Summary
It’s 2am in Kyiv. Here’s where things stand as we close this blog. Live coverage will resume later; all the Guardian’s Ukraine coverage can be found here.
- Ukraine’s state-run nuclear company, Energoatom, has restored its connection between the International Atomic Energy Agency and the surveillance systems of the nuclear plant in the southeastern city of Zaporizhzhia. The connections have previously been down as a result of Russian occupation.
- UK prime minister Boris Johnson has received the title of Honorary Citizen of Odesa, the Kyiv Independent reports. On Friday, Odesa mayor Henadiy Trukhanov signed an order that awarded Johnson with the Hryhoryia Marazly Honorary Badges of I, II, III degree, which automatically grants him the title.
- Ukraine’s rebuilding plans will need to address restoring war-torn ecosystems, the EU Commissioner for the Environment said. Virginijus Sinkevicius warned the environmental cost of the conflict was “increasing every day” - and said it could take “generations” to overcome.
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy called Latin American leaders on Friday in attempts to obtain support from Latin America in his country’s fight against the Russian invasion. “I continue to establish relations with an important region — Latin America,” Zelenskiy wrote on social media in regards to his conversations with leaders of Argentina and Chile.
- Ukraine’s army accused Russia of carrying out strikes using incendiary phosphorus munitions on Snake Island Friday, just a day after Moscow withdrew its forces from the strategic Black Sea outpost. “Today at around 18:00... Russian air force SU-30 planes twice conducted strikes with phosphorus bombs on Zmiinyi island,” it said in a statement, using another name for Snake Island.
- A new Reuters investigation has found that at least 14 Russian weapons companies have not faced any Western sanctions. “Nearly three dozen leaders of Russian weapons firms and at least 14 defense companies have not been sanctioned by the United States, the European Union or the United Kingdom,” the Reuters report said.
- The US announced on Friday that it will provide Ukraine with an additional $820 million in military aid. The new aid package will include new surface-to-air missile systems and counter-artillery radars to respond to Russia’s long-range strikes in its war against Ukraine.
- Ukraine’s outspoken ambassador to Germany, a talkshow staple who was central to the public debates that led Berlin to step up weapons deliveries to Kyiv, is facing criticism for defending World War Two Ukrainian nationalist leader Stepan Bandera in an interview. An interview with journalist blogger Tilo Jung published on Thursday quoted the ambassador saying that Bandera was not a “mass murderer of Poles and Jews,” causing uproar from both the Polish government and the Israeli embassy.
Updated
Ukraine’s state-run nuclear company, Energoatom, has restored its connection between the International Atomic Energy Agency and the nuclear plant in the southeastern city of Zaporizhzhia, the Kyiv Independent reports.
⚡️ Energoatom reconnects IAEA, Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant.
— The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) July 1, 2022
Ukraine’s state-run nuclear company restored the connection between the International Atomic Energy Agency and the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant's surveillance systems, which had been down due to Russian occupation.
UK prime minister Boris Johnson has received the title of Honorary Citizen of Odesa, the Kyiv Independent reports.
On Friday, Odesa mayor Henadiy Trukhanov signed an order that awarded Johnson with the Hryhoryia Marazly Honorary Badges of I, II, III degree, which automatically grants him the title.
According to Trukhanov, if the rest of the world took the same position against Russia as the people of Britain did since the invasion began in February, then Ukraine would have long defeated Russia.
⚡️UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson receives title of Honorary Citizen of Odesa.
— The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) July 1, 2022
Odesa Mayor Henadiy Trukhanov signed an order on July 1 awarding Johnson with the Hryhoryia Marazly Honorary Badges of I, II, III degrees.
With the order, Johnson automatically receives the title.
Updated
Ukraine’s rebuilding plans will need to address restoring war-torn ecosystems, the EU Commissioner for the Environment said.
Virginijus Sinkevicius warned the environmental cost of the conflict was “increasing every day” - and said it could take “generations” to overcome.
Next week, various countries’ leaders and international organisations will meet in Lugano, Switzerland to discuss rebuilding Ukraine, hoping to draw up a “Marshall Plan” for the country’s reconstruction even as war with Russia rages.
The plan will “absolutely” have to include an environmental component, Sinkevicius told Agence France-Presse on Wednesday, noting the mass destruction of forests, land covered with mines and trenches, chemical pollution spread by munitions, and contamnated waterways and soil.
