Summary
That’s all from our live coverage of the war in Ukraine for the day. In case you missed anything, here’s a quick run-down of all the day’s developments.
President Zelenskiy has announced the return of five military commanders who were previously expected to have to remain in Turkey until the end of the war. The men led the defence of the city of Mariupol until surrendering to Russian forces last year, and had been sent to Turkey under the terms of a prisoner exchange brokered by Ankara.
Russia has said the return of the men represents “nothing more than a direct violation of the terms of the existing agreements” by both Ukraine and Turkey. Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on Saturday that Vladimir Putin would visit Turkey in August.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has reiterated that Britain is signatory to a convention prohibits cluster munitions. “We will continue to do our part to support Ukraine against Russia’s illegal and unprovoked invasion,” he said. “But we’ve done that by providing heavy battle tanks and, most recently, long-range weapons.”
It comes after the United States announced that it would be providing the weapons to Ukraine. Ukraine has welcomed the decision and said it could help it to recapture territory.
Former prime minister Boris Johnson has also backed the move, describing it as “difficult but brave”. He said: “These are terrible weapons. But they have been used by Putin for over a year in his programme of indiscriminate slaughter of an entirely innocent people. The faster we help the Ukrainians to win, the more lives we will save all round.”
Zelenskiy also visited Snake island, which became a symbol of Ukrainian defiance early in the war after Ukrainian soldiers there refused to surrender to Russian forces, to mark 500 days since the invasion. In an undated clip released on Saturday, Zelenskiy was shown arriving by boat and laying flowers to honour those who defended the island.
Mercenary fighters of Yevgeny Prigozhin’s Wagner group are preparing to move to Belarus under the terms of a deal that defused their mutiny against Russia’s military leadership, a senior commander of the group was quoted as saying. Since the June mutiny, when Wagner fighters briefly seized a southern Russian city and marched towards Moscow, the exact whereabouts of Prigozhin and his mercenaries have been unclear.
The UN’s nuclear watchdog chief said it was “making progress” on inspecting several areas of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, after Ukraine claimed that “external objects similar to explosive devices” had been placed on rooftops at the site. UN officials said they had “not seen any indications of explosives or mines” while touring the cooling ponds and other areas, but have yet to visit the facility’s rooftops.
If Russia does not agree to extend a deal allowing the safe export of grain and fertiliser from Ukrainian ports, it is unlikely western states will continue cooperating with UN officials helping Moscow with its exports, the UN aid chief said. Russia has threatened to quit the deal, which expires on 17 July, because several demands to dispatch its own grain and fertiliser have not been met.
More than 9,000 Ukrainian civilians, including in excess of 500 children, are confirmed to have died since the beginning of Russia’s invasion, according to the latest United Nations data. It is thought the true figures are likely to be much higher.
Updated
Biden 'right' to provide cluster munitions, says Boris Johnson
The United States was right to agree to provide cluster munitions to Ukraine, Boris Johnson has said.
Posting on Twitter, the former prime minister wrote: “Joe Biden has taken a difficult but brave decision to supply cluster munitions to Ukraine. He is right.
“These are terrible weapons. But they have been used by Putin for over a year in his programme of indiscriminate slaughter of an entirely innocent people.
“The faster we help the Ukrainians to win, the more lives we will save all round. And never forget - it is the Ukrainians who will use these weapons on their own soil, and to protect themselves.”
The UK is party to a 2008 convention prohibiting cluster munitions, but none of the US, Ukraine, or Russia are signatories.
Joe Biden has taken a difficult but brave decision to supply cluster munitions to Ukraine. He is right. These are terrible weapons. But they have been used by Putin for over a year in his programme of indiscriminate slaughter of an entirely innocent people. The faster we help the…
— Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) July 8, 2023
