Closing summary
It’s past 9pm in Kyiv. Here’s where we stand:
Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Russia had put the world “on the brink of a radiation catastrophe”. Russia has controlled the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in south-east Ukraine since March, although it is still run by Ukrainian scientists. Built in the Soviet era, is the largest nuclear reactor in Europe.
Boris Johnson visits Kyiv, announcing £54m in support. The prime minister has made an unexpected visit to Ukraine to announce further support including unmanned surveillance and missile systems for the Ukrainian military.
UN secretary general António Guterres has called the six-month anniversary of the start of Russia’s war in Ukraine a “sad and tragic milestone”. He said he remained “gravely concerned” about military activity around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant.
The number of people facing acute food insecurity worldwide has more than doubled to 345 million since 2019 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, conflict and climate change, according to the World Food Programme. The impact of the Ukraine crisis had “massive repercussions” in the Middle East and Africa.
Britain is importing no energy from Russia for the first time on record. Figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) released six months after the start of the war found that in June the UK’s imports from Russia were down by 97% and stood at only £33m as sanctions took effect.
US president Joe Biden marked Ukraine’s independence day on Wednesday with a new security assistance package nearing $3bn (£2.5bn). Since the beginning of the Biden administration, the US has committed approximately $10.6bn in security assistance to Ukraine.
A former mayor of Russia’s fourth-largest city was arrested Wednesday on charges of discrediting the country’s military. Yevgeny Roizman, a critic of the Kremlin, who served as the mayor of Yekaterinburg in 2013-18, faces up to five years in prison if convicted.
Pope Francis has renewed calls for peace for the “beloved” Ukraine on the country’s independence day. He also said he thinks of “that poor girl” Daria Dugina, the daughter of a Russian ultranationalist intellectual allied with President Vladimir Putin, who was killed by a car bomb on Saturday.
The Pope later came under fire for his remarks on Dugina’s death, as Ukraine’s ambassador to the Vatican, Andrii Yurash, called Wednesday’s speech “disappointing”.
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UN secretary general António Guterres has called the six-month anniversary of the start of Russia’s war in Ukraine a “sad and tragic milestone”.
Speaking at a UN security council meeting, Guterres said “the warning lights are flashing”, AFP reports.
The UN chief described the six months of conflict as “devastating”, echoing Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy, as he said he remained “gravely concerned” about military activity around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in southern Ukraine, Europe’s largest atomic power plant.
Guterres added:
Any further escalation of the situation could lead to self-destruction. The security of the plant must be ensured, and the plant must be re-established as purely civilian infrastructure.
Earlier, Zelenskiy said Russia had put the world “on the brink of a radiation catastrophe”.
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Vladimir Putin is to blame for British people being hit by high energy bills while Ukrainian people are “paying in their blood”, Boris Johnson has said as he made a final visit to Kyiv as prime minister.
In his third visit to the country since Russia invaded in the spring, Johnson urged the international community to “stay the course” in its support for Ukraine. The outgoing prime minister also told the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, that Ukraine “can and will win the war”.
Comparing the costs of Russia’s war, he said: “If we’re paying in our energy bills for the evils of Vladimir Putin, the people of Ukraine are paying in their blood.”
Read more here:
Ukraine’s independence day was always important. Now it is a matter of life and death
A year ago on 24 August – the 30th anniversary of Ukraine’s independence – a new generation of pilots were leading the Ukrainian air forces flying over Independence Square in Kyiv. The fighter jet column was headed by Anton Lystopad, who was recognised as one of the country’s best pilots. He was 30 years old, born in the year of independence. Almost a year later, in August 2022, Lystopad received the Order for Courage from the president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy. A few days after the ceremony, he was killed in combat.
Lystopad’s story may sound almost too symbolic, but Ukrainians have become used to such tragic symbolism. Six months on from the start of the Russian invasion, with its indiscriminate bombardment of peaceful towns, the atrocities and horrors of Bucha and Mariupol, but also the solidarity, resilience and sacrifices we have experienced, everything feels sharper and deeper. The bitterness of losses and the joy of survival.
Even before the full-scale war, for Ukrainians, Independence Day was the most important holiday of the year, the brightest day, when we thought not about the death of tyranny and the Soviet empire, but the rebirth of the state and of freedom. Amid the war, a military parade in the capital is not an option – soldiers and equipment must be on the frontline. A civilian gathering may put people in danger. There are concerns that Vladimir Putin’s airstrikes will punish those celebrating something he wants to destroy. But doing nothing would feel like a defeat. Not letting Russia destroy our usual way of life is a form of protest. The installation of destroyed Russian military equipment along Kyiv’s main street, Khreshchatyk, has been applauded by many. It offers an ironic commentary: on 24 February, Moscow wanted its armoured vehicles trundling into central Kyiv.
Read more here:
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A Ukrainian mother and daughter who escaped from their home close to a frontline of the conflict with Russia have been forced to return there due to delays in processing their UK visa applications.
Olha Kachurenko, 43, a nurse and laboratory worker, and her 13-year-old daughter Marharyta fled their home in the southern city of Mykolaiv, not far from Russian-occupied Kherson, on 18 March, a few weeks after the war started.
After reaching Poland they applied for the UK Homes for Ukraine scheme on 23 March.
“We started to hear rumours that the Russians wanted to also attack neighbouring countries so we decided to try to move as far away as possible,” said Olha Kachurenko. “I opened the internet and saw information about the UK’s Homes for Ukraine scheme.”
Read more here:
Isobel Koshiw has reported from Ukraine on how the country is marking its 31st year of independence.
As Ukraine marks 31 years of statehood, Kyiv’s streets are a far cry from the way they looked six months ago when thousands were fleeing in panic and military checkpoints operated on most corners.
The very real feeling of imminent death – which jolted the population into mounting a large-scale, voluntary resistance – has subsided outside the frontline areas in the south and east. Most restaurants and businesses in the capital have gradually reopened. But like Kyiv’s tree-lined streets and summer clothes, the physical aspects of life returning to normal have not outweighed the inner pain many Ukrainians are experiencing – brought home even more by the muted public holiday.
“As I’m speaking to you now, I have goosebumps. People I know, my godson even, is fighting at the front. There is no celebration today. I can’t even believe that this is happening,” said Yana Pasychnyk, a choral singer in one of Ukraine’s national choirs.
You can read the full report here:
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People facing acute food insecurity reaches 340 million worldwide
The number of people facing acute food insecurity worldwide has more than doubled to 345 million since 2019 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, conflict and climate change, according to the World Food Programme (WFP).
Listing the coronavirus pandemic and the impact of environmental challenges as leading destabilising factors, the organisation also said the impact of the Ukraine crisis had “massive repercussions” in the Middle East and Africa.
“Yemen imports 90% of its food needs. And they took about 30% from the Black Sea,” Corinne Fleischer, the WFP’s regional director, told Reuters.
In the case of Iraq, an oil-exporting country, food security is at risk, said Fleischer.
The country needs approximately 5.2m tons of wheat, but only produced 2.3m tons of wheat, she said. The rest had to be imported, which cost more. Despite state support, severe drought and recurring water crises are endangering the livelihood of smallholders all over Iraq, she said.
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As Ukraine marks 31 years of independence, European leaders brace for a bleak winter caused, in part, by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
On Wednesday, Germany’s government approved a bylaw restricting the heating of public buildings and banning illuminated advertising hoardings, in an effort to save energy and tackle soaring energy costs.
The moves are part of a national effort to save on energy to reduce the dependency of Europe’s largest economy on Russian gas, and more immediately to deal with concerns that Moscow may choose to cut off access to its Baltic Sea pipeline during the winter.
Robert Habeck, the minister for the economy, said the measures were central to German energy security. “We want to free ourselves as quickly as possible from the vice of Russian energy imports,” he said.
And speaking at his government’s first cabinet meeting after the summer holidays, Emmanuel Macron warned the French they were facing sacrifices and what he called the “end of abundance”.
