Evening summary
The time in Kyiv is just coming up to 9pm. Here is a round-up of the day’s headlines:
Ukrainian officials said at least 38 people, including 12 children, were wounded in a Russian missile strike on Tuesday which an officer said targeted a military funeral in the north-eastern Kharkiv region. Television footage from the small town of Pervomaiskyi showed a nine-storey residential building with smashed windows and black smoke pouring out. Mangled cars were in flames nearby, and a man sat in an ambulance with blood over his face, Reuters reported.
Russia sees no basis for renewing the Black Sea grain deal, the Russian foreign ministry said on Tuesday, less than two weeks before the expiration of the agreement, which has allowed grain to be shipped out of Black Sea ports despite the war in Ukraine. The ministry said in a statement Russia was doing everything so that all ships covered by the deal could leave the Black Sea before it expires on 17 July, Reuters reported.
Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin said on Tuesday that Ukraine had launched a drone attack on the Russian capital and its region, temporarily disrupting flight operations at the Vnukovo airport. “At this moment, the attacks have been repelled by air defence forces,” Sobyanin said on Telegram. “All detected drones have been eliminated”. There were no casualties or injured reported.
Vladimir Putin has said that Russia remains “united as never before” in the wake of the failed mutiny by the Wagner mercenary group and claimed the country continued to flourish in the face of heavy western sanctions over his invasion of Ukraine. In an address from the Kremlin to a virtual gathering of leaders from the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), a group founded by Russia and China to counter western influence, the Russian president attempted to rebuff any suggestion that he had been weakened by last week’s chaotic but short-lived rebellion led by Yevgeny Prigozhin.
A funeral service has taken place in Kyiv for the celebrated writer Victoria Amelina. A Ukrainian novelist, poet and public intellectual, she died from injuries sustained when a Russian missile attack struck a pizza restaurant in the eastern town of Kramatorsk, killing 12 people in total, including children.
Alexei Kulemzin, the Russian-imposed mayor of the occupied city of Donetsk, has posted images to the Telegram of him meeting local residents. He claimed that in the discussion they asked him about the prospect for elections in September. He wrote: “They also discussed the upcoming elections, which are scheduled for 10 September. First of all, the question is about the safety of our voters, we have no right to risk the lives of people.”
Former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev said on Tuesday that 185,000 new recruits had joined the Russian army as professional contract soldiers since the start of the year. In a video posted on Telegram, Medvedev, who was earlier this year appointed to a role overseeing Russia’s domestic military production, said that almost 10,000 new recruits had joined up in the last week, after a mutiny by the Wagner group mercenary organisation was quelled and its fighters were given the option of signing on as regular soldiers.
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development has said it was lending €25m (£21.4m) to the Ukrainian city of Dnipro to help it cope with an influx of people fleeing fighting. It said the loan would help ensure the continuous provision of vital municipal services in the south-eastern city after the arrival of people forced to flee other locations because of Russia’s war on Ukraine, Reuters reported.
US president, Joe Biden, on Tuesday welcomed Nato’s decision to extend secretary general Jens Stoltenberg’s term by a further year. “With his steady leadership, experience, and judgment, secretary general Stoltenberg has brought our alliance through the most significant challenges in European security since the second world war,” Biden said in a statement released by the White House.
The Kremlin has said there were “certain contacts” with the United States over the case of detained Wall Street Journal journalist Evan Gershkovich, but that it did not want to make them public. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov made the comments in a regular briefing, Reuters reported.
Suspilne reports that a man and a woman were killed Tuesday morning in Russian shelling of Ukraine’s southern city of Kherson. Additionally, three people have been injured by Russian shelling in Ukraine’s northern Chernihiv oblast.
Oleksiy Danilov has described recent days of battle as “fruitful” for Ukraine in terms of destroying the resources of the Russian forces. In a post to social media, the secretary of Ukraine’s national security and defence council described Ukraine as acting “calmly” and “wisely’ in its counteroffensive.
