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”.
Updated
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”.
Updated
