Summary
We will shortly be pausing this live blog before launching more of our live coverage in the next few hours.
In the meantime, here is a comprehensive run-down of where things stand in Ukraine as of 3.30am.
- Russian president Vladimir Putin paid tribute to tsar Peter the Great, drawing a parallel between what he portrayed as their twin historic quests to win back Russian lands. After visiting an exhibition in Moscow dedicated to the 350th birthday of the 18th century ruler on Thursday, Putin told a group of young entrepreneurs that “you get the impression that by fighting Sweden he was grabbing something. He wasn’t taking anything, he was taking it back”.
- Ukrainian troops claim they have advanced in fierce street fighting in Sievierodonetsk but say their only hope of turning the tide is with more artillery to offset Russias massive firepower. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Ukraine is “holding on” to key frontline cities in Donbas. “Sievierodonetsk, Lysychansk and other cities in Donbas, which the occupiers now consider key targets, are holding on,” he said, adding that Ukraine has had some success in Zaporizhzhia.
- Serhiy Haidai, Ukraine’s governor of Luhansk, said if the west could supply long-range weapons, Ukrainian forces would be able to “clean up Sievierodonetsk in two or three days”. Haidai’s remarks on Telegram came after Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said the battle for the eastern city will decide the fate of Donbas and is seeing probably the most difficult fighting since Russia’s invasion began.
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Zelenskiy lobbied again for more weapons from the west, comparing Russia’s invasion to Covid and describing weapons and sanctions as a vaccine. “Weapons and sanctions are … a vaccine … against Covid-22 brought by Russia,” Zelenskiy said while speaking via video link at a gala to celebrate Time magazine’s 100 most influential people of the year.
- Two British men and a Moroccan national captured while fighting in the Ukrainian army in Mariupol have been sentenced to death by pro-Russia officials after a days-long process described as a “disgusting Soviet-era show trial”. A court in Russian-controlled east Ukraine convicted 28-year-old Aiden Aslin, from Newark, 48-year-old Shaun Pinner, from Watford, and Saaudun Brahim on charges of “terrorism”.
- The number of Russian soldiers killed since President Vladimir Putin ordered his troops into Ukraine could now be as high as 20,000, according to the latest assessment by western officials. Previous estimates, given several weeks ago, were about 15,000. The official did not speculate on the number of Ukrainians. killed in the war.
- Ukrainian military casualties are now between 100 and 200 per day, according to Mykhailo Podolyak, a senior adviser to Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who spoke with the BBC on Thursday. Zelenskiy said last week that the Ukrainian army was losing 60 to 100 soldiers a day.
- The Kremlin said no agreement has been reached with Turkey on exporting Ukrainian grain shipments across the Black Sea. Turkey has been pushing for an agreement between Russia and Ukraine to ease the global food crisis by negotiating safe passage for grain stuck in Black Sea ports, but its efforts have been met with resistance. Ukraine says Russia is imposing unreasonable conditions and the Kremlin says shipment is dependent on ending sanctions.
- Finland’s government is planning to amend border legislation to allow the building of barriers on its eastern frontier with Russia, it said. The move to amend border legislation comes as the Finnish government rushes to strengthen border security amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and Finland’s bid to join the Nato military alliance.
- Nearly 5 million Ukrainians have been registered across Europe since the beginning of the war, according to figures by the UN’s refugee agency. Far more will have actually left the country, with UNHCR data showing that more than 7.3m border crossings out of Ukraine had been recorded by 7 June. Another 2.3m crossings had been registered back into the country. The war in Ukraine has “caused one of the largest human displacement crises in the world”, UNHCR said.
- Russia may be getting more revenue from its fossil fuel sales now than before its invasion of Ukraine, according to one US official. Increases in global oil prices have offset the impact of import bans, US energy security envoy, Amos Hochstein, told lawmakers during a senate hearing. Russia has been able to sell more cargoes to other buyers, including major energy consumers China and India, by offering it at a discount to oil from other origins, he said.
- Zelenskiy said he had a phone conversation with French president Emmanuel Macron in which “special attention was paid to Ukraine’s path to the EU”. “We are coordinating steps,” he said.
Ukrainian military casualties are now between 100 and 200 per day, according to Mykhailo Podolyak, a senior adviser to Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who spoke with the BBC on Thursday.
Zelenskiy said last week that the Ukrainian army was losing 60 to 100 soldiers a day.
Speaking to entrepreneurs on Thursday, Vladimir Putin compared his invasion of Ukraine with Peter the Great’s invasion of eastern and central Europe in the early 18th century.
Sky News has a quick snippet of some of the footage from the event below.
Speaking to entrepreneurs, Vladimir Putin compares his invasion of Ukraine with Peter the Great's invasion of eastern and central Europe in the early 18th century.
— Sky News (@SkyNews) June 9, 2022
Latest on the war in Ukraine: https://t.co/cQOE6LmR1d pic.twitter.com/J9jsdBAzKJ
As Russia’s attack on Ukraine continues, images of Ukrainian servicemen on the frontlines in the eastern Donetsk region have emerged.
Putin compares himself to Peter the Great
Russian President Vladimir Putin reportedly compared his current actions in Ukraine to Peter the Great’s conquest of the Baltic coast during his 18th-century war against Sweden.
After visiting an exhibition in Moscow dedicated to the 350th birthday of tsar Peter the Great on Thursday, Putin told a group of young entrepreneurs that “you get the impression that by fighting Sweden he was grabbing something. He wasn’t taking anything, he was taking it back”, according to a report from Agence France-Presse.
In televised comments, Putin compared Peter’s campaign with Russia’s offensive in Ukraine.
Apparently, it also fell to us to return [what is Russia’s] and strengthen [the country]. And if we proceed from the fact that these basic values form the basis of our existence, we will certainly succeed in solving the tasks that we face.
When Peter the Great founded Saint Petersburg and declared it the Russian capital “none of the countries in Europe recognised this territory as belonging to Russia,” Putin added.
Peter the Great waged the Great Northern War for 21 years. It would seem that he was at war with Sweden, he took something from them. He did not take anything from them, he returned (what was Russia’s),”
Everyone considered it to be part of Sweden. But from time immemorial, Slavs had lived there alongside Finno-Ugric peoples.
It is our responsibility also to take back and strengthen.
Yes, there have been times in our country’s history when we have been forced to retreat, but only to regain our strength and move forward.”
The defeat of Sweden in the Great Northern War (1700-1721) made Russia the leading power in the Baltic Sea and an important player in European affairs.
But with Russia’s ties with the west currently shattered by the Ukraine invasion, Moscow authorities are downplaying Peter’s affinity for Europe and focusing on his role in expanding Russian territories.
Prior to Putin’s visit to the exhibition, state television aired a documentary praising Peter the Great as a tough military leader, greatly expanding territory at the expense of Sweden and the Ottoman Empire.
More than three centuries after he sought to bring Russia closer to Europe, Russians on Thursday marked the 350th birthday of tsar Peter the Great with the country deeply isolated over the Ukraine conflict.
Peter I reigned first as tsar and then as emperor from 1682 until his death in 1725.
Updated
Ukraine is “holding on” to key frontline cities in Donbas, according to president Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
Providing a quick update as to the situation in Donbas during his latest national address, Zelenskiy said:
The frontline situation today is without significant changes. Sievierodonetsk, Lysychansk and other cities in Donbas, which the occupiers now consider key targets, are holding on.
We have a certain positive in the Zaporizhzhia region, where we manage to thwart the plans of the occupiers. We are gradually moving forward in the Kharkiv region, liberating our land. We are keeping defence in the Mykolaiv direction.”
It’s 1am in Kyiv. Here’s where things stand:
- Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Thursday reported “positive” news from the southeastern Zaporizhzhia region, where he said Ukraine’s forces were managing to thwart Russian troops. In a video address, Zelenskiy also said Ukrainian forces were gradually advancing in the Kharkiv region, east of Kyiv, “liberating our land.”