“The (environmental) price tag every day is increasing, because we see the barbaric actions of the Russian side (are) not stopping,” Sinkevicius said.
“They bomb chemicals facilities” and have put nuclear power plants at risk, he said, adding that “hundreds of thousands of tonnes” of destroyed Russian military machinery would need to be cleared.
He said the environmental damage as a result of the war was “a crime of the biggest scale” that would “take generations to deal with.”
He added there was now a “unique opportunity” to create a “cleaner” Ukraine, but warned: “We can rebuild roads, we can rebuild the infrastructure, but for forests to grow, you need hundreds of years. So it will take time.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy called Latin American leaders on Friday in attempts to obtain support from Latin America in his country’s fight against the Russian invasion.
“I continue to establish relations with an important region — Latin America,” Zelenskiy wrote on social media in regards to his conversations with leaders of Argentina and Chile.
The conversations with Argentina’s Alberto Fernández and Chile’s Gabriel Boric came a comes after Zelenskiy spoke with Ecuadorian president Guillermo Lasso and Guatemalan president Alejandro Giammattei a little over two weeks ago.
At the time, Zelenskiy said in a speech that the conversations with Lasso and Giammattei marked “the beginning of our new policy of restoring relations with Latin America.”
Fernández held a 35-minute call with Ukraine’s leader, in which he offered help in any negotiations that may take place with Russia, according to a press release by the Argentinian government.
As the current head of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, Fernández told Zelenskiy, “Latin America is a continent of peace that rejects the use of force and promotes dialogue to resolve conflicts,” according to the release.
Before the war, Fernández was moving to improve relations with Russia. In a sit-down with Russian president Vladimir Putin in Moscow in early February, Fernández said Argentina should become the “entry door to Latin America” for Russia. Fernández later condemned Russia’s invasion.
Boric later wrote that during his conversation with Zelenskiy, he “expressed my solidarity and our willingness to support the condemnations of the invasion in international organizations,” adding that Ukraine “has a friend in South America.”
Zelenskiy wrote that he thanked Boric for his country’s support in the United Nations and “discussed the possibility of involving Chilean specialists in demining.”
Ukraine’s army accused Russia of carrying out strikes using incendiary phosphorus munitions on Snake Island Friday, just a day after Moscow withdrew its forces from the strategic Black Sea outpost.
“Today at around 18:00... Russian air force SU-30 planes twice conducted strikes with phosphorus bombs on Zmiinyi island,” it said in a statement, using another name for Snake Island.
The Russian defence ministry on Thursday described the retreat as “a gesture of goodwill” meant to signal that Russia will not get in the way of UN efforts to organize protected grain exports from Ukraine.
The Ukrainian army on Friday accused the Russians of being unable to “respect even their own declarations”.
Its statement was accompanied by a video that showed a plane drop munitions at least twice on the island, and what appeared to be white streaks rising above it.
Phosphorus weapons, which leave a signature white trail in the sky, are incendiary weapons whose use against civilians is banned under an international convention but allowed for military targets.
Ukraine has accused Russia of using them several times since it invaded its neighbour in late February, including on civilian areas, allegations Moscow has denied.
A new Reuters investigation has found that at least 14 Russian weapons companies have not faced any Western sanctions.
Nearly three dozen leaders of Russian weapons firms and at least 14 defense companies have not been sanctioned by the United States, the European Union or the United Kingdom,” the Reuters report said.
One of the weapons moguls who has not been sanctioned is Alan Lushnikov, the largest shareholder of Kalashnikov Concern JSC, the original manufacturer of the famous AK-47 assault rifle.
According to records reviewed by Reuters, Lushnikov owns a 75% stake in the firm.
The company, which was sanctioned by the US in 2014 - the year that Russia invaded and annexed Crimea, accounts for 95% of Russia’s production of machine guns, sniper rifles, pistols and other handheld firearms.
US announces new $820 million military aid package to Ukraine
The US announced on Friday that it will provide Ukraine with an additional $820 million in military aid.
The new aid package will include new surface-to-air missile systems and counter-artillery radars to respond to Russia’s long-range strikes in its war against Ukraine.
The Pentagon also announced that it will provide up to 150,000 rounds of millimeter artillery ammunition to Ukrainians.
