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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
World
Samantha Lock (now); Maanvi Singh, Joanna Walters, Léonie Chao-Fong and Martin Belam (earlier)

Russia-Ukraine war updates: peace talks harder ‘with each new Bucha’, says Zelenskiy - as it happened

United Kingdom Kharkiv United States Russia Boris Johnson Volodymyr Zelenksyy NATO Finland Sweden
Boris Johnson and Finland's President Sauli Niinisto speak to the media at the presidential palace in Helsinki
Boris Johnson and Finland's President Sauli Niinisto speak to the media at the presidential palace in Helsinki Photograph: Frank Augstein/AP

Interim summary

We will be pausing our live coverage of the war in Ukraine and returning in a few hours to bring you all the latest developments.

In the meantime, here is a comprehensive rundown of where things stand as of 3am in Kyiv.

  • The Russian-controlled administration in the Ukrainian city of Kherson has said it plans to request annexation by Moscow, a move that would confirm the Kremlin’s permanent occupation of Ukrainian territory captured since February. Kyiv said Moscow plans to hold a fake referendum on independence or annexation. The Kremlin responded that it was up to residents living in region to decide whether they wanted to join Russia, but any decision must have a legal basis.
  • Ukraine claimed it has recaptured Pytomnyk, a village north of Kharkiv, about halfway to the Russian border. “The occupying forces moved to the defence in order to slow down the pace of the offensive of our troops,” Ukraine’s general staff of the armed forces said in its latest report. “The settlement of Pytomnyk ... was liberated.”
  • The war will end when Ukraine reclaims everything that Russia took from it, Zelenskiy maintained. “The war will end for the Ukrainian people only when we get back what’s ours,” he said in an online address with students of leading universities in France, representatives of academia and the media.
  • Three Russian prisoners of war accused of targeting or murdering civilians, and a soldier who allegedly killed a man before raping his wife, are set to be in the dock in the first war crimes trials of the Ukraine conflict, the Ukrainian prosecutor general has revealed. More than 10,700 crimes have been registered since the war began by the office of Ukraine’s prosecutor general, led by Iryna Venediktova, and a handful of cases have now been filed or are ready to be submitted.
  • Ukraine has proposed to Russia that badly injured defenders in the Azovstal steel plant in the southern port of Mariupol be swapped for Russian prisoners of war, deputy prime minister Iryna Vereshchuk said on Wednesday. “There is no agreement yet. Negotiations are continuing,” she said in a post on Telegram.
The destroyed facilities of the Azovstal Iron and Steel Works in Mariupol.
The destroyed facilities of the Azovstal Iron and Steel Works in Mariupol. Photograph: Alexander Ermochenko/Reuters

Updated

Ukraine has claimed it has recaptured the town of Pytomnyk, north of Kharkiv and about halfway to the Russian border.

The occupying forces moved to the defence in order to slow down the pace of the offensive of our troops,” Ukraine’s general staff of the armed forces said in its latest operational report.

In the course of successful actions of units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the settlement of Pytomnyk of Kharkiv region was liberated.”

“We are having successes in the Kharkiv direction, where we are steadily pushing back the enemy and liberating population centres,” Brigadier General Oleksiy Hromov, Deputy Chief of the Main Operations Directorate of Ukraine’s General Staff added.

Updated

'The war will end when Russia returns our right to live,' Zelenskiy says

The war will end when Ukraine reclaims everything that Russia took from it, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has maintained.

In an online address with students of leading universities in France, representatives of academia and the media, the president said:

The war will end for the Ukrainian people only when we get back what’s ours. We do not need too much, because everything needs to be watched, we need only what’s ours. We want to return peace to our state, to our land.

We want to get our land back, because our history is tied with it, it is respect for international law.

When we return everything ours, we will end this war.”

Zelenskiy also noted that the chances of ending the war through diplomacy decrease “every time Russian troops commit heinous crimes against Ukrainians, as happened in Bucha and Mariupol”.

Updated

Ukraine has said its military has destroyed pontoon bridges that Russian troops were using to cross a river in the eastern Luhansk region.

The Ukrainian defence ministry published photos of what it said were destroyed Russian tanks and other armoury in the village of Bilohorivka, near the strategic Ukrainian-held city of Lysychansk.

Luhansk regional head Serhiy Haidai described Bilohorivka as a “fortress” that - like the city of Mariupol - was “holding back a great number” of Russian troops.

Heavy fighting has been raging in the region for days.

We have some footage of Finnish president, Sauli Niinistö, announcing his country’s possible intention to join Nato.

Finland is not yet a member of the intergovernmental military alliance, but Niinistö said joining would be to “maximise security” and not be in any way offensive.

Niinistö said Russia’s invasion of Ukraine had pushed his government and country to think about its security. Niinistö was speaking at a joint news conference with the UK prime minister, Boris Johnson, after signing a new security agreement that would involve Britain providing military assistance if Finland was attacked.

Catch up

  • The Russian-controlled administration in the Ukrainian city of Kherson has said it plans to request annexation by Moscow, a move that would confirm the Kremlin’s permanent occupation of Ukrainian territory captured since February. It is not clear whether the Kremlin will go forward with an annexation or is using it as a threat to put pressure on Kyiv.
  • Three Russian prisoners of war accused of targeting or murdering civilians, and a soldier who allegedly killed a man before raping his wife, are set to be in the dock in the first war crimes trials of the Ukraine conflict, the Ukrainian prosecutor general has revealed. More than 10,700 crimes have been registered since the war began by the office of Ukraine’s prosecutor general, led by Iryna Venediktova, and a handful of cases have now been filed or are ready to be submitted.
  • The wives of two of the last remaining Ukrainian fighters holed up in Mariupol’s steelworks asked Pope Francis to help get soldiers to a third country. One told him: “You are our last hope, I hope you can save their lives. Please don’t let them die.” Ukraine has proposed that badly injured defenders in the Azovstal steel plant in the southern port of Mariupol be swapped for Russian prisoners of war, deputy prime minister Iryna Vereshchuk said.
  • In his nightly address, Zelenskiy celebrated the first US congressional passage of $40bn in aid, as well as the approval of the Ukraine Lend-Lease Act. The package includes $6bn for security assistance, including training, equipment, weapons and support; $8.7bn to replenish stocks of US equipment sent to Ukraine, and $3.9bn for European Command operations.

– Léonie Chao-Fong, Guardian staff

Updated

In his nightly address, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy celebrated the first US congressional passage of $40b in aid, as well as the approval of the Ukraine Lend-Lease Act.

He said:

The House of Representatives of the United States Congress voted for a new and significant package of support for our state and global democracy. Almost $40 billion...

These funds will be used as quickly as possible and without bureaucracy to strengthen Ukraine’s defense. First of all, it is weapons and ammunition for us, equipment. But not only that. It is also a support for the investigation of war crimes of the Russian Federation, the occupiers, support for diplomatic work and more.

He also celebrated Joe Biden’s final approval of the Ukraine Lend-Lease Act today:

People who remember history well know that Lend-Lease was one of the key preconditions for the Allied victory in World War II. Lend-Lease assistance from the United States to the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union has dramatically changed the balance of power in Europe. Europeans then received a wide range of products under Lend-Lease - from aircraft to trucks, from aviation fuel to communication means. By the way, American radio stations and other things provided under Lend-Lease worked for the Soviet people long after the war. For decades. Hitler’s Germany, even with all the resources in the occupied territories, could do nothing to counter this potential of the Allies on the basis of American productive capacities.

And it is no coincidence that the new Ukraine Democracy Defense Lend-Lease Act was signed on May 9. I am personally grateful to President Biden for this support, for this decision and for such symbolism.

Because we are now defending freedom and the right to life for all free nations in the war against tyranny, which poses no less of a threat to Europe than it did 80 years ago.

Simply put, Lend-Lease is a scheme to give us everything we need for defense. Although formally it is like a loan, in fact it is so profitable that it is incorrect to call it a loan.

Putin’s dilemma: what is his next move in Ukraine?

When Vladimir Putin stood up to speak at this week’s Victory Day parade in Moscow’s Red Square, there was an expectation – around the world and in Russia – that he would decisively seek to escalate the war in Ukraine towards a conclusion.

But as Moscow correspondent Andrew Roth tells Michael Safi, Putin did nothing of the kind. He did not even claim the victories that were available to him – there were no announcements regarding defeated cities in Ukraine now under Russian control. Instead, he spoke of helping the military families who had sacrificed their sons to the conflict.

The muted tone of the speech was revealing: it shows, says Roth, that Putin is faced with a dilemma that could make or break his presidency and his legacy in Russia. If he escalates the conflict he stands more chance of winning the kind of victory he initially hoped for. But should that fail, he would face humiliation. Alternatively, he could claim victory now and seek to de-escalate the conflict. But would a limited, compromised declaration of victory be regarded as anything but a retreat?