- Senegalese President and African Union Chair Macky Sall on Thursday urged Ukraine to demine waters around its Odessa port to ease much needed grain exports from the war-torn country. “If wheat exports do not resume from Ukraine, Africa “will be in a situation of very serious famine that could destabilise the continent,” Sall told French media outlets.
- Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy announced on Friday that he had a phone conversation with French president Emmanuel Macron in which “special attention was paid to Ukraine’s path to the EU.” Zelenskiy added that other topics discussed included increased defense support for Ukraine, security guarantees and “the situation on the front.”
- Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy has signed a decree that imposes personal sanctions against 35 high-ranking Russian officials, including Russian president Vladimir Putin. Other individuals include Russia’s presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov, Russian prime minister Mikhail Mishustin, Russian defense minister Sergei Shoigu, secretary of the Security Council of Russia Nikolai Patrushev and Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov, among others.
- Ukrainian troops announced on Thursday that they have advanced in fierce street fighting in Sievierodonetsk but continued to stress that the only way to fully overcome enemy forces is more weaponry to counter Russia’s advanced firepower. “They (the Russians) are dying like flies ... fierce fighting continues inside Sievierodonetsk,” Luhansk governor Serhiy Gaidai said in an online post.
- Ukraine’s interior minister said Thursday there is currently no imminent threat of the Russian military advancing into Kyiv, but reaffirmed that the capital would continue to stand guard. “There is no danger of an attack on Kyiv today,” interior minister Denys Monastyrsky said. “There is no concentration of troops near the Belarusian border, but we understand that any scenarios are possible tomorrow,” he told Agence France-Presse.
- The war with Russia caused Ukraine’s economy to contract by 15.1% in the first three months of this year, the state statistics agency calculated on Thursday. The International Monetary Fund is forecasting a contraction in Ukraine’s gross domestic product of 35% across the whole of 2022, and Ukrainian finance minister Sergiy Marchenko told AFP in mid-May that he was anticipating a decline of as much as 45-50 %.
- Russian president Vladimir Putin said that domestically manufacturing goods to circumvent Western sanctions over Moscow’s military campaign in Ukraine was not a cure-all solution, adding that Russia is now seeking out new trade partners. “We are not trying to completely replace imports,” Putin said, adding that Russia “must collaborate with those it is possible to collaborate with.”
That’s it from me, Maya Yang, today as I hand the blog over to my colleague in Australia, Samantha Lock, who will bring you the latest updates. I’ll be back tomorrow, thank you.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Thursday reported “positive” news from the southeastern Zaporizhzhia region, where he said Ukraine’s forces were managing to thwart Russian troops, Agence France-Presse reports.
In a video address, Zelenskiy also said Ukrainian forces were gradually advancing in the Kharkiv region, east of Kyiv, “liberating our land.”
Updated
Senegalese president and African Union chair Macky Sall on Thursday urged Ukraine to demine waters around its Odessa port to ease much needed grain exports from the war-torn country.
Agence France-Presse reports:
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and western sanctions have disrupted grain deliveries from the two countries, fuelling fears of hunger around the world.
Cereal prices in Africa – the world’s poorest continent – have surged because of the slump in exports, sharpening the impact of conflict and climate change and sparking fears of social unrest.
If wheat exports do not resume from Ukraine, Africa “will be in a situation of very serious famine that could destabilise the continent”, Sall told French media outlets France 24 and RFI.
Russia and Ukraine produce 30% of the global wheat supply. But grain has remained stuck in Ukraine’s ports due to a Russian blockade, while western sanctions on Moscow have disrupted exports from Russia.
Moscow has called for Ukraine to demine the waters surrounding the Ukrainian-controlled port of Odessa to allow out blocked grain, but Kyiv has refused for fear of a Russian attack.
Sall said Russian president Vladimir Putin, whom he met last week in Russia, had assured him this would not happen.
“I even told him: ‘The Ukrainians said that if they demine, you’ll enter the port.’ He says, no, he will not enter, and that’s a commitment he made,” the Senegalese leader said.
“There must now be work towards getting the demining done, the United Nations involved ... so that we can start getting the Ukrainian wheat out,” he said.
Updated
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy announced on Friday that he had a phone conversation with French president Emmanuel Macron in which “special attention was paid to Ukraine’s path to the EU”.
“We are coordinating steps,” he said.
Had another phone conversation with 🇫🇷 President @EmmanuelMacron. Informed about the situation on the front. Discussed further defense support for 🇺🇦 and work on security guarantees. Special attention was paid to Ukraine's path to the #EU, we are coordinating steps.
— Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) June 9, 2022
Zelenskiy added that other topics discussed included increased defense support for Ukraine, security guarantees and “the situation on the front”.
Updated
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy has signed a decree that imposes personal sanctions against 35 high-ranking Russian officials, including Russian president Vladimir Putin.
Volodymir Zelenskyy signed a decree imposing personal sanctions against Vladimir Putin and 34 other #Russian statesmen
— NEXTA (@nexta_tv) June 9, 2022
Sanctions are blocking assets and property, preventing the withdrawal of capital from #Ukraine, a ban on any crossing of Ukrainian border and other measures. pic.twitter.com/4N2ukBHHan
Other individuals include Russia’s presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov, Russian prime minister Mikhail Mishustin, Russian defense minister Sergei Shoigu, secretary of the Security Council of Russia Nikolai Patrushev and Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov, among others.
Ukrainian troops announced on Thursday that they have advanced in fierce street fighting in Sievierodonetsk but continued to stress that the only way to fully overcome enemy forces is more weaponry to counter Russia’s advanced firepower.
“They (the Russians) are dying like flies ... fierce fighting continues inside Sievierodonetsk,” Luhansk governor Serhiy Gaidai said in an online post. “The losses of the Russians far exceed ours.” Fighting was now taking place in the towns of Hirske and Popasnyanska, to the south of Sievierodonetsk, he added.
According to the commander of Ukraine’s Svoboda (Freedom) National Guard battalion, the fighting in Sievierodonetsk is being fought house to house as Ukrainian forces face heavy Russian artillery barrages that endanger forces from sides.
The Ukrainian Defense Ministry said its forces had won back some territory from Russian forces in a counter-offensive in the Kherson area of southern Ukraine.
Updated
Ukraine’s interior minister said Thursday there is currently no imminent threat of the Russian military advancing into Kyiv, but reaffirmed that the capital would continue to stand guard.
“There is no danger of an attack on Kyiv today,” interior minister Denys Monastyrsky said. “There is no concentration of troops near the Belarusian border, but we understand that any scenarios are possible tomorrow,” he told Agence France-Presse.
“Therefore, serious training is under way – preparation of the line of defence, training of troops who will remain” in Kyiv and around the city.
Monastyrsky added that Russian airstrikes could hit the capital anytime, saying, “Any place in Ukraine can be a target for rocket fire, including Kyiv.” Potential targets include Kyiv’s “government quarter” and “historic centre,” he said.
Russian forces initially focused on Kyiv when Russia first launched its invasion back in February, taking control of multiple towns surrounding the capital. However, the forces withdrew from the suburbs a month later and have instead focused on attempting to gain control in the country’s eastern and southern regions.
Monastyrsky also said that Ukraine would continue to prosecute captured Russian soldiers for alleged war crimes.
“These crimes have no statute of limitations. Whenever these monsters are found, they will be held accountable,” he said, adding that up to “288 people have been suspected so far”.
According to him, negotiations are currently underway to bring back Ukrainian prisoners of war who are currently held by Russia or Moscow-backed separatists.
“It is vital to bring them back here today, to save the boys from imminent death,” he said.
“We are working to return the wounded first.”
