You can continue to follow our Ukraine coverage via the US blog here:
A summary of today's developments
US national security advisor Jake Sullivan said president Joe Biden and his advisers had made a “unanimous decision” to send cluster munitions to Ukraine.He added Kyiv had provided assurances on how it would use the munitons, and that Russia has been using them extensively since the beginning of the war.
UN secretary general, António Guterres, reiterated his support for the cluster munition prohibition. His deputy spokesperson Farhan Haq said he supported the international prohibition and “naturally” does not want cluster munitions to be used on the battlefield.
Cluster munitions would be ‘psycho-emotional’ weapon against Russia, a senior Ukrainian official said amid reports that the US would take the controversial decision to supply the weapons, which are subject to a global prohibition that some countries do not adhere to.
Massachusetts congressman Jim McGovern, a Democrat, also declared his opposition to the transfer of US cluster munitions to Ukraine. He described them as “indiscriminate” weapons which continue to kill civilians even after cessations of hostilities since they often do not explode but lay primed to do so.
Nato leaders will publicly recommit to Ukraine becoming a member of the military alliance and unite on how to bring Kyiv closer to this goal when they meet in Vilnius on Tuesday, according to the organisation’s secretary general.
Jen Stoltenberg also said that “Nato does not have a position” on cluster munitions as some allies have signed up to prohibit their use and some haven’t. “This will be for governments to decide, not for Nato to decide.”
The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, criticised Nato over a lack of “unity” which he says explains the failure to provide a guarantee that his war-torn country would accede to the alliance.
An anonymous Pentagon official told the New York Times that the Wagner founder, Yevgeny Prigozhin, has mostly been in Russia since the mutiny, but that it remains unclear whether he had visited Belarus, since he allegedly uses body doubles. A raid on his mansion also found a wardrobe full of wigs and photos of him in various disguises.
More than 9,000 Ukrainian civilians, including in excess of 500 children, are confirmed to have died since the beginning of hostilities against Ukraine, 499 days ago, according to the latest United Nations data. However, the true figures are likely much higher.
A report by the Kyiv School of Economics and B4Ukraine, a coalition of NGOs which lobbies international businesses to leave Russia, said that 56% of foreign companies were still operating in the country last year despite the exodus of a significant minority. However, Russia’s earnings from oil and gas sales have fallen by half.
President Zelenskiy was greeted upon his arrival in Turkey earlier this evening by Haluk Bayraktar, the CEO of Baykar Technologies, the company which produces Ankara’s lethal drones.
Ukraine has been using Baykar Technologies’ TB2 drone since the beginning of the conflict in Ukraine spurring something of a legend among Ukrainian soldiers who released a folk song as a tribute to it.
Sayın Başkan Zelensky, dost ülke Türkiye'ye hoş geldiniz.
— Haluk Bayraktar (@haluk) July 7, 2023
Ukrayna için adil bir barış ve kalıcı bir çözüm adına verdiğiniz dünyaya örnek olan mücadelenizi yürekten destekliyorum. 🇹🇷🇺🇦 pic.twitter.com/6HgJMJbclA
Written in Turkish the tweet reads:
Mr. President Zelensky, welcome to the friendly country Turkey.
I wholeheartedly support your struggle for a just peace and a lasting solution for Ukraine, which is an example to the world.
In a sign of budding ties between Baykar Technologies and Ukraine, the company announced that it would begin the construction of a drone manufacturing plant in Ukraine last October. Ukrainian engines also play a key role supplies chains for Baykar Technologies, providing engines for the high-altitude heavy combat Akıncı drone and the Kizilelma unmanned fighter jet.
Ukraine’s counter-offensive against Russian forces is going more slowly than expected, a senior Pentagon official acknowledged.
“It’s too early to judge how the counter-offensive is going one way or the other because we’re at the beginning of the middle,” Colin Kahl, the under secretary of defense for policy, told reporters.
“They are still probing Russian lines (and) Russian areas for weak spots,” Kahl said.
US national security advisor Jake Sullivan said president Joe Biden has approved the shipment of cluster munitions to Ukraine following a unanimous recommendation from his national security team.
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The US agreeing to provide Ukraine with cluster munitions is part of an aid package worth a reported $800m.
Also included in the package are Bradley and Stryker armoured vehicles, and ammunition that includes rounds for howitzers and the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System.
Colin H Kahl, under secretary of defence for policy, said: “We will be able to provide Ukraine with extra artillery immediately.
“Russia has been using cluster munitions since the start of the war.
“The munitions we will provide Ukraine will have a dud rate of below 2.35% [meaning that fewer of the smaller bomblets should fail to explode].
“We are working with Ukraine to reduce the risks associated with these weapons.”
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If Russia does not agree to extend a deal allowing the safe export of grain and fertiliser from Ukrainian ports, it is unlikely western states will continue cooperating with UN officials helping Moscow with its exports, the UN aid chief said.
Russia has threatened to quit the deal, which expires on 17 July, because several demands to dispatch its own grain and fertiliser have not been met.
The last three ships traveling under the deal are loading cargoes at the Ukrainian port of Odesa and are likely to depart on Monday.
“The world has seen the value of the Black Sea Initiative … this isn’t something you chuck away,” the UN’s Martin Griffiths told reporters.
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US agrees to send cluster munitions to Ukraine
The US national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, said president Joe Biden and his advisers had made a “unanimous decision” to send cluster munitions to Ukraine.
