Closing summary
It has gone 6.15pm in Kyiv and in Moscow. We will be closing this blog soon, but you can stay up to date on the Guardian’s Russia and Ukraine coverage here.
Here is a recap of today’s latest developments:
At a press conference in Kyiv on Wednesday, the US secretary of state Antony Blinken announced an additional $2bn in foreign military financing for Ukraine. He said new support from the US was coming at a “critical time”. He was speaking alongside Ukrainian foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba, and added that the support would be aimed at investing in Ukraine’s industrial base.
Blinken said that the US does not encourage Ukraine to strike targets inside Russia with US-supplied weapons but believes it is a decision Kyiv should make for itself. He said the US was focused on sending Patriot missile systems and other forms of critical air defence to Ukraine. Blinken added: “We’re rushing ammunition, armoured vehicles, missiles, [and] air defences to get them to the frontlines.”
The US could sign a bilateral security agreement with Ukraine within weeks, Blinken said on Wednesday. During a press conference in Kyiv, he said that the “heavy lifting” on the deal had already been done.
The US will continue to levy sanctions against enterprises involved in China’s support for Russia’s war in Ukraine, Blinken said on Wednesday. He told the press briefing in Kyiv that the US was “deeply concerned” about China’s support for Russia’s defence industry.
Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskiy has postponed all foreign visits. “Volodymyr Zelenskiy has instructed that all international events scheduled for the coming days be postponed and new dates coordinated,” Sergii Nykyforov said on Facebook. On Wednesday morning it was announced that Zelenskiy had cancelled trips to Spain and Portugal.
EU member states on Wednesday agreed to impose a broadcast ban on online outlet Voice of Europe, accused of spreading Kremlin propaganda, diplomats said. According to Agence France-Presse (AFP), the officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said bans would also be applied to three Russian media outlets: Izvestiya, Rossiiskaya Gazeta and Ria Novosti.
Russia on Wednesday warned the EU that if the bloc imposed restrictions on Russian media then western reporters in Russia would feel a swift, harsh and painful response from the Russian state. “If these measures are taken against the Russian media, Russian journalists, then, despite the fact that western correspondents will not want to, they will also have to feel our retaliatory measures,” Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said.
Russian airstrikes on Ukraine’s southern cities of Mykolaiv and Kherson injured at least 17 people, local officials said on Wednesday. Eleven people, including at least one teenager, received injuries when Russia struck Kherson using aviation, the regional governor said on Telegram. Separately, a Russian missile attack caused a heavy fire in a car repair service in Mykolaiv, emergency services said on Telegram. At least six people were injured.
Russian president Vladimir Putin said his regime is prepared to negotiate over the conflict in Ukraine, in an interview with Chinese media on the eve of his planned visit to Beijing. “We are open to a dialogue on Ukraine but such negotiations must take into account the interests of all countries involved in the conflict, including ours,” Putin was quoted as saying by the official Xinhua News Agency on Wednesday.
Putin said on Wednesday that the Russian leadership must do everything in its power to ensure that troops have all the necessary resources to successfully carry out their tasks in Ukraine. Putin was speaking at a meeting dedicated to the development of the Russian defence industry.
Putin also said on Wednesday that Russian forces were improving their positions every day along the front in Ukraine in all directions and that the advance was going to plan. The Russian president was at a meeting in the Kremlin with defence minister Andrei Belousov, secretary of the security council Sergei Shoigu and top generals.
Ukraine’s forces “partially pushed back” Russian forces from the town of Vovchansk in Kharkiv region on Wednesday, the Ukrainian military said. In an update on the battlefield situation it said that active combat clashes raged on in north and northwestern parts of the town and a total of 18 Russian assaults were repelled.
Russia’s defence ministry said on Wednesday that its forces had taken control of two more settlements in Ukraine’s Kharkiv region and one in the Zaporizhzhia region. The ministry said that Russian troops had captured Hlyboke and Lukiantsi in Kharkiv and Robotyne in Zaporizhzhia. Reuters could not independently verify battlefield reports. The Ukrainian military dismissed the Russian claim about Robotyne.