Updated
Ukraine's economy shrinks by 15%, state agency says
The war with Russia caused Ukraine’s economy to contract by 15.1% in the first three months of this year, the state statistics agency calculated on Thursday.
Agence France-Presse reports:
The invasion by Russia on February 24 laid waste to large swathes of the Ukrainian economy, with a slew of companies forced to shut or dramatically recalibrate production.
The International Monetary Fund is forecasting a contraction in Ukraine’s gross domestic product of 35% across the whole of 2022, and Ukrainian finance minister Sergiy Marchenko told AFP in mid-May that he was anticipating a decline of as much as 45-50 %.
Inflation in the war-stricken country accelerated to 18% on a 12-month basis in May from 16.4% in April, the statistics agency said, with food prices continuing to soar.
The Ukrainian central bank has warned that headline inflation could rise as high as 20% by the end of 2022.
On June 2, the central bank sharply increased its key interest rate to 2% from 10% previously in a bid to curb inflation and protect the hryvnia, the national currency.
Updated
Russian president Vladimir Putin said that domestically manufacturing goods to circumvent Western sanctions over Moscow’s military campaign in Ukraine was not a cure-all solution, adding that Russia is now seeking out new trade partners.
“The substitution of imports is not a panacea,” Putin told a group of young entrepreneurs. The group expressed concerns over a lack of imported goods in their attempts to develop vaccines.
“We are not trying to completely replace imports,” Putin said, adding that Russia “must collaborate with those it is possible to collaborate with”.
“But for critically important technologies, we have to have our own know-how,” he said. “We are developing them.”
After Russia launched its military campaign in Ukraine in February, Western countries have imposed harsh sanctions on Russia that include import and export restrictions which have debilitated supply chains.
Russia’s pharmaceutical industry is heavily dependent on imports. Authorities announced in April that they had built three factories in Moscow to produce medicines to ease the blow of the import ban.
Summary
It’s 9pm in Kyiv. Here’s where we stand:
- Two British men and a Moroccan national captured while fighting in the Ukrainian army in Mariupol have been sentenced to death by pro-Russia officials after a days-long process described as a “disgusting Soviet-era show trial”. A court in Russian-controlled east Ukraine convicted 28-year-old Aiden Aslin, from Newark, 48-year-old Shaun Pinner, from Watford, and Saaudun Brahim on charges of “terrorism”.
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The number of Russian soldiers killed since President Vladimir Putin ordered his troops into Ukraine could now be as high as 20,000, according to the latest assessment by western officials. Previous estimates, given several weeks ago, were about 15,000. The official did not speculate on the number of Ukrainians. killed in the war.
- A Ukrainian commander has said that the battle in the key eastern frontline city of Sievierodonetsk is being fought house to house. Petro Kuzyk, commander of the Svoboda national guard battalion, said street fighting in the city in eastern Ukraine was taking place under heavy Russian artillery barrages that endangered troops on both sides. Earlier today, the mayor of Sievierodonetsk, Oleksandr Stryuk, described the situation as “difficult but manageable”.
- Serhiy Haidai, Ukraine’s governor of Luhansk, said if the west could supply long-range weapons, Ukrainian forces would be able to “clean up Sievierodonetsk in two or three days”. Haidai’s remarks on Telegram came after Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said the battle for the eastern city will decide the fate of Donbas and is seeing probably the most difficult fighting since Russia’s invasion began.
-
The Ukrainian defence ministry has claimed that its forces have won back some territory from Russian forces in a counter-offensive in the Kherson area of southern Ukraine. It said Russian forces had “suffered losses in manpower and equipment”, mined territory as they were pushed back, and erected barricades for the Ukrainian troops. The claims have not been independently verified.
- The Kremlin said no agreement has been reached with Turkey on exporting Ukrainian grain shipments across the Black Sea. Turkey has been pushing for an agreement between Russia and Ukraine to ease the global food crisis by negotiating safe passage for grain stuck in Black Sea ports, but its efforts have been met with resistance. Ukraine says Russia is imposing unreasonable conditions and the Kremlin says shipment is dependent on ending sanctions.
- Finland’s government is planning to amend border legislation to allow the building of barriers on its eastern frontier with Russia, it said. The move to amend border legislation comes as the Finnish government rushes to strengthen border security amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and Finland’s bid to join the Nato military alliance.
- Nearly 5 million Ukrainians have been registered across Europe since the beginning of the war, according to figures by the UN’s refugee agency. Far more will have actually left the country, with UNHCR data showing that more than 7.3m border crossings out of Ukraine had been recorded by 7 June. Another 2.3m crossings had been registered back into the country. The war in Ukraine has “caused one of the largest human displacement crises in the world”, UNHCR said.
- Russia may be getting more revenue from its fossil fuel sales now than before its invasion of Ukraine, according to one US official. Increases in global oil prices have offset the impact of import bans, US energy security envoy, Amos Hochstein, told lawmakers during a senate hearing. Russia has been able to sell more cargoes to other buyers, including major energy consumers China and India, by offering it at a discount to oil from other origins, he said.
That’s it from me, Léonie Chao-Fong, today. My colleague Maya Yang will be here shortly to continue to bring you all the latest news from the war in Ukraine. I’ll be back tomorow, thank you.
Up to 20,000 Russian soldiers killed in war in Ukraine, says western official
The number of Russian soldiers killed since President Vladimir Putin ordered his troops into Ukraine could now be as high as 20,000, according to the latest assessment by western officials.
One western official said:
On Russian fatalities, our figure is between 15,000 and 20,000 dead. That is a change from our previous figure that we have been talking about in excess of 15,000 before.
The official, who does not want to be named, stressed that it was difficult to be more precise about the casualty figures. They did not speculate on the number of Ukrainian soldiers killed in the war.
The official said both sides “face the same challenge”, adding:
They are 100 plus days into a bitter conflict with significant fatalities and casualties on both sides. They will of course be facing morale issues.
But the Ukrainians are fighting for their homeland and they are in largely well dug-in defensive positions so they have the advantage over Russians in that regard.
Russia may be getting more revenue from its fossil fuel sales now than before its invasion of Ukraine, according to one US official.
Increases in global oil prices have offset the impact of import bans, US energy security envoy, Amos Hochstein, told lawmakers during a senate hearing.
When asked whether Moscow was making more money now off its crude oil and gas sales than a couple of months before the war started, Hochstein replied: “I can’t deny that.”
The global oil demand increase from consumers coming out of the Covid-19 pandemic was “far greater, stronger than anyone predicted”, he said.
At the same time, Russia has been able to sell more cargoes to other buyers, including major energy consumers China and India, by offering it at a discount to oil from other origins. Hochstein said that while those sales have been discounted, the global market price surge means Russia’s revenues are likely higher now.
Updated
Our Isobel Koshiw and Luke Harding speak to Ukrainian troops in Bakhmut as the city standing in way of the Russian advance is pounded by missiles:
Seven miles from Ukraine’s frontline, resting Ukrainian soldiers were smoking cigarettes on benches in the shade outside a military hospital.
The constant thud of artillery could be heard in the distance. The city of Bakhmut felt deserted. There was little sense of life from before the war – no children, cars, and barely any people. Windows were boarded up with only a handful of civilians on the streets. Almost the only activity had been brought here by the war.
The soldiers, weary and jaded, described a perilous fight to hold Ukraine’s east. First a relentless bombardment by Russian heavy equipment, quickly followed by advancing tanks and infantry soldiers – whose job it was to “clean up” any Ukrainian troops left standing.
For 13 weeks, Russian forces have been trying to capture the Luhansk and Donetsk provinces. They have seized the city of Popasna, 18 miles (30km) east of Bakhmut, and have overrun most of Sievierodonetsk, 35 miles to the north-west. Bakhmut – known in Soviet times as Artemivsk – stands in the way of any further Russian advance.
