Summary
The time is approaching 9pm in Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine. Here’s a roundup of today’s news.
Vladimir Putin has told Russian soldiers fighting in Ukraine that the “whole country is praying for them”, as he used his Victory Day speech to defend his invasion of Ukraine. Speaking at the 78th anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany, the Russian president drew historical parallels between the second world war and fighting in Ukraine “Today, civilisation is again at a decisive, turning point, a real war has been unleashed against us again,” Putin said in a speech that was laced with anger.
“We are proud of the participants of the special military operation. The future of our people depends on you,” Putin said. He accused the west of “destroying traditional values” and propagandising a “system of robbery and violence.”
Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of the Wagner mercenary force, which is fighting Russia’s battle in Bakhmut, has said he was told he and his mercenaries would be regarded as “traitors” if they abandoned their positions. Prigozhin threatened to withdraw his troops from the city in east Ukraine, which has been the site of a long-running battle since 2022 to try to capture it, because of a lack of ammunition. He then rowed back on it, but has again threatened to do so.
The UK foreign secretary James Cleverly and US secretary of state Antony Blinken have urged Russia not to use hunger as a weapon of war, as discussions over the Black Sea grain deal continue.
Blinken said: “In recent days, Russia has once again returned to blocking ships from sailing to Ukrainian ports to pick up grain. A cynical action, that directly results in less food getting to global food markets and to human beings in Africa, in the Middle East and around the world who need that food.The world shouldn’t need to remind Moscow every few weeks to stop using people’s hunger as a weapon in their war against Ukraine.”
Russia launched about 15 cruise missiles at Ukraine’s capital on Tuesday, the second attack in as many days, with air defence systems shooting all of them down, officials said, after air raid alerts blared over most of the country. “As at the front, the plans of the aggressor failed,” Serhiy Popko, the head of the Kyiv’s city military administration, said in comments posted on the Telegram messaging app.
Popko said that according to preliminary information there were no casualties in the attack, which was carried out with cruise missiles from the Caspian Sea region. The Kyiv mayor, Vitali Klitschko, said debris fell on a house in the Holosiivskyi district in the south-west of Kyiv, but there were no casualties and not much damage.
Ukraine is planning a “very important” counteroffensive against Russian forces that must “demonstrate success”, the country’s prime minister has said. Denys Shmyhal told Sky News that the operation would be launched when the time was right.
Cleverly warned that people should not get too carried away with their hopes for Ukraine’s counter offensive. “We have to be realistic. This is the real world; this is not a Hollywood movie,” he said.
Volodymyr Zelenskiy has said he discussed European integration, defence matters and sanctions against Russia at a meeting with the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, in Kyiv. He said he expected the EU to soon approve more sanctions on Russia.
The UN secretary general, António Guterres, has said there is currently no prospect of peace between Russia and Ukraine because “both sides are convinced that they can win”. In an interview with the Spanish newspaper El País on Tuesday, Guterres was pessimistic about the EU and the UN’s ability to broker an end to the conflict sparked by Russia’s invasion last year. “Unfortunately, I don’t think peace negotiations are possible at the moment,” he said.
The US has announced a “new security assistance package” to help bolster Ukraine’s air defences and artillery ammunition needs. This package, confirmed by the Department of Defense on Tuesday, totals up to $1.2bn and is being provided under the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI).
A UK-led group of European countries has asked for expressions of interest to supply Ukraine with long-range missiles. The call for responses from companies who could provide the munitions with range of up to 300km (190 miles) was included in a notice posted last week by the International Fund for Ukraine.
MEPs voted to speed up consideration of a law to boost ammunition production in Europe to the tune of €500m ($550m), due to efforts to supply Ukraine. The decision should see the new legislation – snappily termed the Act in Support of Ammunition Production (Asap) – in place by the end of the year, MEPs and European Commission officials said, Agence France-Presse reports.
Ukraine has received Israeli-made radar defence systems, which have already been deployed in Kyiv as of Monday, according to Israeli media reports. A Lithuanian volunteer organisation known as Blue/Yellow delivered 16 ieMHR models made by Israel’s RADA Electronic Industries last week and three are already in use in the Ukrainian capital, the Israeli daily Ha’aretz said. The systems are designed to detect aerial threats including missiles, rockets, mortar shells, helicopters and drones within up to a 10km (6.2-mile) radius.
The EU must not be intimidated by Moscow’s showcasing of military power but continue to support Ukraine for as long as it takes, the German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, said on Tuesday as Russia marked Victory Day with a parade. “Two thousand two hundred kilometres north-east from here, Putin is parading his soldiers, tanks and missiles today,” Scholz told lawmakers in a speech at the European parliament in Strasbourg.
Germany’s foreign minister has said China could play a decisive role in ending the war in Ukraine. Speaking alongside her Chinese counterpart, Qin Gang, at a press conference in Berlin on Tuesday, Annalena Baerbock said that as a permanent member of the UN security council, China had the power to be influential in the conflict and bring it to an end.