Ukraine pulled back troops near several villages in the north-eastern Kharkiv region, where Russian forces have been advancing and pounding settlements along the border since last week, Kyiv announced. “In some areas, around Lukyantsi and Vovchansk, in response to enemy fire and assaults from ground troops, and to save the lives of our servicemen and avoid losses, our units manoeuvred and moved to more advantageous positions,” the Ukrainian military announced overnight between Tuesday and Wednesday.
Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak dismissed Putin’s comments on possible negotiations over his war in Ukraine as “hypocritical” on Wednesday. “Once again, Putin’s hypocritical ‘negotiation’ activity … At the same time, Russia continues to burn cities in Donbas and is trying to break through in Kharkiv region, while simultaneously scaling up crimes against civilians,” he said on X.
US President Joe Biden could meet his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskiy in the coming weeks, Blinken said. The US secretary of state said during the press conference in Kyiv that Washington strongly supported a planned Ukrainian peace summit in Switzerland set for next month and would be “robustly represented” there.
The Ukrainian interior ministry said that three civilians were killed in the Kharkiv region over the last 24 hours and that a Russian drone had injured two policemen.
Putin said on Wednesday that Russia’s total defence and security spending may reach a little more than 8.7% of gross domestic product in 2024, and that the money should be used carefully and effectively.
Portugal’s new government is keen on ramping up sanctions on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, environment and energy minister Maria da Graca Carvalho said on Wednesday.
Britain’s shadow foreign and defence ministers completed a visit to Kyiv to deliver a message that little would change when it came to British support for Ukraine if Labour won the general election expected later this year. “We wanted to come now, in the run-up to the UK election, to ensure we take politics out of the UK’s support for Ukraine,” said John Healey, the shadow defence secretary, in an interview with the Guardian in Kyiv before leaving Ukraine.
During the same visit, David Lammy, the UK’s shadow foreign secretary said he believed Putin, represented a “new fascism in Europe” and that other nations had to stand firm in defending Ukraine. Lammy and Healey met Ukraine’s defence and foreign ministers as well as Andriy Yermak, the chief of staff of the president.
Estonia’s parliament approved a proposal allowing the use of frozen Russian assets to pay compensation for war damage in Ukraine, the Baltic nation’s foreign ministry said in a statement on Wednesday. “We took a big step towards creating a precedent Europe could follow,” foreign minister Margus Tsahkna said.
Ukraine’s war-torn economy faces a renewed threat as Russia’s intensifying war takes its toll on power plants and forces Kyiv to send key workers to the frontline, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development has warned. In its latest economic update, the EBRD cut its growth forecasts and said more than two years of fighting in Ukraine was affecting not only the warring countries but also their neighbours.
Russia said on Wednesday that a major airport near the city of Kazan, 1,000 kilometres (620 miles) from Ukraine, had been temporarily closed after the region was targeted by a Ukrainian attack drone. The defence ministry said it had downed a Ukrainian drone over the central region of Tatarstan but did not specify what was the target of the attack.
Maxim Timchenko, the CEO of DTEK, Ukraine’s largest private energy producer, described a dire situation on the ground as Russia steps up attacks. He said he hopes for a massive increase in western aid at a recovery conference in Berlin next month. I couldn’t imagine that after three attacks we can lose more than 90% of our generation capacity,” he told an online briefing from Kyiv. “That’s what’s happened after the winter season.”
Updated
EU agrees to sanction pro-Russian outlet 'Voice of Europe'
EU member states on Wednesday agreed to impose a broadcast ban on online outlet Voice of Europe, accused of spreading Kremlin propaganda, diplomats said.
Agence France-Presse (AFP) reports that the officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said bans would also be applied to three Russian media outlets: Izvestiya, Rossiiskaya Gazeta and Ria Novosti.
