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.
- At least 15 people have died and dozens were injured after a Russian missile attack hit a five-storey apartment building in the town of Chasiv Yar in eastern Ukraine. Emergency crews worked to pull people trapped in the rubble. The strike destroyed three buildings in a residential quarter of town, inhabited mostly by people who work in nearby factories.
- Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, accused Moscow of purposely targeting civilians in the Chasiv Yar attack and promised “punishment is inevitable for every Russian murderer”.
- Ukraine has warned residents in southern Kherson and Zaporizhzhia to evacuate as it prepares to launch a counteroffensive to retake the area. The Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions were occupied by Russian troops in late February after they crossed the bridge from Russia-annexed Crimea. Ukraine’s deputy prime minister, Iryna Vereshchuk, said: “It’s clear there will be fighting, there will be artillery shelling... and we therefore urge [people] to evacuate urgently.”
- Two Ukrainian civilians were killed and at least two others injured in Russian missile attacks on the town of Siversk, near Sievierodonetsk, officials said. Donetsk governor, Pavlo Kyrylenko, said three people were hurt by shelling in Soledar, and seven houses and other property burned down in Bakhmut with no details of any casualties. Ukraine officials warned last week the city in the Luhansk region was facing a “humanitarian disaster”.
- The number of Ukrainian children enrolled in Poland’s schools is expected to double to at least 400,000 for the upcoming school year, the country’s education department has said. A report in European Pravda, an online media outlet published by Ukrainian journalists, quoted Przemysław Czarnek, Poland’s education minister, as saying those enrolled will take part in lessons both online from Ukraine and in-person.
- Germany has reportedly blocked €9bn of EU aid to Ukraine for more than a month. The Kyiv Independent, citing the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera, said Germany’s finance minister, Christian Lindner, was against the planned aid because of concerns over European debt.
- The Russian Tennis Federation has claimed Elena Rybakina as “our product” on her run to the women’s title at Wimbledon. They praised her training programme in the country after she became Wimbledon champion on Saturday while representing Kazakhstan.
- Russia has restricted access to the website of Germany’s Die Welt newspaper, Reuters reports. This came at the request of prosecutors, according to Roskomnadzor, Russia’s communications regulator. It was not immediately clear why prosecutors asked for the restriction.
- Russian forces have likely made some small territorial advances around Popasna, according to British intelligence. The Russian military continues to strike the Slovyansk area of the Donbas from around Izium to the north and near Lysychansk to the east, the UK’s Ministry of Defence said. The report added that the E40 – which links Donetsk and Kharkiv – is likely to be an important objective for Russian forces.
- Canada will return a repaired Russian turbine to Germany that it needs for the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline, despite objections from Ukraine. Canada’s minister of natural resources, Jonathan Wilkinson, said the government was issuing a “time-limited and revocable permit” to exempt the return of turbines from its Russian sanctions, to support “Europe’s ability to access reliable and affordable energy as they continue to transition away from Russian oil and gas”. Ukraine responded saying it is “deeply disappointed” by the decision.
- A Scottish council has announced plans to bring up to 200 empty homes back into use to house refugees fleeing Ukraine. North Lanarkshire Council said it would use 5m of Scottish government funding to reinstate the homes in high rise towers in Coatbridge and Wishaw “to a high standard”, according to a report from PA Media.
Updated
A Scottish council has announced plans to bring up to 200 empty homes back into use to house refugees fleeing Ukraine.
North Lanarkshire Council said on Monday it would use 5 million of Scottish government funding to reinstate the homes in high rise towers in Coatbridge and Wishaw “to a high standard”, according to a report from PA Media.
The towers, High Coats in Coatbridge and Birkshaw in Wishaw, were slated for demolition as part of a council strategy, but the council hopes their refurbishment - with the first expected to be complete in six weeks - will see some refugees staying in hotels able to live in their own homes.
Council leader Jordan Linden said:
The people escaping conflict in Ukraine face the most unimaginable circumstances. Across Scotland, so many have welcomed Ukrainian people into their homes and communities, and I am proud that we can play a leading role in the national effort by providing a large number of homes here in North Lanarkshire.
I know that the people of North Lanarkshire will welcome those who face such an uncertain time with their usual warmth and generosity, and I am pleased that we can move quickly to assist.
Already, council staff are working with partners to provide support and advice to people from Ukraine in hotel accommodation, and that extensive work will continue when these homes are occupied.”
Following the reinstatement of the first homes, the programme will expand in “the coming months” according to the council, with capacity for up to 200 homes.
Ukraine says it is “deeply disappointed” by Canada’s decision to hand back a repaired Siemens turbine used for the Nord Stream 1 natural gas pipeline to Germany.
The Ukrainian energy and foreign ministry called on the Canadian government to reverse its decision and said that returning the turbine would amount to adjusting the sanctions imposed on Moscow “to the whims of Russia.”