Russia’s state-owned news agency Tass has reported that the Ukrainian power line connected to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant has been cut off. It cited Renat Karchaa, adviser to the general director of the Rosenergoatom.
A prominent Russian journalist and a lawyer were attacked and suffered serious injuries after several masked men in the Russian region of Chechnya forced their car to stop on Tuesday. Journalist Elena Milashina had her head shaved, several fingers broken, and was covered with green dye in the attack, according to human rights group Memorial. The well-known journalist for the Novaya Gazeta newspaper was travelling to the Chechen capital Grozny from the local airport with lawyer Alexander Nemov, when they were attacked.
Pope Francis’s peace envoy for Ukraine, cardinal Matteo Zuppi, said on Tuesday he is working on a “mechanism” that could ensure the return of children who according to Kyiv have been abducted to Russia. “We’ll see how we can start the mechanism for the children (and) help as we have said on the humanitarian front, particularly the children that must be able to return to Ukraine”, Zuppi said at a book presentation in Rome.
Switzerland plans to take part in a Europe-wide air defence project initiated in response to Russia’s attack on Ukraine. The country is the second neutral nation after Austria to signal its intention to join the European Sky Shield Initiative launched by Germany last year, Reuters reported.
Italy has frozen Russian oligarchs’ assets valued at about €2bn ($2.5bn) after the invasion of Ukraine last year, the country’s central bank said on Tuesday. Italy seized assets – including bank accounts, luxury villas, yachts and cars – as part of the European Union’s sanctions against the Kremlin and its backers, Reuters reported.
That’s all from me, Tom Ambrose, and indeed the Ukraine live blog for today. Thanks for following along.
Pope Francis’s peace envoy for Ukraine, cardinal Matteo Zuppi, said on Tuesday he is working on a “mechanism” that could ensure the return of children who according to Kyiv have been abducted to Russia.
“We’ll see how we can start the mechanism for the children (and) help as we have said on the humanitarian front, particularly the children that must be able to return to Ukraine”, Zuppi said at a book presentation in Rome.
He said he had personally discussed the issue with Francis.
The Italian cardinal visited Moscow last week, and was previously in the Ukrainian capital. The Vatican has described his efforts as “aimed at identifying humanitarian initiatives, which could open roads to peace”.
Updated
Twelve children among 38 wounded by Russian strike in Ukraine
Ukrainian officials said at least 38 people, including 12 children, were wounded in a Russian missile strike on Tuesday which an officer said targeted a military funeral in the north-eastern Kharkiv region.
Television footage from the small town of Pervomaiskyi showed a nine-storey residential building with smashed windows and black smoke pouring out. Mangled cars were in flames nearby, and a man sat in an ambulance with blood over his face, Reuters reported.
Regional governor Oleh Synehubov said an Iskander missile had slammed into a residential quarter in Pervomaiskyi at 1.35pm Kyiv time (10.35am GMT).
The apartments of about 2,000 people were damaged in the attack on the town, which lies near the border with Russia, and residents were being provided with hot meals, he said.
Prosecutors said the youngest of the 38 people hurt in the attack was a child of three months. The child’s condition was not immediately clear.
Switzerland plans to take part in a Europe-wide air defence project initiated in response to Russia’s attack on Ukraine.
The country is the second neutral nation after Austria to signal its intention to join the European Sky Shield Initiative launched by Germany last year, Reuters reported.
Swiss defence minister, Viola Amherd, and her Austrian counterpart will sign a memorandum of understanding at a meeting on Friday in Berne with Germany’s Boris Pistorius.
The European Sky Shield Initiative, or ESSI, was proposed by German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, last August as a means of bundling the continent’s efforts to defend against possible aircraft or missile attacks.
Updated
Former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev said on Tuesday that 185,000 new recruits had joined the Russian army as professional contract soldiers since the start of the year.
