Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday said “we’re holding out” in the flashpoint eastern city of Severodonetsk but said of Russian forces there that “there are more of them and they are stronger”. Zelensky's remarks came after he met with frontline troops in neighbouring Lysychansk on Sunday.
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11:00pm: Blinken says reports of Russia stealing Ukraine grain 'credible'
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken gave support Monday to reports that Russia has stolen grain from Ukraine for resale, even as Moscow blocks the country from exporting its own corn.
"There are credible reports ... that Russia is pilfering Ukraine's grain exports to sell for its own profit," Blinken said at a State Department conference on food security issues arising from the invasion of Ukraine.
"Now, Russia is hoarding its food exports as well," Blinken added, outlining the reasons for the sharp surge in global prices for wheat and other grains, and looming shortages.
The war "is having a devastating impact on global food security because Ukraine is one of the breadbaskets of the world", Blinken said.
The New York Times reported Monday that a number of freight vessels have departed Russia-controlled ports with what US officials have described as "stolen Ukrainian grain".
It said that the United States has alerted 14 countries, mostly in Africa, about the shipments, as many of them are dependent on grain imports and already face severely constrained supplies.
Blinken said the Russian navy has blocked grain carriers from leaving the Black Sea port of Odesa, in an effort to "blackmail" the world into supporting Moscow's war.
6:52pm: Zelensky praised for Lysychansk visit, says forces are 'holding out' but outnumbered in Severodonetsk
Ukrainian troops suffered setbacks after retaking parts of flashpoint eastern city Severodonetsk, where President Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday warned his forces were outnumbered by a “stronger” Russian side.
“We’re holding out” in the key city but “there are more of them and they are stronger,” Zelensky told journalists in Kyiv, adding that Severodonetsk and neighbouring Lysychansk were both “dead cities now”.
Russia is bringing the weight of its artillery to bear around Severodonetsk – the largest city in the Lugansk region not under Russian control.
Lysychansk was among the areas visited Sunday by Zelensky, who “got himself acquainted with the operational situation on the front line of defence”, the presidency said.
FRANCE 24's Gulliver Cragg tells us more about Zelensky’s trip to Lysychansk and its significance for Ukrainians.
2:51pm: Russia warns West against supplying long-range weapons to Ukraine
Moscow warned Monday that it would respond to Western supplies of long-range weapons to Ukraine by stepping up efforts to push Kyiv’s forces further from its border.
“The more long-range weapons you supply, the further we will push away from our territory” the line of Ukrainian forces, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told reporters.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned Moscow would hit new targets if the West supplies Ukraine with long-range missiles.
Washington and London have defied Putin’s warnings against supplying Kyiv with advanced weapons, saying they would send long-range missile systems to Ukraine. 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.
Britain said Monday it will mirror the United States and send long-range missile systems to Ukraine too.
2:01pm: Rome summons Russian ambassador over media spat
Italy summoned Russia's ambassador Monday after Moscow alleged the Italian media were waging an anti-Russian propaganda campaign through its coverage of the Ukraine war.
The foreign ministry in Rome said it called in ambassador Sergey Razov to reject "insinuations regarding the alleged involvement of our country's media in an anti-Russian campaign".
The ministry's top civil servant, Ettore Francesco Sequi, also "firmly rejected accusations of amorality by some representatives of Italian institutions and media, expressed in recent statements by the Russian foreign ministry".
The spat follows the posting Saturday on the Russian embassy to Italy's Facebook page of purported extracts from a report by the Russian foreign ministry on the "violation of Russian citizens' rights" abroad.
9:18am: Russia's Lavrov cancels Serbia trip due to airspace closures
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has been forced to cancel a visit to Serbia after several of its neighbours prevented his plane from passing through their airspace, according to officials.
Lavrov had been to due to hold talks on Monday with top officials in Belgrade, one of Moscow's few remaining allies in Europe since the launch of its military offensive in Ukraine earlier this year.
"The countries around Serbia have closed the channel of communication by refusing to authorise the overflight of the plane of Sergei Lavrov who was headed to Serbia," Russian news agencies quoted ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova as saying.
"The Russian delegation should have arrived in Belgrade for talks. But the EU and NATO member countries closed their airspace," she said
Serbian daily Vecernje Novosti reported that Bulgaria, Macedonia and Montenegro had refused access to their airspace.
9:14am: 'Impossible to verify' Ukrainian claims in Severodonetsk
Reporting from Ukraine, FRANCE 24's Jonathan Walsh says it's impossible to verify Ukrainian claims that their forces now control "half" of the city of Severodonetsk since no Western journalists are covering that battle in the Donbas region right now.
"The only news we're getting from inside [the city] on a daily basis is from a Ukrainian activist embedded with the Ukrainian forces," explained Walsh, adding that the activist says the 50 percent claim is "exaggerated".
8:51am: Ukraine's position 'worsened a little': Luhansk governor
The position of Ukrainian forces fighting in Severodonetsk has "worsened a little", said the Luhansk regional governor.
"Our defenders managed to undertake a counter-attack for a certain time; they liberated almost half of the city. But now the situation has worsened a little for us again," Luhansk regional governor Serhiy Gaidai told national television.
8:25am: UK says Russia struck rail infrastructure in Kyiv
Britain's defence ministry has said Russian air-launched cruise missiles struck rail infrastructure in Ukraine capital Kyiv early Sunday as heavy fighting continues in Severodonetsk.
Russian forces are pushing towards Sloviansk, the ministry said in a Twitter update.
Meanwhile at sea, following the loss of the cruiser Moskva in April, Russian forces "have likely moved multiple air defence assets to Snake Island in the western Black Sea, including SA-15 and SA-22 systems," according to British assessments.
3:45am: Zelensky visits front lines as fighting rages
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met troops on the front lines 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 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 missiles 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 Severodonetsk
Ukraine said Sunday its forces controlled half of Severodonetsk, 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 Severodonetsk
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."
(FRANCE24 with REUTERS, AP and AFP)