The intelligence service in the Czech Republic in March busted an alleged Moscow-financed network using Prague-based outlet Voice of Europe to spread Russian propaganda.
According to AFP, Belgian authorities have also opened a probe into accusations that the outlet was used to pay European lawmakers to spread Moscow’s talking points.
The EU has already imposed broadcast bans on over a dozen Russian media outlets over the war in Ukraine.
According to AFP, diplomats said the four latest outlets should be formally added to the blacklist soon. The EU is at the same time working on a new package of sanctions against Russia over the invasion, that for the first time include targeting its liquefied natural gas sector.
Updated
Russian strikes injure at least 17 in Ukraine's south
Russian airstrikes on Ukraine’s southern cities of Mykolaiv and Kherson injured at least 17 people, local officials said on Wednesday, according to Reuters.
Eleven people, including at least one teenager, received injuries when Russia struck Kherson using aviation, the regional governor said on Telegram. Residential buildings and an educational facility were damaged, he said.
Separately, a Russian missile attack caused a heavy fire in a car repair service in Mykolaiv, emergency services said on Telegram. At least six people were injured.
Shaun Walker is the Guardian’s central and eastern Europe correspondent.
It was an unexpected moment at the end of a long day in Kyiv for Antony Blinken, after numerous high-level meetings and serious pronouncements promising the speedy delivery of US military aid. The secretary of state picked up a guitar and performed a rendition of Neil Young’s Rockin’ in the Free World with a Ukrainian rock band.
The images, quickly shared on social media, split opinion in Ukraine, with the performance one of the main topics of discussion in Kyiv on Wednesday. Some hailed Blinken’s turn as a welcome gesture of support, while others questioned the optics of performing in a bar while the situation at the front is so tense.
Blinken took to the stage at Barman Dictat, a well-known speakeasy-style bar in central Kyiv hidden in a basement inside a courtyard, and joined the Ukrainian band 19.99.
“Your soldiers, your citizens – particularly in the north-east, in Kharkiv – are suffering tremendously,” Blinken said before playing. “But they need to know, you need to know, the United States is with you, so much of the world is with you and they’re fighting not just for a free Ukraine, but for the free world. And the free world is with you, too.”
The band were told before the event that they would be performing with Neil Young, said one member, but were asked to keep it a secret. It was only at the last minute that they realised their guest member would be the secretary of state.
You can read Shaun Walker’s full piece here:
Russian president Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that the Russian leadership must do everything in its power to ensure that troops have all the necessary resources to successfully carry out their tasks in Ukraine.
“We must make maximum use of all our administrative resources to ensure the main task – the successful work of our combat units on the line of contact within the framework of a special military operation,” Putin said, reports Reuters.
Putin was speaking at a meeting dedicated to the development of the Russian defence industry.
Shaun Walker is the Guardian’s central and eastern Europe correspondent.
Britain’s shadow foreign and defence ministers have completed a visit to Kyiv to deliver a message that little would change when it came to British support for Ukraine if Labour won the general election expected later this year.
“We wanted to come now, in the run-up to the UK election, to ensure we take politics out of the UK’s support for Ukraine,” said John Healey, the shadow defence secretary, in an interview with the Guardian in Kyiv before leaving Ukraine. “There’s total support for Ukraine across the full breadth of the Labour party in and outside parliament,” he added.
Healey said Labour backed all the commitments made to Ukraine by the current government, including a recent pledge to provide Kyiv with £3bn of military aid a year, which a future Labour government would continue.
He made the two-day trip to Ukraine with David Lammy, the shadow foreign secretary. The pair met Ukraine’s defence and foreign ministers as well as Andriy Yermak, the chief of staff of the president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
Lammy said he believed the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, represented a “new fascism in Europe” and that other nations had to stand firm in defending Ukraine.
You can read Shaun Walker’s full piece here:
Russian president Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that Russian forces were improving their positions every day along the front in Ukraine in all directions and that the advance was going to plan, according to Reuters.
