Evening summary
The time in Kyiv is just coming up to 9pm. Here is a roundup of the day’s news:
The death toll from a Russian missile attack in the eastern Ukrainian city of Dnipro has risen to two, with 30 people wounded, according to media reports. Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskiy said: “Russian terrorists once again confirm their status of fighters against everything humane and honest.”
A deal allowing the safe export of grain and fertiliser from Ukrainian Black Sea ports has not yet resumed full operations, the United Nations said on Friday, having come to a halt before Russia’s decision last week to extend it, Reuters reports.
The UK’s former prime minister Boris Johnson, and US former President Donald Trump discussed Ukraine and “the vital importance of Ukrainian victory” on Thursday, a spokseperson for Johnson said.
The Russian security council deputy chairman Dmitry Medvedev has said the conflict in Ukraine could last for decades and that negotiations with Ukraine were impossible as long as Ukraine’s western-backed President Volodymyr Zelenskiy was in power.
Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov told China’s special envoy Li Hui today that there were “serious obstacles” to resuming peace talks, blaming Ukraine and western countries.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, in a phone call with his Brazilian counterpart Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, confirmed that Russia is open to dialogue over Ukraine. Lula tweeted that he had reiterated Brazil’s willingness to talk to both sides of the war in Ukraine but declined Putin’s invitation to visit.
Canadian trade minister Mary Ng said Canada backs Ukraine’s application to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP). In a tweet, Ng said “Following the UK’s accession, as more economies express interest in joining, Canada welcomes Ukraine’s application to join CPTPP.”
The cross-border incursion earlier this week into Belgorod is driving Russian governors in the region to demand a change in the law so that their volunteer border forces can be armed. At present local volunteer self-defence units cannot be armed, but Reuters reports Vyacheslav Gladkov, the governor of Belgorod, said he and others were working to try to change the law.
The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, plans to visit Sweden, Norway and Finland from 29 May to 2 June to deepen cooperation on top national security and economic issues, the US state department said on Friday. Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Finland has joined Nato, with Sweden’s bid to join awaiting ratification from Hungary and Turkey.
The Russian arms company Kalashnikov, the maker of the world’s most widely used assault rifle, is launching a division for the production of kamikaze drones – one of the key weapons used in the Ukraine war
Canada will donate 43 AIM-9 missiles to Ukraine to help the country “secure its skies”, the national defence has said. Canada’s defence minister, Anita Anand, said “Canada’s support for Ukraine is unwavering.”
Moscow’s city court will hold a preliminary hearing on 31 May in a new criminal case against the jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny on charges including incitement to extremism.
A blast that damaged a residential and office building in the southern Russian city of Krasnodar, east of Crimea, on Friday was caused by two drones. Krasnodar’s governor, Veniamin Kondratyev, wrote on Telegram: “There is some damage to buildings, but critical infrastructure was not damaged. And most importantly, there were no casualties.
Ukraine claims to have shot down 10 missiles and 25 drones launched by Russia in overnight attacks on the capital Kyiv, the city of Dnipro and eastern regions, Ukrainian officials said on Friday. The Ukrainian air force said it had shot down 10 missiles fired from the Caspian Sea, and 23 Iranian-made Shahed drones and two reconnaissance drones. It said a total of 17 missiles and 31 drones had been launched during the attacks, which started at about 10pm local time on Thursday and continued until 5am on Friday. Several drones and several missiles hit targets in the Kharkiv and Dnipropetrovsk regions, officials said. There was no immediate word of any deaths.
Denis Pushilin, the Russian-imposed leader of the occupied Donetsk region, has said the city of Donetsk has come under fire from Ukrainian forces. As a result, he said, a young woman died and another was injured.
Ukraine struck two regions in southern Russia with a rocket and a drone, though the missile was shot down by air defences, according to Russian officials and media reports. In the southern Russian city of Krasnodar, a blast damaged a residential and office building, officials said. In the neighbouring Rostov region, the local governor said a Ukrainian missile had been shot down by air defences on Thursday near Morozovsk, where there is a Russian airbase.
Russia’s deputy security council chair, Dmitry Medvedev, said on Friday that negotiations with Ukraine were “impossible” as long as Zelenskiy was in power. Ukraine has previously ruled out negotiating with Russia while Vladimir Putin remained in power.
China hopes the Black Sea grain initiative deal can be implemented in a balanced and comprehensive manner, and wants to cooperate on global food security, foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said on Friday.
Japan will place additional sanctions on Russia after the Group of Seven (G7) summit the country hosted last week agreed to step up measures to punish Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, the chief cabinet secretary, Hirokazu Matsuno, said on Friday.
That’s all from the Ukraine live blog for today. Thanks for following along.
The German chancellor Olaf Scholz said the Ukraine war must not end in a frozen conflict, Reuters reports.
Speaking in English at a joint news conference with Baltic leaders in Tallinn, Estonia, he said:
If Russia is thinking it can succeed with the robbery of land in Ukraine, it will not.
Russia must withdraw its troops and this is the basis for peace.
A deal allowing the safe export of grain and fertiliser from Ukrainian Black Sea ports has not yet resumed full operations, the United Nations said on Friday, having come to a halt before Russia’s decision last week to extend it, Reuters reports.