Despite the scale of their enemy, the soldiers said they were still convinced that willpower and good would win out over evil.
The masses of weaponry the Russian side has and is prepared to throw at this war marks a difference with the proxy war fought in Ukraine’s east in 2014, said the soldiers. Back then Russia tried to disguise its involvement. Not this time.
Ukraine’s army has plenty of highly motivated fighters, they said, but their equipment and men are being pounded by the masses of Russian shells, rockets and missiles.
Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has said between 60 and 100 Ukrainian soldiers were dying each day in the Donbas region and about 500 are injured. The Guardian was given access to Ukrainian soldiers on the condition it did not disclose their surnames and the location of Ukrainian positions.
Zelenskiy visited the frontline on Sunday and went to Soledar, just north of Bakhmut, and the much-shelled city of Lysychansk.
On the road to Bakhmut, Ukrainian army vehicles including ammunition and fuel trucks were visible as well as a spectacular 2S7 howitzer mounted on a loader. The dark traces of a Smerch multiple-launch rocket system stained the sky.
Updated
Finland’s government is planning to amend border legislation to allow the building of barriers on its eastern frontier with Russia, it said.
Finland shares a 1,300km (810-mile) length border with Russia, mostly marked with signs and plastic lines, Reuters reports. The move to amend border legislation comes as the Finnish government rushes to strengthen border security amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and Finland’s bid to join the Nato military alliance.
The government’s proposed amendments include allowing the building of barriers such as fences, as well as new roads to facilitate border patrolling on the Finnish side.
The amendments also include enabling concentrating the reception of asylum applications only at specific points of entry. Under existing EU rules, migrants have the right to ask for asylum at any given entry point to an EU member country.
The Finnish government will “decide on border barriers to the critical zones on the eastern border, on the basis of the Finnish Border Guard’s assessment”, its minister of internal affairs, Krista Mikkonen, said in a statement.
Updated
The UK’s foreign secretary Liz Truss has condemned the “sham judgment” in the case of the Britons Aiden Aslin and Shaun Pinner who were captured by Russian troops.
Truss tweeted:
They are prisoners of war. This is a sham judgment with absolutely no legitimacy.
My thoughts are with the families. We continue to do everything we can to support them.
I utterly condemn the sentencing of Aiden Aslin and Shaun Pinner held by Russian proxies in eastern Ukraine.
— Liz Truss (@trussliz) June 9, 2022
They are prisoners of war. This is a sham judgment with absolutely no legitimacy.
My thoughts are with the families. We continue to do everything we can to support them.
Robert Jenrick, who is the MP for Aslin’s constituency of Newark, said the “disgusting, Soviet-era style show trial” served as a reminder of Vladimir Putin’s depravity.
The former housing secretary described the treatment of his constituent as an “egregious breach” breach of the Geneva Convention, tweeting:
Russia should be clear, they cannot treat British citizens like this and get away with it.
Contrary to the Kremlin’s propaganda, Aiden Aslin is not a mercenary. He has been living in Ukraine and serving in its armed forces before Russia’s illegal invasion and as a prisoner of war is entitled to protection under the Geneva Convention.
Jenrick added that the Russian ambassador should be summoned to the foreign office “to account for this most egregious breach of the Geneva Convention”, adding:
Aiden must be released as soon as practicable.
Sentencing by Russia of Aiden Aslin to death:
— Robert Jenrick (@RobertJenrick) June 9, 2022
This disgusting Soviet-era style show trial is the latest reminder of the depravity of Putin’s regime.
Russia should be clear, they cannot treat British citizens like this and get away with it. 1/3
Updated
UK government 'deeply concerned' about death sentences handed to Britons
The UK government has said it is “deeply concerned” following the death sentences handed to the Britons Aiden Aslin and Shaun Pinner, who were captured while fighting for Ukraine.
No 10 said it was working with Ukrainian authorities to secure the release of the men.
“We are obviously deeply concerned by this. We have said continually that prisoners of war shouldn’t be exploited for political purposes,” a spokesperson said.
“You will know that under the Geneva convention prisoners of war are entitled to combatant immunity and they should not be prosecuted for participation in hostilities.
“So we will continue to work with the Ukrainian authorities to try to secure the release of any British nationals who were serving in the Ukrainian armed forces and who are being held as prisoners of war.”
Updated
Today so far ...
It’s just past 6pm in Kyiv. Here’s where we stand:
- Pro-Russian officials have sentenced to death two British men and a Moroccan national captured while fighting in the Ukrainian army in Mariupol, Russian state media has said. A court in Russian-controlled east Ukraine convicted Aiden Aslin, Shaun Pinner and Saaudun Brahim after a days-long process that observers have called a “show trial” on “trumped-up charges” meant to imitate war crimes trials against Russian soldiers in Kyiv. A spokesperson for the UK prime minister said Britain is “deeply concerned” by the death sentences passed down to Aslin and Pinner.
- A Ukrainian commander has said that the battle in the key eastern frontline city of Sievierodonetsk is being fought house to house. Petro Kuzyk, commander of the Svoboda national guard battalion, said street fighting in the city in eastern Ukraine was taking place under heavy Russian artillery barrages that endangered troops on both sides. Earlier today, the mayor of Sievierodonetsk, Oleksandr Stryuk, described the situation as “difficult but manageable”.
- Serhiy Haidai, Ukraine’s governor of Luhansk, said if the west could supply long-range weapons, Ukrainian forces would be able to “clean up Sievierodonetsk in two or three days”. Haidai’s remarks on Telegram came after Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said the battle for the eastern city will decide the fate of Donbas and is seeing probably the most difficult fighting since Russia’s invasion began.
-
The Ukrainian defence ministry has claimed that its forces have won back some territory from Russian forces in a counter-offensive in the Kherson area of southern Ukraine. It said Russian forces had “suffered losses in manpower and equipment”, mined territory as they were pushed back, and erected barricades for the Ukrainian troops. The claims have not been independently verified.
-
The Kremlin said no agreement has been reached with Turkey on exporting Ukrainian grain shipments across the Black Sea. Turkey has been pushing for an agreement between Russia and Ukraine to ease the global food crisis by negotiating safe passage for grain stuck in Black Sea ports, but its efforts have been met with resistance. Ukraine says Russia is imposing unreasonable conditions and the Kremlin says shipment is dependent on ending sanctions.
- Nearly 5 million Ukrainians have been registered across Europe since the beginning of the war, according to figures by the UN’s refugee agency. Far more will have actually left the country, with UNHCR data showing that more than 7.3m border crossings out of Ukraine had been recorded by 7 June. Another 2.3m crossings had been registered back into the country. The war in Ukraine has “caused one of the largest human displacement crises in the world”, UNHCR said.
- Britain’s prime minister, Boris Johnson, has said the rising cost of living in the UK should not be a reason to abandon support for Ukraine. Some people will argue that the price of supporting Ukraine is too high, he said during a speech in Blackpool, but abandoning Ukraine would be “morally repugnant” and would encourage Russia’s president Vladimir Putin.
- A Russian-backed official in Ukraine’s partially occupied southeastern region of Zaporizhzhia said Russia has begun to send grain from occupied areas to Turkey and the Middle East through Crimea. A Russian official in Crimea, Oleg Kryuchkov, said the first train carrying grain had arrived from Melitopol, a city in Zaporizhzhia. The Kremlin also claimed shipments of grain will restart in the coming days from the Russian-occupied Ukrainian port of Berdiansk after work to de-mine the area.
- The UN’s secretary general, António Guterres, warned that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is “threatening to unleash an unprecedented wave of hunger and destitution, leaving social and economic chaos in its wake”. A new report by the UN said an estimated 94 countries, home to about 1.6 billion people, are “severely exposed to at least one dimension of the crisis and unable to cope with it”.