Friday’s announcement marks the 14th military package sent from the Defense Department’s stocks to Ukraine since August 2021. In total, the US has provided over $8.8 billion in weapons and military training to Ukraine.
As part of the new package, the U.S. will purchase two systems known as NASAMS, a Norwegian-developed anti-aircraft system that is also used to protect the airspace around the White House and Capitol in Washington.
The Pentagon will also provide additional ammunition for medium-range rocket systems it provided Ukraine in June, known as the High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, or HIMARS.
Updated
Ukraine’s outspoken ambassador to Germany, a talkshow staple who was central to the public debates that led Berlin to step up weapons deliveries to Kyiv, is facing criticism for defending World War Two Ukrainian nationalist leader Stepan Bandera in an interview.
Reuters reports:
Andriy Melnyk is easily the best known ambassador in Berlin, known for robust social media exchanges in which he condemned as appeasers politicians and intellectuals who opposed arming Ukraine for its fight against Russian invaders.
But an interview with journalist blogger Tilo Jung published on Thursday in which he said Bandera was not a “mass murderer of Poles and Jews” caused uproar and drew condemnation from both the Polish government and the Israeli embassy.
“The statement made by the Ukrainian ambassador is a distortion of the historical facts, belittles the Holocaust and is an insult to those who are murdered by Bandera and his people,” the embassy wrote on Twitter.
Though he spent much of World War Two in a Nazi prison, Bandera headed the radical wing of the Organisation of Ukrainian Nationalists which killed tens of thousands of Polish civilians during the war.
Living in Munich in exile after the war, he was a figurehead of Ukraine’s anti-Soviet insurgency which fought Moscow in partisan actions into the 1950s. He was assassinated by the Soviet KGB in 1959.
Even Ukraine’s foreign ministry distanced itself from Melnyk’s remarks, saying they did not reflect its views. Polish Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau thanked his Ukrainian counterpart for his intervention over the “false statements.”
Melnyk, 46, has become a central figure in debates over Germany’s obligations to Ukraine, credited with using his pulpit as envoy of a nation fighting foreign invasion to keep up the pressure on Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who despite initial reluctance has kept boosting arms deliveries to Ukraine.
Summary
It is 9pm in Kyiv. Here’s where we stand:
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At least 21 people, including two children, have been killed after Russian missile strikes in Odesa in southern Ukraine, Odesa’s military spokesperson, Sergei Bratchuk, said. A 12-year-old boy was among the dead, he added. A further 38 people, including six children and a pregnant woman, were hospitalised with injuries after two Russian missiles struck a multistorey block of flats and a recreation centre. The Kremlin has denied responsibility for the strike.
- Eight people have been confirmed dead after a Russian missile strike on a residential building in Ukraine’s southern city of Mykolaiv on Wednesday, according to local officials. Mayor Oleksandr Senkevych had previously said eight missiles had hit the city, adding that the residential building appeared to have been hit by a Russian X-55 cruise missile.
- Two British citizens captured by Russian forces in eastern Ukraine have been charged with “mercenary activities”, Russian state media reported. Dylan Healy and Andrew Hill have been charged by officials in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR), a source in DPR law enforcement was cited as saying. Both men were refusing to cooperate with the investigation, according to Russian state-owned news agency Tass.
- A Briton and a Moroccan man sentenced to death by pro-Russia officials in Russian-controlled east Ukraine have appealed against their sentences, Russian state media reported. The supreme court in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic has received appeals from lawyers for Brahim Saadoun and Shaun Pinner, according to the Russian state-owned news agency Tass. Another Briton sentenced to death by the Russian proxy court, Aiden Aslin, had not yet submitted an appeal, Tass reports.
- Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine will begin using the death penalty in 2025, according to an updated criminal code of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR). A Russian proxy court in the DPR sentenced two Britons, Aiden Aslin and Shaun Pinner, and Moroccan Brahim Saadoun to death on charges of “terrorism”. It is unclear what the new rules would mean for the men.
- The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, has told Ukraine that there is “a long road ahead” for its bid to become an EU member, but that “Europe will be at your side every step of the way.” After her speech, broadcast via video link, Ukrainian lawmakers watched as the EU’s flag was hoisted in the plenary hall of the parliament in Kyiv.
- Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has said a new chapter had started for his country and the EU after Brussels formally accepted Ukraine’s candidacy to join the bloc. In a Telegram post, Zelenskiy said Ukraine’s path to EU membership should “not take years or decades” and vowed to make Ukraine’s part of the process “perfect”.
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Finland’s foreign minister, Pekka Haavisto, has said war in Europe beyond Ukraine is “of course” a possibility and urged countries to support Kyiv. Finland could not maintain neutrality as its neighbour Russia becomes a security threat, Haavisto said in an interview with CNN, adding that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine “has changed the security atmosphere”.
- Ukrainian forces said on Thursday that they have pushed Russian forces away from Snake Island, a strategic Black Sea outpost off the southern coast. Russia portrayed the pullout from the island as a “goodwill gesture”. Ukraine’s military said Russians fled the island in two speedboats after a barrage of Ukrainian artillery and missile strikes.
- The situation in the eastern Ukrainian city of Lysychansk is “extremely difficult” as Russian forces’ continuous shelling makes it impossible for civilians to evacuate, officials say. Luhansk’s regional governor, Serhiy Haidai, said Russian forces remained on the city outskirts, where there was no street fighting.
- Moscow has told Ukrainian teachers in occupied territories to sign a document within weeks certifying their willingness to switch to teaching the Russian school curriculum. The Guardian spoke with teachers in Russian-occupied parts of south-east Ukraine who said newly appointed local authorities told them they had until 21 July to either sign a document certifying their readiness to follow the Russian school curriculum or resign.
- Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, has claimed that pressure from the west has pushed Russia to accelerate its integration with neighbouring Belarus. Putin’s remarks at a Russia-Belarus forum on Friday follow comments last week by Russia’s defence minister, Sergei Shoigu, who said Russia and Belarus must take urgent joint measures to improve their defence capabilities and troops’ combat readiness.
- Russia has threatened to close its embassy in Bulgaria after Sofia announced that it would expel 70 Russian diplomatic staff. Russia’s ambassador to Bulgaria, Eleonora Mitrofanova, said the closure of the Russian embassy would inevitably lead to the closure of Bulgaria’s embassy in Moscow. The EU said Russia’s threat to sever diplomatic ties with Bulgaria was unjustified.
- Ukraine has requested that Turkey detain and arrest a Russian-flagged cargo ship carrying Ukrainian grain. Ukraine’s prosecutor general’s office said the ship, Zhibek Zholy, was involved in the “illegal export of Ukrainian grain” from the Russian-occupied port of Berdiansk and headed to Karasu, Turket. On Thursday, a pro-Russia official said the first cargo ship to leave Berdiansk was carrying 7,000 tonnes of grain to “friendly countries”.
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The cooking of borsch, a beetroot and cabbage soup, in Ukraine has been added to the United Nations cultural agency’s list of endangered heritage because of Russia’s invasion. The Ukrainian culture of cooking borsch, considered a national dish, has been included on Unesco’s “list of intangible cultural heritage in need of urgent safeguarding”.
Two Britons charged with ‘mercenary activities’ in Donetsk
Two British citizens captured by Russian forces in eastern Ukraine have been charged with “mercenary activities”, the Russian state-owned news agency Tass reports.
Dylan Healy and Andrew Hill have been charged by officials in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR), Tass cited a source in DPR law enforcement as saying.
Both men were refusing to cooperate with the investigation, Tass reports.
Healy, 22, was reportedly captured by Russian forces in April along with another British man, Paul Urey, at a checkpoint south of the city of Zaporizhzhia in south-eastern Ukraine. There was no mention of Urey in the report by Tass.
Presidium Network, a UK-based company that says it carries out evacuations of families and individuals from war zones, said it had been intending to work with Healy and Urey. Both men appeared to be members of the public with little or no experience of military or humanitarian work.
Hill, 35, a father of four from Plymouth, was reportedly captured by Russian forces during fighting in the Mykolaiv region in southern Ukraine.
Ukraine’s foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, has condemned Russia for the missile strikes on the Odesa region that killed 21 people dead and injured dozens.
Kuleba called for modern missile defence systems to be sent to Ukraine, urging allies to “help us save lives and put an end to this war”.
Terrorist state Russia continues its war against civilians with overnight missile strikes on Odesa region killing dozens, including children. I urge partners to provide Ukraine with modern missile defense systems as soon as possible. Help us save lives and put an end to this war. pic.twitter.com/SQP6UUkNlf
— Dmytro Kuleba (@DmytroKuleba) July 1, 2022
Updated
Talina Zharikova first met people who had fled fighting in Donbas in a bomb shelter near her flat in the south-central Ukrainian city of Dnipro when the invasion started.
For a while, she and her neighbours hosted them in their flats. But there were quickly more people than they could house, so Zharikova decided to ask about renovating an abandoned Soviet hospital opposite their block of flats.
Zharikova, her neighbours, other Dnipro residents and those who had fled fighting set about renovating the building, which had been empty for a decade. There are now 240 people living in the various rooms in the shelter, known as Good on Love, and they say there is room for another 100.
The shelter is one of more than 60 set up by Dnipro residents for evacuees. As the first city of relative safety outside many frontline areas, Dnipro has become Ukraine’s aid hub. Thousands who live there, many left jobless by the war, have thrown themselves into volunteering.
Like other volunteers in Dnipro, Zharikova said the financial burden has been immense.
“The city authorities didn’t help, so I fed them all with my own money for the first month. My husband is fighting at the front and I went out and got out what money I had,” said Zharikova, a former hotel manager.
Read the full story:
Updated
Briton and Moroccan sentenced to death in Donetsk appeal sentence
A Briton and a Moroccan man sentenced to death by pro-Russia officials in Russian-controlled east Ukraine have appealed against their sentences, Russian state media reports.
The supreme court in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic has received appeals from lawyers for Brahim Saadoun and Shaun Pinner, according to the Russian state-owned news agency Tass.
Another Briton sentenced to death by the Russian proxy court, Aiden Aslin, had not yet submitted an appeal, Tass reports.
Updated
The cooking of borsch, a beetroot and cabbage soup, in Ukraine has been added to the United Nations cultural agency’s list of endangered heritage because of Russia’s invasion.
The Ukrainian culture of cooking borsch, considered a national dish, has been included on Unesco’s “list of intangible cultural heritage in need of urgent safeguarding”. Borsch is also widely consumed in Russia, other ex-Soviet countries and Poland.
The decision was approved after a fast-track process prompted by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the “negative impact on this tradition” caused by the war, Unesco said.
“People are unable not only to cook or grow local vegetables for borsch, but also to come together” to eat it, “which undermines the social and cultural well-being of communities”, it said.
Ukraine’s minister of culture, Tkachenko Oleksandr, celebrated the decision on Twitter, tweeting: “Victory in the war for borsch is ours!”
Перемога у війні за борщ- наша! 🇺🇦
— Tkachenko Oleksandr (@otkachenkoua) July 1, 2022
Як і всі наступні💪🏻
На позачерговому засіданні Міжурядового комітету з охорони нематеріальної культурної спадщини за зверненням @MKIPUkraine “Культура приготування українського борщу” внесено до Списку нематеріальної культурної спадщини @UNESCO pic.twitter.com/iTMNub1ZO1
Ukraine’s first deputy foreign minister, Emine Dzheppar, also welcomed Unesco’s decision, saying: “Ukrainian Borsht derussified!”
Ukrainian Borsht derussified!
— Emine Dzheppar (@EmineDzheppar) July 1, 2022
At extraordinary meeting @UNESCO Committee for Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage unanimously decided to include🇺🇦element "Culture of Ukrainian borscht cooking" into the list of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding1/2 pic.twitter.com/DGHVX6q6eZ
Russia’s foreign ministry, Maria Zakharova, ridiculed the move, claiming “as I understand, everything is subject to Ukrainisation”.
Updated
Ukraine has requested that Turkey detain and arrest a Russian-flagged cargo ship carrying Ukrainian grain, Reuters reports.
The ship, Zhibek Zholy, was involved in the “illegal export of Ukrainian grain” from the Russian-occupied port of Berdiansk and headed to Karasu, Turkey, with 7,000 tonnes of cargo, Ukraine’s prosecutor general’s office said in a letter to Turkey’s justice ministry.
Separately, a Ukrainian foreign ministry official said the ship had loaded the first cargo of some 4,500 tonnes of grain from Berdiansk, which the official said belonged to Ukraine.
Ukraine has repeatedly accused Russia of stealing grain from occupied areas. The Kremlin has denied that Russia has stolen any Ukrainian grain.
Updated
War in Europe beyond Ukraine ‘of course’ a possibility, says Finland
Finland’s foreign minister, Pekka Haavisto, has said war in Europe beyond Ukraine is “of course” a possibility and urged countries to support Kyiv.
In an interview with CNN, Haavisto was asked if Ukraine can win the war against Russia. He replied:
They can maintain the situation and in that sense, they can win this battle. I think they are, of course, morally on the high ground. They are very united.
On Tuesday, Finland, Sweden and Turkey signed a joint memorandum on security measures in exchange for Turkey lifting its veto on their Nato memberships. Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, later said Finland and Sweden must keep the promises of extraditions made during the talks, or ratification of the Nordic nations’ Nato memberships will not be sent to the Turkish parliament.
Earlier today, Haavisto told a news conference that Finland and Turkey did not discuss the extradition of any specific individuals or groups of people during the negotiations at the Nato summit in Madrid earlier this week.
Referring to a phone call with his Turkish counterpart, Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, Haavisto told reporters:
We agreed that now we have a signed text and everything that we have signed is in the text. We did not, in Madrid, discuss about any individuals or any listings [with Turkey].
Haavisto told CNN that Finland could not maintain neutrality as its neighbour Russia becomes a security threat.
Haavisto said:
I think it’s a new reality. I really think that the European security architects [have] been broken. It’s a new situation. There’s a new kind of iron wall between Russia and the other countries. And of course, it’s based on Russia’s aggression against its neighbour Ukraine.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine “has changed the security atmosphere”, he added.
Updated
Odesa death toll rises to 21
The number of people killed in overnight Russian missile strikes on a residential building and resorts in Odesa has risen to at least 21, according to local authorities.
Odesa’s military spokesperson, Sergei Bratchuk, told Ukrainian television that 21 people had been confirmed killed. A 12-year-old boy was among the dead, he added.
Ukraine’s security service had earlier put the death toll at 19. Two children were among the dead and six others among dozens injured, officials said.
Authorities also said that 41 people had been rescued from the apartment building where 152 people lived.
The “very heavy and very powerful” missiles were launched by aircraft that flew in from the Black Sea, Bratchuk said. He said:
The worst-case scenario played out and two strategic aircraft came to the Odesa region.
The Kremlin has denied targeting civilians. “I would like to remind you of the president’s words that the Russian armed forces do not work with civilian targets,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters earlier today.
Updated
Today so far ...
It is 6pm in Kyiv. Here’s where we stand:
- At least 19 people, including two children, have been killed after Russian missile strikes on an apartment building and resort in Odesa, Ukraine’s security service said. A further 38 people, including six children and a pregnant woman, were hospitalised with injuries. Ukraine’s deputy foreign minister, Yevhenii Yenin, said there were no military targets or infrastructure in the vicinity of the areas struck by missiles. The Kremlin has denied responsibility for the strike.
- Eight people have been confirmed dead after a Russian missile strike on a residential building in Ukraine’s southern city of Mykolaiv on Wednesday, according to local officials. Mayor Oleksandr Senkevych had previously said eight missiles had hit the city, adding that the residential building appeared to have been hit by a Russian X-55 cruise missile.
- The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, has told Ukraine that there is “a long road ahead” for its bid to become an EU member, but that “Europe will be at your side every step of the way.” After her speech, broadcast via video link, Ukrainian lawmakers watched as the EU’s flag was hoisted in the plenary hall of the parliament in Kyiv.
- Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has said a new chapter had started for his country and the EU after Brussels formally accepted Ukraine’s candidacy to join the bloc. Zelenskiy said it was a “big honour and big responsibility” to work towards realising the “aspirations of our country” in an address to Ukraine’s parliament on Friday.
- Zelenskiy said Ukraine’s path to EU membership should “not take years or decades” and vowed to make Ukraine’s part of the process “perfect”. In a Telegram post, Ukraine’s president said: “We have to overcome this path quickly. Make our part of the job perfect. To enable our friends in the European Union to make another historic decision for us just as quickly and in a consolidated way.”
- Ukrainian forces said on Thursday that they have pushed Russian forces away from Snake Island, a strategic Black Sea outpost off the southern coast. Russia portrayed the pullout from the island as a “goodwill gesture”. Ukraine’s military said Russians fled the island in two speedboats after a barrage of Ukrainian artillery and missile strikes.
