Ukraine has asked civilians in Kherson to evacuate from the region as quickly as possible. Earlier in the day, at least 15 people were killed after Russian rockets hit a five-storey apartment block in Ukraine's Donetsk region. Read about the day’s events as they unfolded on our liveblog. All times are Paris time, GMT+2.
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July 11, 12:29am: Russia blocks website of German newspaper Die Welt
Russia continued on Sunday its crackdown on news coverage critical of its conduct in the war, blocking the website of the German daily Die Welt, the latest in a growing list.
Access was denied to users after a request by the prosecutor, they reported. AFP journalists were unable to access the website on their smartphones and computers.
Since the start of the Russian military operation in Ukraine, the German newspaper published content in Russian, as most independent information has been suppressed in Russia.
It also for a short period employed Russian journalist Maria Ovsiannikova, who shot to fame in mid-March by holding up a sign saying “No to war” live on television.
8:41pm: Ukraine tells residents to leave occupied south due to counter-attack plans
Ukraine's deputy prime minister has urged civilians in the Russian-occupied southern region of Kherson to quickly evacuate as Ukraine's armed forces are preparing a counter-attack there.
Ukraine lost control of most of the Black Sea region of Kherson, including its eponymous capital, in the first weeks following Russia's Feb. 24 invasion.
"It's clear there will be fighting, there will be artillery shelling... and we therefore urge (people) to evacuate urgently," Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said on national television.
She said that she did not know when exactly the counter-offensive would happen. "I know for sure that there should not be women and children there, and that they should not become human shields," she said.
3:57pm: Ukrainian soldiers to receive military training in the UK
The first cohort of Ukrainian soldiers, many of whom have no previous military experience, have arrived in the UK for combat training as the eastern European nation races to replace troops that have been killed and wounded in the war against Russia.
The first few hundred recruits are receiving instruction at sites across Britain as part of the first phase of a programme that aims to train up to 10,000 Ukrainian soldiers in weapons handling, battlefield first aid and patrol tactics, the UK Ministry of Defense has said. This training is part of the country's broader support package for Ukraine, which includes 2.3 billion pounds ($2.8 billion) of anti-tank weapons, rocket systems and other hardware.
2:45pm: Russia hits Ukrainian hangars storing US-made artillery weapons
Russian forces struck two Ukrainian army hangars storing US-manufactured M777 howitzers, a type of artillery weapon, near Kostantinovka in the Donetsk region, the Russian defence ministry has said.
1:15pm: At least 15 killed in strike on Donbas apartment block
The death toll from the rocket attack on an apartment block in Chasiv Yar, in Ukraine's Donetsk region, has risen to at least 15, Ukrainian rescuers have said.
"During the rescue operation, 15 bodies were found at the scene and five people were pulled out of the rubble," alive, the local branch of the Ukrainian emergency service said on Facebook.
Rescuers were in contact with three people alive under the rubble. They said that 24 more people could still be trapped.
"We ran to the basement, there were three hits, the first somewhere in the kitchen," a sobbing local resident told Reuters as rescuers removed a body in a white sheet and cleared rubble from the ruins of a building using a crane.
"The second (strike), I do not even remember, there was lightning, we ran towards the second entrance and then straight into the basement. We sat there all night until this morning," said the woman who identified herself as Ludmila, 64.
10:50am: Russia gas cutoff 'most likely scenario', says French minister
The French government is preparing for a total cutoff of Russian gas supplies, which it sees as the most likely scenario in its forward planning, French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire has said.
With about 17% of its supply coming from Russia, France is less dependent on Russian gas than some of its neighbours, but the government has been preparing contingency plans.
A cutoff is particularly problematic now because France's nuclear power generation would struggle to pick up the slack as many reactors are currently down for maintenance.
"I think that a total cutoff of Russian gas supplies is a real possibility (...) and we need to prepare for this scenario," Le Maire said on the sidelines of a business and economics conference in southern France, describing such a cutoff as "the most likely scenario".
8:45am: Russian forces press on with Donbas offensive
Ukrainian officials have reported clashes on fronts in the east and south as Russian forces press deeper into the Donbas.
Moscow's troops attacked Ukrainian positions near the eastern town of Sloviansk but were forced to withdraw, Ukraine's military said, adding that Russian forces had launched a cruise missile attack on the northeastern city of Kharkiv from their side of the border.
Luhansk region Governor Serhiy Gaidai said Russian forces were gathering in the area of the village of Bilohorivka, about 50 km (30 miles) east of Sloviansk, in Donetsk province.
"The enemy is ... shelling the surrounding settlements, carrying out air strikes, but it is still unable to quickly occupy the entire Luhansk region," he said on the Telegram message channel.
"During the last night alone, the Russians launched seven artillery barrages and four rocket strikes," Gaidai added.
7:55am: Dozens feared trapped after rockets hit apartment block
At least six people have been killed and more than 30 are feared trapped after Russian Uragan rockets hit a five-storey apartment block in Ukraine's Donetsk region, collapsing the building, the region's governor has said.
Governor Pavlo Kyrylenko said on Telegram that the strike took place on Saturday evening in the town of Chasiv Yar. He said six people had been confirmed killed and five wounded, and that according to information from residents, at least 34 people were likely trapped in the ruins.
3:54am: Ukrainian company makes prosthetics for wounded soldiers
A report by FRANCE 24’s Gulliver Cragg about a Ukrainian company that makes prosthetics for wounded soldiers.
1:37am: Zelensky fires Ukraine’s envoy to Germany and several other top ambassadors
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky dismissed Kyiv's ambassador to Germany on Saturday as well as several other top foreign envoys, the presidential website said.
In a decree that gave no explanation for the move, he announced that Ukraine’s ambassadors to Germany, India, Czech Republic, Norway and Hungary had been sacked.
It was not immediately clear whether the envoys would be given new jobs.
(FRANCE 24 with Reuters, AFP, AP)