He added that Kyiv had provided assurances on how it would use the munitons, and that Russia had been using them extensively since the beginning of the war.
Updated
Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s press conference with Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelenskiy, which was due to start at 7pm UK time, has been delayed.
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In the briefing taking place in Washington DC, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said Russia had been using cluster munitions since the start of the war, but did not confirm whether or not the US would send cluster munitions to Ukraine.
He said: “Russia has been using cluster munitions since the start of this war.
“Ukraine has been requesting cluster munitons to defend itself against Russian agression.
“The bottom line is this, we recognise that cluster munitions are a risk, but there is also a risk if the Russians take more territory.”
In April last year, research by the Guardian suggested that Russian troops used a number of weapons widely banned across the world, which killed hundreds of civilians in Kyiv.
Evidence collected during a visit to Bucha, Hostomel and Borodianka, where Russian occupiers have been accused of atrocities against residents, showed that Russian troops had used cluster munitions, cluster bombs and extremely powerful unguided bombs in populated areas, which have destroyed at least eight civilian buildings.
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A press briefing from the White House is under way following reports that the US is planning to deliver cluster munitions to Ukraine.
You can follow the briefing in our US blog here:
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Here is an obituary on Victoria Amelina, who was wounded in a Russian missile attack in Kramatorsk in eastern Ukraine on 27 June and died, aged 37, of her injuries four days later.
Volodymyr Zelenskiy discusses peace plan, Nato and grain deal with Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in Turkey
The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has arrived in Turkey for his talks with the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, after a busy day in which he met the Slovakian premier.
He wrote on Telegram:
We are finishing a busy day in Turkey. Negotiations with president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Coordination of positions on the peace formula, the Nato summit, security guarantees and the grain initiative. Restoration of Ukraine, defence contracts between our enterprises.
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Ukraine: cluster munitions would be ‘psycho-emotional’ weapon against Russia
Cluster munitions would have an “extraordinary psycho-emotional impact” on Russian forces, a senior Ukrainian official said.
Mykhailo Podolyak, a key adviser to Volodymyr Zelenskiy, told Reuters:
Undoubtedly, the transfer of additional volumes of shells to Ukraine is a very significant contribution to the acceleration of de-occupation procedures.
However, Massachusetts congressman Jim McGovern, a Democrat, opposes the transfer of US cluster munitions to Ukraine.
I continue to strongly support helping Ukraine stand up to Russia’s brutal war of aggression. But cluster munitions won’t help.
— Rep. Jim McGovern (@RepMcGovern) July 7, 2023
My full statement ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/lmn0QH9Ug6
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The Russian state news agency, Tass, reports that the UN secretary general, António Guterres, has reiterated his support for the cluster munition prohibition.
His deputy spokesperson Farhan Haq said earlier:
The secretary general supports the Convention on the Prohibition of Cluster Munitions, which, as you know, was adopted 15 years ago, and he wants countries to comply with the provisions of this convention. So, naturally, he does not want cluster munitions to be used on the battlefield.
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The mayor of Lviv, Andriy Sadovyi, has criticised the Unesco response to Russia’s deadly attack of the western Ukrainian city yesterday.
In a Telegram post, he said Unesco representatives should have visited the attack site after at least 10 people were killed and dozens more were injured.
Yesterday, Unesco condemned the rocket attacks on the historic centre of Lviv. They didn’t even dare to name the terrorist country that is carrying out these attacks … Russia remains a member of the executive committee of the organisation.
Unesco had issued a statement in which said:
Unesco recalls the obligations of states parties under these widely ratified normative instruments … [States parties should not take] any deliberate measures which might damage the cultural and natural heritage situated on the territory of other states parties.
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Ukrainian general Oleksandr Tarnavskyi says his forces are advancing around the village of Tavriia and have killed and wounded almost two companies’ worth of soldiers during the past 24 hours.
On messaging app Telegram, he said:
28 units of enemy military equipment were destroyed, including six tanks … The enemy’s ammunition depot was also destroyed. We are moving forward.
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Here’s our story, by Peter Beaumont, following the press conference of Nato secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg
For 500 days, Moscow has brought death and destruction to the heart of Europe. Our summit will send a clear message: Nato stands united, and Russia’s aggression will not pay.
Updated
A report by the Kyiv School of Economics and B4Ukraine, a coalition of NGOs which lobbies international businesses to leave Russia, says that 56% of foreign companies still operate in the country despite the exodus of a significant minority.
According to the report, the three top companies by revenue in Russia in 2022 were the US tobacco company Philip Morris, Japan Tobacco International and the French firm Leroy Merlin. The top 10 also includes Pepsi, British American Tobacco, Veon, Auchan, Metro AG, Danone, and Hyundai.
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The Human Rights House Foundation, an Oslo-based non-profit group, has been banned in Russia after it was accused of fomenting social discord in the country.
HRHF is a coalition of 80 independent human rights organisations advocating for freedom of assembly and expression in the western Balkans, the Caucasus and eastern Europe, including in Ukraine. Much of its funding comes from EU-based private donors and governments, Reuters reports.
Projects include defending political prisoners in Belarus and managing an educational and events centre in northern Ukraine.
The Russian prosecutor general’s office said it was declaring HRHF’s activity “undesirable” – amounting to a ban – because the group aimed to “destabilise” the domestic political situation in Russia, discredit its foreign policy and “shape public opinion about the need to change power in an unconstitutional way”.