Canada will return a repaired turbine to Germany that is needed for the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline and could help to ensure continued flows of energy until Europe can end its dependency on Russian gas, Canada’s minister of natural resources earlier said.
The Canadian government said in a statement on Saturday it was issuing a “time-limited and revocable permit” to exempt the return of turbines from its Russian sanctions.
Journalists from AP have been talking to survivors of Saturday night’s Russian missile attack on a residential building in Chasiv Yar, in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region, which killed at least 15 people and left dozens more buried in rubble.
“We didn’t hear any incoming sound, we just felt the impact. I ran to hide in the corridor with my dogs. Everyone I knew started calling me to find out what had happened. I was shaking like a leaf”, said Irina Shulimova, 59, a resident of the block of flats.
Others said they heard at least three explosions and that many people were badly wounded in the blasts. A group of neighbours sat Sunday in a courtyard quietly discussing who was wounded and who was still missing.
"Now I’m waiting for a miracle." Loved ones pray as Ukrainian rescue teams work to pull people from the rubble after Russian rockets smashed into apartment buildings in eastern Ukraine, killing at least 15. More than 20 others were believed still trapped. https://t.co/T98trlf5Uf
— The Associated Press (@AP) July 10, 2022
Valerii, who gave only his first name, was desperately waiting to hear news of his sister and 9-year-old nephew, who lived in the collapsed building and had not answered his calls since Saturday night.
“Now I’m waiting for a miracle” he told reporters as he stood before the ruins and started to pray, hands clasped together tightly.
“We do not have good expectations, but I am avoiding such thoughts,” he said.
Zelenskiy: 'Punishment inevitable for every Russian murderer'
Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelenskiy has responded to a missile strike that killed 15 civilians in Chasiv Yar by promising “punishment is inevitable for every Russian murderer”.
Zelenskiy referenced the attack on the Donetsk region city in eastern Ukraine during a Sunday night address on Telegram. In it, he accused Moscow of purposely targeting civilians:
Anyone who gives orders for such strikes, anyone who carries them out in ordinary cities, in residential areas, kills absolutely deliberately. After such blows, they will not be able to say that they did not know or did not understand something.
Punishment is inevitable for every Russian murderer. Absolutely for everyone. The same as for the Nazis. And let them not expect that their state will protect them. Russia will be the first to abandon them when the political circumstances change.
Andriy Yermak, Zelenskiy’s chief of staff, said in his own Telegram post that the strike was “another terrorist attack”, Reuters reported, and that Russia should be designated as a state sponsor of terrorism as a result.
Kyrylo Tymoshenko, deputy head of Ukraine’s presidential office, wrote on Telegram that six people had been rescued from the rubble at Chasiv Yar, and that 23 people, including a child, remained buried.
Updated
Summary
It’s past midnight on Monday in Kyiv and Moscow, on the 139th day of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Here’s what we’ve been following:
- Civilians in the Russian-occupied southern region of Kherson were urged to immediately evacuate because Ukraine’s armed forces were preparing a counter attack there, according to Ukrainian deputy prime minister Iryna Vereshchuk. Ukraine lost control of most of the Black Sea region of Kherson in the first weeks following Russia’s 24 February assault.
- At least 15 people were killed and about 30 others trapped in the rubble of an apartment building in Chasiv Yar, eastern Ukraine, following a Russian missile attack late on Saturday. Dozens of Ukrainian emergency workers were working to pull people out. The strike destroyed three buildings in a residential quarter of town, inhabited mostly by people who work in nearby factories.
- Donetsk governor Pavlo Kyrylenko said two Ukrainian civilians were killed and at least two others injured in Russian missile attacks on the town of Siversk, near Sievierodonetsk, a Luhansk region city Ukraine officials warned last week was facing a “humanitarian disaster”. The governor said three people were hurt by shelling in Soledar, and seven houses and other property burned down in Bakhmut with no details of any casualties.
- The number of Ukrainian children enrolled in Poland’s schools was expected to double to at least 400,000 for the upcoming school year, the country’s education department said. A report in European Pravda, an online media outlet published by Ukrainian journalists, quoted Przemysław Czarnek, Poland’s education minister, as saying those enrolled will take part in lessons both online from Ukraine and in-person.
- The Kyiv Independent reported a poll that 44% of Ukrainian businesses think the country’s active war would end by the winter. However, more than one-third thought active combat would continue into 2023.
- Germany has reportedly been blocking €9bn of EU aid to Ukraine for more than a month. The Kyiv Independent, citing the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera, said Germany’s finance minister, Christian Lindner, was against the planned aid because of concerns over European debt.
- The Russian Tennis Federation was been quick to claim Elena Rybakina as “our product” on her run to the women’s title at Wimbledon. They praised her training programme in the country after she became Wimbledon champion on Saturday while representing Kazakhstan.
- Russia restricted access to the website of Germany’s Die Welt newspaper, Reuters reported. This came at the request of prosecutors, according to Roskomnadzor, Russia’s communications regulator. It was not immediately clear why prosecutors asked for the restriction.
