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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
World
Vivian Ho (now); Nadeem Badshah, Jane Clinton and Tess McClure (earlier)

Cyber attack on Lviv city council – as it happened

Ukraine United States Russia Volodymyr Zelenksyy Eurovision Kalush Orchestra Mariupol Mitch McConnell Sauli Niinistö Vladimir Putin
A sculpture of Ukrainian national hero and bard Taras Shevchenko near the ruins of the local Palace of Culture in Dergachi, Ukraine.
A sculpture of Ukrainian national hero and bard Taras Shevchenko near the ruins of the local Palace of Culture in Dergachi, Ukraine. Photograph: John Moore/Getty Images

We’re going to wrap things up for the day.

You can read our full story about the leaders of Finland and Sweden confirming their intention to join Nato, signifying a historic Nordic policy shift triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine here.

Thanks for following along, our new live blog is here.

Updated

Summary

  • Sweden has indicated that it will follow Finland in applying for Nato membership. The country’s ruling Social Democrats said on Sunday that they backed the country joining Nato, and prime minister Magdalena Andersson said she will go to parliament on Monday to seek broad support.
  • Ukrainian authorities have been claiming that Russian forces have been flagging in Ukraine for some time now. British intelligence today revealed that Russia may have lost as much as a third of the invasion force, as more than 400 Russian soldiers were estimated to have been killed or wounded last week trying to cross the Donets river. This comes amid reports that Russia is considering sending in 2,500 reservists to Ukraine.
  • As Russian forces struggle in Ukraine, Ukrainian forces made inroads. The first Ukrainian battalion reached the Russian border in the Kharkhiv region today.
  • Ukrainian authorities are conducting at least 10 active rape investigations involving Russian troops, and are calling for other victims to come forward.
  • Kalush Orchestra, the band that won Eurovision last night for Ukraine, is auctioning off the statuette to raise funds fo the Ukrainian army and Ukraine.
  • A cyberattack on the Lviv city council website resulted in stolen data that ended up published in Telegram channels linked to Russia. This happened the same weekend Italian police thwarted hacker attacks by pro-Russian groups on the Eurovision song contest.

Updated

Andriy Moskalenko, first deputy mayor of Lviv, is reporting that a cyber attack on the website of the Lviv city council this weekend resulted in stolen data.

Antony Blinken, the US secretary of state, spoke about Ukraine from Berlin today, where he was meeting with his counterparts from the UK, Germany and France, as well as others in the Nato alliance.

“Every member of the alliance wants to bring this war to an end as soon as possible, but we’re equally determined to maintain our security assistance to Ukraine, to continue our sanctions, export controls, and diplomatic pressure on Russia for as long as it’s necessary,” he said. “The United States and our allies and partners are focused on giving Ukraine as strong a hand as possible on the battlefield, and at any negotiating table, so that it can repel Russian aggression and fully defend its independence and sovereignty.”

Blinken said that though we don’t know how the rest of the war will unfold, “we know that a sovereign and independent Ukraine will endure.”

“And we know that in supporting Ukraine we’re also defending the principles of sovereignty and independence that are foundational to global peace and security,” he said. “Our partnership with the people of Ukraine is enduring as well. American diplomats have returned to Ukraine after several weeks working out of Poland. We’re reopening our embassy in Kyiv – we’re taking all necessary precautions, but that work is underway – and we will resume operations very soon.”

Updated

The air force command of the Ukrainian armed forces reported that today Ukraine hit 11 Russian air targets: two helicopters, seven Orlan-10 UAVs and two cruise missiles.

Meanwhile, the joint forces task force reported that Russian forces fired at 23 settlements in the Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts, destroying and damaging 32 residential buildings.

Ukrainian forces fought off 17 attacks in this region today, destroying three tanks, one artillery system six units of combat armored equipment and one enemy vehicle.

As the war shifts away from Kyiv, the surrounding areas have begun to clean up and return to some form of normalcy. In Bucha, a city whose people suffered unspeakable atrocities, life goes on amid the rubble.

Bucha residents shop for essential items at makeshift market stalls
Bucha residents shop for essential items at makeshift market stalls. Photograph: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images
Two people in Bucha eating ice cream.
Two people in Bucha eating ice cream. Photograph: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images
A resident of Bucha puts out her washing to dry.
A resident of Bucha puts out her washing to dry. Photograph: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images
The ruins of a destroyed shopping centre in Bucha.
The ruins of a destroyed shopping centre in Bucha. Photograph: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images

Updated

Kalush Orchestra to auction off Eurovision statuette to raise funds for Ukrainian army

Kalush Orchestra, the band that won Eurovision for Ukraine last night, will auction off the statuette and donate the proceeds to a charity fund that helps the Ukrainian army and Ukraine.

“Many people are already donating from abroad, and perhaps many more would like to donate. And this, in our opinion, will be the thing that motivates them. We think it will be beneficial for Ukraine,” band leader Oleh Psiuk said.