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The rouble, Russia’s currency, has strengthened today, recovering some of the losses sustained in yesterday’s slump to a more than a 15-month low after last month’s abortive mutiny.
Reuters reports that capital controls and shrinking imports have helped insulate the rouble against geopolitics during the more than 16 months since Russia invaded Ukraine, but mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin’s aborted march towards Moscow on 24 June reverberated through markets and raised questions about President Vladimir Putin’s grip on power.
Seeking to project an aura of calm, Russian authorities have blamed the rouble’s more than 7% slump in the last two weeks on falling export revenues and recovering imports, but analysts acknowledge the impact of domestic political concerns.
The mutiny “was the most important factor in the current rouble depreciation”, Yevgeny Nadorshin, chief economist at PF Capital, a Moscow consultancy firm, told Reuters.
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Volodymyr Kostiuk, CEO of Farmak, one of Ukraine’s top pharmaceutical companies, with nearly 3,000 employees and more than £186m in revenue the year before the war, has said that with so many people abroad, displaced within Ukraine or drafted into the armed forces he was facing a shortage in qualified laboratory workers and production specialists.
He is one of a number of company bosses grappling with the likelihood that many refugees will not return and that the workforce will keep shrinking for years to come, a situation also worrying demographers and the government.
“We need to somehow try to return them to Ukraine, because we already see that the longer people are abroad, the less they want to return,” Kostiuk said. His company relocated its research lab and staff to Kyiv, from close to the frontline.
Studies by the UN refugee agency UNHCR show the vast majority of displaced Ukrainians want to return one day, but only around one in 10 plan to do so soon. In previous refugee crises, for example in Syria, refugees’ desire to return home has faded with time, UNHCR studies show.
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In Foreign Affairs magazine today, a hefty piece opposing Nato membership for Ukraine. It argues that the risks – which include bringing the west closer to the possibility of nuclear war with Russia – outweigh the benefits.
Justin Logan, director of defence and foreign policy studies at the Cato Institute, and Joshua Shifrinson, an associate professor at the University of Maryland’s school of public policy, write:
Admitting Ukraine to Nato would raise the prospect of a grim choice between a war with Russia and the devastating consequences involved or backing down and devaluing Nato’s security guarantee across the entire alliance. At the Vilnius summit and beyond, Nato leaders would be wise to acknowledge these facts and close the door to Ukraine.
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The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has again criticised Nato over a lack of “unity” which he says explains the failure to provide a guarantee that his war-torn country would accede to the alliance.
“I think there is not enough unity on this,” Zelenskiy said in Slovakia earlier today before a trip to Turkey, which has stalled Sweden’s bid to join Nato.
This is a threat to the strength of the alliance. This is very important for the security of the whole world … I believe that the situation with the aggressor, with Russia, depends on this. Because Russia is counting on the world to show weakness and disunity in the alliance, and this cannot be allowed.
Updated
The Biden administration is expected to announce later today a new military aid package for Ukraine that for the first time will include cluster munitions.
My colleague Léonie Chao-Fong in Washington will bring us the news as it comes in over on the US blog.
Updated
In its latest update on the situation at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant (ZNPP), the International Atomic Energy Agency writes:
IAEA experts have received additional access at the site of Ukraine’s ZNPP without – so far – observing any visible indications of mines or explosives.
The IAEA experts were yesterday also able to check a wider section of the perimeter of the ZNPP’s large cooling pond than previously.
As part of this, they visited the isolation gate separating the cooling pond from what remains of the Kakhovka reservoir after the destruction of the downstream dam a month ago. The gate has been reinforced with counterweights and sand and there appeared to be no leakage of water from the pond. The experts also went to the gate separating the discharge channel of the nearby Zaporizhzhya Thermal Power Plant (ZTPP) from the reservoir. Both this channel and the pond hold crucial reserves of water for the ZNPP’s cooling needs.
“Following our requests, our experts have gained some additional access at the site. So far, they have not seen any mines or explosives. But they still need more access, including to the rooftops of reactor units 3 and 4 and parts of the turbine halls. I remain hopeful that this access will be granted soon. I will continue to report about developments in this regard,” director general Rafael Mariano Grossi said.
The IAEA is aware of reports that mines and other explosives have been placed in and around the ZNPP.
Volodymyr Zelenskiy has posted about his trip to Slovakia, saying that in talks with president Zuzana Čaputová “we have reached a level of cooperation that strengthens both our countries – in security and international affairs. Slovakia truly helps bring peace closer”.
Updated
The US state department has announced that the secretary of state, Antony Blinken, will accompany Joe Biden to Nato meetings in the UK and Lithuania next week before travelling to Indonesia for an Asean ministers meeting, Reuters reports.
Updated
Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s whistle-stop tour of European countries continued with Slovakia today, having already stopped at Bulgaria and the Czech Republic.
He met Slovakia’s president, Zuzana Čaputová, in Bratislava, who in a joint press conference said that Ukraine’s Nato membership was a matter of “when” not “if”. She also said Slovakia sees Ukraine as a prospective member of the EU.
Updated
Tass, Russian state news agency, reports that oil and gas revenues as accounted for in the country’s budget, have fallen by almost half year-on-year. It comes after the beginning of hostilities against Ukraine prompted a number of countries to cease purchasing Russian oil.