- Russian forces have most probably made some small territorial advances around Popasna, the UK’s Ministry of Defence said on Sunday. It said the Russian military continued to strike the Slovyansk area of the Donbas from around Izium to the north and near Lysychansk to the east. The update added that the E40 – which links Donetsk and Kharkiv – is likely to be an important objective for Russian forces.
Updated
My colleague Kate Connolly has taken a look at the future of the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, following a decision by Canada to waive sanctions on Russia’s energy industry and return to Germany a repaired Russian-owned turbine.
Germany is bracing itself for a potentially permanent halt to the flow of Russian gas from Monday when maintenance work begins on the Nord Stream 1 pipeline that brings the fuel to Europe’s largest economy via the Baltic Sea.
The work on the 759-mile (1,220km) pipeline is an annual event and requires the gas taps to be closed for 10 to 14 days. But never before in the pipeline’s decade-long history has Germany seriously been asking whether the flow will begin again.
Robert Habeck, Germany’s economy minister, has not shied away from addressing the government’s concerns. On Saturday, he spoke of the “nightmare scenario” that could occur.
“Everything is possible, everything can happen,” Habeck told the broadcaster Deutschlandfunk. “It could be that the gas flows again, maybe more than before. It can also be the case that nothing comes.
“We need to honestly prepare for the worst-case scenario and do our best to try to deal with the situation.”
Contingency plans are rapidly being drawn up across Germany, where there are genuine concerns that Moscow may use the opportunity to further weaponise gas as a lever against the west in its war with Ukraine and permanently turn off supplies.
Russian gas is vital to the running of Germany’s economy as well as keeping the majority of homes warm. Flows through the pipeline have been reduced in recent months and are at about 40% of the usual levels. Russia has blamed sanctions for the reduced flow, arguing they have hindered its access to spare parts.
Read the full story:
The number of Ukrainian children enrolled in Poland’s schools is expected to double to at least 400,000 for the upcoming school year, the country’s education department says.
A report in European Pravda, an online media outlet published by Ukrainian journalists, quotes Przemysław Czarnek, Poland’s education minister, as saying those enrolled will take part in lessons both online from Ukraine and in-person:
We accepted 200,000 [Ukrainian children], of which 160,000 went to schools and 40,000 to kindergartens. According to our estimates, another 200,000 may join from September 1.
The end of the war in Ukraine is not in sight, so naturally those children... will come again.
But there will also be distance learning in Ukraine. Probably a large [number] of the children who are in Poland will want to stay at the computers and continue learning with their peers remotely.
According to European Pravda, the education ministry says teaching classes in Polish allows Ukrainian children to enter subsequent school years at “an appropriate educational level”.
Польща очікує у школах ще 200 тисяч українських дітей з вересняhttps://t.co/xkZSS0QJRQ pic.twitter.com/P0iyy3asRr
— European Pravda (@EuropeanPravda) July 10, 2022
Kyiv Independent: two dead, others hurt in Siversk shelling
The Kyiv Independent, citing a Facebook post by Donetsk governor Pavlo Kyrylenko, is reporting the deaths of two Ukrainian civilians, and at least two injuries, from Russian missile attacks on the city of Siversk.
The governor’s update to the “operational situation” in the region also includes three injuries from shelling in the city of Soledar, and the burning down of seven houses and other property from Russian shelling of Bakhmut.
There is no information yet about any casualties in Bakhmut, Kyrylenko said.
Siversk is a smaller town close to where Ukraine is fighting Russian troops for control of Sievierodonetsk, a Luhansk region city Ukraine officials warned last week was facing a “humanitarian disaster”.
Civilians in Kherson urged to evacuate
Civilians in the Russian-occupied southern region of Kherson were urged on Sunday to immediately evacuate because Ukraine’s armed forces were preparing a counter attack there, Reuters reports.
Ukraine lost control of most of the Black Sea region of Kherson, including its eponymous capital, in the first weeks following Russia’s 24 February invasion.
Ukraine’s deputy prime minister Iryna Vereshchuk said in a nationally televised address:
It’s clear there will be fighting, there will be artillery shelling... and we therefore urge [people] to evacuate urgently.
I know for sure that there should not be women and children there, and that they should not become human shields.
Vereshchuk said she could not say exactly when the counter-attack would take place.
The Kherson region includes the city of Kherson, which before the war had a population of nearly 300,000. It is not known how many of the city’s residents are still there.
Kherson’s Russian-installed authorities say they want to hold a referendum on seceding to Russia, but have not yet set a date. The Kremlin says the future of the region should be determined by its residents.
Updated
Good afternoon. It’s Richard Luscombe in the US picking up the Ukraine blog from my colleagues in the UK, and guiding you through the next few hours. Thanks for joining me.
At least 30 people are still trapped in the rubble of a Chasiv Yar apartment building in eastern Ukraine, according to an AFP update just now about the Russian missile attack late last night that killed at least 15.