Updated

Adding more fodder to claims that Russian forces are flagging in Ukraine, Ukrainian forces reached the Russian border today:

Updated

Ukraine’s ministry of defense has estimated that since the start of the Russian invasion on 24 February, Russia has lost about 27,400 troops, 200 planes, 1,220 tanks and 164 helicopters.

Today in the Donetsk region:

The latest from British military intelligence is that Russia may have lost as much as a third of the invasion force it sent into Ukraine.

This comes amid reports that Russia will be sending in reservists and more than 400 Russian soldiers were estimated to have been killed or wounded last week trying to cross the Donets river.

Read more here:

The response from Russian media to Finland and Sweden announcing that they will apply for membership of Nato:

Antony Blinken, US secretary of state, met in Berlin today with Liz Truss, the foreign secretary of the United Kingdom; Philippe Errera, the director general for political and security affairs of France; and Annalena Baerbock, the foreign minister of Germany.

They discussed the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Iran and the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.

Updated

A breakdown of all the cultural elements displayed by Kalush Orchestra and the win for Ukraine yesterday at Eurovision:

Ukrainian authorities are conducting at least 10 active rape investigations involving Russian troops.

Marina Ovsyannikova, the Russian journalist who interrupted the state’s Channel One television main news program with a protest against the invasion of Ukraine, said her RT-employed ex-husband is suing her and threatening the custody of her two children.

Russia is planning on sending 2,500 reservists to Ukraine:

Here is an interesting thread on the Azov battalion currently defending the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol.

This battalion has been central to Russia’s justification for invading Ukraine, with Russia claiming that its members are neo-Nazis responsible for “nazifying” Ukraine.

Azov formed in 2014 out of far-right groups as a volunteer battalion to fight Russian-backed forces. But Azov fighters say its membership now holds a range of political opinions. Since 2015, it has been part of the Ukrainian army and no longer attracts only far-right combatants.

Swedish prime minister Magdalena Andersson added she will go to parliament on Monday to seek broad support for an application to join NATO, after her party dropped its long-standing opposition to membership in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“Tomorrow I will assure that there is a broad parliamentary support in the Riksdag for a Swedish membership application and after that we will be set to take a government decision,” Andersson told a news conference, Reuters reports.

The 140-mile journey that Igor Pedin, 61, embarked upon by foot from the hellscape of the besieged port city of Mariupol, through Russian occupied lands in the south-east of Ukraine and on to the relative safety of the city of Zaporizhzhia, has left him tired, sometimes tearful, and always thankful.

As the Guardian reported last week, Pedin’s feat was so extraordinary that at one of the 24 checkpoints he passed during his travels on the long journey, equivalent to trekking from London to Sheffield but through a raging war, Russian soldiers had gathered around him in the dark of the night to hear of his daring deeds, stuffing cigarettes in his pockets, and wishing him luck.

But, while Pedin says he does not require medical assistance, insisting to medics when he arrived in Zaporizhzhia that he was “happy as I am – alive”, the former ship’s cook says he is increasingly concerned for his loyal partner on their epic walk, Zhu-Zhu, his nine-year-old mongrel terrier.

Now in Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital, Zhu-Zhu is still fearful of the whistle of a braking bus, reminiscent as it is of the bombs of Mariupol, and he sleeps long into the day.

Sweden’s prime minister Magdalena Andersson said it is best for the country’s security if it joins Nato, Reuters reports.

Andersson added the country needs the formal security guarantees that come with membership of the alliance.

“The best thing for the security of Sweden and the Swedish people is to join NATO,” Andersson told a news conference.

Updated

Finland’s announcement that it will apply for membership in NATO comes after the country’s president, Sauli Niinisto called Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday to tell him of Finland’s plans to join the alliance.

Putin said such a move would hurt Russian-Finnish relations.

I, or Finland, are not known to sneak around and quietly disappear behind a corner. It is better to say it straight what already has been said, also to the concerned party and that is what I wanted to do,” Niinisto said about his call.

Putin said he thought the move would be a mistake, but did not repeat earlier threats that any such move would trigger countermeasures from Moscow, the Finnish leader said in an interview with CNN on Sunday.

“Altogether, the discussion was very, would I say, calm and cool,” Niinisto said. “The surprise was that he took it so calmly.”

However, he added: “You have to keep in mind that what he said doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t be all the time quite, well, aware and follow up what really is happening. But so far, it seems that there’s no immediate problems coming.”

U.S. senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell said he expected the Senate to vote on $40 billion in proposed aid to Ukraine on Wednesday after holding a related procedural vote on Monday.

“We expect to invoke cloture - hopefully by a significant margin - on the motion to proceed on Monday, which would set us up to approve the supplemental on Wednesday,” McConnell told reporters on a conference call from Stockholm after visiting the Ukrainian capital on Saturday.

He was referring to a procedural “cloture” vote that caps further debate on a matter to 30 hours, Reuters reports.

Sweden’s ruling Social Democrats backs country joining Nato

Sweden’s ruling Social Democrats said on Sunday that they backed the country joining Nato, abandoning decades of opposition in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and creating a large parliament majority in favour of membership.