The Russian ministry of finance said:
Oil and gas revenues amounted to 3,382 billion rubles [£28.8bn] and decreased by 47% year-on-year, which is associated with a high base of comparison last year, a decrease in Urals oil prices, a decrease in prices and a decrease in natural gas exports. Monthly dynamics of oil and gas revenues is gradually reaching trajectory corresponding to their base level (8 trillion rubles a year).
Reuters reported yesterday that Naftoport, Poland’s oil terminal in Gdansk, now omstly imports oil from Saudi Arabia and the North Sea to fuel its four refineries in Poland and Germany.
An anonymous Pentagon official has told the New York Times that the Wagner founder, Yevgeny Prigozhin, has mostly been in Russia since the mutiny, but that it remains unclear whether he had visited Belarus, since he allegedly uses body doubles.
The Belarus president, Aleksandr Lukashenko, said yesterday that Prigozhin was in St Petersburg as of the morning, and then “maybe he went to Moscow, maybe somewhere else, but he is not on the territory of Belarus.” He added: “If you think that Putin is so malicious and vindictive that he will kill Prigozhin tomorrow – no, this will not happen.”
The Kremlin spokesperson, Dmitri Peskov, said the Russian government had “neither the ability nor the desire” to track his movements.
Updated
More than 9,000 Ukrainian civilians have died during war – UN
The BBC reports the latest United Nations data which says more than 9,000 Ukrainian civilians, including in excess of 500 children, are confirmed to have died since the beginning of hostilities against Ukraine, 499 days ago. However, the true figures are likely much higher.
“Today we mark another sad milestone in a war that continues to cause terrible civilian casualties in Ukraine,” said Noel Calhoun, deputy chairperson of the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine.
The organisation says that three times more civilians have died during this period than across the eight years of hostilities in eastern Ukraine that preceded this wider conflict.
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Prigozhin wig pictures appear to be genuine, analysis shows
A raid on Russian mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin’s mansion in St Petersburg by security services has revealed his possession of some interesting items. Among them was a wardrobe full of wigs, and photos of Prigozhin in various disguises wearing those wigs, which were allegedly taken from his personal album.
They include photos of the Wagner boss dressed in fatigues and a fake beard in front of flags of the Libyan National Army, whose strongman Haftar he has supported; photos of him in a keffiyeh and brown beard and wig; one of him in fatigues at what looks like a military airbase, and others.
While the images were reportedly leaked to humiliate the mercenary chief, there has been speculation that these images may have been doctored. Preliminary assessment indicates that the images circulating online were vertically photographed off a digital device or screen such as a smartphone, due to the visible rainbow pixellation.
In the photos, the level of granular details like the wrinkles on his forehead and frown lines, appear to be consistent across all the photos, with additional detailing of a pimple in one. Alongside the selfies, it is also possible to match at least one of the wigs in the photos, a dark blonde one, to the one lying in the cupboard in his mansion. The bad lighting, awkward and inconsistent selfie angles seem to suggest they might be authentic, although it is difficult to be sure.
Holy shit! The Prigozhin photos are the funniest thing I have ever seen. 2023 gets wilder and wilder! pic.twitter.com/xe2h626fK7
— Oliver Alexander (@OAlexanderDK) July 5, 2023
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Stoltenberg expects the council meeting next week to result in a statement of support for the territorial integrity of countries, such as Georgia, which aspire to be part of Nato.
Our message has been … that we need to strengthen our partnership with partners that are vulnerable for Russian interference and pressure. And at the summit, allies will reiterate our support for the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Georgia.
Allies will also, I expect, reaffirm Georgia’s right to decide its own future and foreign policy, free from outside intervention. Therefore, we call on Russia to withdraw its forces [which] it has in Georgia without any consent from the Georgian government. And to end its recognition and militarisation of Odessa and South Ossetia.
We have to recognise the importance Georgia plays in strengthening the partnership between Nato and Georgia, and the commitment to Euro-Atlantic security.
New Nato-Ukraine council will 'bring Ukraine closer' to alliance
The inaugural meeting of a new Nato-Ukraine council, made up of the 31 Nato allies, and Ukraine, will take place next week in Vilnius.
Stoltenberg describes it as being made up of “equals”. It would allow any member, including Ukraine, to call a crisis consultation meeting if they felt threatened. Then decisions may be taken in response to any arising issues.
It is fundamentally for the councils to decide what decisions it can make. This opens up for more practical joint activities.
The whole idea is … we establish a body where we do things together, decide things together, consult together, on issues together that matter for our security. That brings, again, Ukraine closer to Nato.
Mattha Busby here, taking over the blog from my colleague Martin Belam.
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A question at the Nato press conference has been about the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. Jens Stoltenberg was asked whether an accident or sabotage at the plant resulting in radiation crossing into Nato countries would be considered a trigger for the collective defence article five of the Nato treaty, that an attack on one is considered an attack on all. He said:
We strongly welcome that the IAEA is monitoring closely, and have their experts following the situation. The IAEA have a mandate, we support that. That is a big challenge in a war zone. Russia has a particular responsibility. The best message from Nato and the IAEA is that Russia should not launch any attacks from the power plant. We continue to call on Russia to withdraw from the facility.
He did not address the specific question about article five.