The president, speaking before ministers at the Élysée, said the country was at a “tipping point” and faced a difficult winter and a new era of instability caused by climate change and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
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Here are the latest photos to come out of Ukraine and elsewhere:
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Russia should stop 'nuclear blackmail' says Zelenskiy in UNSC address
Speaking remotely at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) on Wednesday, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Russia has put the world “on the brink of a radiation catastrophe”.
It is a fact that the Russian military has turned the territory of the largest nuclear power plant in Europe, the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, into a warzone.
The Zaporizhzhia plant, built in the Soviet era, is the largest nuclear reactor in Europe. Russia has controlled the plant in south-east Ukraine since March, although it is still run by Ukrainian scientists.
The Ukrainian nuclear firm Energoatom said last week it feared that Russia plans to switch off the functioning power units at the Zaporizhzhia plant, which in normal times provides about one-fifth of Ukraine’s electricity.
There have been growing calls from Nato, the United Nations and French president Emmanuel Macron to demilitarise the site.
In his address, Zelenskiy called on the International Atomic Energy Agency to take “permanent control” and said “Russia should unconditionally stop nuclear blackmail and completely withdraw from the station.”
A western official previously told the Guardian fighting around the plant was considered a lesser risk than a cooling failure, because the nuclear reactors are designed to withstand relatively heavy impact, including that from a passenger jet.
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Summary so far
It is nearly 6pm in Ukraine. Here is what you might have missed:
Boris Johnson visits Kyiv, announcing £54m in support. The prime minister has made an unexpected visit to Ukraine to announce further support including unmanned surveillance and missile systems for the Ukrainian military.
Britain is importing no energy from Russia for the first time on record. Figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) released six months after the start of the war found that in June the UK’s imports from Russia were down by 97% and stood at only £33m as sanctions took effect.
US president Joe Biden marked Ukraine’s Independence Day on Wednesday with a new security assistance package nearing $3bn (£2.5bn). Since the beginning of the Biden administration, the US has committed approximately $10.6bn in security assistance to Ukraine.
A former mayor of Russia’s fourth-largest city was arrested Wednesday on charges of discrediting the country’s military. Yevgeny Roizman, a critic of the Kremlin, who served as the mayor of Yekaterinburg in 2013-18, faced up to five years in prison if convicted.
Pope Francis has renewed calls for peace for the “beloved” Ukraine on the country’s independence day. He also said he thinks of “that poor girl” Daria Dugina, the daughter of a Russian ultranationalist intellectual allied with President Vladimir Putin, who was killed by a car bomb Saturday.
The Pope later came under fire for his remarks on Dugina’s death, as Ukraine’s ambassador to the Vatican, Andrii Yurash, called Wednesday’s speech “disappointing”.
The government has called on more people to take in Ukrainian refugees. But ministers have not announced any additional financial support for UK hosts who take part in the Homes for Ukraine scheme, despite warnings that the cost of living crisis is deterring people from signing up or continuing to participate.
Ben Wallace has said the UK can “toughen up” visa conditions for Russians, yet remained uncertain whether an outright ban is the “right way”. The defence secretary’s remarks come as Finland, Estonia and the Czech Republic have called for Brussels to implement an EU-wide ban on new tourist visas for Russians to enter the Schengen free travel area.
Ukraine is bracing for possible brutal strikes as it marks its independence day and 31 years since the end of Soviet rule. Authorities have cancelled celebrations in Kyiv as officials warn that Russia is preparing to attack the capital. Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said he had information from Ukraine’s intelligence services and international partners that there was an increased threat as the US said it believed Russia would target civilian and government infrastructure in the next few days.
Updated
Britain is importing no energy from Russia for the first time on record after trade between the two countries collapsed after the Kremlin ordered invasion of Ukraine in February.
Figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) released six months after the start of the war found that in June the UK’s imports from Russia were down by 97% and stood at only £33m as sanctions took effect.
The ONS data shows that by June the UK government had already achieved its objective of phasing out Russian oil imports by the end of 2022 and ending imports of liquefied natural gas as soon as possible after that.
Read more here:
Five predictions for the next six months in the war in Ukraine
1. The war will probably run on for a year at least, but is essentially deadlocked and its intensity lessening
Six months of war may have gone by, but neither Ukraine nor Russia are ready to stop fighting, despite the losses they have sustained. Ukraine wants its occupied territories back, and Russia wants to keep inflicting pain not just on its opponent but, by proxy, the west also. The Kremlin believes winter will play to its advantage too.
There have been no negotiations between the two sides since evidence emerged of the massacres at Bucha, Irpin and elsewhere in territories occupied by the Russians north of Kyiv. But movement in the frontlines has been minimal since the fall of Lysychansk at the end of June. Both sides are struggling for momentum and increasingly appear combat exhausted.
2. Ukraine has no means of effective conventional counterattack, while guerrilla raids are an optimistic way to precipitate a Russian collapse
Ukraine would like to retake Kherson on the west of the Dnieper River, but a senior administration figure admitted in private that “we do not have enough capacity to push them back”. Kyiv has shifted its strategy to mounting long-range missile attacks and daring special forces raids on Russian bases deep behind the frontlines.
The key presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said the aim was to “create chaos within the Russian forces” but, while it will blunt the invader’s effectiveness it is not likely it will lead to invaders collapsing in on themselves and voluntarily conceding Kherson, as some Ukrainian officials have hoped.
3. Russia still wants to pound its way forward but its attention is likely to be shifting to holding on to its gains and annexing Ukraine territory
Russia has no new offensive plan other than to mass artillery, destroy towns and cities and grind its way forward. It does this in part because it is effective, and in part to minimise casualties, having lost – on some western estimates – 15,000 dead so far. It continues to adopt this strategy around Bakhmut in the Donbas but progress is slow, partly because it has had to redeploy some forces to reinforce Kherson.
The Kremlin may not have achieved what it hoped at the beginning of the war, but Russia holds large swathes of Ukrainian territory in the east and south, and is actively talking about holding annexation referendums. With cooler weather fast approaching, it is likely to focus on consolidating what it has.
Read more here:
Updated
Boris Johnson visits Kyiv, announcing £54m in support
The UK prime minister has made an unexpected visit to Ukraine to announce further military support. In a post on Twitter, with a photograph of Johnson next to Volodymyr Zelenskiy, he wrote:
What happens in Ukraine matters to us all. That is why I am in Kyiv today.
The latest £54m support package includes unmanned surveillance and missile systems for the Ukrainian military. Johnson said:
Today’s package of support will give the brave and resilient Ukrainian armed forces another boost in capability, allowing them to continue to push back Russian forces and fight for their freedom.
Speaking in Kyiv, Johnson said:
Out of the ashes of your towns and cities, out of the monstrous scars that are being left by Putin’s missiles, something beautiful is blooming and it’s a flower that the whole world can see and admire, and that is the unconquerable will of Ukrainians to resist.
In his final visit as prime minister, Johnson received Ukraine’s highest award bestowed on foreign nationals, the order of liberty, for the UK’s staunch support of Ukraine’s freedom.
What happens in Ukraine matters to us all.
— Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) August 24, 2022
That is why I am in Kyiv today.
That is why the UK will continue to stand with our Ukrainian friends.
I believe Ukraine can and will win this war. pic.twitter.com/FIovnqJGTS
While Johnson visits Ukraine for the fourth time this year, in three weeks’ time, he will no longer be UK prime minister. Despite the country being beset by a series of crises, from the mounting cost of living crisis to war in Ukraine, he has been accused of leading a “zombie” government.
Earlier today, Johnson reiterated his support for Ukraine on the country’s independence day. He wrote: “For however long it takes, the United Kingdom will stand with you.”
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Here are the latest photos to come out of Ukraine and elsewhere, as the nation’s independence day coincides with six months since Russia’s invasion.
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Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has vowed to regain territories taken by Russia in a speech marking 31 years since the end of Soviet rule and six months since the war began.
In an address delivered in front of Kyiv’s central monument to independence from the Soviet Union, he said:
For us, Ukraine is all of Ukraine. All 25 regions, without any concessions or compromises. It doesn’t matter to us what kind of army you have; what matters to us is our land. We will fight for it until the end.