The decision cannot be delayed indefinitely. Russia’s elite fighting units are nearing exhaustion. And the limited “operation” does not yet allow for a full-scale mobilisation. But there is growing recognition in Moscow and elsewhere that Ukraine’s fighters should not be underestimated. Putin does not hold all the aces in this conflict.

Listen to the podcast:

Final congressional approval of a $40bn Ukraine aid bill in the United States seems certain within days as top US Senate Republicans said Wednesday they expect strong backing from their party for the measure already passed by the House of Representatives, the Associated Press reports.

“I think there’ll be substantial support. We’re going to try to process it as soon as possible,” Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell, a Republican from Kentucky, told the AP about the latest legislation legislation, which cleared the House late Tuesday by an emphatic 368 votes to 57 margin in support of the massive funding package.

The No 2 Republican in the Senate, John Thune of South Dakota predicted “a big vote over here” for the bill, which he and others suggested might come Thursday but could spill into next week.

Thune said some Republicans would vote against it and procedural tactics by opponents to slow it were possible, but added:

I think because there’s so much forward momentum behind doing this and doing it in a timely way that it I don’t think we’ll have anybody who will hold it up.”

It’s taken just two weeks for lawmakers to receive president Joe Biden’s smaller, $33bn package, enlarge it and move it to the brink of passage – lightning speed for Congress.

That reflects a bipartisan consensus that Ukraine’s outnumbered forces need additional Western help as soon as possible, with added political pressure fueled by near-daily tales of atrocities against civilians inflicted by Russian president Vladimir Putin’s armies.

“Act quickly we must,” said Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat of New York. “I will make sure this is a priority for the Senate. We have a moral obligation to stand with our friends in Ukraine.”

A view of the white dome of the US Capitol building at twilight.
Top US Senate Republicans said they expect strong GOP support for the $40bn Ukraine aid bill. Photograph: Sarah Silbiger/Reuters

My west coast colleague Maanvi Singh will now take the blog baton in Oakland, California, and take you through events as they happen.

Updated

British defence secretary Ben Wallace is talking to reporters about Russia while on a visit to Washington DC.

Wallace is also busy dissing Russian weapons.

And he claims that China appears to be increasingly embarrassed by Russia’s conduct of its war in Ukraine, with Beijing regarding Moscow as an “inconvenient friend”, according to this FP report.

Ben Wallace and Lloyd Austin looking on as a military display takes place at the Pentagon.

Ben Wallace, Britain’s secretary of defence, left, stands alongside his American counterpart, Lloyd Austin during an honour cordon ceremony, upon his arrival at the Pentagon on 11 May.
Ben Wallace, Britain’s secretary of defence, left, stands alongside his American counterpart, Lloyd Austin during an honour cordon ceremony, upon his arrival at the Pentagon on 11 May. Photograph: Alex Brandon/AP

Updated

Strong images continue to emerge from Mariupol of the destruction wrought by occupying Russian forces, which continue to besiege the Azovstal steel complex, where Ukrainian forces are holding out in dire straits.

A member of Russia’s Emergencies Ministry walks near a residential building on 11 May, destroyed since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
A member of Russia’s Emergencies Ministry walks near a residential building on 11 May, destroyed since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Photograph: Alexander Ermochenko/Reuters
Russian authorities clear a damaged residential building in Mariupol.
Russian authorities clear a damaged residential building in Mariupol. Photograph: Pavel Klimov/Reuters
Russian service members are seen atop of an armoured vehicle in the southern port city of Mariupol.
Russian service members are seen atop of an armoured vehicle in the southern port city of Mariupol. Photograph: Alexander Ermochenko/Reuters

Mariupol

It’s unclear what the exact circumstances are with these people pictured on 11 May, but they are in Mariupol with their belongings and, in the background, are the damaged facilities of the Azovstal Iron and Steel Works.
It’s unclear what the exact circumstances are with these people pictured on 11 May, but they are in Mariupol with their belongings and, in the background, are the damaged facilities of the Azovstal Iron and Steel Works. Photograph: Alexander Ermochenko/Reuters

Updated

Ukraine has proposed to Russia that badly injured defenders in the Azovstal steel plant in the southern port of Mariupol be swapped for Russian prisoners of war, deputy prime minister Iryna Vereshchuk said on Wednesday, Reuters reports.

There is no agreement yet. Negotiations are continuing,” she said in an online post.

An explosion at the Azovstal Iron and Steel complex on 11 May.
An explosion at the Azovstal Iron and Steel complex on 11 May. Photograph: Alexander Ermochenko/Reuters

We’ll bring you more details when we have them. Conditions in the besieged steel works, Ukraine’s last stand in Mariupol, have been appalling both for Ukrainian military coming under heavy fire and attacks from the Russians and Ukrainian civilians hiding and recently evacuated from the huge, labyrinthine complex that has several floors below ground.

Deputy Prime minister of Ukraine Iryna Vereshchuk speaks to the press as people arrive from Mariupol on 3 May.
Deputy Prime minister of Ukraine Iryna Vereshchuk speaks to the press as people arrive from Mariupol on 3 May. Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

Updated

Volodymyr Zelenskiy said he had spoken to German chancellor Olaf Scholz and discussed defensive aid, energy sector cooperation and increasing sanctions on Russia as an invading force, Reuters now reports.

The Ukrainian president said the two talked about such matters in relation to “the Russian aggressor”.

“We appreciate the high level of dialogue” with Germany, he tweeted, using a German flag emoji to represent the country, and “support in our struggle”.

Zelenskiy had previously invited Scholz to make a powerful political statement by visiting Kyiv on 9 May, the day German leaders have often travelled to Moscow to mark Russia’s Victory Day commemoration of the defeat of Nazi Germany in the second world war.

That particular visit did not take place and Scholz instead was in Berlin, accompanied by French president Emmanuel Macron, where the Brandenburg Gate was illuminated in the colours of the Ukrainian flag as a mark of support.

Reuters notes that Scholz had been reluctant to visit Ukraine since Kyiv was unwilling to receive German president Frank-Walter Steinmeier.

Steinmeier is unpopular in Kyiv because he is associated there with an earlier German policy of pursuing close trade and other ties with Vladimir Putin’s Russia.

Germany’s foreign minister Annalena Baerbock visited Ukraine yesterday (10 May) as the highest-ranking German government official to visit the country since Russia’s invasion began on 24 February.

The US team has taken the blog now and our team in New York and California will keep you updated for the next few hours before we hand over to our colleagues in Australia.

Updated

Summary

It is 9pm in Kyiv. Here’s where we stand:

  • The Russian-controlled administration in the Ukrainian city of Kherson has said it plans to request annexation by Moscow, a move that would confirm the Kremlin’s permanent occupation of Ukrainian territory captured since February. It is not clear whether the Kremlin will go forward with an annexation or is using it as a threat to put pressure on Kyiv.
  • Three Russian prisoners of war accused of targeting or murdering civilians, and a soldier who allegedly killed a man before raping his wife, are set to be in the dock in the first war crimes trials of the Ukraine conflict, the Ukrainian prosecutor general has revealed. More than 10,700 crimes have been registered since the war began by the office of Ukraine’s prosecutor general, led by Iryna Venediktova, and a handful of cases have now been filed or are ready to be submitted.

That’s it from me, Léonie Chao-Fong, today as I hand the blog over to my colleague, Joanna Walters. I’ll be back tomorrow. Thank you for reading.

The Russian-controlled administration in the Ukrainian city of Kherson has said it plans to request annexation by Moscow, a move that would confirm the Kremlin’s permanent occupation of Ukrainian territory captured since February.

If Russia attempts to annex the Kherson region it would make a peace agreement more unlikely, as Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has said that Russia’s withdrawal to prewar positions was a precondition for any successful negotiation.

It is not clear whether the Kremlin will go forward with an annexation or is using it as a threat to put pressure on Kyiv.

The annexation call was made on Wednesday by Kirill Stremousov, the deputy head of the military administration Russia put in place to run Kherson in late April. Russia occupied Kherson in March and seized its city council building in late April.

“The city of Kherson is Russia; there will be no the KNR [Kherson People’s Republic] on the territory of the Kherson region, there will be no referendums,” said Stremousov in a televised briefing.

It will be a single decree based on the appeal of the leadership of the Kherson region to the president of the Russian Federation, and there will be a request to make [Kherson] into a full-fledged region of the Russian Federation.

Stremousov previously said that Kherson would begin using the rouble currency, a move seen as creeping integration into Russia.

Russian officials who have visited Kherson have promised not to abandon the region. “Russia is here to stay forever,” said Andrei Turchak, secretary general of Russia’s ruling United Russia party, while visiting Kherson last week. “There should be no doubt about it. There will be no return to the past.”