Putin, at a meeting in the Kremlin with defence minister Andrei Belousov, secretary of the security council Sergei Shoigu and top generals, said the work of the military was “proceeding according to the plan” approved by the general staff.
“The more effectively you work on the frontline, the more chances we have to resolve this issue peacefully,” Putin told the generals. “This is what we have always been striving for, and I have always spoken about it.”
Putin thanked Shoigu for his previous work in the role of defence minister. He said “many things were not clear before the outbreak of hostilities” and said Shoigu would help him manage the military and security sections of the state.
Speaking of Belousov, his newly appointed defence minister, Putin said he had appointed Belousov due to rising defence and security spending which he said would amount to 8.7% of gross domestic product or a little more. That is still below the Soviet level of 13% in the mid-1980s.
“This is certainly not 13%, as was the case in the Soviet Union, but it is still a solid amount, it is a large resource, and we must use it very carefully and efficiently,” Putin said.
“This relationship between the ‘cannon’ and ‘butter’ should be organically integrated into the overall development strategy of the Russian state.”
According to Reuters, Putin then praised Belousov for his economic experience and for working on the development of drones and other unmanned vehicles.
The Russian leader said there would be no changes to the army’s general staff. Chief of the general staff Valery Gerasimov attended the meeting.
“I want it to be clear to everyone. This unit of combat work has developed, it functions rhythmically, operates successfully, and no changes are expected here,” Putin said of the general staff.
Estonia’s parliament has approved a proposal allowing the use of frozen Russian assets to pay compensation for war damage in Ukraine, the Baltic nation’s foreign ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.
“We took a big step towards creating a precedent Europe could follow,” foreign minister Margus Tsahkna said, Reuters reports.
Updated
Putin: Russian forces 'improving positions every day in all directions'
Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that Russia’s total defence and security spending may reach a little more than 8.7% of gross domestic product in 2024, and that the money should be used carefully and effectively, Reuters reports.
The Russian president told a meeting of the defence minister and top generals that Russian forces were every day improving their positions in all directions in Ukraine.
Updated
The US will continue to levy sanctions against enterprises involved in China’s support for Russia’s war in Ukraine, Antony Blinken said on Wednesday.
He told the press briefing in Kyiv that the US was “deeply concerned” about China’s support for Russia’s defence industry.
Updated
Ukraine’s forces “partially pushed back” Russian forces from the town of Vovchansk in Kharkiv region on Wednesday, the Ukrainian military said.
In an update on the battlefield situation it said that active combat clashes raged on in north and northwestern parts of the town and a total of 18 Russian assaults were repelled, Reuters reports.
Russian President Vladimir Putin says his regime is prepared to negotiate over the conflict in Ukraine in an interview with Chinese media on the eve of his planned visit to Beijing , the Associated Press (AP) reports.
“We are open to a dialogue on Ukraine but such negotiations must take into account the interests of all countries involved in the conflict, including ours,” Putin was quoted as saying by the official Xinhua News Agency on Wednesday.
The Russian leader’s two-day trip is due to start on Thursday.
The Kremlin has said in a statement that during their talks, Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping will “have a detailed discussion on the entire range of issues related to the comprehensive partnership and strategic cooperation and determine the new directions for further development of cooperation between Russia and China and also have a detailed exchange of opinions on the most acute international and regional issues.”
US President Joe Biden could meet his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskiy in the coming weeks, Blinken said.
Blinken added during the press conference in Kyiv that Washington strongly supported a planned Ukrainian peace summit in Switzerland set for next month and would be “robustly represented” there.
Updated
US does not encourage Ukraine to hit targets in Russia with US weapons but it is decision for Kyiv to make, Blinken says
The US does not encourage Ukraine to strike targets inside Russia with US-supplied weapons but believes it is a decision Kyiv should make for itself, secretary of state Antony Blinken said on Wednesday.
He was speaking at a press conference in Kyiv after weeks of regular missile and drone strikes across Russia that Ukraine has not officially confirmed.