The pact called the Black Sea Grain Initiative, brokered by the United Nations and Turkey last July with Russia and Ukraine to try to ease a global food crisis aggravated by Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, covers three ports, but no ships have been authorised to travel to Pivdennyi (Yuzhny) port since 29 April, the UN said.
The UN and Turkey “are working closely with the rest of the parties with the aim to resume full operations … and lift all impediments that obstruct operations and limit the scope of the Initiative,” the UN said in a statement.
The UK’s former prime minister Boris Johnson, and US former President Donald Trump discussed Ukraine and “the vital importance of Ukrainian victory” on Thursday, Reuters reports.
Since being ousted as Britain’s prime minister last year, Johnson has been keen to forge a profile as one of Ukraine’s most ardent backers in its fight against Russia’s full-scale invasion and has been visiting the United States this week to speak to politicians about maintaining support for Kyiv.
A spokesperson for Johnson said he met Trump on Thursday “to discuss the situation in Ukraine and the vital importance of Ukrainian victory”.
At a meeting of Nato foreign ministers in Oslo, Norway on Wednesday and Thursday next week, Washington hopes to shore up support for Ukraine ahead of a July summit in Lithuania, acting assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs Dereck Hogan told reporters while previewing the trip, Reuters reports.
Asked whether Ukraine could be extended a formal invitation to join the alliance, Hogan repeated Washington’s support for Nato’s open-door policy but said decisions were made by all allies:
The immediate needs in Ukraine are practical and so we should be focused on building Ukraine’s defense and deterrence capabilities.
The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, also plans to visit Sweden, Norway and Finland from 29 May to 2 June to strengthen transatlantic cooperation, and will give a speech in Helsinki, Finland on Friday, the department said in a statement.
In his speech, Blinken would “highlight all the ways in which Russia’s aggression against Ukraine has been a strategic failure, and our continued efforts to support Ukraine’s defense of its territory, sovereignty, and democracy in pursuit of a just and durable peace.”
The Russian security council deputy chairman Dmitry Medvedev has said the conflict in Ukraine could last for decades and that negotiations with Ukraine were impossible as long as Ukraine’s western-backed President Volodymyr Zelenskiy was in power, Reuters reports.
The security council deputy chairman was quoted by Russian news agencies as saying:
This conflict will last for a very long time. For decades, probably. This is a new reality.
He said Russia could not trust any truce with the current rulers of Kyiv as the conflict would simply erupt again and so the very nature of the current government of Ukraine would have to be destroyed.
Negotiations, he said, with “the clown Zelenskiy” were impossible:
Everything always ends in negotiations, and this is inevitable, but as long as these people are in power, the situation for Russia will not change in terms of negotiations.
Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny said he was handed 3828 pages describing all the crimes he’s committed while already imprisoned but says he still does not know what he is being accused of.
In a tweet, he said:
Well, Alexey, you’re in some real trouble now, you sure have committed a lot of crimes, – I said to myself while looking at the huge volumes of my indictment The Prosecutor General’s Office has officially provided me with 3828 pages describing all the crimes I’ve committed while already imprisoned. The trial on them will start on 31 May.
Even though the size and amount of these volumes clearly shows that I’m a devious and persistent criminal, I won’t be able to learn what exactly I’m being accused of …
Convict Navalny, you have been issued a book, so sit down and read it. You’ll find out what you’re being accused of at your sentencing.
Navalny is already serving combined sentences of more than 11 years for fraud and contempt of court and says he faces 30 more years in Russian jail for a terrorism charge.
Updated
Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov told China’s special envoy Li Hui today that there were “serious obstacles” to resuming peace talks, blaming Ukraine and western countries, AFP reports.
The foreign ministry said:
The Russian foreign minister reaffirmed Moscow’s commitment to a political-diplomatic resolution of the conflict, noting the serious obstacles to the resumption of peace talks created by the Ukrainian side and its western mentors.
During the meeting with Li, who was China’s ambassador in Russia between 2009 and 2019, Lavrov also praised Beijing’s “balanced” position on Ukraine.
While China says it is a neutral party in the Ukraine conflict, it has been criticised for refusing to condemn Moscow for its offensive.
The Russian foreign ministry said:
Both sides expressed readiness to further strengthen Russian-Chinese foreign policy cooperation, invariably aimed at maintaining peace and stability in the region and on the planet as a whole.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, in a phone call with his Brazilian counterpart Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, confirmed that Russia is open to dialogue over Ukraine.
Lula tweeted that he had reiterated Brazil’s willingness to talk to both sides of the war in Ukraine:
I just spoke by phone with the President of Russia, Vladimir Putin. I thanked him for an invitation to attend the International Economic Forum in St Petersburg, and replied that I could not go to Russia at the moment, but reiterated Brazil’s willingness, along with India, Indonesia and China, to talk to both sides of the conflict in pursuit of peace.
Conversei agora por telefone com o presidente da Rússia, Vladimir Putin. Agradeci a um convite para ir ao Fórum Econômico Internacional de São Petersburgo, e respondi que não posso ir a Rússia nesse momento, mas reiterei a disposição do Brasil, junto com a Índia, Indonésia e…
— Lula (@LulaOficial) May 26, 2023
Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich has appealed a three-month extention of his detention on espionage charges, AP reports.