Updated
“For 500 days, Moscow has brought death and destruction to the heart of Europe,” Stoltenberg told reporters in a news conference in Brussels previewing the gathering, Reuters reports.
“Our summit will send a clear message: Nato stands united and Russia’s aggression will not pay.”
At the moment, Stoltenberg is listing the considerable contribution Nato allies have made to arming Ukraine for its defensive war against what he called Russia’s war of aggression.
On production of armaments, he said, we have started to address the issue of production capacity. “More and more allies are actually signing contracts with the industry” that can increase production.
He said he expected allies to agree on the new production plan, which would assist in joint ordering and procurement.
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Asked by a Ukrainian journalist about what wording may be expected about Ukraine’s future permanent membership, Jens Stoltenberg said allies were consulting on the wording.
He said he expected decisions on concrete practical support, but that there would also have to be a political dimension. He was confident Nato would have a message which was “clear”.
“We agree that Nato’s door is open. We agree that Ukraine will become a member, which is an important message.” He said it would then be up to the allies and Ukraine to work out when, and for Russia to not have a veto.
He reiterated that if Ukraine did not win the war, there would be no Ukraine membership question anyway.
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Stoltenberg said that progress was made yesterday on admitting Sweden to Nato, after a journalist from Turkish television said there were still huge gaps between the statements issued by Turkey and Sweden after they met yesterday. Stoltenbeg sounds confident, but says that there may be more work to do. He says “Sweden has delivered”, but says he also recognises that Turkey has “real security concerns” and other Nato members have “security concerns”.
“I strongly believe it would be good for the whole alliance, including Turkey, to have Sweden as a member as soon as possible,” he said.
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Nato 'does not have a position' on cluster bombs, says Jens Stoltenberg
Nato’s leader is being asked about the wisdom of sending cluster munitions to Ukraine. He has said that “Nato does not have a position on them” as some allies have signed up to prohibit their use and some haven’t. “This will be for governments to decide, not for Nato to decide.”
However, Stoltenberg went on to say: “We are facing a brutal war, and we have to remember this brutality is reflected, that every day we see casualties, and that cluster munitions are used by both sides. And Russia used cluster munitions to invade another country. Ukraine is using cluster munitions to defend itself.”
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You can watch Jens Stoltenberg live in the blog. You may need to refresh the page for the play button to appear.
Nato’s leader has said that at the Vilnius summit next week he will host a meeting on Monday afternoon with Sweden’s prime minister and Turkey’s president in hope of facilitating Sweden’s admission to the alliance.
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Jens Stoltenberg, the Nato secretary general, is giving a press conference at the moment. We will bring you any key lines that emerge.
Key event
Volodymyr Zelenskiy has arrived in Slovakia, where he will hold talks with the president, Zuzana Čaputová.
Zelenskiy’s trip has already taken in Bulgaria and the Czech Republic, and will include Turkey later on Friday.
Updated
Russia – which has repeatedly threatened to pull out of the Black Sea grain initiative because it claims western sanctions are preventing it exporting its own agricultural products – has today claimed it exported a record 60m tonnes of grain in the last year. Reuters reported the figure, citing the agriculture ministry.
Andriy Kostin, the prosecutor general of Ukraine, has posted to social media to say that he has held discussions with G7 justice ministers. He said:
On a daily basis, impunity culminates into new crimes. The destruction of the Kakhovka Dam – a human-made environmental disaster – is a classic example. I informed G7 justice ministers about our national investigation, as well as the need for technical and expert assistance.
We deeply value our partners’ support and solidarity. I’m convinced that united, we can pave the way for restoring peace and justice in Ukraine and on a global scale.
Updated
Luke Harding has been in Velyka Novosilka for the Guardian:
This week, Volodymyr Zelenskiy hit out against critics who say his counteroffensive has been slow and rather underwhelming. The Ukrainian president pointed out that his country’s battlefield success was directly dependent on western supplies of heavy weapons. F-16 fighter jets, which could clear a path for Ukrainian infantry, are unlikely to arrive before autumn. It will be too late for this season’s military push.
“The Russians have a lot of stuff. That’s the problem,” Garry said, sitting on a green camping chair, set up in front of a console, and hidden in a shady copse. Both sides conceal their vehicles under tree cover. Sometimes a shadow was visible in late afternoon and gave away a location, he said. His Ukrainian-made drone flew at a 1km altitude. It was equipped with a night-time thermal camera that detected large objects, he explained.
In February, Garry’s newly formed brigade, the 37th separate marines, trained in southern England. “We were close to Stonehenge. My friend took a photo,” he said. “We learned how to storm enemy trenches, to dig in under fire and to carry out an ambush. They were good instructors. Some were Irish and Australian. At the end they gave us a thermos flask each decorated with an Australian flag.”
The Ukrainian soldiers said they were grateful for the support from western nations but stressed more was needed to defeat the Russians. In a different field planted with sunflowers, a senior lieutenant known as “Cuba” chatted with a four-man crew. They sat on an AMX wheeled light tank, recently donated by France. British Husky infantry vehicles nestled under nearby foliage.
“The Russian army has an advantage in the number of people, tanks and artillery,” Cuba said. “The gap is not as wide as it was a year ago. But still there is a gap. We are moving forward, step by step. It isn’t an easy task.” He added: “We want more heavy equipment, to make a successful offensive operation. We need an advantage in heavy tanks – not just light ones – and artillery.”