The North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, said Russia “will prevail” in its fight against what he described as “imperialists”, the state news agency KCNA said on Tuesday, in remarks seen to be aimed at Ukraine and its western supporters such as the US. North Korea has forged closer ties with the Kremlin and backed Moscow after it invaded Ukraine last year, including its proclamation later of having annexed parts of Ukraine, which most UN members condemned as illegal.
That’s all for today. Thank you for following along.
Updated
The situation at Europe’s largest nuclear power plant, Zaporizhzhia in Ukraine, is deteriorating, Funke Media Group has reported.
According to Ukraine’s state-owned operating company Energoatom, Russia is bringing more troops and military vehicles to the site of the nuclear power plant, Reuters reports.
“The situation of equipment and personnel is deteriorating,” the Energoatom president, Petro Kotin, told Funke.
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US and UK tell Russia to stop using hunger as leverage in Ukraine conflict
The UK foreign secretary and US secretary of state have urged Russia not to use global hunger as a tool of war in the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, as discussions continue about the resumption of the Black Sea grain deal.
Speaking at a joint press conference in Washington, James Cleverly and Antony Blinken spoke about the war, as well as relations with China and the recent evacuation of nationals in Sudan amid the country falling into civil war.
Speaking first, Blinken said: “We are urging Russia to extend and expand the Black Sea grain initiative. In recent days, Russia has once again returned to blocking ships from sailing to Ukrainian ports to pick up grain. A cynical action, that directly results in less food getting to global food markets and to human beings in Africa, in the Middle East and around the world who need that food.
“While we are grateful for the tireless efforts of [UN] general secretary Guterres, our colleagues in Turkey, working to break this impasse, the world shouldn’t need to remind Moscow every few weeks to stop using people’s hunger as a weapon in their war against Ukraine.”
The UK prime minister, Rishi Sunak, will visit the US in June, where he will meet Joe Biden in Washington. London will host the Ukraine rebuilding conference in the same month, in an attempt to examine how cities, towns and infrastructure will recover post-conflict.
Cleverly struck the same tone. After thanking Blinken for his remarks, including congratulations sent to King Charles III on his coronation, the foreign secretary said: “Just as we did with Sudan, we remain focused on the needs of some of the poorest people in the world. I echo your comments on the Black Sea grain initiative.
“It is completely wrong that Russia uses the hunger of some of the poorest people in the world to pursue leverage in this conflict. They should resign the Black Sea grain initiative and do so immediately, they should unlock the supply of food to go to those people around the world who need it most and it is perverse that they are using hunger in the developing world as leverage in their conflict in Ukraine.”
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Some more on the comments by James Cleverly in the US.
The UK foreign secretary said that Ukraine’s offensive may not be “decisive” in an attempt to play down expectations of a “Hollywood” style sweep to retake occupied areas of the country.
On a visit to Washington he said that more aid must be delivered, but added: “They have demonstrated themselves to be very, very effective defenders of their country, but we need to recognise that there might not be a simple, quick, decisive breakthrough,” Cleverly said at the Atlantic Council, Agence France-Presse reports.
“I hope and expect they will do very, very well, because whenever I’ve seen the Ukrainians they have outperformed expectations.
“But we have to be realistic. This is the real world; this is not a Hollywood movie,” he said.
Cleverly called for western powers “to have the resolve to continue to do the right thing” no matter how the offensive progresses, including the prospect of “escalatory words” from the Russian president, Vladimir Putin.
“If we don’t, what’s at stake is of immeasurable importance,” he said.
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UK foreign secretary James Cleverly has told a US audience at the Atlantic Council that he would welcome China’s involvement in helping bring the war in Ukraine to an end.
He said: “I don’t think we should be ‘dog in the manger’ about this. We know that Xi enjoys a significant degree of influence with Vladimir Putin. If he can use that influence to deliver on what he has publicly stated he feels strongly about, sovereignty, territorial integrity, the non-use of nuclear weapons, the non-threat of nuclear weapons, then why would we be critical of that intervention, if it is meaningful and if he actually delivers upon it. Two big ifs.
“If through his intervention he can help restore the sovereignty of Ukraine, and get Russian troops out of that country, I’m not going to be critical of that.”
Updated
A UK-led group of European countries has asked for expressions of interest to supply Ukraine with long-range missiles in what would be another step-up in military support for Kyiv against Russia’s invasion.
The call for responses from companies who could provide the munitions with range of up to 300km (190 miles) was included in a notice posted last week by the International Fund for Ukraine – a group of countries including Britain, Norway, the Netherlands, Denmark and Sweden – set up to send weapons to Kyiv, Reuters reports.
The UK’s Ministry of Defence, which runs the fund, asked companies to get in touch if they could provide missiles that can be launched from land, sea or air with a payload of between 20 and 490kg (44 and 1,078lbs).
The notice asked for other desirable requirements including a “low probability of intercept”, “mission planning capability”, and “air defence penetration methods to increase probability of successful strike”. The notice said companies that responded would be contacted from 5 June.