Journalists from the news agency were given a tour of the wreckage by survivors. One woman who had ventured inside to see what she could salvage from her apartment retrieved a blue bird, still perched in its cage.
Another woman described to AFP the moment the missile hit the building:
Yesterday, 11 or 10 o’clock in the evening, I was in the bedroom, and when I was leaving, everything started thundering and cracking.
The only thing that saved me was when I ran here, because immediately afterwards all of this crashed down.
Updated
Dozens of Ukrainian emergency workers are still working to pull people out of the rubble after a Russian rocket attack smashed into apartment buildings in Chasiv Yar in eastern Ukraine, Associated Press reports. The strike killed at least 15 people and scores were thought to be still trapped a day later.
The strike late on Saturday evening destroyed three buildings in a residential quarter of town, which is inhabited mostly by people who work in nearby factories. Ukraine’s emergency services said Sunday they have rescued five people from the rubble so far and have made contact with three others still trapped alive beneath the ruins. Another man was pulled alive from the rubble Sunday night.
Cranes and excavators worked alongside the rescue teams to clear away the ruins of one building, its sides completely shorn off by the impact of the strike. The rescuers kept on working in the rain despite the dangerous conditions.
Pavlo Kyrylenko, governor of the Donetsk region that includes Chasiv Yar, said the town of about 12,000 was hit by Uragan rockets, which are fired from truck-borne systems. Chasiv Yar is 20km (12 miles) south-east of Kramatorsk, a city that is a major target of Russian forces as they grind westward.
Residents told the Associated Press they had heard at least three explosions and that, in addition to the deaths, many people were badly wounded in the blasts.
Updated
Summary
Here is a brief summary of the most recent developments:
- At least 15 people have been killed and more than 20 are trapped under the rubble of an apartment block in eastern Ukraine that was hit by a Russian rocket attack in the night. The five-storey building in the town of Chasiv Yar in the Donetsk region was struck by rockets late on Saturday, officials said.
- The Kyiv Independent is reporting a poll that 44% of Ukrainian businesses think the country’s active war will end by the winter. However, more than one-third think active combat will continue into 2023.
- Germany has reportedly been blocking €9bn of EU aid to Ukraine for more than a month. The Kyiv Independent, citing the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera, said Germany’s finance minister, Christian Lindner, was against the planned aid because of concerns over European debt.
- The Russian Tennis Federation has been quick to claim Elena Rybakina as “our product” on her run to the women’s title at Wimbledon. They praised her training programme in the country after she became Wimbledon champion while representing Kazakhstan.
- Russia has restricted access to the website of Germany’s Die Welt newspaper, Reuters reports. This has come at the request of prosecutors, according to Roskomnadzor, Russia’s communications regulator. It was not immediately clear why prosecutors asked for the restriction.
- Russian forces have most probably made some small territorial advances around Popasna, the latest intelligence update from the UK’s Ministry of Defence said on Sunday. It said the Russian military continues to strike the Slovyansk area of the Donbas from around Izium to the north and near Lysychansk to the east. The update added that the E40 – which links Donetsk and Kharkiv – is likely to be an important objective for Russian forces as it advances through Donetsk oblast.
- The French finance minister, Bruno Le Maire, has said that a cut-off of Russian gas shipments was currently the most likely scenario, Reuters reported. He told a business and economics conference on Sunday: “Let’s prepare for a cut-off of Russian gas. Today it’s the most likely scenario.”
- The Ukrainian president, Volodymr Zelenskiy, said on Saturday night that the Russian army had attacked the cities of Mykolaiv, Kharkiv, Kryvy Rih, and communities in the Zaporizhzhia region, covering a broad swathe of the country.
- The governor of the Luhansk region said on Saturday that Russian forces were creating “hell” in shelling the eastern region of Donetsk. Serhiy Haidai said Russian forces fired eight artillery shells, three mortar shells and launched nine rocket strikes overnight.
- At least five people were killed on Saturday, and seven others injured, by renewed Russian shelling in Donetsk, Ukraine officials said. A missile attack in Druzkivka, northern Donetsk, tore apart a supermarket.
- The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, said on Saturday his country’s “commitment to the people of Ukraine is resolute” and announced more than $360m in additional aid.
Updated
Germany has reportedly been blocking €9bn of EU aid to help Ukraine for more than a month.
The Kyiv Independent, citing the Italian newspaper Corriere Della Sera, said the German finance minister, Christian Lindner, was against the planned aid due to concerns over European debt.
⚡️ Corriere Della Sera: Germany blocks EU's 9 billion euros help to Ukraine.
— The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) July 10, 2022
Germany has been blocking the aid for more than a month, according to the Italian newspaper's sources. Berlin approved only the first tranche of 1 billion euros.
The newspaper claims that Germany's finance minister Christian Lindner disapproves that Brussels is offering to finance aid to Ukraine at the expense of the common European debt.
— The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) July 10, 2022
Updated
These are some of the latest images to be sent to us over the newswires on Sunday from Ukraine.