- Russian-installed officials in the occupied part of Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region reportedly plan to stage a referendum later this year on joining Russia. A Kremlin-backed official, Vladimir Rogov, was quoted by the Russian state-owned news agency Tass as saying: “The people will determine the future of the Zaporizhzhia region.” Ukraine says any referendums held under Russian occupation would be illegal and their results fraudulent.
- More than 1,000 Ukrainian servicemen and foreign mercenaries, who had surrendered in Mariupol, have been transferred to Russia for an investigation there, Russian state-owned news agency Tass reports. More Ukrainian prisoners of war will be taken to Russia “later on”, a Russian law enforcement source told the outlet.
Good afternoon 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.
Updated
Our Moscow correspondent, Andrew Roth, has more on the news that pro-Russian officials have sentenced to death two British men, Aiden Aslin and Shaun Pinner, and a Moroccan national, Saaudun Brahim, captured while fighting in the Ukrainian army in Mariupol.
The men were convicted of “mercenary activities and actions aimed at seizing power and overthrowing the constitutional order of the DPR”, according to the puppet government established by Russia in east Ukraine, Roth writes.
Both Britons have said they were serving in the Ukrainian marines but they were convicted on the charge of “being a mercenary”. Roth reports that Aslin was actually photographed taking his oath to join the Ukrainian army.
Aslin, who tweeted at @cossackgundi, was actually photographed taking his oath to join the Ukrainian army. That did not stop Russian officials and their proxies from calling him a "mercenary." https://t.co/QJuMx3UMST
— Andrew Roth (@Andrew__Roth) June 9, 2022
All the men had pled guilty in what are clearly coerced confessions. Nonetheless, Russian proxy official says they chose death penalty because of "the main, unshakable principle - justice." His translated remarks below, report from Russian wire Interfax. https://t.co/CQbVdIq4sR pic.twitter.com/UhecuvRtKk
— Andrew Roth (@Andrew__Roth) June 9, 2022
Russia is believed to be using the process to put pressure on the UK and may seek a prisoner exchange for Russian soldiers convicted of murder and other war crimes during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. There is a moratorium on the death penalty in Russia, but not in the territory it occupies in eastern Ukraine.
This sentence may be targeted to put pressure on UK and to seek release for Russian soldiers convicted of war crimes in Ukraine. The men fought in Ukrainian marines and should be protected by Geneva conventions. But they have been slandered as "mercenaries" by Russian proxies.
— Andrew Roth (@Andrew__Roth) June 9, 2022
Updated
Britons sentenced to death after ‘show trial’ in Russian-occupied Ukraine
Pro-Russian officials have sentenced to death two British men and a Moroccan national captured while fighting in the Ukrainian army in Mariupol, Russian state media has said.
A court in Russian-controlled east Ukraine convicted Aiden Aslin and Shaun Pinner after a days-long process that observers have called a “show trial” on “trumped-up charges” meant to imitate war crimes trials against Russian soldiers in Kyiv.
Aslin, 28, from Newark, and Pinner, 48, from Watford, were convicted by the court in Russian-controlled territory in Donetsk alongside Saaudun Brahim on charges of “terrorism”.
Both Britons have said they were serving in the Ukrainian marines, making them active-duty soldiers who should be protected by the Geneva conventions on prisoners of war. However, the Russian state media has portrayed the men as mercenaries, and the court has convicted them on the charge of “being a mercenary”.
On Wednesday, the state-run news agency RIA Novosti shared footage of the men pleading “guilty” to the charges against them, which also included terrorism, committing a crime as part of a criminal group, and forcible seizure of power or forcible retention of power.
Russia is also believed to be using the process to put pressure on the UK and may seek a prisoner exchange for Russian soldiers convicted of murder and other war crimes during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. There is a moratorium on the death penalty in Russia, but not in the territory it occupies in eastern Ukraine.
In a statement earlier this week, Aslin’s family said he had served in the Ukrainian marines for nearly four years and “is not, contrary to the Kremlin’s propaganda, a volunteer, a mercenary, or a spy”.
The family also accused Russia of violating the Geneva conventions by releasing video of Aslin “speaking under duress and having clearly suffered physical injuries”.
His MP Robert Jenrick told BBC Radio 4 that the trial was “a completely outrageous breach of international law and it should be condemned”.
“The Russian authorities have chosen to make an example out of these two British nationals and it is, I think, completely shameful.” He said he hoped that a prisoner exchange occurs “in the near future”.
Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has again promised his people victory in the conflict. Zelenskiy has said that the battle for the eastern city of Sievierodonetsk will decide the fate of Donbas, but has just posted to Telegram a series of images of Ukrainian forces in action with the message:
The war continues. But we withstood a powerful blow. We defend our territory. And we are moving towards one of the greatest military successes in Europe. We will win this war.
Updated
'We fight for every house and every street' – Ukrainian commander in Sievierodonetsk
A Ukrainian commander has said that the battle in Sievierodonetsk is being fought house to house.
Petro Kuzyk, commander of the Svoboda national guard battalion, said street fighting in the city in eastern Ukraine was taking place under heavy Russian artillery barrages that endangered troops on both sides.
Reuters reports he told Ukraine’s national television “We fight for every house and every street. Yesterday was successful for us. We went on a counterattack and in some areas we managed to push them back by one or two blocks. In others we pushed them back literally by one or two houses.”
He said Ukrainian fighters had gone from “blind defence to small counter-offensives in some areas, in the hope Russian forces would reduce the intensity of their artillery fire.
“When we imposed street fighting on them, it worked for some time - they did not know where they were and where we were. But now they are simply covering both their own troops and our units with artillery fire,” he said.
Kuzyk appeared to rule out the retreat of Ukrainian forces, saying “There is an order to hold positions and we hold them.”
Earlier today, mayor of Sievierodonetsk Oleksandr Stryuk described the situation as “difficult but manageable”.
There are claims and counterclaims about the situation on the ground in Sievierodonetsk, none of which have been independently verified due to the intensity of the fighting.
Volodymyr Zelenskiy has compared Russia’s invasion to Covid and described weapons and sanctions as a vaccine, as Ukraine’s military position in Donbas worsens.
The Ukrainian president, speaking via video link at a gala to celebrate Time magazine’s 100 most influential people of the year, lobbied again for more outside help because “the Ukrainian military are dying on the battlefield”.
He asked rhetorically whether the US president, Joe Biden, and members of Congress were using “all the capacity of our influence and our leadership” and called on them to be “100% influential”.
“Weapons and sanctions are … a vaccine … against Covid-22 brought by Russia,” Zelenskiy said, hours after he warned that the fight for Sievierodonetsk could decide “the fate” of the entire Donbas – the name given collectively to the provinces of Donetsk and Luhansk in the country’s east.
Ukraine’s military is holding on to the industrial areas of the frontline city of Sievierodonetsk, as Russia concentrates airstrikes, artillery and mortar fire on taking control of the city.
At times Russian artillery has outnumbered the defenders by 10 to one, according to Ukraine’s military, and about a third of its total forces are concentrated around the city, where about 10,000 civilians remain, many of them elderly.
Serhiy Haidai, the governor of the local region of Luhansk, said on Thursday morning that “silence in Sievierodonetsk lasts only when guns are reloaded” and that “street fights continue in the regional centre” as Ukraine’s forces hang on.
Britain’s prime minister, Boris Johnson, has said the rising cost of living in the UK should not be a reason to abandon support for Ukraine.
At a speech in Blackpool, Johnson said even though the war has driven up prices, abandoning Ukraine would be “morally repugnant”.
He said six months ago there were grounds for thinking that the laws of supply and demand would kick in, and address the problems caused by the post-pandemic surge in demand. But the Russian invasion of Ukraine changed that, he said.
Johnson said:
Markets have responded with a significant spike in prices, partly driven by sanctions, partly by the elevated risk premium, the inevitable increase in what businesses have to charge to compensate for raised global levels of uncertainty.
