Evening summary
The time is just coming up to 9pm. Here is a round-up of the day’s stories:
Ukraine’s foreign minister told a top Chinese envoy at talks in Kyiv on Wednesday that Kyiv would not accept any proposals to end the war with Russia that involved it losing territory or freezing the conflict, the Ukrainian foreign ministry said. Li Hui, China’s special representative for Eurasian affairs and former ambassador to Russia, visited Ukraine on 16-17 May and met Ukrainian foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba, the ministry said in a statement.
The Ukrainian military spokesperson Serhiy Cherevatyi has claimed on television that the country had made new advances on Wednesday in heavy fighting near the fiercely contested eastern city of Bakhmut. Reuters quotes Cherevatyi saying: “We are successfully conducting a defensive operation, counterattacking and during this day our units have penetrated up to 500 metres in some parts of the Bakhmut front.”
Britain can support Ukraine’s military by enabling other countries that wish to supply fighter jets and other military equipment to Ukraine to do so, the British defence minister has said. “What we can, obviously contribute, is training and support, again, within limits, because we don’t have F16 pilots,” Ben Wallace said at a press conference in Berlin with his German counterpart when asked about international plans to send jets to Ukraine.
The Dutch foreign minister said there was no progress to report in international talks on the possible delivery of F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine. “We haven’t reached a solution yet,” Wopke Hoekstra said on Wednesday in response to questions about earlier announced talks of the Dutch with the UK, Denmark, Belgium and other partners to possibly deliver F-16’s to Ukraine.
The Ukraine Black Sea grain deal has been extended for two more months, Turkish president Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday, one day before Russia could have quit the pact over obstacles to its grain and fertiliser exports. Erdogan’s comments, made in a speech to officials of his ruling AK Party, came after the last ship left a Ukrainian port under the deal, which allows for the safe export via the Black Sea of Ukrainian grain and was due to expire on Thursday.
UN secretary-general António Guterres on Wednesday welcomed the extension of a deal allowing the safe Black Sea export of Ukraine grain for another 60 days, noting that outstanding issues remain that Russia, Ukraine, Turkey and the UN will continue to discuss. “The continuation is good news for the world,” Guterres told reporters.
The German government is looking into mechanisms to secure war damages for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, including the possibility of using Russian assets to compensate the country, a government spokesperson said. Chancellor Olaf Scholz was among European leaders who agreed to set up a register of damages for the Ukraine war during a meeting in Reykjavik this week, Reuters reported.
Hungary will block the next tranche of European Union military support for Ukraine and any new sanctions package against Russia unless Kyiv removes Hungarian bank OTP from its list of war sponsors, Hungarian foreign minister Peter Szijjarto said. Hungary did not approve the disbursement of the next tranche of military support for Ukraine provided under the EU’s European Peace Facility (EPF), a government spokesperson’s office said on Tuesday, Reuters reported.
Belarus, one of Russia’s closest allies, has partially restored controls on its border with its neighbour, Belarusian foreign minister Sergei Aleinik said Wednesday. This is the first time in 28 years that there have been checks at the 770-mile border, AP reported. According to Aleinik, the introduction of border controls aimed to avoid the entry of third-country nationals into Belarus, ahead of the implementation of an intergovernmental agreement on the mutual recognition of visas.
The number of Kazakhs who believe neighbouring Russia may invade the former Soviet republic has doubled over the past six months as the war in Ukraine continues, an opinion poll by Kazakh researchers showed on Wednesday. The central Asian nation of 20 million has close historical, economic and security ties with Moscow, but has maintained neutrality in the Ukrainian conflict, refusing to recognise Russia’s annexation of parts of Ukraine’s territory, Reuters reported.
Ukraine denied on Wednesday that a Russian hypersonic missile had destroyed a US-made Patriot missile defence system during an airstrike on Kyiv. Russia’s defence ministry made the assertion on Tuesday after an overnight air attack on the Ukrainian capital. Two US officials later said a Patriot system had probably suffered damage but that it did not appear to have been destroyed. “I want to say: do not worry about the fate of the Patriot,” Ukrainian air force spokesperson Yuriy Ihnat told Ukrainian television. He ruled out the possibility of a Russian “Kinzhal” missile knocking out a Patriot system.
Ukraine had said it had neutralised the Kremlin’s most potent hypersonic weapon, shooting down six out of six Kinzhal missiles launched at Kyiv during a sweeping and “exceptionally intense” night-time attack. It was the first time Ukraine has claimed to have struck an entire volley of Kinzhals, and if confirmed would demonstrate the effectiveness of Kyiv’s newly deployed western-supplied air defences.
The attack on Kyiv was one of the biggest since the 2022 invasion and followed Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s three-day trip to Europe. During meetings in London, Berlin, Paris and Rome, Ukraine’s president secured promises of more military assistance, including long-range attack drones from the UK.
Suspilne, Ukraine’s state broadcaster, reports that the Security Service of Ukraine announced that it had identified six residents of Kyiv who filmed the work of the Ukrainian air defence forces and posted photos and videos on social networks. The SBU said it had also blocked webcams that automatically broadcast in real time from Kyiv, which had captured images of the air defence in action.
Denis Pushilin, the Russian-imposed leader of Ukraine’s partially occupied Donetsk region, has posted to Telegram to say there have been civilian casualties in the area this morning after Ukrainian shelling.
Suspilne reports that overnight Russian troops launched a rocket attack on Mykolaiv and one person was injured. A shopping centre, a car showroom and an industrial facility were partially destroyed; residential buildings and shops were damaged. It said that Wednesday morning the Russian Federation shelled a hospital in Beryslav, Kherson region. There is damage, but no one was hurt.
Russia’s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, has said the war in Ukraine may end due to the US abandoning its allies, as he said it had done before in Afghanistan.
Bank accounts of Finland’s embassies in Russia have been frozen, the Finnish foreign ministry said on Wednesday.
China has notified several foreign missions in Beijing not to display “politicised propaganda” on their buildings, diplomats told Reuters, adding the request appeared aimed at Ukrainian flags they have displayed since Russia’s invasion.
The Kremlin said it would not enter into “hypothetical discussions” on what Russia will do if the Black Sea grain deal lapses on Thursday.
That’s it from me, Tom Ambrose, and indeed the Ukraine live blog for today. Thanks for following along.
Belarus, one of Russia’s closest allies, has partially restored controls on its border with its neighbour, Belarusian foreign minister Sergei Aleinik said Wednesday.
This is the first time in 28 years that there have been checks at the 770-mile border, AP reported.
According to Aleinik, the introduction of border controls aimed to avoid the entry of third-country nationals into Belarus, ahead of the implementation of an intergovernmental agreement on the mutual recognition of visas.
However, human rights activists think the border checks will target Russian men trying to avoid mobilization into the Russian army.
Aleinik said that checks on people crossing the Belarusian-Russian border are carried out by Belarusian border guards in close cooperation with their Russian counterparts. “It’s not really control, it’s more like monitoring the situation on the border,” Aleinik told reporters in Moscow.
UN secretary-general António Guterres on Wednesday welcomed the extension of a deal allowing the safe Black Sea export of Ukraine grain for another 60 days, noting that outstanding issues remain that Russia, Ukraine, Turkey and the UN will continue to discuss.
“The continuation is good news for the world,” Guterres told reporters.
“Looking ahead, we hope that exports of food and fertilisers, including ammonia, from the Russian Federation and Ukraine will be able to reach global supply chains safely and predictably.”
Ukraine 'would not accept' proposals ceding territory to Russia
Ukraine’s foreign minister told a top Chinese envoy at talks in Kyiv on Wednesday that Kyiv would not accept any proposals to end the war with Russia that involved it losing territory or freezing the conflict, the Ukrainian foreign ministry said.
Li Hui, China’s special representative for Eurasian affairs and former ambassador to Russia, visited Ukraine on 16-17 May and met Ukrainian foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba, the ministry said in a statement.
The Guardian’s defence editor Dan Sabbagh has posted an interesting thread on Twitter, looking at what the success of Ukraine’s counteroffensive operation may look like.
Ukraine's forces are broadly ready to start a counter offensive says a Western official, speaking on condition of anonymity. Key point is the "cognitive effect" any attack has on the Kremlin. It is "more important, arguably than cleaving through Russian lines" they add
— Dan Sabbagh (@dansabbagh) May 17, 2023
What does success look like for 🇺🇦? Ukrainians have to be "able to show that they are having momentum" + it has to be "more than piecemeal penny packets of forces going forward" the official said. So, perhaps (and this is my inference) threatening to reach Sea of Azov...
— Dan Sabbagh (@dansabbagh) May 17, 2023
Russians have 200,000 + troops still in Ukraine, but lines are thinly held. One Russian brigade lined up against one Ukrainian atm. Russia has "limited reserves" but its defensive lines are "potentially formidable" the official added.