Thousands of people have been killed since the war began on 24 February, with Ukraine acknowledging 9,000 military deaths, and there is little hope that an end to the fighting is in sight
From Kyiv, Emma Graham-Harrison looks at the traditional dress of Ukraine’s president as the country celebrates 31 years since declaring its independence from the Soviet Union.
Zelenskiy shows off his impeccable comms skills once again -- wearing a traditional Ukrainian vyshyvanka shirt for independence day, but in military colour of his usual fatigues, and embroidered with a tank and APC https://t.co/0S9b1ZfA6R
— Emma Graham-Harrison (@_EmmaGH) August 24, 2022
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Lithuania’s president has expressed concern at Russia’s ambitions beyond the borders of Ukraine, and called the war a “true miscalculation”.
Speaking on Sky News, Gitanas Nausėda said:
Ukraine is fighting for their freedom, but I think Ukraine is fighting also for us, for the freedom of democracy.
Nausėda added:
Everybody understands that there’s no limit of appetite of Vladimir Putin and Kremlin’s regime. If they will succeed in Ukraine there will be [a] continuation of this aggression and expansion.
When asked if he was worried of Putin’s ambitions to go beyond Ukraine’s borders, Nausėda responded: “Unfortunately, yes.”
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During a visit to Salisbury Plain, Keir Starmer said the UK “will not be divided politically” in it’s defence of Ukraine against Russian aggression.
According to PA Media, the Labour leader met with both Ukrainian and British personnel during his visit this morning, and said:
Six months after the start of the conflict in Ukraine, I’ve been here in Salisbury Plain watching Ukrainian troops being trained by British troops with live rounds, simulating the situation they are going to be facing. I’ve been so impressed with the training I’ve seen here, that the global reputation of British forces is of grit, of class and that sort of steely determination and courage on the battlefield.
Starmer added:
“My mission, my message to the Ukrainian people, to our troops, our Nato allies, is that on the issue of defending Ukraine against Russian aggression, we stand united. We will not be divided politically in the United Kingdom on this and I’ve been able to deliver that message first-hand amongst this very, very impressive training.”
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US president Joe Biden marked Ukraine’s Independence Day on Wednesday with a new security assistance package nearing $3bn (£2.5bn) to equip the country for a war of attrition fought primarily in eastern and southern Ukraine.
Announcing the largest support package for Ukraine since Russia’s invasion six months ago, Biden said:
The United States of America is committed to supporting the people of Ukraine as they continue the fight to defend their sovereignty.
Since the beginning of the Biden administration, the US has committed approximately $10.6bn in security assistance to Ukraine.
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Ukraine gained independence in 1991 after the collapse of the Soviet Union, when hardline Communist leaders attempted to restore central Communist party control over the USSR.
Days after the coup, a special session of the Ukrainian parliament voted by 321 votes to two with 31 abstentions to declare Ukraine an “independent and sovereign republic”, in which Soviet law no longer applied.
Artist Vitoria Drozdovskaya, in the crowd outside the parliament building in Kiev, said “now we can finally live like human beings after decades of living like animals”.
Marta Dyczok in Kiev and John Rettie in Moscow reported for the Guardian on Ukraine’s historic independence on 26 August 1991. Here’s the Guardian piece published on that day:
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Pope Francis been criticised for his remarks on Wednesday on the death of Daria Dugina, the daughter of a Russian ultranationalist intellectual allied with President Vladimir Putin, killed by a car bomb Saturday.
Earlier, Francis, citing “the innocents who are paying for madness”, said:
I think of that poor girl who died because of a bomb under the seat of her car in Moscow.
In an unusual public criticism of the Pope’s remarks, Ukraine’s ambassador to the Vatican, Andrii Yurash, wrote that Wednesday’s speech was “disappointing”.
Today’s speech ofPope was disappointing& made me think about many things: can’t speak inSame categories aboutАggressor &Victim, Rapist and Raped; howPossible To Mention 1of ideologists of🇷🇺ImperialismAs innocent victim?She wasKilledBy russiansAsSacredVictim &isNowOn Shield ofWar pic.twitter.com/GvvM7zJDCa
— Andrii Yurash (@AndriiYurash) August 24, 2022
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US and UK financial institutions have been among the leading investors in Russian “carbon bomb” fossil fuel projects, according to a new database of holdings from recent years.
Campaigners in Ukraine said these institutions must immediately end such investments, to limit the funding of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and to avoid climate breakdown.
Carbon bombs are fossil-fuel extraction projects identified by researchers to contain at least 1bn tonnes of climate-heating CO2, triple the UK’s annual emissions. Russia is a hotspot, with 40 carbon bombs, 19 of them operated or developed by Russian companies backed by foreign finance. The companies are Gazprom, Novatek, Lukoil, Rosneft oil company and Tatneft.
Read more on how the UK and US banks are among the biggest backers of Russian ‘carbon bombs’ here:
A former mayor of Russia’s fourth-largest city was arrested Wednesday on charges of discrediting the country’s military, part of a crackdown on dissent of Moscow’s military action.
Police arrested Yevgeny Roizman, a critic of the Kremlin, who served as the mayor of Yekaterinburg in 2013-2018, following searches at his apartment and office, according to AP.
Roizman, 59, told reporters he was charged under a new law adopted after Russia sent troops into Ukraine on Feb. 24. Earlier this year, he was fined on similar charges. If convicted, he faces up to five years in prison.
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Pope Francis has renewed calls for peace for the “beloved” Ukraine on the country’s independence day and the six-month anniversary of the start of Russia’s invasion.
Following his weekly general audience at the Vatican, Francis directed his address to “the beloved Ukrainian people who for six months today have been suffering the horror of war,” AFP reports.
Referring to the Russian-controlled nuclear plant in souther Ukraine, and Europe’s largest, which has been the target of military strikes, Francis added:
I hope that concrete steps will be taken to put an end to the war and to avert the risk of a nuclear disaster in Zaporizhzhia.
Francis also mentioned Daria Dugina, the daughter of a Russian ultranationalist intellectual allied with President Vladimir Putin, who was killed by a car bomb Saturday. “I think of that poor girl who died because of a bomb under the seat of her car in Moscow,” he said.
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A leading UK choir has released a single based on words by the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy and the poet Serhiy Zhadan to mark six months since Russia launched the war in Ukraine.
A Quiet Night – Tyhoyi Nochi is sung in English and Ukrainian, with music by one of the country’s foremost young composers, Natalia Tsupryk.
Tom Herring, the artistic director of the choir, Sansara, said he hoped the work would be performed by refugees from Ukraine and host communities around the world.
Sansara’s work is rooted in the belief that choral music has a unique potential to bring people together. A Quiet Night is a musical expression of solidarity with the people of Ukraine but it is also a creative vehicle for choirs to meet and sing with all those displaced by conflict.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and his wife Olena visit the Memory Wall of Fallen Defenders of Ukraine. Photograph: Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/Reuters
Tsupryk said: “President Zelensky’s words about ‘a free people’ not allowing ‘occupation to take root in their land’; show Ukrainians for what we are. Far from being victims and losers, we are warriors and winners.”
The single will raise funds for the Ukrainian Welcome Centre which supports newly-arrived Ukrainian refugees in the UK. Sansara will perform A Quiet Night on Friday 25 November at St Martin-in-the-Fields in central London.
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The government has called on more people to take in Ukrainian refugees on the sixth month anniversary of the Russian invasion of the country.
But ministers have not announced any additional financial support for UK hosts who take part in the Homes for Ukraine scheme, despite warnings that the cost of living crisis is deterring people from signing up or continuing to participate.
Monthly payments to hosts of Ukrainian refugees should double to £700 to help them to provide housing for more than six months due to rising costs, the minister responsible has said.
Launching the appeal for new hosts, refugees minister Lord Harrington said: “I would urge anyone who has the room to come forward and join thousands of others in providing a safe haven for people forced to leave their country.”