The Russian Tennis Federation was quick to claim Elena Rybakina as “our product” on her run to the women’s title at Wimbledon, reports Associated Press.
They praised her training programme in the country after she became Wimbledon champion while representing Kazakhstan.
The Russian Tennis Federation president, Shamil Tarpishchev, told sports website Championat:
It’s the Russian school, after all. She played here with us for a long time, and then in Kazakhstan.
Rybakina, 23, was born on Moscow and played in the Russian system until 2018, when financial issues led to her nationality switch.
There’s been no official reaction from the Kremlin on Rybakina’s Wimbledon success, but some commentators have claimed her victory as a Russian achievement and a symbolic snub to the All England Club’s ban on players representing Russia and Belarus.
Players from those countries were banned from the Wimbledon tournament because of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Updated
Our energy correspondent Alex Lawson on the gas supply crisis that could hit Europe:
He is the man charged with keeping the lights on this winter. A seasoned civil servant, Jonathan Mills was last month named director general for energy supply in the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.
In a blog entitled: “What do policymakers do all day?” – a nod to the children’s author Richard Scarry – he set out his approach to working in government earlier this year. “The way that I now think of a policy professional is as an ‘orchestrator’,” he said. Mills, who previously oversaw labour market policy, and before that electricity market reform, now faces the orchestration job of his life.
His appointment reflects the growing concerns over Britain’s energy supplies in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. On Monday, Russia is closing Nord Stream 1, its main gas pipeline into Germany. The shutdown has been presented as a planned 10-day maintenance period, but there are fears the pipeline will not reopen, plunging Europe’s largest manufacturing nation into an energy crisis. Although Britain is not reliant on Russian gas, if supply drops, prices will rise even further.
National Grid has pledged to set out its winter plans this month, with the annual exercise brought forward from the autumn in 2020 due to Covid.
Read more of the piece by clicking the link below:
Rescue efforts are under way after Russian rockets destroyed a five-storey apartment building in the eastern Ukraine town of Chasiv Yar, killing at least 15 people.
Pavlo Kyrylenko, the governor of the Donetsk oblast, said the missile struck on Saturday evening.
Five people were reportedly pulled from the rubble alive and the regional emergency service said that 24 more people could still be trapped.
Chasiv Yar is about 20km (12 miles) south-east of Kramatorsk, a city that is expected to be a major target of Russian forces as they move west.
The Kyiv Independent is reporting a poll that 44% of Ukrainian businesses think the country’s active war will end by the winter.
However, more than one-third think active combat will continue into 2023.
The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, last month called on leaders at the G7 to help his country end the war with Russia by winter.
⚡️ Poll: 49% of Ukrainian businesses expect war's active phase to end this winter.
— The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) July 10, 2022
35% of respondents believe active hostilities will stretch until the end of 2023 or longer. The survey, by the polling agency Gradus, is based on the answers of 104 Ukrainian business owners.
Updated
World Central Kitchen, a rapid non-profit founded by the celebrity chef José Andrés to provide meals to victims and emergency services at the site of disasters, has posted pictures on Twitter of the tean delivering food to the village of Tsyrkuny outside Kharkiv.
Kate & the WCK team delivered 715 meals to the village of Tsyrkuny outside Kharkiv. This area was long occupied, and since liberation is constantly under fire. Many are afraid to go outside, so we delivered street by street—and neighbors helped bring food to those unable to walk. pic.twitter.com/LaUrqSgWFP
— World Central Kitchen (@WCKitchen) July 9, 2022
Families here are grateful that they have not been forgotten. Some were crying, some were happy—and some people wanted to say thank you and gave us local berries, which our WCK restaurant partner will use to prepare something delicious for the children! 🍒 #ChefsForUkraine 🇺🇦 pic.twitter.com/ITszRPjNOX
— World Central Kitchen (@WCKitchen) July 9, 2022
Updated
At least 15 killed and more than 20 trapped after rocket attack in eastern Ukraine
At least 15 people have been killed and more than 20 are trapped under the rubble of an apartment block in eastern Ukraine that was hit by a Russian rocket attack in the night, as reported by Reuters.
The five-storey building in the town of Chasiv Yar in the Donetsk region was struck by rockets late on Saturday, the officials said.
On Sunday afternoon, the regional emergency service said that 24 more people could still be trapped.
A local resident, Ludmila, 24, told Reuters:
We ran to the basement, there were three hits, the first somewhere in the kitchen.
The second [strike], I do not even remember, there was lightning, we ran towards the second entrance and then straight into the basement. We sat there all night until this morning.
The emergency service said rescuers were in verbal contact with three people under the rubble.
Updated
In case you missed it earlier, British forces have begun training Ukrainian soldiers in a new programme to help in their fight against Russia.
