Summary
Thank you for joining us for today’s live coverage of the war in Ukraine.
We will be pausing our live reporting overnight and returning in the morning.
In the meantime, you can read our comprehensive summary of the day’s events below.
- Russian president, Vladimir Putin, warned Moscow has barely started its campaign in Ukraine and dared the west to try to defeat it on the battlefield. Putin said the prospects for any negotiation would grow dimmer the longer the conflict dragged on during a speech to parliamentary leaders. “Everyone should know that, by and large, we haven’t started anything yet in earnest,” he said. “The further it goes, the harder it will be for them to negotiate with us.”
- Three people were killed and another five wounded after Russian forces fired rockets at Kharkiv, officials said. Regional governor, Oleh Synyehubov, said a district in the north-eastern Ukrainian city was shelled on Thursday.
- At least one person was been killed and six injured by a missile strike on Kramatorsk which hit a residential area, according to Ukraine’s regional governor of Donetsk. “This is a deliberate attack on civilians,” Pavlo Kyrylenko said, adding that this will not stop until the Russians are stopped.
- The mayor of Sloviansk said his city near Kramatorsk has come under Russian fire. Some residents were injured, said Vadym Lyakh, without providing further details. Ukraine’s military said pressure is intensifying with heavy shelling on Sloviansk and nearby populated areas.
- Russia’s defence ministry has said it killed Ukrainian servicemen who were trying to raise Ukraine’s flag on the recently retaken Snake Island. Authorities in Odesa appeared to confirm that missiles had struck the island, and that Russians had also destroyed two grain hangars in the region which contained “about 35 tonnes of grain”. Ukraine has denied reports any of its servicemen were killed.
- Foreign analysts say Russia may be temporarily easing its offensive in eastern Ukraine in an “operational pause” as its forces attempt to reassemble for a new assault. Russian forces made no claimed or assessed territorial gains in Ukraine on Wednesday “for the first time in 133 days of war,” according to the Institute for the Study of War.
- Ukraine has summoned the Turkish ambassador after it said Turkey had allowed a Russian-flagged ship carrying thousands of tonnes of allegedly stolen Ukrainian grain to leave the port of Karasu. Turkish customs officials had seized the vessel at Ukraine’s request on Tuesday, after Kyiv said the cargo was illegally transporting 7,000 tonnes of grain out of Russian-occupied Berdiansk, a port in the south-east of Ukraine.
- The UN warns of a “looming hunger catastrophe” due to Russia’s blockade on Ukrainian grain. Patrick Beasley, director of the UN World Food Programme, said a hunger catastrophe is set to explode over the next two years and called for an urgent lifting of the blockade on 25m tonnes of Ukrainian grain trapped by a Russian blockade.
- Investigators in Ukraine said they had foiled a criminal gang who forced women into sex work abroad after luring them with false adverts for legitimate employment. Authorities in Kyiv arrested the suspected leader of the gang after months of surveillance resulted in them stopping a woman as she was about to cross the border.
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Russian prosecutors have called for prison sentences for a prominent opposition activist and for a Moscow city council member who opposes the invasion of Ukraine. Alexei Gorinov faces up to 15 years in prison for spreading “knowingly false information” about the Russian army. Gorinov criticised Moscow’s military actions in Ukraine at a city council meeting in March.
- US basketball player Brittney Griner has pleaded guilty to drugs charges in a Russian court, but said she had not deliberately broken the law. Griner faces up to 10 years in prison under the charge. Russia’s deputy foreign minister, Sergei Ryabkov, said “hype” around Griner’s case does not help and suggested Washington be silent about her fate.
- Russia’s foreign minister has flown into the Indonesian island of Bali for a gathering of G20 foreign ministers. The gathering, which is likely to be overshadowed by Moscow’s war in Ukraine and deep divisions within the bloc over how to respond to the crisis, will mark the first time that Sergei Lavrov has met counterparts from nations that are strongly critical of the war.
- Boris Johnson spoke with Volodymyr Zelenskiy “to reiterate the United Kingdom’s steadfast support” in light of his resignation, Downing Street said. In his resignation speech outside No 10, Johnson addressed the people of Ukraine directly and promised that “the UK will continue to back your fight for freedom for as long as it takes”.
- Johnson’s resignation has been met with sadness in Kyiv, most notably by Volodymyr Zelenskiy who said the PM has been a “true friend of Ukraine”. Ukraine expects Britain’s support to continue despite Johnson’s resignation, Zelenskiy’s office said. Mikhail Podolyak, a key adviser to Zelenskiy, thanked Johnson for “always being at the forefront of supporting Ukraine”.
- Johnson’s downfall has been met with delight and ridicule in Moscow, with Kremlin spokesperson saying: “He doesn’t like us. We don’t like him either.” Russia’s ambassador to Britain, Andrei Kelin, said Moscow would prefer someone “not so antagonistic” to lead the UK.
Russia taking 'operational pause', analysts say
Foreign analysts say Russia may be temporarily easing its offensive in eastern Ukraine as the Russian military attempts to reassemble its forces for a new assault.
Russian forces made no claimed or assessed territorial gains in Ukraine on Wednesday “for the first time in 133 days of war,” according to the Institute for the Study of War.
The Washington-based think tank suggested Moscow may be taking an “operational pause,” but said that does not entail “the complete cessation of active hostilities.”
Russian forces will likely confine themselves to relatively small-scale offensive actions as they attempt to set conditions for more significant offensive operations” and rebuild the necessary combat power, the institute said.
Russia’s Defence Ministry seemed to confirm that assessment, saying in a statement Thursday that Russian soldiers had been given time to rest.
“The units that performed combat missions ... are taking measures to recover their combat capabilities. The servicemen are given the opportunity to rest, receive letters and parcels from home,” read the statement, quoted by Russian state news agency Tass.
