Ukraine said Sunday its forces now control half of Sievierodonetsk in east Ukraine, but expect a Russian counter-attack in coming days as the battle for Donbas continues. On Sunday morning, Russia launched missiles towards Kyiv via Tu-95 strategic bombers, said the Ukrainian government. Meanwhile, Russia said it struck tanks supplied by Western countries in the city. Read our live blog to see how all the day's events unfolded.
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3:45am: Ukraine president visits frontlines as fighting rages
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met troops on the frontlines in Donbas Sunday as heavy fighting raged in the eastern industrial region that Moscow has focused its forces on taking.
Zelensky visited command posts and frontline positions in Lysychansk, which sits across the Siverskyi Donets river from Severodonetsk, where Ukrainian troops were pushing back against Russian forces who had earlier appeared on the verge of taking the strategic city.
He also visited Bakhmut, to the southwest in the Donetsk region of Donbas, and talked with servicemen, the presidency said.
"I want to thank you for your great work, for your service, for protecting all of us, our state. I am grateful to everyone," he told them. "Take care of yourselves!"
On his working visit Zelensky "got himself acquainted with the operational situation on the frontline of defence," the presidency said.
"I am proud of everyone whom I met, whom I shook hands with, with whom I communicated, whom I supported," Zelensky said in his daily evening address after his visit.
The president said he also travelled to Zaporizhzhia in the southeast to meet with residents of Mariupol who had managed to leave the port city that was destroyed by months of Russian bombardment.
1:10am: UK to give Ukraine long-range missile systems
Britain said Monday it will mirror the United States and send long-range missile systems to Ukraine, defying warnings from Russian President Vladimir Putin against supplying Kyiv with the advanced weapons.
The UK Ministry of Defence said London had coordinated closely with Washington over its gift of the multiple-launch rocket systems, known as MLRS, to help Ukraine defend itself against Russian aggression.
The M270 launchers, which can strike targets up to 80 kilometres (50 miles) away with precision-guided rockets, will "offer a significant boost in capability for the Ukrainian forces," the ministry added.
The US last week announced it would give Kyiv its high mobility artillery rocket system, known as HIMARS, which can simultaneously launch multiple precision-guided missiles and is superior in range and precision to existing systems Ukraine has.
However, US President Joe Biden has ruled out supplying it with systems that could reach as far as Russia, despite Kyiv's repeated demands for them.
Despite that, the US move prompted Putin to warn Sunday that Moscow will strike new unspecified "targets" if the West supplies the missiles to Ukraine and said new arms deliveries to Kyiv were aimed at "prolonging the conflict".
22:01pm: Ukrainian railways says Russian attacks aim to harm economy and prevent grain exports
Ukrainian authorities have allowed journalists to visit a railway repair works near Kyiv that were hit by Russian misslies early on Sunday morning.
Russia's defence ministry claimed the strikes destroyed tanks and other armoured vehicles provided to Ukraine by European countries.
“There are apparently no tanks here”, said France 24’s Gulliver Cragg, reporting from the location on the outskirts of the Ukrainian capital.
20:05pm: Ukraine expects 'major counter-attack' from Russia in Sievierodonetsk
Ukraine said Sunday its forces controlled half of Sievierodonetsk, but it expects a major major counter-attack from Russian forces in the coming days.
Lugansk's regional governor, Sergiy Gaiday, said that Russian forces had been tasked with gaining control of the city by Friday, as well as a key transport artery connecting two other nearby cities, Lysychansk and Bakhmut.
"We expect in the near future that all the reserves that they now have access to -- all the reserves, all the personnel that they have -- they will throw to perform these two tasks," Gaiday said.
"In the next five days, there will be a large increase in the number of shellings from heavy artillery," from the Russian side.
Sievierodonetsk is the largest city still in Ukrainian hands in the Lugansk region, which is part of Donbas. Russian forces have been gradually advancing there in recent weeks after having retreated or been pushed back from other areas, including around the capital Kyiv.
19:44pm: Ukraine says it controls 'half' of Sievierodonetsk
Ukraine said Sunday its forces controlled half of Sievierodonetsk, as Kyiv's military pushes back Russia's attempt to take the eastern city, key to the battle for the Donbas region.
"Our armed forces have cleaned half" of the industrial hub of Russian troops, Lugansk's regional governor Sergiy Gaiday said in an interview posted on his official social media channels. "Half of the city is actually controlled by our forces."
19:31pm: Ukraine in need of 'constant' military support from West until end of war, says defence minister
Ukraine's deputy defence minister stressed Sunday that the country needed continuous military support from Western countries until it defeated Moscow's forces, as the war continues.
"We have already entered into a protracted war and we will need constant support," Ganna Malyar told local media.
"The West must understand that its help cannot be a one-time thing, but something that continues until our victory," she added.