The UK defence secretary, Ben Wallace, visited the military camp in the north-west where up to 10,000 Ukrainian soldiers will arrive for specialist military training
There have been mixed reactions in Germany to the news that the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has recalled the country’s outspoken ambassador to Germany, Andriy Melnyk. Zelenskiy described the withdrawal in his video message on Saturday evening, as a “normal procedure”.
Melnyk had been stationed in Germany since 2015, almost twice the length of regular diplomatic postings. He had stoked controversy in Germany for refusing to mince his words over what he saw as reluctance on the part of the German government to arm Ukraine in its war against Russia.
Even before the war, he was an outspoken critic of the German establishment, accusing it of pandering to Russia, attacking in particular president Frank-Walter Steinmeier in 2021 for defending the now defunct Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline as one of the last bridges between Germany and Russia.
He was referred to as an “undiplomatic diplomat” after calling the chancellor, Olaf Scholz, an “offended liver sausage” after Scholz refused to travel to Kyiv after Steinmeier was uninvited over his pipeline remarks.
At the same time the 46 year old also won many plaudits for the staunch and passionate way in which he stood up for his country, becoming a regular and popular guest on TV chat shows.
But more recently Melnyk himself came under fire for praising the ultra nationalist and anti-Semite Stepan Bandera, who headed an organisation which was responsible for massacres and ethnic cleansing and collaborated with Nazi Germany. He is celebrated as a freedom fighter in western Ukraine. Critics in Germany have been quick to interpret Zelenskiy’s withdrawal of Melnyk as a reaction to the criticism.
Tributes to Melnyk have come from across Germany, including from the leading Green politician and deputy president of the Bundestag, Katrin Göring-Eckardt, who said he had earned Germans’ respect. “Andriy Melnyk has thrown his entire energy into his commitment to his country.
He is an unmistakable and tireless voice for a free Ukraine,” she said. But she added she did not share his views on Bandera. “But independently of that, I wish him all the best for him personally and for his future service and above all for his country,” she said.
Melnyk, an active Twitter user, has yet to comment on his withdrawal. However, he has been tipped for a post in the foreign ministry in Kyiv, with some reports out of Ukraine saying he may even be destined for the job of deputy foreign minister.
Updated
Pictures sent on the news wire on Sunday show the rescue operation underway after Russian rockets hit an apartment block in Chasiv Yar.
At 10 people have been killed and dozens are thought to be trapped beneath the rubble.
Summary
Here is a brief summary of the most recent developments:
-
Russian rockets hit the eastern Ukraine town of Chasiv Yar, destroying a five-storey apartment building and killing at least 10 people, officials said Sunday.
Pavlo Kyrylenko, governor of the Donetsk region, said about three dozen people could be trapped in the rubble. Rescuers have made contact with two people who are under the wreckage, he said on the Telegram messaging app. - Russia has restricted access to the website of Germany’s Die Welt newspaper, Reuters reports.This has come at the request of prosecutors according to Roskomnadzor, the country’s communications regulator. It was not immediately clear why prosecutors asked for the restriction in respect of welt.de page.
- Russian forces have most likely made some small territorial advances around Popasna, the latest intelligence update from the Ministry of Defence said on Sunday. It said that the Russian military continues to strike the Sloviansk area of the Donbas from around Izium to the north and near Lysychansk to the east.The update added that the E40 – which links Donetsk and Kharkiv – is likely to be an important objective for Russian forces as it advances through Donetsk Oblast.
- French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said on Sunday that a cutoff of Russian gas shipments was currently the most likely scenario, Reuters reported. He told a business and economics conference:”Let’s prepare for a cut off Russian gas. Today it’s the most likely scenario.”
- Zelenskiy said on Saturday night the Russian army had attacked the cities of Mykolaiv, Kharkiv, Kryvy Rih, and communities of Zaporizhzhia region, covering a broad swathe of the country.
- The governor of the Luhansk region said Russian forces were creating “hell” in shelling the eastern region of Donetsk. Serhiy Haidai said Russian forces fired eight artillery shells, three mortar shells and launched nine rocket strikes overnight.
- At least five people were killed on Saturday, and seven others injured, by renewed Russian shelling in Donetsk, Ukraine officials said. A missile attack in Druzkivka, northern Donetsk, tore apart a supermarket.
- US secretary of state Antony Blinken said his country’s “commitment to the people of Ukraine is resolute” while announcing more than $360m in additional aid.
- At least five people were killed on Saturday, and seven others injured, by renewed Russian shelling in Donetsk, Ukraine officials said. A missile attack in Druzkivka, northern Donetsk, tore apart a supermarket.
Updated
At least 10 dead after Russian rockets destroy apartment building
Earlier we reported that Russian rockets destroyed a five-story apartment building in the eastern Ukraine town of Chasiv Yar.
Ukrainian emergency services initially gave a death toll of six, but later said it has risen to at least 10.
Pavlo Kyrylenko, governor of the Donetsk region, said about three dozen people could be trapped in the rubble, Reuters reported.
Rescuers have made contact with two people who are under the wreckage, he said on the Telegram messaging app.