Updated
The US is focused on sending Patriot missile systems and other forms of critical air defence to Ukraine, Blinken said.
US-Ukraine security agreement could be signed in weeks, says Blinken
The US could sign a bilateral security agreement with Ukraine within weeks, secretary of state Antony Blinken said on Wednesday.
He said during a press conference in Kyiv that the “heavy lifting” on the deal had already been done.
Updated
“If Putin showed any interest in seriously engaging in negotiations, I’m sure Ukrainians would respond to that,” said Blinken.
“Every delay of supply results in setbacks on the frontline,” said Kuleba.
Updated
Blinken said: “We’re rushing ammunition, armoured vehicles, missiles, [and] air defences to get them to the frontlines.”
Updated
Blinken announces additional $2bn in foreign military financing for Ukraine
At a press conference in Kyiv, Blinken announced an additional $2bn in foreign military financing from the US for Ukraine. He said new support from the US was coming at a “critical time”.
He was speaking at a joint press conference in Kyiv alongside Ukrainian foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba, adding that the support would be aimed at investing in Ukraine’s industrial base.
Updated
Portugal’s new government is keen on ramping up sanctions on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, environment and energy minister Maria da Graca Carvalho said on Wednesday, reports Reuters.
The European Commission’s next sanctions package is expected to propose restrictions on Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG) for the first time, including a ban on trans-shipments in the EU, according to a document seen by Reuters.
This would not directly bar Russian LNG imports to the bloc, but would ban provision of re-loading services by EU facilities for trans-shipment of Russian LNG to third countries, writes Reuters.
“In general, the Portuguese government is aligned with the European Union’s energy policies, namely with the measures that aim to ensure our strategic sovereignty … just as it is in favour of toughening sanctions” to pressure Russia to end the invasion, the minister said in a statement sent to Reuters.
She declined to comment specifically on the preliminary version of 14th sanctions package that needs to be formalised by the commission and then approved by all member states in the council.
The US secretary of state Antony Blinken is due to take part in a press conference in Kyiv with Ukraine’s foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba shortly. You can watch the live stream via the video at the top of this page.
Earlier Blinken visited a drone manufacturing facility in Kyiv on the second day of his visit to Ukraine.
According to AFP, the Ukrainian interior ministry said that three civilians have been killed in the Kharkiv region over the last 24 hours and that a Russian drone has injured two policemen.
Russian forces claim to have taken control of more settlements in Kharkiv and Zaporizhzhia region
Russian forces have taken control of two more settlements in Ukraine’s Kharkiv region and one in the Zaporizhzhia region, the defence ministry said on Wednesday, reports Reuters.
The ministry said that Russian troops had captured Hlyboke and Lukiantsi in Kharkiv and Robotyne in Zaporizhzhia.
Reuters could not independently verify battlefield reports.
Updated
Russian president Vladimir Putin and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping will focus on questions of global and regional security in face-to-face talks this week, the state RIA news agency cited Duma deputy speaker Ivan Melnikov as saying on Wednesday.
Putin is set to visit China on 16-17 May.
Ukraine's Zelenskiy postpones foreign visits amid Russian offensive
Further to the news earlier that Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy had cancelled a visit to Spain and Portugal (see 08.54 BST), his press secretary has now said that all upcoming foreign visits scheduled for Zelenskiy have been postponed.
“Volodymyr Zelenskiy has instructed that all international events scheduled for the coming days be postponed and new dates coordinated,” Sergii Nykyforov said on Facebook, according to Reuters.
Updated
Here are some of the latest images from the newswires:
Updated
Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak dismissed Russian president Vladimir Putin’s comments on possible negotiations over his war in Ukraine as “hypocritical” on Wednesday.
“Once again, Putin’s hypocritical ‘negotiation’ activity … At the same time, Russia continues to burn cities in Donbas and is trying to break through in Kharkiv region, while simultaneously scaling up crimes against civilians,” he said on X.