The price of oil and gas looks likely to remain high for a while to come, and the same goes for grain and feed and fertiliser.
Some people will argue that the price of supporting Ukraine is too high, he said, but abandoning Ukraine would be “morally repugnant” and it would encourage Russia’s president Vladimir Putin.
[Putin] would be able to continue to twist the knife in the wound, the crocodile would simply come back for more and he would be able to claim that his aggression and his violence had paid off.
That would be a disaster for Ukraine and all the other parts of the former Soviet Union that he might attack.
Updated
Volodymyr Zelenskiy addressed the Time100 Gala event on Wednesday, warning that the world was on the brink of a “terrible food crisis”.
The Ukrainian president claimed Russia was blocking Black Sea ports and that “millions could starve” as a result. The blockade had caused global panic with Ukraine unable to export vital wheat, corn and oil, Zelenskiy added.
Russian soldiers who occupied a Ukrainian village north of Kyiv shortly after the invasion reportedly ransacked a school and left propaganda messages for its pupils urging them to “live in peace” and not “repeat the mistakes your elders made”.
When Ukrainian forces regained control of Katyuzhanka, a village north of Kyiv that had been under Russian occupation for more than a month in March, they found the local school wrecked. All of the equipment had either been stolen or smashed, and there was a makeshift cemetery in the schoolyard.
Inside the destroyed classrooms, Ukrainian soldiers found messages written on blackboards addressed to the pupils and signed “the Russians”, CNN reports.
One message, written in Russian, read:
Children, we’re sorry for such a mess, we tried to save the school, but there was shelling. Live in peace, take care of yourselves and don’t repeat the mistakes your elders made. Ukraine and Russia are one people!!! Peace be with you, brothers and sisters!
Other notes left around the building included one that said: “We are for the peace in the whole world.” CNN was not able to independently verify who wrote the messages.
The school principal, Mikola Mikitchik, told the news channel that he felt disgusted when he found the notes.
He said:
They wrote ‘Russians and Ukrainians are brothers’ and at the same time they robbed the school ... they ruined computers, they took out hard drives, they took away laptops, printers, they left nothing at the school! It’s barbarism and hypocrisy.
Nearly 5 million Ukrainians have been registered across Europe since the beginning of the war, according to figures by the UN’s refugee agency.
An update by UNHCR showed that a total of 4,816,923 Ukrainians have been registered as refugees across 44 European countries since 24 February.
Far more will have actually left the country, with UNHCR data showing that more than 7.3m border crossings out of Ukraine had been recorded by 7 June. Another 2.3m crossings had been registered back into the country.
Women and children account for 90% of those who have fled abroad since Ukrainian men aged 18 to 60 are eligible for military service and unable to leave.
The war in Ukraine has “caused one of the largest human displacement crises in the world”, UNHCR said.
Updated
Updated
A few lines from the Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov’s briefing with reporters just now: no agreement has been reached with Turkey on exporting Ukrainian grain shipments across the Black Sea, he has said.
Turkey has been pushing for an agreement between Russia and Ukraine to ease the global food crisis by negotiating safe passage for grain stuck in Black Sea ports.
Ankara’s efforts have been met with resistance as Ukraine said Russia was imposing unreasonable conditions and the Kremlin said shipment was dependent on ending sanctions.
Speaking alongside his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, yesterday, Turkey’s foreign minister, Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, said a UN plan to restart Ukrainian grain exports along a sea corridor was “reasonable” and required more talks with Moscow and Kyiv to ensure ships’ safety.
Peskov also told reporters that Russia does not expect Gazprom to cut gas supplies to any more European customers, adding that its scheme to make buyers pay for their gas in roubles was functioning as intended.
Hello everyone, it’s Léonie Chao-Fong here again, taking over the live blog from Martin Belam to bring you all the latest developments on the war in Ukraine. 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 …
- Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has said the battle for the eastern city of Sievierodonetsk will decide the fate of Donbas and is seeing probably the most difficult fighting since Russia’s invasion began. “Sievierodonetsk remains the epicentre of the confrontation in Donbas,” Zelenskiy said in a late-night address to the nation on Wednesday evening, claiming that Ukraine had inflicted “significant losses on the enemy”.
- Serhiy Haidai, Ukraine’s governor of Luhansk, has said that it is currently impossible to evacuate people out of Sievierodonetsk, where fierce fighting continues, but if the west could supply long-range weapons, Ukrainian forces would be able to “clean up Sievierodonetsk in two or three days”.
- Ukrainian forces still hold the industrial zone and adjacent areas in the city of Sievierodonetsk, and the situation is “difficult but manageable”, mayor Oleksandr Stryuk said this morning.
- Russia’s permanent representative to the UN Vasily Nebenzya has insisted Moscow is making progress in Ukraine and the eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions will be “liberated ... very soon”
- The Ukrainian defence ministry has claimed that its forces have won back some territory from Russian forces in a counter-offensive in the Kherson area of southern Ukraine.
- The UK’s Ministry of Defence daily intelligence briefing states that “Fighting continues in the Sievierodonetsk pocket but, in the last 48 hours, Russia’s Eastern Group of Forces have also likely increased their efforts to advance to the south of Izium.”
- Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has reiterated his warning that the situation in Ukraine will trigger a global food crisis. With Ukraine unable to export large amounts of wheat, corn, oil and other products he said that had played a “stabilising role in the global market”, Zelenskiy said the world was on the brink of a “terrible food crisis” in a televised address.
- Yesterday a Ukrainian journalist confronted Russia’s foreign minister, accusing Moscow of stealing grain. “Apart from cereals, what other goods did you steal from Ukraine and who did you sell them to?” journalist Muslim Umerov asked. Lavrov, smiling, replied: “You Ukrainians are always worried about what you can steal and you think everyone thinks that way.”
- A Russian-backed official in Ukraine’s partially occupied southeastern region of Zaporizhzhia said Russia has begun to send grain from occupied areas to Turkey and the Middle East through Crimea. A Russian official in Crimea, Oleg Kryuchkov, said the first train carrying grain had arrived from Melitopol, a city in Zaporizhzhia. The Kremlin also claimed shipments of grain will restart in the coming days from the Russian-occupied Ukrainian port of Berdiansk after work to de-mine the area.
- Russia is carrying out naval exercises in the Baltic sea involving more than 60 surface warships, boats and support vessels.
- Poland’s president, Andrzej Duda, has been sharply critical of both the German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, and the French president, Emmanuel Macron, for their phone conversations with Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin. He compared the situation to having conversations with Adolf Hitler during the second world war.
- The UN’s secretary general, António Guterres, warned that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is “threatening to unleash an unprecedented wave of hunger and destitution, leaving social and economic chaos in its wake”. A new report by the UN said an estimated 94 countries, home to about 1.6 billion people, are “severely exposed to at least one dimension of the crisis and unable to cope with it”.
- Russian-installed officials in the occupied part of Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region reportedly plan to stage a referendum later this year on joining Russia. A Kremlin-backed official, Vladimir Rogov, was quoted by the Russian state-owned news agency Tass as saying: “The people will determine the future of the Zaporizhzhia region.” Ukraine says any referendums held under Russian occupation would be illegal and their results fraudulent.
- More than 1,000 Ukrainian servicemen and foreign mercenaries, who had surrendered in Mariupol, have been transferred to Russia for an investigation there, Russian state-owned news agency Tass reports. More Ukrainian prisoners of war will be taken to Russia “later on”, a Russian law enforcement source told the outlet.
Updated
The Ukrainian defence ministry has said that its forces have won back some territory from Russian forces in a counter-offensive in the Kherson area of southern Ukraine.
Reuters reports it gave no details but said the Russian forces had “suffered losses in manpower and equipment”, mined territory as they were pushed back, and erected barricades for the Ukrainian troops.
The claims have not been independently verified.