“The party board has at its meeting on May 15, 2022 decided that the party will work toward Sweden applying for membership in NATO,” the Social Democrats said in a statement.
With Finland already set to hand in its application, Sweden’s prime minister Magdalena Andersson is now all but certain to launch a formal application within days, Reuters reports.

Updated

A service member of Mariupol’s unit of the Ukrainian Sea Guard reads inside a bunker of the Azovstal Iron and Steel Works, amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, in Mariupol.
A service member of Mariupol’s unit of the Ukrainian Sea Guard reads inside a bunker of the Azovstal Iron and Steel Works, amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, in Mariupol. Photograph: Press-Service Of The State Border Guard Service Of Ukraine/Reuters

A Ukrainian firefighter works inside a destroyed cultural centre in Derhachi, eastern Ukraine. A Russian airstrike destroyed the venue on May 12.
A Ukrainian firefighter works inside a destroyed cultural centre in Derhachi, eastern Ukraine. A Russian airstrike destroyed the venue on May 12. Photograph: Bernat Armangué/AP

Summary

Here is summary of where things stand at present.

Updated

Ukraine has deployed many of its new US M-777 howitzers at the front lines and Washington has delivered all but one of the 90 artillery pieces they were due to send, the US embassy in Kyiv has said

Reuters reported that the M-777 howitzer consignment is part of a huge outlay of weapons from Washington to help Ukraine fend off Russia’s invasion.

The M-777 is seen as particularly significant because of its long range and accuracy.

The US embassy reposted a Ukrainian military video of Kyiv’s soldiers training to use the weapons.

“M-777 Howitzers in action. Part of the United States’ most recent $800 million care package for the Ukrainian Armed Forces,” it tweeted.
“All but one of the 90 Howitzers sent by the United States are now in Ukraine, many now deployed on the front lines,” it said

Finland’s President Sauli Niinistö said his latest talk with Russian president Vladimir Putin about his country’s bid to join Nato was measured and did not contain any threats, Reuters reports.

In an interview with CNN’s “State of the Union”, Niinistö said:

He confirmed that he thinks it’s a mistake. We are not threatening you.

Altogether, the discussion was very, could I say, calm and cool.

Russia’s behaviour amounts to the unilateral repudiation of a 1997 cooperation agreement with Nato, Germany’s foreign minister Annalena Baerbock said.

The Russian government has made it clear that the Nato-Russia Founding Act is no longer worth anything to it.

So we now have to acknowledge that this basic act was also unilaterally terminated by Russia, not by Nato.

The agreement was designed to build trust and limit both sides’ force presence in eastern Europe, reports Reuters.

Nato suspended practical cooperation with Russia in 2014 following Moscow’s seizure of Ukraine’s Crimea peninsula.

Our colleague, Steven Morris, has an exclusive on a UK community-led scheme offering hope to Ukrainian refugees.

The new end-to-end scheme – Communities for Ukraine – is based on a collaboration between two charities, Citizens UK and Ukrainian Sponsorship Pathway UK. USPUK, set up by lawyers and entrepreneurs, employs Ukrainian staff in Poland to support refugees exploring resettlement in the UK.

Citizens UK, the community organising charity that helped pioneer the UK’s sponsorship scheme for Syrians, has recruited 20 civil society organisations with deep roots in their communities as strategic partners. Each partner – mainly faith groups and educational establishments – has committed to finding 50 hosts, and Citizens UK gives training to ensure that the matches are solid and sustainable.

The scheme has been given recognised status by the UK but the ambition is to provide a safer, more streamlined, better supported system to the government’s much-criticised response tothe refugee crisis.

You can read more here.

US to reopen its Embassy in Kyiv 'very soon'

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the US is reopening its embassy in Kyiv and will resume operations “very soon”, Reuters reports.

Updated

Common ground can be found with Turkey over Nordic nations' Nato bid - Stoltenberg

Nato’s secretary general said he was confident common ground could be reached to allay Turkey’s concerns over Sweden and Finland’s membership into the alliance and that it would seek to boost its presence in the region, while their membership is ratified.

Speaking to reporters by video link Jens Stoltenberg said:

I’m confident that we will be able to address the concerns that Turkey has expressed in a way that doesn’t delay the membership or the accession process.

Stoltenberg added that Ankara had made it clear it did not want to block the Nordic states’ membership bid.

Reuters reports that Stoltenberg said he wanted to speed up the ratification process of the two countries as much as possible and that the alliance would look into ways to provide security assurances for the interim period, including by increasing Nato’s presence in the region.

Russia said today it had attacked Ukrainian positions in the east with missiles, targeting command centres and arsenals as its forces seek to encircle Ukrainian army units in the battle for Donbas.

Reuters reports that:

Russia’s defence ministry said rockets had hit two command points, 11 company positions and four artillery stores in four regions of the eastern Donetsk region, some deep in Ukrainian-controlled territory between Donetsk and Izyum.

Russian forces had hit areas near the cities of Baxmut and Kostyantynivka. Russia also destroyed two S-300 missile systems and a radar post in the Sumy region of north-eastern Ukraine, the defence ministry said.