A British official said no final decision had been made to send missiles with these capabilities to Ukraine.
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US announces $1.2bn 'security assistance package' to bolster Ukrainian defences
The US has announced a “new security assistance package” to help bolster Ukraine’s air defences and artillery ammunition needs.
This package, confirmed by the Department of Defense on Tuesday, totals up to $1.2bn and is being provided under the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI).
In a statement this afternoon, the DoD said:
This USAI package underscores the continued US commitment to meeting Ukraine’s most urgent requirements by committing critical near-term capabilities, such as air defence systems and munitions, while also building the capacity of Ukraine’s armed forces to defend its territory and deter Russian aggression over the long term.
This includes committing additional 155mm artillery rounds and sustainment support to enable Ukraine to better maintain its on-hand systems and equipment.
The package includes funding for additional air defence systems and munitions; equipment to integrate western air defence launchers, missiles and radars with Ukraine’s air defence systems; ammunition for counter-unmanned aerial systems; 155mm artillery rounds; commercial satellite imagery services; and support for training, maintenance and sustainment activities.
Updated
A large installation representing Russian atrocities in Ukraine blocked the path of Russia’s ambassador to Poland as he sought to place a wreath at a Warsaw memorial to Soviet soldiers on Russia’s Victory Day holiday.
The installation included hundreds of fluttering blue and yellow Ukrainian flags and crosses serving as symbolic grave markers for Ukrainians killed by Russians during the full-scale war launched by Moscow last year.
A pool of fake blood below the crosses underlined the stark message of the protest, which was created by Euromaidan-Warszawa, a citizens’ initiative that supports Ukraine.
One organiser, Viktoria Pogrebniak, said the installation, set up for the day at the entrance to the Red Army memorial site, was meant to fight back against Russian propaganda and “show the real picture to the world”.
“We are bombed, we are killed, we are raped,” she said. “We are killed just because we are Ukrainians.”
Updated
A tumultuous year of fighting has passed since Vladimir Putin last addressed Russian soldiers on Red Square in Moscow to mark the country’s victory over the Nazis.
But the Russian leader’s Victory Day message to the nation on Tuesday was nearly identical to that of last year, as he cast the war in Ukraine as an existential battle against an aggressive, Russophobic and woke west.
“Today, civilisation is again at a decisive turning point. A real war has been unleashed against us again,” Putin said as he delivered an angry yet somewhat routine speech in which he drew false parallels between today’s fight with Ukraine’s “criminal regime” and the defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945.
Putin also recycled some of his other go-to grievances, blaming “western globalist elites” for “destroying the family” and “traditional values”.
What was left unspoken by the Russian president was the battering his army had received over the last 12 months in Ukraine, the impact of which was revealed by the scaled-down military parade that followed his speech.
Updated
Afternoon summary
It’s 4.20pm in Kyiv. Here’s a summary of the day’s news so far:
Vladimir Putin has told Russian soldiers fighting in Ukraine that the “whole country is praying for them”, as he used his Victory Day speech to defend his invasion of Ukraine. Speaking at the 78th anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany, the Russian president drew historical parallels between the second world war and fighting in Ukraine “Today, civilisation is again at a decisive, turning point, a real war has been unleashed against us again,” Putin said in a speech that was laced with anger.
“We are proud of the participants of the special military operation. The future of our people depends on you,” Putin said. He accused the west of “destroying traditional values” and propagandising a “system of robbery and violence.”
Russia launched about 15 cruise missiles at Ukraine’s capital on Tuesday, the second attack in as many days, with air defence systems shooting all of them down, officials said, after air raid alerts blared over most of the country. “As at the front, the plans of the aggressor failed,” Serhiy Popko, the head of the Kyiv’s city military administration, said in comments posted on the Telegram messaging app.
Popko said that according to preliminary information there were no casualties in the attack, which was carried out with cruise missiles from the Caspian Sea region. The Kyiv mayor, Vitali Klitschko, said debris fell on a house in the Holosiivskyi district in the south-west of Kyiv, but there were no casualties and not much damage.
Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of the Wagner mercenary force which is fighting Russia’s battle in Bakhmut, has said he was told that he and his mercenaries would be regarded as “traitors” if they abandoned their positions. Prigozhin threatened to withdraw his troops from the city in east Ukraine, which has been the site of a long-running battle since 2022 to try to capture it, because of a lack of ammunition. He then rowed back on it, but has again threatened to do so.
Ukraine is planning a “very important” counteroffensive against Russian forces that must “demonstrate success”, the country’s prime minister has said. Denys Shmyhal told Sky News that the operation would be launched when the time was right.
Volodymyr Zelenskiy has said he discussed European integration, defence matters and sanctions against Russia at a meeting with the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, in Kyiv. He said he expected the EU to soon approve more sanctions on Russia.
The UN secretary general, António Guterres, has said there is currently no prospect of peace between Russia and Ukraine because “both sides are convinced that they can win”. In an interview with the Spanish newspaper El País on Tuesday, Guterres was pessimistic about the EU and the UN’s ability to broker an end to the conflict sparked by Russia’s invasion last year. “Unfortunately, I don’t think peace negotiations are possible at the moment,” he said.
