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
The Kremlin confirmed on Thursday that it is in talks with Washington on a possible prisoner swap, but said there is no concrete agreement “yet” on a deal that reportedly involves trading a notorious Russian arms dealer for a US basketball star and a former Marine.
The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, said Washington had made a “substantial proposal” to Moscow to free basketball star Brittney Griner and former Marine Paul Whelan, but declined to confirm reports that the US is offering to trade them for Russian arms trafficker Victor Bout – whom my colleague Pjotr Sauer has profiled here.
In a significant development, Blinken said on Thursday he would speak to his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, “in the coming days” – in what would be the pair’s first telephone call since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine on 24 February.
Updated
This video shows Ukrainian emergency services searching for survivors in the Donetsk region after multiple buildings were destroyed by Russian shelling, including a hotel in the town of Bakhmut under Ukrainian control.
Search and rescue operations are still under way, but the death toll from the strike on the hotel increased to four on Thursday, regional emergency services said.
Updated
Italian anti-immigrant lparty leader Matteo Salvini’s ties with Russia were again under scrutiny on Thursday following questions about the collapse of Prime Minister Mario Draghi’s government.
The La Stampa newspaper reported that a diplomat at the Russian embassy met one of Salvini’s aides in late May in Rome, and asked if any of the ministers from Salvini’s far-right League party intended to resign from Draghi’s coalition.
The meeting was said to have taken place at the same time as Salvini drew criticism for conducting parallel diplomacy with Russia over the war in Ukraine.
In 2019, Salvini described Russian president Vladimir Putin as “the best statesman currently on Earth”, while the pro-Putin tendencies of the Italian right have been a subject of concern in other parts of the EU for some time.
The League resigned from the government coalition last week, alongside Silvio Berlusconi’s Forza Italia and the populist Five Star Movement, causing Draghi to resign and triggering new elections in September.
Salvini had planned a trip to Moscow ostensibly for peace talks – with flights bought by the Russian embassy, an arrangement his team insists was only done due to difficulties circumventing EU sanctions.
They said they reimbursed the embassy and the trip in the end never happened.
Foreign minister Luigi di Maio on Thursday condemned “this attempt by the Russian side to have the League minister withdraw from Draghi’s government”, AFP reports.
Salvini “must explain the relations he has with Russia”, Di Maio said, who, like Draghi is a strong supporter of western unity and support for Kyiv in response to Russia’s aggression.
Enrico Letta, leader of the centre-left Democratic party, also said the ties between Salvini and Russia were “concerning”.
Salvini described the accusations as “fake news” aimed at discrediting him in the run-up to the next general election.
Updated
At least 75,000 Russians killed or injured, US officials say
US officials estimate the number of Russian fatalities in the war has long been in the tens of thousands.
“We were informed that more than 75,000 Russians were either killed or injured, which is enormous,” Elissa Slotkin, a Democratic House Representative who previously attended a secret US government briefing told CNN.
Dmitry Peskov, President Vladimir Putin’s press secretary, rejected the figures as “fake” and claimed these were media reports, not US government findings.
There is no current information from the official authorities in Russia on the number of deaths, with the most recent official death toll still standing at 1,351.
The CIA recently estimated that 15,000 people had died on the Russian side.
Losses on the Ukrainian side are also unclear. Presidential adviser Oleksiy Arestovych put the losses at “up to 10,000” in early June, dpa reports.
Last week, Richard Moore, the head of MI6, said he believed the Russian invasion would begin to lose steam in coming weeks because its troops have been significantly diminished.
Updated
At least two people were killed in the Donetsk town of Toretsk in eastern Ukraine on Thursday, when a five-story building collapsed after a Russian missile strike.
“Today, the rescuers of the Toretsk garrison, during emergency rescue operations on the destroyed part of a five-story residential building in the city of Toretsk, discovered and pulled out the bodies of two dead persons (one man and one woman),” the State Emergency Service of Ukraine said.
Updated
Hungary’s prime minister, Viktor Orbán, has warned Ukraine cannot win the war against Russia under Nato’s current support strategy.
Speaking in Vienna after bilateral talks with the Austrian chancellor, Karl Nehammer, he said: “This war in this form cannot be won,” adding that Nato’s current strategy of supplying Ukraine with weapons and training “has shown until now that it will not lead to success”.
Hungary has been holding up a tranche of European sanctions banning Russian oil imports into the EU by the end of the year.
Orbán said there would not be peace without changing the strategy, adding that he feared the European Union could be “pushed into a war situation”.
“It is not clear how we can avoid recession in the EU if the war carries on,” he said.
Updated
Residents of Russian-occupied areas of eastern Donbas urged to evacuate
Residents of Russian-occupied areas in Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region have been urged to evacuate.
