feel free to get in touch on Twitter or via email.
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Oleksandr Stryuk, head of Sievierodonetsk’s military administration, has been speaking on Ukrainian television where he said the situation in the frontline eastern city remained very difficult.
Russia was sending more troops with the goal of capturing the entire city, Stryuk said. He added:
Our armed forces have strengthened their positions and are holding the line.
Today so far …
- Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskiy says fighting has taken to the streets of the frontline eastern city of Sievierodonetsk while admitting that Russian forces have the numerical advantage. In his latest national address, Zelenskiy insisted that Ukraine’s forces had “every chance” of fighting back and are “standing strong”.
- The Ukraine president also said he believed Russian troops intend to capture the city of Zaporizhzhia, a large industrial hub in the south-east of the country, which would allow its military to advance closer to central areas. “There are more of them, they are more powerful, but we have every chance to fight on this direction,” he said.
- Russian troops continue to storm the city of Siverodonetsk where heavy fighting is taking place, Ukraine’s military has said in its latest operational report. According to Ukraine’s general staff of the armed forces, Ukrainian helicopters reportedly struck at clusters of enemy forces in the Kherson region, and planes at ammunition depots in the Mykolayiv region. “The enemy lost more than 20 people and up to 10 units of military equipment,” the report added.
- Serhiy Haidai, Ukraine’s governor of Luhansk, said on Telegram: “Currently, the enemy continues to storm Sievierodonetsk, fighting continues. The Russian assault in the direction of Novookhtyrka and Voronove was also repulsed. In the area of Bilohorivka, the enemy uses sabotage and reconnaissance groups.”
- Russia has begun handing over bodies of Ukrainian fighters killed at the Azovstal steelworks, the fortress-like plant in the destroyed city of Mariupol where their last-ditch stand became a symbol of resistance against Moscow’s invasion. Dozens of bodies have been transferred to Kyiv, where DNA testing is under way to identify the remains, according to both a military leader and a spokesperson for the Azov battalion.
- Russian officials in occupied Mariupol have shut down the southern port city for quarantine over a possible cholera outbreak, according to Ukrainian authorities. Petro Andryushchenko, an adviser to the mayor of Mariupol, said the Russian-occupied city is bracing itself for an epidemic as dead bodies and litter are piling up in the city.
- Ukraine’s state nuclear company Energoatom has criticised a plan by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to send a delegation to a Russian-occupied nuclear plant in Zaporizhzhia, southern Ukraine, saying it “did not invite” such a visit.
- The UK ministry of defence’s daily assessment of the situation on the ground says: “Russia’s broader plan likely continues to be to cut off the Sieverodonetsk area from both the north and the south. Russia made gains on the southern, Popasna axis through May, but its progress in the area has stalled over the last week. Reports of heavy shelling near Izium suggests Russia is preparing to make a renewed effort on the northern axis.”
- Sexual violence in Ukraine remains prevalent and underreported as Russia’s invasion is “turning into a human trafficking crisis” according to the UN. “Women and children fleeing the conflict are being targeted for trafficking and exploitation,” Pramila Patten, the United Nations special representative on sexual violence, told a UN security council on Monday. “Sexual violence is the most consistently and massively under-reported violation.”
- The Ukrainian navy said it has pushed back a fleet of Russian warships more than 100km from its Black Sea coast. The group of Russian vessels were “forced to change tactics” after carrying out a naval blockade on Ukraine’s coast for weeks, the navy command of Ukraine’s armed forces said on Facebook. It has not been possible to independently verify this information.
- The defence ministry in Belarus has said its armed forces have begun conducting combat readiness training exercises.
- Zelenskiy had kind words for the beleaguered British prime minister, Boris Johnson, in his Monday night address, thanking the UK for providing precisely the weapons Kyiv says it needs to fight Russia. Johnson, the Ukraine president said, had shown “complete understanding” of his country’s needs
- A court in Fiji has ruled Russian-owned superyacht Amadea be removed from the Pacific island nation by the US because it was a waste of money for Fiji to maintain the vessel amid legal wrangling over its seizure. The yacht is linked to sanctioned Russian oligarch Suleiman Kerimov.
