The Donetsk oblast has been hit hard in the past 24 hours, with at least 15 Russian strikes killing seven civilians and injuring three others. The Ukrainian national police said the strikes also destroyed 19 residential buildings and one power line.
Further south, a car explosion near the office of the Russian propaganda channel ZaTV in Russia-occupied Melitopol injured at least five people, including some employees, authorities said. While investigators are still looking into the blast, Vladimir Rogov, a Russian-appointed occupied-Zaporizhzhia oblast official, has purportedly told Russian state media that the car explosion was a terrorist attack using an improvised explosive device. He wrote on Telegram that the power of the explosion was the equivalent of 2kg of TNT.
Amid air raid sirens, Germany’s president, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, arrived in Kyiv for his first trip to Ukraine since Russia invaded. His surprise visit comes six months after the Ukrainian government snubbed the Social Democrat’s offer of a visit over his past role in brokering closer economic ties between Germany and Russia.
Meanwhile, in Berlin, European leaders convened for a conference on Ukraine’s reconstruction. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy told the conference in a video address that more than a third of the country’s energy sector has been destroyed by rockets and Iranian drones. Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, spoke strongly about the need to assist Ukraine in its reconstruction, especially as it pertained to the country’s accession to the EU.
Ukrainian authorities have estimated that Russian forces have lost nearly 68,420 personnel since the start of the invasion.
Russia’s defence minister, Sergei Shoigu, has told western counterparts that the war in Ukraine is heading for an “uncontrolled escalation” amid evidence that the Kremlin is weighing how to respond to yet another anticipated battlefield defeat around the key southern city of Kherson.
Russia’s grip on the city of Kherson appears increasingly fragile. Russian forces seemed to be preparing to withdraw from the east bank of the Dnieper River, ordering a fresh evacuation of civilians and laying the ground for the potential loss of the city of Kherson itself. All civilians were ordered to evacuate immediately over the weekend in the face of the advancing Ukrainian counteroffensive.
All men remaining in Kherson have been invited to join a newly formed local militia. In a notice on Telegram, the occupation authorities said men had the “opportunity” to join territorial defence units if they chose to remain in Kherson of their own free will. Compelling civilians to serve in the armed forces of an occupying power is defined as a breach of the Geneva conventions.
Russia is bringing new military units into Kherson as it prepares to defend the city in the face of the advancing Ukrainian counteroffensive, the head of Ukraine’s defence intelligence directorate has said. Kyrylo Budanov also said Russia would slow Ukrainian troops’ advance in the south by only about two weeks if it blows up the Kakhovka hydroelectric dam near Kherson.
Ukraine and the US denounced suggestions from Russia that Ukraine was preparing to use a “dirty bomb” as dangerous lies. “If Russia calls and says that Ukraine is allegedly preparing something, it means one thing: Russia has already prepared all this,” Zelenskiy said in a video address. The White House national security council also rejected Shoigu’s claims. “The world would see through any attempt to use this allegation as a pretext for escalation,” a statement said.
The UN nuclear watchdog is preparing to send inspectors in the coming days to two Ukrainian sites after Kyiv requested an expert mission be sent to disprove Russian claims that Ukraine plans to use a “dirty bomb”.
The US has had no indications that Russia has decided to use a nuclear, biological or chemical weapon, a US military official has said. The US believes Russia is “keeping lines of communication open” after Moscow requested a call between the US defence secretary, Lloyd Austin, and Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu on Sunday, the official added.
The United Nations has said urgent steps are needed to relieve a backlog of more than 150 ships involved in a deal that allows Ukraine to export grain from ports in the Black Sea. Ukraine said Russian inspections that have been creating “significant” delays for the export of Ukrainian food products were “politically motivated” and a cause for concern.
Zelenskiy has urged Israel to join the fight against Russia and repeated an appeal for Israeli air defence systems. Israel has condemned Russia’s invasion but has limited its assistance to deliveries of humanitarian aid and defensive equipment. Most recently it offered to help Ukrainians develop air attack alerts for civilians. Zelenskiy said that was not enough and asked that Israeli leaders reconsider sending air defences as well.
Ukraine’s special operations forces said that Iranian drone instructors have been spotted in Belarus. According to special operations forces, Iran’s Islamic revolutionary guard corps are training Russian forces in Belarus and coordinating the launches of Iranian-made drones.
A pro-Kremlin television presenter has been accused of inciting genocide after calling for Ukrainian children to be “drowned” and “burned” alive during an interview on the state-funded RT channel. Anton Krasovsky, the chief of Russian-language broadcasting for the channel formerly called Russia Today, was suspended from RT, and the head of Russia’s powerful investigative committee said it would review his remarks as part of a potential criminal investigation.
The US basketball star Brittney Griner “does not expect miracles” at her appeal hearing on Tuesday, her lawyers said in a statement. The two-time Olympic gold medallist is appealing against a nine-year Russian jail term for drug possession and smuggling. Her lawyers said she would take part in Tuesday’s hearing by video link from the detention centre where she has been held, and that they expected a verdict the same day.
National leaders, development experts and CEOs will gather in Berlin on Tuesday for a conference on what its hosts say must be a Marshall plan to rebuild Ukraine after Russia’s invasion. The conference, hosted by the German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, and the European Commission, will not involve concrete pledges of cash towards the estimated $750bn reconstruction cost.
