Closing summary
It is 9pm in Kyiv. Here’s where we stand:
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Ukraine’s prime minister, Denys Shmyhal, has urged the EU to supply his country with more weapons and equipment to help in its fight against Russia’s invasion. He also suggested Ukraine could deliver gas to the EU to ease an energy crunch that has driven prices to record-high levels. In a joint press conference with Shmyhal, the EU foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, promised the bloc’s continued support to Kyiv, no matter “whatever threat, whatever blackmail” may come from Russia.
Russia will not resume its gas supplies to Europe in full until the west lifts its sanctions against Moscow, the Kremlin said. Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin’s spokesperson, blamed western sanctions for Russia’s failure to deliver gas through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, adding that Russia’s full resumption of gas supplies via Nord Stream 1 was “undoubtedly” dependent on whether the west would lift its sanctions on Moscow.
Concerns over Russian gas supplies continued to drive up energy prices, while the pound and euro slumped after Russia shut down the Nord Stream 1 pipeline indefinitely. The contract for gas delivery next month in the UK soared by 35%, to 550p a therm. Winter gas prices were also up sharply. On Monday, the euro hit a 20-year low against the US dollar, falling as low as $0.9879 in early trading.
Ukraine’s armed forces have said its troops repelled Russian offensives in eastern Ukraine and were able to knock Russian positions near Kramatorsk. In a situational update, it also claimed that Ukrainian troops had successes in disrupting Russian crossings near Kherson and in using long-range artillery in Kharkiv.
Despite the Russian military’s efforts to contain the Ukrainian counteroffensive in the south, it is focused on conquering the Donbas region, according to the latest update from the UK ministry of defence. Russia’s main “axes of advance remain at Avdiivka near Donetsk city and, 60km to the north, around Bakhmut”, the MoD said.
Ukraine has made progress in its recently launched counteroffensive, with its forces taking two settlements in the south, a third in the east as well as additional territory in the east of the country, Volodymyr Zelenskiy said. Kyrylo Tymoshenko, deputy head of the president’s office, posted an image of soldiers raising the Ukrainian flag over a village he said was in Ukraine’s south.
Russia-appointed officials in the occupied Kherson region of Ukraine say they are “pausing” a planned referendum on whether to become part of Russia because of attacks by Ukrainian forces. The Russian state news agency Tass reported that the head of Kherson’s authorities, Kirill Stremousov, said attacks on the Antonivskiy Bridge in Kherson city by Ukrainian forces had stopped traffic from crossing the Dnieper River, which links the two sides of the region.
The final working reactor block of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant has been disconnected after Russian shelling disrupted power lines, according to Ukraine’s state energy operator. Energoatom told Reuters that the reactor was operating and providing the plant’s own electricity needs despite its disconnection from the grid.
Four of the six International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) mission members at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant have left its territory, Energoatom, Ukraine’s state enterprise operating all four nuclear power stations in the country, has said. The remaining two still stay on a permanent basis, it said.
Ukraine and the EU have signed a deal to release a further €500m (£431m) in planned aid, aimed at supporting housing, education and agriculture. The European Commission announced the package as senior officials hosted a meeting in Brussels with Ukraine’s prime minister, Denys Shmyhal. The meeting was the first since Ukraine was accepted as a formal candidate to join the EU.
The EU is running low on weapon stocks as member countries continue to send arms and ammunition to Ukraine, the bloc’s top diplomat has warned. The EU foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, urged member states to better coordinate their spending on military materiel during a debate with European lawmakers.
Novaya Gazeta, Russia’s leading independent newspaper whose chief editor was last year co-awarded the Nobel peace prize, was stripped of its media licence today. The country’s media regular, Rozkomnadzor, had accused the publication of failing to provide documents related to a change of ownership in 2006. The ruling was “a political hit job, without the slightest legal basis”, its editor-in-chief and Nobel Peace laureate, Dmitry Muratov, said outside court today.
A Russian court has sentenced the journalist Ivan Safronov to 22 years in a penal colony after finding him guilty of treason. Safronov, a former military correspondent for Kommersant and Vedomosti, was arrested in 2020 and accused of disclosing classified information. Journalists were seen crying and hugging each other on the streets outside the courtroom after the verdict.
Volodymyr Zelenskiy has thanked the outgoing British prime minister, Boris Johnson, for his “personal bravery and principles” in response to Russia and said that he would remain “a great friend of Ukraine”. Johnson told the Ukrainian president that he was “convinced” Ukraine’s forces could “continue to succeed in pushing back Russian forces” and that the UK “remains steadfast in its support”, Downing Street said.
The Kremlin has said diplomatic relations between Britain and Russia could worsen under the next British prime minister. Speaking to reporters before Liz Truss was declared the winner of the UK’s Conservative party leadership election, the Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said he didn’t think “we can hope for anything positive” as the contest had been dominated by “anti-Russian rhetoric”.
The Hollywood stars Sean Penn and Ben Stiller are among 25 Americans who have been targeted with sanctions by Russia due to their public criticism of Moscow’s war on Ukraine. Russia’s foreign ministry said the group, which also included business leaders, academics and government officials, would be banned permanently from entering Russia.
That’s it from me, Léonie Chao-Fong, and the Russia-Ukraine blog today. As always, thank you for reading. I will be back tomorrow.
Ukraine says its forces pushed Russian forces back near Kramatorsk
Ukraine’s armed forces have said its troops repelled Russian offensives in eastern Ukraine and were able to destroy Russian positions near Kramatorsk.
In a situational update, the general staff of Ukraine’s armed forces said:
Our defenders successfully repelled enemy offensive attempts in the areas of the settlements of Bilohorivka, Hryhorivka, Pokrovske, Bakhmutske, Lozove, Spartak, Soledar, Zaitseve and Semihiria.