Russia may be building a water pipeline in an attempt to address a water shortage affecting the occupied city of Donetsk. The UK’s Ministry of Defence said in its daily update that water had been a growing issue for Donetsk since the invasion in February 2022. On 28 April, the Russian-installed head of Donetsk said regional supplies were running “dangerously low”. The Siversky-Donets canal that supplies the area is mainly under Ukrainian control, despite Russian attempts to take command of it.
MEPs voted to speed up consideration of a law to boost ammunition production in Europe to the tune of €500m ($550m), due to efforts to supply Ukraine. The decision should see the new legislation – snappily termed the Act in Support of Ammunition Production (Asap) – in place by the end of the year, MEPs and European Commission officials said, Agence France-Presse reports.
Ukraine has received Israeli-made radar defence systems, which have already been deployed in Kyiv as of Monday, according to Israeli media reports. A Lithuanian volunteer organisation known as Blue/Yellow delivered 16 ieMHR models made by Israel’s RADA Electronic Industries last week and three are already in use in the Ukrainian capital, the Israeli daily Ha’aretz said. The systems are designed to detect aerial threats including missiles, rockets, mortar shells, helicopters and drones within up to a 10km (6.2-mile) radius.
The EU must not be intimidated by Moscow’s showcasing of military power but continue to support Ukraine for as long as it takes, the German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, said on Tuesday as Russia marked Victory Day with a parade. “Two thousand two hundred kilometres north-east from here, Putin is parading his soldiers, tanks and missiles today,” Scholz told lawmakers in a speech at the European parliament in Strasbourg.
Germany’s foreign minister has said China could play a decisive role in ending the war in Ukraine. Speaking alongside her Chinese counterpart, Qin Gang, at a press conference in Berlin on Tuesday, Annalena Baerbock said that as a permanent member of the UN security council, China had the power to be influential in the conflict and bring it to an end.
The North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, said Russia “will prevail” in its fight against what he described as “imperialists”, the state news agency KCNA said on Tuesday, in remarks seen to be aimed at Ukraine and its western supporters such as the US. North Korea has forged closer ties with the Kremlin and backed Moscow after it invaded Ukraine last year, including its proclamation later of having annexed parts of Ukraine, which most UN members condemned as illegal.
The leaders of the G7 nations must condemn any threat to use nuclear weapons and vow “decisive action” against such a move when they hold a summit next week in the city of Hiroshima, Ukraine’s envoy to Japan said. Nuclear tension has surged since the start of the conflict with Ukraine as Vladimir Putin has repeatedly warned that Russia is ready to use its nuclear arsenal if necessary to defend its “territorial integrity”.
Updated
Russia may be building a water pipeline in an attempt to address a water shortage affecting the occupied city of Donetsk.
The UK’s Ministry of Defence said in its daily update that water had been a growing issue for Donetsk since the invasion in February 2022.
On 28 April, the Russian-installed head of Donetsk said regional supplies were running “dangerously low”. The Siversky-Donets canal that supplies the area is mainly under Ukrainian control, despite Russian attempts to take command of it. It runs near the city of Bakhmut, which has seen heavy fighting from both sides as Russia tries to take it.
The MoD said: “Russia’s heavy use of indirect artillery to support the capture of Bakhmut … has likely inflicted collateral damage to the canal and other regional water infrastructure, undermining Russia’s efforts to remedy the lack of water that its invasion originally created.
“To compensate for its lack of success in capture and retaining the canal, Russia is likely constructing a water pipeline to mitigate the water shortage within Donetsk city. However, this is unlikely to fully compensate for the occupied region’s reduced access to water.”
Updated
Germany’s foreign minister has said China could play a decisive role in ending the war in Ukraine.
Speaking alongside her Chinese counterpart, Qin Gang, at a press conference in Berlin on Tuesday, Annalena Baerbock said that as a permanent member of the UN security council, China had the power to be influential in the conflict and bring it to an end.
Her comments were rebuffed by Qin, who said China would neither “watch the fire from the other bank” nor “add fuel to the fire”.
Baerbock said the EU was still working on ways to stop sanctions on Russian businesses and individuals being circumvented, including by using indirect companies in other countries.
She was asked whether the measures would include a proposed blacklisting of several Chinese companies. In response she said negotiations were ongoing but that generally it was important to stop restrictions from being bypassed.
Updated
Prigozhin says he has been told Wagner will be deemed 'traitors' if they abandon Bakhmut
Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of the Wagner mercenary force which is fighting Russia’s battle in Bakhmut, has said he was told that he and his mercenaries would be regarded as “traitors” if they abandoned their positions.
Prigozhin threatened to withdraw his troops from the city in east Ukraine, which has been the site of a long-running battle since 2022 to try to capture it, because of a lack of ammunition. He since rowed back on it, but again threatened to do so unless he got it.
His latest comments were released on Russia’s Victory Day, as a military parade took place in the capital, Moscow.