Gershkovich, a 31-year-old US citizen, was arrested in March while on a reporting trip in Russia. He, his employer and the US government has denied the charges. A Moscow court on Tuesday extended his detention until 30 August.
According to a Russian court website, the appeal was filed at the Lefortovo district court on Thursday. There was no information whether a date has been set for a hearing.
Russian authorities haven’t detailed what, if any, evidence they have gathered to support the espionage charges. Russian state news agency Tass said the hearing was held behind closed doors because the reporter was accused of possession of “secret materials.”
The US government declared Gershkovich to be wrongfully detained and demanded his immediate release. He’s being held in Moscow’s Lefortovo prison.
The US state department said at least one US embassy official attended the hearing.
Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov and Chinese special envoy Li Hui discussed prospects for resolving the conflict in Ukraine at a meeting in Moscow today, Reuters reports.
Li has been on a tour of European capitals including Kyiv, where met with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy in the first stop last week. Li, a fluent Russian speaker, is the most senior Chinese official to visit Ukraine since Russia began its full-scale invasion in February 2022.
In a meeting with officials from the European Union in Brussels on Thursday, Li said China had always upheld an objective and just position on the Ukrainian issue and actively promoted peace talks.
Updated
Canadian trade minister Mary Ng said Canada backs Ukraine’s application to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), Reuters reports.
The CPTPP is a free-trade agreement between 11 countries around the Pacific rim. If Ukraine is accepted, it would reduce some of the barriers to imports and exports of goods between the nations. The UK reached an agreement in principle to join the CPTPP in March 2023.
In a tweet, Ng said:
Following the UK’s accession, as more economies express interest in joining, Canada welcomes Ukraine’s application to join CPTPP.
Thank you Minister @DamienOConnorMP for hosting today’s CPTPP meeting to continue the momentum of this dynamic agreement. Following the UK’s accession, as more economies express interest in joining, Canada welcome’s Ukraine’s application to join CPTPP. pic.twitter.com/lIuCqAej79
— Mary Ng (@mary_ng) May 26, 2023
Updated
Mykhailo Podolyak has again reiterated Ukraine’s public position that there can be no compromise over Ukrainian territory in any peace solution to Russia’s invasion. The adviser to the head of the office of president of Ukraine tweeted:
Any “compromise scenario” envisaging the liberation of NOT all territories of Ukraine, which “anonymous sources” in the European and American elites periodically talk about, is tantamount to admitting the defeat of democracy, the victory of Russia, the preservation of the Putin’s regime and as a consequence the sharp increase in conflicts in global politics. All of this is Russia’s cherished dream. The question is rhetorical: Why do individual public actors keep playing the “Russian media scenario” and protracting the conflict?
Any "compromise scenario" envisaging the liberation of NOT all territories of #Ukraine, which "anonymous sources" in the European and American elites periodically talk about, is tantamount to admitting the defeat of democracy, the victory of #Russia, the preservation of the…
— Михайло Подоляк (@Podolyak_M) May 26, 2023
Russia illegally annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014, and then in 2022 claimed to have annexed four other regions – Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson – despite not fully controlling the territories. The self-declared Donetsk People’s Republic and Luhansk People’s Republic were also established in 2014, and only recognised as legitimate authorities in the region by Russia, and later Syria and North Korea.
President Zelenskiy’s 10-point plan for peace in Ukraine envisages a roll-back to Ukraine’s territorial integrity established in 1991.
Updated
The cross-border incursion earlier this week into Belgorod is driving Russian governors in the region to demand a change in the law so that their volunteer border forces can be armed.
At present local volunteer self-defence units cannot be armed, but Reuters reports Vyacheslav Gladkov, the governor of Belgorod, said he and others were working to try to change the law.
“We have nearly 3,000 people in seven battalions along the border,” said Gladkov. But he said although they were combat-ready and had been in training since November last year, they remained unarmed because it was illegal to give them weapons under current Russian law.
“We’re now searching for a legal basis. To be able to push back the enemy if necessary for those who are trained, able and professional,” he said. “I think it would be the right decision.”
Roman Starovoit, governor of the Kursk region which also borders Ukraine, said he favoured the idea too, and Reuters reports it has a backer in the form of Andrei Turchak, first deputy speaker of the upper house of parliament.
Turchak is said to have told Vladimir Putin in a Kremlin meeting last month the issue had to be resolved.
“The legal status of these formations is now extremely restricted, and most importantly they do not have the right to carry and use weapons. We propose that this anomaly be eliminated at the legislative level,” Turchak told the Russian Federation president.
Injury toll in Dnipro strike rises to 30
Suspilne, Ukraine's state broadcaster, reports that the number of injured in the strike on a Dnipro medical facility has increased to 30. It cited regional governor Serhiy Lysak.
The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, plans to visit Sweden, Norway and Finland from 29 May to 2 June to deepen cooperation on top national security and economic issues, the US state department said on Friday. Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Finland has joined Nato, with Sweden’s bid to join awaiting ratification from Hungary and Turkey.
Updated
Here are some of the latest images coming across the wires from Ukraine, showing Ukranian firefighters and rescue workers at the clinic in Dnipro that was bombed by Russia overnight.
Updated
Russia’s foreign ministry has summoned senior US diplomats to protest against remarks by the White House national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, whom it accused of “[in effect] endorsing strikes” on Crimea, Reuters reports.