But similar requests for annexation from territories such as the Russian-controlled Donetsk People’s Republic have languished for years, as the Kremlin has dangled integration while seeking to put pressure on Kyiv.

Here’s more on Helskini’s decision on whether to apply for Nato membership. A former Finnish prime minister, Alexander Stubb, said Finland is 99.9% likely to join the alliance.

Speaking to the BBC, Stubb said the Finnish president will announce the country’s intention to join tomorrow, followed by an announcement over the weekend, and a joint statement from Finland and Sweden early next week.

There is “overwhelming support” in Finland for joining Nato, Stubb said, citing a poll earlier this week which showed 76% in favour and 12% against.

Stubb, who served as prime minister from 2014 to 2015, said:

The only person we can thank is Putin, he’s the reason we’re joining.

He said Finland is “not at all” worried about Russia’s threat of “a military-technical response” if it joins the alliance, adding that when Iceland, Denmark and Norway joined in 1949 “the rhetoric was similar”.

But he warned that Finland could be vulnerable to Russian intimidation, cyber attacks and disinformation during the “grey zone” of the membership application process.

Our Dan Sabbagh writes that in the event of a Russian attack on Britain, Finland would prove a useful military ally.

The US does not believe that Vladimir Putin would want to militarily take on the Nato alliance, the US defence secretary, Lloyd Austin, said.

Speaking during a congressional hearing, Austin said:

As you look at Putin’s calculus, my view - and I’m sure the chairman has his own view - but my view is that Russia doesn’t want to take on the NATO alliance.

He added that there are 1.9m forces in Nato, and that “this is a fight that (Putin) doesn’t really want to have”.

From Voice of America’s Jeff Seldin:

Finland’s president, Sauli Niinisto, says the Russian invasion of Ukraine has “changed the picture” and “made us think” about its security.

Russia has shown it is “ready to attack a neighbouring country”, he said. As a result, Finland is now considering joining Nato.

This is not the first time Finland has discussed joining Nato, he says, but Russia has “made it very clear that if you join Nato, they have explained they will do some contra-steps”.

At the end of last year, Russia stated that Finland and Sweden cannot join Nato and demanded that Nato does not take new members, he says.

Niinisto says:

Russia actually expressed that we don’t have our own will here. That is a huge change. That made us think.

Addressing Russia directly, Niinisto says:

You caused this. Look at the mirror.

Finland is already an enhanced partner in Nato and is part of the West, so joining the alliance “would not be that radical”, Niinisto says.

Updated

UK would support Finland if it came under attack, says Boris Johnson

Asked whether the declaration will mean British boots on the ground in Finland, Johnson says the agreement is clear:

What it says is that in the event of a disaster, or in the event of an attack on either of us, then we will come to each other’s assistance, including with military assistance.

The nature of that assistance will “depend on the request of the other party”, Johnson says.

The UK prime minister stresses that Nato is a “defensive” alliance, adding:

Nato poses no threat to anyone. It is there for the purposes of mutual defence.

Updated

Boris Johnson has been speaking at a joint news conference with Finland’s president, Sauli Niinisto, after signing a new security agreement that would involve Britain providing military assistance if Finland is attacked.

Niinisto says Finland appreciates the UK’s strong support of Nato’s open-door policy and Finland’s potential to join the alliance. He says joining Nato would “not be against anybody”, adding:

We would like to maximise our security in one way or another while thinking about membership in Nato, but it is not a zero sum game. If Finland increases its security, it’s not away from anybody else.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson (left) and Finnish President Sauli Niinisto after signing a declaration between UK and Finland at the Presidential Palace in Helsinki, Finland.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson (left) and Finnish President Sauli Niinisto after signing a declaration between UK and Finland at the Presidential Palace in Helsinki, Finland. Photograph: Antti Aimo-Koivisto/REX/Shutterstock

Johnson says Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has “brought Finland and the UK even closer together”.

Referring to the new signed declaration, Johnson says:

From the high north to the Baltics and beyond, our armed forces will train in operational exercises together, marrying our defence and security capabilities and formalising a pledge that we will always come to another’s aid.

Updated

Boris Johnson is due to speak shortly after a meeting with Finland’s president, Sauli Niinistö, about the war in Ukraine and European security.

You can watch the press conference here on our live blog. I will also be covering the top lines that emerge from the briefing.

Nearly a third of jobs in Ukraine - 4.8m in total - have been lost since the Russian invasion, according to the UN.

“Economic disruptions, combined with heavy internal displacement and flows of refugees” have caused “large-scale losses in terms of employment and incomes,” the UN’s International Labour Organisation said.

In its first report on the consequences of Russia’s war in Ukraine, the ILO praised Kyiv’s efforts to keep Ukraine’s social protection system running.

Heinz Koller, the ILO’s Europe and Central Asia regional director, told a press conference:

The Ukrainian government is fully operational as well as the employers and the workers’ organisations.

We continue to support them in order to be ready to assist them in the current situation, but hopefully also in the reconstruction phase after this conflict is over.

The war in Ukraine is fuelling a surge in money transfers to the country as migrant workers and refugees fleeing the conflict scramble to send financial support back to their families.

The World Bank said remittances to Ukraine from other countries were expected to rise by more than 20% this year, driven by Ukrainians abroad transferring funds back to friends and family facing the severe economic impact of the Russian invasion.

Meanwhile the flow of funds from Russia to countries in central Asia, from where it draws millions of migrant workers, is expected to suffer a dramatic decline as western sanctions plunge Russia into the deepest recession since the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s.

Remittances are payments sent from one person to another in a different country, typically by migrant workers sending money back to their families.

The World Bank said the surge in cross-border payments to Ukraine mirrored a trend typically seen after natural disasters, as refugees and migrant workers scrambled to support friends and family. The biggest increases came from Poland, the largest recipient of Ukrainian migrant workers, and, to some extent, the US.

Undocumented people who travel from the Ukraine to the UK via Ireland could be considered for removal to Rwanda, a senior Home Office official has told MPs.

During the same select committee hearing, a minister refused to say under repeated questioning whether Ukrainians who arrive in the UK across the Channel by boat could also be sent to the central African country.

The exchanges occurred at the home affairs select committee where the minister, Tom Pursglove, was unable to point to any calculations that the government’s relocation policy would reduce the number of people arriving in the UK in small boats.

Some Conservative MPs have criticised Ireland’s decision to lift all restrictions for refugees fleeing war, claiming it would create a back door to the UK, leaving the country vulnerable to potential criminal elements.

It has been pointed out that the common travel area means that Ukrainians who do not pass British security checks or are left waiting for visas to arrive could simply reach the UK by travelling to Northern Ireland from the Irish Republic and then getting a ferry to the UK.

Stuart C McDonald, the SNP’s home affairs spokesperson and a committee member, asked Dan Hobbs, the director of asylum, protection and enforcement, about Ukrainians crossing into Northern Ireland from Ireland. “Are they within the scope of this policy or are they not?” he said.

Hobbs replied: “Depending on the individual circumstances they may not fall in the ‘inadmissibility’ criteria.”

McDonald said: “You are leaving open the possibility that you can cross from Dublin to Belfast and conceivably end up in Rwanda.”

Earlier, Diana Johnson, the chair of the committee, asked Pursglove if Ukrainians who travelled to the UK by small boat would be ruled “inadmissible” and therefore could be removed.

Pursglove, the minister for justice and tackling illegal migration, replied: “There is absolutely no reason why any Ukrainian should be getting into a small boat and paying a people smuggler to get into the UK.”

Today so far...

If you’ve just joined us, here’s a quick roundup of the key events so far:

  • Three Russian prisoners of war accused of targeting or murdering civilians, and a soldier who allegedly killed a man before raping his wife, are set to be in the dock in the first war crimes trials of the Ukraine conflict, the Ukrainian prosecutor general has revealed. More than 10,700 crimes have been registered since the war began by the office of Ukraine’s prosecutor general, led by Iryna Venediktova, and a handful of cases have now been filed or are ready to be submitted.

Good afternoon from London. I’m Léonie Chao-Fong and I’ll continue to bring you the news from the war in Ukraine. Feel free to get in touch on Twitter or via email.

Updated

Russia 'has completely lost Ukraine', says former Chinese ambassador

A Chinese former ambassador to Ukraine has strongly criticised Russia’s invasion in a recent speech which was reported on by the Chinese press before quickly being taken down, Helen Davidson and Chi Hui Lin report.

Gao Yusheng, who retired over a decade ago after a career spent mostly in Russia and central Asia, told an online Chinese Academy of Social Sciences seminar that Russia’s war is failing.