Read more on the ‘desperate’ need for Homes for Ukraine hosts as war reaches six-month point here:
UK can 'toughen up' visa conditions for Russians says defence secretary
Ben Wallace has said the UK can “toughen up” visa conditions for Russians, yet remained uncertain whether an outright ban is the “right way”, PA Media reports.
The defence secretary’s remarks come as Finland, Estonia and the Czech Republic have called for Brussels to implement an EU-wide ban on new tourist visas for Russians to enter the Schengen free travel area as punishment for Russia’s war against Ukraine.
Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Wallace said:
I certainly think we can toughen up the conditions of our visas. I am not sure whether an outright ban is the right way.
He added:
“I think that’s a matter for the home secretary to look at. But I don’t like, and I’m sure none of your listeners like, watching oligarchs’ wives or indeed Russian senior officials’ wives enjoying themselves in Greece or the south of France, or on super-yachts around the world while their army is committing war crimes in Ukraine.”
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Here are the latest photos to come out of Ukraine and elsewhere on the nation’s independence day, six months after Russia’s invasion.
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Summary so far
It is just after 1pm in Ukraine. Here is what you might have missed:
Russian opposition politician Yevgeny Roizman was shown being detained at his home in a video published on social media on Wednesday, reports Reuters. Video of the arrest showed Roizman, former mayor of the Urals city of Yekaterinburg, being taken away by law enforcement officials. Roizman was seen in the video telling reporters that he was being investigated under a law against discrediting the armed forces. He said he was being arrested “basically for one phrase, ‘the invasion of Ukraine’”.
Pope Francis has called for “concrete steps” to end the war in Ukraine and avert the risk of a nuclear disaster at the Zaporizhzhia power plant, reports Reuters. IAEA, the UN nuclear watchdog, said on Tuesday it would visit the Russian-occupied plant in Ukraine within days if talks to gain access succeed. Russia and Ukraine have repeatedly accused each other of firing at the facility, the largest of its kind in Europe and which pro-Moscow forces took over soon after the 24 February invasion. The United Nations has called for the area to be demilitarised.
A Russian-installed head of the town of Mykhailivka in the Russian-controlled part of the Zaporizhzhia region in south-eastern Ukraine was killed in a car bomb on Tuesday, an official said. Ivan Sushko was critically injured when a bomb placed under his car exploded, Zaporizhzhia region administration member Vladimir Rogov said on Telegram.
Norway and Britain will jointly supply micro-drones to Ukraine to aid in its war with Russia, reports Reuters. The cost of the Teledyne Flir Black Hornet drones, used for reconnaissance and target identification, will be up to 90m Norwegian crowns (£7.4m), the Norwegian defence ministry said in a statement.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy told Ukrainians on Wednesday in an emotional speech to mark 31 years of independence that Ukraine was reborn when Russia invaded and would recapture annexed Crimea and occupied areas in the east. In the recorded speech aired on the six-month anniversary of Russia’s 24 February invasion, Zelenskiy said Ukraine no longer saw the war ending when there was peace, but when Kyiv was actually victorious.
Former Conservative leadership contender Tom Tugendhat has disclosed he is in Kyiv as Ukraine marks 31 years since it declared independence from the Soviet Union. “Here in Kyiv we’re in shelters after being woken by the air raid siren,” the Commons foreign affairs committee chair tweeted in response to a post by British journalist John Sweeney. He later posted a video of himself next to destroyed tanks in the centre of Kyiv and praised the commitment of Britain in helping Ukraine in its fight against Russia.
Ukraine is bracing for possible brutal strikes as it marks its independence day and 31 years since the end of Soviet rule. Authorities have cancelled celebrations in Kyiv as officials warn that Russia is preparing to attack the capital. Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said he had information from Ukraine’s intelligence services and international partners that there was an increased threat as the US said it believed Russia would target civilian and government infrastructure in the next few days. Ukraine’s defence ministry advised Ukrainians to be especially careful, citing the threat of missile attacks and “provocations” from Russia.
Many civilians are attempting to leave Kyiv amid fears of a Russian attack, according to an adviser to Ukraine’s president. Alex Rodnyansky said people were worried and that there was “certainly some concern” that an attack may strike the centres of decision-making in the Ukrainian capital on Wednesday. Russia and the Putin regime “are really obsessed with dates and symbols, so it would be logical to be on the lookout and be prepared for independence day to be attacked”, Andriy Yusov, the head of the ministry’s intelligence directorate, said.
Zelenskiy has warned Russia of a strong response to any possible independence day attacks. Ukrainian intelligence is working with foreign intelligence, he said in a news conference on Tuesday, warning that Russia “will receive a response, a powerful response”. Zelenskiy also said Ukraine will not agree to any proposal to freeze the current frontlines in its conflict with Russia in order to “calm” Moscow, which now controls about 22% of Ukraine including Crimea.
Zelenskiy also vowed to return Crimea to Ukraine, saying that it would become part of the EU, along with the rest of the country. “We will return Crimea, because it is our territory. In any way we decide. We will decide it on our own, without consulting any other state,” he said. “It all began with Crimea, and it will end with Crimea.”
Ukraine is not ready for negotiations with Russia regarding a ceasefire, Zelenskiy said. “At the point where we are, we are not ready for a ceasefire. We explained that there will be no Minsk-3, Minsk-5, or Minsk-7. We will not play these games, we have lost part of our territories this way … it is a trap,” he said during a press conference following a summit of the Crimea Platform in Kyiv.
Russia’s Donbas offensive is making minimal progress and its forces are suffering from shortages of munitions, vehicles and personnel, according to British intelligence.
Ukraine’s intelligence directorate has claimed Russia is attempting to shell the “ash pits” of Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant to “raise clouds of radioactive dust”. In an update posted to the agency’s official Telegram channel late last night, officials said that mortar attacks on the surrounding suburbs of Energodar aimed to target the ash pits of the plant.
The US is set to announce a fresh security assistance package for Ukraine of about $3bn (£2.5bn), officials have said, to equip the country for a war of attrition and secure its medium- to long-term defence posture. The money will fund contracts for as many as three types of drones, and other weapons, ammunition and equipment that may not see the battlefront for a year or two, US officials told the Associated Press.
Germany will also supply Ukraine with a further €500m in military aid, most of it earmarked for delivery next year, a government spokesperson said on Tuesday. The equipment will include three IRIS-T anti-aircraft systems, “around a dozen armed recovery vehicles, 20 rocket-launchers mounted on pick-ups … precision munition and anti-drone equipment,” a spokesperson told Agence France-Presse.
Updated
Russia detains opposition leader over criticism of Ukraine war
Andrew Roth reports for us from Moscow:
Russian police have detained Yevgeny Roizman, a prominent opposition politician and former mayor of Ekaterinburg, for his public criticism of the Russian war in Ukraine.
Roizman, a popular political activist in Ekaterinburg, the fourth largest city in Russia, said he was being charged for his use of the word “invasion” under strict new laws that ban criticism of the Russian armed forces.
He could face five years in prison if convicted, Russian state news media reported.
Video released by a pro-Kremlin news outlet showed masked police in bulletproof vests storming into the apartment building where Roizman lives. After a search, Roizman was led from the flat past journalists waiting in the stairwell. When asked where he had used the word “invasion”, he replied: “I say it everywhere.”
Read more: Russia detains opposition leader over criticism of Ukraine war
A Russian-installed head of the town of Mykhailivka in the Russian-controlled part of the Zaporizhzhia region in south-eastern Ukraine was killed in a car bomb on Tuesday, an official said.
Ivan Sushko was critically injured when a bomb placed under his car exploded, Zaporizhzhia region administration member Vladimir Rogov said on Telegram.
Rogov said:
As a result of the explosion, Ivan Sushko was wounded and taken to the hospital in critical condition, where he soon died.
Updated
The Ministry of Defence has posted the latest map on Russian troop placements and attack locations in Ukraine.
The illegal and unprovoked invasion of Ukraine is continuing.