The peninsula on the Black Sea was seized by Russia and unilaterally annexed from Ukraine in 2014 but is internationally recognised as Ukrainian territory.
“It is time for Washington to learn that any form of aggression against Russia will continue to be met with the strongest possible response,” the ministry said.
It did not specify which comments it objected to, but when Sullivan was asked in a CNN interview on Sunday whether Ukraine should have weapons that could reach Russian targets in Crimea, he replied:
Yes. We have not placed limitations on Ukraine being able to strike on its territory within its internationally recognised borders.
What we have said is that we will not enable Ukraine with US systems, western systems, to attack Russia. And we believe Crimea is Ukraine.
Updated
The Russian arms company Kalashnikov, the maker of the world’s most widely used assault rifle, is launching a division for the production of kamikaze drones – one of the key weapons used in the Ukraine war, Reuters reports.
After Ukrainian forces used western, Israeli and Turkish uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAVs) with deadly efficiency in the first few months of the war, Russia began using Iranian-made Shahed drones while seeking to boost its own production.
The Izhevsk-based Kalashnikov is Russia’s biggest producer of automatic weapons and guided artillery.
It said: “The main task of the division is the production of complexes with guided loitering munitions. The complexes are designed for high-precision destruction of remote single and group enemy ground targets.”
Kalashnikov, named after Mikhail Kalashnikov, the designer of the AK-47 assault rifle, will also produce launchers, control technology and research and development.
Vladimir Putin said last month that the Russian drone industry could soon be worth more than $12bn (£9.7bn/€11.2bn) once a plan to boost production was put into place.
The Russian president has called for a rise in production of drones. The first deputy prime minister, Andrei Belousov, said that by the end of 2026, Russia should be able to make 18,000 drones a year.
Updated
Our video team has edited together some of the clips of the aftermath of this morning’s attack on the medical facility in Dnipro, Ukraine.
Updated
Death toll rises to two in Dnipro attack with 23 people wounded
The death toll from a Russian missile attack in the eastern Ukrainian city of Dnipro has risen to two, with 23 people wounded, Reuters reports.
A Russian missile hit a clinic in Dnipro overnight, killing a 69-year-old man had been killed as he was “just passing by”, the regional governor said.
Serhiy Lysak said another man’s body had been pulled out of the rubble, and that 21 of the 23 wounded had been taken to hospital, with three seriously injured.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy described the attack as a crime against humanity. He tweeted:
Another [Russian] missile attack, another crime against humanity as such. The buildings of a psychological clinic and a veterinary clinic in the city of Dnipro were destroyed.
Only an evil state can fight against clinics. There can be no military purpose in this. It is pure [Russian] terror.
Updated
A German court has ruled that raids conducted last year at the Bavarian villa of the Russian-Uzbek oligarch Alisher Usmanov and other locations were unlawful, Reuters reports.
The firm, hired by the Uzbek embassy, said any basis for suspected money laundering by Usmanov “does not exist, has never existed, and all search measures of the public prosecutor’s office in Frankfurt based on this suspicion were, without exception, unlawful”.
In September, more than 250 police officers searched an apparently abandoned lakeside villa in the upmarket Bavarian holiday town of Rottach-Egern as part of the investigation against Usmanov, who is thought to be a close ally to the Russian president. Vladimir Putin.
The law firm hired by the Uzbek embassy said the court’s decision confirmed that the case against Usmanov was “not factually justified, but politically motivated to the exclusion of all else”.
Usmanov’s defence team also commented, saying the decision “reaffirmed our client’s trust in Germany as a functioning constitutional state” and that it “should offer food for thought … to everyone who contributed to creating a prejudiced view towards our client throughout Germany”.
Updated
Canada will donate 43 AIM-9 missiles to Ukraine to help the country “secure its skies”,the national defence has said.
Canada’s defence minister, Anita Anand, said:
Canada’s support for Ukraine is unwavering. When I travel across Canada, I see Ukrainian flags on homes, small businesses, and cars – because Canadians understand that Ukraine’s fight to defend itself is also a fight for sovereignty, freedom, and independence.
At today’s productive meeting, we discussed Ukraine’s most pressing defence priorities, and I reaffirmed that Canada will be there to support Ukraine in the short and the long-term.
She concluded that Canada remained committed to working closely with allies to provide Ukraine with the support it needs as it continues “its brave fight against Russia’s illegal and unjustifiable war”.
Updated
Moscow’s city court will hold a preliminary hearing on 31 May in a new criminal case against the jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny on charges including incitement to extremism, Reuters reports.
Navalny, who rose to prominence by lampooning President Vladimir Putin’s elite and alleging vast corruption, said last month that an “absurd” terrorism case had been opened against him that could see him sentenced to a further 30 years in jail.
Navalny is already serving combined sentences of more than 11 years for fraud and contempt of court in a maximum-security penal colony, on charges that he says were trumped up to silence him.
The court record said the charges against Navalny related to six articles of the Russian criminal code including those on “rehabilitation of nazism”, “organisation of an extremist community”, making “public appeals to commit extremist activity” and inducing citizens to break the law.
Last month, investigators formally linked Navalny supporters to the murder of Vladlen Tatarsky, a popular military blogger and supporter of Russia’s military campaign in Ukraine who was killed by a bomb in St Petersburg. Navalny allies have denied any connection to the killing.