Once again, #Putin's hypocritical "negotiation" activity. Once again, he speaks of ultimatum demands to recognize "RF's non-defeat", disguising it as traditional Russian "diplomacy"...
— Михайло Подоляк (@Podolyak_M) May 15, 2024
At the same time, #Russia continues to burn cities in Donbas and is trying to break through in…
Russia suspends two airports’ traffic over drone threat
Russia said on Wednesday that a major airport near the city of Kazan, 1,000 kilometres (620 miles) from Ukraine, had been temporarily closed after the region was targeted by a Ukrainian attack drone, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Ukrainian forces have in recent weeks escalated aerial attacks on Russian border regions but have also been able to strike targets deep inside Russian territory.
According to AFP, the defence ministry said it had downed a Ukrainian drone over the central region of Tatarstan but did not specify what was the target of the attack.
Two airports in the region, including in the major hub of Kazan, were temporarily closed around the same time, Russian aviation body, Rosaviatsia announced.
“To ensure the safety of civil aircraft, temporary restrictions have been imposed on the work of two airports in Tatarstan – Kazan and Nizhnekamsk,” state news agencies cited the aviation body as saying.
Russia earlier said it had neutralised 17 Ukrainian drones overnight as Kyiv targeted a fuel depot in the southern city of Rostov, home to Moscow’s military headquarters for its operation in Ukraine.
Russian aerial defence systems intercepted and destroyed 17 drones across several border areas, as well as 10 Atacms missiles over the annexed Crimean peninsula, the defence ministry said.
Two drones caused explosions at a fuel depot in Rostov without setting off a fire or wounding anyone, local governor Vasily Golubev said on Telegram, according to AFP.
Deborah Cole is a Berlin correspondent for the Guardian.
Maxim Timchenko, the CEO of DTEK, Ukraine’s largest private energy producer, described a dire situation on the ground as Russia steps up attacks. He hopes for a massive increase in western aid at a recovery conference in Berlin next month.
DTEK runs most of the thermal power plants that Russia has targeted since mid-March. “I couldn’t imagine that after three attacks we can lose more than 90% of our generation capacity,” he told an online briefing from Kyiv. “That’s what’s happened after the winter season.”
He said Russia had changed its tactics in targeting Ukraine’s energy supply since 2022 from trying to disturb the flow of electricity from the west to the east. “They realised this was not successful,” Timchenko said as Ukraine’s power distribution companies managed to restore supply for winter 2022-23.
Now, he said, Russia has begun “targeted attacks of power generation” meaning that after last week, only one of Ukraine’s nine thermal power stations was still in operation. “Before these attacks we had 5,000 megawatts of capacity available for power generation. Today it’s about 600.”
Timchenko said Ukraine needed equipment -- new or used -- and financial support to maintain the energy supply needed for households and industry. “We want to speak about that loudly during the [Berlin] conference,” he said. “We need to get out of this cycle of destruction-repairing-destruction,” said Timchenko, as the precision of Russian attacks increases.
Zelenskiy is focused on building air defence for energy infrastructure. “Unfortunately, we all feel the lack of ammunition, lack of air defence systems,” he said. Timchenko said the Berlin conference (11-12 June) had to pay more than lip service to Ukraine’s energy needs.
“My expectation is to sign as many deals as possible,” he said. “So we need to start moving to very concrete transactions, concrete projects, concrete deals, concrete equipment. We should avoid only political announcements or political rhetoric.”
Russia on Wednesday warned the European Union that if the bloc imposed restrictions on Russian media then western reporters in Russia would feel a swift, harsh and painful response from the Russian state, reports Reuters.
European Commission vice-president Vera Jourova said that the EU would sanction Voice of Europe, a website accused of spreading pro-Russian disinformation, along with Rossiiskaya Gazeta, Ria Novosti and Izvestia, Bloomberg reported on 6 May.
Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said that western correspondents in Moscow would feel “reyaliatory measures” if the EU took action against Russian media.