— Ministry of Defence 🇬🇧 (@DefenceHQ) August 24, 2022
The map below is the latest Defence Intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine - 24 August 2022
Find out more about the UK government's response: https://t.co/hHhseLcVgS
🇺🇦 #StandWithUkraine 🇺🇦 pic.twitter.com/nYTCYSLKFK
Pope Francis warns of nuclear disaster at Zaporizhzhia power plant
Pope Francis has called for “concrete steps” to end the war in Ukraine and avert the risk of a nuclear disaster at the Zaporizhzhia power plant, reports Reuters.
IAEA, the UN nuclear watchdog, said on Tuesday it would visit the Russian-occupied plant in Ukraine within days if talks to gain access succeed.
Russia and Ukraine have repeatedly accused each other of firing at the facility, the largest of its kind in Europe and which pro-Moscow forces took over soon after the 24 February invasion.
The United Nations has called for the area to be demilitarised.
Francis said at his weekly audience:
I hope that concrete steps will be taken to bring an end to the war and to avert the risk of a nuclear disaster at Zaporizhzhia.
Francis also called arms merchants who profit from war “delinquents who kill humanity”.
Updated
The Scots Guard band has paid tribute to Ukraine with a rendition of the country’s Eurovision winning entry Stefania.
Today Ukraine marks 31 years since it gained independence.
— Ministry of Defence 🇬🇧 (@DefenceHQ) August 24, 2022
To honour the anniversary and as a tribute to the Ukrainian people, the @ScotsGuardsBand performed the winning @Eurovision entry, 'Stefania', on Horse Guards Parade. 🇺🇦🇬🇧@ArmyInLondon #StandWithUkraine #StandForFreedom pic.twitter.com/mUC5k07tC4
Updated
Britain’s defence minister Ben Wallace said today that Russia is in a “very fragile” position, reports PA Media.
He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme:
I spoke to my intelligence chiefs this morning before coming on, you know, Russia’s advance can be measured in metres per week, not miles.
It is grinding in small parts of the country in an attempt to advance – completely opposite of the three-days special operation that it touted at the beginning of this, six months ago.
We pretty much accept, well, we do accept, the sort of observations of Russian losses to be – if you combine deaths, injuries, desertions – over 80,000 of their armed forces. That’s 80,000 in six months compared with 15,000 they lost in a decade in Afghanistan.
I think we are in a position where Russia is in a very fragile position.
On whether Ukraine is realistically in a position to retake the territory that Russia still holds, Mr Wallace said:
I think Ukraine is getting itself into that position.
First and foremost, Ukraine already has had throughout this the moral component, as we call it in defence, and if you look at the morale of the Ukrainian forces, it is, you know, it is leagues ahead of the Russian morale, you know, which is poorly-trained troops, etc.
Updated
Journalist Nataliya Gumenyuk argues Ukraine is facing a watershed in the course of the war:
A year ago on 24 August – the 30th anniversary of Ukraine’s independence – a new generation of pilots were leading the Ukrainian air forces flying over Independence Square in Kyiv. The fighter jet column was headed by Anton Lystopad, who was recognised as one of the country’s best pilots. He was 30 years old, born in the year of independence. Almost a year later, earlier this month, Lystopad received the order for courage from the president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy. A few days after the ceremony, he was killed in combat.
Lystopad’s story may sound almost too symbolic, but Ukrainians have become used to such tragic symbolism. Six months on from the start of the Russian invasion, with its indiscriminate bombardment of peaceful towns, the atrocities and horrors of Bucha and Mariupol, but also the solidarity, resilience and sacrifices we have experienced, everything feels sharper and deeper. The bitterness of losses and the joy of survival.
Even before the full-scale war, for Ukrainians, Independence Day was the most important holiday of the year, the brightest day, when we thought not about the death of tyranny and the Soviet empire, but the rebirth of the state and of freedom.
Read more: Ukraine’s independence day was always important. Now it is a matter of life and death
Updated
Norway and Britain will jointly supply micro drones to Ukraine to aid in its war with Russia, reports Reuters.
The cost of the Teledyne Flir Black Hornet drones, used for reconnaissance and target identification, will be up to 90m Norwegian crowns (£7.4m), the Norwegian defence ministry said in a statement.
Norway’s defence minister Bjørn Arild Gram said:
The drone is used for reconnaissance and target identification. It is easy to operate, robust, difficult to detect and particularly well-suited for combat in urban areas.
Updated
Charlotte Graham-McLay reports for us from Wellington:
New Zealand’s defence minister Peeni Henare has given a statement following reports that a New Zealand soldier, who was not on active duty, has been killed in Ukraine.
“I express my condolences to the family, friends and colleagues of the New Zealand soldier who is reported to have died in Ukraine while on leave from the army,” Henare said.
“I have been advised the New Zealand army are supporting the soldier’s family through this difficult time.”
The soldier was on leave without pay at the time, the defence force said in a statement on Wednesday.
New Zealand has sent defence personnel to train Ukraine soldiers in the UK but does not have a military presence on Ukrainian soil.
Updated
Nato secretary general Jens Stoltenberg is the latest person to wish Ukraine well today.
He tweeted:
On #Ukraine’s independence day I pay tribute to the brave Ukrainian women & men fighting for their freedom & their country. #NATO has supported Ukraine since its independence & you can continue to count on NATO for as long as it takes. Ukraine will prevail!
On #Ukraine’s independence day I pay tribute to the brave Ukrainian women & men fighting for their freedom & their country. #NATO has supported Ukraine since its independence & you can continue to count on NATO for as long as it takes. Ukraine will prevail! pic.twitter.com/IYLN5sNH8m
— Jens Stoltenberg (@jensstoltenberg) August 24, 2022
Ukraine was 'reborn' when Russia invaded, says Zelenskiy
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy told Ukrainians on Wednesday in an emotional speech to mark 31 years of independence that Ukraine was reborn when Russia invaded and would recapture annexed Crimea and occupied areas in the east.
In the recorded speech aired on the six-month anniversary of Russia’s 24 February invasion, Zelenskiy said Ukraine no longer saw the war ending when there was peace, but when Kyiv was actually victorious, reports Reuters.
He said:
A new nation appeared in the world on February 24 at 4 in the morning. It was not born, but reborn. A nation that did not cry, scream or take fright. One that did not flee. Did not give up. And did not forget.
The 44-year-old leader delivered the speech in his trademark combat fatigues in front of Kyiv’s central monument to independence from the Russia-controlled Soviet Union.
What for us is the end of the war? We used to say: peace. Now we say: victory.
Updated
Damian Carrington reports:
US and UK financial institutions have been among the leading investors in Russian “carbon bomb” fossil fuel projects, according to a new database of holdings from recent years.
Campaigners in Ukraine said these institutions must immediately end such investments, to limit the funding of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and to avoid climate breakdown.
Carbon bombs are fossil-fuel extraction projects identified by researchers to contain at least 1bn tonnes of climate-heating CO2, triple the UK’s annual emissions. Russia is a hotspot, with 40 carbon bombs, 19 of them operated or developed by Russian companies backed by foreign finance. The companies are Gazprom, Novatek, Lukoil, Rosneft oil company and Tatneft.
Read more: UK and US banks among biggest backers of Russian ‘carbon bombs’, data shows
Former Conservative leadership contender Tom Tugendhat has disclosed he is in Kyiv as Ukraine marks 31 years since it declared independence from the Soviet Union.
“Here in Kyiv we’re in shelters after being woken by the air raid siren,” the Commons foreign affairs committee chairman tweeted in response to a post by British journalist John Sweeney.
He later posted a video of himself next to destroyed tanks in the centre of Kyiv and praised the commitment of Britain in helping Ukraine in its fight against Russia.
Tugendhat earlier said he was in the city along with 30 representatives from across Europe “to show our support for Ukraine and stand against Putin’s illegal invasion”, reports PA Media.
He added:
Where the communists once paraded, now the Kremlin’s callous failure is on display.
The Tonbridge and Malling MP has been an outspoken critic of the offensive, calling it a “crime against peace” not long after it began.