Ukraine’s deputy prime minister Iryna Vereshchuk said people risked being cut off from “power, water, food and medical supplies, heating and communication” if they stayed in the area.
“Be wise and get ready for evacuations!” she said in a Telegram post.
The leader of pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine called on Moscow to conquer key cities across the country.
“Today, the time has come to liberate Russian cities, founded by Russians: Kyiv, Chernihiv, Poltava, Odesa, Dnipro, Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, Lutsk,” Denis Pushilin said on Telegram.
Updated
The German government’s tough stance towards Russia since the war in Ukraine began is coming under pressure at home, as worries about the resulting energy crisis and possible gas shortages intensify.
Until now, all mainstream parties from across the political spectrum had backed the strict sanctions imposed on Russia.
In recent weeks though, some German conservative leaders have voiced scepticism about the west’s strategy, as opinion polls indicate that around half of the German population thinks the sanctions are hurting Germany more than Russia.
Overall however, polls show that more than two-thirds of Germans still back sanctions, Reuters reports.
About half of German households rely on gas for heating, as does approximately a third of the country’s industrial energy consumption.
Germany recorded its first monthly trade deficit since 1991 in May, partly due to inflation running atabout 8%.
Michael Kretschmer, conservative leader of the eastern Saxony region, told Die Zeit newspaper in an interview printed on Thursday:
Our entire economic system is in danger of collapsing. If we are not careful, Germany could become deindustrialised.
If we realise that we cannot for now give up on Russian gas, then it is bitter but it is the reality, and we must act accordingly.
Concerns about government policy on Ukraine are particularly widespread in the former communist east, which has stronger ties to Moscow and stands to be more affected by the looming economic downturn as it is already worse off, Reuters reports.
Kretschmer, whose state has a population of about 4 million, is calling for the war in Ukraine to be “frozen” and for Europe to push for peace talks.
Kretschmer says this would boost trade of fossil fuels and grains, and prevent German economic collapse and famine in Africa, but critics fear this would legitimise Russia’s territorial gains and allow the Kremlin to regroup before further military offensives could be mounted.
Updated
Five killed and 25 injured in Russian strike on Kropyvnytskyi
Russian missiles have struck the hangars of an aviation enterprise in Kropyvnytskyi, killing five and injuring at least 25 others, according to the head of the Kirovohrad regional administration, Andriy Raikovych. The injured include military personnel.
“Five people were killed as a result of missile strike that occurred in Kropyvnytskyi at 12.22pm. Another 25 people were injured, of whom 12 are military personnel and 13 civilians,” Raikovych said in a briefing reported by Ukrinform.
Kropyvnytskyi is to the north of Mykolaiv.
Updated
The Belarusian opposition leader, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, has condemned the latest escalation in the war on Ukraine launched from Belarus.
“Horrified to see how Russia continues to use Belarus to attack Ukraine,” she tweeted. “At least 25 missiles were launched from Belarus targeting Kyiv, Chernihiv and other cities this morning. Lukashenka can’t fool anyone. He is guilty of crimes against Belarusians and Ukrainians and must be held accountable.”
Here are some of the latest images to be sent to us from Ukraine over the news wires.
Updated
The British defence ministry has published a map suggesting that Ukraine’s counteroffensive in the Kherson region is growing stronger, in the ministry’s latest defence intelligence update on the war in Ukraine.
The illegal and unprovoked invasion of Ukraine is continuing.
— Ministry of Defence 🇬🇧 (@DefenceHQ) July 28, 2022
The map below is the latest Defence Intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine - 28 July 2022
Find out more about the UK government's response: https://t.co/qMPs8CICqw
🇺🇦 #StandWithUkraine 🇺🇦 pic.twitter.com/EcU9CGVPlz
The UK ambassador to the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), Neil Bush, stressed in a speech in Vienna on Thursday that five months on from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the UK remained steadfast in its support of Ukraine.
He said:
Russia has pursued barbaric tactics, once thought consigned to history. Indifferent to international law, desperate and cowardly, the Russian government has relentlessly targeted civilians and civilian infrastructure. 155 days ago, Ukrainian cities were bustling, prosperous centres. 155 days ago, 20 million now-displaced Ukrainian people were living undisturbed in their own homes.
He added:
Because of President Putin’s actions, some of the world’s poorest and most vulnerable people are at risk of starvation. If Russia’s aggression continues, the World Food Programme estimates that up to 47 million more people could face acute food insecurity this year. The UN secretary general has warned that the war is threatening to unleash “an unprecedented wave of hunger and destitution, leaving social and economic chaos in its wake”. The scale of the suffering is truly horrific.