He said: “A combat order came yesterday which clearly stated that if we leave our positions it will be regarded as treason against the motherland. That was the message to us.
“[But] if there is no ammunition, then we will leave our positions and be the ones asking who is really betraying the motherland. Apparently, the one [betraying Russia] is the person who signed it [the order to supply too little ammunition].”
He said his forces would stay in Bakhmut and keep insisting they get their ammo “for a few more days”.
Prigozhin has previously accused the defence ministry of deliberately starving his forces of ammunition. The ministry has said it is working to ensure all battlefield units have what they need.
Late on Monday, Prigozhin said there were signs the ammunition problem was being solved, but on Tuesday he said the size of the shipment had been slashed. “They’ve given us only 10% of what we asked for. We’ve been deceived,” he said.
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Zelenskiy: EU grain restrictions are 'completely unacceptable'
More details from Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s press conference alongside the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, in Kyiv on Tuesday.
He was heavily critical of restrictions on the import of grain into the EU imposed after complaints by a group of five central and eastern European countries. He said the ban was helping Russia.
He said: “All restrictions on our exports are completely unacceptable right now. They only reinforce the abilities of the aggressor. We are waiting for the EU to stop all restrictions as fast as possible.”
Agence France-Presse said he called the measures “severe, even cruel” and “disappointing” in a time of war.
The EU members involved – Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia – have sparred with Ukraine in recent weeks over the issue of grain.
Russia’s invasion last year severely limited the traditional export channel of Ukrainian grain via the Black Sea, necessitating export overland via Ukraine’s neighbours.
Member states agreed to allow the import of certain products from Ukraine without quantitative restrictions, and without customs and official inspections.
But farmers in some of the EU countries protested after a slump in prices, prompting a raft of restrictions and bans on Ukraine’s food exports in response.
Brussels called the bans on imports of grain and other food from Ukraine “unacceptable” while Kyiv is at war with Russia.
Last month, the European Commission reached an agreement with all the parties concerned to ensure the transit of Ukrainian grain exports through EU countries, but with restrictions.
Speaking alongside Zelenskiy, Von der Leyen on Tuesday described the grain situation as “difficult”.
“The immediate priority now is that the grain transit goes seamlessly and at the lowest possible cost outside from Ukraine towards the European Union,” she said.
“This requires a very close cooperation of the different stakeholders. Therefore, we will jointly set up a coordination platform.”
Updated
MEPs voted to speed up consideration of a law to boost ammunition production in Europe to the tune of €500m ($550m), due to efforts to supply Ukraine.
The decision should see the new legislation – snappily termed the Act in Support of Ammunition Production (Asap) – in place by the end of the year, MEPs and European Commission officials said, Agence France-Presse reports.
The spending proposal, initiated by the commission, comes as the bloc seeks to supply 1 million artillery shells to Ukraine over the next 12 months, adding to a stream of military deliveries.
But shifting such quantities of munitions to Ukraine has severely depleted stocks in EU member countries’ arsenals, creating the need for the new ammunition-production act.
The Commission president Ursula von der Leyen, in a joint news conference in Kyiv with the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said the Asap law would “help member states to ramp up the production … and speed up the delivery of ammunition to meet Ukraine’s and member states’ needs”.
The draft legislation calls for tapping the EU’s European defence fund and another mechanism the commission has suggested creating under a July 2022 proposal, called the European Defence Industrial Reinforcement Through Common Procurement Act.
Updated
In a first, Ukraine has received Israeli-made radar defence systems, which have already been deployed in Kyiv as of Monday, according to Israeli media reports.
A Lithuanian volunteer organisation known as Blue/Yellow delivered 16 ieMHR models made by Israel’s RADA Electronic Industries last week and three are already in use in the Ukrainian capital, the Israeli daily Ha’aretz said. The systems are designed to detect aerial threats including missiles, rockets, mortar shells, helicopters and drones within up to a 10km (6.2-mile) radius.
The models function as an alert system, and do not have interception capabilities. According to the Blue/Yellow group, the mobile and stationary systems will be used mainly to protect critical installations and infrastructure.
Israel has provided millions in humanitarian aid to Ukraine since the invasion began last February. However, wary of the need to maintain relations with Russia – which facilitates Israeli operations against Iranian-backed actors in Syria – it had refrained from sending military materiel despite repeated requests from Kyiv and Washington.
The Russian deployment of Iranian-made drones, however, appears to have toughened Israel’s position. The prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, who was reelected in November, had also pledged to reassess the country’s stance on the war.
Israel has offered to assist Kyiv in creating a “life-saving civilian early-warning system” to protect against aerial attack and has reportedly shared intelligence on Iran’s drone programme.
Export licences for two Israeli companies to sell defence systems with a 40km range were approved in March, Israel’s Walla news site reported, citing three Israeli and Ukranian officials.
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Previous Russian Victory Day military parades have seen a fleet of tanks processing through Moscow’s Red Square in a show of military strength.
In contrast on Tuesday, only one was on show, a T-34 Soviet-era tank.
