A summary of today's developments
Ukraine has said it has neutralised the Kremlin’s most potent hypersonic weapon, shooting down six out of six Kinzhal missiles launched at Kyiv during a sweeping and “exceptionally intense” night-time attack.
The attack on Kyiv was one of the biggest since last year’s invasion and followed Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s three-day trip to Europe. During meetings in London, Berlin, Paris and Rome, Ukraine’s president secured promises of more military assistance, including long-range attack drones from the UK.
Ukraine’s commander-in-chief, Valerii Zaluzhnyi, claimed Kyiv’s defenders shot down 18 out of 18 Russian rockets and drones. The city had came under an intense and sweeping attack from the “north, south and east”, featuring missiles fired from air, sea and land, he said.
Among the areas affected by falling debris in Kyiv was the city’s zoo.
In response, Russia’s defence ministry has said it has destroyed a US-built Patriot surface-to-air missile defence system overnight with a hypersonic Kinzhal missile attack on Ukraine, the Zvezda military news outlet reports. This has not been independently verified by the Guardian.
Ukrainian forces have taken back about 20 square km (7.5 square miles) of territory from Russian forces around the eastern city of Bakhmut in recent days, Ukrainian Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Maliar said on Tuesday.
She said on the Telegram messaging app that Russian forces had advanced “somewhat” in the city of Bakhmut itself, and that heavy fighting continued.
The head of Ukraine’s supreme court Vsevolod Kniaziev has been arrested as part of the biggest bribery investigation in the country’s history.
Police detained Knaiziev as part of a $2.7m bribery inquiry, as Kyiv pursues anti-graft measures required for closer integration with the EU. Omelchenko said two people, including Kniaziev, had been detained as part of the investigation but declined to identify the second individual. A group of judges within the supreme court were likened to a “criminal group”.
Six African leaders plan to travel to Russia and Ukraine “as soon as is possible” to help find a resolution to the war, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said Tuesday. Russian president Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskiy have “agreed to receive the mission and the African heads of state, in both Moscow and Kyiv,” Ramaphosa said.
A bill banning Russian uranium imports to the US gained momentum on Tuesday by passing a committee in the U.S. House of Representatives. After Russia invaded Ukraine last year, the US banned imports of its oil and imposed a price cap with other Western countries on sea-borne exports of its crude and oil products, but it has not banned imports of its uranium.
About 2,000 people who had helped defend the Azovstal plant who were captured and became prisoners of war are still in the hands of the Russians, according to a charity set up to support families and those connected to the factory.
Six people have been killed in Kharkiv and Donetsk over the last 24 hours, according to the region’s governors. Oleh Syniehubov and Pavlo Kyrylenko confirmed the figures on Tuesday.
Russia has said it is still undecided on the extension of a landmark Black Sea grain deal with Ukraine, brokered by the UN and Turkey and due to expire 18 May. “There are a lot of unanswered questions regarding our part of the deal … now we have to make a decision,” the Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
Ukraine does not have enough military equipment to launch a counteroffensive against Russia, the deputy head of President Zelenskyy’s office said.
Ihor Zhovkva said his country needs armoured vehicles and tanks if it is to “liberate” areas captured by Moscow.
He added that the “primary object” of Zelenskyy’s visits to European neighbours including the UK, Germany and Italy in recent days was to request “additional military packages”.
Zhovkva told Sky News: “Unfortunately, the level of equipment we have is not yet enough to start the counteroffensive.
“To start a counteroffensive, with the result being the liberation of Ukrainian territories, you need enough artillery systems and ammunition. You need armoured vehicles and tanks.
“We want this counteroffensive to be as successful as possible.
“Success would be liberating all the captured areas of Ukraine.”