Gao said Moscow under Putin’s rule had never really accepted the sovereignty and independence of former Soviet states, and his frequent “violations” of their territory were “the greatest threat to peace, security and stability in Eurasia”.

Gao said:

The central and overriding direction of the Putin regime’s foreign policy is to regard the former Soviet Union as its exclusive sphere of influence, and to restore the empire through integration mechanisms in various spheres dominated by Russia.

This had been dramatically changed by the Ukraine war, and Gao suggested that once it was over a new world order would likely emerge that saw Ukraine removed from Russia’s “sphere of influence” and brought further into Europe, and Russia’s political, economic, military and diplomatic power drastically weakened and isolated.

According to a translation by former US state department official, David Cowhig, Gao said:

It can be said that Russia has completely lost Ukraine.

At the same time, the former Soviet Union, with the exception of white Russia, including the members of the Collective Security Treaty and the Eurasian Economic Union, have refused to support Russia. Russia’s defeat would leave it with no hope of rebuilding its old empire.

Gao’s remarks were reported on by Pheonix News, a Chinese media outlet, but later removed from the internet. An archived copywas available.

China’s leader Xi Jinping is a close ally of Putin, and the Chinese Communist Party has refused to condemn the invasion. While Gao is not considered within the CCP’s sphere of influence, analysts suggested his views likely reflected others among the political elite about Xi’s foreign policy regime.

Gao was a diplomatic officer to the Soviet Union and then the Russian Federation from 1984-88 and 1992-96. He served as ambassador to Ukraine from 2005-2007 after stints in Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.

Updated

Ukraine prosecutors ready to launch first war crimes trials of Russia conflict

Daniel Boffey and Pjotr Sauer report for us that Ukraine prosecutors are ready to launch the first war crimes trials of the Russian conflict:

Three Russian prisoners of war accused of targeting or murdering civilians, and a soldier who allegedly killed a man before raping his wife, are set to be in the dock in the first war crimes trials of the Ukraine conflict, the Ukrainian prosecutor general has revealed.

More than 10,700 crimes have been registered since the war began by the office of Ukraine’s prosecutor general, led by Iryna Venediktova, and a handful of cases have now been filed or are ready to be submitted in what marks a watershed moment two months into the war.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, right, and Ukrainian Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova talk as they stand near a mass grave in Bucha, on the outskirts of Kyiv.
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, right, and Ukrainian Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova talk as they stand near a mass grave in Bucha, on the outskirts of Kyiv. Photograph: Efrem Lukatsky/AP

Vadim Shysimarin, a 21-year-old commander of the Kantemirovskaya Tank Division, who is currently in Ukrainian custody, is expected to be the first to face trial over his alleged murder of a 68-year-old man.

It is alleged Shysimarin, a sergeant, had been fighting in the Sumy region in north-east Ukraine when he killed a civilian on 18 February in the village of Chupakhivka. He is accused of driving a stolen car with four other soldiers as he sought to flee Ukrainian fighters and then shooting dead the unarmed man on a bicycle as he was talking on his phone. He was ordered “to kill a civilian so he would not report them to Ukrainian defenders”, according to prosecutors.

The crime is said to have happened close to the victim’s house and was committed using an AK-74. The case has this week been filed at a criminal court. “He is here [in Ukraine], we have him,” said Venediktova, speaking from her heavily fortified headquarters in Kyiv.

A spokesperson added: “Prosecutors and investigators of the SBU [Ukrainian secret services] have collected enough evidence of his involvement in violation of the laws and customs of war combined with premeditated murder. For these actions, he faces 10 to 15 years in prison or life in prison.”

Read more of Daniel Boffey and Pjotr Sauer’s report: Ukraine prosecutors ready to launch first war crimes trials of Russia conflict

Updated

Russia has demanded a formal apology from Poland and threatened possible future reprisals after its ambassador, Sergey Andreev, was doused with red paint at the Soviet military cemetery in Warsaw on Monday.

Russia’s foreign ministry summoned the Polish ambassador, Krzysztof Krajewski, to receive its protest and said in a statement:

Russia expects an official apology from the Polish leadership in connection with the incident and demands the safety of the Russian ambassador and all employees of Russian foreign institutions in Poland are ensured.

A decision on further steps will be taken depending on Warsaw’s reaction to our demands.

Updated

Leonid Kravchuk, who has died after a long illness aged 88, was a Communist party bureaucrat who became the first president of independent Ukraine and a main player in bringing the Soviet Union to an ignominious end.

At a hastily arranged meeting in a remote hunting lodge in the Belavezha forest in Belarus in December 1991, Kravchuk joined Stanislav Shushkevich, a nuclear physicist who was the leader of Belarus, and Boris Yeltsin, the president of the Russian Federation, in signing a declaration that the Soviet Union had ceased to exist. Shushkevich died of Covid-19 a week ago. Yeltsin died in 2007.

Former Ukrainian President Leonid Kravchuk delivers a speech in Kyiv, in 2016.
Former Ukrainian President Leonid Kravchuk delivers a speech in Kyiv, in 2016. Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

Kravchuk was the most dynamic and radical of the three men during the fateful discussion. Fearing Russia would continue to try to dominate Ukraine, he told Yeltsin he did not want the Soviet Union to turn itself into a loose confederation. It should be abolished altogether.

The three men’s deal had gone ahead without the knowledge of Mikhail Gorbachev, the Soviet president, who was shocked when he heard the news. He had no choice but to resign two weeks later, after accepting that the three Slavic republics, the core entities of the Soviet Union, were no longer loyal to the system.

Leonid Kravchuk, left, and Boris Yeltsin signing an economic agreement in 1991.
Leonid Kravchuk, left, and Boris Yeltsin signing an economic agreement in 1991. Photograph: Vitaly Armand/AFP/Getty Images

The road to independence had begun in August 1991 when the Ukrainian parliament voted for secession from the Soviet Union a few days after the collapse of an abortive coup by communist hardliners in Moscow to reverse Gorbachev’s democratisation programme. Kravchuk led the Communist party majority in parliament and played a key role in persuading his colleagues to support the opposition’s proposal for independence.

The parliament arranged a confirmatory referendum and a presidential election for 1 December. Some 92% of the Ukrainian electorate, including a majority of Ukraine’s ethnic Russians, voted for independence. Kravchuk was chosen as president, a job in which he served until 1994.

Read Jonathan Steele’s full obituary of Leonid Kravchuk.

The UN secretary general, António Guterres, said he was “deeply concerned” about worldwide food shortages as the war in Ukraine threatened food security in different parts of the world.

The war in Ukraine has sent global prices for grains, cooking oils, fuel and fertiliser soaring, with UN agencies warning that the price rises will worsen a food crisis in Africa. It has also disrupted shipping in the Black Sea, a major route for grains and other commodities.

Speaking alongside Austria’s chancellor and foreign minister in Vienna, Guterres said:

I have to say that I am deeply concerned, namely with the risks of hunger becoming widespread in different parts of the world because of the dramatic food security situation we are facing because of the war in Ukraine.

He also said talks were ongoing to evacuate more civilians from conflict zones in Ukraine, but played down the prospects of peace talks between Russia and Ukraine happening anytime soon.

Updated

A few lines from Russia’s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, who said Moscow has enough buyers for its oil and gas outside of western countries, as EU countries try to reduce their reliance on Russian oil and gas.

Speaking earlier at a news conference in Muscat, Oman, Lavrov said:

Let the west pay more than it used to pay to the Russian Federation, and let it explain to its population why they should become poorer.

Lavrov also claimed Russia did not want war in Europe, blaming western countries for “constantly and persistently” saying they wanted to see Russia defeated in Ukraine.

Lavrov said:

If you are worried about the prospect of war in Europe – we do not want that at all. But I draw your attention to the fact that it is the west that is constantly and persistently saying that in this situation, it is necessary to defeat Russia.

Draw your own conclusions.

Updated

Smoke rising from burning storage buildings containing agricultural products after shelling by Russian forces, in the town of Orikhiv, near Zaporizhzhia, eastern Ukraine.
Smoke rising from burning storage buildings containing agricultural products after shelling by Russian forces in Orikhiv, near Zaporizhzhia, eastern Ukraine. Photograph: Dimitar Dilkoff/AFP/Getty Images
A burnt car and tractor after shelling by Russian forces in the town of Orikhiv, near Zaporizhzhia, eastern Ukraine.
A burnt car and tractor after shelling by Russian forces in Orikhiv. Photograph: Dimitar Dilkoff/AFP/Getty Images

Updated

The UK prime minister Boris Johnson has promised to support Sweden against potential Russian threats in any way necessary as he travelled to the country to sign a mutual security agreement, with its government considering Nato membership in the wake of the Ukraine invasion.

Here is a video clip from his news conference with Swedish prime minister Magdalena Andersson.