Updated
Volodymyr Zelenskiy has said he discussed European integration, defence matters and sanctions against Russia at a meeting with the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, in Kyiv.
He said he expected the EU to soon approve more sanctions on Russia.
He also expected the EU to remove trade restrictions on grain imports from Ukraine, after the trading bloc put measures in place after complaints from Poland, Hungary, Romania, Slovakia and Bulgaria. Zelenskiy told reporters the moves were “harsh” and “protectionist”.
He added that he expected a “positive appraisal” of Ukraine joining the EU at its summit in June, and he thanked European countries for the promise of 1m artillery shells.
Updated
Ukraine 'carefully' planning counteroffensive against Russia, prime minister says
Ukraine is planning a “very important” counteroffensive against Russian forces that must “demonstrate success”, the country’s prime minister has said.
Denys Shmyhal told Sky News that the operation would be launched when the time was right.
Sky reported:
Mr Shmyhal visited a British military training area on Salisbury Plain to watch British and New Zealand troops helping to train Ukrainian recruits as part of a British-led assistance programme to turn thousands of Ukrainian civilians into soldiers.
Asked whether some of the recruits learning shooting and other skills would be part of the counter-offensive when they returned to Ukraine, the prime minister, speaking in English, said: “On this training base, our future soldiers – guys and girls – are … having all special knowledge and experiences, practical experiences, for the battlefield.”
As for why it was taking so long for the Ukrainian military officially to begin its offensive, Mr Shmyhal said: “We are preparing very carefully because it’s a very important operation and we understand that we should demonstrate success in this operation to our society, to our partners, to all the world [and] to our enemy.”
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EU must not be intimidated by Moscow 'power plays', says German chancellor
The EU must not be intimidated by Moscow’s showcasing of military power but continue to support Ukraine for as long as it takes, the German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, said on Tuesday as Russia marked Victory Day with a parade.
“Two thousand two hundred kilometres north-east from here, Putin is parading his soldiers, tanks and missiles today,” Scholz told lawmakers in a speech at the European parliament in Strasbourg.
“We must not be intimidated by such power plays. Let’s remain steadfast in our support for Ukraine – for as long as it takes.”
Updated
The UN secretary general, António Guterres, has said there is currently no prospect of peace between Russia and Ukraine because “both sides are convinced that they can win”.
In an interview with the Spanish newspaper El País on Tuesday, Guterres was pessimistic about the EU and the UN’s ability to broker an end to the conflict sparked by Russia’s invasion last year.
“Unfortunately, I don’t think peace negotiations are possible at the moment,” he said. “Both sides are convinced they can win. This was a Russian invasion that was against international law and against the United Nations charter, but I don’t see Russia being willing to pull out of the territories it’s occupying at the moment and I think Ukraine is hoping to retake them.”
Guterres said the UN was instead doing what it could “to have a dialogue with both sides to solve concrete problems”, such as Ukrainian grain exports and Russian food and fertiliser exports.
The secretary general played down hopes of Chinese or Brazilian mediation to bring about an end to hostilities.
“I’ve already said that peace negotiations aren’t going to happen at the moment,” he said. “But I hope they will in the future. There was talk of a Russian winter offensive and a Ukrainian one in the spring; it’s clear that both sides are completely involved in the war.”
Updated
Putin tells Russian soldiers 'whole country praying for them'
Vladimir Putin has told Russian soldiers fighting in Ukraine that the “whole country is praying for them”, as he used his Victory Day speech to defend his invasion of Ukraine.
Speaking at the 78th anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany, the Russian president drew historical parallels between the second world war and fighting in Ukraine
“Today, civilisation is again at a decisive, turning point, a real war has been unleashed against us again,” Putin said in a speech that was laced with anger.
“We are proud of the participants of the special military operation. The future of our people depends on you,” he said.
Putin accused the west of “destroying traditional values” and propagandising a “system of robbery and violence.”
“The goal of our enemies, and there is nothing new here, is to achieve the disintegration and destruction of our country,” he said.
More than 500 Russian soldiers who fought in Ukraine were present at the parade, according to state media.
Six leaders of former Soviet states were also present. In a surprise move on Monday, the heads of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Armenia – three post-Soviet countries that Moscow strives to keep in its orbit – announced that they would attend the military parade on Red Square alongside Putin.
“Here is to our victory!,” Putin exclaimed before returning to his seat.
Updated
Vladimir Putin said a “real war” was again being waged against Russia, as he invoked the Soviet Union’s victory in the second world war to say the west was trying to destroy his country.
In a speech on Red Square as part of Russia’s Victory Day celebrations, Putin said Russia wanted to see a peaceful future, and said the entire country was behind what Russia calls the “special military operation” in Ukraine.
Putin said the west had forgotten the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany in 1945.
Updated
Putin gives speech at Moscow Victory Day parade
Vladimir Putin has started his speech as part of Russia’s Victory Day celebrations in Moscow this morning.