In the Kramatorsk direction, they had tactical success and knocked the enemy out of the positions he had previously occupied.
It went on to say that Ukrainian troops had successes in disrupting Russian crossings near Kherson and in using long-range artillery in Kharkiv.
It added:
As a result of Ukraine’s successful fire attack on Kharkiv Region’s Kupiansk, Russian occupiers lost over 100 troops killed and wounded, and two combat vehicles were destroyed.
It has not been possible to independently verify these claims.
Updated
The Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak has urged residents of temporarily occupied territories and Russian-occupied Crimea to prepare bomb shelters and stock up on drinking water.
Podolyak wrote on Twitter:
We ask residents of occupied territories, including the Crimean peninsula, to follow the officials’ recommendations during de-occupation measures. In particular, to prepare a bomb shelter, stock up on a sufficient amount of water and charge the powerbanks. Everything will be Ukraine.
We ask residents of occupied territories, including the Crimean peninsula, to follow the officials’ recommendations during de-occupation measures. In particular, to prepare a bomb shelter, stock up on a sufficient amount of water and charge the powerbanks. Everything will be 🇺🇦.
— Михайло Подоляк (@Podolyak_M) September 5, 2022
Updated
Russian officials have privately warned that the country may face a longer and deeper recession as the impact of western sanctions spreads in an internal report prepared for the government, Bloomberg reports.
The confidential report, which was seen by the network, finds that sanctions by western allies could handicap sectors that Russia has relied on for years to power its economy.
It paints a much bleaker picture of the true impact of Russia’s economic isolation as a result of its invasion of Ukraine than officials usually do in their public pronouncements.
In two of the three scenarios in the report, Russia’s economy could return to prewar levels only at the end of the decade or later. All the scenarios see the pressure of sanctions intensifying, with more countries likely to join them.
As many as 200,000 Russian IT specialists may leave the country by 2025, the report says, while also warning that the country faces a “blockade” that “has affected practically all forms of transport,” further cutting off its economy.
Updated
Ukraine PM asks EU for more weapons and offers gas supplies
Ukraine’s prime minister, Denys Shmyhal, has urged the EU to supply his country with more weapons and equipment to help in its fight against Russia’s invasion.
Shmyhal told reporters after a meeting of the EU-Ukraine Association Council in Brussels:
We need more modern weapons, such as air defence, missile defence and ship defence.
Ukraine needed aircraft and more armoured vehicles as there were no signs Russia was willing to end its war, he added.
Shmyhal also suggested Ukraine could deliver gas to the EU to ease an energy crunch that has driven prices to record-high levels.
He said:
We can replace to a large extent the Russian imports. 30bn cubic meters is what we have in our gas stores, and we can offer some of it to our European partners in order to replace the Russian Federation in the unstable market.
In a joint press conference with the Ukrainian prime minister, the EU foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, promised the bloc’s continued support to Kyiv, no matter “whatever threat, whatever blackmail” may come from Russia.
Borrell said:
We will provide our support politically, financially, humanitarian and militarily as long as it takes and as much as needed.
Updated
The Hollywood stars Sean Penn and Ben Stiller are among 25 Americans who have been targeted with sanctions by Russia due to their public criticism of Moscow’s war on Ukraine.
The US commerce secretary, Gina Raimondo, was also on the sanctions list, as well as the US senators Mark Kelly and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, Kevin Cramer of North Dakota, Mike Rounds of South Dakota, Rick Scott of Florida and Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania.
Russia’s foreign ministry said the group, which also included business leaders, academics and government officials, would be banned permanently from entering Russia.
Penn and Stiller have been outspoken critics of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and have both met Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, in high-profile shows of support.
Updated
Summary of the day so far
It’s 7pm in Kyiv. Here’s where we stand:
Russia will not resume its gas supplies to Europe in full until the west lifts its sanctions against Moscow, the Kremlin said. Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin’s spokesperson, blamed western sanctions for Russia’s failure to deliver gas through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, adding that Russia’s full resumption of gas supplies via Nord Stream 1 was “undoubtedly” dependent on whether the west would lift its sanctions on Moscow.
Concerns over Russian gas supplies continued to drive up energy prices, while the pound and euro slumped after Russia shut down the Nord Stream 1 pipeline indefinitely. The contract for gas delivery next month in the UK soared by 35%, to 550p a therm. Winter gas prices were also up sharply. On Monday, the euro hit a 20-year low against the US dollar, falling as low as $0.9879 in early trading.
The White House has accused Russia of using energy as a weapon after it stopped the supply of gas through Nord Stream 1. The US and Europe have been collaborating to ensure sufficient supplies are available and that European gas storage will be full by the critical winter heating season but “we have more work to do”, a US official said.
Despite the Russian military’s efforts to contain the Ukrainian counteroffensive in the south, it is focused on conquering the Donbas region, according to the latest update from the UK ministry of defence. Russia’s main “axes of advance remain at Avdiivka near Donetsk city and, 60km to the north, around Bakhmut”, the MoD said.
Ukraine has made progress in its recently launched counteroffensive, with its forces taking two settlements in the south, a third in the east as well as additional territory in the east of the country, Volodymyr Zelenskiy said. Kyrylo Tymoshenko, deputy head of the president’s office, posted an image of soldiers raising the Ukrainian flag over a village he said was in Ukraine’s south.
Russia-appointed officials in the occupied Kherson region of Ukraine say they are “pausing” a planned referendum on whether to become part of Russia because of attacks by Ukrainian forces. The Russian state news agency Tass reported that the head of Kherson’s authorities, Kirill Stremousov, said attacks on the Antonivskiy Bridge in Kherson city by Ukrainian forces had stopped traffic from crossing the Dnieper River, which links the two sides of the region.
The final working reactor block of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant has been disconnected after Russian shelling disrupted power lines, according to Ukraine’s state energy operator. Energoatom told Reuters that the reactor was operating and providing the plant’s own electricity needs despite its disconnection from the grid.
Four of the six International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) mission members at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant have left its territory, Energoatom, Ukraine’s state enterprise operating all four nuclear power stations in the country, has said. The remaining two still stay on a permanent basis, it said.
Ukraine and the EU have signed a deal to release a further €500m (£431m) in planned aid, aimed at supporting housing, education and agriculture. The European Commission announced the package as senior officials hosted a meeting in Brussels with Ukraine’s prime minister, Denys Shmyhal. The meeting was the first since Ukraine was accepted as a formal candidate to join the EU.
The EU is running low on weapon stocks as member countries continue to send arms and ammunition to Ukraine, the bloc’s top diplomat has warned. The EU foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, urged member states to better coordinate their spending on military materiel during a debate with European lawmakers.
Novaya Gazeta, Russia’s leading independent newspaper whose chief editor was last year co-awarded the Nobel peace prize, was stripped of its media licence today. The country’s media regular, Rozkomnadzor, had accused the publication of failing to provide documents related to a change of ownership in 2006. The ruling was “a political hit job, without the slightest legal basis”, its editor-in-chief and Nobel Peace laureate, Dmitry Muratov, said outside court today.
A Russian court has sentenced the journalist Ivan Safronov to 22 years in a penal colony after finding him guilty of treason. Safronov, a former military correspondent for Kommersant and Vedomosti, was arrested in 2020 and accused of disclosing classified information. Journalists were seen crying and hugging each other on the streets outside the courtroom after the verdict.
Volodymyr Zelenskiy has thanked the outgoing British prime minister, Boris Johnson, for his “personal bravery and principles” in response to Russia and said that he would remain “a great friend of Ukraine”. Johnson told the Ukrainian president that he was “convinced” Ukraine’s forces could “continue to succeed in pushing back Russian forces” and that the UK “remains steadfast in its support”, Downing Street said.
The Kremlin has said diplomatic relations between Britain and Russia could worsen under the next British prime minister. Speaking to reporters before Liz Truss was declared the winner of the UK’s Conservative party leadership election, the Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said he didn’t think “we can hope for anything positive” as the contest had been dominated by “anti-Russian rhetoric”.
Hello everyone, it’s Léonie Chao-Fong still with you today on the Russia-Ukraine war blog. Feel free to get in touch on Twitter or via email.
Updated
Britain’s defence secretary, Ben Wallace, said Russia had yet to achieve any of its strategic objectives in its war in Ukraine.
Russia “continues to lose significant equipment and personnel”, Wallace told MPs in the Commons.
He said:
It is estimated to date that over 25,000 Russian soldiers have lost their lives, and in all if you include killed, casualties, captured, or the now reported tens of thousands of deserters, over 80,000 dead or injured and the other categories.
This will have long-lasting impact on Russia’s army and its future combat effectiveness. Russia has yet to achieve any of its strategic objectives. And we are now on day 194 of what was envisaged in total to be a month-long campaign.
Wallace likened the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, to a drug dealer who gets European countries “hooked” on gas.
He urged unity across the continent over the winter, adding:
If we don’t stand together, we don’t deal with it now, these threats won’t go away on their own and to the people in Prague or Cologne, if you give in to the dealer – the drug dealer, or the guy that gets you hooked on heroin – he will be back for more in a good few years.
Updated
Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant’s last reactor disconnected after Russian shelling, says operator
The final working reactor block of the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in south-east Ukraine has been disconnected after Russian shelling disrupted power lines, according to Ukraine’s state energy operator.
In a Telegram statement, Energoatom said:
Today, as a result of a fire caused by shelling, the [last working] transmission line was disconnected. As a result, [reactor] unit No 6, which currently supplies the [plant’s] own needs, was unloaded and disconnected from the grid.
The company told Reuters that the reactor was operating and providing the plant’s own electricity needs, despite its disconnection from the grid.
The plant’s backup diesel generators, which provide power for cooling in the event of a shutdown, have not been turned on, they added.
Ukraine’s energy minister, German Galushchenko, warned that the world was “once again on the brink of a nuclear disaster” following the initial news.
Galushchenko added that the only way to ensure nuclear safety was the de-occupation of the plant and the creation of a demilitarised zone around the facility.
Updated
The Guardian’s Moscow correspondent, Andrew Roth, has been covering the sentencing of the journalist Ivan Safronov to 22 years in prison for treason.
Journalists were seen crying and hugging each other on the streets outside the courtroom following the verdict.
A lot of journalists covering this verdict. Have seen a number crying, hugging on the street. On way out of court, one report asking another about a detail of the sentence: “I don’t know. I heard 22 years and I stopped fucking listening.” pic.twitter.com/6FIVJSB5VU
— Andrew Roth (@Andrew__Roth) September 5, 2022
Speaking outside the courtroom, Safronov’s lawyer, Dmitry Katchev, said he was almost lost for words at the ruling.
Katchev told reporters:
Safronov was given 22 years for his journalistic activity. I want each of you, who are looking at me now, to think whether it is worth staying in this profession. If somebody was given 22 years for doing his job.
Safronov, a former military correspondent for Kommersant and Vedomosti, was found guilty in the Moscow court of treason charges that have been prosecuted with secret evidence behind closed doors.
Have never seen a Russian judge give a 22 year sentence. And because the evidence was secret, the hearing was incredibly quick. Defendant comes in. Here’s 22 years. Case closed. Never seen anything like it.
— Andrew Roth (@Andrew__Roth) September 5, 2022
Many will see today’s ruling as an enormous blow to media freedom in Russia, as it comes on the same day that a Moscow court stripped Novaya Gazeta of its print media licence, effectively banning the newspaper from operating inside the country.
Updated
Boris Johnson thanked Volodymyr Zelenskiy for his “leadership and friendship” during a phone call this afternoon, Downing Street has said.
A spokesperson for the prime minister said:
The prime minister made clear that he believed President Zelenskiy and his people can and will win the war in Ukraine.
President Zelenskiy thanked the prime minister for believing in Ukraine and his people and updated on the recent progress of his armed forces in the south of the country.
Johnson said he was “convinced” Ukraine’s forces could “continue to succeed in pushing back Russian forces” and that the UK “remains steadfast in its support”, Downing Street said.
The spokesperson added:
The prime minister told President Zelenskiy it had been a privilege to work with him and support him and the leaders agreed to stay in close touch as friends.
Updated
White House accuses Russia of 'using energy as a weapon'
The White House has accused Russia of using energy as a weapon after it stopped the supply of gas through Nord Stream 1.
“Russia is using energy as a weapon and it is choosing to shut down the pipeline,” a US official said.
“The US and Europe have been collaborating to ensure sufficient supplies are available. As a result of these efforts, European gas storage will be full by the critical winter heating season. We have more work to do.”
Updated
Zelenskiy thanks Boris Johnson whom he says will remain 'a great friend of Ukraine'
Volodymyr Zelenskiy has thanked outgoing British prime minister Boris Johnson for his “personal bravery and principles” in response to Russia and said that he would remain “a great friend of Ukraine”.
The Ukrainian president had a “summing up conversation” with Johnson, he wrote on Twitter:
Had a summing up conversation with @BorisJohnson in his current capacity. On behalf of all 🇺🇦 people, I thanked him for his personal bravery, principles & a major contribution to countering RF's aggression. I look forward to cooperation with a great friend of 🇺🇦 in a new status.
— Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) September 5, 2022
Updated
Russian-appointed officials in the occupied Kherson region of Ukraine say they are “pausing” a planned referendum on whether to become part of Russia due to attacks by Ukrainian forces.
Ukraine last week said it had launched offensives in several directions in the southern region but has since released few details and continues to insist on a “regime of silence” for strategic reasons.
The Russian state news agency TASS reported that the head of Kherson’s authorities, Kirill Stremousov, said plans for a referendum on joining Russia had been “paused” due to the security situation.
Stremousov told TASS that attacks on the Antonivskiy Bridge in Kherson city by Ukrainian forces had stopped traffic from crossing the Dneiper River, which links the two sides of the region.
Updated
In the conference, Josep Borrell, the EU foreign policy chief, congratulated Liz Truss for her “clear victory” and wished her the best as Britain’s new leader – but said he was not expecting the UK to return to the EU any time soon.
Updated
A press conference with Ukraine’s prime minister, Denys Shmyhal, and EU foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell is under way in Brussels.
Updated
Russian journalist Safronov sentenced to 22 years in prison for treason
A Russian court has sentenced the journalist Ivan Safronov to 22 years in a penal colony after finding him guilty of treason, in one of the most significant prosecutions against a Russian journalist in decades.
Safronov, a former military correspondent for Kommersant and Vedomosti, was arrested in 2020 and accused of disclosing classified information.
His lawyers told the RIA Novosti news agency they will appeal the verdict.
My colleague Andrew Roth is in court covering Safronov’s ruling:
Sentence is being read by head of panel of three judges. Safronov is standing in glass-box staring straight ahead. Supporters yelling “Vanya we love you.” Photo and video banned in the courtroom. It’s the same one where Alexei Navalny was sentenced to prison.
— Andrew Roth (@Andrew__Roth) September 5, 2022
“The sentence doesn’t matter! You’ll get out sooner!” yells one supporter. “We love you!” yell others. Ivan Safronov stands in a vest and grey t-shirt and sweatpants, handcuffed as he is led from the courtroom. “I love you all too, he yells back.
— Andrew Roth (@Andrew__Roth) September 5, 2022
Photo of Ivan Safronov in court today published by group of his supporters. He received 22 years in prison today on trumped-up treason charges for his work as a journalist. He was handcuffed as he heard the sentence. pic.twitter.com/KRTgQTcCbY
— Andrew Roth (@Andrew__Roth) September 5, 2022
Updated
French president, Emmanuel Macron, has spoken with Volodymyr Zelenskiy in a “substantive” phone call to discuss the situation on the frontline and to coordinate further defence support from France, the Ukrainian leader said.
The talks between the two leaders took more than an hour and a half, according to Zelenskiy.
Held substantive, more than 1.5 hour-long talks with 🇫🇷 President @EmmanuelMacron. Told him about the situation at the front & the course of countering RF's aggression. Coordinated further defense support from 🇫🇷. Exchanged assessments of the results of the IAEA mission to #ZNPP
— Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) September 5, 2022
Following the call, Macron said the only way to restore security at the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine was via withdrawal of Russian troops, the Élysée palace said in a statement.
Updated
The Kremlin has warned that Russia will not resume gas supplies to Europe until western sanctions are lifted, blaming the “collective west” for its decision to shut down flows through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov was cited earlier today by the Interfax news agency as saying:
The problems pumping gas came about because of the sanctions western countries introduced against our country and several companies. There are no other reasons that could have caused this pumping problem.
Peskov’s comments mark Moscow’s clearest demand to date that the EU roll back its sanctions in exchange for Russia resuming gas deliveries to the continent.
But the Guardian’s Moscow correspondent, Andrew Roth, points out that Peskov did leave some wiggle room.
Kremlin threatening an indefinite ban on gas deliveries via Nordstream until western sanctions are lifted. Would be a massive decision. Peskov leaves a bit of wiggle room though, here are longer quotes via Interfax pic.twitter.com/DjURDPpd4c
— Andrew Roth (@Andrew__Roth) September 5, 2022
Updated
China’s foreign ministry has voiced its opposition to the agreement by G7 countries to impose a price cap on Russian oil, and urged countries to ease the situation “through dialogue”.
Oil is one of the global commodities and it is “crucial to ensure the security of global energy supply”, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson, Mao Ning, told reporters.
Mao added:
We hope that relevant countries will make constructive efforts to ease the situation through dialogue and consultation, not do the opposite.
EU running out of weapons, warns top diplomat
The EU is running low on weapons stocks as member countries continue to send arms and ammunition to Ukraine, the bloc’s top diplomat has warned.
EU foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, urged member states to better coordinate their spending on military materiel during a debate with European lawmakers.
Borrell said:
The military stocks of most member states has been, I wouldn’t say exhausted, but depleted in a high proportion, because we have been providing a lot of capacity to the Ukrainians.
He added:
It has to be refilled. The best way of refilling is doing that together. It will be cheaper.
If EU countries continue to expand their military capabilities in the same way, “the result will be a big waste of money, because this is not a way of cancelling our duplications – there are a lot of them – or filling our gaps”, he said.
Borrell admitted that the EU should have begun to train Ukraine’s armed forces a year ago, months before Russia launched its invasion, after several member countries requested such an operation.
Had the EU responded at the time, “we would be in a better situation”, he said, adding:
Unhappily we didn’t, and today we regret. We regret that last August we were not following this request, fulfilling this request.
Updated
EU signs deal with Ukraine for further €500m in aid
Ukraine and the EU have signed a deal to release a further €500m (£431m) in planned aid, aimed at supporting housing, education and agriculture.
The European Commission announced the package as senior officials hosted a meeting in Brussels with Ukraine’s prime minister, Denys Shmyhal.
#Ukraine and the #EU signed 5 agreements - participation in "Digital Europe" program, cooperation in customs & tax sphere, €500 million of budget support, increasing grants budget for 🇺🇦 by €122 million.
— Denys Shmyhal (@Denys_Shmyhal) September 5, 2022
Agreements bring us closer to the #EU, contribute to 🇺🇦 sustainability. pic.twitter.com/dQFtle5GbX
In addition to the latest aid package, Ukraine will also be able to apply to the EU digital economy fund to develop hi-tech training and industry.
The meeting today in Brussels will be the first since Ukraine was accepted as a formal candidate to join the EU. It was chaired by the bloc’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, and enlargement commissioner Olivér Várhelyi.
Warmly welcome PM @Denys_Shmyhal on his 1st visit to Brussels since the start of Russia’s brutal invasion of #Ukraine.
— Josep Borrell Fontelles (@JosepBorrellF) September 5, 2022
His presence & the holding of the Association Council
are yet another proof of Ukraine's resilience and bravery.
We will continue supporting Ukraine’s EU path. pic.twitter.com/Kh9scYektY
Updated
During the early days of the Russia-Ukraine war, the invading force was approaching the Irpin River and the gates of the Ukrainian capital. But the river waters suddenly rose, forcing the Russians to turn back and leaving a trail of abandoned tanks and military hardware. Kyiv breathed again and a wetland ecosystem was reflooded for the first time in more than 70 years.
Miraculous as it might have seemed, it wasn’t the hand of God that helped save Ukraine. “That’s warWilding,” says Jasper Humphreys, the director of programmes for the Marjan Study Group in the department of war studies at King’s College London, which researches conflict and the environment.
“I woke up in the middle of the night, a few days after reading the ‘hero river’ story in the Guardian about how the Ukrainian army reflooded the dying Irpin River and its former wetlands to save the Ukrainian capital,” says the academic, of how he came up with the word. “And I just sat up in bed and whispered to myself, ‘It’s warWilding’.”
Read the full story: WarWilding: a new word to describe the startling effects of using nature as a weapon
Updated
Kherson separatists to ‘pause’ referendum on joining Russia
A Russian-installed official in Ukraine’s Kherson region said plans for a referendum on joining Russia have “taken a pause due to security considerations”, Russian state media reported.
Kirill Stremousov, the deputy head of the Russian-installed administration in the occupied Kherson region, was cited by the Russian state-owned Tass news agency as saying:
We have got prepared for voting. We wanted to organise the referendum in the near future, but because of the current developments, I think we will take a pause.
It is quite explainable from the practical point of view. We are not running before the hounds and are focused on our key task - to feed people, to ensure their security.
The Russian-imposed military-civilian administration in Kherson had previously said it had begun preparations for a referendum on joining Russia.
Stremousov was also quoted as saying that the vital Antonivskyi bridge, which crosses the Dnipro river near Kherson city, can no longer be crossed by car after weeks of Ukrainian shelling.
Almost all of the Kherson region has been occupied by Russian forces since March. Last week, Ukraine announced it had begun its counteroffensive in an attempt to retake the southern region from occupying forces.
Updated
Moscow court revokes Novaya Gazeta’s licence to publish inside Russia
Novaya Gazeta, Russia’s leading independent newspaper whose chief editor was last year co-awarded the Nobel peace prize, was stripped of its media licence today.
The Basmanny district court in Moscow said it had invalidated the newspaper’s licence at the request of the country’s media regulator, Roskomnadzor.
Rozkomnadzor had accused the publication of failing to provide documents related to a change of ownership in 2006. Novaya Gazeta’s lawyers insist that the changes did not require presenting the charter to the authorities.
The ruling was “a political hit job, without the slightest legal basis”, editor-in-chief and Nobel Peace laureate Dmitry Muratov, said outside court today.
Novaya Gazeta suspended operations in late March after being forced to remove material from its website on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The court verdict in effect bans the outlet from operating. Rozkomnadzor is also seeking to shut down Novaya Gazeta’s website and a print magazine that it launched in July. Two court hearings are scheduled for later this month.
Today’s ruling comes less than a week after the death of the last Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, who helped in the founding of Novaya Gazeta in the early 1990s. Muratov led the procession at Gorbachev’s Moscow funeral on Saturday.
Six of Novaya Gazeta’s reporters have been killed in assassinations that the newspaper and human rights groups say were connected with their work, including top investigative reporter Anna Politkovskaya.
Updated
Summary of the day so far
Hello everyone. I’m Léonie Chao-Fong, taking over the blog from Tobi Thomas to bring you all the latest developments from the Russia-Ukraine war. Feel free to drop me a message if you have anything to flag, you can reach me on Twitter or via email.
Here’s a quick roundup of what’s been happening so far.
The Kremlin has said they think there is little hope of anything positive in diplomatic relations between Britain and Russia from the next British prime minister. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov also warned that Moscow would take “retaliatory measures” over a G7 proposal to impose a cap on the price of Russian oil.
Despite the Russian military’s efforts to contain the Ukrainian counteroffensive in the south, it is focused on conquering the Donbas region, according to the latest update from the UK ministry of defence. Russia’s main “axes of advance remain at Avdiivka near Donetsk City and, 60km to the north, around Bakhmut”, the MoD said.
Energoatom, Ukraine’s state enterprise operating all four nuclear power stations in the country, has said that four of the six IAEA mission members at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant have left its territory. The remaining two still stay on a permanent basis, it said.
European gas prices rocketed as much as 30% on Monday after Russia said one of its main gas supply pipelines to Europe would stay shut indefinitely. The move has stoked renewed fears about shortages and gas rationing in the EU this winter.
German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, said his government had planned a total halt in gas deliveries in December, promising measures to lower prices and tie social benefits to inflation. “Russia is no longer a reliable energy partner,” Scholz told a news conference in Berlin. Liz Truss, who is likely to be confirmed as the UK’s new prime minister on Tuesday, will be under pressure to follow suit in helping people with energy bills.
Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, warned Europe to expect a difficult winter after the pipeline shutdown. “Russia is preparing a decisive energy blow on all Europeans for this winter,” he said in his evening address on Sunday.
Ukraine has made progress in its recently launched counter-offensive with its forces taking two settlements in the south, a third in the east, as well as additional territory in the east of the country, Zelenskiy added. Kyrylo Tymoshenko, deputy head of the president’s office, posted an image of soldiers raising the Ukrainian flag over a village he said was in Ukraine’s south.
Updated
Kremlin threatens 'retaliatory measures' over G7 oil price cap
The Kremlin has warned also warned that it would take “retaliatory measures” over a G7 proposal to impose a cap on the price of Russian oil.
A group of seven finance ministers agreed the cap on Friday in response to Russia’s actions in Ukraine, but Moscow has vowed to halt sales to countries imposing it.
Updated
Kremlin: Russia-UK relations could worsen under next PM
The Kremlin said has that they think there was little hope of anything positive in diplomatic relations between Britain and Russia from the next British prime minister, as they think the leadership contest had been dominated by “anti-Russian rhetoric”.
“I don’t think we can hope for anything positive,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters when asked if Moscow expected any shift in relations with the UK.
Peskov said:
I wouldn’t like to say that things can change for the worse, because it’s hard to imagine anything worse.
Asked if Vladimir Putin would send a congratulatory telegram to the next PM, he said:
Let’s wait and see who becomes prime minister.
Britain’s next prime minister is set to be announced later today, following a weeks-long party leadership contest between Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak.
Updated
Energoatom, Ukraine’s state enterprise operating all four nuclear power stations in the country, has said that four of the six IAEA mission members at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant have left its territory, while the remaining two still stay on a permanent basis.
You can read the Guardian’s previous reporting on the issue here:
European gas prices rocketed as much as 30% on Monday after Russia said one of its main gas supply pipelines to Europe would stay shut indefinitely, stoking renewed fears about shortages and gas rationing in the EU this winter.
Reuters reports:
The benchmark gas price surged as high as 272 euros per megawatt hour (MWh) when the market opened after Russia said on Friday that a leak in Nord Stream 1 pipeline equipment meant it would stay shut beyond last week’s three-day maintenance halt.
The Dutch TTF October gas contract had eased to 256 euros, up 23% on the day by 0723 GMT but almost 400% higher than a year ago. This year’s price surge has squeezed struggling already consumers and forced some industries to halt production.
Europe has accused Russia of weaponising energy supplies in retaliation for Western sanctions imposed on Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine. Russia says the West has launched an economic war and sanctions have hampered pipeline operations.
The Nord Stream pipeline, which runs under the Baltic Sea to Germany, historically supplied about a third of the gas Russia exported to Europe but it was already running at just 20% of capacity before flows were halted last week for maintenance.
Russian gas being supplied via Ukraine, another major route, has also been reduced, leaving the EU racing to find alternative supplies to refill gas storage facilities for winter.Several states have trigger emergency plans that could lead to energy rationing and raising prospects for a recession.
“Supply is hard to come by, and it becomes harder and harder to replace every bit of gas that doesn’t come from Russia,” said Jacob Mandel, senior associate for commodities at Aurora Energy Research.
Updated
A suicide bomber detonated explosives near the entrance of the Russian embassy in Kabul, police said on Monday, adding the attacker was shot dead by armed guards as he approached the gate.
The head of the police district, Mawlawi Sabir, told Reuters:
“The suicide attacker before reaching the target, was recognised and shot by Russian embassy (Taliban) guards … there is no information about casualties yet”.
Russia is one of the few countries to have maintained an embassy in Kabul after the Taliban took over the country more than a year ago.
Updated
Myanmar’s junta leader has been on a visit to Russia, his second trip there in less than two months, as Myanmar’s ruling military tries to shore up one of its few diplomatic alliances as it comes under growing international pressure.
Reuters reports:
Min Aung Hlaing, the country’s senior general, has been barred from representing Myanmar at most international gatherings since leading a coup early last year against an elected government led by Noble laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.
He first visited Moscow as leader in June last year, when both sides committed to strengthening military cooperation. He also visited in July on what Russia said was a private visit.
Russia, a main source of military hardware for Myanmar, was one of the first countries to voice support for the junta after the coup, at a time when it was receiving international condemnation over its use of lethal force against opponents.
Myanmar state media said he would attend an economic summit, visit landmarks, universities and factories and his ministers and senior military officials would meet counterparts and “cement friendly cooperation”.
Russia has been providing Myanmar with COVID-19 vaccines and Myanmar is planning to import Russian gasoline and fuel oil to ease supply concerns, as Russia looks for new sources of business amid Western sanctions over its invasion of Ukraine.
Myanmar’s junta has been hit by a raft of sanctions targeting the generals and the extensive business network the military operates.The United Nations and activists have accused the Myanmar military of atrocities and crimes against humanity and have urged the international community to cut off arms sales, with Russia singled out for supplying drones, jets and air defence systems since the coup.
Myanmar’s military says it is fighting “terrorists” and is seeking to restore peace and re-establish democratic rule after a 2020 election it said was marred by fraud.
On Sunday night, the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, thanked his forces for taking two settlements in the south and a third, along with additional territory, in the east, citing “good reports” from his military commanders and intelligence head.
Reuters reports:
Kyrylo Tymoshenko, the deputy head of the president’s office, earlier posted an image of soldiers raising the Ukrainian flag over a village he said was in the southern area that is the main focus of the counter-offensive.
“Vysokopillya. Kherson region. Ukraine. Today,” Tymoshenko wrote on Facebook over a photograph of three soldiers on rooftops, one of them fixing a Ukrainian flag to a post.
Ukraine began the counter-offensive last week targeting the south, particularly the Kherson region, which Russia seized early in the conflict.
After Ukrainian forces’ intense shelling of clusters of Russian troops in the region, the Russians have banned movement of residents, forbidding them to cross the Dnipro River, the Ukrainian general staff said on Monday.
Russia has launched 25 missile strikes, and more than 22 air strikes, on military and civilian targets in Ukraine in the last 24 hours, the statement added, keeping up its focus on establishing full control over the Donetsk region.
Updated
Euro falls to fresh 20-year low
The prospect of higher natural gas prices raises the spectre of recession in Europe this winter and that is bad news for the euro which has fallen to a 20-year low against the US dollar this morning.
The single currency dropped 0.7% in early trade on Monday taking it below 99c to US0.9880 – its lowest mark for more than 20 years.
EURO DECLINES BELOW 99 US CENTS FOR FIRST TIME IN TWO DECADES
— IGSquawk (@IGSquawk) September 5, 2022
The pound is also being crushed by the grim economic outlook across Europe and has lost 0.6% to stand at $1.145.
Liz Truss is likely to take power in the UK on Tuesday and has pledged to act in her first week of office to tackle the crisis caused by rising energy bills.
Full report here:
UK Ministry of Defence says Donbas remains Russia's main focus
The UK Ministry of Defence says in its morning intelligence update that despite the Russian military’s efforts to contain the Ukrainian counteroffensive in the south, it is focused on conquering the Donbas region.
Russia’s main “axes of advance remain at Avdiivka near Donetsk City and, 60km to the north, around Bakhmut”, the MoD said in a tweet on Monday morning, “… but its forces have still only been advancing around 1km per week towards Bakhmut.”
Latest Defence Intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine - 5 September 2022
— Ministry of Defence 🇬🇧 (@DefenceHQ) September 5, 2022
Find out more about the UK government's response: https://t.co/7fPp6gM5tS
🇺🇦 #StandWithUkraine 🇺🇦 pic.twitter.com/OrGEqsSJnD
“The political goal of the Donbas operation almost certainly remains to secure the whole of Donetsk Oblast, which would enable the Kremlin to announce the ‘liberation’ of the Donbas. Russian forces have highly likely repeatedly missed deadlines to achieve this aim.
“The Ukrainian authorities have claimed that Russian forces are now under orders to complete this mission by 15 September 2022. The force is highly unlikely to achieve this, which will further complicate Russia’s plans to run referendums on the occupied areas joining the Russian Federation.”
Offensive is making progress, Zelenskiy claims
Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in his nightly address on Sunday that progress was being made to “liberate all our lands, all our people” after the beginning of the counteroffensive against the Russians in the south.
“The Armed Forces of Ukraine, our intelligence, special services are already taking the necessary steps for this,” Zelenskiy said in a speech posted on Facebook. “These steps can be heard. And everyone can see that the occupiers have already started fleeing Crimea. This is the right choice for all of them.”