Updated
A blast that damaged a residential and office building in the southern Russian city of Krasnodar, east of Crimea, on Friday was caused by two drones, Reuters reports.
Krasnodar’s governor, Veniamin Kondratyev, wrote on Telegram:
There is some damage to buildings, but critical infrastructure was not damaged. And most importantly, there were no casualties.”
More information to come.
Updated
On Twitter, Ukraine’s foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba said he was grateful to Mozambique’s president, Filipe Nyusi, for his support during a visit.
He also said Ukraine would establish an embassy in Maputo, the capital of Mozambique.
Kuleba began a tour of African countries this week, visiting Rwandaʼs president, Paul Kagame, on 25 May.
The trip was an attempt to foster better relations with African countries and persuade some to abandon their stances of neutrality towards the war.
Honoured to be received by Mozambique’s President @Filipe_Nyusi. Grateful for his solidarity with the Ukrainian people. We agreed to work on boosting bilateral relations on the basis of mutual respect and interests. As a first step, Ukraine will establish an embassy in Maputo. pic.twitter.com/ReUgIes7EV
— Dmytro Kuleba (@DmytroKuleba) May 26, 2023
Updated
Russia’s southern Belgorod region that borders Ukraine has come under attack from Ukrainian artillery fire in the past 24 hours, AFP reports.
The Belgorod town of Graivoron, about 7km (4.5 miles) from the Ukrainian border, was under fire for several hours, with four houses, a store, a car, a gas pipeline and a power line damaged, Belgorod governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said on social media.
Five districts were repeatedly attacked by drones, mortars and artillery and the village of Kozinka had been struck more than 130 times, according to Gladkov.
The attacks on the border region came as Kyiv said it was preparing for a major counteroffensive against Moscow’s forces.
Gladkov did not report casualties in the attacks.
Updated
Summary of the day so far …
Volodymyr Zelenskiy announced that one person has been killed and 15 injured in a Russian attack Friday on a medical facility in the city of Dnipro. In his message, Ukraine’s president said: “Russian terrorists once again confirm their status of fighters against everything humane and honest.” The injured included two children aged three and six who have been hospitalised. Ukraine’s ombudsmen says another four people are considered missing.
Ukraine claims to have shot down 10 missiles and 25 drones launched by Russia in overnight attacks on the capital Kyiv, the city of Dnipro and eastern regions, Ukrainian officials said on Friday. The Ukrainian air force said it had shot down 10 missiles fired from the Caspian Sea, and 23 Iranian-made Shahed drones and two reconnaissance drones. It said a total of 17 missiles and 31 drones had been launched during the attacks, which started at about 10pm local time on Thursday and continued until 5am on Friday. Several drones and several missiles hit targets in the Kharkiv and Dnipropetrovsk regions, officials said. There was no immediate word of any deaths.
Denis Pushilin, the Russian-imposed leader of the occupied Donetsk region, has said the city of Donetsk has come under fire from Ukrainian forces. As a result, he said, a young woman died and another was injured.
Ukraine struck two regions in southern Russia with a rocket and a drone, though the missile was shot down by air defences, according to Russian officials and media reports. In the southern Russian city of Krasnodar, a blast damaged a residential and office building, officials said. In the neighbouring Rostov region, the local governor said a Ukrainian missile had been shot down by air defences on Thursday near Morozovsk, where there is a Russian airbase.
Russia’s deputy security council chair, Dmitry Medvedev, said on Friday that negotiations with Ukraine were “impossible” as long as Zelenskiy was in power. Ukraine has previously ruled out negotiating with Russia while Vladimir Putin remained in power.
China hopes the Black Sea grain initiative deal can be implemented in a balanced and comprehensive manner, and wants to cooperate on global food security, foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said on Friday.
Japan will place additional sanctions on Russia after the Group of Seven (G7) summit the country hosted last week agreed to step up measures to punish Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, the chief cabinet secretary, Hirokazu Matsuno, said on Friday.
Updated
Oleh Synyehubov, governor of Kharkiv, has posted to Telegram a video of himself at the location of a Russian overnight strike. Accompanying the video he writes:
Today we are working in Izium, where last night the enemy inflicted the most massive blow in the entire time of a full-scale invasion with kamikaze drones of the Shahed type.
Industrial enterprises, civil infrastructure were damaged, and a school was destroyed. Private residential buildings were also damaged. Now all services are working in intensified mode to eliminate the consequences of these strikes.
The terror against the civilian population, which the enemy resorts to, is the result of their defeats on the frontline. The Russians constantly try to attack our positions, but suffer losses and retreat. Our soldiers do not concede a single centimetre of Ukrainian territory. Attacks on civilians are another manifestation of the actual powerlessness of the occupiers. We will win. Let’s hold on. Glory to Ukraine!
Updated
Suspilne, Ukraine's state broadcaster, reports that four people are considered missing after the attack on the medical facility in Dnipro, citing human rights ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets.
Ukraine’s first lady, Olena Zelenska, has posted to social media about the Dnipro strike, writing:
Ukrainian medical facilities and civilian objects are again under attack. A terrible level of cynicism to hit a psychological dispensary in the Dnipropetrovsk region with missiles. There are killed and wounded. My condolences to all those who suffered from this terrorist attack.