The president walked from the Kremlin to Red Square to be greeted by massed ranks of military personnel on Tuesday as the start of a Victory Day celebrations to mark the anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany in the second world war.
Victory Day is one of the most important public holidays in Russia, when people commemorate the huge sacrifices made by the Soviet Union during what is called the Great Patriotic War of 1941-45, in which about 27 million citizens died.
This anniversary is even more emotionally charged as Russia mourns thousands of soldiers killed in the nearly 15-month war in Ukraine, which shows no sign of ending.
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Here are some images from Russia’s Victory Day parade in Moscow today.
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The North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, said Russia “will prevail” in its fight against what he described as “imperialists”, the state news agency KCNA said on Tuesday, in remarks seen to be aimed at Ukraine and its western supporters such as the US.
North Korea has forged closer ties with the Kremlin and backed Moscow after it invaded Ukraine last year, including its proclamation later of having annexed parts of Ukraine, which most UN members condemned as illegal.
“We send warm wishes to you, the Russian army and the people of Russia for their holy fight to preserve world peace,” the agency quoted Kim as telling Vladimir Putin in a letter.
Kim also congratulated Putin on Tuesday’s Victory Day anniversary that celebrates the 1945 defeat of Nazi Germany, saying Russia would continue to protect its “autonomy” and the “stability of the region”.
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The leaders of the G7 nations must condemn any threat to use nuclear weapons and vow “decisive action” against such a move when they hold a summit next week in the city of Hiroshima, Ukraine’s envoy to Japan said.
Nuclear tension has surged since the start of the conflict with Ukraine as Vladimir Putin has repeatedly warned that Russia is ready to use its nuclear arsenal if necessary to defend its “territorial integrity”.
Sergiy Korsunsky also told Reuters that conditions around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant had deteriorated rapidly, a situation the head of the UN’s nuclear power watchdog warned at the weekend had become “potentially dangerous”.
“It should be a very clear statement from specifically those nuclear powers among the G7 that the use of nuclear weapons or nuclear terrorism will not be tolerated and will be met with almost decisive actions from major powers,” he said.
The envoy’s comments came as Russia launched drone, missile and airstrikes on the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, and other cities in the run-up to its cherished Victory Day holiday today that celebrates the defeat of Nazi Germany.
Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, will attend by video link the G7 gathering from 19-21 May in Hiroshima, which in 1945 became the first city to be hit by an atomic bomb, adding significance to his country’s message.
“It’s most important that the summit, when we have a real threat of nuclear terrorism, that summit will be in Hiroshima,” Korsunsky added.
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Von der Leyen arrives in Kyiv
The European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, has arrived in Kyiv, where she will meet Zelenskiy.
Ukraine will be celebrating “Europe Day” along with the countries of the European Union it hopes to join.
Good to be back in Kyiv.
— Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) May 9, 2023
Where the values we hold dear are defended everyday.
So it is such a fitting place to celebrate the day of Europe.
I welcome President @ZelenskyyUa's decision to make 9 May Europe Day also here in Ukraine. pic.twitter.com/MEGOEfgyIq
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This year’s Victory Day in Russia is emotionally charged, Reuters reports, as the country mourns thousands of soldiers killed in the nearly 15-month war in Ukraine that shows no sign of ending.
Russia is also reeling from drone attacks, including one on the Kremlin on 3 May that it said was an attempt to assassinate Vladimir Putin. Ukraine denies involvement.
Putin has repeatedly likened the Ukraine war – which he casts as a battle against Nazi-inspired nationalists – to the challenge the Soviet Union faced when Hitler invaded in 1941.
Ukraine says this is absurd and accuses Russia of behaving like Nazi Germany by waging an unprovoked war of aggression and seizing Ukrainian territory.
There have been reports of fewer soldiers and less military hardware joining this year’s parade as the Ukraine conflict takes a heavy toll on men and equipment.
Authorities nationwide have cancelled the “Immortal Regiment” processions, where people carry portraits of relatives who fought against the Nazis.
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Dame Melinda Simmons has posted a photograph of dawn in Kyiv this morning, after another night of air raid sirens and sheltering.
“I guess one advantage of an early morning air raid is the chance to see this,” she wrote.
Popped out after the all clear to get a look at the sky. I guess one advantage of an early morning air raid is the chance to see this. Clouds parting. New day. We are still here. pic.twitter.com/afF7DSTE0T
— Dame Melinda Simmons (@MelSimmonsFCDO) May 9, 2023
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The US ambassador to Ukraine, Bridget Brink, has condemned this morning’s attack, saying in a tweet: “Ukraine, Europe, and the United States commemorated victory over tyranny yesterday. Russia marks May 9 with more missiles and drones launched toward Ukrainian cities and sleeping civilians.”
Ukraine, Europe, and the United States commemorated victory over tyranny yesterday. Russia marks May 9 with more missiles and drones launched toward Ukrainian cities and sleeping civilians.
— Ambassador Bridget A. Brink (@USAmbKyiv) May 9, 2023
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25 missiles launched across Ukraine overnight
Ukraine’s armed forces have just said in their update that 25 missiles were launched by Russia across Ukraine overnight, with 23 of those shot down.