He also thanked the “warriors of the 63rd battalion of the 103rd territorial defense brigade” who liberated a settlement in the Donetsk region. The “54th brigade in the Lysychansk-Siversk direction also took good steps, advanced and regained certain heights”, while the “42nd separate motorized infantry battalion - thanks to its heroic actions, two settlements in the south of our country were liberated”.
Kyrylo Tymoshenko, deputy head of the president’s office, posted an image of soldiers raising the Ukrainian flag over a village he said was in Ukraine’s south. “Vysokopillya. Kherson region. Ukraine. Today,” Tymoshenko wrote.
Kremlin blames Europe for pipeline closure
The Kremlin has blamed European politicians for the closure of the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, one of its main gas supply routes, saying their economic sanctions on Russia had hindered Gazprom’s maintenance of the pipeline, Reuters reports.
“If the Europeans absolutely absurdly make a decision to refuse to service their equipment, or rather, equipment that belongs to Gazprom, but which they are contractually required to service, this is not Gazprom’s fault,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in an interview with Russia’s state television, according to the Interfax news agency.
“It is the fault of those politicians who made decisions on sanctions.”
Pressure on gas prices
Gas prices are tipped to rise sharply in Europe on Monday morning after Russian company Gazprom said it was closing the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline until further notice, citing maintenance issues.
Prices have soared since the invasion of Ukraine led to western sanctions on Russia, with the Kremlin responding by cutting gas exports to Europe.
Prices had begun to fall last week amid some optimism that Europe could make it through the forthcoming winter months without households and industry having their supplies cut off. But the Nord Stream closure has refeocused markets on the problem and seem certain to send prices up again.
Here’s the state of play in the UK natural gas market on Monday morning – prices in pence per therm:
Hello and welcome to our live coverage of Russia’s war against Ukraine. I’m Martin Farrer and I’ll be with you for the next hour or so.
It’s a little bit after 8am in Ukraine and the main developments you need to know about are here:
Gas prices in Europe are expected to surge to record highs this week after Russia shut down a key pipeline to Europe. Many commentators warned that European prices will further rise when markets open on Monday after Moscow scrapped a Saturday deadline for flows to resume through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline to Germany, saying it had discovered a fault during maintenance.
German chancellor Olaf Scholz said his government had been planning for a total halt in gas deliveries in December, promising measures to lower prices and tie social benefits to inflation. “Russia is no longer a reliable energy partner,” Scholz told a news conference in Berlin. Liz Truss, who is likely to be confirmed as the UK’s new prime minister on Tuesday, will be under poressure to follow suit in helping people with energy bills.
Ukraine’s president, Volodomyr Zelenskiy, warned Europe to expect a difficult winter after the pipeline shutdown. “Russia is preparing a decisive energy blow on all Europeans for this winter,” he said in his evening address on Sunday
The pipeline shutdown pushed the pound lower by 0.37% on Monday morning to $1.147 amid concerns about the economy’s ability to withstand higher gas prices. The euro is also down 0.3% and looks likely to test the recent 20-year low of $0.99005 as traders priced in more risk of a European recession.
Ukraine has made progress in its recently launched counter-offensive with its forces taking two settlements in the south, a third in the east, as well as additional territory in the east of the country, Zelenskiy claimed during his Sunday evening address. “The Ukrainian flags are returning to the places where they should be by right,” he added. Kyrylo Tymoshenko, deputy head of the president’s office, posted an image of soldiers raising the Ukrainian flag over a village he said was in Ukraine’s south. “Vysokopillya. Kherson region. Ukraine. Today,” Tymoshenko wrote.
Russia said the situation around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in southern Ukraine controlled by its troops was calm on Sunday, after UN inspectors said on Saturday it had again lost external power. The last remaining main external power line was cut off although a reserve line continued supplying electricity to the grid, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said in a statement. Only one of its six reactors remained in operation, it said.
Thousands gathered in Prague on Sunday to protest at soaring energy bills and demand an end to sanctions against Russia over the war in Ukraine. About 70,000 far-right and extreme-left elements coalesced at a “Czech Republic First” rally to call for a new agreement with Moscow over gas supplies and a halt to the sending of arms to Ukraine on Sunday.
A Russian journalist is facing a 24-year jail term for treason. Ivan Safronov, a former military correspondent for Kommersant and Vedomosti, is facing a “record” sentence on treason charges that have been prosecuted with secret evidence behind closed doors. A Russian judge is expected to deliver a verdict on Monday in one of the most significant prosecutions against a Russian journalist in decades.
The Russian state should be tried for historical crimes committed by the Soviet Union, the Ukrainian director Sergei Loznitsa said before the premiere of his new documentary, The Kiev Trial, at Venice. Speaking at a press conference, Loznitza said there needed to be contrition for the wrongs of the past. “History repeats itself when we don’t learn from history, when we didn’t study it and don’t want to know what happened with us,” he said.
Sweden has said it is on “high alert” for outside intervention in its upcoming election amid increased tensions with Russia. The Scandinavian country’s recently re-established psychological defence agency said it had seen heightened activity from foreign sources after its application to join Nato and it was prepared for the possibility of “something exceptional” in the lead-up to polling day on 11 September.
China’s top legislator, Li Zhanshu, will attend the seventh Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok this week, becoming the most senior Chinese official to visit Russia since the Ukraine war began. Li, chairman of the national people’s Congress Standing Committee, will pay official visits to Russia, Mongolia, Nepal and South Korea from Wednesday to 17 September, according to Xinhua news agency. He will attend the four-day forum, set to begin on Monday, during his stay in Russia.