Updated
The Austrian chancellor, Karl Nehammer, held talks with Hungarian prime minister, Viktor Orban, in Vienna on Thursday, where they discussed migration and the war in Ukraine and its consequences.
The meeting of the two central European leaders came only days after one of Orban’s closest associates resigned in protest over what she called a “pure Nazi” speech given by the Hungarian prime minister in which he railed against Europe becoming a “mixed race” society, the Associated Press reports.
Orban declared that countries with large-scale migration from outside of Europe were “no longer nations”.
Nehammer sought to quickly distance himself from Orban’s controversial remarks, telling reporters he had made clear to the Orban that “we in Austria reject, condemn in the strongest terms, any form of trivialisation or relativization of racism or even antisemitism.”
While Orban did not explicitly repeat these remarks in Vienna on Thursday, he stressed his anti-migration agenda and reiterated what he sees as the need to defend his country’s culture against outside influence.
“I don’t want Hungary to become an immigration country and I don’t want migration to become stronger in Hungary,” he said. “I have always held this point of view and I will continue to do so, this has no biological basis. This is not a racial issue for us. This is a question of culture. Quite simply, our civilisation should be preserved as it is now.”
Nehammer, for his part, depicted migration as a “challenge” that needs to be fought.
Austria has taken in over 80,000 refugees from Ukraine and around 30,000 additional asylum applications during the first half of the year, the chancellor pointed out, calling the arrival of these people “challenges that Austria is actually facing now in addition to the energy crisis, in addition to inflation, in addition to the pandemic”.
In comparison, Germany has registered more than 900,000 refugees from Ukraine since the outbreak of the war.
Both the Austrian and Hungarian leaders said their countries were planning a conference with Serbia on how to “curb irregular migration”.
Updated
Ukraine confirmed a new head of its specialised anti-corruption prosecutor’s office on Thursday, responding to a European Union request as it seeks EU membership.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on the Telegram messaging app that prosecutor general Andriy Kostin’s first important decision since being voted into office on Wednesday had been to sign off on the appointment of Oleksandr Klymenko, an experienced investigator, Reuters reports.
“The fight against corruption is a priority for our state, as our investment attractiveness and business freedom depend on its success,” Andriy Yermak, the head of Zelenskiy’s presidential office, wrote on Telegram.
Klymenko was appointed after a long selection process following his predecessor’s resignation nearly two years ago. He previously worked for the national anti-corruption bureau.
The EU granted Ukraine candidate status earlier this month, putting it on the long road to membership, but said important work remained to be done including on fighting corruption.
“Ukraine delivers on one of the recommendations that accompanied the EU candidate status,” Matti Maasikas, the EU ambassador to Ukraine, wrote on Twitter.
“A long selection process finalised, offering lessons. I wish Mr Klymenko strength and courage!”
The US also welcomed Klymenko’s appointment.
“His office plays a crucial role in Ukraine’s anti-corruption infrastructure and is a key element of Ukraine’s defense against Russia’s influence and aggression,” tweeted Bridget Brink, the US ambassador to Ukraine.
Updated
A former state TV journalist charged with discrediting Russia’s armed forces by protesting against Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine was found guilty on Thursday, after she told a court that the charge against her was absurd.
Marina Ovsyannikova was ordered to pay a fine of 50,000 rubles (around $800) by a district court in Moscow.
The former editor at state-controlled Channel One defiantly repeated her protest, refused to retract her words and said she did not understand why she was there and what she was being judged for, Reuters reports.
“What’s going on here is absurd,” Ovsyannikova told the court. “War is horror, blood and shame.”
Ovsyannikova’s interruption of a live Russian state TV news broadcast in March made international headlines.
The journalist, who was employed at the broadcaster at the time, was fined for flouting protest laws, but was now tried over subsequent social media posts in which she wrote that those responsible for Russia’s actions in Ukraine would find themselves in the dock before an international tribunal.
She faces up to 15 years in jail for discrediting the armed forces under a law passed in March, soon after President Vladimir Putin launched what he calls his “special military operation” against Ukraine.
“The purpose of the trial is to intimidate all the people who oppose the war in the Russian Federation,” Ovsyannikova told the court.
She described Russia as an aggressor country, saying: “The beginning of this war is the biggest crime of our government.”
A lawyer for Ovsyannikova said she had the right to speak out under article 29 of the Russian constitution which protects the right to freedom of expression.
Updated
ArcelorMittal, the world’s second largest steelmaker, said on Thursday that profits fell in the second quarter owing to inflation and the war in Ukraine.
The group said in a statement its performance was “overshadowed by the outbreak of war in Ukraine, where we have steel and mining operations”, AFP reports.
ArcelorMittal employs 26,000 people in Ukraine and suspended its operation there when the war broke out.