- Yesterday, European Council president Charles Michel accused Russia of using food supplies as “a stealth missile against developing countries”, and blamed the Kremlin for the looming global food crisis, prompting Moscow’s UN ambassador to walk out of a security council meeting.
- Antony Blinken, the US secretary of state, said there were credible reports that Russia was “pilfering” Ukraine’s grain exports to sell for its own profit. Blinken said the alleged theft was part of broader Russian actions to export Ukraine’s wheat crop and worsen a global food security crisis. “Now, Russia is hoarding its food exports as well,” he said. Zelenskiy said there could be as many as 75m tonnes of grain stuck in Ukraine by autumn.
That is it from me, Martin Belam, for now. I will leave you in the very capable hands of Léonie Chao-Fong, and I’ll be back later on.
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Andrew Roth and Pjotr Sauer report for us:
Russia’s assault on Ukraine’s east has brought it some battlefield success as its military has advanced slowly in fierce fighting in Donbas. But those gains have come at a high price for the Russian invasion force, with evidence that high-level casualties are growing and that some units may be approaching exhaustion as the war moves past its 100-day mark.
As the conflict drags on, some fighters have gone public with appeals to Vladimir Putin for an investigation into battlefield conditions and whether their deployments to the front are even legal.
In two videos, fighters from Russian-controlled east Ukraine complained about poor conditions and long terms of duty at the front leading to exhaustion. “Our personnel have faced hunger and cold,” said fighters from the Russian-controlled 113th regiment from Donetsk in one video posted online. “For a significant period, we were without any material, medical or food support.”
The fighters added: “Given our continuous presence and the fact that amongst our personnel there are people with chronic medical issues, people with mental issues, many questions arise that are ignored by the higher-ups at headquarters.”
And in an interview, a Russian soldier who had fought near Kyiv, Kharkiv, and was now in eastern Ukraine, complained of exhaustion, saying he had even contacted a lawyer and complained that he had not seen his wife for months.
“I have been fighting in Ukraine since the start of the war, it has been over three months now,” Andrei, who serves with the 37th Separate Guards Motor Rifle Brigade headquartered in Buryatia in Siberia, told the Guardian. “It is exhausting, my whole unit wants a break, but our leadership said they can’t replace us right now.”
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There is a quick snap from Reuters that the defence ministry in Belarus has said its armed forces have begun conducting combat readiness training exercises.
Prior to Russia’s latest invasion of Ukraine on 24 February, significant numbers of Russian troops were massed in Belarus for joint exercises in the country which borders the north of Ukraine. Those Russian troops then engaged in the failed attempt to take Kyiv in the early days of the war.
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Ukraine criticises IAEA over proposed visit to Russian-occupied nuclear power plant
Ukraine’s state nuclear company Energoatom has used Telegram to criticise a plan by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to send a delegation to a Russian-occupied nuclear plant in southern Ukraine, saying it “did not invite” such a visit. It appears to be expressing fears that visits by the IAEA legitimise Russia’s possession of the plant on Ukrainian soil, which is the largest in Europe.
On Monday, IAEA head Raphael Grossi had said the organisation was working on sending an international mission of experts to the nuclear power plant at Zaporizhzhia (ZNPP) in Ukraine. Energoatom’s statement says:
Actually, the «loss of connection» between ZNPP and the IAEA was caused by the actions of the Russian occupiers, who cut off the Ukrainian operator Vodafone in Enerhodar with which the IAEA has a contract for data transfer. Currently, all data collection points and servers under the control of the Agency are closed and sealed. The information is stored on the server and will be transferred when Vodafone is turned on.
It is very likely that the Russian side, with the prior consent of the IAEA, made sure that the Agency “lost control” without access to this information, and therefore the IAEA director general would have a reason to come to the power plant.
