Summary
- The world’s chemical weapons watchdog said on Friday it is keeping a close eye on Ukraine since Russia’s invasion to monitor “threats of use of toxic chemicals as weapons”. Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons chief Fernando Arias met Ukraine’s parliamentary chairman, Ruslan Stefanchuk, to discuss “the implementation of the Chemical Weapons Convention”, the Hague-based organisation said.
- Russia has demolished 1,300 high-rise buildings in the city of Mariupol without removing dead bodies of residents, according to Vadym Boichenko, mayor of Mariupol.
- Russia has labelled a non-governmental organization that fights for investigations into torture allegations as a “foreign agent”. On Friday, the Russian justice ministry updated its website list of blacklisted entities to include the Committee Against Torture, a UN-linked human rights treaty body.
- Moscow announced its withdrawal on Friday from the United Nations World Tourism Organization after it suspended Russia in April as a result of its military invasion of Ukraine.The Russian government said that it “accepted a proposal from the foreign ministry ... concerning the withdrawal of Russia” from the organization, according to a decree signed by prime minister Mikhail Mishustin.
- Thirty-seven thousand women are in the Ukrainian army and over 1,000 women have become commanders, Ukrainian first lady Olena Zelenska said on Friday. “Most of our doctors are women as well as 50% of our entrepreneurs who work to support the economy at war,” she added.
- Ihor Zhovka, diplomatic adviser to Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has said that Ukraine will not “cede an inch” of territory to Russia. Speaking to Bloomberg reporter Maria Tadeo, Zhovka said, “We are not going to give away territory, we won’t cede an inch - especially not in Donbas. Russia has thrown everything at it – I won’t get tired of saying Ukraine needs immediate supply of heavy weapons.”
- Serbian president Aleksandar Vučić appeared on Friday to reject calls from German chancellor Olaf Scholz for Serbia to join the European Union in imposing sanctions on Russia over its military invasion of Ukraine. Vučić said that he did not believe sanctions are “efficient” and that his country is in a complicated position, given the longstanding special relationship between Serbia and Russia.
- A video of one of many mass graveyards in Ukraine has emerged online, Ukraine’s Centre for Strategic Communications and Information Security under the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy tweeted on Friday. According to Mariupol mayor Vadym Boichenko, there are 50 to 100 killed people under every destroyed house in the city, with the number of destroyed houses reaching 1,300.
- Ukraine tried to push back Russian troops in the east and south on Friday as France offered to help ensure access to the port of Odessa and ease a global grain crisis. An adviser to French president Emmanuel Macron said France was ready to assist in an operation to allow safe access to Ukraine’s Black Sea port of Odessa.
This blog is closed. You can catch up on the week in Ukraine here. A final summary follows. Live coverage will resume later.
Updated
The world’s chemical weapons watchdog said Friday it is keeping a close eye on Ukraine since Russia’s invasion to monitor “threats of use of toxic chemicals as weapons”.
Agence France-Presse reports:
Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons chief Fernando Arias met Ukraine’s parliamentary chairman Ruslan Stefanchuk to discuss “the implementation of the Chemical Weapons Convention,” the Hague-based organisation said.
“Since the beginning of the current conflict, the OPCW Technical Secretariat has been closely monitoring the situation in Ukraine,” the OPCW said in a statement after the meeting.
Friday’s talks included “the threat of chemical weapons use and assistance and protection support from the OPCW Technical Secretariat as well as from States Parties to the convention,” it said.
The Chemical Weapons Convention is the treaty signed by most countries around the world - including Ukraine and Russia - banning the use of chemical weapons.
Stefanchuk’s visit comes in the wake of Russia’s attack on a chemical plant last week in the eastern Ukrainian city of Severodonetsk in which a nitric acid tank was hit.
The destruction of the tank prompted Ukrainian authorities to call on residents to “stay indoors and prepare protective face masks impregnated with soda solution”.
Arias said the OPCW was ready to provide technical assistance to Ukraine, “especially in the field of chemical safety and security.”
Russia has demolished 1,300 high-rise buildings in the city of Mariupol without removing dead bodies of residents, according to Vadym Boichenko, mayor of Mariupol.
Mariupol mayor: Russia demolished 1,300 high-rise buildings in city without removing dead bodies of residents
— Iuliia Mendel (@IuliiaMendel) June 10, 2022
Updated
Inna Sovsun, Ukraine’s former first deputy minister of education and science tweeted on Friday photos of Ukrainian high school graduates posing amidst war-torn backdrops.
Photo of graduates of one of the schools in the city of #Chernihiv in Northern #Ukraine.#Russia severely damaged the city in February-March.
— Inna Sovsun (@InnaSovsun) June 10, 2022
This will forever remain in the memory of these high school graduates. And in their yearbooks. pic.twitter.com/3FcyKG5bVR
Russia’s military campaign severely damaged the city of Chernihiv in northern Ukraine between February and March, Sovsun said.
“This will forever remain in the memory of these high school graduates. And in their yearbooks,” she added.
Russia has labelled a non-governmental organization that fights for investigations into torture allegations as a “foreign agent.”
On Friday, the Russian justice ministry updated its website list of blacklisted entities to include the Committee Against Torture, a UN-linked human rights treaty body.
Russia has long used the “foreign agent” label to blacklist opponents, journalists and human rights activists who are accused of carrying out foreign-funded political activities against the state.
The organization, founded 22 years ago, has urged Russian authorities to investigate torture allegations carried out by its security forces and called for preventative measures.
In 2015, the organization was designated as a “foreign agent” and again the following year, dissolving itself and then re-forming to try and evade the label.
Since the start of Moscow’s military operation in Ukraine on February 24, dozens of members of the Russian intellectual elite and journalists have left the country, as the authorities step up pressure against the last critical voices and media.
In April, Russia announced that it was shutting down the local offices of over a dozen international organizations including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International.
Moscow announced it withdrawal on Friday from the United Nations World Tourism Organization after it suspended Russia in April as a result of its military invasion of Ukraine.
The Russian government said that it “accepted a proposal from the foreign ministry...concerning the withdrawal of Russia” from the organization, according to a decree signed by prime minister Mikhail Mishustin.
Updated
37,000 women are in the Ukrainian army and over 1,000 women have become commanders, Ukrainian first lady Olena Zelenska said on Friday.
“Most of our doctors are women as well as 50% of our entrepreneurs who work to support the economy at war,” she added.
37,000 women are in the Ukrainian army & more than 1,000 women have become commanders, Ukrainian first lady said at the conference in Brussels.
— Euromaidan Press (@EuromaidanPress) June 10, 2022
"Most of our doctors are women as well as 50% of our entrepreneurs who work to support the economy at war" https://t.co/N1TaeBtEEh
Updated
Ihor Zhovka, diplomatic advisor to Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has said that Ukraine will not “cede an inch” of territory to Russia.
Speaking to Bloomberg reporter Maria Tadeo, Zhovka said, “We are not going to give away territory, we won’t cede an inch - especially not in Donbas. Russia has thrown everything at it - I won’t get tired of saying Ukraine needs immediate supply of heavy weapons.”
Zelenskiy’s diplomatic advisor Ihor Zhovkva tells me «As I’ve told you, we are not going to give away territory, we won’t cede an inch - especially not in Donbas. Russia has thrown everything at it - I won’t get tired of saying Ukraine needs immediate supply of heavy weapons.»
— Maria Tadeo (@mariatad) June 10, 2022
He went on to express concerns over trusting Russia, saying, “We are ready to export using our vessels or third parties. But we don’t trust Russia. We need a ceasefire and guarantors. We are ready. So far, our efforts have not sufficed.”
Updated
Serbian president Aleksandar Vuvic appeared on Friday to reject calls from German chancellor Olaf Scholz for Serbia to join the European Union in imposing sanctions on Russia over its military invasion of Ukraine.
Speaking at a news conference during his two-day tour of the Western Balkans, Scholz said that Serbia, as an EU candidate, should join the EU bloc and join other EU members in their measures against Moscow.