Read more of Luke Harding’s dispatch from Ukraine, with accompanying photographs by Alessio Mamo: ‘We need Russia’s complete defeat’ – Ukrainian forces on the frontline
In an interview with the BBC, the Belarusian leader, Aleksandr Lukashenko, said that no heroes had emerged from the recent mutiny in Russia. He told Steve Rosenberg:
I think that no-one came out of that situation a hero. Not Prigozhin, not Putin, not Lukashenko. There were no heroes. And the lesson from this? If we create armed groups like this, we need to keep an eye on them and pay serious attention to them.
A confusing picture continues to emerge about the whereabouts of Yevgeny Prigozhin or his troops.
On Friday morning, an adviser to the Belarus defence minister told reporters that Wagner had not come to look at the facilities set aside for them as part of the deal brokered by Lukashenko that ended the armed march on Moscow.
Leonid Kasinsky said: “They have not come, they have not looked.”
Reuters reports Kasinsky also insisted 300 tents at a disused camp that Lukashenko had offered for the Wagner mercenary group’s use were put up for an exercise and not with Wagner in mind. “You should not link this with Wagner,” he said.
In the BBC interview, Lukashenko also spoke about the deployment of Russian nuclear weapons on Belarusian soil. When it was pointed out to him that they were somebody else’s weapons, he said:
In Ukraine a whole army is fighting with foreign weapons, isn’t it? Nato weapons. Because they’ve run out of their own. So why can’t I fight with someone else’s weapons?
Updated
Summary of the day so far …
Ukrainian troops have advanced by more than a kilometre in the last day against Russian forces near the eastern city of Bakhmut, a military spokesperson said on Friday. “The defence forces continue to hold the initiative there, putting pressure on the enemy, conducting assault operations, advancing along the northern and southern flanks,” military spokesman Serhiy Cherevatyi told Ukrainian television. Russia has contested the claims.
At least 10 people were killed after a Russian missile slammed into a residential building in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv, far from the frontline of the war. Lviv’s mayor, Andriy Sadovyi, called the attack the biggest so far of the war on civilian areas of Lviv. On Friday morning emergency services announced they had ceased rescue operations.
The US is poised to provide cluster munitions to Ukraine, according to reports. Two US officials told Reuters that the Biden administration will announce a new Ukraine weapons aid package on Thursday that will include cluster munitions.
Human Rights Watch urged the US not to supply the cluster munitions to Ukraine, and called on Moscow and Kyiv to stop using the controversial weapons. Transferring cluster bombs to Ukraine would inevitably cause long-term suffering for civilians, the group said.
German foreign minister Annalena Baerbock told reporters at a climate conference in Vienna that her country would not support such a move.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy admitted in Prague Thursday that Ukraine’s counteroffensive was “not fast” but said Kyiv’s troops were advancing. Zelensky arrived in Prague as part of a diplomatic push for Ukraine to join Nato and woo allies for more weapons for its mounting pushback against Russia. “The offensive is not fast, that’s a fact. But nevertheless, we are advancing, not retreating, like Russians,” Zelensky told reporters alongside Czech leader Petr Pavel. “We now have the initiative.”
In a joint press conference with Zelenskiy on Friday morning, the Czech Republic’s prime minister Petr Fiala emphasised how much support his country had already given to Ukraine, and committed to sending more military helicopters and to aid the training of pilots on F16 fighter planes.
Russia’s security forces on Friday claim to have detained a man in illegally annexed Crimea accused of sabotaging the railways in the region on behalf of Ukrainian forces.
In his daily operational briefing, Vyacheslav Gladkov, governor of the Belgorod region in Russia, said that one man was killed by Ukrainian shelling in the last 24 hours. He also recorded damage in a number of settlements caused by falling debris after air defence had been in action.
Russian-imposed authorities in occupied Kherson have raised the death toll from the destruction of the Kakhovka dam up to 55.
Suspilne, Ukraine’s state broadcaster, reports that overnight Russia struck the right-bank of the Dnipro river near the Antonivka road bridge. Five civilians in Kherson were left wounded. There were, it claimed, 29 strikes in all.
The Kremlin on Friday said it would closely follow the results of a meeting in Turkey between Volodymyr Zelenskiy, and his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, at which the potential extension of the Black Sea grain initiative will be discussed.
Reuters reports the Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Vladimir Putin may talk with Erdoğan soon, but no date has yet been set.
Russia has repeatedly sounded its reluctance to continue the deal, which it claims is being implemented in a way that still does not allow it to export its own agricultural products due to western financial sanctions and the closure of an ammonia transit pipe that exits in Odesa.
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Germany opposes sending cluster munitions to Ukraine, its foreign minister said on Friday, a day after US officials said Washington was planning to provide Kyiv with the weapons, widely denounced for killing and maiming civilians.
Asked for a comment on what US officials had said, German foreign minister Annalena Baerbock told reporters at a climate conference in Vienna: “I have followed the media reports. For us, as a state party, the Oslo agreement applies.”
Reuters reports Baerbock was referring to the CCM, which was opened for signature in the Norwegian capital in 2008. It bans the use, stockpiling, production and transfer of cluster munitions.
The Czech prime minister has posted to social media about his talks with Ukraine’s president. In the message, Petr Fiala emphasised how much support his country had given to Ukraine, saying:
I confirmed to President Zelensky today that the Czech Republic will donate more attack helicopters to Ukraine and hundreds of thousands more pieces of large-calibre ammunition in the coming months.