Updated

The pro-Russian self-proclaimed republics of Luhansk and Donetsk in eastern Ukraine have announced that they have blocked access to Facebook and Instagram. This aligns them with Russian policy towards the US social networks.

“Access to the information resources of the American company Meta, which allows calls for violence against Russian-speaking users on its social networks, has already been blocked,” the DNR’s communications ministry said in a statement, Reuters reports.

“In light of this, access to the Facebook and Instagram social networks is blocked on the republic’s territory.”

In a separate statement, the LNR communications ministry said it had also blocked access to the social networks.

Russia banned Facebook and Instagram in March after a court found Meta guilty of “extremist activity”.

The wives of two of the last remaining Ukrainian fighters holed up in Mariupol’s steelworks asked Pope Francis on Wednesday to help get soldiers to a third country, with one telling him: “Please don’t let them die”.

Kateryna Prokopenko, 27, and Yuliya Fedosiuk, 29, spoke to the pope for about five minutes at the end of his general audience in St Peter’s Square, also asking him to intervene directly with Russian president Vladimir Putin to let the men go because “Russian captivity is not an option”.

Reuters reports Prokopenko could be heard telling the pope: “You are our last hope, I hope you can save their lives. Please don’t let them die.”

They said they last spoke to their husbands on Tuesday. The men are members of the Azov Regiment, which retains some far-right affiliations.

“Our soldiers are waiting to be evacuated to a third country, to lay down their arms in case of evacuation,” Fedosiuk said.

Yulya Fedosiuk (L) and Kateryna Prokopenko (R) speak to the media after meeting the Pope.
Yulya Fedosiuk (left) and Kateryna Prokopenko (right) speak to the media after meeting the pope. Photograph: Fausto Gasparroni/Ansa/Rex/Shutterstock

Updated

Zelenskiy: Ukraine’s desire to negotiate with Russia ‘disappears with each new Bucha’

Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, warned Kyiv was running out of patience to hold talks with Russia, given the mounting evidence of atrocities committed by Russian forces in his country.

In a virtual address with students at the Institute of Political Studies (Sciences Po) in Paris, Zelenskiy said:

We are ready to conduct these negotiations, these talks, as long as it is not too late.

But, he added:

With each new Bucha, with each new Mariupol, with each new city where there are dozens of dead people, cases of rape, with each new atrocity, the desire and the possibility to negotiate disappears, as well as the possibility of resolving this issue in a diplomatic manner.

Zelenskiy also said he wanted to restore Ukraine’s territory before an end of the war with Russia could be envisioned, adding:

Once we recoup all that is ours, we will finish this.

Volodymyr Zelenskiy speaks to students at the Institute of Political Studies (Sciences Po) in Paris.
Volodymyr Zelenskiy speaks to students at the Institute of Political Studies (Sciences Po) in Paris. Photograph: Thibault Camus/AP
Students of the Institute of Political Studies (IEP) or Sciences Po university watch as Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky gives a virtual address.
Students watch as Volodymyr Zelenskiy gives a virtual address. Photograph: Thibault Camus/AP

Updated

The US ambassador to Russia, John Sullivan, has arrived at Russia’s foreign ministry along with Poland’s ambassador, Krzysztof Krajewski, the Russian state-owned news agency Ria reported.

Krajewski had been summoned to the foreign ministry after anti-war protesters doused red liquid over the Russian ambassador to Poland, Sergey Andreev, at a wreath-laying ceremony in Warsaw on Monday, Poland’s state-run news agency Pap reported.

Poland’s foreign minister, Zbigniew Rau, was quoted as saying:

As far as our relations with the Russian Federation are concerned, we know that the Polish ambassador to Moscow has been summoned to the Russian foreign ministry.

Russian Ambassador to Poland, Sergey Andreev, covered with red paint during a protest prior a ceremony at the Soviet soldier war mausoleum in Warsaw, Poland.
The Russian ambassador to Poland, Sergey Andreev, covered with red paint at a protest before a ceremony at the Soviet soldier war mausoleum in Warsaw, Poland. Photograph: AFP/Getty Images

He said Polish authorities had warned Andreev that attending the cemetery risked provoking an incident, adding:

However, what happened does not in any way change our position that diplomatic representatives of foreign countries are entitled to protection … no matter how much we feel the need to disagree with the policy of the government that the diplomat represents.

Russia is not planning to close its embassy in Warsaw “unless the Polish authorities make its functioning impossible”, embassy representatives told Reuters today.

Updated

In response to Boris Johnson’s visit to Sweden and Finland today, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Russia is closely watching anything that can affect Nato’s configuration on its borders.

In his daily briefing with reporters, Peskov also denied an assessment by the US spy chief, Avril Haines, that Russia was preparing for a prolonged war in Ukraine.

Instead, Peskov said Russia’s military operation in Ukraine is going according to plan.

Britain would support whatever Sweden decides around possible future Nato membership, Boris Johnson says at the joint press conference with Swedish prime minister, Magdalena Andersson.

The UK prime minister says the security assurance pact with Sweden is a separate conversation from Sweden’s future relationship with Nato, which is “a matter for Sweden”.

He says:

What we are saying emphatically is that in the event of a disaster or the event of an attack upon Sweden, then the UK would come to the assistance of Sweden with whatever Sweden requested.

Johnson adds later:

I think there’s a separate issue about Nato, which I think Sweden is going to be addressing in the course of the next few days.

That’s not for me to comment upon except of course to say that I’m sure the UK will support whatever course of action Sweden decides to embark upon and will be as useful and supportive as we can.

Updated

Sweden’s prime minister, Magdalena Andersson, also addressed reporters about the bilateral political declaration of solidarity signed by her and Boris Johnson.

Andersson says she and the UK prime minister have “agreed to face challenges in peace, crisis and conflict together”, adding:

If either country should suffer a disaster or an attack, the United Kingdom and Sweden will assist each other in a variety of ways.

The support would be given on request from the affected country and may include military resources.

The agreement serves a “crucial purpose” regardless of the choices Sweden will make in terms of joining Nato, Andersson says.

Boris Johnson pledges UK support if Sweden were to come under attack

Asked what would Britain do if Sweden was attacked, Johnson replies that when “faced with the obvious threat to liberal democracies”, both countries would “come to each other’s support”, whether in the event of a disaster or military attack.

What we’re saying today is that upon request from the other party, we would come to the other party’s assistance.

Johnson says the pact is an “important step forward” for the relationship between Sweden and Britain, adding:

This is an agreement on which we together intend to build. Whether it’s in sharing intelligence or working together to combat cyber attacks. Whether it’s working together in defence, procurement, or doing more joint exercises together.

Updated

UK to sign mutual security assurances deal with Sweden

Boris Johnson has been speaking at a press conference during his visit to Sweden for talks with its prime minister, Magdalena Andersson.

Johnson says he will sign a “historic” security assurance declaration with Sweden in the face of “the empty conceit of a 21st-century tyrant”.

Johnson said:

The war in Ukraine is forcing us all to make difficult decisions, but sovereign nations must be free to make those decisions without fear of influence or threat of retaliation.

The agreement will “bring our two countries even closer together”, to share “more intelligence, bolster our military exercises and further our joint development of technology”, Johnson says.

He added:

Most importantly, this is an agreement that enshrines the values that both Sweden and the UK hold dear, and which we will not hesitate to defend.

The “many carcasses of Russian tanks” that litter the streets of Ukraine are “thanks to Swedish-developed and British-built NLAWs [next generation light anti-tank weapons]” that prove how effective cooperation can be, Johnson adds.

Updated

Two women on a street in Bucha, a town on the outskirts of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, that was controlled by Russian soldiers for about a month.
Two women on a street in Bucha, outside Kyiv, which was controlled by Russian soldiers for about a month. Photograph: Aziz Karimov/SOPA Images/Rex/Shutterstock
An old woman in her house recently destroy by an attack of Russian artillery in Bucha.
An old woman in her house recently destroy by an attack of Russian artillery in Bucha. Photograph: Aziz Karimov/SOPA Images/Rex/Shutterstock

Updated

Pro-Russian leader in Ukraine’s Kherson to ask Putin to annex region

Russian-backed authorities in Ukraine’s southern Kherson region said they plan to ask Vladimir Putin to become part of Russia.

Kirill Stremousov, the newly appointed deputy head of the military-civilian administration in Kherson, was quoted by Russian news agencies as saying:

There will be a request to make Kherson region a full subject of the Russian Federation.

He said Kherson will be fully governed by Russian law “by the end of the year”, Russian media reported.

In response, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said it was up to residents of Kherson to decide whether they wanted to join Russia, adding that the decision must have a clear legal basis.

The Kherson region is located just north of Crimea, which was annexed by Russia in 2014. Kherson was the first major Ukrainian city to fall to Russian forces after Putin ordered the invasion on 24 February this year.