Ukrainian medical facilities and civilian objects are again under attack. A terrible level of cynicism to hit a psychological dispensary in the Dnipropetrovs'k region with missiles. There are killed and wounded. My condolences to all those who suffered from this terrorist attack. pic.twitter.com/xTVgTMcu8b
— Олена Зеленська (@ZelenskaUA) May 26, 2023
Two children under seven among wounded in strike on Dnipro medical facility – governor
The Dnipropetrovsk governor, Serhiy Lysak, has posted again to Telegram to give more details on the injuries in Dnipro.
Two children are among the wounded in Dnipro. Boys three and six years old. Both are hospitalised. Doctors assess their condition as moderate. 11 adults were also hospitalised. Two are “heavy”.
Updated
Serhiy Lysak has shared images from the scene of the attack on the medical facility in Dnipro and stated that two children are among the injured. The governor of Dnipropetrovsk oblast said:
One dead. 15 injured. Among them are two children. The rescue of the victims continues. These are preliminary data on the consequences of a missile attack on the Dnipro. Two buildings were struck. In total, the fire covered 500 sq metres. Rescuers are now putting out the fires. All services are at the place of “arrival”.
The claims have not been independently verified.
Here is one of the video clips being circulated by Ukrainian officials from the scene at the medical facility in Dnipro which has been struck this morning, killing at least one person and injuring 15 others.
⚡️Zelensky: 1 killed, 15 injured in Russian strike on clinic in Dnipro.
— The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) May 26, 2023
According to President Volodymyr Zelensky, the rescue operation is ongoing at the site of the missile strike that Russian forces launched on the morning of May 26.
Video: President's Office pic.twitter.com/AWoJfZa1J1
At least one dead, 15 injured in attack on Dnipro medical facility – Zelenskiy
Volodymyr Zelenskiy has announced that one person has been killed and 15 injured in a Russian attack this morning on a medical facility in the city of Dnipro.
In his message, Ukraine’s president said:
Russian terrorists once again confirm their status of fighters against everything humane and honest.
A rocket attack on a clinic in the city of Dnipro. As of now, one person was killed and 15 were wounded. The shelling aftermath is being eliminated and the victims are being rescued. All necessary services are involved.
My condolences to the family of the deceased.
We must defeat these inhumans irrevocably and as soon as possible. Because our time is our people. And our people are the most precious thing in Ukraine.
Dnipro had been subjected to overnight attacks. Ukrainian forces claimed to have shot down 10 missiles and 25 drones sent into their territory by Russia.
Unverified footage from the scene at the clinic is being circulated on social media, which shows injured people among the rubble.
Updated
Denis Pushilin, the Russian-imposed leader of the occupied Donetsk region, has said the city of Donetsk has come under fire from Ukrainian forces. He reported on Telegram:
The enemy is subjecting Donetsk to increased shelling. At 9am, the Kalininskyi district of the city was attacked from the American Himars systems. As a result, a young woman died and another was injured.
Half an hour later, the same square was attacked again with the same weapons – at the moment when journalists, rescuers and other response services were working at the scene of the shelling.
In the Kalininskyi district of Donetsk, as a result of shelling, two hospitals, a gas station and a research institute building were damaged.
I ask the residents of Donetsk not to move through the streets unless absolutely necessary.
The claims have not been independently verified.
Donetsk is one of four Ukrainian regions which the Russian Federation claimed to annex last year, despite only partially occupying the territory. Pushilin was formerly head of the self-declared and chiefly unrecognised Donetsk People’s Republic, and is the Russian Federation’s appointed acting governor in the region.
Updated
Ukrainian authorities are stating that a hospital in the city of Dnipro has been hit, and that there are casualties. The air alert in Dnipropetrovsk has been reinstated.
‼️Російські терористи вдарили по медзакладу у Дніпрі, є постраждалі.
— Andriy Yermak (@AndriyYermak) May 26, 2023
More details soon …
Updated
Russia’s deputy security council chair, Dmitry Medvedev, said on Friday that negotiations with Ukraine were “impossible” as long as Volodymyr Zelenskiy was in power, the Tass news agency reported.
“Everything always ends in negotiations, and this is inevitable, but as long as these people are in power, the situation for Russia will not change in terms of negotiations,” Reuters reported Medvedev was quoted as saying.
Ukraine has previously ruled out negotiating with Russia while Vladimir Putin remained in power, but has proposed a 10-point peace plan and willingness to take part in an international peace conference in the summer. [See 8.10am BST]
Updated
China hopes the Black Sea grain initiative deal can be implemented in a balanced and comprehensive manner, and wants to cooperate on global food security, foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said on Friday, Reuters reports.
Russia signalled on Thursday that if demands to improve its grain and fertiliser exports are not met then it will not extend the deal beyond 17 July.
Russia has repeatedly complained that western sanctions on sectors such as banking and insurance prevent it exporting agricultural goods. Ukraine has complained that Russia is holding up the current inspection regime, effectively preventing Pivdennyi port from operating.
Updated
The air alert in Dnipropetrovsk region has been lifted.
Suspilne, Ukraine's state broadcaster, reports that its correspondents can hear explosions in Dnipro. An air alert has been declared in Dnipropetrovsk region, where the city is situated.