Kyrylenko said the town of about 12,000 was hit by Uragan rockets, which are fired from truck-borne systems.
Chasiv Yar is about 20 kilometers (12 miles) southeast of Kramatorsk, a city that is expected to be a major target of Russian forces as they move westward.
A talented 17-year-old violinist living on the frontline in south-east Ukraine has been left waiting three months for a British visa, revealing serious flaws in government promises to help unaccompanied children.
Anastasiia, who lives in the Russian occupied Zaporizhzhia region, where fighting has been intense, has faced constant shelling while waiting to join a family in Hertfordshire.
“There are so many bombs and rockets and buildings on fire now,” she said. “They are fighting every day. I can go out but it is also very dangerous.”
The Guardian is not publishing her surname as she will need to cross checkpoints to escape.
Anastasiia is one of about 1,000 unaccompanied children who applied to Britain under the Homes for Ukraine scheme and were left in limbo after the government changed its policy and said children had to travel with parents or guardians.
Russia has restricted access to the website of Germany’s Die Welt newspaper, Reuters reports.
This has come at the request of prosecutors, according to Roskomnadzor, the country’s communications regulator.
Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine it has regularly accused the west of spreading false information and has blocked or limited access to the BBC, Voice of America, Deutsche Welle and other media outlets.
It was not immediately clear why prosecutors asked for the restriction in respect of welt.de.
Roskomnadzor did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.
Updated
Here are some of the latest pictures of the impact of the war in Ukraine and beyond.
Updated
The Independent is reporting that new polling suggests public support from Britons for Ukrainian refugees is waning.
The paper said that polling undertaken by YouGov in March indicated that 75% of people supported Ukrainians settling in the UK.
A further 42% thought that the amount of Ukrainians coming to the country should be in the tens of thousands.
However the latest figures have dropped to 71% now supporting resettlement in the country.
And a much larger fall, of 29%, in those who want to see tens of thousands of Ukrainians arrive in the UK.
The Guardian is committed to occasionally sharing with readers other media outlets’ coverage of the conflict in Ukraine. You can read the piece by The Independent here.
Updated
Canada will return a repaired Russian turbine to Germany that it needs for the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline, despite objections from Ukraine, as the sanctions regime came up against the energy crisis sparked by the war.
Canada’s minister of natural resources, Jonathan Wilkinson, said in a statement on Saturday the government was issuing a “time-limited and revocable permit” to exempt the return of turbines from its Russian sanctions, to support “Europe’s ability to access reliable and affordable energy as they continue to transition away from Russian oil and gas”.
Wilkinson said the export permit was issued after discussions with “our European friends and allies”, and the International Energy Agency.
Russia’s Gazprom cut capacity on the Nord Stream 1 pipeline from Russia to Europe to 40% of usual levels last month, citing the delayed return of equipment being serviced by Germany’s Siemens Energy in Canada. The Kremlin said on Friday it would increase gas supplies to Europe if the turbine were returned. The part is required for maintenance work due to start on Monday.
Updated
Russian forces raising 'true hell' in the Donbas, says Luhansk governor
Serhiy Haidai said this was despite assessments that Russian forces were taking an operational pause, reported AP.
After the seizure of Lysychansk, some analysts predicted Moscow’s troops would probably take some time to rearm and regroup.
Haidai said on Telegram:
We are trying to contain the Russians’ armed formations along the entire frontline.
So far, there has been no operational pause announced by the enemy. He is still attacking and shelling our lands with the same intensity as before.
Updated
In case you missed it earlier, British forces have begun training Ukrainian soldiers in a new programme to help in their fight against Russia.
Up to 10,000 Ukrainian soldiers will arrive in the UK for specialist military training lasting several weeks. The first cohort met the defence secretary, Ben Wallace, on Thursday, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) confirmed.
Wallace described the programme as the next phase of Britain’s support to the Ukrainian army.
He said:
Using the world-class expertise of the British army we will help Ukraine to rebuild its forces and scale up its resistance as they defend their country’s sovereignty and their right to choose their own future.
Updated
Russian forces have most likely made some small territorial advances around Popasna, the latest intelligence update from the Ministry of Defence said on Sunday.
It said that the Russian military continues to strike the Sloviansk area of the Donbas from around Izium to the north and near Lysychansk to the east.
The update added that the E40 – which links Donetsk and Kharkiv – is likely to be an important objective for Russian forces as it advances through Donetsk Oblast.
Latest Defence Intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine - 10 July 2022
— Ministry of Defence 🇬🇧 (@DefenceHQ) July 10, 2022
Find out more about the UK government's response: https://t.co/0wJwGgHXit
🇺🇦 #StandWithUkraine 🇺🇦 pic.twitter.com/T0mS7E9OIG
(1/2) Russian artillery continues to strike the Sloviansk area of the Donbas from around Izium to the north and near Lysychansk to the east. Russian forces have likely made some further small territorial advances around Popasna.