Tugendhat made it to the third round of the race to succeed Boris Johnson before being bundled out last month.
They’re not just fighting for the liberty of Ukraine, they’re fighting for everyone’s freedom. 🇺🇦#UkraineIndependenceDay #SlavaUkraini #StandWithUkraine pic.twitter.com/dBBkRQPi93
— Tom Tugendhat (@TomTugendhat) August 24, 2022
Updated
Summary so far
Before I hand you over to my colleague, here is a rundown of where things stand as of 9am in Kyiv.
Ukraine is bracing for possible brutal strikes as it marks 31 years since the country broke free from the Soviet Union. Western and Ukrainian officials have warned that Russia is preparing to escalate its attacks.
Ukraine is bracing for possible brutal strikes as it marks its independence day and 31 years since the end of Soviet rule. Authorities have cancelled celebrations in Kyiv as officials warn that Russia is preparing to attack the capital. Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said he had information from Ukraine’s intelligence services and international partners that there was an increased threat as the US said it believed Russia would target civilian and government infrastructure in the next few days. Ukraine’s defence ministry advised Ukrainians to be especially careful, citing the threat of missile attacks and “provocations” from Russia.
Many civilians are attempting to leave Kyiv amid fears of a Russian attack, according to an adviser to Ukraine’s president. Alex Rodnyansky said people were worried and that there was “certainly some concern” that an attack may strike the centres of decision-making in the Ukrainian capital on Wednesday. Russia and the Putin regime “are really obsessed with dates and symbols, so it would be logical to be on the lookout and be prepared for independence day to be attacked”, Andriy Yusov, the head of the ministry’s intelligence directorate, said.
Zelenskiy has warned Russia of a strong response to any possible independence day attacks. Ukrainian intelligence is working with foreign intelligence, he said in a news conference on Tuesday, warning that Russia “will receive a response, a powerful response”. Zelenskiy also said Ukraine will not agree to any proposal to freeze the current frontlines in its conflict with Russia in order to “calm” Moscow, which now controls about 22% of Ukraine including Crimea.
Zelenskiy also vowed to return Crimea to Ukraine, saying that it would become part of the EU, along with the rest of the country. “We will return Crimea, because it is our territory. In any way we decide. We will decide it on our own, without consulting any other state,” he said. “It all began with Crimea, and it will end with Crimea.”
Ukraine is not ready for negotiations with Russia regarding a ceasefire, Zelenskiy said. “At the point where we are, we are not ready for a ceasefire. We explained that there will be no Minsk-3, Minsk-5, or Minsk-7. We will not play these games, we have lost part of our territories this way … it is a trap,” he said during a press conference following a summit of the Crimea Platform in Kyiv.
Russia’s Donbas offensive is making minimal progress and its forces are suffering from shortages of munitions, vehicles and personnel, according to British intelligence.
The UN nuclear watchdog will visit the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine “within the next few days if ongoing negotiations succeed”, it said in a statement on Tuesday.
Ukraine’s intelligence directorate has claimed Russia is attempting to shell the “ash pits” of Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant to “raise clouds of radioactive dust”. In an update posted to the agency’s official Telegram channel late last night, officials said that mortar attacks on the surrounding suburbs of Energodar aimed to target the ash pits of the plant.
The US is set to announce a fresh security assistance package for Ukraine of about $3bn (£2.5bn), officials have said, to equip the country for a war of attrition and secure its medium- to long-term defence posture. The money will fund contracts for as many as three types of drones, and other weapons, ammunition and equipment that may not see the battlefront for a year or two, US officials told the Associated Press.
Germany will also supply Ukraine with a further €500m in military aid, most of it earmarked for delivery next year, a government spokesperson said on Tuesday. The equipment will include three IRIS-T anti-aircraft systems, “around a dozen armed recovery vehicles, 20 rocket-launchers mounted on pick-ups … precision munition and anti-drone equipment,” a spokesperson told Agence France-Presse.
Norway and Britain are joining forces to acquire the Norwegian micro-drone Black Hornet to send to Ukraine. The package -at a cost of up to NOK 90m (about £8m) – includes Black Hornet units, spare parts, transportation and training and will be financed by the British-led fund to which Norway has contributed NOK 400m, according to a statement issued by the Norwegian ministry of defence on Wednesday.
Russian authorities have reportedly detained Anti-Kremlin politician Yevgeny Roizman for speaking out against Putin’s military campaign in Ukraine, according to Russian media reports. Roizman, a former mayor of the city of Yekaterinburg, is being investigated for “discrediting the Russian army”, Russia state media agency Tass reported, citing Yekaterinburg security services.
Updated
Moldova is the latest European nation to wish Ukraine well today.
President Maia Sandu tweeted this morning: “We admire the courage and defiance of Ukrainian people – defenders of their home and fighters for freedom, independence and democracy. You are an inspiration for generations to come. We stand with you and wish you peace and prosperity.”
On the Independence Day of #Ukraine, we admire the courage& defiance of 🇺🇦people - defenders of their home & fighters for freedom, independence & democracy. You are an inspiration for generations to come.
— Maia Sandu (@sandumaiamd) August 24, 2022
We stand with you & wish you peace & prosperity. Happy Independence Day 🇺🇦! pic.twitter.com/eEpk4zdf0p
Updated
No 10 Downing Street has been decorated with a blue and yellow flower installation in honour of Ukraine’s independence day.
Outgoing prime minister Boris Johnson was seen posing outside the residence.
Updated
Russia’s Donbas offensive is making minimal progress and its forces are suffering from shortages of munitions, vehicles and personnel, according to British intelligence.
The latest UK Ministry of Defence report reads:
The Donbas offensive is making minimal progress and Russia anticipates a major Ukrainian counterattack. Operationally, Russia is suffering from shortages of munitions, vehicles and personnel.
Morale is poor in many parts of its military and its army is significantly degraded. Its diplomatic power has been diminished and its long-term economic outlook is bleak. Six months in and Russia’s war has proven both costly and strategically harmful.”
Latest Defence Intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine - 24 August 2022
— Ministry of Defence 🇬🇧 (@DefenceHQ) August 24, 2022
Find out more about the UK government's response: https://t.co/MlStHyXAGO
🇺🇦 #StandWithUkraine 🇺🇦 pic.twitter.com/rVDqlANRGJ
New Zealand’s defence force says it has received reports that a soldier who was on leave has been killed in Ukraine.
Charlotte Graham-McLay reports to us from Wellington.
The soldier was on a period of leave without pay at the time and was not on active duty with New Zealand forces, according to a statement provided to the media by email on Wednesday. The comments were not attributed to a named person.
The statement said the NZDF was still gathering information “in order to understand the circumstances fully” and could not provide more details.
New Zealand’s government announced earlier this month that it would send a further 120 defence force personnel to the UK to help train Ukraine soldiers, in addition to 30 people it had deployed to do so in May.
New Zealand’s defence minister, Peeni Henare, said at the time that no New Zealand defence force member would enter Ukraine on duty.
Finland has followed suit with its president Sauli Niinistö also congratulating Ukraine this morning.
“My most sincere congratulations to President Zelenskiy and to the people of Ukraine on your Independence Day,” Niinistö said. “Finland stands with Ukraine, and we will continue our unwavering support for as long as needed.”
My most sincere congratulations to President @ZelenskyyUa and to the people of #Ukraine on your Independence Day. Finland stands with Ukraine, and we will continue our unwavering support for as long as needed. pic.twitter.com/7DB3EpNho7
— Sauli Niinistö (@niinisto) August 24, 2022
Lithuania has wished Ukraine well for its independence day today.
President Gitanas Nausėda shared a snap of himself with Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, on Twitter this morning.
“Wishing strength to Zelenskiy and Ukraine who fights for freedom with incredible courage, defiance and dignity,” he said. “Lithuania is always with you.”
Today Ukraine celebrates Independence Day, while it also marks six months since the beginning of Russian war atrocities.