The Ukrainian side did not invite Grossi to visit ZNPP and had previously denied him such a visit, emphasising that a visit to the power plant will be possible only when our country regains control over it.
The statement then goes on to criticise the make-up of the IAEA for including a large number of Russian citizens.
The UK’s deputy prime minister, Dominic Raab, has been asked about the fate of Aiden Aslin, a British fighter in Ukraine who was captured by Russian forces in April and who reportedly faces the death penalty. Reuters reports Raab told the LBC radio station:
In relation to that case, I don’t know all the details, but of course we would expect the laws of armed conflict to be respected, and we will make sure that we will make all the representations. I know the Foreign Office will be looking at making sure all those representations are made.
Isobel Koshiw reports for us from Kyiv on a slightly more uplifting tale coming out of Ukraine:
A small Ukrainian winemaker whose vineyards sit on the edge of territory newly occupied by Russia has won gold in the prestigious Decanter World Wines awards.
“I can’t say we were surprised that we won because our wine is really, really good,” said Svitlana Tsybak, the chief executive of Beykush winery and president of the Ukrainian association of craft winemakers.
It is the first year a Ukrainian wine has won gold, bringing joy to at least one small business in a country under bombardment.
“Our region is shelled regularly so we just work when we can,” said Tsybak. “There was a while when we didn’t have access to our warehouse because of the fighting. As soon as we got access, we put as much as we could in a lorry and shipped into western Ukraine.”
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Here are some of the latest images we have been sent from Ukraine over the newswires.
Rodion Miroshnik, who is appointed as ambassador to Russian by the self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic, has posted to Telegram to claim that nine civilians have been killed by shelling in the neighbouring self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic in the last 24 hours. He says those killed included one teenager born in 2005, and that 18 other people were injured. He says:
Everything that the artillerymen of the armed forces of Ukraine are doing now in Avdiivka and next to them is a war crime. They better not hope for indulgence, just like their commanders.
The claims have not been independently verified. Russia is the only UN member state to recognise the Luhansk People’s Republic and the Donetsk People’s Republic.
Dmitry Medvedev, long-time ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin and currently the deputy chairman of the security council of Russia, has not been mincing his words on Telegram this morning. He has just posted:
I am often asked why my Telegram posts are so harsh. The answer is I hate them. They are bastards and geeks. They want death for us, Russia. And while I’m alive, I will do everything to make them disappear.
A Fiji court has ruled Russian-owned superyacht Amadea be removed from the Pacific island nation by the United States because it was a waste of money for Fiji to maintain the vessel amid legal wrangling over its seizure. The yacht is linked to sanctioned Russian oligarch Suleiman Kerimov.
The FBI has said the $300m luxury vessel had running costs of more than $25m per year, and the US would pay to maintain the vessel after it was seized. However, the Fiji government has been footing the bill while an appeal by the vessel’s registered owner, Millemarin Investments, worked its way through Fiji’s courts.
Fiji’s supreme court ruled has ruled that public interest demands the yacht “sail out of Fiji waters”, because having it berthed in Fiji was “costing the Fijian Government dearly”, according to the judgement.
Reuters reports Fiji’s director of public prosecutions Christopher Pryde said in a statement “The Amadea has been handed over to US authorities and will now leave Fiji.”
Serhiy Haidai, Ukraine’s governor of Luhansk, has posted to Telegram with a status update:
Currently, the enemy continues to storm Sievierodonetsk, fighting continues. The Russian assault in the direction of Novookhtyrka and Voronove was also repulsed. In the area of Bilohorivka, the enemy uses sabotage and reconnaissance groups.
During the past day, ten enemy attacks were repulsed, one tank, three artillery systems, two armoured combat vehicles, one car and two ammunition depots were destroyed.
Air defence units shot down two Orlan-10 unmanned aerial vehicles.
The claims have not been independently verified.