“If these measures are taken against the Russian media, Russian journalists, then, despite the fact that western correspondents will not want to, they will also have to feel our retaliatory measures,” Zakharova said.
“They felt our love before, but now they will have to feel the response,” Zakharova said. “We will respond with lightning speed and extremely painfully for the westeners.”
Intensifying war increasing threat to Ukraine economy, EBRD warns
Larry Elliott is the Guardian’s economics editor.
Ukraine’s war-torn economy faces a renewed threat as Russia’s intensifying war takes its toll on power plants and forces Kyiv to send key workers to the frontline, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development has warned.
In its latest economic update, the EBRD cut its growth forecasts and said more than two years of fighting in Ukraine was affecting not only the warring countries but also their neighbours.
Beata Javorcik, the EBRD’s chief economist, said the war was “casting a long shadow” as she announced the bank had cut its growth forecast for the regions in which it operates from 3.2% to 3% this year.
The EBRD was set up to help rebuild the economies of the former Soviet Union and eastern Europe after communism collapsed in the early 1990s, but subsequently expanded to offer support to countries in the Balkans, the Middle East and north Africa.
Interviewed by the Guardian after Russia’s offensive towards Ukraine’s second city, Kharkiv, Javorcik said: “The war has intensified. Mobilising additional men to fight will hit the economy, and the destruction of power generation is something that will have repercussions. The situation is challenging.”
Heavy bombing in March and April had cut Ukraine’s electricity production by 40%, with many thermal and hydro plants destroyed, she said.
You can read Larry’s full report here:
Volodymyr Zelenskiy cancels visit to Spain and Portugal
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy has cancelled a visit to Spain and Portugal, authorities said on Wednesday, with CNN Portugal and other media reporting it was because of renewed fighting in his country.
King Felipe of Spain was due to hold a reception for Zelenskiy on 17 May and host a meal in his honour. Zelenskiy had also been expected to sign a bilateral security cooperation agreement with prime minister Pedro Sánchez after a joint declaration by Nato last year.
According to the Reuters news agency, a spokesperson for the Portuguese government said Zelenskiy had cancelled the visit but did not give a reason, while the Spanish government said it could not comment for security reasons.
Zelenskiy’s planned visit was due to coincide with an EU pledge of long-term security support for Kyiv, according to a draft document reports Reuters.
Kyiv on Wednesday morning cancelled some emergency power blackouts that it had introduced to deal with a drop in temperatures that had put pressure on its battered energy system, reports AFP.
State power operator Ukrenergo had announced a series of overnight and early morning power cuts to deal with “the cold weather amid the consequences of Russian shelling” that has destroyed swathes of Ukraine’s generating facilities.
“Emergency shutdowns in Kyiv, the Kyiv region, the Odesa region, the Donetsk region and the Dnipropetrovsk region were lifted,” DTEK, the country’s largest private energy operator said.
Opening summary
It has gone 10.30am in Kyiv and in Moscow. This is our latest Guardian blog covering all the latest developments over the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
Ukraine has pulled back troops near several villages in the north-eastern Kharkiv region, where Russian forces have been advancing and pounding settlements along the border since last week, Kyiv announced.
“In some areas, around Lukyantsi and Vovchansk, in response to enemy fire and assaults from ground troops, and to save the lives of our servicemen and avoid losses, our units manoeuvred and moved to more advantageous positions,” the Ukrainian military announced overnight between Tuesday and Wednesday, reports the Agence France-Presse (AFP) news agency.
“Donetsk and Kharkiv regions are where it is most difficult now,” Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in an address on Tuesday evening.
More on that in a moment, but first, here are the other latest developments:
Large fires were reported around the Russian-controlled Belbek airbase on occupied Crimea on Wednesday morning after the governor of nearby Sevastopol said the city had come under “massive” Ukrainian missile attack. Nasa’s satellite fire monitoring system, Firms, showed several large hotspots on the Belbek airbase. Mikhail Razvozhaev, the governor, confirmed a missile attack on the airbase, as well as over the Black Sea, and said “fragments of a downed missile” fell on the city itself. The Russian defence ministry later said 10 Atacms long-range missiles had been launched at Crimea.