— Gitanas Nausėda (@GitanasNauseda) August 24, 2022
Wishing strength to @ZelenskyyUa& 🇺🇦 nation who fights for freedom with incredible courage, defiance& dignity.
Lithuania is always with you 🇱🇹🇺🇦! pic.twitter.com/Wxl3vG7qfk
Updated
The US has begun to load more military aid bound for Ukraine.
The US department of defence published a series of photos showing members of the 305th aerial port squadron loading munition packages bound for Ukraine onto planes at the joint base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst.
“Our service members are working around the clock to make sure the Ukrainian people have the equipment they need to defend their country,” US secretary of defence, Lloyd Austin, added.
The work continues. It never stops. Our servicemembers are working around the clock to make sure the Ukrainian people have the equipment they need to defend their country. https://t.co/CmddSbSy9X
— Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III (@SecDef) August 23, 2022
Google has released a doodle in honour of Ukraine’s independence day today.
Illustrated by Kharkiv-based artist Olga Shtonda, the design honours this day in 1991 when Ukrainian politicians signed the act of declaration of independence and displayed their national flag within the session hall of the Verkhovna Rada building, signalling its freedom from the Soviet Union.
The national holiday remembers all who’ve given their lives for their country, including those still fighting to this day.
On 1 December 1991, a national referendum saw 92% of citizens vote in favour of independence.
Today’s doodle artwork represents the national symbols of Ukraine, featuring a trident often interpreted as a falcon and the country’s coat of arms, Google said.
Russia shells 'ash pits' of nuclear plant to release radioactive dust: Ukraine intelligence
Ukraine’s intelligence directorate has claimed Russia is attempting to shell the “ash pits” of Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant to “raise clouds of radioactive dust”.
In an update posted to the agency’s official Telegram channel late last night, officials said that mortar attacks on the surrounding suburbs of Energodar aimed to target the ash pits of the Zaporizhzhia plant.
These are places where ash is stored, which is formed during the operation of thermal power plants. This waste has a high concentration of toxic substances and a level of radiation that is at least 2.5 times higher than the natural background. When drying, they form dust that can move over considerable distances.
As a result of mortar strikes on ash pits, clouds of dust are formed, which are blown by the wind in the vicinity of Energodar. Monitoring of the radiation background, which is carried out near the nuclear plant, indicates an increase in the level of radiation. The occupiers are trying to present these data as the results of mythical ‘strikes by the Armed Forces of Ukraine’.”
Norway and Britain are joining forces to acquire the Norwegian micro-drone Black Hornet to send to Ukraine.
The package -at a cost of up to NOK 90m (about £8m) - includes Black Hornet units, spare parts, transportation and training and will be financed by the British-led fund to which Norway has contributed NOK 400m, according to a statement issued by the Norwegian ministry of defence on Wednesday.
The Norwegian-developed drone is used for reconnaissance and target identification. It is easy to operate, robust, difficult to detect and particularly well suited for combat in urban areas, Norway’s defence minister, Bjørn Arild Gram, said.
The micro-drone will be acquired from Teledyne Flir, as a call-off on a framework agreement that the Norwegian Defence material agency has. Procurement, training and delivery of the material will be done in collaboration with and coordinated by the British authorities.
An anti-drone system will also be purchased for approximately 100m of the Norwegian funds for the fund. The system chosen is the anti-drone system Nightfighter from British SteelRock Technologies.
SteelRock Nightfighter is a portable system that provides protection against drones through effective jamming. The system is particularly suitable for protecting smaller patrols, artillery positions and other important resources
Updated
A $75m (£63m) superyacht linked to a Russian steel billionaire has been put to auction in Gibraltar in the first sale of an oligarch’s assets since Putin invaded Ukraine in February.
The 72.5-metre-long Axioma, was seized from steel billionaire Dmitry Pumpyansky in March following sanctions by the UK, EU and the US.
The office of the admiralty marshal in Ukraine said on Tuesday that “63 bids have been received” for Axioma but refused to detail the value of the bids for the yacht, which features six luxurious guest cabins, a swimming pool, a 3D cinema room, gym, jacuzzi and a fully equipped spa.
“The successful bidder will be selected by the admiralty marshal but details of the bidder and the value of the offer will remain confidential,” the court said in a statement. “Details about the sale value of the vessel will be made available once the transaction has been completed which could take place in approximately 10 to 14 days.”
The sale of Axioma has attracted controversy because it is being sold not for the benefit of the Ukrainian people but for a US investment bank, JP Morgan, which claims Pumpyansky owes it more than €20.5m (£17m).
UN concerned over Russian-held trials of Ukrainian POWs
The UN has said it is “very concerned” about plans by Russian-backed authorities to hold trials for captured Ukrainian soldiers in Mariupol.
Pro-Russian officials appear to be installing metal cages in a hall in Mariupol as part of plans to establish what they were calling an “international tribunal”, a UN rights office spokesperson said, adding that such a process could itself amount to a war crime.
Michelle Bachelet, UN high commissioner for human rights, cited reports that Russia and its separatist allies in eastern Ukraine are planning to put Ukrainian POWs on trial, possibly in the coming days.
Russian authorities have reportedly detained politician Yevgeny Roizman known for his criticism of the Kremlin and, more recently, of the military campaign in Ukraine, according to Russian media reports.
Roizman, a former mayor of the city of Yekaterinburg, is being investigated for “discrediting the Russian army”, Russia state media agency Tass reported, citing Yekaterinburg security services.
“A criminal case has been initiated under Article 280.3 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation … Investigative actions are underway,” a law enforcement source told RIA Novosti.
Roizman was one of a handful of Kremlin critics who won mayoral posts following a series of big opposition demonstrations as Russian president, Vladimir Putin, campaigned for office in 2012.
Russian authorities have prosecuted a number of activists for calling the war on Ukraine a war or criticising Russia’s actions.
Germany will also supply Ukraine with a further €500m in military aid, most of it earmarked for delivery next year, a government spokesman said on Tuesday.
The equipment will include three IRIS-T anti-aircraft systems, “around a dozen armed recovery vehicles, 20 rocket-launchers mounted on pick-ups... precision munition and anti-drone equipment,” a spokesperson told Agence France-Presse.
Most of it will be delivered in 2023, he added.
US to provide $3bn in military aid
The US is set to announce a fresh security assistance package for Ukraine of about $3bn (£2.5bn), officials have said, to coincide with Ukraine’s independence day and to equip the country for a war of attrition fought primarily in eastern and southern Ukraine.
US security assistance is shifting to a longer-term campaign that will likely keep more American military troops in Europe into the future and aid to train and equip Ukrainian forces to fight for years to come.
US officials told The Associated Press that the package is expected to be announced on Wednesday. The money will fund contracts for as many as three types of drones, and other weapons, ammunition and equipment that may not see the battlefront for a year or two, they said.
The total of the aid package — which is being provided under the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative and is the largest to date— could change a bit overnight, but not likely by much. Officials said that it will include money for the small, hand-launched Puma drones, the longer-endurance Scan Eagle surveillance drones, which are launched by catapult, and, for the first time, the British Vampire drone system, which can be launched off ships.
Unlike most previous packages, the new funding is largely aimed at helping Ukraine secure its medium- to long-term defence posture, according to the officials familiar with the matter. Earlier shipments, most of them done under Presidential Drawdown Authority, have focused on Ukraine’s more immediate needs for weapons and ammunition and involved materiel that the Pentagon already has in stock that can be shipped in short order.
UN nuclear agency hopes to visit Zaporizhzhia plant 'within days'
The UN nuclear watchdog will visit the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine “within the next few days if ongoing negotiations succeed”, it said in a statement on Tuesday.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) renewed its request on Tuesday to assess the safety and security at Europe’s largest nuclear plant in southeastern Ukraine which Russia and Ukraine accuse each other of shelling, sparking warnings of a possible nuclear catastrophe.
.@RafaelMGrossi: "The IAEA’s presence will help stabilise the nuclear safety and security situation at the site and reduce the risk of a severe nuclear accident in Europe. The mission is expected to take place within the next few days if ongoing negotiations succeed."