We will also help Ukraine with pilot training, including training for F16 aircraft, and we will deliver flight simulators to Ukraine so that training can take place not only in the west but also in Ukraine.
The Czech Republic is one of the largest suppliers of military assistance to Ukraine. The war has lasted almost 500 days. We have sent 676 pieces of heavy equipment and over 4m pieces of medium and large-calibre ammunition to Ukraine.
This means that every day, since the first day of the war, about 10 000 pieces of ammunition and at least one tank, rocket launcher, howitzer, etc. have been leaving the Czech Republic for Ukraine.
The president has assured me that he is well aware of our assistance, which has been ongoing since the very beginning of the Russian invasion, and that he appreciates it and is ready to support Czech companies getting involved in reconstruction projects in Ukraine.
The presidents of Ukraine and Turkey will discuss on Friday the potential extension of the Black Sea grain initiative and a possible prisoner exchange between Moscow and Kyiv, Reuters reports a senior Turkish official said ahead of the talks.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy will meet Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in Istanbul following visits to Bulgaria and the Czech Republic.
EU countries are discussing ways to use frozen Russian assets to help in Ukraine’s reconstruction, the Czech prime minister, Petr Fiala, said on Friday.
“This is not a simple topic, either from a legal or other points of view, but intensive negotiations are also taking place here precisely so that we can also use these frozen assets to help Ukraine,” Reuters report he said after meeting Volodymyr Zelenskiy in Prague.
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Volodymyr Zelenskiy said again during his visit to the Czech Republic on Friday that Kyiv needed long-range weapons to fight Russian forces.
“Without long-range weapons it is difficult not only to carry out an offensive mission, but also to conduct a defensive operation,” Reuters reports he told a joint press conference.
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The Czech prime minister, Petr Fiala, has said he is convinced that the future of Ukraine lies within the EU and Nato. After meeting Ukraine’s president, Fiala also said that his country would donate military helicopters and other materials for their defence against the Russian invasion. Reuters reports that Fiala added that Ukraine’s security was all of Europe’s security.
Volodymyr Zelenskiy was in Prague on Friday morning where the pair gave a joint press conference. Zelenskiy had travelled from Bulgaria, where he held talks yesterday. In Prague Zelenskiy said that this year it was important to do everything possible to start negotiations on Ukraine joining the EU.
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Reuters reports that Ukraine has ended rescue operations in Lviv, leaving the final death toll after the recent missile attack at ten people.
Russia’s security forces claim to have detained a man in occupied Crimea accused of sabotaging the railways in the region on behalf of Ukrainian forces.
Tass reports the Simferopol resident was trained in Odesa, before using an improvised explosive device to blow up railway tracks in the peninsula that the Russian Federation illegally seized in 2014.
Tass quotes the FSB saying:
The FSB stopped the illegal activities of a Russian citizen born in 1998, who was involved in the commission of a sabotage and terrorist act at the railway transport facility of the Republic of Crimea on the instructions of the Ukrainian special services.
The security services claim the man was connected to an intelligence network it disrupted while it was planning to assassinate prominent figures in the Russian-installed administration in Crimea. He faces between 10 and 20 years in jail.
Ukraine reports new advances near eastern city of Bakhmut
Ukrainian troops have advanced by more than a kilometre in the last day against Russian forces near the eastern city of Bakhmut, a military spokesperson said on Friday.
His comments were the latest by Kyiv signalling that the counteroffensive it launched in early June is gradually making progress although Russian accounts of fighting in the Bakhmut sector differ from Ukraine’s.
“The defence forces continue to hold the initiative there, putting pressure on the enemy, conducting assault operations, advancing along the northern and southern flanks,” Reuters reports military spokesman Serhiy Cherevatyi told Ukrainian television.
“In particular, over the past day, they have advanced more than one kilometre (0.62 mile).”
A spokesperson for the Ukrainian armed forces general staff said Ukrainian forces had had “partial success” near the village of Klishchiivka, just southwest of Bakhmut. Russia still holds Bakhmut but both sides say fighting in the area is intense, with Ukrainian forces hoping to encircle the city.
Journalists have not been able to independently verify the battle situation on the ground.
In his daily operational briefing, Vyacheslav Gladkov, governor of the Belgorod region in Russia, has said that one man was killed by Ukrainian shelling in the last 24 hours. He also recorded damage in a number of settlements caused by falling debris after air defence had been in action.
Belgorod borders Sumy, Kharkiv and the occupied Luhansk region in Ukraine’s north-east. The claims have not been independently verified.
Russian-imposed authorities in occupied Kherson have raised the death toll from the destruction of the Kakhovka dam up to 55, according to report from Tass. 144 people were hospitalised with injuries.
Suspilne, Ukraine’s state broadcaster, reports that overnight Russia struck the right-bank of the Dnipro river near the Antonivka road bridge. Five civilians in Kherson were left wounded. There were, it claimed, 29 strikes in all.
There have been conflicting claims in recent days about Ukrainian attempts to force a bridgehead in that area on the Russian-occupied left-bank of the Dnipro. Russia continues to occupy the southern portion of Kherson oblast.
This is Martin Belam taking over the live blog in London. You can contact me at martin.belam@theguardian.com.
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Lviv missile strike death toll rises to 10
The death toll from Russia’s strikes on Lviv on Thursday has risen to 10, Maksym Kozytskyi, head of the Lviv regional state administration, has just said on Telegram:
As a result of yesterday’s rocket attack on an apartment building in Lviv, 10 people were killed. One person was found at night, another one this morning.
In addition, 42 people were injured. 16 of them were hospitalized.
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The European Union has taken a major step in approving plans to boost its anemic production of ammunition and missiles within the 27-nation bloc, AP reports, to both defend itself and quickly help Ukraine in trying to push back the invasion by Russia.
The EU presidency announced early on Friday that the member states and the EU parliament had reached a deal “to urgently mobilise” half a billion euros from its budget for an act in support of ammunition production.
The deal follows up the decision by EU leaders in March to boost urgently needed ammunition deliveries to Ukraine, which were then sought to start a counteroffensive against Russian forces.
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Ukraine asks to join Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership
Ukraine has submitted a formal request to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) to New Zealand, Japanese and New Zealand authorities said on Friday.
From Reuters: New Zealand, which performs the legal depositary functions for the partnership, had received a formal accession request from Ukraine on 5 May, a New Zealand foreign ministry spokesperson said.
The next steps in the application process would be determined by all members of the CPTPP, who are due to meet in the New Zealand city Auckland on 16 July, the spokesperson said.
Japan’s economy minister, Shigeyuki Goto, told a regular press conference that Japan, as a CPTPP member, “must carefully assess whether Ukraine fully meets the high level of the agreement” in terms of market access and rules.
Ukraine is seeking a clear indication from Nato at next week’s summit in Vilnius that it can join the military alliance when the war ends. Ukraine wants to join as quickly as possible, but Nato members have been divided over how fast that step should be taken. Some member countries are wary of moves they fear could take the alliance closer to an active war with Russia.
Zelenskiy’s trip to Prague followed a visit to Bulgaria for talks on security and the Nato summit. The president’s diplomatic adviser Ihor Zhovkva said Kyiv had secured the backing of Bulgaria for its membership of the military alliance “as soon as conditions allow.”
On Friday Zelenskiy is set to hold talks with Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Turkey is also a Nato member.
Zelenskiy wants concrete steps on Nato membership at summit next week
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy has called on Nato leaders to take concrete steps towards Ukrainian membership at a summit next week. He made the comments during a visit to Prague where he received support from the Czech president, who backed Kyiv’s bid to join the alliance.
Zelenskiy said that Ukraine needed much more than the general statement that the door to Nato was “open”.
We are talking about a clear signal, some concrete things in the direction of an invitation. We need this motivation. We need honesty in our relations.”
Lviv toll rises to nine
The number of people killed in Russia’s strikes on Lviv on Thursday has risen to 9, Ukraine’s Ministry of Internal Affairs has announced. Writing on Telegram, the Ministry said:
Lviv. The number of people killed as a result of the Russian missile attack increased to 9 people, 42 people were injured (including three children).
Rescue and search operations are ongoing.
Opening summary
Welcome back to our continuing live coverage of the war in Ukraine with me, Helen Sullivan.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy has called on Nato leaders to take concrete steps towards Ukrainian membership at a summit next week, and he received support during a visit to Prague from the Czech president, who backed Kyiv’s bid to join the alliance.
And coming up today: Zelenskiy will meet with Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in Istanbul, and Nato chief Jens Stoltenberg will hold a press conference ahead of the group’s summit next week.
Elsewhere meanwhile:
At least seven people were killed after a Russian missile slammed into a residential building in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv, far from the frontline of the war. The youngest was 21 years old and the oldest was a 95-year-old woman, according to Lviv province governor Maksym Kozytskyi. Lviv’s mayor, Andriy Sadovyi, called the attack the biggest so far of the war on civilian areas of Lviv.
The US is poised to provide cluster munitions to Ukraine, according to reports. Two US officials told Reuters that the Biden administration will announce a new Ukraine weapons aid package on Thursday that will include cluster munitions.
Human Rights Watch urged the US not to supply the cluster munitions to Ukraine, and called on Moscow and Kyiv to stop using the controversial weapons. Transferring cluster bombs to Ukraine would inevitably cause long-term suffering for civilians, the group said.
US president Joe Biden’s administration did not sanction or support secret meetings that former top US national security officials held with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and other Russians on potential talks to end the Ukraine war, the White House and state department said on Thursday. NBC News reported that the former US officials met Lavrov in New York in April, joined by Richard Haass, a former US diplomat and outgoing president of the Council on Foreign Relations, and two former White House aides.
Ukraine’s military spy chief says that the threat of a Russian attack on the vast Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant is receding. The intelligence chief, Kyrylo Budanov, warned that it could easily return as long as the facility remained under occupation by Moscow’s forces.
Romania is reportedly considering opening a regional training hub for F-16 fighter jet pilots which would ultimately be available to its Nato allies and partners, including Ukraine. Romania, both an EU and Nato member, is host to a US ballistic missile defence system and, as of last year, has a permanent alliance battlegroup stationed on its territory.
The Russian mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin has returned to Russia, the Belarusian president has said, despite a peace deal with the Kremlin under which Prigozhin had agreed to move to Belarus. “As for Prigozhin, he’s in St Petersburg. He is not on the territory of Belarus,” Alexander Lukashenko said. “Where is Prigozhin this morning? Maybe he left for Moscow.”