However, Vuvic said that he did not believe sanctions are “efficient” and that his country is in a complicated position, given the long-standing special relationship between Serbia and Russia.
“As far as sanctions are concerned we have different position.... We remember sanctions (against Serbia) and we do not think sanctions are efficient,” Vuvic said.
Vuvic did not mention whether Serbia planned to impose sanctions on Russia.
During his tour, Scholz promised to help the Western Balkans to streamline their long-stalled campaign for EU membership, a move aimed at easing regional tensions and fending off the influence of rival powers such as Russia.
A video of one of many mass graveyards in Ukraine has emerged online, Ukraine’s Centre for Strategic Communications and Information Security under the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy tweeted on Friday.
This is one of many graveyards of civilians in #Mariupol. It has over 3,000 fresh graves. This is what Russia did to the once flourishing city of nearly 500 000 inhabitants. #RussianWarCrimes pic.twitter.com/oZQ6qj1aBx
— Stratcom Centre UA (@StratcomCentre) June 10, 2022
According to Mariupol mayor Vadym Boichenko, there are 50 to 100 killed people under every destroyed house in the city, with the amount of destroyed houses reaching 1,300.
“Therefore, the real number of people killed in the city may be much higher than previously estimated,” the center said.
Mariupol mayor Vadym Boichenko says that there are 50 to 100 killed people under every destroyed house in the city (the destroyed houses amounting to 1,300). Therefore, the real number of people killed in the city may be much higher than previously estimated.
— Stratcom Centre UA (@StratcomCentre) June 10, 2022
Updated
Ukraine tried to push back Russian troops in the east and south on Friday as France offered to help ensure access to the port of Odessa and ease a global grain crisis.
Agence France-Presse reports:
Kyiv said Friday it had launched new air strikes on Russian positions in the captured southern region of Kherson, one of the first areas to be taken by Russia after the February 24 invasion.
Fierce fighting continued in the eastern Donbas region, where President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Ukrainian forces were “holding on” despite Moscow concentrating its firepower there.
The fiercest fighting remains around the eastern industrial city of Severodonetsk, a battle that Zelensky has said is pivotal for the fate of the Donbas region.
Local governor Sergiy Gaiday said on Friday that Russian forces had destroyed a major sports centre, adding: “One of the symbols of Severodonetsk was destroyed. The Ice Palace burned down.”
With the world still facing shockwaves from the war, an adviser to French President Emmanuel Macron said France was ready to assist in an operation to allow safe access to Ukraine’s Black Sea port of Odessa.
The port has been subject to a de facto blockade by Russia, and grain is waiting to be exported amid mounting fears of global food shortages, especially in developing countries.
“We are at the disposal of the parties to put in place an operation which would allow access in complete safety to the port of Odessa, in other words for boats to pass through despite the fact that the sea is mined,” said the advisor, who asked not to be named.
Macron will travel to Ukraine’s neighbours Moldova and Romania next week but no date had been set for a visit by Macron to Kyiv, the advisor said.
France wants “victory for Ukraine”, the advisor added, after Macron sparked controversy by suggesting Russia should not be humiliated.
Updated
Summary
It is 8pm in Kyiv. Here’s where we stand:
- Mariupol’s mayor, Vadym Boychenko, warned cholera and other deadly diseases could kill thousands of people in the Russian-occupied city in southern Ukraine as corpses lie uncollected amid rising temperatures. Boichenko said wells had been contaminated by the corpses of people killed during weeks of Russian bombardment and siege. Mariupol is at risk of a major cholera outbreak, the UK’s defence ministry said in its latest report,
-
Ukraine’s military intelligence directorate said it believes Russia has the economic resources to continue the war at its current pace “for another year”. The Kremlin “probably will try to freeze the war for a while in order to convince the West to lift sanctions, but then continue the aggression” it said, adding that Russia’s goal “is all of Ukraine and not only Ukraine”.
- Ukraine’s defence ministry said it had struck Russian military positions in the southern Kherson region, one of the first areas to be seized by Moscow’s troops after it invaded the country in February. The ministry said there was “a series of strikes on enemy bases, places of accumulation of equipment and personnel, and field depots around five different settlements in the Kherson region”. It has not been possible to independently verify these claims.
- Ukraine’s deputy head of military intelligence has said Ukraine is losing against Russia on the frontlines and is now almost solely reliant on weapons from the west to keep Russia at bay. “This is an artillery war now,” said Vadym Skibitsky, deputy head of Ukraine’s military intelligence. The frontlines were now where the future would be decided, he told the Guardian, “and we are losing in terms of artillery”.
- Ukrainian troops claim they have advanced in fierce street fighting in Sievierodonetsk but say their only hope of turning the tide is with more artillery to offset Russia’s massive firepower. Serhiy Haidai, Ukraine’s governor of Luhansk, said Ukrainian troops were “exhausting the enemy” in Sievierodonetsk.
- The UK foreign secretary, Liz Truss, has raised the case of two Britons sentenced to death for fighting against Russian forces in a phone call with her Ukrainian counterpart. No 10 has said that Aiden Aslin, 28, and Shaun Pinner, 48, are entitled to combatant immunity as prisoners of war. The prime minister, Boris Johnson is appalled by the death sentences and has ordered ministers to do “everything in their power” to secure their release, a spokesperson added.
- Russia’s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, said two British nationals and one Moroccan were sentenced to death in the separatist Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) had committed crimes on the territory of the self-proclaimed state. Lavrov declined to comment on the cases, saying they are under the jurisdiction of the DPR, which is internationally recognised as part of Ukraine. A senior Ukrainian official said Russia wants to use the men as “hostages” to put pressure on the west over peace negotiations.
- Britain’s defence secretary, Ben Wallace, travelled to Kyiv to meet Volodymyr Zelenskiy and his defence minister, Oleksii Reznikov, to discuss the UK’s support of Ukraine. During his two-day visit, Wallace met with Zelenskiy to discuss how the UK would continue to give support “to meet Ukraine’s needs as the conflict enters a different phase”, the MoD said. Zelenskiy said he was grateful for Britain’s support of Ukraine, adding that the war “highlights who is our friend [...] I believe Great Britain is a friend”.
- Vladimir Putin has compared himself to the 18th-century Russian tsar Peter the Great, drawing a parallel between what he portrayed as their twin historic quests to win back Russian lands. After months of denials that Russia is driven by imperial ambitions in Ukraine, Putin compared Peter’s campaign with Russia’s current military actions. A senior adviser to President Zelenskiy, Mykhailo Podolyak, said Putin’s remarks “prove: there was no ‘conflict’, only the country’s bloody seizure under contrived pretexts of people’s genocide”.
- Nato’s deputy chief, Mircea Geoană, said he was “confident” that Sweden and Finland would join the military alliance, despite objections from Turkey. Ankara has some “legitimate” concerns “when it comes to terrorists”, Geoană said, adding that he did not see any real risk to the Nordic countries from Russia in the period up until they become fully-fledged Nato members.
That’s it from me, Léonie Chao-Fong, today. I’ll be back on Monday. My colleague, Maya Yang, will be here shortly to continue to bring you all the latest developments from Ukraine.
Any way you count it, the figures are stark: Ukrainian casualties are running at a rate of somewhere between 6oo to 1,000 a day.
One presidential adviser, Oleksiy Arestovych, told the Guardian this week it was 150 dead and 800 wounded; another, Mykhaylo Podolyak, told the BBC that 100 to 200 Ukrainian troops were being killed a day.
It represents an extraordinary loss of human life and capacity for the defenders, embroiled in a defence of the eastern city of Sievierodonetsk that, this week, turned into a losing battle. Yet the city was also arguably a place that Ukraine could have retreated from to the more defensible Lysychansk across the Siverski Donets River, the sort of defensive situation that Ukraine has fared far better at.
The sheer number – more than 20,000 casualties a month – raises questions about what state Ukraine’s army will be in if the war drags on into the autumn. That is true for Russians too, of course. But it is the invaders who already control large chunks of Ukraine, and they can pause the fighting with the territorial upper hand.
Consider the figures in context. Ukraine’s army was 125,000 strong according to the International Institute for Strategic Studies – and there were a further 102,000 national and border guards in addition. Crude analyst estimates suggest that since the start of the war that figure could have doubled to an impressive 500,000.
Kyiv’s forces are far from a point of collapse. But several months of high casualties will erode its fighting strength significantly, even allowing for some of the wounded to recover. Meanwhile, Ukraine’s forces are already being pushed back in a Donbas artillery bombardment so intense it is likely to have a shell-shock impact on many of those who survive it. Morale is certainly an issue for the Russians, but there are now reports of desertions from the Ukrainian side too.
Read the full piece by Dan Sabbagh: Ukraine’s high casualty rate could bring war to tipping point
The leaders of nine central and eastern European countries have asked Nato to strengthen its eastern flank following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Leaders of Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania and Slovakia met in the Romanian capital, Bucharest, less than three weeks ahead of a Nato summit later this month in Madrid, AFP reports.
Romania’s president, Klaus Iohannis, opened the meeting alongside his co-chair and Polish counterpart, Andrzej Duda, by saying:
In view of the increased security risks in Romania and the Black Sea, consolidating Nato on its eastern flank, in a unified and balanced manner, becomes all the more urgent and crucial.
The summit will draw up “a long-term vision... putting collective defence and Article 5 at the heart of the actions”, Iohannis said, referring to Nato’s article that states that an attack on one member is an attack on all of them.
The heads of state of the nine countries represented in Bucharest will also discuss the impact of the Russian invasion on the security of Nato’s “vulnerable partners”, including Moldova and Georgia.
Mariupol mayor: Cholera could kill thousands as corpses poison city’s water supply
Mariupol’s mayor, Vadym Boychenko, warned cholera and other deadly diseases could kill thousands of people in the Russian-occupied city in southern Ukraine as corpses lie uncollected amid rising temperatures.
Boichenko, who is no longer in the devastated city, said wells had been contaminated by the corpses of people killed during weeks of Russian bombardment and siege, and that the collection of bodies by the city’s Russian occupiers was proceeding slowly, Reuters reports.
Speaking on national television, Boychenko said:
There is an outbreak of dysentery and cholera. This is unfortunately the assessment of our doctors: that the war which took over 20,000 residents ... unfortunately, with these infection outbreaks, will claim thousands more Mariupolites.
Mariupol has been placed into quarantine, he said earlier. “Nobody is let in or out.” He told the BBC that “there are a lot of dead” in the city, adding:
They have not cleared the bodies of those they killed in the bombings. Many bodies are still under the ruins. The problem is compounded by the absence of garbage collection – the system hasn’t been functioning since February.
The situation was being made worse by it now being summer and hot, with heavy rain ruining makeshift burial places as well as a lack of functioning water and sewage systems, he said.
Boychenko told the BBC:
The resulting mix flows towards rivers and wells, where people draw and use it. This water is already poisoned. It has already propagated throughout the city. The occupation authorities bring water to the city, but not enough. People still go to the wells and take that poisoned water.
Earlier today, Britain’s defence ministry said there was a risk of a major cholera outbreak in Mariupol because medical services were likely near collapse. Russia is struggling to provide basic public services to the population in Russian-occupied territories, it said.
About 100,000 people are in the city that once had a population of about 430,000 before Russian troops invaded the country, according to Ukrainian officials.
Russia can continue war ‘at its current pace for another year’, says Ukraine
Ukraine’s military intelligence directorate said it believes Russia has the economic resources to continue the war at its current pace “for another year”.
In an update on Telegram, it said:
The Kremlin leadership probably will try to freeze the war for a while in order to convince the West to lift sanctions, but then continue the aggression.
Russia’s economic resources will allow the occupying country to continue the war at its current pace for another year.
Russia’s goal “is all of Ukraine and not only Ukraine”, it added.
The UK defence secretary, Ben Wallace, travelled to Kyiv to meet the president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, and his defence minister, Oleksii Reznikov, to discuss Britain’s support of Ukraine.
Speaking to Wallace at the Ukrainian presidential headquarters, Zelenskiy said he was “grateful in general to Great Britain, the government and the prime minister”.
Wallace, visiting the city two months after Boris Johnson, praised Zelenskiy for his wartime leadership and said he was “doing amazing”.
Updated
Today so far ...
It is 6pm in Kyiv. Here’s where we stand:
- Ukraine’s defence ministry said it had struck Russian military positions in the southern Kherson region, one of the first areas to be seized by Moscow’s troops after it invaded the country in February. The ministry said there was “a series of strikes on enemy bases, places of accumulation of equipment and personnel, and field depots around five different settlements in the Kherson region”. It has not been possible to independently verify these claims.
- Ukraine’s deputy head of military intelligence has said Ukraine is losing against Russia on the frontlines and is now almost solely reliant on weapons from the west to keep Russia at bay. “This is an artillery war now,” said Vadym Skibitsky, deputy head of Ukraine’s military intelligence. The frontlines were now where the future would be decided, he told the Guardian, “and we are losing in terms of artillery”.
- Ukrainian troops claim they have advanced in fierce street fighting in Sievierodonetsk but say their only hope of turning the tide is with more artillery to offset Russia’s massive firepower. Serhiy Haidai, Ukraine’s governor of Luhansk, said Ukrainian troops were “exhausting the enemy” in Sievierodonetsk.
- Ukraine’s defence ministry spokesperson, Oleksandr Motuzyanyk, said Russia is looking for weak points in Ukrainian defences near the Siverskyi Donets River in eastern Ukraine. Motuzyanyk said the situation was calmer in southern Ukraine, where Russia is trying to impose its rule on a tract of occupied territory spanning Kherson and Zaporizhzhia provinces.
-
Ukraine’s deputy head of military intelligence has said Ukraine is losing against Russia on the frontlines and is now almost solely reliant on weapons from the west to keep Russia at bay. “This is an artillery war now,” said Vadym Skibitsky, deputy head of Ukraine’s military intelligence. The frontlines were now where the future would be decided, he told the Guardian, “and we are losing in terms of artillery”.
- The UK foreign secretary, Liz Truss, has raised the case of two Britons sentenced to death for fighting against Russian forces in a phone call with her Ukrainian counterpart. No 10 has said that Aiden Aslin, 28, and Shaun Pinner, 48, are entitled to combatant immunity as prisoners of war. The prime minister, Boris Johnson is appalled by the death sentences and has ordered minister to do “everything in their power” to secure their release, a spokesperson added.
- Russia’s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, said two British nationals and one Moroccan were sentenced to death in the separatist Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) had committed crimes on the territory of the self-proclaimed state. Lavrov declined to comment on the cases, saying they are under the jurisdiction of the DPR, which is internationally recognised as part of Ukraine. A senior Ukrainian official said Russia wants to use the men as “hostages” to put pressure on the west over peace negotiations.
- Britain’s defence secretary, Ben Wallace, travelled to Kyiv to meet Volodymyr Zelenskiy and his defence minister, Oleksii Reznikov, to discuss the UK’s support of Ukraine. During his two-day visit, Wallace met with Zelenskiy to discuss how the UK would continue to give support “to meet Ukraine’s needs as the conflict enters a different phase”, the MoD said. Zelenskiy said he was grateful for Britain’s support of Ukraine, adding that the war “highlights who is our friend [...] I believe Great Britain is a friend”.
- Vladimir Putin has compared himself to the 18th-century Russian tsar Peter the Great, drawing a parallel between what he portrayed as their twin historic quests to win back Russian lands. After months of denials that Russia is driven by imperial ambitions in Ukraine, Putin compared Peter’s campaign with Russia’s current military actions. A senior adviser to President Zelenskiy, Mykhailo Podolyak, said Putin’s remarks “prove: there was no ‘conflict’, only the country’s bloody seizure under contrived pretexts of people’s genocide”.
