Closing summary
The time in Kyiv is just coming up to 9pm. Here is a round-up of the day’s stories:
Britain declared that the UK’s security hinged on the outcome of the Ukraine war in an update to its foreign policy framework published on Monday. The UK will invest an extra £5bn in the armed forces over two years and increase defence spending to 2.5% of GDP.
Britain’s Royal Navy said it was escorting a Russian frigate and tanker in waters close to the UK having shadowed the vessels through the Channel on Sunday morning.
The international criminal court intends to open two war crimes cases tied to the Russian invasion of Ukraine and will seek arrest warrants for several people, the New York Times reported citing sources unauthorised to speak publicly. The cases are the first international charges to be brought forward since the start of the conflict, the newspaper reports.
China’s president, Xi Jinping, is planning to visit Russia as soon as next week, people familiar with the matter said, according to Reuters. Xi also plans to speak with Volodymyr Zelenskiy for the first time since the start of the war, according to the Wall Street Journal. China’s president is to speak virtually with his Ukrainian counterpart, probably after a visit to Moscow next week, the paper reported, citing sources familiar with the matter.
Negotiations began on Monday between UN officials and Russia’s deputy foreign minister on a possible extension to a deal allowing the safe export of grain from Ukraine’s Black Sea ports, the Russian diplomatic mission in Geneva said.
Moscow does not object to renewing a deal allowing the safe export of grain from Ukraine’s Black Sea ports but only for a period of 60 days, half the term of the previous renewal, Russian deputy foreign minister Sergei Vershinin has said.
The Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, a close ally of Vladimir Putin and a staunch supporter of the war in Ukraine, met Russia’s president to discuss the war, according to reports.
Russian forces fired two rockets at a school in Avdiivka, according to the head of the office of the Ukrainian presidency, Andriy Yermak. One local resident was killed in the attack.
Russian defence minister, Sergei Shoigu, said on Monday that relations between Russia and China were a major factor supporting global stability in the world today, Reuters reports, citing Russian state-owned news agency Tass.
The Italian government has said Russian mercenary group Wagner is behind a surge in migrant boats trying to cross the central Mediterranean as part of Moscow’s strategy to retaliate against countries supporting Ukraine, Reuters reported. Yevgeny Prigozhin responded: “We have no idea what’s happening with the migrant crisis, we don’t concern ourselves with it.”
A senior Russian lawmaker introduced a bill to parliament on Monday to raise the age of conscription to 21-30 years from the current 18-27 years by 2026, Reuters reported.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has awarded the Hero of Ukraine award to Oleksandr Matsievskyi, a soldier who was seemingly executed by machine gun fire on camera after being captured by Russian soldiers. Zelenskiy said: “Today I conferred the title of Hero of Ukraine upon Oleksandr Matsievskyi, a soldier. A man whom all Ukrainians will know. A man who will be remembered for ever. For his bravery, for his confidence in Ukraine and for his ‘Glory to Ukraine!’”
Andriy Yermak, head of the office of the Ukrainian presidency, has reported on Telegram that one civilian was killed and four people were injured in a rocket attack on Znob-Novhorodske, in Sumy region.
Suspilne, Ukraine’s state broadcaster, is reporting a claim that resistance fighters have blown up a railway that Russian forces were using in occupied Kherson. The claims have not been independently verified. A video posted by the Atesh partisan group appears to show a railway track between the settlements of Abrikosivka and Radensk being blown up.
Oleh Synyehubov, the governor of Kharkiv, has reported that a 40-year-old man was injured by a petal mine near Izyium.
Russia’s state-owned Tass news agency is reporting that the Russia-installed authorities in occupied regions of Donetsk are claiming that almost 4,500 people have died as a result of shelling by Ukrainian armed forces since 17 February 2022.
One of Vladimir Putin’s top allies, the Russian security council secretary Nikolai Patrushev, said on Monday that he doubted that the Nord Stream pipelines were blown up by a pro-Ukrainian group, and said Moscow still did not know who exactly was behind it.
Russia’s industry ministry said on Monday it was expanding its list of brands that can be imported without the trademark owner’s permission to include goods from companies such as Ikea and the US toy manufacturers Hasbro and Mattel.
Patriarch Kirill of Moscow has offered congratulations to Pope Francis on the 10th anniversary of the latter’s election. Relations between the pope and the patriarch have been strained since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The patriarch has been a vocal supporter of Russia’s military action, whereas Pope Francis has frequently called for peace during his regular Vatican addresses.
That’s it from me, Geneva Abdul, and the Ukraine live blog for today. Thanks for following along.
Updated
Here are some of the latest images sent to us from Ukraine:
