Ukraine’s interior ministry said Saturday that an inspection of the country’s air raid shelters found nearly 900 “unfit for use” and more than 250 locked. The announcement came two days after a woman in Kyiv allegedly died while waiting outside a locked shelter door during a Russian missile attack. Read our live blog to see how all the day's events unfolded. All times are Paris time (GMT+2).
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9:46pm: More than 1,100 air raid shelters in Ukraine found locked or ‘unfit for use’, ministry says
Ukrainian officials announced Saturday that an inspection had found nearly a quarter of the country’s air raid shelters locked or unusable, just two days after a 33-year-old woman in Kyiv allegedly died waiting outside a shuttered shelter during a Russian missile barrage.
The interior ministry said through its press service that of the “over 4,800” shelters it had inspected, 252 were locked and a further 893 “unfit for use”.
That same day, the Kyiv regional prosecutor’s office reported that four people were detained in a criminal probe into the woman’s death on Thursday outside the locked shelter. The prosecutor’s office said that one person, a security guard who had failed to unlock the doors, remained under arrest, while three others, including a local official, had been put under house arrest.
According to the prosecutor’s office, the suspects face up to eight years in prison for official negligence that led to a person’s death.
The ministry said that over 5,300 volunteers, including emergency workers, police officers and local officials, would continue to inspect shelters across Ukraine.
9:45pm: Kyiv authorities have received ‘more than a thousand’ complaints about air raid shelters, mayor says
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said on Saturday that city authorities have received “more than a thousand" complaints regarding locked, dilapidated or insufficient air-raid shelters within a day of launching an online feedback service.
In a Telegram update, Klitschko reported that “almost half” of the complaints concerned facilities being locked, while about a quarter had to do with them being in poor condition. Some 250 Kyiv residents wrote in to complain of a lack of nearby shelters.
Russia on Thursday launched a pre-dawn missile barrage at the Ukrainian capital, killing a nine-year-old and her mother, as well as another woman, who was 33 years old, in what was the highest toll from a single attack on Kyiv over the past month.
The 33-year-old woman died as she and others waited to enter a locked shelter, which left the group at the mercy of falling missile fragments, her husband told Ukrainian media.
5:41pm: Russia bans journalists from "unfriendly" countries from covering showpiece economic forum
The Kremlin's spokesman said Saturday that journalists from countries Russia regards as "unfriendly" have been banned from covering this year's St Petersburg International Economic Forum, one of the country's showpiece events.
The move underlines the intensifying animosity between Russia and countries that have imposed sanctions connected to the war in Ukraine or that have criticised Moscow.
The June 14-17 event has for decades been Russia's vehicle for touting its development and seeking investors. Putin's appearances at the forum have been highly visible and he often used the occasion to hold roundtable discussions with international news executives.
“It was decided not to accredit media outlets from unfriendly countries to the SPIEF this time,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was quoted as telling state news agency TASS.
Russia formally designates scores of countries including the United States, Canada, European Union member states and Australia as “unfriendly” in connection with sanctions imposed over the war in Ukraine.
4:07pm: France can hardly be a ‘moderator’ in Ukraine war, Kremlin says
France can hardly be a "moderator" in the Ukrainian conflict due to its active participation in it, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
Peskov told Russian state television reporter Pavel Zarubin that, at the same time, President Vladimir Putin is open to any contacts in order to achieve Russia's goals.
2:38pm: Governor of Russia's Belgorod says two killed by Ukrainian artillery fire
Two people were killed and two injured by Ukrainian artillery fire in Russia's Belgorod region, Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said.
“Since this morning, settlements in the Shebekino urban district have been under fire from the Ukrainian Armed Forces,” he wrote on Telegram. On Friday, Gladkov said that more than 2,500 people were being evacuated from the district, given that it was not safe to be there.
Russian officials have in recent days reported intensified attacks from northern Ukraine. Five people were killed, 16 injured in Ukrainian shelling attacks on Belgorod region on Friday, Gladkov said in an earlier update.
1:52pm: Ukraine dismisses 'strange' Indonesian peace plan
Ukraine's defence minister on Saturday dismissed a plan proposed by his Indonesian counterpart to end the war between Kyiv and Moscow, calling it a "strange" proposal.
The plan included an "immediate cessation of hostilities", a ceasefire "at present positions", demilitarised zones that would be guaranteed by observers and United Nations peacekeeping forces and an eventual "referendum in the disputed areas" organised by the UN.