In a video posted on Telegram, Medvedev, who was earlier this year appointed to a role overseeing Russia’s domestic military production, said that almost 10,000 new recruits had joined up in the last week, after a mutiny by the Wagner group mercenary organisation was quelled and its fighters were given the option of signing on as regular soldiers.
Updated
Full Ukraine counteroffensive 'still hasn't happened', says head of UK armed forces
The Guardian’s defence editor Dan Sabbagh has tweeted that the UK’s head of armed forces says Ukraine’s full counteroffensive “still hasn’t happened”.
More on the comments from Tony Radakin at the defence select committee in Westminster below…
Tony Radakin, UK head of armed forces, says of Ukraine "the full counter offensive still hasn't happened". Describes Kyiv's current strategy as "starve, stretch and strike" to gradually break apart Russian defensive lines
— Dan Sabbagh (@dansabbagh) July 4, 2023
...it's unfair to speculate or hold Ukraine to timelines, says Radakin, rejecting talk that the counter offensive is going slowly. Counter offensive was "never a singular act" is also economic and diplomatic he adds
— Dan Sabbagh (@dansabbagh) July 4, 2023
Radakin insists war is slowly going Ukraine's way
— Dan Sabbagh (@dansabbagh) July 4, 2023
"Even in the last few weeks...Ukraine has taken more ground than Russia has taken in the last year"
and
"Russia is so weak, it does not have the strength for a significant counter offensive"
Updated
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development has said it was lending €25m (£21.4m) to the Ukrainian city of Dnipro to help it cope with an influx of people fleeing fighting.
It said the loan would help ensure the continuous provision of vital municipal services in the south-eastern city after the arrival of people forced to flee other locations because of Russia’s war on Ukraine, Reuters reported.
“Dnipro and its key municipal utilities have been seriously affected by the war and are struggling to keep day-to-day operations functioning,” the EBRD said in a statement.
Dnipro’s prewar population of about 1 million people has been swollen by constant inflows of internally displaced people even though the city has also come under fire since Russia began its full-scale invasion in February 2022.
Updated
Russia is more united than ever, Putin tells allies after failed mutiny
Vladimir Putin has said that Russia remains “united as never before” in the wake of the failed mutiny by the Wagner mercenary group and claimed the country continued to flourish in the face of heavy western sanctions over his invasion of Ukraine.
In an address from the Kremlin to a virtual gathering of leaders from the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), a group founded by Russia and China to counter western influence, the Russian president attempted to rebuff any suggestion that he had been weakened by last week’s chaotic but short-lived rebellion led by Yevgeny Prigozhin.
“The Russian people are united as never before,” said Putin. “The solidarity and responsibility for the fate of the fatherland was clearly demonstrated by the Russian political circles and the entire society by standing as a united front against the attempted armed rebellion.”
He also thanked the leaders present at the meeting, which included Indian prime minister, Narendra Modi, China’s president, Xi Jinping, Pakistan’s prime minister, Shehbaz Sharif and Belarus president, Alexander Lukashenko, for their support for the Russian leadership during the threat to “constitutional order and the life and security of citizens” – thought to be a reference to the Wagner uprising.
Updated
Celebrated Ukrainian writer's funeral takes place in Kyiv
A funeral service has taken place in Kyiv for the celebrated writer Victoria Amelina.
A Ukrainian novelist, poet and public intellectual, she died from injuries sustained when a Russian missile attack struck a pizza restaurant in the eastern town of Kramatorsk, killing 12 people in total, including children.
When Russia launched its full-scale invasion of her country in 2022, Amelina set aside most of her writing to document and research war crimes.
Ukrainian author Andrey Kurkov paid tribute to her in the Guardian, writing: “I hope that with time English readers will be able to get acquainted with Amelina’s work, but I also hope that one of her colleagues will write a biographical book about her life, her humour and kindness, her incredible energy and eternal smile which sparkled even in the most difficult times.”