— Dan Sabbagh (@dansabbagh) May 17, 2023
No comments on whether a Patriot was damaged in the attack on Kyiv in the small hours of Tuesday. But "potentially up to six" Kinzhal hypersonic missiles were knocked out, a weapon Putin would have considered unstoppable. Potentially up to doing a bit of lifting there, however...
— Dan Sabbagh (@dansabbagh) May 17, 2023
Ukraine welcomes the extension of the Black Sea grain export deal but Russia must not be allowed to sabotage the agreement and must stop using food “as a weapon and blackmail,” a senior Ukrainian official said on Wednesday.
“We welcome the continuation of the Initiative, but emphasise that it must work effectively,” deputy prime minister Oleksandr Kubrakov said on Facebook.
The United Nations and Turkey brokered the Black Sea deal for an initial 120 days in July last year to help tackle a global food crisis that has been aggravated by Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, one of the world’s leading grain exporters.
Turkish president Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday the deal had been extended for two more months.
Black Sea grain deal extended for two more months, Erdoğan says
The Ukraine Black Sea grain deal has been extended for two more months, Turkish president Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday, one day before Russia could have quit the pact over obstacles to its grain and fertiliser exports.
Erdogan’s comments, made in a speech to officials of his ruling AK Party, came after the last ship left a Ukrainian port under the deal, which allows for the safe export via the Black Sea of Ukrainian grain and was due to expire on Thursday.
Updated
The Ukrainian military spokesperson Serhiy Cherevatyi has claimed on television that the country had made new advances on Wednesday in heavy fighting near the fiercely contested eastern city of Bakhmut.
Reuters quotes Cherevatyi saying: “We are successfully conducting a defensive operation, counterattacking and during this day our units have penetrated up to 500 metres in some parts of the Bakhmut front.”
He also said that Ukrainian forces had seen no sign of the Russians experiencing “shell hunger”, despite accusations in recent days by Wagner mercenary group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin that his forces in the city were being deprived of ammunition by the Russian Federation’s regular armed forces.
Cherevatyi said: “The enemy is seeking to take over the city at will, striking with all systems and calibres. There can be no talk of any kind of shell hunger. They are moving new units there, primarily paratroopers, in an attempt to achieve some kind of intermediate success.”
Updated
Suspilne, Ukraine's state broadcaster, citing the local authority in Kherson region, has reported that in Mala Oleksandrivka a man has been injured by a landmine. It stated “due to the detonation of the explosives, he lost part of his leg, currently the injured person is in the hospital.”
The head of the EU body responsible for enlargement warned aspiring member Bosnia-Herzegovina on Wednesday that EU allies do not visit Russia, referring to an announced visit to Moscow by the Bosnian Serb nationalist leader Milorad Dodik.
The country, which applied to join the EU in 2016, was granted candidate status last December after concern the war in Ukraine may destabilise the Balkan region.
“We need Bosnia-Herzegovina to be our ally,” EU enlargement commissioner Oliver Varhelyi told a news conference in Sarajevo, referring to the need for a common front over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“Our allies don’t go to Russia, that is my message,” Varhelyi said in response to a reporter’s question on Dodik’s visit, Reuters reports. “Who wants to be our ally, does not go to Russia.”
Updated
A little more detail on the Black Sea grain initiative here, which Russia is insisting it will withdraw from tomorrow. Reuters reminds us that Russia has said there will be no extension unless the west removes obstacles to the export of Russian grain and fertiliser, including the reconnection of Russian Agricultural Bank (Rosselkhozbank) to the Swift payment system.
Other demands include the resumption of supplies of agricultural machinery and parts, lifting restrictions on insurance and reinsurance, the resumption of the Togliatti-Odesa ammonia pipeline and the unblocking of assets and the accounts of Russian companies involved in food and fertiliser exports.
In effect Russia wants to carve out agricultural exemptions from the regime of sanctions imposed on it after it launched the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
There is an open question though about whether Ukraine could attempt to continue exports without the deal being in place. Ukraine’s ports were blockaded until the agreement was reached in July last year.
Reuters suggest that insurance rates, which are already high, would be likely to climb and shipowners could prove reluctant to allow their vessels to enter a war zone without Russia’s agreement.
Insurance industry sources say that for now there is no change in cover arrangements although conditions could alter quickly. War risk insurance policies need to be renewed every seven days for ships, costing thousands of dollars.
Ukraine has been exporting substantial volumes of grain through eastern EU countries by land since the conflict began. There have, however, been many logistical challenges including different rail gauges.
