Summary
Here are the latest developments at a glance:
- Residents of Russian-occupied areas in Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region have been urged to evacuate by Ukraine’s deputy prime minister Iryna Vereshchuk, who said people risked being cut off from “power, water, food and medical supplies, heating and communication” if they stayed in the area.
- Five people were killed and at least 25 injured when Russian missiles struck the hangars of an aviation enterprise in Kropyvnytskyi, north of Mykolaiv, on Thursday.
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It has emerged that despite almost 200,000 UK visa applications of Ukrainian civilians, only 104,000 people had arrived in Britain as of Monday.
- Hungary’s prime minister, Viktor Orbán, has said Ukraine cannot win the war against Russia under Nato’s current support strategy.
- The British defence ministry, however, said that Ukraine’s counteroffensive in the Kherson region is growing stronger, according to the ministry’s latest defence intelligence on the war.
- The death toll from a Russian strike on a hotel in the town of Bakhmut in the Donetsk region increased to four on Thursday, regional emergency services said, as the search for survivors continues.
- At least two people were killed in the Donetsk town of Toretsk on Thursday, when a five-storey building collapsed after a Russian missile strike.
- US lawmakers were briefed by US officials that more than 75,000 Russians are estimated to either have been killed or injured in the war.
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Talks between the Kremlin and Washington about a possible prisoner swap were said to not have come to a concrete agreement “yet” on Thursday. The deal reportedly involves trading a notorious Russian arms dealer for a US basketball star and a former marine.
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Estonia said on Thursday it would block Russian nationals from obtaining temporary residence permits or visas to study in Estonia, in a move its foreign minister described as putting “relentless pressure” on Russia and its population.
- Former Russian state TV journalist Marina Ovsyannikova was fined 50,000 roubles ($820) after being found guilty of discrediting the country’s armed forces in social media posts condemning Russia’s actions in Ukraine.
- Russia’s media regulator, Roskomnadzor, has filed a lawsuit to revoke the registration of the independent Novaya Gazeta newspaper, which had previously announced it would resume operations in Russia after the war had ended.
That’s all from me, thanks for following.
Updated
Estonia said on Thursday it would block Russian nationals from obtaining temporary residence permits or visas to study in Estonia, a move that adds to a growing list of limitations for Russian citizens.
Foreign minister Urmas Reinsalu said in a statement:
The continuation of sanctions against Russia is essential to ensuring relentless pressure on the country.
If the sanctions help in stopping Russian aggression, a positive effect on our own security will ensue.
Estonia also said short-term employment of Russian and Belarusian citizens with a legal residence permit issued by another EU member state would no longer be allowed, Agence France-Presse reports.
Reinsalu said this additional measure was aimed at ensuring that Russian and Belarusian citizens cannot bypass sanctions by obtaining a short-term visa for another country.
Belarus, a close ally of Russia, has facilitated the invasion of Ukraine by allowing Russian troops to attack from its territory.
Updated