“Globally, the conflict is impacting growth and adding further inflationary pressure, which is spilling over into weakening of demand [for steel],” the group said.
In the second quarter, net profit dipped by 2% to $3.9bn (£3.2bn), as its steel output fell 18% to 14.6m tonnes in the period from April to June.
Second-quarter sales, however, grew by 14.5% to just over €22bn (£18.3bn) driven by a circa 30% increase in steel prices.
The group said in May it would resume operations in Ukraine, even if only one of the three furnaces there has since restarted.
Looking ahead, the chief executive, Aditya Mittal, said that “despite the more uncertain global macro outlook” the business was “well positioned to effectively manage through the cycle”.
“The long-term outlook for steel demand also remains positive, underpinned by the scale of opportunity related to the energy transition and the continuing growth of developing economies,” Mittal said.
Updated
Here is some more detail on the UK’s visa schemes for people fleeing the war in Ukraine.
Overall, there have been almost 200,000 visa applications, but as we reported earlier, only 104,000 people had arrived in the UK as of Monday, just over half of those who applied.
PA Media report that 166,200 visas have been issued. These include 55,000 applications under the family scheme, of which 47,200 visas have been granted, and 143,200 applications under the sponsorship scheme, of which 119,000 visas have been granted.
Overall, 62.6% of those who have been issued with visas under either scheme have reached the UK.
Just over half (52.5%) of those who have applied for visas under the schemes – which allow those fleeing the conflict in Ukraine to come to the UK for up to three years – have arrived.
From Thursday, the British government will consider new applications under the sponsorship scheme from unaccompanied children who wish to come to the UK without a parent or guardian, providing they have parental consent.
Updated
Russia’s media regulator, Roskomnadzor, has filed a lawsuit to revoke the registration of the independent Novaya Gazeta newspaper, the state-owned news agency TASS reported on Thursday.
Novaya Gazeta, a pillar of Russia’s beleaguered independent media since 1993, said in March it would suspend operations inside the country until the end of the war after receiving warnings from the communications regulator for allegedly violating the country’s “foreign agent” law, and being forced to remove material on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine from its website.
Part of the paper’s staff have set up a European edition from Riga, Latvia.
Novaya Gazeta’s longtime editor in chief, the Nobel Peace prize laureate Dmitry Muratov, has remained in Russia despite his vocal opposition to the conflict in Ukraine, Reuters reports.
Updated
Kharkiv mayor says no area in city is safe from Russian attacks
The mayor of Ukraine’s second biggest city, Kharkiv, said no area in the city was “safe”.
Igor Terekhov told AFP:
The Russian aggressors are trying to turn Kharkiv into a pitiful city, like the ones they have in Russia.
But they won’t succeed. And, as you see, the people of Kharkiv are defending their city, weapons in hand.
We have nine districts in the city and they are all being bombed with varying intensity and at different times. So you can’t say anywhere in Kharkiv is safe.
Yes, it is safe in the shelters and it is safe in the metro.
But there is no district, no place in the city, where you can claim it is totally safe.
By the end of March, almost a third of Kharkiv’s residents had left the besieged city, fleeing to towns and cities further west.
Last week, shelling killed three people, including a 13-year-old boy, adding to a toll that Terekhov said was in the “many hundreds”.
Updated
Dmitry Peskov, Vladimir Putin’s press secretary, said on Thursday that the Kremlin “hopes” the Nord Stream 1 turbine will soon arrive at the Portovaya gas compressor station and that it will be installed, Reuters reports.
The Russian state-controlled energy company Gazprom said it had halted operations at one of three operational compressor units at Portovaya, the start point of the Nord Stream pipeline to Germany, because of maintenance issues.
Russia has reduced gas supplies through the pipeline since mid-June from 170m cubic metres of gas a day to 20m cubic metres.
On Tuesday, Gazprom announced a drastic cut to gas deliveries to Europe through the pipeline from Wednesday, prompting Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy to accuse Moscow of waging a “gas war”.
Germany’s economy minister, Robert Habeck, has questioned the explanation given by Gazprom for the new reduction in Nord Stream flows.
Gas prices are now 450% higher than they were this time last year, the BBC reported.
Updated
Summary of the day so far …
- A barrage of 25 missiles has been fired by Russian forces at northern regions of Ukraine from neighbouring Belarus. The early morning wave of missile strikes launched from the territory of Russia’s key ally hit targets in the Chernihiv region, including an apartment block, as well as locations outside Kyiv and around the city of Zhytomyr, according to Ukrainian officials and Belarusian opposition figures.
- The Chernihiv regional governor, Viacheslav Chaus, said nine missiles had struck close to the village of Honcharivska with some falling in the forest nearby. Activists who track Russian military moves in Belarus said the missile launches came from Ziabrauka airfield near Gomel, prompting calls for increased sanctions against Belarus.