Another issue is that the flow of Ukraine grain through the eastern EU has caused unrest among farmers in the region who say it has undercut local supplies and been purchased by mills, leaving them without a market for their crops.
The EU earlier this month set restrictions until June 5 on imports of Ukrainian wheat, corn, rapeseed and sunflower seed to ease the excess supply of these grains in Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia.
Hungary will block the next tranche of European Union military support for Ukraine and any new sanctions package against Russia unless Kyiv removes Hungarian bank OTP from its list of war sponsors, Hungarian foreign minister Peter Szijjarto said.
Hungary did not approve the disbursement of the next tranche of military support for Ukraine provided under the EU’s European Peace Facility (EPF), a government spokesperson’s office said on Tuesday, Reuters reported.
The Dutch foreign minister said there was no progress to report in international talks on the possible delivery of F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine.
“We haven’t reached a solution yet,” Wopke Hoekstra said on Wednesday in response to questions about earlier announced talks of the Dutch with the UK, Denmark, Belgium and other partners to possibly deliver F-16’s to Ukraine.
“When we are ready to cross that bridge and are ready to communicate this, we will.”
On Tuesday the British prime minister, Rishi Sunak, said he had agreed with his Dutch counterpart, Mark Rutte, to “work to build an international coalition to provide Ukraine with combat air capabilities, supporting with everything from training to procuring F-16 jets.”
Rutte earlier this month during a visit by Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, to the Netherlands said talks on a potential donation of F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine were progressing, Reuters reported.
Updated
We can enable others who wish to supply Ukraine with jets, says UK defence secretary
Britain can support Ukraine’s military by enabling other countries that wish to supply fighter jets and other military equipment to Ukraine to do so, the British defence ministerhas said.
“What we can, obviously contribute, is training and support, again, within limits, because we don’t have F16 pilots,” Ben Wallace said at a press conference in Berlin with his German counterpart when asked about international plans to send jets to Ukraine.
“We can do, what we’ve done throughout this … which is we can enable other people who wish to,” he added. “Any nation that comes to us and says we want to get tanks into Ukraine … we will help with that process.”
Meanwhile, the German defence minister, Boris Pistorius, told reporters Germany did not have the training capacity or military equipment to actively contribute to a British-Dutch initiative to supply Ukraine with fighter jets.
“We cannot play an active role in such an alliance, in such a coalition, because we have neither the training capacities, the competencies or the planes,” Pistorius said.
During a summit of European leaders in Reykjavik this week, Britain said it was working with the Netherlands to forge an international coalition to help Ukraine obtain F-16 jets from its allies, though Britain, Germany and the US had so far balked at supplying their own planes.
Updated
Russia’s defence ministry said on Wednesday its forces were continuing to fight to capture western parts of the town of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine, the RIA Novosti news agency reported.
It also said its forces had hit a large ammunition depot in the Ukrainian city of Mykolayiv overnight.
Updated
The bank accounts of Finland’s embassy and consulate in Russia are frozen and the Nordic country has not had an explanation from its neighbour, the Finnish foreign ministry said on Wednesday.
Finland, which has a long border with Russia, formally joined Nato on 4 April in a historic policy shift brought on by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine that drew a threat from Moscow of countermeasures.
The Finnish foreign minister, Pekka Haavisto, told reporters the bank accounts had stopped working on 27 April, Reuters reported.
“The accounts of Finnish embassies have been frozen in Russia and at the moment they cannot be used,” Haavisto said, adding the missions had been using their cash reserves to pay bills.
Haavisto said Finland had sent Russian authorities a notice on 4 May requesting that Russia ensure the missions’ ability to function in Russia and asking for an official explanation for the freeze, but it had not received one so far.
Updated
The number of Kazakhs who believe neighbouring Russia may invade the former Soviet republic has doubled over the past six months as the war in Ukraine continues, an opinion poll by Kazakh researchers showed on Wednesday.
The central Asian nation of 20 million has close historical, economic and security ties with Moscow, but has maintained neutrality in the Ukrainian conflict, refusing to recognise Russia’s annexation of parts of Ukraine’s territory, Reuters reported.
According to the poll of 1,100 respondents, carried out by non-government organisations MediaNet and PaperLab between 3-12 May and , almost 60% are also neutral with regards to the war, 12.8% support Russia and 21.1% support Ukraine, figures similar to those produced by a similar poll last December.
However, the number of people who think Russia may also invade Kazakhstan has risen to 15% from 8.3% in the previous poll.