The US and European countries are attempting to help Kyiv's war effort while not entering as direct belligerents. They have supplied Ukraine with millions of dollars worth of modern weaponry.
The United States announced this week that long-range weapons were being sent to Ukraine as part of a $700-million package that includes air-surveillance radar, more Javelin short-range anti-tank rockets, artillery ammunition and helicopters.
15:55pm: Russian strikes in Kyiv are first attacks on city in one month
Russian missile strikes targeted the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on Sunday, as fighting continues in Donbas. No casualties were reported from the attack in the capital. However, this marks the first Russian strike on the city in more than a month.
France 24's Gulliver Cragg reports from Kyiv.
11:14am: Russia says it destroyed tanks in Kyiv sent by European countries
Russian strikes destroyed tanks and other armoured vehicles on the outskirts of Kyiv that had been provided to Ukraine by European countries, Russia's defence ministry said on Sunday.
The ministry's statement came after the Ukrainian capital was rocked by several explosions early on Sunday.
11:12am: Russian warplanes hit Kyiv with missiles
Russian Tu-95 strategic bombers launched missiles at Kyiv from the Caspian Sea early on Sunday and two of the Ukrainian capital's eastern districts were rocked by explosions, Ukraine's air force and the city's mayor said.
The attack targeted railway infrastructure in Kyiv, said Serhiy Leshchenko, an aide to President Volodymyr Zelensky’s chief of staff. At least one person was hospitalised though no deaths were immediately reported, Mayor Vitaly Klitschko said.
10:21am: Putin warns Russia will strike harder if longer-range missiles supplied
President Vladimir Putin warned the West that Russia would strike new targets if the United States started supplying Ukraine with longer-range missiles, the TASS news agency reported on Sunday.
If such missiles are supplied, "we will strike at those targets which we have not yet been hitting," Putin was quoted as saying in an interview Rossiya-1 state television channel.
10:17am: France in talks with UAE to replace Russian oil supplies
France is in talks with the United Arab Emirates to replace Russian oil purchases, which will stop after the imposition of a European Union ban on Russian crude, Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said on Sunday.
"There are discussions with the United Arab Emirates. We have to find an alternative to Russian oil," Le Maire told Europe 1 radio.
9:41am: Spain to deliver anti-aircraft missiles and tanks to Ukraine
Spain is to supply Ukraine with anti-aircraft missiles and Leopard battle tanks in a stepping up of its military support to the country, according to government sources cited by newspaper El Pais on Sunday.
Spain will also provide essential training to the Ukrainian military in how to use the tanks. It would take place in Latvia, where the Spanish Army has deployed 500 soldiers within the framework of NATO's Enhanced Advanced Presence operation. A second phase of training could take place in Spain, according to the sources cited by El Pais.
9:09am: Ukraine power operator says Russian missile flew 'critically low' over nuclear plant
Ukraine's state-run nuclear power operator Energoatom said a Russian cruise missile few "critically low" on Sunday morning over a major nuclear power plant.
"It's probable that was the missile that was fired in the direction of Kyiv," the operator of the Pivdennoukrainska plant, also called the South Ukraine Nuclear Plant, said in a post on the Telegram messaging app.
8:35am: Ukraine's Sievierodonetsk split between Ukrainian and Russian forces, says regional governor
Control of Ukraine's city of Sievierodonetsk is split in half between Ukrainian and Russian forces, Serhiy Gaidai, governor or the Luhansk region where the eastern city is located, said on Sunday. "It had been a difficult situation, the Russians controlled 70% of the city, but over the past two days they have been pushed back," Gaidai said on Ukrainian television. "The city is now, more or less, divided in half."
7:32am: Ukraine counterattacks contested city of Sievierodonetsk says Britain
Ukrainian forces have counterattacked in the contested city of Sievierodonetsk in eastern Ukraine, Britain's defence ministry said on Sunday. This move will likely blunt the operational momentum Russian forces previously gained through concentrating combat units and firepower, the ministry said in a tweet.
"The use of proxy infantry forces for urban clearance operations is a Russian tactic previously observed in Syria, where Russia employed V Corps of the Syrian Army to assault urban areas," it said, adding that the approach likely indicates a desire to limit casualties suffered by regular Russian forces.
7:07am: Russian forces control eastern part of Ukraine's Sievierodonetsk
Russian forces continue to storm Sievierodonetsk, controlling eastern part of the city, Serhiy Gaidai, governor of the Luhansk region where Sievierodonetsk is located, said on Sunday. Gaidai said that there parts of the Azot chemical plant were damaged in Saturday's attacks.
5:29am: Powerful explosions heard in Ukraine's capital Kyiv
Powerful explosions were heard early on Sunday in Ukraine's capital city of Kyiv, a Reuters witness said. Smoke was seen in the city following the explosions. Earlier, air raid sirens were going off across much of Ukraine, including in the Kyiv region.
(FRANCE24 with REUTERS, AP and AFP)