- Vitaliy Kim, governor of Mykolaiv, said: “On the morning of 28 July, a massive rocket attack was launched on Mykolaiv. It is known that as a result of three rocket strikes, the building of the secondary school in Korabelny district was almost completely destroyed. One person was injured.”
- The strikes came as Ukraine celebrated Statehood Day for the first time. In a national message, the president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said: “Restless morning. Again – missile terror. We will not give up. We will not give up. Do not intimidate us. Ukraine is an independent, free, indivisible state. And it will always be like that.”
- Ukraine’s counteroffensive in Kherson is gathering momentum, according to the UK Ministry of Defence. In an intelligence report issued this morning, the ministry said: “Their forces have highly likely established a bridgehead south of the Ingulets River, which forms the northern boundary of Russian-occupied Kherson. Ukraine has used its new long range artillery to damage at least three of the bridges across the Dnipro River which Russia relies upon to supply the areas under its control.”
- Kirill Stremousov, deputy head of the Russian-imposed military-civilian administration in the occupied Kherson region has posted to Telegram to say that “all stories about successful ‘Ukronazi’ counteroffensives in the Kherson region are sheer lies.”
- Russian forces are undertaking a “massive redeployment” of troops to three southern regions of Ukraine in what appears to be a change of tactics by Moscow, a senior adviser to Zelenskiy said on Wednesday. Oleksiy Arestovych said Russia was sending troops to the Melitopol and Zaporizhzhia regions and Kherson, signalling a change in tactics to strategic defence from offence.
- Russian forces have also reportedly taken over Ukraine’s second biggest power plant in eastern Ukraine, an adviser to Zelenskiy said on Wednesday, after an earlier claim by Russian-backed forces to have captured it intact. “They achieved a tiny tactical advantage – they captured Vuhlehirsk,” Oleksiy Arestovych said. Unverified footage posted on social media appeared to show fighters from Russia’s Wagner private military company posing in front of the plant.
- Zelenskiy said Ukraine would rebuild the Antonivskyi Bridge and other crossings in the region after Ukrainian forces struck the strategic Russian supply route in southern Ukraine’s Kherson region. “We are doing everything to ensure that the occupying forces do not have any logistical opportunities in our country,” he added.
- As of Monday, 104,000 people had arrived in the UK under Ukraine visa schemes, figures published by the Home Office and UK Visas and Immigration show.
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The UN security council has been unable to agree on a statement welcoming last week’s deal to get grain and fertiliser moving from Ukraine and Russia to millions of hungry people around the world, Norway’s UN ambassador has said. The statement also would have commended secretary-general António Guterres and Turkey’s government for their key roles in arranging the agreement.
That is it from me, Martin Belam, for the moment. I will be back later. Jedidajah Otte will be continuing our live coverage of the conflict in Ukraine.
Updated
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has posted on Telegram about his new appointment to the Ukrainian prosecutor’s office, commenting:
The main tasks of the prosecutor’s office today are to bring to justice all Russian war criminals, restore justice and defend the interests of Ukraine.
I am convinced that Andriy Kostin, as a professional lawyer, will be able to ensure the systematic work of the general prosecutor’s office. His first important decision in his new position was the appointment of the head of the specialised anti-corruption prosecutor’s office. Oleksandr Klymenko has been appointed.
Last week, Zelenskiy dismissed prosecutor general Iryna Venediktova and in a statement said the reason was that it had come to light that many members of her agency had collaborated with Russia, a problem that he said had also touched other agencies.
Updated
Here are some of the latest images to be sent to us from Ukraine over the news wires.
Updated
Russian forces fire barrage of missiles at northern Ukraine from Belarus
Peter Beaumont reports from Kyiv on overnight developments in Ukraine:
A barrage of 25 missiles has been fired by Russian forces at northern regions of Ukraine from neighbouring Belarus as the Ukrainian southern offensive appears to be gathering pace.
The early morning wave of missile strikes launched from the territory of Russia’s key ally hit targets in the Chernihiv region – including an apartment block – as well as locations outside Kyiv and around the city of Zhytomyr, according to Ukrainian officials and Belarusian opposition figures.
The Chernihiv regional governor, Viacheslav Chaus, said nine missiles had struck close to the village of Honcharivska, with some falling in the forest nearby.
The strikes came as Ukraine celebrated Statehood Day for the first time. In a national message, the president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said: “Restless morning. Again – missile terror. We will not give up. We will not give up. Do not intimidate us. Ukraine is an independent, free, indivisible state. And it will always be like that.”
Activists who track Russian military moves in Belarus said the missile launches came from Ziabrauka airfield near Gomel, prompting calls for increased sanctions against Belarus.
Read more of Peter Beaumont’s report from Kyiv: Russian forces fire barrage of missiles at northern Ukraine from Belarus
Updated
As of Monday, 104,000 people had arrived in the UK under Ukraine visa schemes, figures published by the Home Office and UK Visas and Immigration show.
PA Media report this includes 31,300 people under the family scheme and 72,700 people under the Homes for Ukraine sponsorship scheme.
Updated
Ukraine is celebrating the Day of Ukrainian Statehood, a holiday instituted last year to celebrate the conversion to Christianity of the people of the Kyivan Rus state, which they see as the pre-cursor to Ukrainian statehood. Charles Michel, president of the European Council, has sent this message of support saying:
Brave people of Ukraine – today you celebrate the Day of Ukrainian Statehood, as Russia wages a brutal and unprovoked war against your country, which is now in its sixth month. The EU stands by you. For as long as it takes.
Brave people of Ukraine – today you celebrate the Day of Ukrainian Statehood, as Russia wages a brutal and unprovoked war against your country, which is now in its sixth month.
— Charles Michel (@CharlesMichel) July 28, 2022
The EU stands by you. For as long as it takes.@ZelenskyyUa #StatehoodDay pic.twitter.com/WV3Zl9X3gY
The same event is celebrated as the day of the baptism of Russia.
Ukraine’s state emergency services has issued a photograph this morning of what they claim is a school in Mykolaiv that has been virtually destroyed overnight by a Russian strike.
Vitaliy Kim, governor of Mykolaiv, posted earlier to Telegram:
On the morning of 28 July, a massive rocket attack was launched on Mykolaiv. It is known that as a result of three rocket strikes, the building of the secondary school in Korabelny district was almost completely destroyed. One person was injured. A yacht club, a warehouse of an agro-industrial enterprise, and farm buildings were also affected due to the fall of ammunition and their fragments. Detailed information is being clarified.
The mayor of Mykolaiv, Oleksandr Syenkevych, has posted some more details of what he says is damaged caused by Russian strikes overnight. He says a warehouse was partially destroyed after “the missile hit an open area” at the Shipbuilding University. He posted images which purport to show a large crater in the grounds of the university.
He also stated that blasts had broken the windows of a nearby church, alongside an image of what appears to be Saint Catherine’s church in the city.
Kirill Stremousov, deputy head of the Russian-imposed military-civilian administration in the occupied Kherson region of Ukraine has posted to Telegram this morning to say that “all stories about successful ‘Ukronazi’ counter-offensives in the Kherson region are sheer lies.”
He offered no evidence to support the claim.
Ukrinform reports some more details of missile strikes on Mykolaiv, which the mayor says took place at 4am. It quotes Oleksandr Syenkevych saying:
Educational institutions and residential buildings were damaged by rocket attacks today. Russian terrorists are cynically shelling the civilian infrastructure of Mykolaiv.
Another city school was almost completely destroyed. Part of the building collapsed there. The security guard of the institution was injured. Windows and roofs were broken in nearby private houses.
He went on to say that the Shipbuilding University was hit, and that two high-rise buildings are currently known to have been damaged.
- This is Martin Belam taking over the live blog in London. You can reach me at martin.belam@theguardian.com
Ukraine’s Kherson counter-offensive 'gathering momentum': UK MoD
Ukraine’s counter-offensive in Kherson is gathering momentum, according to the UK Ministry of Defence.
In an intelligence report issued this morning, the ministry said:
Their forces have highly likely established a bridgehead south of the Ingulets River, which forms the northern boundary of Russian-occupied Kherson.
Ukraine has used its new long range artillery to damage at least three of the bridges across the Dnipro River which Russia relies upon to supply the areas under its control.
One of these, the 1000 metre long Antonivskiy bridge near Kherson city, was damaged last week. Ukraine struck it again on 27 July 2022 and it is highly likely that the crossing is now unusable.
Russia’s 49th Army is stationed on the west bank of the Dnipro River and now looks highly vulnerable.
Similarly, Kherson city, the most politically significant population centre occupied by Russia, is now virtually cut off from the other occupied territories. Its loss would severely undermine Russia’s attempts to paint the occupation as a success.”
Latest Defence Intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine - 28 July 2022
— Ministry of Defence 🇬🇧 (@DefenceHQ) July 28, 2022
Find out more about the UK government's response: https://t.co/Uxf7cRQ29Q
🇺🇦 #StandWithUkraine 🇺🇦 pic.twitter.com/K9dClLZ1f1
More than 20 missiles launched from Belarus, Ukraine's military says
Ukrainian officials have released a little more detail surrounding the reported missile attack on the Chernihiv region this morning.
Ukraine’s operational command north released an update citing information they had received from Belarusian sources about the launch of more than 20 missiles from Belarus.