In April, Russia said it had gained full control of the Kherson region, which is strategically important as it provides part of the land link between the Crimea peninsula and Russian-backed separatist areas in the east of Ukraine.

Updated

The UN’s secretary general, António Guterres, said the time would come when there will be peace talks over Ukraine, but that he did not see that they would take place in the immediate future.

Speaking at a news conference with Austria’s president, Alexander Van der Bellen, Guterres said:

This war will not last forever. There will be a time when peace negotiations will take place.

I do not see that in the immediate future. But I can say one thing. We will never give up.

Austrian president Alexander Van der Bellen and UN secretary general Antonio Guterres in Vienna
Austrian president Alexander Van der Bellen and UN secretary general Antonio Guterres in Vienna. Photograph: Lisa Leutner/Reuters

The leader of the punk collective Pussy Riot said she fled Russia after disguising herself as a food delivery courier to escape police, joining thousands of Russians who have left the country since Vladimir Putin ordered troops into Ukraine.

Maria Alyokhina, a longtime critic of the Russian president, was sentenced last September to one year restricted movement while protesting in support of the jailed Kremlin critic, Alexei Navalny. In April, authorities moved to convert her sentence into real jail time.

In an interview with the New York Times, Alyokhina, 33, described how was able to evade the Moscow police who were monitoring her movements by dressing up as a food delivery courier and leaving her mobile phone behind so she couldn’t be tracked.

Maria Vladimirovna ‘Masha’ Alyokhina, a member of the Russian punk collective Pussy Riot
Maria Vladimirovna ‘Masha’ Alyokhina, a member of the Russian punk collective Pussy Riot. Photograph: Mark Lennihan/AP

She said a friend drove her to the Belarussian border and a week later managed to cross into Lithuania, with the help of an Icelandic artist who secured her travel documents from a European country.

Alyokhina compared her experience to a “spy novel”, saying:

I was happy that I made it, because it was an unpredictable and big ‘kiss-off’ to the Russian authorities.

Her partner and fellow Pussy Riot member, Lyusya Shtein, shared a photo of Alyokhina, dressed in a green Delivery Club uniform and wearing a food delivery backpack.

Shtein tweeted that Alyokhina “did not flee Russia, she has gone on tour” to raise money for Ukraine, beginning with a concert in Berlin on 12 May.

Shtein had also been sentenced to restricted movement for protesting against the imprisonment of the opposition leader Alexei Navalny but in April she fled Russia, posting a video of herself cutting off a police anklet monitor. She also used the food delivery disguise to escape Russia, the New York Times said.

Updated

Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has thanked the US House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, and members of the House of Representatives for approving a bill in which Washington would deliver $40bn-worth of aid to Ukraine amid Russia’s ongoing invasion.

The Democratic-led House voted 368-57 on Tuesday evening to pass the bill, with all 57 votes in opposition from Republican members. The measure will need to be passed by the Senate before going to the president, Joe Biden, to be signed into law.

Updated

Boris Johnson arrives in Sweden to discuss security and Nato membership

The UK’s prime minister, Boris Johnson, has arrived in Sweden for the start of a trip where he will also visit Finland to discuss the Nordic countries’ ambitions to apply for Nato membership.

Johnson is scheduled to meet leaders of both countries during his 24-hour trip, where he will also be discussing Europe’s response to the war in Ukraine.

Boris Johnson exits his plane upon arriving at Stockholm’s airport, Sweden.
Boris Johnson exits his plane upon arriving at Stockholm airport. Photograph: Frank Augstein/AFP/Getty Images

Downing Street said the visit to Stockholm and Helsinki was also about the “security of Europe more broadly”, adding:

We understand the positions of Sweden and Finland and that is why the prime minister is going to discuss these broader security issues.

Finland’s president, Sauli Niinistö, is expected to announce on Thursday his stance on joining Nato, a move that would mean a major shift in security policy for the country.

An announcement is also expected from Sweden’s ruling Social Democrats on Sunday following consultations over the weekend.

Hello, it’s Léonie Chao-Fong here again to bring you all the latest developments from the war in Ukraine. Feel free to drop me a message if you have anything to flag, you can reach me on Twitter or via email.

Updated

Today so far …

  • Ukraine has said it will suspend the flow of gas through a transit point that it says delivers almost a third of the fuel piped from Russia to Europe through Ukraine, blaming Moscow for the move and saying it would move the flows elsewhere.
  • GTSOU, which operates Ukraine’s gas system, said it would stop shipments via the Sokhranivka route from Wednesday, declaring “force majeure”, a clause invoked when a business is hit by something beyond its control.
  • Gazprom, which has a monopoly on Russian gas exports by pipeline, said it was “technologically impossible” to shift all volumes to the Sudzha interconnection point further west, as GTSOU proposed.
  • A series of photos published on the Azov Regiment’s Telegram channel early this morning purport to show the squalid conditions of wounded Ukrainian defenders holed up under the Azovstal steelworks plant in besieged Mariupol.
  • Ukrainian forces have retaken villages in the Kharkiv region, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has said in his nightly address. The liberation of Cherkaski Tyshky, Ruski Tyshki, Borshchova and Slobozhanske could signal a new phase in the war, Zelenskiy said, while cautioning against expecting “certain victories”.
  • The Russian armed forces claim that overnight they hit 93 objects, including two command posts and three ammunition depots of the Ukrainian army. As a result of the strikes, they say, more than 280 nationalists were killed and 59 units of military equipment were disabled.
  • Ukraine’s army claims that in the Donetsk and Luhansk oblast “defenders of Ukraine repulsed 12 enemy attacks, destroyed 12 tanks, four artillery systems, 19 units of armoured combat vehicles, seven cars and two units of special engineering equipment of the enemy”.
  • Ukraine also accused Russia of using “electronic warfare systems to suppress radio channels”.
  • The governor of Kharkiv, Oleh Synyehubov, said the north-eastern region of Ukraine was “relatively quiet”, but warned citizens: “It is dangerous to return to the recently liberated settlements. The enemy completely mined everything, including schools, kindergartens and private homes.”
  • Russia could dominate the north-western Black Sea if it is able to consolidates its position on Snake Island, according to the the UK Ministry of Defence.
  • Former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev has accused the US of waging a “proxy war” against Russia after the House of Representatives approved a $40bn aid package for Ukraine.
  • Russia’s State Duma speaker Vyacheslav Volodin has accused Washington of using the aid package to “indebt” Ukraine and of appropriating the country’s grain reserves in lieu of payment.
  • The European Union’s proposal on oil sanctions against Russia would destroy the Hungarian economy and does not offer a solution to the huge problems it would create for the country, foreign minister Péter Szijjártó said.

That is it from me, Martin Belam in London for now. Léonie Chao-Fong will be with you shortly. I will be back later.

Updated

Former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev has accused the US of waging a “proxy war” against Russia after the House of Representatives approved a $40bn aid package for Ukraine [see 6.33am].

Writing on the messenger app Telegram, Medvedev said the US economy would suffer, and that the bill approved by the House on Tuesday was a bid “to deal a serious defeat to our country and limit its economic development and political influence in the world”.

Reuters reports Medvedev said: “It won’t work. The printing press by which America is constantly increasing its already inflated government debt will break faster.”

Medvedev, who has served as deputy chairman of Russia’s security council since resigning as prime minister in January 2020, is a loyal supporter of Vladimir Putin. He blamed price rises for US fuel and groceries on what he called America’s “Russophobic authorities”.

Also writing on Telegram, Russia’s State Duma speaker Vyacheslav Volodin accused Washington of using the aid package to “indebt” Ukraine and of appropriating the country*s grain reserves in lieu of payment.

“Washington wants a Holodomor in Ukraine,” he wrote, referring to the man-made 1930s famine that killed millions of Ukrainians when it was part of the Soviet Union under Joseph Stalin.

Updated

The governor of Kharkiv, Oleh Synyehubov, has posted an update on the situation in the north-eastern city. He says in an update on Telegram:

Thanks to the successful actions of the armed forces and the liberation of a number of settlements in Kharkiv, it is now relatively quiet.

Still it is impossible to lose vigilance. You need to be very careful and not be on the street unnecessarily. It is also dangerous to return to the recently liberated settlements. The enemy completely mined everything, including schools, kindergartens and private homes.

Currently, special services are conducting demining. Critical infrastructure is also being restored, primarily gas and electricity. Electricity supply has already been partially restored in Kharkiv districts.

At the same time, all the war crimes of the occupiers are recorded, which prove the inhuman nature of the enemy.

Ukrainian soldiers check a checkpoint on the outskirts of Kharkiv yesterday.
Ukrainian soldiers at a checkpoint on the outskirts of Kharkiv yesterday. Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

Updated

Here are some of the latest images that have been sent to us over the newswires from Ukraine today.