A service will also be held in her memory in Ukraine’s western city of Lviv tomorrow.
You can read one of her works here: Poem About a Crow
Updated
Reuters has reported that Hungary’s foreign minister said on Tuesday he had been in touch with his Turkish counterpart about a ratification of Sweden’s Nato membership, and if there was a shift in Turkey’s stance then Hungary will not delay the process.
Hungary and Turkey remain the only two members of the alliance yet to ratify Sweden’s admission.
Updated
Russian mayor of occupied Donetsk casts doubt on September election plans
Alexei Kulemzin, the Russian-imposed mayor of the occupied city of Donetsk, has posted images to the Telegram of him meeting local residents. He claimed that in the discussion they asked him about the prospect for elections in September.
He wrote: “They also discussed the upcoming elections, which are scheduled for 10 September. First of all, the question is about the safety of our voters, we have no right to risk the lives of people.”
Russia unilaterally claimed to annex Donetsk last year, and it is planning to hold regional and municipal elections on 10 September, along with the rest of the Russian Federation.
However, on Monday, Ella Panfilova, who chairs Russia’s central election commission, told the Russian president, Vladimir Putin: “Since the situation is really difficult, anything can happen. If unforeseen circumstances arise – in some areas the situation may deteriorate dramatically - and we see that there is a serious danger to the life and health of residents, then we have the right to postpone these elections.”
Updated
Russia rejects UN proposal on agricultural bank
A proposal by the UN to set up a special communications channel between JP Morgan and Russia’s state agricultural bank is not a valid alternative to reconnecting the bank to the international Swift payments system, Reuters reports a spokesperson for the Russian foreign ministry said on Tuesday.
Connecting the bank to international finance has been a key Russian demand for extending the Black Sea grain initiative.
Updated
US president, Joe Biden, on Tuesday welcomed Nato’s decision to extend secretary general Jens Stoltenberg’s term by a further year. [See 10.33am BST]
“With his steady leadership, experience, and judgment, secretary general Stoltenberg has brought our alliance through the most significant challenges in European security since the second world war,” Biden said in a statement released by the White House.
Reuters reports the president said the Nato alliance was currently “stronger, more united and purposeful than it has ever been”.
Earlier British prime minister, Rishi Sunak, said: “Under Stoltenberg’s leadership, Nato has evolved to meet new threats, continued to protect our people and has been steadfast in support of Ukraine”, adding that he was “looking forward to continuing that work together.”
Nato’s Vilnius summit will be held next week.
Updated
No basis for renewing Black Sea grain deal, says Russia
Russia sees no basis for renewing the Black Sea grain deal, the Russian foreign ministry said on Tuesday, less than two weeks before the expiration of the agreement, which has allowed grain to be shipped out of Black Sea ports despite the war in Ukraine.
The ministry said in a statement Russia was doing everything so that all ships covered by the deal could leave the Black Sea before it expires on 17 July, Reuters reported.
Updated
Ukrainian servicemen ride in a T-80 main battle tank captured earlier from Russian troops, along a road near the frontline town of Bakhmut.
Updated
Russian shelling wounded 12 people, including five children, in the small town of Pervomaisk in Ukraine’s Kharkiv region on Tuesday, regional governor Oleh Synehubov said.
Synehubov said on the Telegram messaging app that the shelling took place at 1.35pm Kyiv time (10.35 GMT) and several cars were on fire.
Italy has frozen Russian oligarchs’ assets valued at about €2bn ($2.5bn) after the invasion of Ukraine last year, the country’s central bank said on Tuesday.
Italy seized assets – including bank accounts, luxury villas, yachts and cars – as part of the European Union’s sanctions against the Kremlin and its backers, Reuters reported.
In its annual report, the Bank of Italy’s anti-money laundering unit (UIF) said the €2bn figure had been updated to the end of June.