The UK’s ministry of defence has issued its daily assessment of the situation on the ground in Ukraine. It says:
Over the weekend, Ukrainian forces have recaptured parts of Sieverodonetsk although Russian forces likely continue to occupy eastern districts. Russia’s broader plan likely continues to be to cut off the Sieverodonetsk area from both the north and the south.
Russia made gains on the southern, Popasna axis through May but its progress in the area has stalled over the last week. Reports of heavy shelling near Izium suggests Russia is preparing to make a renewed effort on the northern axis.
Russia will almost certainly need to achieve a breakthrough on at least one of these axes to translate tactical gains to operational level success and progress towards its political objective of controlling all of Donetsk Oblast.
(1/3) Over the weekend, Ukrainian forces have recaptured parts of Sieverodonetsk although Russian forces likely continue to occupy eastern districts. Russia’s broader plan likely continues to be to cut off the Sieverodonetsk area from both the north and the south.
— Ministry of Defence 🇬🇧 (@DefenceHQ) June 7, 2022
- This is Martin Belam taking over the blog now, you can reach me at martin.belam@theguardian.com
Russian troops continue to storm the city of Siverodonetsk where heavy fighting is taking place, Ukraine’s military has said in its latest operational report.
According to Ukraine’s general staff of the armed forces, Ukrainian troops successfully countered and repulsed Russia’s offensive towards the towns of Nahirne, Berestov, Krynychne, and Rota.
Ukrainian helicopters also reportedly struck at clusters of enemy forces in the Kherson region, and planes - at ammunition depots in the Mykolayiv region.
“The enemy lost more than 20 people and up to 10 units of military equipment.,” the report added.
EU blames Russia for looming global food crisis
European Council president Charles Michel accused Russia of using food supplies as “a stealth missile against developing countries”, and blamed the Kremlin for the looming global food crisis, prompting Moscow’s UN ambassador to walk out of a security council meeting.
Michel addressed Russian ambassador Vassily Nebenzia directly at a council meeting on Monday, saying he saw millions of tons of grain and wheat stuck in containers and ships at the Ukrainian port of Odesa a few weeks ago “because of Russian warships in the Black Sea”.
The Kremlin is using food supplies as a stealth missile against developing countries.
— Charles Michel (@eucopresident) June 6, 2022
This is driving up food prices, pushing people into poverty, and destabilising entire regions.
Russia is solely responsible for this food crisis.
Despite its campaign of lies.@UN #UNSC pic.twitter.com/luL28xXUWB
He said Moscow’s attacks on Ukraine’s transport infrastructure and grain storage facilities, and its tanks, airstrikes and mines were preventing Ukraine from planting and harvesting.
“This is driving up food prices, pushing people into poverty and destabilising entire regions,” Michel said. “Russia is solely responsible for this looming food crisis. Russia alone.”
Michel accused Russian forces of stealing grain from areas in Ukraine that it has occupied “while shifting the blame of others,” calling this “cowardly” and “propaganda, pure and simple”.
Nebenzia walked out, giving Russia’s seat to another diplomat.
The Ukrainian government is working on legislation that would designate English as the language of business communication, Ukraine’s prime minister Denys Shmyhal has said.
“English is now used in business communication throughout the civilised world, so giving it such a status in Ukraine will promote business development, attract investment and accelerate Ukraine’s European integration,” Shmyhal wrote on the Telegram messaging app late on Monday, without detailing what the law would entail.
Ukrainian is the sole official language of the country. About a half of the population speaks mostly or only Ukrainian and some 30% speak mostly or only Russian, according to a 2019 survey by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology.
English proficiency has been improving in the country but Ukraine still trails some of its eastern European peers.
The United States and its allies will keep providing “significant” support to Ukraine out of respect for the legacy of D-Day soldiers, whose victory over the Nazis helped lead to a new world order and a “better peace,” Army Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said.
Milley, speaking on the 78th anniversary of the D-Day invasion of Allied troops onto the beaches of France, said Russia’s war on Ukraine undermines the rules established by Allied countries after the end of World War II.