Nearly a third of respondents said their perception of Russia had worsened because of the war, over a half said it had not changed and only 4.7% said it had improved.
Updated
The German government is looking into mechanisms to secure war damages for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, including the possibility of using Russian assets to compensate the country, a government spokesperson said.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz was among European leaders who agreed to set up a register of damages for the Ukraine war during a meeting in Reykjavik this week, Reuters reported.
Scholz also said his government wanted pragmatic measures to prevent the circumvention of sanctions imposed on Russia, appearing to temper US calls for a more wide-ranging ban on exports.
US officials expect G7 members to agree to adjust their approach to sanctions so that, at least for certain categories of goods, all exports are automatically banned unless they are on a list of approved items.
“We’re trying to promote good, pragmatic further development,” Scholz said when asked about the issue on the sidelines of the Council of Europe meeting in Iceland. He hoped an agreement will be reached “without there being any major system changes”.
Updated
Summary of the day so far …
Ukraine denied on Wednesday that a Russian hypersonic missile had destroyed a US-made Patriot missile defence system during an airstrike on Kyiv. Russia’s defence ministry made the assertion on Tuesday after an overnight air attack on the Ukrainian capital. Two US officials later said a Patriot system had probably suffered damage but that it did not appear to have been destroyed. “I want to say: do not worry about the fate of the Patriot,” Ukrainian air force spokesperson Yuriy Ihnat told Ukrainian television. He ruled out the possibility of a Russian “Kinzhal” missile knocking out a Patriot system.
Ukraine had said it had neutralised the Kremlin’s most potent hypersonic weapon, shooting down six out of six Kinzhal missiles launched at Kyiv during a sweeping and “exceptionally intense” night-time attack. It was the first time Ukraine has claimed to have struck an entire volley of Kinzhals, and if confirmed would demonstrate the effectiveness of Kyiv’s newly deployed western-supplied air defences.
The attack on Kyiv was one of the biggest since the 2022 invasion and followed Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s three-day trip to Europe. During meetings in London, Berlin, Paris and Rome, Ukraine’s president secured promises of more military assistance, including long-range attack drones from the UK.
Suspilne, Ukraine’s state broadcaster, reports that the Security Service of Ukraine announced that it had identified six residents of Kyiv who filmed the work of the Ukrainian air defence forces and posted photos and videos on social networks. The SBU said it had also blocked webcams that automatically broadcast in real time from Kyiv, which had captured images of the air defence in action.
Denis Pushilin, the Russian-imposed leader of Ukraine’s partially occupied Donetsk region, has posted to Telegram to say there have been civilian casualties in the area this morning after Ukrainian shelling.
Suspilne reports that overnight Russian troops launched a rocket attack on Mykolaiv and one person was injured. A shopping centre, a car showroom and an industrial facility were partially destroyed; residential buildings and shops were damaged. It said that Wednesday morning the Russian Federation shelled a hospital in Beryslav, Kherson region. There is damage, but no one was hurt.
Russia’s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, has said the war in Ukraine may end due to the US abandoning its allies, as he said it had done before in Afghanistan.
Bank accounts of Finland’s embassies in Russia have been frozen, the Finnish foreign ministry said on Wednesday.
China has notified several foreign missions in Beijing not to display “politicised propaganda” on their buildings, diplomats told Reuters, adding the request appeared aimed at Ukrainian flags they have displayed since Russia’s invasion.
The Kremlin said it would not enter into “hypothetical discussions” on what Russia will do if the Black Sea grain deal lapses on Thursday.
Updated
The Kremlin said it would not enter into “hypothetical discussions” on what Russia will do if the Black Sea grain deal lapses on Thursday.
Moscow has said it will quit the deal, under which Russia allows Ukraine to export grain safely from Black Sea ports despite the war raging on land, on Thursday unless a list of demands for its own agricultural trade are met.
“I don’t think any hypothetical discussions are appropriate here,” Reuters reports Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters in a briefing.
“As of now, the decision hasn’t been announced, as you know. You’ll just have to wait until it is announced.”
Ukraine’s defence ministry has pubished a short video clip which it claims shows “the unbroken spirit of Bakhmut”.
In the video a member of service personnel can be seen playing a piano in a heavily damaged building, which the sound of explosions can be heard in the background.
The unbroken spirit of Bakhmut.
— Defense of Ukraine (@DefenceU) May 17, 2023
🎥 @DPSU_ua pic.twitter.com/pJR8W3vEgA
The Guardian has not independently verified the location or time of the video.