More details soon …
Ukraine struck two regions in southern Russia with a rocket and a drone, though the missile was shot down by air defences, according to Russian officials and media reports.
In the southern Russian city of Krasnodar, a blast damaged a residential and office building, officials said. Reuters reports they did not say what caused the blast, though Russian media said it was a drone attack. Unverified videos on social media showed a drone flying over the city.
“All emergency services are working at the scene. The cause of the incident is being investigated. Residents are asked to stay calm,” the Krasnodar mayor, Yevgeny Naumov, wrote on Telegram.
In the neighbouring Rostov region, the local governor said a Ukrainian missile had been shot down by air defences on Thursday near Morozovsk, where there is a Russian airbase.
“In the area of Morozovsk, an air defence system went off, shooting down a Ukrainian missile,” said the Rostov governor, Vasily Golubev. “The military is doing its job. Stay calm.”
The claims have not been independently verified.
Updated
Andriy Yermak has posted to Telegram a portion of an interview he carried out with the Interfax news agency about any potential for a peace summit. In it, the head of the office of the Ukrainian presidency said it was more a matter of when rather than if an international summit was held, but that the basis for talks must be Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s 10-point plan. Yermak posted:
A peace summit is needed today. Everyone understands this fact. Also, everyone accepts as an absolutely logical and fair argument that the basis should be the Ukrainian peace plan: 10 points of President Zelenskiy.
Now Ukraine’s position is clear: our plan is the basis, but we are ready to listen to all those countries that respect our sovereignty and territorial integrity. We are ready to accept some elements of other proposals.
Currently there is a question about where and when to hold the peace summit. Of course, we want it to be held as soon as possible. July would be ideal. Consultations are currently ongoing regarding this. It is very important that this is indeed a summit in which the leaders of the global south would definitely take part.
And, according to my feelings, we are very close to making these consultations successful. We expect a large number of participants at the summit.
As a reminder, the 10-point peace plan proposed by Zelenskiy for Ukraine is as follows:
1. Radiation and nuclear safety.
2. Food security.
3. Energy security.
4. Release of all prisoners and deportees.
5. Restoring Ukraine’s territorial integrity and Russia reaffirming it.
6. Withdrawal of Russian troops and cessation of hostilities, restoration of Ukraine’s state borders with Russia.
7. Justice, including the establishment of a special tribunal to prosecute Russian war crimes.
8. Prevention of ecocide.
9. Prevention of escalation of conflict.
10. Confirmation of the war’s end, including a document signed by the involved parties.
Updated
Here are three images that have been released by Serhii Lysak. The governor of Dnipropetrovsk regional military-civil administration states that they show the damage to a residential house and transport facilities in Dnipro after an overnight Russian attack.
The claims have not been independently verified.
Ukraine claims it shot down 10 Russian missiles and 25 drones overnight
Ukraine claims to have shot down 10 missiles and 25 drones launched by Russia in overnight attacks on the capital Kyiv, the city of Dnipro and eastern regions, Ukrainian officials said on Friday.
Reuters reports the Ukrainian air force said it had shot down 10 missiles fired from the Caspian Sea, and 23 Iranian-made Shahed drones and two reconnaissance drones.
It said a total of 17 missiles and 31 drones had been launched during the attacks, which started at about 10pm local time on Thursday and continued until 5am on Friday.
Several drones and several missiles hit targets in the Kharkiv and Dnipropetrovsk regions, officials said. There was no immediate word of any deaths.
“It was a very difficult night. It was loud – the enemy launched a mass attack on the region with missiles and drones,” Serhiy Lysak, the Dnipropetrovsk regional governor, said on the Telegram messaging app. “Dnipro has suffered.”
Lysak said several houses, cars, and private companies, including a transport company and a gas station, had been damaged.
Updated
In case you missed this yesterday: the Belarusian ruler, Alexander Lukashenko, has said that Russia has begun moving tactical nuclear warheads for storage to Belarus, adding that it was possible that the weapons had already arrived in his country.
“We had to prepare storage facilities and the rest over there [in Belarus]. We’ve done all of that. This is why the relocation of nuclear munitions began,” Lukashenko said during a summit of the Eurasian Economic Forum in Moscow.
Asked if the weapons had already arrived, he said: “Maybe. I will go and take a look.”
The remarks came hours after Russian and Belarusian military officials signed a pact that provides for Moscow to deploy tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, marking a shift in the Kremlin’s nuclear posture that could raise the stakes of any future instability in Belarus.
Updated
The European Union agreed on Thursday to suspend restrictions on imports from Ukraine for a further year after warding off an import ban imposed by some EU nations amid farmer protests over low prices, Reuters reports.
Volodymyr Zelenskiy thanked the EU for the extension and pledged to work towards meeting the union’s standards required to secure membership of the 27-nation bloc.
The Council of the EU, the grouping of EU governments, said in a tweet that EU ministers responsible for trade had agreed to the extension at a meeting on Thursday.
The EU lifted tariffs and other restrictions for an initial 12 months in June 2022.
Updated
German Chancellor plans to speak to Putin 'in due course'
The German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, says he plans to speak to the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, “in due course”, holding out the prospect of resuming contact after a near-total breakdown in relations since the Ukraine war.
“My last telephone call was some time ago,” Scholz told the Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger newspaper in an interview published on Friday. “But I plan to speak to Putin again in due course.”