In an interview with the Associated Press, he said:
Countries cannot attack other countries with their military forces in acts of aggression unless it’s an act of pure self-defence.
But that’s not what’s happened here in Ukraine. What’s happened here is an open, unambiguous act of aggression.
It is widely considered to undermine the rules that these dead — here at Omaha Beach and at the cemetery at Colleville-sur-Mer — have died for. They died for something. They died for that order to be put in place so that we would have a better peace.”
That’s why “the nations of Europe, the nations of Nato, are supporting Ukraine with lethal and nonlethal support in order to make sure that that rule set is underwritten and supported,” Milley added.
Zelenskiy thanks Johnson for 'complete understanding'
Volodymyr Zelenskiy also had kind words for the beleaguered Boris Johnson in his Monday night address, thanking the UK for providing precisely the weapons Kyiv says it needs to fight Russia.
Johnson, the Ukraine president said, had shown “complete understanding” of his country’s needs, a reaction to the British government’s decision Monday - made in coordination with the US - to supply Ukraine with multiple-launch rocket systems that can strike targets up to 80km (50 miles) away.
Zelenskiy said:
I am grateful to prime minister Boris Johnson for the complete understanding of our demands and preparedness to provide Ukraine with exactly the weapons that it so needs to protect the lives of our people.”
On Monday, the UK announced it would send a handful of tracked M270 multiple launch rocket systems, which can hit targets up to 50 miles away, in the hope they can disrupt the concentrated Russian artillery that has been pounding cities in eastern Ukraine.
Ben Wallace, the UK defence secretary, argued the decision to ship the rocket launchers was justified because “as Russia’s tactics change, so must our support to Ukraine”. The move risks further provoking an already irritated Kremlin.
Updated
Sievierodonetsk sees ‘fierce street fighting’ Zelenskiy says
Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskiy says fighting has taken to the streets of the frontline eastern city of Sievierodonetsk while admitting that Russian forces have the numerical advantage.
In his latest national address, Zelenskiy insisted that Ukraine’s forces had “every chance” of fighting back and are “standing strong”.
Our heroes hold their positions in Severodonetsk. Fierce street fights continue in the city.
Lysychansk, Slovyansk, Bakhmut, Sviatohirya, Avdiivka, Kurakhove and other directions of Russian strikes are the hottest points of confrontation today.
The Russian army is trying to use additional forces in the Donbas direction, but it is the 103rd day - and the Ukrainian Donbas stands. It stands firmly.”
Speaking at a seperate briefing in Kyiv, Zelenskiy said Ukrainian forces defending Sievierodonetsk were “holding on” despite assaults by Russian troops, but that the situation on the eastern front was “difficult”.
The cities of Sievierodonetsk and its sister city of Lysychansk “are dead cities today”, he added.
Between 10,000 and 15,000 civilians are still in Sievierodonetsk, which has been shelled for weeks by Russian artillery, Zelenskiy said.
Zelenskiy said that peace talks with Russia stood at “level zero,” and in the meantime “the most threatening situation” has developed in the Zaporizhzhia region, parts of which have already been taken by Russia.
Updated
Summary and welcome
Hello and welcome to our live coverage of the war in Ukraine. I’m Samantha Lock and I will be bringing you all the latest news for the next few hours.
If you’re just waking up, or just dropping in to find the latest information, here’s a summary of the main points you might have missed:
- Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, admitted that Russian forces have the numerical advantage in the battle for the eastern city of Sievierodonetsk, but insisted that Ukraine’s forces had “every chance” of fighting back. “Our heroes do not give up positions in Sievierodonetsk. In the city, fierce street fighting continues,” he said in his latest national address, adding “the Ukrainian Donbas stands strong.” Sievierodonetsk and its sister city of Lysychansk “are dead cities today,” Zelenskiy said.
- The Ukraine president also said he believed Russian troops intend to capture the city of Zaporizhzhia, a large industrial hub in the south-east of the country, which would allow its military to advance closer to central areas. “There are more of them, they are more powerful, but we have every chance to fight on this direction,” he said.