Pushilin claims there are civilian casualties in occupied Donetsk after Ukrainian strikes
Denis Pushilin, the Russian-imposed leader of Ukraine’s partially occupied Donetsk region, has posted to Telegram to say there have been civilian casualties in the area this morning. He wrote:
Since the morning the enemy has been fiercely shelling the cities of the republic [occupied Donetsk]. Unfortunately, there are already casualties among the civilian population – in the Petrovskyi district of Donetsk, one person was killed at a public transport stop and four more civilians were injured.
In Yasynuvata, the enemy used rocket artillery on the city blocks. At the moment, five victims among the civilian population are known.
The wounded were taken to medical facilities, they are provided with all the necessary assistance.
As a result of the shelling, five residential buildings and several infrastructure facilities were damaged.
The claims have not been independently verified. Donetsk is one of the region of Ukraine which the Russian Federation has claimed to annex.
Marija Pejčinović Burić, secretary general of the Council of Europe, which is meeting in Reykjavik, Iceland, has posted an image of Ukraine’s prime minister Denys Shmyhal attending the event, alongside the message:
There cannot be a just and sustainable peace without accountability.
There cannot be a just & sustainable peace without accountability / Il ne peut y avoir de paix juste et durable sans responsabilité @coe pic.twitter.com/TdMQ2aNXLF
— Marija Pejčinović Burić (@MarijaPBuric) May 17, 2023
Ukraine denies Russian claim that hypersonic missile destroyed a Patriot defence system
Ukraine denied on Wednesday that a Russian hypersonic missile had destroyed a US-made Patriot missile defence system during an airstrike on Kyiv.
Russia’s defence ministry made the assertion on Tuesday after an overnight air attack on the Ukrainian capital. Two US officials later said a Patriot system had probably suffered damage but that it did not appear to have been destroyed.
“I want to say: do not worry about the fate of the Patriot,” Ukrainian air force spokesperson Yuriy Ihnat told Ukrainian television.
He ruled out the possibility of a Russian “Kinzhal” missile knocking out a Patriot system.
“Destroying the system with some kind of ‘Kinzhal’, it’s impossible. Everything that they say there, it can remain in their propaganda archive,” Reuters reports he said.
Bank accounts of Finland’s embassies in Russia have been frozen, the Finnish foreign ministry said on Wednesday.
A ministry spokesperson told Reuters the bank accounts of both Finland’s Moscow embassy and its St Petersburg consulate were not functioning.
Suspilne, Ukraine's state broadcaster, reports that the Security Service of Ukraine announced that they had identified six residents of Kyiv who filmed the work of the Ukrainian air defence forces and posted photos and videos on social networks. The SBU said it had also blocked webcams that automatically broadcast in real time from Kyiv, which had captured images of the air defence in action.
Russia’s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, has said the war in Ukraine may end due to the US abandoning its allies, as he said it had done before in Afghanistan.
Tass reports that in an interview with the Tsargrad TV channel, the head of Russian diplomacy recalled the US “abandoned the Afghan leadership on which they had relied during the 20-year US occupation of that country.”
“I hope that modern politicians pay attention to history,” Tass reports Lavrov said. “Political scientists write a lot about this. They predict that all this will continue as long as the Americans need it. These people [the Kyiv government] will be in power as long as they [the US] need them,” the Russian foreign minister said.
Updated
Suspilne, Ukraine's state broadcaster, offers this roundup of overnight developments from Ukraine:
At night, Russian troops launched a rocket attack on Mykolaiv: one person was injured. A shopping centre, a car showroom and an industrial facility were partially destroyed; residential buildings and shops were damaged.
In the morning, the Russian Federation shelled a hospital in Beryslav, Kherson region. There is damage, no one was hurt. Yesterday, the Russian army fired more than 400 projectiles in the Kherson region – seven people were injured.
On 16 May, as a result of Russian shelling in Donetsk region, one person died and seven were injured. Three people were injured in the Zaporizhzhia region yesterday.
The claims have not been independently verified.
There has been a lot of talk this week about Russia’s “hypersonic” missile, the Kinzhal, and whether the US-supplied Patriot system has the capability of shooting them down. Reuters has this little explainer today, writing:
The Patriot system was designed before hypersonic weapons were sent to battlefield and manufacturer Raytheon has not said publicly that the is effective against a missile flying at hypersonic speeds (anything above five times the speed of sound). While the US said that the Patriot system brought down last week’s Khinzal missile, it was not clear if that missile was traveling at hypersonic speed at the time.