— IAEA - International Atomic Energy Agency (@iaeaorg) August 23, 2022
In a statement, IAEA director general, Rafael Mariano Grossi, said:
Ukraine informed the IAEA that the shelling on Saturday (20 August) and Sunday (21 August) damaged ZNPP infrastructure including laboratory and chemical facilities, the Director General said.
In addition, Ukraine said shelling on Monday (22 August) damaged the transformers of the nearby thermal power plant, causing a disconnection of the power line linking this plant to the ZNPP lasting several hours before it was restored later the same day.
These incidents show why the IAEA must be able to send a mission to the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant very soon.
… The mission is expected to take place within the next few days if ongoing negotiations succeed.”
Updated
Zelenskiy vows to return Crimea to Ukraine
Zelenskiy has vowed to return Crimea to Ukraine, saying that it would become part of the EU, along with the rest of the country.
We will return Crimea, because it is our territory. In any way we decide. We will decide it on our own, without consulting any other state …
It all began with Crimea, and it will end with Crimea.”
Ukraine is also not ready for negotiations with Russia regarding a ceasefire, Zelenskiy said.
At the point where we are, we are not ready for a ceasefire. We explained that there will be no Minsk-3, Minsk-5, or Minsk-7. We will not play these games, we have lost part of our territories this way … it is a trap,” he said during a press conference following a summit of the Crimea Platform in Kyiv.
Meanwhile, many civilians are attempting to leave Kyiv amid fears of a Russian attack, according to an adviser to Ukraine’s president.
Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Alex Rodnyansky said people were worried and that there was “certainly some concern” that an attack may strike the centres of decision-making in the Ukrainian capital on Wednesday.
People are reacting to the news. They are trying to ensure they have contingency plans, they don’t want to spend too much time near the centre near the buildings of our government.
There is a risk Russia will try to strike exactly at that time to compensate for their inability to have any success on the battlefield, to have any success in subduing Ukraine and basically all the failures they have run up over the last six months.
In light of warnings over increased Russian hostilities to coincide with Ukraine’s independence day, Volodymyr Zelenskiy warned that any attacks by Russia would be met with a powerful response as Ukraine prepared to mark 31 years since the end of Soviet rule.
Ukrainian intelligence is working with foreign intelligence, he said in a news conference on Tuesday, warning that Russia “will receive a response, a powerful response”.
Ukraine braces for Russian strikes on independence day
Ukraine is bracing for possible brutal strikes as it marks 31 years since the country broke free from the Soviet Union and six months of war with Russia.
Speaking during a national address on Tuesday night, Zelenskiy said:
Tomorrow is an important day for all of us. And that is why this day, unfortunately, is also important for our enemy. We must be aware that tomorrow hideous Russian provocations and brutal strikes are possible.”
Authorities have banned mass gatherings in Kyiv as western and Ukrainian officials warn that Russia is preparing to once again attack the capital.
The US on Tuesday said it believed Russia would target civilian and government infrastructure in the next few days. Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said he had information from Ukraine’s intelligence services and international partners that there was an increased threat. Ukraine’s defence ministry has advised Ukrainians to be especially careful on independence day, citing the threat of missile attacks and “provocations” from Russia.
Andriy Yusov, the head of the ministry’s intelligence directorate, said on Ukrainian state TV:
Russia and the Putin regime attacked the independence of Ukraine and independent Ukraine. They are really obsessed with dates and symbols, so it would be logical to be on the lookout and be prepared for independence day to be attacked.”
Updated
Summary and welcome
Hello and welcome back to the Guardian’s live coverage of the war in Ukraine.
I’m Samantha Lock and I will be bringing you all the latest developments for the next short while. Whether you’ve been following our coverage overnight or you’ve just dropped in, here are the latest lines.
It is 5am in Kyiv. Here is where we stand:
Ukraine is bracing for possible brutal strikes as it marks 31 years since the country broke free from the Soviet Union. Authorities have banned mass gatherings in Kyiv as western and Ukrainian officials warn that Russia is preparing to once again attack the capital.
Russia and the Putin regime “are really obsessed with dates and symbols, so it would be logical to be on the lookout and be prepared for independence day to be attacked”, Andriy Yusov, the head of the ministry’s intelligence directorate, said.
Ukraine is bracing for possible brutal strikes as it marks its independence day and 31 years since the end of Soviet rule. Authorities have cancelled celebrations in Kyiv as officials warn that Russia is preparing to attack the capital. Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said he had information from Ukraine’s intelligence services and international partners that there was an increased threat as the US said it believed Russia would target civilian and government infrastructure in the next few days. Ukraine’s defence ministry advised Ukrainians to be especially careful, citing the threat of missile attacks and “provocations” from Russia.
Many civilians are attempting to leave Kyiv amid fears of a Russian attack, according to an adviser to Ukraine’s president. Alex Rodnyansky said people were worried and that there was “certainly some concern” that an attack may strike the centres of decision-making in the Ukrainian capital on Wednesday. Russia and the Putin regime “are really obsessed with dates and symbols, so it would be logical to be on the lookout and be prepared for independence day to be attacked”, Andriy Yusov, the head of the ministry’s intelligence directorate, said.
Zelenskiy has warned Russia of a strong response to any possible independence day attacks. Ukrainian intelligence is working with foreign intelligence, he said in a news conference on Tuesday, warning that Russia “will receive a response, a powerful response”. Zelenskiy also said Ukraine will not agree to any proposal to freeze the current frontlines in its conflict with Russia in order to “calm” Moscow, which now controls about 22% of Ukraine including Crimea.
Zelenskiy also vowed to return Crimea to Ukraine, saying that it would become part of the EU, along with the rest of the country. “We will return Crimea, because it is our territory. In any way we decide. We will decide it on our own, without consulting any other state,” he said. “It all began with Crimea, and it will end with Crimea.”
Ukraine is not ready for negotiations with Russia regarding a ceasefire, Zelenskiy said. “At the point where we are, we are not ready for a ceasefire. We explained that there will be no Minsk-3, Minsk-5, or Minsk-7. We will not play these games, we have lost part of our territories this way … it is a trap,” he said during a press conference following a summit of the Crimea Platform in Kyiv.
The UN nuclear watchdog will visit the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine “within the next few days if ongoing negotiations succeed”, it said in a statement on Tuesday.
The US is set to announce a fresh security assistance package for Ukraine of about $3bn (£2.5bn), officials have said, to equip the country for a war of attrition and secure its medium- to long-term defence posture. The money will fund contracts for as many as three types of drones, and other weapons, ammunition and equipment that may not see the battlefront for a year or two, US officials told the Associated Press.
Ukraine has accused Russia of having organised illegal mass adoptions of Ukrainian children after transferring them from occupied territories to the Russia mainland. “More than 1,000 children from Mariupol,” a southern Ukrainian city occupied by Russian troops, “were illegally transferred to outsiders in Tyumen, Irkutsk, Kemerovo and Altai Krai” in Siberia, Ukraine’s foreign ministry said in a statement.
The UN has said it is “very concerned” about plans by Russian-backed authorities to hold trials for captured Ukrainian soldiers in Mariupol. Pro-Russian officials appear to be installing metal cages in a hall in Mariupol as part of plans to establish what they were calling an “international tribunal”, a UN rights office spokesperson said, adding that such a process could itself amount to a war crime.
A $75m (£63) superyacht linked to a Russian steel billionaire has been put to auction in Gibraltar in the first sale of an oligarch’s assets since Putin invaded Ukraine in February. The 72.5-metre Axioma, was seized from steel billionaire Dmitry Pumpyansky in March following sanctions by the UK, EU and the US.
Hundreds of people gathered in Moscow for the funeral of Darya Dugina, the daughter of one of Russia’s most prominent nationalist ideologues. Dugina, daughter of ultra-nationalist Alexander Dugin, was murdered on Saturday in a car bomb attack outside Moscow. Russia’s FSB security service has accused Ukrainian intelligence agencies of ordering her killing, which Kyiv denies.
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