UIF director Enzo Serata added that financial holdings worth about €330m, linked to 80 individuals, had been frozen as part of the sanctions regime.
Before the war began in February 2022, Italy’s beaches and ports were a popular playground for wealthy Russians who bought properties in prime locations such as Lake Como, Sardinia, Tuscany and the Ligurian coast.
Updated
The Kremlin has said there were “certain contacts” with the United States over the case of detained Wall Street Journal journalist Evan Gershkovich, but that it did not want to make them public.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov made the comments in a regular briefing, Reuters reported.
Russia accuses Gershkovich of espionage, something he denies.
Luke Harding has been in Ukraine speaking to residents in Nikopol, who live near the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant:
The town of Nikopol – current population 50,000 – and other nearby cities are taking the threat of damage to the nuclear plant seriously. Last week for the first time they carried out radiation drills, a rehearsal for what locals should do in case of a repeat of the 1986 Chornobyl disaster.
“The Zaporizhzhia plant is on my doorstep. You can see it,” resident Anna Supranova said. “If there is a nuclear leak we will fetch the dog, go inside and close the windows and doors. Unfortunately we don’t have a car. We won’t get far on foot.” She, her husband, Serhiy, and 15-year-old daughter, Angelina, would wait for rescue. “I’m not sure who exactly would come,” she admitted.
Speaking on Monday, the Nikopol military district chief Yevhen Yevtushenko said the situation was under control. Radiation levels were normal. There was no sign that the Russians were leaving the plant in big numbers, he said. The authorities were not planning a forced evacuation – for now. Since Russia’s all-out attack in February 2022 about half of the town’s population had moved to safer areas, he said.
Read more of Luke Harding’s dispatch from Ukraine here: ‘It looks like Mars’ – Nikopol locals on life without water after dam explosion
Updated
Summary of the day so far …
Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin said on Tuesday that Ukraine had launched a drone attack on the Russian capital and its region, temporarily disrupting flight operations at the Vnukovo airport. “At this moment, the attacks have been repelled by air defence forces,” Sobyanin said on Telegram. “All detected drones have been eliminated”. There were no casualties or injured reported.
Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova claimed Ukraine attempted to strike civil infrastructure, including the airport, which amounted to an “act of terrorism”. Over 18,000 civilians have been recorded as casualties inside Ukraine by the UN since Russia’s full-scale invasion of the country began in February 2022.
Nato members have agreed to extend the term of secretary general Jens Stoltenberg for a further year. The former prime minister of Norway has been in the role since 2014. In a statement on social media he said he was “honoured” and that “in a more dangerous world, our alliance is more important than ever.”
Russian president Vladimir Putin has told a virtual summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) that the world faces an increasing risk of conflict due to economic and financial instability, and thanked the leaders of China and India for their support during the recent Wagner mutiny in the country.
Suspilne reports that a man and a woman were killed Tuesday morning in Russian shelling of Ukraine’s southern city of Kherson. Additionally, three people have been injured by Russian shelling in Ukraine’s northern Chernihiv oblast.
Oleksiy Danilov has described recent days of battle as “fruitful” for Ukraine in terms of destroying the resources of the Russian forces. In a post to social media, the secretary of Ukraine’s national security and defence council described Ukraine as acting “calmly” and “wisely’ in its counteroffensive.
Russia’s state-owned news agency Tass has reported that the Ukrainian power line connected to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant has been cut off. It cited Renat Karchaa, adviser to the general director of the Rosenergoatom.
A prominent Russian journalist and a lawyer were attacked and suffered serious injuries after several masked men in the Russian region of Chechnya forced their car to stop on Tuesday. Journalist Elena Milashina had her head shaved, several fingers broken, and was covered with green dye in the attack, according to human rights group Memorial. The well-known journalist for the Novaya Gazeta newspaper was travelling to the Chechen capital Grozny from the local airport with lawyer Alexander Nemov, when they were attacked. Reports said Nemov had been stabbed in the leg, and that their attackers had made it clear the duo were being punished for their activism and reporting.