Ukrainian Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov, flatly rejected the proposal.
"It sounds like a Russian plan, not Indonesian plan," he said. "We don't need this mediator coming to us (with) this strange plan."
1:46pm: EU's top diplomat discusses Ukraine's ammunition needs with South Korea
The European Union's top diplomat, Josep Borrell, said he met South Korea's defence minister on Saturday to discuss Ukraine's needs for ammunition.
"Good meeting with Korean Defence Minister Lee Jong-sup at #SLD23. Shared alarm at continued DPRK provocations and discussed Ukraine’s needs for ammunition," Borrell said in a tweet.
A US ally and major producer of artillery ammunition, South Korea had so far ruled out sending lethal aid to Ukraine, citing business ties with Russia and Moscow's influence over North Korea, despite mounting pressure from Washington and Europe to supply weapons
11:39am: Indonesia proposes peace plan for Russia-Ukraine war
Indonesia's defence minister proposed a plan Saturday to end the war between Russia and Ukraine at a defence summit in Singapore, an initiative that drew quick criticism from attendees.
In a speech to the Shangri-La Dialogue defence summit, Prabowo Subianto proposed a ceasefire "at present positions", and demilitarised zones that would be guaranteed by observers and United Nations peacekeeping forces.
He also suggested an eventual "referendum in the disputed areas" organised by the UN.
Defence chief Subianto's proposal was criticised at the summit on Saturday, with EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell saying peace in Ukraine had to be achieved on "just" terms.
11:13am: Russia to come back to START if US abandons its 'hostile stance', says foreign minister
Russia will come back to full compliance with the New START treaty if Washington abandons its "hostile stance" towards Moscow, Russian news agencies reported, citing Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov.
The United States said earlier this week that it would stop providing Russia some notifications required under the arms control treaty, including updates on its missile and launcher locations, to retaliate for Moscow's "ongoing violations" of the accord.
“Our own condition for returning to a fully operational treaty is for the US to abandon its fundamentally hostile stance toward Russia," Ryabkov said
10:47am: Counter-offensive on track despite Russian missile barrages, says Ukrainian defence official
Ukraine's plans for a counteroffensive against Russian occupation remain on track, its deputy defence minister told Reuters on Saturday, despite an "unprecedented" wave of missile and drone attacks across the country in recent weeks.
"[Russia's] primary goal is to stop our counteroffensive and target decision-making centres," Volodymyr V. Havrylov said on the sidelines of Asia's top security conference, the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore.
Havrylov noted that his country's air defence systems had been "more than 90 percent effective" against the attacks.
For Russia "it was a huge surprise to find that the effectiveness of (their ballistic missiles) was almost zero against modern air defence systems, which we received from our partners", he said.
9:20am: Zelensky says Ukraine ready to launch counteroffensive
Ukraine is ready to launch its long-awaited counteroffensive to recapture Russian-occupied territory, President Volodymyr Zelensky said in an interview published on Saturday.
"We strongly believe that we will succeed,” Zelensky told the Wall Street Journal.
"I don’t know how long it will take. To be honest, it can go a variety of ways, completely different. But we are going to do it, and we are ready."
A long spell of dry weather in some parts of Ukraine has driven anticipation that the counteroffensive might be imminent.
Over the past several weeks Ukraine has increased its strikes on Russian ammunition depots and logistical routes.
6:47pm: Two hurt, industrial site ablaze after shelling in Russia's Belgorod, says governor
The governor of Russia's Belgorod region said on Friday that two people had been injured and an industrial facility had caught fire after shelling around the border town of Shebekino.
Both Belgorod region and the town of Shebekino, which are adjacent to Ukraine's Kharkiv region, have come under repeated fire in recent weeks from the Ukrainian side of the border.
Key developments from Friday, June 2:
Four people died in shelling in the Russian region of Belgorod near the border with Ukraine, the regional governor said.
Ukrainian officials said air defences destroyed all 15 missiles and 21 drones from a wave of overnight attacks into Friday that left two people wounded in Kyiv.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that calls from Russia and China for peace negotiations would result in a false “Potemkin peace” that would not secure Ukraine’s sovereignty. “We believe the prerequisite for meaningful diplomacy and real peace is a stronger Ukraine, capable of deterring and defending against any future aggression,” Blinken said in a speech in Finland.
Read yesterday's live blog to see how the day's events unfolded.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP and REUTERS)