- Russia has begun handing over bodies of Ukrainian fighters killed at the Azovstal steelworks, the fortress-like plant in the destroyed city of Mariupol where their last-ditch stand became a symbol of resistance against Moscow’s invasion. Dozens of bodies have been transferred to Kyiv, where DNA testing is under way to identify the remains, according to both a military leader and a spokesperson for the Azov battalion.
- Russian officials in occupied Mariupol have shut down the southern port city for quarantine over a possible cholera outbreak, according to Ukrainian authorities. Petro Andryushchenko, an adviser to the mayor of Mariupol, said the Russian-occupied city is bracing itself for an epidemic as dead bodies and litter are piling up in the city.
- Sexual violence in Ukraine remains prevalent and underreported as Russia’s invasion is “turning into a human trafficking crisis” according to the UN. “Women and children fleeing the conflict are being targeted for trafficking and exploitation” Pramila Patten, the United Nations special representative on sexual violence, told a UN security council on Monday. “Sexual violence is the most consistently and massively under-reported violation.”
- The Ukrainian navy said it has pushed back a fleet of Russian warships more than 100km from its Black Sea coast. The group of Russian vessels were “forced to change tactics” after carrying out a naval blockade on Ukraine’s coast for weeks, the navy command of Ukraine’s armed forces said on Facebook. It has not been possible to independently verify this information.
- Russia’s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, said Moscow would respond to western deliveries of long-range weapons to Ukraine by pushing back Kyiv’s forces further from Russia’s borders. Lavrov’s remarks come after Britain’s defence secretary, Ben Wallace, said the UK will send long-range rocket artillery to Ukraine, in the hope they can disrupt the concentrated Russian artillery that has been pounding cities in eastern Ukraine.
- Zelenskiy thanked the UK for providing precisely the weapons Kyiv says it needs to fight Russia. Boris Johnson, the Ukraine president said, had shown “complete understanding” of his country’s needs, a reaction to the British government’s decision Monday to supply Ukraine with multiple-launch rocket systems that can strike targets up to 80km (50 miles) away.
- Ukraine needs 60 multiple rocket launchers – many more than the handful promised so far by the UK and US – to have a chance of defeating Russia, according to an aide to the country’s presidency. Oleksiy Arestovych, a military adviser to the president’s chief of staff, told the Guardian that while he believed the rocket launchers were “a gamechanger weapon”, not enough had been committed to turn the tide in the war.
- The Kremlin has described a move by three eastern European countries to block Lavrov from flying to Serbia as a “hostile action”. Lavrov was due to hold talks in Belgrade on Monday with the Serbian president, Aleksandar Vučić, but was forced to cancel his visit after the countries around Serbia – Bulgaria, North Macedonia and Montenegro – closed their airspace to his aircraft.
- Antony Blinken, the US secretary of state, said there were credible reports that Russia was “pilfering” Ukraine’s grain exports to sell for its own profit. Blinken said the alleged theft was part of broader Russian actions to export Ukraine’s wheat crop and worsen a global food security crisis. “Now, Russia is hoarding its food exports as well,” he said. Zelenskiy said there could be as many as 75m tonnes of grain stuck in Ukraine by autumn.
- European Council president Charles Michel accused Russia of using food supplies as “a stealth missile against developing countries” and blamed the Kremlin for the looming global food crisis. “This is driving up food prices, pushing people into poverty, and destabilising entire regions. Russia is solely responsible for this food crisis,” Michel told a council meeting on Monday, prompting Moscow’s UN ambassador to walk out.
- US authorities have charged the Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich with exporting two planes of US origin to Russia without a licence. Prosecutors say both planes – a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner and a Gulfstream G650ER – were flown in March to Russia, in violation of US sanctions imposed on Moscow in response to its invasion of Ukraine.
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The families of Russian national guard members who have died in Ukraine and Syria will receive a one-time payment of 5m rubles (£65,000 or $80,000), according to a Kremlin decree.