Updated
Nato confirms Jens Stoltenberg term as secretary general extended until October 2024
Nato has confirmed that secretary general Jens Stoltenberg will remain in his post for an additional year, not stepping down until October 2024.
Stoltenberg, the former prime minister of Norway, is the 13th secretary general of Nato and has been in the role since 2014.
In a statement on social media, Stoltenberg said:
Honoured by Nato allies decision to extend my term as secretary general until 1 October 2024. The transatlantic bond between Europe and North America has ensured our freedom and security for nearly 75 years, and in a more dangerous world, our alliance is more important than ever.
Stoltenberg had been due to step down later this year, with the UK’s defence secretary Ben Wallace apparently interested in taking up the role. However French president Emmanuel Macron was believed to have been insistent that the position should be taken by someone from an EU member state, with Denmark’s prime minister Mette Frederiksen a contender.
Putin thanks China and India for support during Wagner mutiny at SCO summit
President Putin has told a virtual summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) that the world faces an increasing risk of conflict due to economic and financial instability, and thanked the leaders of China and India for their support during the recent Wagner mutiny in the country.
Interfax quotes Russia’s president saying:
The risks of a new global economic and financial crisis are rising against the backdrop of uncontrolled accumulation of debts in developed countries, social stratification and growing poverty around the world, deteriorating food and environmental security. All these problems, each of which is complex and diverse in its own way, in their totality lead to a noticeable increase in conflict potential. Russia feels all this directly itself.
On the topic of the failed mutiny by the Wagner mercenary group, which he has since revealed was funded by the state, Putin said:
The Russian people are more consolidated than ever. The Russian political circles and the whole of society clearly demonstrated the solidarity and high responsibility for the fate of the fatherland by speaking out as a united front against the attempted armed rebellion. I would like to take this opportunity to thank my colleagues from the SCO countries who expressed support for the actions of the Russian leadership to protect the constitutional order life and safety of citizens. We highly appreciate it.
Putin also proposed a reform of the SCO’s regional anti-terrorism structure, and called for the speedy accession of Belarus to the group.
SCO membership is currently China, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, with Belarus, Mongolia and Iran having observer status.
Updated
President Putin is currently addressing the SCO summit. In his opening remarks he said that the global potential for conflicts is rising, and that Russia will stand up to sanctions and provocations.
Updated
Russia’s state-owned news agency Tass has reported that the Ukrainian power line connected to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant has been cut off. It cited Renat Karchaa, adviser to the general director of the Rosenergoatom.
More details soon …
Updated
President Putin is expected to address the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit today. The event is being attended by leaders from China, India and Pakistan among others.
Earlier an unofficial Kremlin press pool Telegram channel posted a short clip of Putin on a video call with Narendra Modi, India’s prime minister. India is hosting the summit.
China’s president Xi Jinping is currently giving a virtual address at the event. We will bring you any key information that emerges.
Updated
A prominent Russian journalist and a lawyer were attacked and suffered serious injuries after several masked men in the Russian region of Chechnya forced their car to stop on Tuesday, the journalist’s employer and rights groups told Reuters.
Journalist Elena Milashina had her head shaved, several fingers broken, and was covered with green dye in the attack, according to human rights group Memorial. The well-known journalist for the Novaya Gazeta newspaper was travelling to the Chechen capital Grozny from the local airport with lawyer Alexander Nemov, when they were attacked.
Reports said Nemov had been stabbed in the leg, and that their attackers had made it clear the duo were being punished for their activism and reporting. Reuters reports there was no immediate comment from the authorities in Chechnya.
Updated
Andriy Kostin, Ukraine’s chief prosecutor, has posted to social media images of the first working meeting of the International Centre for the Prosecution of the Crime of Aggression (ICPA) in The Hague. He said:
First working meeting with Ukrainian prosecutors at ICPA in The Hague. Defining the scope of work and key priorities. The strategic goal is the accountability of Russia’s political and military leadership. This is history in the making: we’re laying the groundwork for the future tribunal.