While Russia’s Kinzhal missile may reach speeds of up to 7,600 mph (12,350 kph), “Russia’s designation of the Kinzhal as a ‘hypersonic’ missile is somewhat misleading, as nearly all ballistic missiles reach hypersonic speeds (i.e. above Mach 5) at some point during their flight,” the Center for Strategic and International Studies said in a March 2022 report.
China has notified several foreign missions in Beijing not to display “politicised propaganda” on their buildings, diplomats told Reuters, adding the request appeared aimed at Ukrainian flags they have displayed since Russia’s invasion.
Several foreign missions in China raised the Ukrainian flag, or displayed its image in posters and lights, following the February 2022 invasion that sparked international condemnation of Russia, a close ally of China.
“We and others got a letter calling on embassies and representative offices to refrain from using the outer walls of their buildings for ‘politicised propaganda’,” one diplomat, whose embassy is displaying a Ukraine flag image, told Reuters on condition of anonymity.
The diplomat said the mission did not intend to comply with the notification.
Three other Beijing-based diplomats confirmed that there had been a notification, adding that while it did not directly mention the Ukraine flag it was clearly aimed at that.
A US-made Patriot missile defence system being used by Ukraine probably suffered some damage from a Russian strike, two US officials told Reuters on Tuesday, adding that it did not appear to have been destroyed.
The Patriot system is one of an array of sophisticated air defence units supplied by the West to help Ukraine repel a Russian campaign of air strikes that has targeted critical infrastructure, power facilities and other sites.
One US official, speaking to Reuters on the condition of anonymity and citing initial information, said Washington and Kyiv were already talking about the best way to repair the system and at this point it did not appear the system would have to be removed from Ukraine.
The official added that the United States would have a better understanding in the coming days and information could change over time. The Guardian could not independently verify the truth of the comments.
The Patriot is considered to be one of the most advanced US air defence systems, including against aircraft, cruise missiles and ballistic missiles. It typically includes launchers along with radar and other support vehicles.
Updated
And these are the demands Russia has made, per Reuters:
In a letter to UN officials on 16 March, Russia’s UN ambassador, Vassily Nebenzia, said Moscow would only consider extending the Ukraine Black Sea grain export deal beyond 18 May if the following “systemic problems” were resolved:
Returning the Russian Agricultural Bank (Rosselkhozbank) to the Swift payment system.
A resumption of supplies to Russia of agricultural machinery and spare parts.
Lifting restrictions on insurance and access to ports for Russian ships and cargo.
The resumption of an ammonia pipeline from Russia’s Togliatti to Odesa in Ukraine.
Unblocking accounts and financial activities of Russian fertiliser companies.
Updated
Reuters has this useful explainer on what falls under the Black Sea grain deal, which is under threat after Russia said it will withdraw from the deal if its demands aren’t met.
Under the deal:
Russia, Ukraine, Turkey and the United Nations set up a Joint Coordination Centre (JCC) in Istanbul, staffed by officials from each party.
Ukraine can safely export grain and related foodstuffs and fertilizers, including ammonia, from the ports of Odesa, Chernomorsk and Yuzhny.
All activities in Ukrainian territorial waters are under the authority and responsibility of Ukraine.
The parties agreed not to undertake any attacks against merchant vessels and other civilian vessels and port facilities covered by the deal.
To prevent provocations and incidents, movement of vessels transiting the maritime humanitarian corridor is monitored remotely. No military ships, aircraft or drones can approach within 10 nautical miles of the corridor without JCC authorisation.
All merchant vessels are subject to inspection inbound and outbound from Ukraine by a JCC team in Turkish harbours.
The agreement was agreed to remain in effect for 120 days and be extended automatically for the same period, unless one of the parties notifies the other of the intent to terminate the initiative, or to modify it.
The deal was extended in November for 120 days and then in March for at least 60 days.
Zelenskiy welcomes ‘good start’ to F-16 fighter jets coalition announced by UK and Netherlands
Zelenskiy has welcomed a pledge by the UK and the Netherlands to build an “international coalition” to provide fighter jet support for Ukraine, and France’s support for the coalition, as a “good start”.
Reacting to the pledge in his nightly address, Zelensky called it “a good start to the coalition”, adding: “Thank you all.”
UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte on Tuesday pledged to build an “international coalition” to provide fighter jet support for Ukraine.
Western nations have balked so far at providing advanced jets to help Ukraine take command of the skies against Russia, AFP reports.