The leaders last spoke by telephone in early December, AFP reports.
Asked about the prospect of halting the conflict through negotiations, Scholz said that Putin had to understand that the war could not be ended by making “some kind of cold peace”.
“For instance, by turning the current frontline into the new ‘border’ between Russia and Ukraine,” he said.
“Rather it is about a fair peace, and the prerequisite for that is the withdrawal of Russian troops,” he added.
Updated
Missiles launched at Kyiv overnight
Russia launched missiles at Ukraine’s capital Kyiv early on Friday, in the 13th attack so far in May. There were no casualties, but falling debris damaged the roof of a shopping centre.
The Kyiv regional city administration wrote on Telegram: “Another air attack on Kyiv is the 13th in a row since the beginning of May! And, as always, at night. This time the attack was carried out by Tu-95MS strategic bombers, from the Caspian region, probably by X-101 cruise missiles.”
In a later post, it said debris had damaged the roof of a shopping centre in Obolon district. There were no casualties.
Updated
Japan announces new sanctions against Moscow
Japan will place additional sanctions on Russia after the Group of Seven (G7) summit the country hosted last week agreed to step up measures to punish Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, the chief cabinet secretary, Hirokazu Matsuno, said on Friday.
Reuters reported that Matsuno, Tokyo’s top government spokesperson, also condemned Russia’s move on Thursday to deploy tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, saying it would further intensify situations around the invasion of Ukraine.
“As the only country to have suffered atomic bombings during wartime, Japan never accepts Russia’s nuclear menace, let alone its use,” Matsuno told a regular press conference.
In a coordinated action with the G7, Japan will freeze assets of 78 groups and 17 individuals including army officers in Russia and ban exports to 80 Russian entities such as military-affiliated research labs, according to a foreign ministry statement on Friday.
Japan will also ban providing construction and engineering services to Russia, although the details of the measure will be announced at a later date, a trade ministry statement said.
Updated
Opening summary
Welcome back to our live coverage of the war in Ukraine.
Our top stories this morning: Russia launched missiles at Ukraine’s capital Kyiv early on Friday, in the 13th attack so far in May. There were no casualties, but falling debris damaged the roof of a shopping centre.
And Japan will place additional sanctions on Russia after the G7 summit the country hosted last week agreed to step up measures to punish Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, chief cabinet secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said on Friday.
More shortly. Here are the other key recent developments:
Russia has moved ahead with a plan to deploy tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus. Alexander Lukashenko, the Belarusian president, claimed on Thursday that the relocation of some of the weapons from Russia to Belarus had already started, according to reports.
Dutch prosecutors have seized a plot of land near Amsterdam that belongs to Vladimir Putin’s former son-in-law, a joint investigation by the Guardian and two other media organisations revealed. The plot of land in Duivendrecht is owned by Jorrit Faassen, a Dutch businessman who was married to Maria Vorontsova, the Russian president’s elder daughter.
Britain is likely to keep Russian state assets immobilised for some time after the war in Ukraine ends, and certainly until Moscow has agreed to pay compensation for the damage it has inflicted, British officials have confirmed. The Council of Europe summit last week established a digital register of damage for Ukraine as the first step towards an international compensation mechanism for victims of Russian aggression.
The US has long asked Ukraine not to use US-provided military equipment to carry out attacks inside Russian territory, the top US general said on Thursday, following accusations by Russia that pro-Ukrainian militia had used US armoured vehicles.
Russia has signalled that if demands to improve its grain and fertiliser exports are not met then it will not extend the Black Sea grain deal before 17 July. It made the same threat and demands in March, then agreed last week to renew the export pact for 60 days.
Unverified footage appears to show a drone speedboat attack on the Russian naval vessel the Ivan Khurs in the Black Sea on Wednesday. The video appears to show at least one of the drones getting extremely close to the ship, though it remains unclear whether or not any damage was done.
Russia’s Wagner mercenary group has begun withdrawing its forces from the devastated Ukrainian city of Bakhmut and transferring its positions there to regular Russian troops, according to its founder, Yevgeny Prigozhin.
The US has said the Wagner Group may be working through Mali and other countries to hide its efforts to acquire military equipment for use in Ukraine, and accused it of supplying a Sudanese paramilitary with surface-to-air missiles.
Ukraine secured the release of 106 captured soldiers in a prisoner exchange with Russia on Thursday, according to president Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s chief of staff. The soldiers, including eight officers, were reportedly said to have been captured fighting in Bakhmut.
Russia’s foreign ministry said it had summoned the ambassadors of Germany, Sweden and Denmark over what it described as the “complete lack of results” in the Nord Stream investigation. Several unexplained underwater explosions ruptured the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines that link Russia and Germany across the Baltic Sea in September 2022. The blasts occurred in the economic zones of Sweden and Denmark and both countries say they were deliberate, but have yet to determine who was responsible. Germany is also investigating.
Ukraine said on Thursday it had shot down all 36 Iranian-made drones launched by Russia in overnight attacks it claims likely targeted key infrastructure and military facilities.
Russia has denied a fire broke out at the ministry of defence in Moscow, after social media users and reports in the state-owned Tass news agency said emergency services had been called to the building. Tass initially reported on a fire at the ministry early on Thursday morning, but later reported the ministry saying there was none.