- Nato’s deputy chief, Mircea Geoană, said he was “confident” that Sweden and Finland would join the military alliance, despite objections from Turkey. Ankara has some “legitimate” concerns “when it comes to terrorists”, Geoană said, adding that he did not see any real risk to the Nordic countries from Russia in the period up until they become fully-fledged Nato members.
-
Russia is struggling to provide basic public services to the population in Russian-occupied territories and Mariupol is at risk of a major cholera outbreak, the UK Ministry of Defence said. In its latest report, British intelligence said there is “likely a critical shortage” of medicines in Kherson and medical services in Mariupol “are likely already near collapse”. The report added that fighting continues around Sievierodonetsk.
Good afternoon from London. It’s Léonie Chao-Fong still here to bring you all the latest developments from the war in Ukraine. I’m on Twitter or you can email me.
Updated
Here’s more on the visit to Kyiv by Britain’s defence secretary, Ben Wallace, to meet with Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, and defence minister, Oleksii Reznikov.
Speaking to Wallace at the presidential headquarters in the Ukrainian capital, Zelenskiy said he was “grateful in general to Great Britain, the government and the prime minister”.
Zelenskiy said:
The war highlights who is our friend or friends – not just strategic friends, but real friends now. And I believe Great Britain is a friend.
He added:
Arms, money and sanctions – these are three things in which Great Britain consistently demonstrates its leadership.
The presidential press service did not say whether the pair had discussed the sentencing of two Britons and a Moroccan to death by a court in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic.
Updated
Sweden’s foreign minister Ann Linde has had a little more to say about Turkey’s objections to her country joining Nato, having spoken in parliament on the topic earlier. [see 8.27am]
“We take Turkey’s security very seriously and we will as a Nato member contribute to security for all Nato members, Turkey included,” Reuters reports she told a news conference later in the day.
Linde said Swedish membership of Nato could “change the conditions for arms exports within our national regulatory framework”.
The minister said talks between representatives of Sweden, Finland, Turkey and Nato were being held in a constructive spirit. However, asked at the news conference in what way talks were constructive, she could only reply: “They are not called off.”
She said she had been very surprised by Turkey’s objections, which were first voiced publicly shortly after applications were handed in. She said that before the application had been made, “we had had talks with Turkey where they had said that ‘we certainly have views on various things that we can discuss where we aren’t of the same opinion, but we welcome Sweden and Finland’”.
Updated
Germany will assist Ukraine in providing medical support for war victims by helping build trauma centres for the wounded, donating prosthetic limbs and deploying German doctors to the country, its health minister, Karl Lauterbach, said.
“Ukraine needs humanitarian aid just as urgently as it needs our military support,” the minister said during a visit to the western Ukrainian city of Lviv.
The aid would include Germany helping to supply prostheses, deploying 200 doctors in Ukraine, setting up training on treating burns and connecting some hospitals in Ukraine to a telemedicine service, the ministry said in a statement, according to Reuters.
Updated
UK defence secretary met Zelenskiy in Kyiv, says MoD
Britain’s defence secretary, Ben Wallace, travelled to Kyiv to meet President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and his defence minister, Oleksii Reznikov, to discuss the UK’s support of Ukraine.
In a statement, the UK’s Ministry of Defence said:
The working visit took place this week to allow the defence secretary to hear first-hand how the operational needs of Ukraine’s armed forces are developing as the nature of the conflict continues to change.
This will ensure that the UK’s continued support is evolving to meet those requirements and is tailored to the situation on the ground.
Wallace met Reznikov on the first of the two-day visit, before speaking with Zelenskiy about how the UK would continue to give support “to meet Ukraine’s needs as the conflict enters a different phase”, the MoD said.
The statement continued:
The three agreed to work even more closely going forward in support of their shared goal of enabling Ukraine to liberate itself from illegal Russian occupation.
They also discussed the range of equipment and training the UK is currently providing, and what further support we can offer to help Ukrainian forces to defend their country.
A video posted on Zelenskiy’s Telegram account shows Wallace telling the president that he is doing an “amazing job”, the BBC’s Nick Beake reports.
NEW: UK Defence Secretary @BWallaceMP has met Ukraine’s President Zelensky in Kyiv.
— Nick Beake (@Beaking_News) June 10, 2022
In a video posted on the president’s Telegram channel, Mr Wallace is seen telling Mr Zelensky he’s doing an “amazing job”
President Zelensky replies the Ukrainian people are to be praised pic.twitter.com/h14qc4bpNX
Updated
Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has appealed for his country not to be left in a “grey zone” with its EU membership bid and urged the bloc to prove that its words must be “accompanied by deeds”.
Addressing the 2022 Copenhagen Democracy Summit, Zelenskiy said the “first thing is to finally remove this grey zone”, AFP reports. He added:
In the coming weeks, the European Union could take a historic step that will prove that the words on the membership of the Ukrainian people in the European family are not in vain.
The European Commission is expected to give its opinion on Ukraine’s membership bid in the coming days, before EU leaders decide whether to grant Kyiv official candidate status at a European Council summit on 23-24 June.
Zelenskiy said he wondered why some member states were still hesitant about allowing Ukraine to join and cutting ties with Russia.
Zelenskiy said:
Why, if the polls show that 71% of Europeans consider Ukraine as part of the European family, are there still political sceptics who hesitate to allow us to join the European Union?
He added:
The European system could lose if words are not accompanied by deeds.
The leader of Britain’s Labour party, Sir Keir Starmer, has condemned the case of two Britons sentenced to death for fighting Russian forces, adding that he agrees with the UK government’s approach to securing their release.
Aiden Aslin and Shaun Pinner “should be treated as prisoners of war”, Starmer said at a press conference, adding:
The government is right on this and I think it’s very important that we say there’s no party politics in this - we stand as one in condemning what is happening here and demanding in the strongest possible terms that they be treated as prisoners of war.
It is utterly to be condemned.
Nato’s deputy chief, Mircea Geoană, said he was “confident” that Sweden and Finland would join the military alliance, despite objections from Turkey.
The two Nordic countries applied to join Nato in May but their membership bids have faced opposition from Turkey, which accuses them of supporting and harbouring Kurdish militants and other groups it has labelled as terrorists. Sweden and Finland have said they condemn terrorism and are open to dialogue.
Ankara has some “legitimate” concerns “when it comes to terrorists”, Geoană said at the Copenhagen Democracy Summit, Reuters reports.
Asked about security guarantees for Sweden and Finland in the period up until they become fully fledged Nato members, he said he did not see any real risk to the countries from Russia.
Geoană said:
We don’t see signs from Russia of having the capabilities or intention at this point to be aggressive in military terms against these two aspirant countries.
We can treat this period with caution in a proactive way, but we don’t see real risks from a traditional military standpoint for Finland and Sweden.
His remarks come after Finland announced it plans to amend border legislation to allow the building of barriers on its eastern border with Russia.
Updated
Ukraine’s defence ministry said it had struck Russian military positions in the southern Kherson region, one of the first areas to be seized by Moscow’s troops after it invaded the country in February.
The ministry said there was “a series of strikes on enemy bases, places of accumulation of equipment and personnel, and field depots around five different settlements in the Kherson region”.
Ukraine has launched an offensive to recapture territory in Kherson. On Thursday, the ministry said its forces had won back some territory from Russian forces.
It gave no details but said the Russian forces had “suffered losses in manpower and equipment”, and had mined territory as they were pushed back, and erected barricades against the Ukrainian troops.
It has not been possible to independently verify these claims.
Updated
Truss: sentences 'egregious breach of Geneva convention'
Britain’s foreign minister, Liz Truss, said she has spoken with her Ukrainian counterpart, Dmytro Kuleba, to discuss efforts to secure the release of prisoners of war “held by Russian proxies”.
She described the death sentence against Aiden Aslin and Shaun Pinner as “an egregious breach of the Geneva convention”.
Spoke with Ukrainian FM @DmytroKuleba to discuss efforts to secure the release of prisoners of war held by Russian proxies. The judgement against them is an egregious breach of the Geneva convention.
— Liz Truss (@trussliz) June 10, 2022
The UK continues to back Ukraine against Putin’s barbaric invasion. pic.twitter.com/DyKZAP4HA6
Updated
Russia’s foreign ministry spokesperson, Maria Zakharova, has described Britain’s reaction to the sentencing of Aiden Aslin and Shaun Pinner in Russian-separatist controlled Donetsk as “hysterical”.
Writing on Telegram, Zakharova said Britain should appeal to the breakaway Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) – which is internationally recognised as part of Ukraine – over the cases.
Earlier, Russia’s foreign minister Sergei Lavrov declined to comment on the cases, saying they are under the jurisdiction of the DPR.
Updated
Key event
Britain’s prime minister, Boris Johnson, is “appalled” by the death sentences handed to Aiden Aslin and Shaun Pinner, and has ordered ministers to do “everything in their power” to secure their release, the PM’s spokesperson has said.
The No 10 spokesperson said:
The prime minister was appalled at the sentencing of these men. He has been following the case closely and has asked ministers to do everything in their power to try and reunite them with their families as soon as we can.
We completely condemn the sham sentencing of these men to death. There’s no justification at all for this breach of the protection they’re entitled to.
The UK is prioritising talking to Ukraine rather than Russia on the situation, the spokesperson added. Asked if Britain would talk to Russia to secure their release, they replied: “We don’t have regular interaction with the Russians.”
The spokesperson added:
Our priority is working with the Ukrainian government to try and ensure their release as quickly as possible.
They’re afforded protection under the Geneva convention as members of the Ukrainian armed forces, which is why we want to continue working with them closely to try and get them freed as quickly as we can.
Updated
A senior adviser to Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Mykhailo Podolyak, has criticised comments by Vladimir Putin in which the Russian president attempted to justify his invasion of Ukraine.
Putin compared himself to the 18th-century Russian tsar Peter the Great, drawing a parallel between what he portrayed as their twin historic quests to win back Russian lands after visiting an exhibition dedicated to the tsar yesterday.
Putin’s confession of land seizures and comparing himself with Peter the Great prove: there was no "conflict", only the country’s bloody seizure under contrived pretexts of people’s genocide. We should not talk about "saving 🇷🇺 face", but about its immediate de-imperialization.
— Михайло Подоляк (@Podolyak_M) June 10, 2022
Podolyak tweeted:
Putin’s confession of land seizures and comparing himself with Peter the Great prove: there was no “conflict”, only the country’s bloody seizure under contrived pretexts of people’s genocide.
He said there should be no talk about “saving Russian face” but about its “immediate de-imperialisation”.
Updated
Updated
Russia wants to use the two Britons and Morrocan sentenced to death for fighting Russian forces as “hostages” to put pressure on the west over peace negotiations, according to a senior Ukrainian official.
Following the sentencing of Aiden Aslin, Shaun Pinner and Saaudun Brahim in the self-proclaimed republic in Donetsk, Ukraine said the ruling had no authority and that the men were members of the Ukrainian armed forces and subject to Geneva Convention protections.
Kyiv would coordinate its position on the sentences with London, Washington and the EU, interior ministry adviser, Vadym Denysenko, said.
Denysenko said:
The trial of the foreigners raises the stakes in the Russian Federation’s negotiation process. They are using them as hostages to put pressure on the world over the negotiation process.
Russian and Ukrainian delegations have held multiple rounds of talks remotely and in person since Russian troops invaded on 24 February, but efforts have been frozen for more than a month.
Two Britons sentenced to death ‘committed crimes in Donetsk', says Russia
Russia’s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, said two British nationals and one Moroccan were sentenced to death in the separatist Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) had committed crimes on the territory of the self-proclaimed state.
Speaking at a press conference, Lavrov declined to comment on the cases of the two Britons sentenced to death for fighting Russian forces, saying they are under the jurisdiction of the DPR.
Lavrov said:
At the moment, the trials you mentioned are being held on the basis of the legislation of the Donetsk People’s Republic, because the crimes in question were committed on the DPR’s territory.
I will not comment on the Donetsk People’s Republic judiciary.
Aiden Aslin, 28, and Shaun Pinner, 48, were convicted yesterday in a court of taking action towards violent seizure of power, a verdict that has been described as a “sham judgement” with “absolutely no legitimacy”.
The DPR, where separatist forces began a military campaign to break away from Ukraine with Moscow’s support in 2014, is internationally recognised as part of Ukraine.
Among UN member states, only Russia recognises the entire Ukrainian province of Donetsk, much of which remains under Ukrainian control, as the independent DPR.
Hello everyone, it’s Léonie Chao-Fong here again, taking over the live blog from Martin Belam. Feel free to drop me a message if you have anything to flag, you can reach me on Twitter or via email.
Updated
Today so far …
- The UK foreign secretary, Liz Truss, will raise the case of Aiden Aslin and Shaun Pinner, the two British men sentenced to death by a pro-Russian court in occupied Ukraine, when she speaks to Ukraine’s foreign secretary, Dmytro Kuleba, on Friday. Truss has already called it a “sham judgment” and said it had “absolutely no legitimacy”.
- A British MP has said the only person who can immediately resolve the situation with the two men is the Russian president, Vladimir Putin. Robert Jenrick described the sentencing as a “war crime”, “absolutely outrageous” and “a flagrant breach of international law”. He said the two men were being “essentially used as hostages” by pro-Russian forces in the region.
- The two British men and a Moroccan national were captured while fighting in the Ukrainian army in Mariupol and have been sentenced to death by pro-Russia officials after a days-long process described as a “disgusting Soviet-era show trial”. A court in Russian-controlled east Ukraine convicted 28-year-old Aslin, from Newark-on-Trent, 48-year-old Pinner, from Watford, and Saaudun Brahim on charges of “terrorism”.
- Ukrainian troops claim they have advanced in fierce street fighting in Sievierodonetsk but say their only hope of turning the tide is with more artillery to offset Russia’s massive firepower. Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said the country was “holding on” to key frontline cities in Donbas. “Sievierodonetsk, Lysychansk and other cities in Donbas, which the occupiers now consider key targets, are holding on,” he said, adding that Ukraine had had some success in Zaporizhzhia.
- Serhiy Haidai, Ukraine’s governor of Luhansk, has said: “The whole free Luhansk region came under heavy shelling. Fierce street fighting continues in Sievierodonetsk. We are exhausting the enemy.”
- Russia is looking for weak points in Ukrainian defences near the Siverskyi Donets river in eastern Ukraine, Ukrainian defence ministry spokesperson Oleksandr Motuzyanyk has said. He told national television that Russian forces had not abandoned attempts to launch storming operations in the area.
- Oleh Synyehubov, the governor of Kharkiv, has said that Russia has not been able to advance in his region, despite extensive shelling.
- Russia is struggling to provide basic public services to the population in Russian-occupied territories and Mariupol is at risk of a major cholera outbreak, the UK Ministry of Defence has said.
- Zelenskiy lobbied again for more weapons from the west, comparing Russia’s invasion to Covid and describing weapons and sanctions as a vaccine. “Weapons and sanctions are … a vaccine … against Covid-22 brought by Russia,” Zelenskiy said via video link at a gala to celebrate Time magazine’s 100 most influential people of the year.
- The number of Russian soldiers killed since Putin ordered his troops into Ukraine could now be as high as 20,000, according to the latest assessment by western officials. Previous estimates, given several weeks ago, were about 15,000. The official did not speculate on the number of Ukrainians killed in the war.
- Putin paid tribute yesterday to tsar Peter the Great, drawing a parallel between what he portrayed as their twin historic quests to win back Russian lands. After visiting an exhibition in Moscow dedicated to the 350th birthday of the 18th-century ruler on Thursday, Putin told a group of young entrepreneurs that “you get the impression that by fighting Sweden he was grabbing something. He wasn’t taking anything, he was taking it back”.
- Ukrainian military casualties are between 100 and 200 a day, according to Mykhailo Podolyak, a senior adviser to Zelenskiy, who spoke with the BBC on Thursday. The Ukrainian president said last week that the Ukrainian army was losing 60 to 100 soldiers a day.
- The Kremlin said no agreement had been reached with Turkey on exporting Ukrainian grain shipments across the Black Sea. Turkey has been pushing for an agreement between Russia and Ukraine to ease the global food crisis by negotiating safe passage for grain stuck in Black Sea ports, but its efforts have been met with resistance. Ukraine says Russia is imposing unreasonable conditions and the Kremlin says shipment is dependent on ending sanctions.
- Finland’s government is planning to amend border legislation to allow the building of barriers on its eastern frontier with Russia, it said. The move to amend border legislation comes as the Finnish government rushes to strengthen border security amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and Finland’s move to join the Nato military alliance.
- Swedish foreign minister Ann Linde has said in parliament that Sweden aims to make constructive progress in talks with Turkey over the Nordic country’s application to join Nato.
- Nearly 5 million Ukrainians have been registered across Europe since the beginning of the war, according to figures by the UN’s refugee agency. Far more will have actually left the country, with UNHCR data showing that more than 7.3m border crossings out of Ukraine had been recorded by 7 June. Another 2.3m crossings had been registered back into the country. The war in Ukraine has “caused one of the largest human displacement crises in the world”, the UNHCR said.
- Russia may be getting more revenue from its fossil fuel sales now than before its invasion of Ukraine, according to one US official. Increases in global oil prices have offset the impact of import bans, US energy security envoy Amos Hochstein told lawmakers during a Senate hearing. Russia had been able to sell more cargoes to other buyers, including major energy consumers China and India, by offering it at a discount to oil from other origins, he said.
- Zelenskiy said he had a phone conversation with the French president, Emmanuel Macron, in which “special attention was paid to Ukraine’s path to the EU”. “We are coordinating steps,” he said.
That is it from me, Martin Belam, for now. I will be back later. Léonie Chao-Fong will be with you for the next few hours.
The headquarters of the territorial defence of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic has posted to Telegram that one civilian had been injured in shelling by Ukrainian forces in Makiivka, Donetsk.
The message specifically states that “artillery transferred by Nato countries continues to fight against the civilian population of Donbas”.
The claims have not been independently verified.
Updated
The Russian ministry of defence has issued its daily operation brief for Friday 10 June. None of the claims in it have been independently verified. They claim:
- Missiles destroyed Ukrainian air force equipment at the Dnipro military airfield.
- To have shot down one Su-25 and one MiG-29 as well as five drones belonging to Ukraine.
- To have killed more than 500 Ukrainian fighters.
- To have destroyed 11 warehouses of rocket and artillery weapons, ammunition and fuel.
They also claim to have cleared 224 explosive devices, including 66 anti-tank mines, from five square kilometres of territory in the settlements of Yarovaya and Studenok which they now occupy.
Updated
Russia is looking for weak points in Ukrainian defences near the Siverskyi Donets River in eastern Ukraine, Ukrainian defence ministry spokesperson Oleksandr Motuzyanyk has said.
He told national television that Russian forces had not abandoned attempts to launch storming operations in the area.
“Russia’s strategic goal is the complete destruction of Ukraine. They won’t let us live in peace. The Russian Federation wants to completely destroy Ukrainian statehood and install a government it can control here,” Motuzyanyk said.
Motuzyanyk said the situation was calmer in southern Ukraine, where Russia is trying to impose its rule on a tract of occupied territory spanning Kherson and Zaporizhzhia provinces. Reuters reports he gave no further details.
Oleh Synyehubov, the governor of Kharkiv, has said that Russia has not been able to advance in his region, despite extensive shelling. In his latest update to Telegram he said.
Last night, the enemy again terrorised the population of Kharkiv and the region with artillery and shelling. Damaged houses, warehouses, infrastructure facilities. Coniferous forests and forest belts were burning. During the day two civilians were killed and 15 wounded.
There was no advance of the enemy on the line of contact. In the Kharkiv direction, the enemy is focused on defence. In the Izium region, the enemy replenishes reserves and regroups forces. Our defenders continue to inflict significant losses on the occupiers in manpower and equipment. Ukraine will win!
The claims have not been independently verified.
Updated
The replacement for McDonald’s in Russia has unveiled its new logo, ahead of a grand reopening on Sunday. The reopening is timed to coincide with Russia Day, celebrating the country’s independence, at the very same location in Moscow’s Pushkin Square where McDonald’s first opened in Russia in 1990.
Then it was seen as a potent symbol of opening up the old Soviet economy to western companies, but now more than 1,000 former McDonald’s restaurants in Russia will be part of a new chain, partly as a result of western sanctions on economic activity with Russia.
The new logo features a burger and two french fries in the shape of an ‘M’, although the name of the new brand is yet to be revealed.
In what will be seen as another sign of western economic sanctions impacting on the Russian economy, Reuters reports Russia’s industry ministry expects car sales to halve in 2022 as the country’s automobile industry grapples with supply issues.
Tigran Parsadanyan, deputy head of the ministry’s automotive and railway engineering department, said yesterday “We saw a sharp fall in April and May. We expect that some 750,000 cars will be sold on the market by the end of the year.”
That figure represents a 51% drop in sales year-on-year.
Updated
Swedish foreign minister Ann Linde has said in parliament that Sweden aims to make constructive progress in talks with Turkey over the Nordic country’s application to join Nato.
“Our application has received broad support among Nato members,” she said in a foreign policy declaration after Sweden, alongside Finland, applied last month to join the military alliance as a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“Our ambition is to, in a constructive spirit, make progress on the questions that Turkey has raised,” Reuters reports she said.
In the UK, Labour MP for Nottingham North, Alex Norris, has called for a unified approach from Briton over the cases of Aiden Aslin and Shaun Pinner. He told viewers of Sky News:
This is a really concerning situation. These are legitimate combatants, are prisoners of war, and as such have significant rights. They should not have been tried by that tribunal that they have been, in the way that they have been. As a result, those rights aren’t being upheld.
I think it’s really important that we send a strong message back from this country of our unity on this. That these gentlemen must have their rights, and they must be treated properly as they should be under the Geneva convention, as Robin Walker said. [see 7.15am]
Norris went on to say:
Diplomatic efforts now must start. There’s a little bit of time for that to take place. That now must happen. Whether that’s calling in the ambassador, or whatever other channels are open, we must use all of them, and show a united front that we expect their rights to be upheld.
Maksym Kozytskyi, governor of Lviv, has posted to Telegram to say that in contrast to the fierce fighting in Sievierodonetsk in eastern Ukraine, his western region experienced no air raid warnings last night. He said Lviv received 278 internally displaced people on refugee evacuation trains in the last 24 hours.
British MP: death sentence Britons 'essentially used as hostages' by Russia
A UK lawmaker has said the only person who can immediately resolve the situation with Aiden Aslin and Shaun Pinner is Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Robert Jenrick described the sentencing of the two British men to death in occupied Ukraine as a “war crime”, “absolutely outrageous” and “a flagrant breach of international law”. He said the two men were being “essentially used as hostages” by pro-Russian forces in the region
Jenrick is the local member of parliament for the constituency of Aiden Aslin’s family, and says he has known them for many years. Appearing on the BBC Breakfast television programme, he said:
This is a completely outrageous situation. These are not mercenaries. They’re British citizens, who, for personal reasons, were living in Ukraine before Vladimir Putin’s invasion.
They joined up to serve in the Ukrainian Armed Forces, were captured, and should be being treated as prisoners of war, which means being looked after appropriately and returned to Ukraine at the earliest opportunity.
Instead, they’ve been put on this show trial, and now have been sentenced to death.
I’ve asked the foreign secretary Liz Truss to raise this matter with the Russian ambassador so that we as a country are very clear that you can’t treat British citizens in this absolutely outrageous way.
Jenrick suggested that at some point they could be part of prisoner exchanges between the two nations, but that relied on a change of attitude from Russia, saying:
There are prisoner exchanges happening between the Ukrainian and the Russian army, and the Ukrainian ambassador told me last night that they would give priority to Aiden and Shaun in one of those exchanges.
But that of course relies on Russia playing ball, or being reasonable, and abiding by international law. And nothing in recent weeks and months suggest that Vladimir Putin does that, because he’s been committing war crimes like this trial, and worse, left, right and centre.
Asked whether the situation was complicated because Russia views its invasion of Ukraine on 24 February not as a war, but as a “special military operation” and therefore not necessarily covered by the usual protocols of war, Jenrick said:
This is a fairly straightforward situation. These were members of the Ukrainian armed forces. All members of armies are subject to the Geneva Convention and should be being properly looked after, not put on show trials or sentenced to death in this way.
The Ukrainians have thousands of Russian soldiers in their care, and there are exchanges going on. These two British nationals have been hooked out of that normal process and essentially used as hostages to make a point to try to gain advantage either over the UK or over Ukraine. We’re saying that’s completely unacceptable. It’s a flagrant breach of international law. They need to be treated properly.
Jenrick also expressed sympathy for the families of the men, adding:
This is an enormously stressful experience for two British families who have watched their sons and grandsons being put on this trial, being beaten, their health deteriorating, and now there’s risk of execution. It’s totally unacceptable.
I know the Ukrainian government want to assist but at the end of the day, the person who could resolve this immediately is Vladimir Putin.
'We are exhausting the enemy' in Sievierodonetsk – Luhansk governor
Serhiy Haidai, Ukraine’s governor of Luhansk, has posted an update on the battle situation in the region on Telegram. He says:
The whole free Luhansk region came under heavy shelling. Fierce street fighting continues in Sievierodonetsk. We are exhausting the enemy. Today, 10 June, the Russians fucked up again. The regional centre is Ukrainian. The Lysychansk-Bakhmut route is ours. “Quite” evacuation is possible only from Lysychansk and mountain communities.
Updated
Here is the statement from Aiden Aslin’s family in full:
We’ve heard the news from Donetsk and need some time to take everything in.
We love Aiden with all our hearts. He and Shaun as members of Ukrainian armed forces should be treated with respect just like any other prisoners of war.
They are not, and never were, mercenaries.
We hope that this sentence will be overturned, and beseech the governments of the UK and Ukraine to do everything in their power to have them returned safely to us, and soon.
Here’s a reminder of what happened yesterday, with Andrew Roth and Emine Sinmaz’s report: Britons sentenced to death after ‘show trial’ in Russian-occupied Ukraine
Liz Truss expected to speak to Ukraine's foreign secretary today over death sentences – reports
The UK’s foreign secretary Liz Truss will raise the case of Aiden Aslin and Shaun Pinner, the two British men sentenced to death by a pro-Russian court in occupied Ukraine, when she speaks to Ukraine’s foreign secretary Dmytro Kuleba later today, PA Media reports.
Truss has already called it a “sham judgement” and insisted it has “absolutely no legitimacy”.
I utterly condemn the sentencing of Aiden Aslin and Shaun Pinner held by Russian proxies in eastern Ukraine.
— Liz Truss (@trussliz) June 9, 2022
They are prisoners of war. This is a sham judgment with absolutely no legitimacy.
My thoughts are with the families. We continue to do everything we can to support them.
Brennan Phillips, an former American soldier who had met Aslin in Syria and worked alongside him in Ukraine, told the BBC last night that “I think it will invigorate people more than anything. Whatever effect [the Russians] thought they would have in this provocation, I don’t think that and I don’t think it’s going to be well-received. And they did this as a provocation.”
The men were accused by the pro-Russian court of being “mercenaries” after fighting with Ukrainian troops. However, their families say that they were both members of regular Ukrainian military units fighting in Mariupol
Updated
Minister: Britons in Ukraine sentenced to death by 'illegal court in a sham government'
In the UK, the schools minister Robin Walker is on the media round this morning, and on Sky News he has been asked about the plight of Aiden Aslin and Shaun Pinner, the two British men sentenced to death yesterday in what has been described as a “disgusting Soviet-era show trial”.
He told viewers:
As the foreign secretary has made clear, we will offer all support we can to them and their families. And we have been absolutely clear throughout that these people should be treated as prisoners of war under the Geneva Convention, there is no basis on which they can be put on trial.
This is an illegal court in a sham government that has held this trial, and obviously we don’t recognise it has any authority, but we will continue to use our diplomatic channels to make the case that these are prisoners of war who should be treated accordingly.
Clearly they are in this area controlled by Russia’s proxies. And that’s why it’s absolutely vital that Russia recognises its obligations under international law and meets its commitments under the Geneva Convention.
Asked whether the Russian ambassador would be summoned to the foreign office in London today, Walker said that was a matter for the foreign secretary Liz Truss, adding “we utterly condemn the approach that’s been taken here, and we will use every method at our disposal to take this up.”
Updated
Russia is struggling to provide basic public services to the population in Russian-occupied territories and Mariupol is at risk of a major cholera outbreak, the UK Ministry of Defence has said.
In it’s latest report, issued just before 7am BST, British intelligence said:
Russia is struggling to provide basic public services to the population in Russian-occupied territories. Access to safe drinking water has been inconsistent, while major disruption to telephone and internet services continues.
There is likely a critical shortage of medicines in Kherson, while Mariupol is at risk of a major cholera outbreak. Isolated cases of cholera have been reported since May.
Medical services in Mariupol are likely already near collapse: a major cholera outbreak in Mariupol will exacerbate this further.”
The report added that fighting continues around Sieverodonetsk.
“Russia is again in control of most of the city, but its forces have made little progress in attempts to encircle the wider area from the north and south,” the report said.
Latest Defence Intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine - 10 June 2022
— Ministry of Defence 🇬🇧 (@DefenceHQ) June 10, 2022
Find out more about the UK government's response: https://t.co/eMOeSJOmbI
🇺🇦 #StandWithUkraine 🇺🇦 pic.twitter.com/IncUIxawpK
Canadian police say they have cracked down on more than C$400 million ($314.81 million) in Russian assets and transactions involving people sanctioned as a result of Moscow’s war on Ukraine.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police said in a statement that from 24 February to 7 June , C$123 million of Russian assets in Canada had been effectively frozen and a further C$289 million in transactions had been blocked. It gave no further details.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that no Iron Curtain will fall over the Russian economy despite sanctions imposed by the west.
Russia, one of the world’s biggest producers of natural resources, has been tipped towards the biggest economic contraction since the years following the 1991 fall of the Soviet Union.
Asked about possible deals with partners such as China and India amid the “closure” of Russia’s economy, Putin said Russia’s economy would remain open a televised meeting with young entrepreneurs on Thursday.
We will not have a closed economy, we have not had one and we will not have one.
We did not have a closed economy - or rather we did in the Soviet times when we cut ourselves off, created the so-called Iron Curtain, we created it with our own hands. We will not make the same mistake again - our economy will be open.”
After major US and European companies and investors left Russia, Moscow said it would focus on developing its own domestic industry and develop partnerships with China, India and powers in the Middle East in a turn away from the west.
“A country like Russia cannot be fenced in,” Putin added.
Ukraine losing up to 200 troops a day - Zelenskiy aide
Ukrainian military casualties are now between 100 and 200 per day, according to Mykhailo Podolyak, a senior adviser to Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who spoke with the BBC on Thursday.
Zelenskiy said last week that the Ukrainian army was losing 60 to 100 soldiers a day.
Podolyak said Ukraine needs hundreds of western artillery systems to level the playing field with Russia in the eastern Donbas region.
The Russian forces have thrown pretty much everything non-nuclear at the front and that includes heavy artillery, multiple rocket launch systems and aviation.”
Our demands for artillery are not just some kind of whim... but an objective need when it comes to the situation on the battlefield.
Ukraine needs 150 to 300 rocket launch systems to match Russia - a much higher number than it has received so far, Podolyak added.
Putin compares himself to Peter the Great
Russian president Vladimir Putin has paid tribute to tsar Peter the Great on the 350th anniversary of his birth, drawing a parallel between what he portrayed as their twin historic quests to win back Russian lands.
In televised comments made after a visiting an exhibition dedicated to the tsar, Putin said:
Peter the Great waged the great northern war for 21 years. It would seem that he was at war with Sweden, he took something from them. He did not take anything from them, he returned [what was Russia’s]”
The Russian president compared Peter’s campaign with Russia’s current military actions.
Apparently, it also fell to us to return [what is Russia’s] and strengthen [the country]. And if we proceed from the fact that these basic values form the basis of our existence, we will certainly succeed in solving the tasks that we face.”
Ukraine relies on western arms, ammunition low - military
Ukraine’s deputy head of military intelligence has said Ukraine is losing against Russia on the frontlines and is now almost solely reliant on weapons from the west to keep Russia at bay.
“This is an artillery war now,” said Vadym Skibitsky, deputy head of Ukraine’s military intelligence. The frontlines were now where the future would be decided, he told the Guardian, “and we are losing in terms of artillery”.
Everything now depends on what [the west] gives us.
Ukraine has one artillery piece to 10 to 15 Russian artillery pieces. Our western partners have given us about 10% of what they have.”
Ukraine is using 5,000 to 6,000 artillery rounds a day, according to Skibitsky.
We have almost used up all of our [artillery] ammunition and are now using 155-calibre Nato standard shells,” he said of the ammunition that is fired from artillery pieces.
“Europe is also delivering lower-calibre shells but as Europe runs out, the amount is getting smaller,” he added.
Skibitsky’s remarks corroborate with that of US military intelligence cited by a recent Agence France-Press report.
According to military sources who spoke to the agency, Ukraine has depleted its Soviet and Russian-designed weaponry and is now completely dependent on allies for arms.
Once part of the Soviet Union, Ukraine’s army and its defence industry were built around Soviet and Russian-standard equipment, small arms, tanks, howitzers and other weapons not interchangeable with those of neighbours to the west.
More than three months into the conflict, that equipment has been used up or destroyed in battle, the US sources said.
Updated
Ukrainian forces 'holding on' in key Donbas battles
Ukraine is “holding on” to key frontline cities in Donbas, according to president Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
Providing a quick update as to the situation in Donbas during his latest national address, Zelenskiy said:
The frontline situation today is without significant changes. Sievierodonetsk, Lysychansk and other cities in Donbas, which the occupiers now consider key targets, are holding on.”
He added that Ukrainian forces have made positive strides in the Zaporizhzhia and Kharkiv regions, and are in the process of “liberating our land”.
We have a certain positive in the Zaporizhzhia region, where we manage to thwart the plans of the occupiers. We are gradually moving forward in the Kharkiv region, liberating our land. We are keeping defence in the Mykolaiv direction.”
Summary and welcome
Hello it’s Samantha Lock back with you on the Guardian’s live blog as we cover all the latest developments from Ukraine.
If you’re just waking up, or dropping in to find the latest information, here’s a summary of the main points you might have missed:
- Russian president Vladimir Putin paid tribute to tsar Peter the Great, drawing a parallel between what he portrayed as their twin historic quests to win back Russian lands. After visiting an exhibition in Moscow dedicated to the 350th birthday of the 18th-century ruler on Thursday, Putin told a group of young entrepreneurs that “you get the impression that by fighting Sweden he was grabbing something. He wasn’t taking anything, he was taking it back”.
- Ukrainian troops claim they have advanced in fierce street fighting in Sievierodonetsk but say their only hope of turning the tide is with more artillery to offset Russia’s massive firepower. Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelenskiy said the country wa “holding on” to key frontline cities in Donbas. “Sievierodonetsk, Lysychansk and other cities in Donbas, which the occupiers now consider key targets, are holding on,” he said, adding that Ukraine had had some success in Zaporizhzhia.
- Serhiy Haidai, Ukraine’s governor of Luhansk, said that if the west could supply long-range weapons, Ukrainian forces would be able to “clean up Sievierodonetsk in two or three days”. Haidai’s remarks on Telegram came after Zelenskiy said the battle for the eastern city would decide the fate of Donbas and was seeing probably the most difficult fighting since Russia’s invasion began.
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Zelenskiy lobbied again for more weapons from the west, comparing Russia’s invasion to Covid and describing weapons and sanctions as a vaccine. “Weapons and sanctions are … a vaccine … against Covid-22 brought by Russia,” Zelenskiy said via video link at a gala to celebrate Time magazine’s 100 most influential people of the year.
- Two British men and a Moroccan national captured while fighting in the Ukrainian army in Mariupol have been sentenced to death by pro-Russia officials after a days-long process described as a “disgusting Soviet-era show trial”. A court in Russian-controlled east Ukraine convicted 28-year-old Aiden Aslin, from Newark, 48-year-old Shaun Pinner, from Watford, and Saaudun Brahim on charges of “terrorism”.
- The UK government has said it is “deeply concerned” after the death sentences handed to the Britons. No 10 said it was working with Ukrainian authorities to secure the release of the men. “We are obviously deeply concerned by this. We have said continually that prisoners of war shouldn’t be exploited for political purposes,” a government spokesperson said. The UK’s foreign secretary, Liz Truss, condemned the “sham judgment”, saying: “They are prisoners of war. This is a sham judgment with absolutely no legitimacy.”
- The number of Russian soldiers killed since Putin ordered his troops into Ukraine could now be as high as 20,000, according to the latest assessment by western officials. Previous estimates, given several weeks ago, were about 15,000. The official did not speculate on the number of Ukrainians killed in the war.
- Ukrainian military casualties are now between 100 and 200 a day, according to Mykhailo Podolyak, a senior adviser to Zelenskiy, who spoke with the BBC on Thursday. The Ukrainian president said last week that the Ukrainian army was losing 60 to 100 soldiers a day.
- The Kremlin said no agreement had been reached with Turkey on exporting Ukrainian grain shipments across the Black Sea. Turkey has been pushing for an agreement between Russia and Ukraine to ease the global food crisis by negotiating safe passage for grain stuck in Black Sea ports, but its efforts have been met with resistance. Ukraine says Russia is imposing unreasonable conditions and the Kremlin says shipment is dependent on ending sanctions.
- Finland’s government is planning to amend border legislation to allow the building of barriers on its eastern frontier with Russia, it said. The move to amend border legislation comes as the Finnish government rushes to strengthen border security amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and Finland’s bid to join the Nato military alliance.
- Nearly 5 million Ukrainians have been registered across Europe since the beginning of the war, according to figures by the UN’s refugee agency. Far more will have actually left the country, with UNHCR data showing that more than 7.3m border crossings out of Ukraine had been recorded by 7 June. Another 2.3m crossings had been registered back into the country. The war in Ukraine has “caused one of the largest human displacement crises in the world”, the UNHCR said.
- Russia may be getting more revenue from its fossil fuel sales now than before its invasion of Ukraine, according to one US official. Increases in global oil prices have offset the impact of import bans, US energy security envoy Amos Hochstein told lawmakers during a Senate hearing. Russia had been able to sell more cargoes to other buyers, including major energy consumers China and India, by offering it at a discount to oil from other origins, he said.
- Zelenskiy said he had a phone conversation with French president Emmanuel Macron in which “special attention was paid to Ukraine’s path to the EU”. “We are coordinating steps,” he said.