Updated
Russia’s ministry of defence has announced that “60 surface warships, boats and support vessels, over 40 aircraft and helicopters, as well as up to 2,000 units of weapons, military and special equipment of the Baltic fleet” are involved in exercises today out of Kaliningrad into the Baltic Sea.
Kaliningrad is a Russian enclave situated between Poland and Lithuania along the Baltic coast.
Updated
Sievierodonetsk situation 'difficult but manageable' – city mayor
Ukrainian forces still hold the industrial zone and adjacent areas in the city of Sievierodonetsk, and the situation is “difficult but manageable”, mayor Oleksandr Stryuk said this morning.
He said defence lines were holding despite intense Russian artillery fire but that it was now impossible to evacuate people from Sievierodonetsk. He said about 10,000 civilians remained in the city, Reuters reports.
The headquarters of the territorial defence of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic has issued its operational briefing for the day. They claim they control 231 settlements in the region, a number which is creeping up day-by-day. They specifically cite Sviatohirsk and Tatyanovka and say “there are battles for Slavyansk.”
The say that Ukrainian armed forces shelled 14 settlements in the last 24 hours.
The claims have not been independently verified.
Zelenskiy warns 'millions of people may starve' if Ukraine cannot export grain
In a television address this morning, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has reiterated his warning that the situation in Ukraine will trigger a global food crisis.
With Ukraine unable to export large amounts of wheat, corn, oil and other products he said that had played a “stabilising role in the global market”, Zelenskiy said the world was on the brink of a “terrible food crisis”.
“This means that, unfortunately, there may be a physical shortage of products in dozens of countries around the world. Millions of people may starve if the Russian blockade of the Black Sea continues,” he said.
Blaming Russia for the blockade, Zelenskiy said that “while we are looking for ways to protect freedom, another person is destroying it. Another person continues to blackmail the world with hunger.”
Polish president criticises phone calls from western leaders to Putin
In an interview posted by the German Bild newspaper to its YouTube channel, Poland’s president Andrzej Duda has been sharply critical of both German chancellor Olaf Scholz and French president Emmanuel Macron for their phone conversations with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin. He compared the situation to the second world war, and Reuters quotes him saying:
Did anyone speak like this with Adolf Hitler during World War Two? Did anyone say that Adolf Hitler must save face? That we should proceed in such a way that it is not humiliating for Adolf Hitler? I have not heard such voices.
In a joint call with Putin on May 28, Scholz and Macron urged him to release fighters captured at Mariupol’s Azovstal steel plant and to speak directly with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, according to a read-out from Macron’s Elysee Palace.
Zelenskiy has previously savaged suggestions Kyiv give up territory and make concessions to end the war, saying it smacked of appeasement in 1938.
At the weekend Macron said: “We must not humiliate Russia so that the day the fighting stops, we can build a way out through diplomatic channels.”
Former Danish prime minister and former secretary general of Nato, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, has been speaking on Sky News in the UK. He is currently running the Copenhagen Democracy Summit, which tomorrow will focus on the situation in Ukraine. He said:
The Ukrainian people are actually fighting on behalf of all of us, and we must stop Putin otherwise he will not stop. He will continue to conquer peaceful neighbours if he isn’t stopped in Ukraine.
Rasmussen was not hopeful of the outcome for foreign fighters who are being put on trial by pro-Russian forces, saying “We have seen how Russia violates all international laws and conventions.”
He noted that “Putin has achieved exactly the opposite of what he wanted”, saying “He has created more unity within Nato. And now you will also see Nato being enlarged to with Finland and Sweden. He gets Nato troops closer to Russian borders.”
Rasmussen predicted the biggest risk was that “Putin and Russia are experts in prolonged simmering frozen conflicts”, citing Russian presences in Transnistria, South Ossetia and the Crimea.
He said that work to support Ukraine would have to continue for a long time, saying “We have to ensure that it will never happen again that Ukraine will be invaded. So Ukraine will need security guarantees one way or the other. And I think the UK as well as the US and other big Nato allies will play a crucial role in providing ironclad security guarantees to Ukraine.”
“The only language that Putin understands is the language of strength, force and unity” he added.
Ukraine could 'clean up Sievierodonetsk in two or three days' with western long-range weapons – governor
Serhiy Haidai, Ukraine’s governor of Luhansk, has said that it is currently impossible to evacuate people out of Sievierodonetsk, where fierce fighting continues, but if the west could supply long-range weapons, Ukrainian forces would be able to “clean up Sievierodonetsk in two or three days”.
He has written on Telegram this morning saying:
Silence in Sievierodonetsk lasts only when guns are reloaded. Street fights continue in the regional centre.
Russians adhere to their primitive tactics: heavy artillery fire, then - attempts to break through. The same thing happened in the already destroyed Rubizhne and Popasna.
The enemy is powerfully pursuing the industrial zone, which we control.
If we quickly get western long-range weapons, an artillery duel will begin, the Soviet Union [sic] will lose to the west, and our defenders will be able to clean up Sievierodonetsk in two or three days
Evacuation from Sievierodonetsk is still impossible, as is the transportation of goods. Currently, the hospital has everything necessary to stabilise the wounded.
He has also again emphasised that “Russians do NOT control the Lysychansk-Bakhmut route, but constantly storm it. We do not use this road.”
Maksym Kozytskyi, governor of Lviv in western Ukraine, has posted to Telegram to say there were two air raid warnings in the region overnight. Yesterday 300 internally displaced people arrived in the region on evacuation trains.
The UK’s ministry of defence has issued its regular daily intelligence briefing on the situation in the ground in Ukraine. It says:
Fighting continues in the Sieverodonetsk pocket but, in the last 48 hours, Russia’s Eastern Group of Forces (EGF) have also likely increased their efforts to advance to the south of Izium.
Russia’s progress on the Izium axis had remained stalled since April, after Ukrainian forces made good use of the terrain to slow Russia’s advance.
Russia has likely attempted to reconstitute EGF after they suffered very heavy casualties in the failed advance on Kyiv, but its units likely remain understrength.
Russia likely seeks to regain momentum in this area in order to put further pressure on Sieverodonetsk, and to give it the option of advancing deeper into the Donetsk Oblast.
Latest Defence Intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine - 9 June 2022
— Ministry of Defence 🇬🇧 (@DefenceHQ) June 9, 2022
Find out more about the UK government's response: https://t.co/og2mqOHzJQ
🇺🇦 #StandWithUkraine 🇺🇦 pic.twitter.com/XGp8Uc97x9
- This is Martin Belam in London taking over from my colleague Samantha Lock. You can get in touch with me at martin.belam@theguardian.com
Russia’s permanent representative to the UN has insisted Moscow is making progress in Ukraine and the eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions will be “liberated ... very soon”.
Vasily Nebenzya was interviewed for the BBC’s HardTalk where host Steven Sackur grilled the official on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“After 100 days of armed conflict, can you say that the Russian invasion of Ukraine is going according to plan?” Sackur asked. Nebenzya replied:
It seems to me that there is progress. No one promised a result in three days or a week.
Now some experts assure that the Russian military operation has stalled and is going much slower than planned. But there is progress, it continues, and it’s clear as day.”
Sackur pressed: “Do you admit that the original plan to take over Kyiv and install a pro-Russian regime there has completely failed?”
“I don’t know anything about such plans,” Nebenzya said, noting that no one from the Russian command had ever said out loud that Moscow intended to take control of Kyiv by installing a puppet government there.
“The scale of your losses over the past 100 days is amazing. People living in Russia would be absolutely shocked by these figures if they knew about them,” Sakur continued.
Nebenzia said any losses could not be confirmed.
“As I said, they are not officially disclosed, and in the course of any conflict, the parties tend to greatly inflate each other’s losses. I cannot tell you the numbers and I cannot comment that Ukraine or the US are talking about it there.”