From 5.20pm to 6.30pm. On July 28, 2022, information from Belarusian sources received information about the launch of more than 20 missiles from Belarus.
Currently, it is known about the arrival of 9 rockets across the territory of the Goncharivska, Chernihiv region.”
No casualties have yet been reported, the force added.
Missiles fired from Belarus hit Chernihiv region, governor says
More than ten missiles reportedly fired from Belarus hit the Chernihiv region early this morning, according to Ukrainian officials.
Regional governor Viacheslav Chaus said “more than ten” missiles were fired from the territory of Belarus striking the Goncharivska area around 5am. In a Telegram update issued this morning, he said:
Today we all woke up very early and this awakening was very disturbing, we could hear explosions.
After 5am, large-scale rocket launches from the territory of Belarus. There is preliminary information about a hit near Goncharivskyi.”
Chaus declined to say where the explosions occurred, citing security reasons and added that information about victims is being clarified.
Updated
Russia redeploying troops to Ukraine's south
Russian forces are undertaking a “massive redeployment” of troops to three southern regions of Ukraine in what appears to be a change of tactics by Moscow, a senior adviser to President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Wednesday.
Oleksiy Arestovych said Russia was sending troops to the Melitopol and Zaporizhzhia regions and Kherson, signalling a change in tactics to strategic defence from offence.
In an interview with Ukrainian television on Wednesday, he said:
(This would) place us in a position where we are unable to liberate all our territory and call for talks”
“Putin sent an army to Ukraine in order to recreate the Soviet Union,” Arestovych added.
UN Security Council unable to agree on a statement for grain deal
The UN Security Council has been unable to agree on a statement welcoming last week’s deal to get grain and fertiliser moving from Ukraine and Russia to millions of hungry people around the world, Norway’s UN ambassador has said.
The statement also would have commended secretary-general Antonio Guterres and Turkey’s government for their key roles in arranging the agreement.
“Norway and Mexico have been working for days to unify the council in one message welcoming the significant deal to resume exports of grains, foodstuffs and fertilisers through the Black Sea,” Norwegian Ambassador Mona Juul told The Associated Press. “We regret that this was not possible.”
Russia and Ukraine signed separate agreements Friday with Turkey and the UN clearing the way for Ukraine — one of the world’s key breadbaskets — to export 22m tons of grain and other agricultural goods that have been stuck in Black Sea ports because of Russia’s invasion.
The deal also aims to ensure that Russian food and fertiliser have unrestricted access to world markets.
Council diplomats said Russia objected to the last draft statement on the grain deal because it mentioned Guterres’ condemnation of Saturday’s airstrike.
The proposed statement from Norway and Mexico, obtained by AP, would have welcomed the progress at Friday’s signing of the deal “towards ensuring the safe and secure export of grains, foodstuffs and fertilisers from Ukraine and the Russian Federation.”
It would have commended Guterres and Turkey and called for swift implementation of commitments made in Istanbul.
“A unified statement from the council welcoming the deal and commending the secretary-general for his efforts would have been an important signal,” Juul said.
“Norway believes the personal efforts and engagement of the secretary-general has been essential in facilitating negotiations between the parties,” Juul said. “These efforts are more important than ever, as the effects of the war continue to be felt by the people of Ukraine and beyond.”
Russia strikes Kyiv region, governor says
Russia has reportedly struck infrastructure in the Kyiv region early this morning according to Ukrainian officials.
Kyiv regional governor, Oleksiy Kuleba, said a rocket attack was launched on the Vyshgorod district, just north of the capital.
In a Telegram update posted just after 6am, Kuleba said:
This morning, the enemy launched a rocket attack on one of the communities of the Vyshgorod district.
The object of the infrastructure was fired upon. Information about the victims is being clarified. All emergency services are already on site.”
The Kyiv city council also issued an air alert alarm around the same time, urging residents to seek shelter.
⚡️Governor: Russia strikes infrastructure in Kyiv Oblast early on July 28.
— The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) July 28, 2022
According to Kyiv Oblast Governor Oleksiy Kuleba, Russian forces struck an infrastructure object in one of the communities in Vyshhorodsky District north of the capital.
Operation to liberate Kherson 'has already begun' Ukraine says
Ukraine has said its operation to liberate Kherson “has already begun” after striking the key Russian supply route through the Antonivskiy Bridge into the Russian-occupied southern city on Wednesday.
Presidental adviser, Oleksiy Arestovych, also confirmed Ukraine’s strategy to isolate Russian forces, maintaining that there is a “certain plan” of the armed forces of Ukraine to “isolate [Russia’s] military operations”.