— Ministry of Defence 🇬🇧 (@DefenceHQ) July 10, 2022
(2/2) Fires from Izium continue to focus along the axis of the E40 main road. Control of the E40, which links Donetsk to Kharkiv, is likely to be an important objective for Russia as it attempts to advance through Donetsk Oblast.
— Ministry of Defence 🇬🇧 (@DefenceHQ) July 10, 2022
Updated
French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said on Sunday that a cutoff of Russian gas shipments was currently the most likely scenario, Reuters reported.
He told a business and economics conference:
Let’s prepare for a cut off Russian gas. Today it’s the most likely scenario.
Updated
Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Saturday that he had dismissed several of Kyiv’s senior envoys abroad, including the country’s outspoken ambassador to Germany. Zelenskiy announced the sacking of Ukraine’s ambassadors to Germany, India, the Czech Republic, Norway and Hungary and said new candidates were being readied for the positions.
“This rotation is a normal part of diplomatic practice,” he said in a statement. It was not clear if the envoys would be assigned new positions. Zelenskiy has urged his diplomats to drum up international support and military aid for Ukraine as battles continue.
Russia’s main attacks appear to be focused on Luhansk and Donetsk, with Ukrainian officials earlier reporting strikes on Saturday in both. Those two provinces, parts of which were occupied by pro-Russian separatists before the conflict began in February, comprise the eastern industrial region of the Donbas.
Donetsk regional Governor Pavlo Kyrylenko said on the Telegram messaging service that a Russian missile had struck Druzhkivka, a town behind the front line, and reported shelling of other population centres. Luhansk Governor Serhiy Gaidai said on Telegram that Russian forces were “firing along the entire front line”, though a subsequent Ukrainian counter-attack had forced Moscow to halt its offensive.
Apartment block hit in Donetsk
At least six people have been killed and more than 30 are feared trapped after Russian Uragan rockets hit a five-storey apartment block in Ukraine’s Donetsk region, collapsing the building, the region’s governor said.
Governor Pavlo Kyrylenko said on Telegram that the strike took place on Saturday evening in the town of Chasiv Yar. He said six people had been confirmed killed and five wounded, and that according to information from residents, at least 34 people were likely trapped in the ruins.
Summary
Hello and welcome to our daily live coverage of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. We are now in day 137 of the war. Here is a brief summary of the most recent developments to get you started.
- Canada has granted a sanctions exemption to allow a repaired Russian turbine to be sent back to Germany for the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline. The Canadian government said the “time-limited and revocable permit” would support “Europe’s ability to access reliable and affordable energy as they continue to transition away from Russian oil and gas”. Canada also announced it would expand sanctions against Russia’s energy sector to include industrial manufacturing.
- Serhiy Bratchuk, a spokesperson for the Odesa regional military administration, said Russian forces were “purposefully” destroying crops in the Kherson region. He said fires occurred in the fields every day from shelling, and added: “Russian troops do not allow locals to put out fires, destroying granaries and equipment.”
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Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelenskiy has fired his ambassadors to Germany, India, the Czech Republic, Norway and Hungary, without giving further details as to why. Zelenskiy has urged his diplomats to drum up international support and high-end weapons to slow Russia’s advance. It was not immediately clear whether the envoys would be handed new jobs.
- Zelenskiy said on Saturday night the Russian army had attacked the cities of Mykolaiv, Kharkiv, Kryvy Rih, and communities of Zaporizhzhia region, covering a broad swathe of the country.
- Russia is moving forces across the country and assembling them near Ukraine for future offensive operations, according to the UK ministry of defence. The latest intelligence update said a large proportion of the new infantry units were “probably” deploying with MT-LB armoured vehicles taken from long-term storage.
- The governor of the Luhansk region said Russian forces were creating “hell” in shelling the eastern region of Donetsk. Serhiy Haidai said Russian forces fired eight artillery shells, three mortar shells and launched nine rocket strikes overnight.
- At least five people were killed on Saturday, and seven others injured, by renewed Russian shelling in Donetsk, Ukraine officials said. A missile attack in Druzkivka, northern Donetsk, tore apart a supermarket.
- US secretary of state Antony Blinken said his country’s “commitment to the people of Ukraine is resolute” while announcing more than $360m in additional aid.
- The United Nations said Ukraine’s armed forces bore a large, and perhaps equal, share of the blame for an assault at a nursing home in Luhansk, where dozens of elderly and disabled patients were trapped inside without water or electricity. At least 22 of the 71 patients survived, but the exact number killed remains unknown. A few days before the attack, Ukrainian soldiers took up positions inside the nursing home, making the building a target, the UN said.
- Kira Rudik, a Ukrainian MP with the centrist Golos party, said rockets struck central Kharkiv, injuring and hospitalising four civilians, including a child.
- The first cohort of Ukrainian soldiers arrived in the UK to be trained in combat by British forces. The programme will train up to 10,000 Ukrainians over the coming months to give volunteer recruits with little to no military experience the skills to be effective in frontline combat.
