We are closing this blog now, please see all our Ukraine news here.
Summary
It’s slightly past 11pm in Kyiv. Here’s where things stand:
The Ukrainian defence ministry on Sunday made fun of Moscow’s partial mobilization order, posting on Twitter a compilation of social media videos of Russian police beating and arresting men protesting the call-up. The mockery came as Russia’s two top lawmakers expressed concern about the drive, ordering regional officials to resolve “excesses” that have ignited public anger, triggered demonstrations and prompted military-age men to make for border crossings.
Russophiles rallied across Bulgaria on Sunday in celebration of Russian president Vladimir Putin. Wearing T-shirts showing Russian bears, waving flags with “Z” symbols, and holding pictures of Putin aloft - the Ukraine war has not deterred Bulgarian Russophiles, who rallied in the centre of the country on Sunday to show their support, AFP reports.
Serbia will not recognize Russian annexation ‘referendums’ in occupied Ukrainian areas. “[The annexation referendums] completely contradict our state and national interests, our policy of dealing with territorial integrity, sovereignty and the principle of inviolability of borders,” said Nikola Selakovic, the Serbian foreign minister.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy has renewed calls for Western allies to cut Russian banks from SWIFT, the global banking system that allows banks to send messages to each other. “If we cut Russian banks from SWIFT, we need to cut all Russian banks from SWIFT, but we need to make sure and I will repeat this, some countries do not follow and they are not completely involved in these sanctions. So Russian banks, the whole system, the whole Russian banking system must be cut from SWIFT,” he said.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy has also said that Ukraine has received NASAMS (National Advance Surface-to-Air Missile Systems) air defence missiles from the US in a TV interview. Zelenskiy thanked Joe Biden and confirmed that they now have the systems in Ukraine. The Pentagon said ten days ago that two systems were due to be delivered. However he said he needed more to protect Ukrainian citizens.
The Ukrainian ambassador to the UK has issued a plea for continued “generosity” and “patience” from those offering a home to refugees in Britain. Vadym Prystaiko said Ukraine needs “much more” help from the UK as the country fights back against Moscow’s invasion, with the partial mobilisation of Russian reservists amounting to “something formidable.”
UK prime minister Liz Truss has said its allies France and the US should continue to support Ukraine in the face of increased threats by Vladimir Putin and his mobilisation order. Truss said Putin was escalating the war because he was not winning and had made a mistake.
Protests against the mobilisation order to recruit more people for Russia’s army appear to be continuing in the Russian republic of Dagestan, with videos showing standoffs between police and the public. Video footage posted on social media shows the police arresting demonstrators. The order will see thousands more Russians drafted to be part of the war effort in Ukraine.
Israel will treat 20 Ukrainian soldiers who have been injured in the war with Russia, according to the Israeli ambassador to Ukraine. The first two patients will arrive on Sunday for treatment at Sheba Medical Center near Tel Aviv, said envoy Michael Brodsky.
The US and its allies will act “decisively” if Russia uses a tactical nuclear weapon in Ukraine, its national security adviser Jake Sullivan said on Sunday, reaffirming the Joe Biden White House’s previous response to mounting concerns that Vladimir Putin’s threats are in increased danger of being realised. “We have communicated directly, privately and at very high levels to the Kremlin that any use of nuclear weapons will be met with catastrophic consequences for Russia, that the US and our allies will respond decisively, and we have been clear and specific about what that will entail,” Sullivan told CBS.
Aiden Aslin, one of the five British nationals released by Russia earlier this week, has given his first media interview after returning to the UK. He told the Sun on Sunday that he was kept in solitary confinement for five months and “treated worse than a dog.”
Long queues of vehicles are at border crossing between Russia and Mongolia as people continue to flee the Kremlin’s partial mobilisation order, AFP reports. The head of a checkpoint in the town of Altanbulag told the agency that more than 3,000 Russians had entered Mongolia via the crossing since Wednesday.
Updated