Russian emergency service personnel clear debris in the partially destroyed Mariupol drama theatre in the city
Russian emergency service personnel clear debris in the partially destroyed Mariupol drama theatre in the city. Photograph: AFP/Getty Images
A steel worker works on the maintenance of the blast furnace at Zaporizhstal, Ukraine’s third-biggest metals plant
A steel worker works on the maintenance of the blast furnace at Zaporizhstal, Ukraine’s third-biggest metals plant. Photograph: Dimitar Dilkoff/AFP/Getty Images
Residents queue to get water in the city of Mariupol
Residents queue to get water in the city of Mariupol. Photograph: AFP/Getty Images
A view shows the Azovstal steel plant in the city of Mariupol. The photograph was taken yesterday.
The Azovstal steel plant in the city of Mariupol. The photograph was taken yesterday Photograph: AFP/Getty Images

Updated

The European Union’s proposal on oil sanctions against Russia would destroy the Hungarian economy and does not offer a solution to the huge problems it would create for Hungary, foreign minister Péter Szijjártó said.

Reuters reports he said in a video on his Facebook page that after talks conducted so far, the European Commission does not have a solution, so the only way to an agreement on an oil embargo would be if it applied to maritime oil shipments, and all shipments of Russian oil via pipelines would be fully exempted.

Updated

The Russian armed forces have issued their daily bulletin. They claim that:

  • During the night they hit 93 objects, including two command posts and three ammunition depots of the Ukrainian army.
  • As a result of the strikes, more than 280 nationalists were killed and 59 units of military equipment were disabled.
  • Air defence systems destroyed nine Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles at night.

The claims have not been independently verified.

Our diplomatic editor Patrick Wintour tweets about the level of support for joining Nato in Sweden, ahead of the visit of the UK’s prime minister Boris Johnson today.

Updated

Two points of note from the operational update of the general staff of Ukraine’s armed forces this morning. They claimed:

In the Donetsk and Luhansk oblast, defenders of Ukraine repulsed 12 enemy attacks, destroyed 12 tanks, four artillery systems, 19 units of armoured combat vehicles, seven cars and two units of special engineering equipment of the enemy.

They also suggested that the “Russian enemy uses electronic warfare systems to suppress radio channels”.

The claims have not been independently verified.

Updated

Ukraine’s state emergency services have updated the figure for the number of explosives and munitions they have dealt with. They posted to their Telegram channel that since Russia’s latest invasion began on 24 February, they have dealt with a total of 102,676 explosive devices, including 1,967 aircraft bombs. The claim has not been independently verified.

Russia’s news agency RIA is carrying quotes from Apta Alaudinov, assistant to the head of Chechnya, claiming that the remnants of the Ukrainian troops driven out of the city of Rubizhne in the Donbas are blocked at the Zarya plant. It quotes him saying:

All these days we have been busy blocking the Zarya plant. We had the task of clearing it from the left flank of the Zarya plant to Kudryashovka from those strongholds and points that were there, so as not to leave the enemy behind us. This task has already been completed, our forces and means have practically blocked the Zarya plant.

Rubizhne is in the Luhansk region to the east of Ukraine. Zarya is a chemical plant.

Wounded soldiers trapped inside Azovstal plead for help

A series of photos published on the Azov Regiment’s Telegram channel early this morning purport to show the squalid conditions of wounded Ukrainian defenders holed up under the Azovstal steelworks plant in besieged Mariupol.

The harrowing images reveal the horror of a dimly lit, makeshift ‘hospital’ inside the plant where soldiers receive treatment, many for lost limbs. The photos were published alongside a statement pleading for help.

The whole civilised world must see the conditions in which the wounded, crippled defenders of Mariupol are and act!

In completely unsanitary conditions, with open wounds bandaged with non-sterile remnants of bandages, without the necessary medication and even food.

We call on the UN and the Red Cross to show their humanity and reaffirm the basic principles on which you were created by rescuing wounded people who are no longer combatants.

The servicemen you see in the photo and hundreds more at the Azovstal plant defended Ukraine and the entire civilised world with serious injuries at the cost of their own health. Are Ukraine and the world community now unable to protect and take care of them?”

The regiment pleaded for the “immediate evacuation of wounded servicemen to Ukrainian-controlled territories” where they could be assisted and provided with proper care.

A man in a sling stares at the camera as Russian troops continue their assault of the Azovstal steel works in Mariupol.
A man in a sling stares at the camera as Russian troops continue their assault of the Azovstal steelworks in Mariupol. Photograph: Azov Regiment Press Service/Reuters
An injured Ukrainian service member sits at a field hospital inside a bunker of the Azovstal Iron and Steel Works in Mariupol, Ukraine.
An injured Ukrainian service member sits at a field hospital inside a bunker of the Azovstal steelworks in Mariupol, Ukraine. Photograph: Azov Regiment Press Service/Reuters
An injured Ukrainian service member sits with his arm in a sling inside the Azovstal plant.
An injured Ukrainian service member sits with his arm in a sling inside the Azovstal plant. Photograph: Azov Regiment Press Service/Reuters
A man makes a peace sign at the camera.
A man makes a peace sign at the camera. Photograph: Azov Regiment Press Service/Reuters
An injured Ukrainian service member sits in the dimly-lit, makeshift hospital.
An injured Ukrainian service member sits in the dimly-lit, makeshift hospital. Photograph: Azov Regiment Press Service/Reuters
A soldier with wounds inflicted on his face seen in bandages.
A soldier with wounds inflicted on his face seen in bandages. Photograph: Azov Regiment Press Service/Reuters
Two men who each lost a leg from Russian assaults use crutches to stand.
Two men who each lost a leg from Russian assaults use crutches to stand. Photograph: Azov Regiment Press Service/Reuters
An injured Ukrainian service member receives medical assistance in a field hospital inside a bunker of the Azovstal plant.
An injured Ukrainian service member receives medical assistance in a field hospital inside a bunker of the Azovstal plant. Photograph: Azov Regiment Press Service/Reuters

Updated

US House approves more than $40bn more aid for Ukraine

The US House of Representatives has approved more than $40bn in aid for Ukraine.

The House passed the Ukraine spending bill by 368 to 57 on Tuesday evening, with every “no” vote coming from Republicans, according to a Reuters report. The measure now heads to the Senate, which is expected to act quickly.

President Joe Biden had asked Congress to approve an additional $33bn in aid for Ukraine two weeks ago, but lawmakers decided to increase the military and humanitarian funding.

“This bill will protect democracy, limit Russian aggression, and strengthen our own national security, while, most importantly, supporting Ukraine,” Democratic representative Rosa DeLauro, who chairs the House appropriations committee, said.

US President Joe Biden signs the Ukraine Lend-Lease Act while the US House just approved more than $40bn in additional aid for Ukraine.
US president Joe Biden signs the Ukraine Lend-Lease Act, while the US House approved more than $40bn in additional aid for Ukraine. Photograph: REX/Shutterstock

Some Republicans opposed the bill, criticising Democrats for moving too quickly to send too many US taxpayer dollars abroad. Biden’s fellow Democrats narrowly control Congress, but the bill will need Republican votes to get through the Senate.

The package includes $6bn for security assistance, including training, equipment, weapons and support; $8.7bn to replenish stocks of US equipment sent to Ukraine, and $3.9bn for European Command operations.

In addition, the legislation authorises a further $11bn in Presidential Drawdown Authority, which allows the president to authorise the transfer of articles and services from US stocks without congressional approval in response to an emergency. Biden had asked for $5bn.

It also authorises $4bn in foreign military financing to provide support for Ukraine and other countries affected by the crisis.

Updated

Ukraine to suspend Russian gas pipeline to Europe

Ukraine has said it will suspend the flow of gas through a transit point that it says delivers almost a third of the fuel piped from Russia to Europe through Ukraine, blaming Moscow for the move and saying it would move the flows elsewhere.

Ukraine has remained a major transit route for Russian gas to Europe even throughout Russia’s war in Ukraine.

GTSOU, which operates Ukraine’s gas system, said it would stop shipments via the Sokhranivka route from Wednesday, declaring “force majeure”, a clause invoked when a business is hit by something beyond its control, Reuters reports.

But Gazprom, which has a monopoly on Russian gas exports by pipeline, said it was “technologically impossible” to shift all volumes to the Sudzha interconnection point further west, as GTSOU proposed.

GTSOU CEO Sergiy Makogon told Reuters that Russian occupying forces had started taking gas transiting through Ukraine and sending it to two Russia-backed separatist regions in the country’s east. He did not cite evidence.

The company said it could not operate at the Novopskov gas compressor station due to “the interference of the occupying forces in technical processes”, adding it could temporarily shift the affected flow to the Sudzha physical interconnection point located in territory controlled by Ukraine.