The US is considering sending an extra Patriot air defence battery to Ukraine, according to Bloomberg. It comes after the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, arrived in Kyiv on Tuesday on his first visit to Ukraine since a major US aid package was passed last month. Blinken, who arrived by train from Poland in an unannounced visit, met Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy. “Some of it has already arrived and more of it will be arriving,” said Blinken of the US aid. “And that’s going to make a real difference against the ongoing Russian aggression on the battlefield.”
Zelenskiy described the US aid as crucial, and thanked Blinken, but also said Ukraine desperately needed two more air defence systems to protect the city of Kharkiv, which has been hit repeatedly by Russian strikes in recent weeks.
Blinken joined band 19.99 on stage at Barman Dictat, picking up a red guitar to play Neil Young’s Rockin’ in the Free World. “Your soldiers, your citizens – particularly in the north-east, in Kharkiv – are suffering tremendously. But they need to know, you need to know, the United States is with you, so much of the world is with you and they’re fighting not just for a free Ukraine, but for the free world. And the free world is with you, too,” Blinken said before playing the song.
Blinken in Kyiv https://t.co/sjyC2GSKT8
— Luke Harding (@lukeharding1968) May 14, 2024
Russia said on Tuesday it had taken a 10th border village, Buhruvatka, in Kharkiv region. The police chief in Vovchansk, a town 5km (three miles) from the border that has been the target of one of the main Russian thrusts, reported exchanges of fire in the north of the town.
Russian strikes on residential areas in the centre of Kharkiv city injured 20 people on Tuesday, officials said.
Ukrainian grid operator Ukrenergo said on Tuesday that power shortages caused by damage from Russian strikes had prompted controlled countrywide cuts from 9pm to midnight. “The reason is a significant shortage of electricity in the system as a result of Russian shelling as well as increased consumption because of cold weather,” Ukrenergo said.
The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, will visit China on 16-17 May, Chinese state media reported.
Joe Biden has signed legislation broadly supported in Congress that prohibits any imports of Russian uranium into the US from 12 August. Russia provides about 20-30% of the enriched uranium used in the US and Europe and 44% globally, according to the US energy department. The legislation will release $2.72bn in funding for the energy department to invest in uranium enrichment inside the US.
Russia has put its Bulava intercontinental ballistic missile into service, the Tass state news agency reported on Tuesday, citing the system’s chief designer.
Ukraine says it has withdrawn troops in parts of Kharkiv region
Ukraine has pulled back troops near several villages in the north-eastern Kharkiv region, where Russian forces have been advancing and pounding settlements along the border since last week, Kyiv announced.
Moscow launched a surprise major ground assault on the region last week as it seeks to advance across the battlefield with Kyiv struggling for arms and manpower.
“In some areas, around Lukyantsi and Vovchansk, in response to enemy fire and assaults from ground troops, and to save the lives of our servicemen and avoid losses, our units manoeuvred and moved to more advantageous positions,” the Ukrainian military announced overnight between Tuesday and Wednesday, according to Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Throughout the two-year year war, both sides have typically used the language of moving to more “advantageous positions” to signify retreats, write AFP.
The two villages – about 30 kilometres (18 miles) apart – are close to the border with Russia and have been targeted in the fresh offensive.
Ukraine’s general staff said the situation “remains difficult” but insisted that its forces were “not allowing the Russian occupiers to gain a foothold”.
Kyiv has rushed reinforcements to the area to prevent Russia from punching through.
AFP report that some military analysts say Moscow may be trying to force Ukraine to divert troops from other areas of the frontline, such as around the strategic town of Chasiv Yar in the Donetsk region, where Russia has also been advancing.
“Donetsk and Kharkiv regions are where it is most difficult now,” Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in an address on Tuesday evening.