Sunak said on Monday however the UK was preparing to open a flight school to train its pilots. French President Emmanuel Macron at the same time offered to train Ukrainian fighter pilots but ruled out sending war planes to Kyiv.
You can read more about the coalition here:
Last ship to leave Ukraine under current Black Sea grain deal
The last ship is due to leave a port in Ukraine today under a deal allowing the safe Black Sea export of Ukraine grain, a UN spokesperson says.
The ship’s passage begins a day before Russia could quit the pact over obstacles to its grain and fertiliser exports, Reuters reports.
The United Nations and Turkey brokered the Black Sea deal for an initial 120 days in July last year to help tackle a global food crisis that has been aggravated by Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, one of the world’s leading grain exporters.
Moscow agreed to extend the Black Sea pact for a further 120 days in November, but then in March it agreed to a 60 day extension – until May 18 – unless a list of demands regarding its own agricultural exports was met.
To convince Russia in July to allow Black Sea grain exports, the United Nations agreed at the same time to help Moscow with its own agricultural shipments for three years.
“There are still a lot of open questions regarding our part of the deal. Now a decision will have to be taken,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Tuesday, according to Russian media.
Opening summary
Welcome back to our live coverage of the war in Ukraine, with me, Helen Sullivan.
Our top story this morning: the last ship is due to leave a port in Ukraine today under the deal allowing the safe Black Sea export of grain a day before Russia could quit the pact over obstacles to its grain and fertiliser exports.
And Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has responded to the announcement from the UK and the Netherlands that they would build an “international coalition” to help procure F-16 fighter jets for the country, a move that France supported, calling it a “good start”.
We’ll have more on these stories shortly. In the meantime here are the key recent developments:
Ukraine said it had neutralised the Kremlin’s most potent hypersonic weapon, shooting down six out of six Kinzhal missiles launched at Kyiv during a sweeping and “exceptionally intense” night-time attack. It is the first time Ukraine has claimed to have struck an entire volley of Kinzhals, and if confirmed would demonstrate the effectiveness of Kyiv’s newly deployed western-supplied air defences.
The attack on Kyiv was one of the biggest since the 2022 invasion and followed Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s three-day trip to Europe. During meetings in London, Berlin, Paris and Rome, Ukraine’s president secured promises of more military assistance, including long-range attack drones from the UK.
European leaders convening in Iceland for two days pledged to hold Russia to account and unveiled a mechanism to track the losses and damage inflicted by Moscow’s forces.
The British and Dutch prime ministers, Rishi Sunak and Mark Rutte, have agreed to build an “international coalition” to help procure F-16 fighter jets for Ukraine, the British government has announced.
The assembly in a pro-Russian region of Moldova has endorsed the election of a local leader intent on improving ties with Moscow, setting up a clash with the pro-European national government.
Ukrainian forces have taken back about 20 sq km (7.5 sq miles) of territory from Russian forces around the eastern city of Bakhmut in recent days, the Ukrainian deputy defence minister Hanna Maliar said. She said on the Telegram messaging app that Russian forces had advanced “somewhat” in the city of Bakhmut itself, and that heavy fighting continued.
The head of Ukraine’s supreme court, Vsevolod Kniaziev, has been arrested as part of the biggest bribery investigation in Ukraine’s history. Police detained Knaiziev as part of a $2.7m bribery inquiry, as Kyiv pursues anti-graft measures required for closer integration with the EU.
Six African leaders plan to travel to Russia and Ukraine “as soon as is possible” to help find a resolution to the war, the South African president, Cyril Ramaphosa, has said. The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, and his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, had “agreed to receive the mission and the African heads of state, in both Moscow and Kyiv”, Ramaphosa said.
A bill banning Russian uranium imports to the US gained momentum on Tuesday by passing a committee in the US House of Representatives. After Russia invaded Ukraine, the US banned imports of its oil and imposed a price cap with other western countries on sea-borne exports of its crude and oil products, but not uranium.
About 2,000 people who had helped defend the Azovstal plant who were captured and became prisoners of war are still in the hands of the Russians, according to a charity set up to support families and those connected to the factory.
Six people have been killed in Kharkiv and Donetsk over the last 24 hours, according to the regions’ governors. Oleh Syniehubov and Pavlo Kyrylenko confirmed the figures on Tuesday.
Russia said it was still undecided on the extension of a Black Sea grain deal with Ukraine, brokered by the UN and Turkey and due to expire on 18 May. “There are a lot of unanswered questions regarding our part of the deal … now we have to make a decision,” the Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