Russia said that since the start of the military operation, its forces had destroyed 165 aircraft, 125 helicopters, 879 unmanned aerial vehicles, 306 anti-aircraft missile systems, and 3,098 tanks and other armoured combat vehicles.

However, the reports from the Russian defence ministry could not be independently confirmed.

German foreign minister, Annalena Baerbock, has said Finland and Sweden are already Nato members but are just without a membership card, reports Reuters.

Russia's offensive in Ukraine is failing, Nato's Stoltenberg says

Russia’s offensive in Ukraine is failing and its operation in the Donbas region has stalled, Nato’s secretary general said.

Jens Stoltenberg told reporters by video link:

Russia’s war in Ukraine is not going as Moscow had planned. They failed to take Kyiv.

They are pulling back from Kharkiv and their major offensive in Donbass has stalled.

Updated

Ukrainians revelling in their Eurovision song contest victory have renamed a train route in its honour, Reuters reports.

The Kalush Orchestra triumphed in Italy on Saturday with their entry “Stefania”.

The head of the railway service announced that the number 43 train from Kyiv to Ivano-Frankivsk will be renamed the Stefania Express.

Train stations in Kyiv, Kalush and Ivano-Frankivsk will play the song when the train pulls in, he said.

Updated

Here are some of the key images emerging from Ukraine today, day 81 of the Russian invasion.

Kyiv

Ukrainian firefighters work at an apartment building after bombing in Kyiv.
Ukrainian firefighters work at an apartment building after bombing in Kyiv. Photograph: Felipe Dana/AP

Kharkiv

A man walks on the debris of a burning house, destroyed after a Russian attack in Kharkiv.
A man walks on the debris of a burning house, destroyed after a Russian attack in Kharkiv. Photograph: Felipe Dana/AP

Vilkhivka

In this village of about 2,000 inhabitants, near the eastern city of Kharkiv, dozens of houses were gutted by shells, explosions or fires. Debris – including bullet casings, and remains of ammunition - litters the streets, AFP reports.

A woman at her destroyed house in the village of Vilkhivka.
A woman at her destroyed house in the village of Vilkhivka. Photograph: Dimitar Dilkoff/AFP/Getty Images

With Finland announcing its intention to apply for Nato membership, and Sweden’s ruling party expected to do the same, one obstacle could be objections from Turkey, Reuters reports:

Turkey’s foreign minister said on Sunday that Sweden and Finland must stop “supporting terrorists” in their countries, provide clear security guarantees and lift export bans on Turkey as they seek membership of Nato.

Mevlut Cavusoglu, speaking with Turkish reporters after a meeting of Nato foreign ministers in Berlin, said Turkey was not threatening anybody or seeking leverage but speaking out especially about Sweden’s support for the PKK Kurdish militant group. Ankara views the PKK as a terrorist organisation.

Finland confirmed on Sunday that it would apply for Nato membership and Sweden is expected to follow suit, in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. However Turkey’s concerns may pose an obstacle as any decision on Nato enlargement requires unanimous approval by all 30 member states.

Finland’s ministry for foreign affairs has tweeted regarding today’s announcement that the country intends to join Nato.

Nato membership, it says “offers Finland the most security” in light of its own security environment having “changed fundamentally”.

Finland’s minister for foreign affairs, Pekka Haavisto, is quoted as saying:

By joining Nato, Finland will strengthen its own security and that of all Europe. We are making this historic decision for future generations.

Updated

Finland’s President Sauli Niinistö says he is ready to meet Turkey’s president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan over Nato membership concerns.

Erdogan has raised objections to Finland and Sweden joining. As Turkey is a Nato member, it could veto their applications.

Niinistö said he was “a bit confused” about what he said was a shift in Turkey’s stance, Reuters reports.

What we need now is a very clear answer, I am prepared to have a new discussion with president Erdogan about the problems he has raised.

Updated

Finland’s President Sauli Niinistö told reporters in the presidential palace in Helsinki:

Today, we, the president and the government’s foreign policy committee, have together decided that Finland ... will apply for Nato membership.

Niinistö had called Russian president Vladimir Putin on Saturday to tell him of Finland’s plans to join the alliance. Putin said such a move would hurt Russian-Finnish relations.

Niinistö, referring to the phone call, added:

I, or Finland, are not known to sneak around and quietly disappear behind a corner. It is better to say it straight what already has been said, also to the concerned party and that is what I wanted to do.

Updated

Italian police thwarted hacker attacks by pro-Russian groups during the 10 May semi-final and Saturday final of the Eurovision song contest in Turin, authorities said.

Reuters reports that during voting and the performances, the police cybersecurity department blocked several cyber attacks on network infrastructure by the “Killnet” hacker group and its affiliate “Legion”, police said.

The police also gathered information from the pro-Russian group’s Telegram channels to prevent other critical events and identified the attacks’ geographic location.

On 11 May, “Killnet” claimed an attack on the websites of several Italian institutions, including the Senate, Italy’s upper house of parliament, and the National Health Institute (ISS), ANSA news agency reported.

Updated

More on Finland’s announcement that it will apply for Nato membership, from our colleague, Jon Henley.

Finland has formally confirmed it intends to join Nato, its president, Sauli Niinistö, has said, abandoning decades of military non-alignment in a historic decision triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

With neighbouring Sweden’s ruling party also holding a decisive meeting on whether to join the 30-member defensive alliance next week, Moscow’s onslaught on Ukraine looks set to usher in the expansion of Nato that Vladimir Putin claimed he wanted to prevent.

Finland shares an 810-mile (1,300km) border with Russia and, like Sweden, has maintained strict policies of neutrality then non-alignment since the end of the second world war, viewing Nato membership as a provocation of Moscow.

However, Putin’s invasion of Ukraine on 24 February has led to a profound change in its thinking, with public support for Nato accession trebling to about 75%. Polls show a majority of between 50 and 60% are also in favour in Sweden.

Three days after Finland’s leaders said it “must apply for Nato membership without delay”, the membership proposal is expected to be laid before parliament for ratification on Monday.

Niinistö called his Russian counterpart, Putin, on Saturday and informed him his country aimed to join Nato, in a conversation he described as “direct and straightforward”. He added: “Avoiding tensions was considered important.”

Russia has repeatedly warned Finland and Sweden against joining Nato, saying such a move would oblige it to “restore military balance” by strengthening its defences in the Baltic Sea region, including by deploying nuclear weapons.

Putin responded to Niinistö’s call by saying Nato membership “would be a mistake, since there is no threat to Finland’s security”, according to a readout of the call released by the Kremlin.

After a cross-party Swedish parliamentary review on Friday said joining Nato would boost Sweden’s national security and help stabilise the Nordic region, leaders of the country’s ruling Social Democrats were also poised on Sunday to jettison the party’s longstanding opposition to Nato membership.

With a decision expected in the early evening, Swedish media reported that – assuming Helsinki sends its application in on Monday – Stockholm is likely to follow suit as early as Tuesday, with the alliance set to launch the accession process immediately afterwards.

Read the full report here.

President Sauli Niinistö says Finland will apply for Nato membership

President Sauli Niinistö says Finland will apply for Nato membership.

Updated

Ukraine’s Kalush Orchestra has released a powerful video for their Eurovision-winning song which was filmed in the ruins of Irpin and Bucha.

The band’s lead singer Oleh Psyuk said:

I once dedicated this song to my mother, and when the war broke out, the song took on a lot of new meanings.

Although there is not a word about the war in the song, many people began to associate the song with mother Ukraine.

Moreover, society began to call it the anthem of our war!

But if Stefania is now the anthem of our war, I would like it to become the anthem of our victory.

The video was released following the band’s Eurovision win.

Updated

Ukrainian servicemen get tattoos during the Art Weapon festival in Kyiv.
Ukrainian servicemen get tattoos during the Art Weapon festival in Kyiv. Photograph: Sergei Supinsky/AFP/Getty Images

At the “Art Weapon” festival in Kyiv dozens of Ukrainians chose to show their love for their nation by getting tattoos, with payments for them going to the Ukrainian military as donations.

The event took place at an abandoned Soviet-era factory on Saturday, Agence France-Presse reports.

A Ukrainian woman holds her baby while getting a tattoo during the Art Weapon festival.
A Ukrainian woman holds her baby while getting a tattoo during the Art Weapon festival. Photograph: Sergei Supinsky/AFP/Getty Images

A 20-year-old soldier, who spoke on condition of anonymity, was getting inked for the first time. His tattoo was dedicated to Ukraine’s Azov regiment and the group’s fighters - many of whom are under attack at a steel plant in the besieged port city of Mariupol, including two of his friends.

It’s very difficult for me, but I can’t imagine what they feel. They told me they will stand for Ukraine until they die.

UK foreign secretary Liz Truss attends a Nato foreign ministers meeting in Berlin today.
UK foreign secretary, Liz Truss, attends a Nato foreign ministers meeting in Berlin today. Photograph: Bernd von Jutrczenka/Reuters

Nato must maintain its “open door” policy towards admitting new members, UK foreign secretary Liz Truss has said.

PA Media reports that following a meeting of alliance foreign ministers in Berline, Truss said security in Europe will be strengthened if - as expected - Finland and Sweden apply to join.

She said:

Nato’s open door policy is essential and if Finland and Sweden decide to apply to join, it is clear that they would strengthen the alliance and European security as a whole.

Truss said the meeting had agreed that they must continue to support Ukraine to help it to “push Russia out”.

Putin must face a sustained defeat in Ukraine, Russia must be contained and such aggression must never happen again. Ukraine’s security must come from it being able to defend itself. Allies must support Ukraine’s move to Nato-standard equipment, immediately providing artillery, training and the required expertise.

Nato’s deputy general secretary, Mircea Geoana, has congratulated Ukraine on their Eurovision triumph and said the win sends a message to Vladimir Putin, Reuters reports.

He said:

I would like to congratulate Ukraine for winning the Eurovision contest. And this is not something I’m making in a light way. Because we have seen yesterday the immense public support all over Europe and Australia for the bravery. Of course the song was beautiful, it is beautiful.

The Kalush Orchestra won with their entry “Stefania”, and Geoana sought to link its victory with Ukraine’s fight against Russia and the alliance’s solidarity with Kyiv.

Geoana said Nato wanted to send a message to Russian President Vladimir Putin that despite starting the most “brutal and cynical” conflict since the Second World War, Ukraine continued to surprise with its bravery and the West with its unity.

So I’m saying that we are united. We are strong, (and) will continue to help Ukraine in winning this war.

Ukraine’s foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, tweets that he met with US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, and says “more weapons and other aid is on the way to Ukraine.”

Germany’s foreign minister Annalena Baerbock makes the opening remarks during a Nato meeting in Berlin, Germany today.
Germany’s foreign minister Annalena Baerbock makes the opening remarks during a Nato meeting in Berlin, Germany today. Photograph: Clemens Bilan/EPA

Further details on Germany’s position regarding Finland and Sweden’s potential bid for Nato membership.

Reuter reports comments from Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock:

Germany has prepared everything to do a quick ratification process.

If they decide to join they can join quickly...We must make sure that we will give them security guarantees, there must not be a transition period, a grey zone, where their status is unclear.

She was referring to the ratification period that can take as long as a year, during which the Nordic countries will not yet be protected by Nato’s article 5 which guarantees that an attack on one ally is an attack on all.

Some more now from Reuters on the military situation in Donbas, which has become the main theatre of the war over the past month.

  • Earlier today, British military intelligence delivered a damning assessment of Russia’s Donbas campaign, saying Russia had lost about a third of the ground combat force deployed in February, had fallen “significantly behind schedule” and was unlikely to make rapid advances during the next 30 days.
  • The Ukrainian military has reported a counteroffensive is underway near the Russian-held town of Izium, but Russian forces were advancing elsewhere in the Donbas region. Those reports have not been independently verified.
  • Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said the situation in Donbas remained very difficult, and Russian forces were still trying to salvage a victory there. “They are not stopping their efforts,” he said.

Some more on Ukraine’s Eurovision song contest triumph.

Here is Ukraine’s Eurovision presenter and commentator, Timur Miroshnychenko’s ecstatic reaction to the news that his country had won.

He was broadcasting his Eurovision commentary from a bomb shelter.

Updated

Missile strike hits Lviv

A missile strike hit some military infrastructure in the western Ukrainian region of Lviv early on Sunday, the region’s Governor Maxim Kozitsky said in a post on the Telegram messaging app, reports Reuters.

Kozitsky said:

Four enemy missiles hit one of the military infrastructures in the Lviv region. The object is completely destroyed. According to preliminary information, there are no casualties. No one sought medical help.

Reuters said it was not able to independently verify the reports and there was no immediate response from Moscow.

The regional “West” Air Command of Ukraine’s Air Force said in a social media post that several missiles were fired from the Black Sea at the Lviv region. Two of the missiles were destroyed before hitting targets, it said.

Updated

Croatia’s foreign minister has said talks between Turkey and Finland and Sweden over its concerns regarding the latter two nations’ wish to join Nato were on the right track after all three met, Reuters reports.

Gordan Grlić-Radman said:

Discussions are on a good track and we hope we will have a good outcome today to show solidarity and speak with one voice.

His Romanian counterpart Bogdan Aurescu said it was important that momentum should not be lost in pushing ahead with the Nordic states’ membership process to send a message to Russia.

Meanwhile, German’s foreign minister Annalena Baerbock says Germany has prepared everything for a quick ratification of Finland’s and Sweden’s Nato membership.

Updated

Our colleague Dan Sabbagh has written a piece on the use of drones in the conflict.

Shot after shot pounded into the Russian missile battery hidden by the lighthouse on Snake Island, a Black Sea rock 22 miles (35km) from the Ukrainian coast. The edited video, released by the Ukrainian military, showed the strike and its aftermath – all taken from a Turkish-designed Bayraktar TB2 drone.

Until then, evidence of the TB2 – a remotely piloted killer drone with a range of up to 190 miles – had largely disappeared from the conflict. The assumption was that the two dozen or so that Ukraine had bought from Turkey had been shot down and Ankara, not wanting to upset Russia, had declined to supply more.

Yet the battle for control of Snake Island suggested the picture had changed. A day later, another TB2 video, accompanied by the pumping music typical of these propaganda releases, showed a landing craft being destroyed; a day after that, the downing of an Mi-8 helicopter as Russian troops were disembarking.

Death from a distance, shown on social media video.

An aviation analyst, Amelia Smith, spotted that one of the drone videos indicated the drone had a new registration: T253 – not seen in Ukraine before. It had been spotted being tested in late March around the manufacturer’s test facility in Turkey, suggesting it was newly supplied, perhaps part of a new batch.

You can read the full report here.

Updated

Sweden's ruling party due to decide on Nato membership bid

Reuters reports that Sweden’s ruling Social Democrats are poised to come out in favour of the country joining Nato, paving the way for an application - and Nato’s deputy secretary general says he is confident the alliance could reach consensus on their membership.

The Social Democrats - Sweden’s biggest party - have held internal debates over the past week, and party leadership says it will decide on Sunday. It is widely expected to drop its opposition to Nato membership.

The decision would overturn decades of security policy, where Sweden has maintained military neutrality.

It looks increasingly likely that both Finland and Sweden may seek entry into the Western alliance, despite Moscow’s warnings of “retaliatory steps” and “serious consequences”. Russia has said it could deploy nuclear weapons and hypersonic missiles in the European exclave of Kaliningrad if Sweden and Finland become Nato members.

Meanwhile, Nato’s deputy secretary general Mircea Geoană said on Sunday he was “confident” the alliance could reach consensus on Finland and Sweden’s membership, and Turkey’s concerns over Finland and Sweden joining could be addressed.

I am confident if these countries decide to seek membership in NATO we will be able to welcome them to find all conditions for consensus to be met.

Finland is also due to make a decision on a potential Nato application today - we’ll keep you updated as those decisions progress.

Updated

Russia’s offensive in Ukraine’s Donbas region “has lost momentum and fallen significantly behind schedule”, and is “unlikely to dramatically accelerate its rate of advance over the next 30 days,” British military intelligence has said in its regular Twitter bulletin.

In a corner of Donbas, one of the few parts of Ukraine still threatened by an advancing army, elderly and vulnerable residents are fleeing by any means available.

Defeated in Kyiv and pushed back from Kharkiv, Moscow has thrown its troops at long stretches of the eastern front. In towns like Konstiantynivka, many residents who did not leave in the first waves of evacuations - often the very old, very young, ill or immobile - are now trying to get out.

As vulnerable residents are carried to safety in makeshift volunteer convoys, photographer Ed Ram and correspondent Emma Graham-Harrison have captured some of those journeys - including 88-year old Nina, who marked her birthday by leaving behind everything she had known.

Nina is evacuated from her home in Kostyantynivka, Ukraine
Nina is evacuated from her home in Kostyantynivka, Ukraine Photograph: Ed Ram/The Observer

Teams of volunteers carried people to evacuation points, using makeshift stretchers and wheelchairs. Mothers and young children packed their belongings into backpacks to head to the trains.

An elderly woman is lifted onto a train in Pokrovsk train station, Ukraine.
An elderly woman is lifted onto a train in Pokrovsk train station. Photograph: Ed Ram/The Observer
Amina, 9, says goodbye to her friends she and her mother leave their home in Druzhkivka, Ukraine
Amina, 9, says goodbye to her friends she and her mother leave their home in Druzhkivka, Ukraine Photograph: Ed Ram/The Observer

Read the full report here:

Ukrainian officials claim that Russia is planning to hold a referendum in Mariupol over whether the city will join Russia. Petro Andryushchenko, an adviser to the port city’s mayor, who is operating in exile, said on Saturday:

We have some information that the Russian authorities are preparing a referendum and could even call it tomorrow, but we don’t know yet if this is the case. But we see lots of integration of Mariupol into the Russian system, the education system, the banking system.

The ruins left of Mariupol, which was once home to 400,000 people, are largely occupied by Russia, although up to 2,000 Ukrainian soldiers are holding out in the sprawling Azovstal steelworks.

Full report here:

G7 warns of famine due to Black Sea blockade

Russia’s blockade of the Black Sea is pushing entire populations toward famine, the G7 foreign ministers have said, and millions of people will starve to death unless Russia allows the export of Ukrainian grain from blockaded ports. The countries said in a joint statement:

Russia’s unprovoked and premeditated war of aggression has exacerbated the global economic outlook with sharply rising food, fuel and energy prices.

“Combined with Russia blocking the exit routes for Ukraine’s grain, the world is now facing a worsening state of food insecurity and malnutrition … This is at a time when 43 million people were already one step away from famine.”

Ukraine is one of the world’s leading wheat and corn producers, and many countries - particularly in north Africa - are dependent for their basic food provision on its low-cost wheat. Earlier in the month, UN food programme director Martin Frick said about 4.5 million tonnes of grain in containers at Ukrainian ports were “just sitting there”.

Read more on the G7’s latest concerns on the blockade and food security from our correspondent Daniel Boffey:

Updated

Finland expected to announce Nato decision

Decisions from both Finland and Sweden are expected shortly on their intentions to join Nato.

AFP reports that the Finnish government is expected to officially announce its intention to join Nato on Sunday, as Sweden’s ruling party holds a decisive meeting that could pave the way for a joint application. If they opt to go ahead with those applications, it would reverse policies on military non-alignment dating back more than 75 years in Finland and two centuries in Sweden.

Putin warned Finland via a statement that such plans would “negatively affect Russian-Finnish relations”.

Finnish president Sauli Niinistö’s office said he had told Putin in a phone discussion how starkly Finland’s security environment had changed after Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. “The discussion [with Putin] was straightforward and unambiguous and was held without exaggeration... By joining Nato, Finland will strengthen its own security and assume its responsibilities.”