No matter how much the enemy overtakes forces and resources on the western bank of the Dnieper, the Armed Forces of Ukraine will first leave them without ammunition depots, fuel, communications and command, and then they will clean up the remnants of their forces.”
Arestovych added that Russian forces had three options:
Retreat (if possible), surrender or be destroyed.”
Another senior presidential adviser, Mykhailo Podolyak, added:
Occupiers should learn how to swim across the Dnipro River. Or should leave Kherson while it is still possible. There may not be a third warning.”
Ukrainian officials also confirmed its troops used US-supplied precision rocket launchers to damage the Antonivskiy bridge.
Zelenskiy vowed Ukraine would rebuild the bridge and other crossings in the region.
We are doing everything to ensure that the occupying forces do not have any logistical opportunities in our country.”
Summary and welcome
Hello and welcome back to the Guardian’s live coverage of the war in Ukraine.
I’m Samantha Lock and I will be bringing you all the latest developments for the next short while.
Ukraine has said its operation to liberate Kherson “has already begun” after striking the key Russian supply route through the Antonivskiy Bridge into the Russian-occupied southern city on Wednesday.
Reports are coming in this morning suggesting Russia has struck infrastructure in the Kyiv region, according to Ukrainian officials.
It is 8am in Kyiv and here is where things stand.
- Russian forces are undertaking a “massive redeployment” of troops to three southern regions of Ukraine in what appears to be a change of tactics by Moscow, a senior adviser to President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Wednesday. Oleksiy Arestovych said Russia was sending troops to the Melitopol and Zaporizhzhia regions and Kherson, signalling a change in tactics to strategic defence from offence.
- Russian forces have reportedly taken over Ukraine’s second biggest power plant in eastern Ukraine, an adviser to President Zelenskiy said on Wednesday, after an earlier claim by Russian-backed forces to have captured it intact. “They achieved a tiny tactical advantage - they captured Vuhlehirsk,” Oleksiy Arestovych said. Unverified footage posted on social media appeared to show fighters from Russia’s Wagner private military company posing in front of the plant.
- Ukraine confirms its strategy to isolate Russian forces after a strike on the key Russian-held Antonivskiy Bridge into the occupied southern city of Kherson and said the operation to liberate Kherson “has already begun”. Presidential adviser Oleksiy Arestovych said there is a “certain plan” of the armed forces of Ukraine to “isolate [Russia’s] military operations”. “No matter how much the enemy overtakes forces and resources on the western bank of the Dnieper, the Armed Forces of Ukraine will first leave them without ammunition depots, fuel, communications and command, and then they will clean up the remnants of their forces,” he said adding that Russian forces had three options: “retreat (if possible), surrender or be destroyed.” Another adviser, Mykhailo Podolyak, added: “Occupiers should learn how to swim across the Dnipro River. Or should leave Kherson while it is still possible. There may not be a third warning.”
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Zelenskiy said Ukraine would rebuild the Antonivskiy Bridge and other crossings in the region after Ukrainian forces struck the strategic Russian supply route in southern Ukraine’s Kherson region. “We are doing everything to ensure that the occupying forces do not have any logistical opportunities in our country,” he added. Ukraine confirms strategy to isolate Russian forces:
- Preparations are continuing for the first ships to leave Ukrainian ports as Turkey unveiled a centre in Istanbul to oversee the process. Ukraine’s navy also confirmed that work has started at three Ukrainian Black Sea ports to prepare for renewed grain exports. The first shipment is expected to depart within days, Turkish defence minister, Hulusi Akar, said.
- US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, said he will speak with Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov by phone - the first between the two diplomats since before the start of the war. The call would not be “a negotiation about Ukraine,” he added.
- Russia delivered less gas to Europe on Wednesday as physical flows via Nord Stream 1 tumbled to 14.4m kilowatt hours an hour (kWh/h) between noon and 1pm GMT from around 28m kWh/h a day earlier, already just 40% of normal capacity. Germany accused Moscow of engaging in “power play” over energy exports after network data from the gas transfer station in Lubmin, north-east Germany, showed only about 17m kilowatt hours of gas arrived between 8am and 9am, compared with more than 27m kWh between 6am and 7am.
- The west risks the initiation of nuclear conflict with China or Russia because of a “breakdown of communication” with the two countries, the UK’s national security adviser has warned. Sir Stephen Lovegrove, 55, said that the erosion of backdoor channels had resulted in an increased chance of an accidental escalation into war.
- Ukraine has approved the appointment of a new prosecutor general, Andriy Kostin. “The person is decent, professional, he knows how to work systematically,” Zelenskiy said.
- The Biden administration has offered a deal to Russia aimed at bringing home WNBA star Brittney Griner and another jailed American, ex-US marine Paul Whelan, the secretary of state, Antony Blinken, said on Wednesday.