Suspilne reports that three people have been injured by Russian shelling in Ukraine’s northern Chernihiv oblast.
Oleksiy Danilov has described recent days of battle as “fruitful” for Ukraine in terms of destroying the resources of the Russian forces. In a post to social media, the secretary of Ukraine’s national security and defence council described Ukraine as acting “calmly” and “wisely’ in its counteroffensive. He posted:
At this stage of active hostilities, Ukraine’s defence forces are fulfilling the number one task – the maximum destruction of manpower, equipment, fuel depots, military vehicles, command posts, artillery and air defence forces of the Russian army.
The last few days have been particularly fruitful. Now the war of destruction is equal to the war of kilometres. More destroyed means more liberated. The more effective the former, the more the latter. We are acting calmly, wisely, step by step.
In addition to the raised death toll in Sumy, Reuters is reporting that a man and a woman have been killed in the morning Russian shelling of Ukraine’s southern city of Kherson.
Citing the local prosecutor’s office, it reports that damage to property has also been recorded, and the number of wounded is currently being ascertained.
This is Martin Belam taking over the live blog in London. You can contact me at martin.belam@theguardian.com.
Suspilne, Ukraine’s state broadcaster, has reported an increase in the death toll in the Sumy drone attack to three.
On its official Telegram channel, it wrote:
In Sumy, the number of people killed as a result of a drone attack on a residential building on 3 July increased to three people. Mayor Lysenko reported 21 people were injured, and four people are in hospital. 4 July has been declared a day of mourning in Sumy.
Updated
Moscow’s Vnukovo airport has resumed operations, Russia’s aviation watchdog Rosaviatsiya said on Telegram, after operations were briefly suspended amid what Russia’s foreign ministry said was a drone attack by Ukraine.
Operations resumed at 8am local time.
Updated
Russia's foreign ministry says Ukraine attempted 'terrorist' attack on airport
Ukraine attempted to strike civil infrastructure including the airport which amounts to an “act of terrorism”, Maria Zakharova, the Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman said on Tuesday.
“The Kyiv regime’s attempt to attack an area where civilian infrastructure is located, including the airport, which incidentally also receives foreign flights, is yet another act of terrorism,” Zakharova wrote in a post on the Telegram messaging app.
Several drones attacked Moscow and its region, temporarily disrupting flight operations at the major Vnukovo airport on Tuesday. Moscow’s mayor said the attack had been repelled.
Updated
Moscow mayor confirms drone attack, blaming Ukraine
Sergei Sobyanin, Moscow’s mayor, said on Tuesday that Ukraine launched another drone attack on the Russian capital and its region, temporarily disrupting flight operations at the Vnukovo airport.
“At this moment, the attacks have been repelled by air defence forces,” Sobyanin said on Telegram.
“All detected drones have been eliminated.”
There were no casualties or injured reported, Sobyanin added.
Updated
Moscow's Vnukovo airport temporarily restricts landings and takeoffs
Landings and takeoffs at Moscow’s Vnukovo airport were restricted this morning “for technical reasons beyond the control of the airport,” Russia’s Federal Air Transport Agency, or Rosaviatsiya, said on Telegram.
Restrictions were in place until 8am local time (0600 BST), the agency said.
It added that a number of flights were diverted to other airports and that other Moscow airports were functioning normally.
It was not immediately known whether the changes were related to a number of drones being intercepted early on Tuesday near Moscow.
Updated
Nato expected to extend Stoltenberg term
Nato members are expected to agree today to extend the term of secretary general Jens Stoltenberg for a further year, according to four diplomats interviewed by Reuters.
The decision has been widely signalled in recent weeks but ambassadors to Nato are expected to formally approve the extension during a meeting on Tuesday, said the diplomats, who spoke on Monday on condition of anonymity.