23 out of 25 cruise missiles launched by the enemy last night were shot down including about a dozen in the Kyiv region. No damage reported yet in Kyiv except for a fire caused by falling debris. Not many citizens in the capital got much sleep.
— Ukraine Front Lines (@EuromaidanPR) May 9, 2023
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Serhiy Popko, the head of the Kyiv’s city military administration, said that according to preliminary information there were no casualties in the attack that was carried out with cruise missiles from the Caspian Sea region.
The Kyiv mayor, Vitali Klitschko, said debris fell on a house in the Holosiivskyi district in the south-west of Kyiv, but there were no casualties and not much damage.
In the often-targeted Shevchenkivskyi district of central Kyiv, debris was found on a road, Reuters reports.
“Kyiv stood up again and will stand up in the future!” Popko said.
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Victory Day begins in Russia as Moscow launches 15 missiles on Kyiv
Russia launched about 15 cruise missiles at Ukraine’s capital on Tuesday, the second attack in as many days, with air defence systems shooting all of them down, officials said, after air raid alerts blared over most of the country.
“As at the front, the plans of the aggressor failed,” Serhiy Popko, head of the Kyiv’s city military administration, said in comments posted on the Telegram messaging app.
Tuesday’s attacks came a day after Russia launched its biggest drone swarm yet in a renewed air campaign unleashed 10 days ago after a lull since early March, Reuters reports.
It also came on Russia’s Victory Day, one its most commemorated public holidays, marking the anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945.
“[They] try to kill as many civilians as possible – on this day,” Popko said.
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Opening summary
Welcome back to our continuing live coverage of the war in Ukraine.
Russia launched 15 cruise missiles at Ukraine’s capital on Tuesday, the second attack in as many days, with air defence systems shooting all of them down, officials said, after air raid alerts blared over most of the country.
“As at the front, the plans of the aggressor failed,” Serhiy Popko, head of the Kyiv’s city military administration, said in comments posted on the Telegram messaging app.
Tuesday’s attacks came on Russia’s Victory Day, one its most commemorated public holidays, marking the anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945.
“[They] try to kill as many civilians as possible – on this day,” Popko said.
Here are the other key recent developments in the war:
A Russian missile strike overnight on Monday destroyed a Red Cross warehouse containing aid in Odesa. The Odesa regional organisation of the Red Cross society said workers and volunteers were not in the 1,000 sq metre unit at the time. “The provision of humanitarian aid and the activities of some projects of the Odesa Regional Organisation of the Red Cross of Ukraine have been suspended,” the statement added.
On Monday at least five people were wounded by Russian strikes on Kyiv, city officials said, as Moscow launched another large-scale attack on Ukraine. Kyiv’s mayor said Russia fired 60 Iranian-made kamikaze drones early on Monday, including 36 at Kyiv, all of which had been shot down. However, debris hit apartments and other buildings, injuring at least five people.
Russia has in effect stopped the Black Sea grain deal, which expires on 18 May, by refusing to register incoming vessels, Ukraine’s reconstruction ministry said. Moscow has threatened to quit the agreement, which is meant to help ease a global food crisis.
About 100,000 Russian soldiers have died in the battle to capture Bakhmut, a Ukrainian general has claimed. Col Serhiy Cherevaty, the spokesperson for the eastern group of the armed forces of Ukraine, told Ukrainian TV they were “rough calculations”. He said: “I am sure that further verification will only show an increase in this number. This is natural as the enemy uses the so-called meat assaults as the main method of waging war.”
Russia’s Wagner mercenary group appears to have ditched plans to withdraw from Bakhmut, saying they had been promised more arms by Moscow. Ukraine’s general in charge of the defence of the besieged eastern Ukrainian city said late on Sunday that Russia had intensified shelling and hoped to take Bakhmut by Russia’s Victory Day on Tuesday.
Russian investigators have charged a man with terrorism offences after a car bombing wounded a prominent Russian nationalist writer. The explosion in Nizhny Novgorod, western Russia, on Saturday, broke both legs of Zakhar Prilepin, an ardent supporter of Russia’s military campaign in Ukraine. A close associate who was in the car with him was killed.
The European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, will meet the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, in Kyiv on Tuesday, the European Commission announced.
The EU could impose penalties on countries helping Moscow dodge western sanctions as part of a drive to close loopholes in the regime of restrictions on the Russian economy. A draft EU regulation seen by the Guardian proposes that non-EU countries could be included in future sanctions if shown to be at “particularly high risk of being used for circumvention against Russia”.
A total of 1,679 people, including 660 children, have been evacuated from areas near the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, a Moscow-installed official in the Russia-controlled parts of the Zaporizhzhia region has said.
Russia’s population has declined by 2 million more than expected over the past three years, according to UK intelligence.
The EU’s executive has proposed blacklisting several Chinese companies and curbing exports to nations seen as involved in bypassing Russia trade restrictions under new sanctions.
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