Ukraine’s suspension of Russian natural gas flows through the Sokhranivka route should not have an impact on the domestic Ukrainian market, state energy firm Naftogaz head Yuriy Vitrenko told Reuters.

The state gas company in Moldova, a small nation on Ukraine’s western border, said it had not received any notice from GTSOU or Gazprom that supplies would be interrupted.

Updated

Russia could dominate north-west Black Sea, UK MoD says

Russia could dominate the north-western Black Sea if it is able to consolidates its position on Snake Island, according to the the UK ministry of defence.

The report, released just after 6am this morning, reads:

Fighting continues at Zmiinyi Island, also known as Snake Island, with Russia repeatedly trying to reinforce its exposed garrison located there.

Ukraine has successfully struck Russian air defences and resupply vessels with Bayraktar drones. Russia’s resupply vessels have minimum protection in the western Black Sea, following the Russian Navy’s retreat to Crimea after the loss of the Moskva.

A satellite view shows smoke rising over Snake Island, Ukraine.
A satellite view shows smoke rising over Snake Island, Ukraine. Photograph: Planet Labs Pbc/Reuters

Russia’s current efforts to augment its forces on Zmiinyi Island offer Ukraine more opportunities to engage Russian troops and attrit materiel.

If Russia consolidates its position on Zmiinyi Island with strategic air defence and coastal defence cruise missiles, they could dominate the north-western Black Sea.”

Updated

In case you missed this slightly uplifting news from earlier, Ukraine has been voted through to the grand final in the Eurovision Song Contest.

At the end of their semi-final performance, the folk-rap group Kalush Orchestra thanked everyone for supporting their country amid the Russian invasion.

The group had been unable to meet and rehearse regularly and were only able to get together about six weeks before Tuesday night’s performance.

Radio 1 DJ Scott Mills, who was commentating for the BBC coverage of the semi-final, said: “Frontman Oleg joked that he doesn’t think the lack of rehearsal time will affect their performance because they’re very attractive men.”

The Ukrainian act is the favourite to win.

The competition’s producers previously announced Russia will no longer participate in this year’s contest following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Kalush Orchestra from Ukraine perform the song ‘Stefania’ during the first semi final of the 66th annual Eurovision Song Contest.
Kalush Orchestra from Ukraine perform the song ‘Stefania’ during the first semi final of the 66th annual Eurovision Song Contest. Photograph: Alessandro Di Marco/EPA
he Ukrainian act Kalush Orchestra is the favourite to win.
he Ukrainian act Kalush Orchestra is the favourite to win. Photograph: Jussi Nukari/REX/Shutterstock
At the end of their semi-final performance, the folk-rap group thanked viewers for supporting Ukraine.
At the end of their semi-final performance, the folk-rap group thanked viewers for supporting Ukraine. Photograph: Alessandro Di Marco/EPA
Kalush Orchestra from Ukraine has been voted through to the grand final in the Eurovision Song Contest.
Kalush Orchestra from Ukraine has been voted through to the grand final in the Eurovision Song Contest. Photograph: Yara Nardi/Reuters

Ukrainian forces retake villages in Kharkiv, Zelenskiy says

Ukraine earlier announced its forces have recaptured villages from Russian troops north and north-east of Kharkiv, pressing a counter-offensive that could signal a shift in the war’s momentum and jeopardise Russia’s main advance.

Tetiana Apatchenko, press officer for the 92nd Separate Mechanised Brigade, the main Ukrainian force in the area, in the country’s east, confirmed that Ukrainian troops had in recent days recaptured the settlements of Cherkaski Tyshky, Ruski Tyshki, Borshchova and Slobozhanske, in a pocket north of Kharkiv.

Defence ministry adviser Yuriy Saks said the successes were pushing Russian forces out of range of Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city and located in the north-east, which has been under perpetual bombardment since the war began.

The military operations of the Ukrainian armed forces around Kharkiv, especially north and north-east of Kharkiv, are sort of a success story. The Ukrainian army was able to push these war criminals to a line beyond the reach of their artillery.”

Ukraine’s president Zelenskiy also confirmed the news during his national address, though he cautioned against expecting “certain victories”.

The Armed Forces of our state provided us all with good news from the Kharkiv region. The occupiers are gradually being pushed away from Kharkiv.

I am grateful to all our defenders who are holding the line and demonstrating truly superhuman strength to drive out the army of invaders. Once the second most powerful army in the world.

But I also want to urge all our people, and especially those in the rear, not to spread excessive emotions. We shouldn’t create an atmosphere of specific moral pressure, when certain victories are expected weekly and even daily.

The Armed Forces of Ukraine are doing everything to liberate our land and our people. To liberate all our cities - Kherson, Melitopol, Berdyansk, Mariupol and all others.

The counterattack near Kharkiv could signal a new phase, with Ukraine now going on the offensive after weeks in which Russia mounted a massive assault without making a breakthrough.

By pushing back Russian forces who had occupied the outskirts of Kharkiv since the start of the invasion, the Ukrainians are moving into striking distance of the rear supply lines sustaining the main Russian attack force further south. Neil Melvin of the RUSI think tank in London said:

They’re trying to cut in and behind the Russians to cut off the supply lines, because that’s really one of their (the Russians’) main weaknesses.

Ukrainians are getting close to the Russian border. So all the gains that the Russians made in the early days in the noerth-east of Ukraine are increasingly slipping away.”

A man rides a bicycle in front of a damaging BMP on the outskirts of Kharkiv, Ukraine.
A man rides a bicycle in front of a damaging BMP on the outskirts of Kharkiv, Ukraine. Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

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’ll be bringing you all the latest developments until my colleague Martin Belam in London takes the reins a little later.

It is just after 8am in Ukraine. Here is everything you might have missed:

  • Ukrainian forces have retaken villages in the Kharkiv region, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has said in his nightly address. The liberation of Cherkaski Tyshky, Ruski Tyshki, Borshchova and Slobozhanske could signal a new phase in the war, Zelenskiy said, while cautioning against expecting “certain victories”.
  • Belarus has said it will deploy special operations troops in three areas near its southern border with Ukraine. The Belarusian president, Alexander Lukashenko, said Moscow had agreed to help Minsk produce missiles and warned Belarus could “inflict unacceptable damage on the enemy”.
  • The number of civilians killed in Ukraine since the beginning of the war is “thousands higher” than official figures, the head of the UN’s human rights monitoring mission in the country said. The official UN civilian death toll in Ukraine stands at 3,381 as well as 3,680 injured.
  • At least 100 civilians remained in the Azovstal steelworks under heavy Russian fire in the southern Ukrainian city of Mariupol, an aide to the city’s mayor said. Ukraine’s Azov Regiment made a plea to the international community for help, saying its soldiers were trapped in “completely unsanitary conditions, with open wounds” and without necessary medication or food.
  • The UK prime minister, Boris Johnson, will visit Finland and Sweden on Wednesday as they consider whether to apply for Nato membership. Downing Street said they would discuss “broader security issues”.
  • Ukrainian officials said they found the bodies of 44 civilians in the rubble of a five-storey building that was destroyed in March in Izium, about 120km (75 miles) from Kharkiv.
  • US lawmakers in the House of Representatives have approved more than $40bn more aid for Ukraine. The legislation was due to go the US Senate with hopes high for its passage.
  • Vladimir Putin will “turn to more drastic means” to achieve his objectives in Ukraine, potentially triggering his resort to using a nuclear weapon, the US director of national intelligence has said. Avril Haines told the Senate armed services committee that the Russian president was “preparing for prolonged conflict” in Ukraine and that his strategic goals have “probably not changed”.
  • The UN general assembly has voted overwhelmingly for the Czech Republic to replace Russia on the top human rights body.
  • Ukraine has said it will suspend the flow of gas through a transit point that it says delivers almost a third of the fuel piped from Russia to Europe through Ukraine. GTSOU, which operates Ukraine’s gas system, said it would stop shipments via Sokhranivka from Wednesday, declaring “force majeure”, a clause invoked when a business is hit by something beyond its control, Reuters reported. Russia’s Gazprom said this would be “technologically impossible”.
  • Four Russian regional governors reportedly resigned on Tuesday as the country braces for the impact of economic sanctions. The heads of the Tomsk, Saratov, Kirov and Mari El regions announced their immediate departure from office, while the head of Ryazan region said he would not run for another term.
  • Ukraine has been voted through to the grand final in the Eurovision song contest. At the end of their semi-final performance, the folk-rap group Kalush Orchestra thanked viewers for supporting Ukraine amid the Russian invasion.
  • The number of Ukrainians who have fled their country since Russia’s invasion on 24 February is approaching six million, according to the United Nations.
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