Updated

Ukraine is celebrating its win of the 66th Eurovision song contest, which was held on Saturday evening. Stefania by Kalush Orchestra finished first, riding a tidal wave of support from the telephone-voting European public.

“Our courage impresses the world, our music conquers Europe! Next year Ukraine will host Eurovision!” President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in a post on Telegram. He said “we will do our best” to one day host the contest in the currently-besieged port city of Mariupol. “Ukrainian Mariupol. Free, peaceful, rebuilt!”

Eurovision Song Contest winners, Uraine’s Kalush Orchestra, at the Grand Final show.
Eurovision Song Contest winners, Uraine’s Kalush Orchestra, at the Grand Final show. Photograph: Stefania D’Alessandro/Getty Images

Reuters spoke to Ukrainian soldiers who joyfully watched their country win the contest - and said it heralded their coming victory in the war to evict Russian forces from Ukraine.

Ukrainian service members watch 2022 Eurovision Song Contest from a basement in the Kyiv region.
Ukrainian service members watch 2022 Eurovision Song Contest from a basement in the Kyiv region. Photograph: Valentyn Ogirenko/Reuters

“We will also win,” said Vitaliy, a soldier. “We have shown that we can not only fight, but we can also sing very nice.”

Ukrainian service members celebrate the winning of the Kalush Orchestra.
Ukrainian service members in Kyiv celebrate the winning of the Kalush Orchestra. Photograph: Valentyn Ogirenko/Reuters

Hello and welcome to the Guardian’s live coverage of the war in Ukraine. I’m Tess McClure and I’ll be with you for the next few hours before handing over to my colleagues in London.

Here are some of the key developments of the past few hours, including the safe evacuation of another convoy of refugees from Mariupol and Ukraine’s win in the Eurovision song contest on a wave of emotional support from the European public.

  • Millions of people will starve to death unless Russia allows the export of Ukrainian grain from blockaded ports. G7 governments said Russia was pushing 43 million people into starvation with its blockade of Ukrainian grain. It came amid protests in Iran about the price of bread.
  • A large convoy of hundreds of cars and vans carrying refugees from the ruins of Mariupol arrived in the Ukrainian-controlled city of Zaporizhzhia on Saturday night after waiting days for Russian troops to allow them to leave, Reuters reports. Ukraine has gradually been evacuating civilians from the devastated city for more than two months.
  • Ukraine has ridden a wave of emotional support from Europeans to win the 66th Eurovision song contest, which was held on Saturday evening in Turin in Italy. Stefania by Kalush Orchestra finished first after strong showings by the United Kingdom, Spain and Sweden in the early voting. The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy hailed the win and pledged to one day hold the final in a “free, rebuilt” Mariupol.
  • The US Senate minority leader, Mitch McConnell, joined the growing list of US politicians making visits to Kyiv. Zelenskiy welcomed McConnell’s visit as a powerful signal of bipartisan support for Ukraine.
  • Zelenskiy also thanked president Joe Biden for signing into law this week an update to the second world war era Lend-Lease act, which allows for faster production and delivery by the US of weapons and munitions to allies engaged in conflicts in which it is not a direct participant.
  • Russia’s ambassador to the US, Anatoly Antonov, says his country’s diplomats in Washington DC are being threatened with violence and harassed by US intelligence services, Reuters is reporting, citing the Tass news agency of Russia.
  • Finland’s president, Sauli Niinistö, told Vladimir Putin that Helsinki plans to join Nato. Niinistö delivered the news during a phone call with the Russian leader.
  • Putin said abandoning neutrality would be a mistake and that there are no current threats to Finland’s security. Russia has described Helsinki’s bid to join Nato as a hostile move that “definitely” would represent a threat – to which Moscow will respond.
  • Ukraine says Moscow is planning to hold a referendum, perhaps as early as Sunday, on whether Mariupol wants to become part of Russia. It follows news of a similar poll in Georgia’s breakaway region of South Ossetia and allegations from western allies that Russia is planning sham referendums to justify military actions.
  • Russian troops have withdrawn from the Kharkiv city area, its mayor, Ihor Terekhov, said. He said that, “due to the efforts of Kharkiv territorial defence and Ukrainian armed forces, the Russians have withdrawn out far from the city area in the direction of the Russian border”.
  • The war will be over by the end of 2022, Ukraine’s head of military intelligence said. Major general Kyrylo Budanov claimed Moscow was suffering heavy casualties and predicted a turning point by mid-August – adding his belief that “most of the active combat actions will have finished by the end of this year”.
  • Moscow is failing to reach its political aims in Ukraine, the UK’s Ministry of Defence (MoD) said. The fact Russia has only succeeded in imposing a pro-Russia local leadership in the city of Kherson “highlights the failure of Russia’s invasion to make progress towards its political objectives”, the latest intelligence update said.
  • “Very difficult negotiations” on the next stage of evacuations from Mariupol were ongoing, Zelenskiy said. The city’s last remaining Ukrainian defenders are holed up in the Azovstal steel plant
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