Sakur responded that in more than 100 days in, the conflict has seemingly reached a stalemate. “You still haven’t taken Sievierodonetsk. You can’t even take Luhansk in its entirety, not to mention the entire Donbas. If this, in your opinion, is progress, then I’m very interested: What exactly is the plan, anyway?”
According to the Russian permanent representative, the main goal now is the liberation of Donbas. “Just give it time ... and you will see the Donetsk and Luhansk regions liberated. And, I hope, this will happen very soon.”
Updated
Former pro wrestler John Cena met with one of his Ukrainian fans - a 19-year-old resident of Mariupol with Down Syndrome - after the teenager and his family fled Ukraine with the promise that the actor was waiting for them in America.
Misha Rohozhyn and his mother, Liana, fled Mariupol in March.
To motivate Misha on their journey to safety, his mother told him they were on their way to find Cena.
What a wonderful way to spend a Saturday. Misha and his mother, Liana define #NeverGiveUp.
— John Cena (@JohnCena) June 7, 2022
Thank you to the @WSJ and @WWE who helped make this special visit possible. https://t.co/RpriCvjN3K
Misha met with the 45-year-old actor in Huizen, Netherlands, where he and his relatives have sought refuge.
Cena became aware of the 19-year-old after he was chronicled in a piece for The Wall Street Journal in May that explored the impact of war on people with disabilities.
Recently released photos show what daily life is like for Ukrainian serviceman fighting on Ukraine’s eastern frontlines.
Updated
In case you missed it earlier, here is the moment a Ukrainian journalist confronted Russia’s foreign minister, accusing Moscow of stealing grain amid fears of world hunger if the issue is not resolved.
Sergei Lavrov was in Turkey on Wednesday to discuss the establishment of secure corridors for Ukrainian grain exports.
“Apart from cereals, what other goods did you steal from Ukraine and who did you sell them to?” journalist Muslim Umerov asked.
Lavrov, smiling, replied: “You Ukrainians are always worried about what you can steal and you think everyone thinks that way.”
Contacted later by Agence France-Presse, Umerov, who is based in Istanbul for Ukrainian public television, explained that he had raised his hand during the whole question-and-answer session but realised that the organisers “would not let me speak” so decided to interject loudly.
“I took the risk of disrupting the news conference because all of Ukraine is waiting for the answer to this question,” he said.
Fight for Sievierodonetsk will decide fate of eastern Ukraine - Zelenskiy
Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has said the battle for the eastern city of Sievierodonetsk will decide the fate of Donbas and is seeing probably the most difficult fighting since Russia’s invasion began.
“Sievierodonetsk remains the epicentre of the confrontation in Donbas,” Zelenskiy said in a late-night address to the nation on Wednesday evening, claiming that Ukraine had inflicted “significant losses on the enemy”.
However, regional leaders said earlier that Ukrainian forces had been pushed back to the outskirts of the key frontline city amid heavy fighting there and in frontline villages to the south as Russia pursues a breakthrough in Donbas.
Serhiy Haidai, the governor of Luhansk, said most of the city was now in Russian hands and that it was no longer possible to rescue civilians stranded there.
“Our [forces] now again control only the outskirts of the city. But the fighting is still going on, our [forces] are defending Sievierodonetsk. It is impossible to say the Russians completely control the city,” the governor said.
Zelenskiy corroborated reports of heavy fighting, saying the battle for Sievierodonetsk was “probably one of the most difficult during this war”.
“In particular the fate of Donbas is being decided there,” he added.
Summary and welcome
Hello it’s Samantha Lock back with you on the Guardian’s live blog as we cover all the latest developments from Ukraine.
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:
- Ukrainian forces have been pushed back by a Russian bombardment in the frontline eastern city of Sievierodonetsk and now only control its outskirts. Serhiy Haidai, the governor of Luhansk, said most of the city was now in Russian hands and that it was no longer possible to rescue civilians stranded there.
- The battle for Sievierodonetsk - where the fate of Donbas is being decided - is probably the most difficult seen so far during the war, Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskiy has said. “Battle for Sievierodonetsk is probably one of the most difficult during this war, and in particular the fate of Donbas is being decided there,” he said in his latest national address on Wednesday night.
- A Russian-backed official in Ukraine’s partially occupied southeastern region of Zaporizhzhia said Russia has begun to send grain from occupied areas to Turkey and the Middle East through Crimea. A Russian official in Crimea, Oleg Kryuchkov, said the first train carrying grain had arrived from Melitopol, a city in Zaporizhzhia. The Kremlin also claimed shipments of grain will restart in the coming days from the Russian-occupied Ukrainian port of Berdiansk after work to de-mine the area.
- Russia’s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, said Moscow was willing to open corridors to allow grain exports from Ukraine, but that these efforts relied on the Ukrainian side to remove mines from their ports. Kyiv dismissed Lavrov’s remarks as “empty” words and said military equipment was required to protect the coastline and a navy mission to patrol the export routes in the Black Sea.
- A Ukrainian journalist confronted Lavrov about grain exports from Ukraine during a visit to Ankara, Turkey. “Apart from cereals, what other goods did you steal from Ukraine and who did you sell them to?” Muslim Umerov asked.
- The UN’s secretary general, António Guterres, warned that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is “threatening to unleash an unprecedented wave of hunger and destitution, leaving social and economic chaos in its wake”. A new report by the UN said an estimated 94 countries, home to around 1.6bn people, are “severely exposed to at least one dimension of the crisis and unable to cope with it”.
- Russian-installed officials in the occupied part of Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region reportedly plan to stage a referendum later this year on joining Russia. A Kremlin-backed official, Vladimir Rogov, was quoted by the Russian state-owned news agency Tass as saying: “The people will determine the future of the Zaporizhzhia region.” Ukraine says any referendums held under Russian occupation would be illegal and their results fraudulent.
- More than 1,000 Ukrainian servicemen and foreign mercenaries, who had surrendered in Mariupol, have been transferred to Russia for an investigation there, Russian state-owned news agency Tass reports. More Ukrainian prisoners of war will be taken to Russia “later on”, a Russian law enforcement source told the outlet.
- Moscow’s chief rabbi, Pinchas Goldschmidt, has left Russia after coming under pressure to support its invasion of Ukraine, according to a relative. Goldschmidt flew to Hungary to raise money for refugees in Eastern Europe after refusing to publicly support what Moscow calls its “special military operation” in Ukraine.
- Two British men captured by Russian forces while fighting alongside Ukrainian soldiers in Mariupol face 20 years in prison, according to a video shared by Russian state media. Aiden Aslin, 28, and Shaun Pinner, 48, appeared in court in the separatist Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR).
- Britain’s economy will suffer more than any other major industrial country from the effects of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The UK will grow by 3.6% in 2022 before posting zero growth in 2023, according to the Paris-based thinktank the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD).
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Ukraine has received the first billion dollars of the $40 billion aid package that the US Congress approved last month. In a tweet on Wednesday, US ambassador to Ukraine Bridget A Brink said: “Supporting Ukraine means strengthening its economy. Direct support of $1 billion is already here to help Ukraine and its people move forward.”
- Zelenskiy said he met with American philanthropist Howard Buffet, son of billionaire investor Warren Buffet, in Kyiv to discuss rebuilding efforts. “We discussed assistance that would be valuable for our state. I offered him the chance to join projects restoring irrigation systems in the Odesa region, supporting our people, (and) mine clearance,” Zelenskiy said in a tweet.
- Russian authorities have further cracked down against citizens who speak out about the fighting in Ukraine. A Moscow court on Wednesday extended the detention of Vladimir Kara-Murza Jr., a journalist and former associate of assassinated Russian opposition leader Boris Nemtsov, accusing him of spreading lies about the Russian military. Russian investigative journalist Andrei Soldatov said a criminal case had also been opened against him.