Stoltenberg, 64, is a former prime minister of Norway. He was due to complete his term as the top civilian at the transatlantic security alliance at the end of September but is now likely to stay on for a further 12 months.
Updated
Drones reportedly intercepted in Moscow region
Two drones were intercepted in the skies over the Moscow region and one in the neighbouring Kaluga region, Russia’s TASS state news agency reported on Tuesday, citing emergency services.
“According to preliminary information, three drones were heading towards Moscow at different times,” TASS cited a source with the services as saying.
Two drones were intercepted in the Novaya Moskva district of the Moscow region and one in the Kaluga region, just southwest of the Moscow region.
RIA news agency reported that the two drones were shot down near the village of Valuevo. The village is located about 30 kilometres (19 miles) southwest of the Kremlin.
No casualties or damage were reported.
Updated
Opening summary
Welcome back to our continuing live coverage of the war in Ukraine with me, Helen Sullivan. Today’s top stories: Nato members are expected to agree on Tuesday to extend the term of secretary general Jens Stoltenberg for a further year, according to four diplomats who have spoken to Reuters.
And two drones were intercepted in the skies over the Moscow region and one in the neighbouring Kaluga region, Russia’s TASS state news agency said, citing emergency services.
More key recent developments:
At least two people were killed and 19 injured in a Russian drone attack on the northeastern Ukrainian city of Sumy. A five-year-old boy was among the injured. An official building and two residential buildings were damaged in an attack carried out with four drones, the regional administration said on Telegram.
Ukraine said on Monday its troops had regained more ground along eastern and southern fronts in what President Zelenskiy described as progress in a “difficult” week for Kyiv’s counteroffensive against Russian forces.
The US ambassador to Russia met with jailed Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich in Moscow. Lynne Tracy met with Gershkovich on Monday after being granted access, her second visit since his detention in March. She has accused Russia of conducting “hostage diplomacy.” On Thursday, Antony Blinken, US secretary of state, told reporters that the country had tried to get consular access to Gershkovich “virtually every day.”
Zelenskiy asked the Georgian ambassador to Kyiv to return home to try to “save” jailed ex-leader Mikheil Saakashvili after footage showed him looking emaciated. Saakashvili, a Ukrainian citizen, was jailed in 2021 after returning from exile on abuse of power charges that rights groups denounce as politically motivated. Zelenskiy wants Saakashvili to be transferred to a clinic in Ukraine or the west.
Zelenskiy and Olaf Scholz, the German chancellor, called on Monday for the extension of the Black Sea grain deal, which allows the safe export of grain and fertilisers from three Ukrainian Black Sea ports, an official said. After a call between the two leaders, Zelenskiy said he and Scholz focused on defence cooperation and on the forthcoming Nato summit in Lithuania, where Ukraine wants to secure an indication of future membership in the alliance.
An international office to investigate Russia’s invasion of Ukraine opened on Monday in The Hague, in the first step towards a possible tribunal for Moscow’s leadership. It will investigate and gather evidence in a move seen as an interim step before the creation of a special tribunal that could bring Kremlin officials to justice for starting the Ukraine war.
There is no need for a further mobilisation in Russia to replace Wagner fighters who have left the battlefield in Ukraine after a short-lived mutiny, Russian state media said on Monday, quoting Andrey Kartapolov, head of the state duma’s defence committee.
The Russian-imposed leader in occupied Kherson, Andrey Alekseyenko, has stated that the damage to the Chongar Bridge linking Kherson and Crimea has been repaired. It was struck by Ukrainian forces in June.
Russia’s state-owned news agency Tass reports that Russian security forces claim to have foiled a plot to assassinate the Russian-imposed head of Crimea. It claims Sergei Aksyonov was to be targeted with a car bomb. The Russian Federation illegally seized Crimea in 2014.
Updated