- The situation in the eastern Ukrainian city of Lysychansk is “extremely difficult” as Russian forces’ continuous shelling makes it impossible for civilians to evacuate, officials say. Luhansk’s regional governor, Serhiy Haidai, said Russian forces remained on the city outskirts, where there was no street fighting.
- Ukraine’s agriculture ministry has said grain exports have fallen 43% year-on-year to 1.41m tonnes in June. Grain exports have slumped since the start of the war as its Black Sea ports – the key route for shipments – have been largely closed off. The government has previously said Ukraine could harvest up to 65m tonnes of grain and oilseeds this year, compared with 106m in 2021.
- Schools in Kyiv will reopen for classes at the start of the school year on 1 September, city authorities said. Territories adjacent to the schools will be checked for explosives and bomb shelters in schools will be restocked with water, medicine and other necessities, the head of Kyiv’s education and science department said.
- Moscow has told Ukrainian teachers in occupied territories to sign a document within weeks certifying their willingness to switch to teaching the Russian school curriculum. The Guardian spoke with teachers in Russian-occupied parts of south-east Ukraine who said newly appointed local authorities told them they had until 21 July to either sign a document certifying their readiness to follow the Russian school curriculum or resign.
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Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine will begin using the death penalty in 2025, according to an updated criminal code of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR). A Russian proxy court in the DPR sentenced two Britons, Aiden Aslin and Shaun Pinner, and Moroccan Brahim Saadoun to death on charges of “terrorism”. It is unclear what the new rules would mean for the men.
- Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, has claimed that pressure from the west has pushed Russia to accelerate its integration with neighbouring Belarus. Putin’s remarks at a Russia-Belarus forum on Friday follow comments last week by Russia’s defence minister, Sergei Shoigu, who said Russia and Belarus must take urgent joint measures to improve their defence capabilities and troops’ combat readiness.
- Russia’s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, says a new “iron curtain” is descending between Russia and the west, and that Moscow would not trust Washington and Brussels “from now on”. The process “has begun”, Lavrov said after talks with his counterpart from Belarus. “As far as an iron curtain is concerned, essentially it is already descending.”
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Russia has threatened to close its embassy in Bulgaria after Sofia announced that it would expel 70 Russian diplomatic staff. Russia’s ambassador to Bulgaria, Eleonora Mitrofanova, said the closure of the Russian embassy would inevitably lead to the closure of Bulgaria’s embassy in Moscow. The EU said Russia’s threat to sever diplomatic ties with Bulgaria was unjustified.
- Finnish foreign minister, Pekka Haavisto, said Finland and Turkey did not discuss the extradition of any specific individuals or groups of people during negotiations at the Nato summit. The Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, said on Thursday that Finland and Sweden must keep promises of extraditions made during the talks, or ratification of the Nordic nations’ Nato memberships will not be sent to the Turkish parliament.
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A cargo ship left the Russian-occupied Ukrainian port of Berdiansk for the first time since the city was seized by Moscow’s troops, according to a pro-Russia official. Yevgeny Balitsky, the head of the pro-Russia administration, was cited by Russian state media as saying the first cargo ship to leave Berdiansk was carrying 7,000 tonnes of grain to “friendly countries”, but an edited Telegram post by the official did not say what cargo the ship was carrying.
Hello everyone. It’s Léonie Chao-Fong here to bring you all the latest developments on the war in Ukraine. Feel free to drop me a message if you have anything to flag, you can reach me on Twitter or via email.
Updated
Jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny said he has been forced to take part in “educational activities” including being made to sit for hours under a portrait of the Russian president, Vladimir Putin.
Navalny was transferred last month to a strict-regime penal colony near the town of Vladimir east of Moscow, described by his allies as “one of Russia’s scariest prisons”.
In a post on Facebook, he described his life in the new prison where he said he had to sew for seven hours, five days a week.
Navalny said:
After work, you continue to sit. For several hours on a wooden bench under a portrait of Putin. This is called ‘educational activities’.
Even on Sundays, his official day off, he said he was made to sit on a wooden bench in a room for 10 years. He added:
I don’t know who such activities can ‘educate’, except for a crooked invalid with a bad back. But maybe that’s the purpose.
Navalny has described his new jail as a “prison within a prison” and said he was serving time with convicted murderers.
In a Twitter thread, he compared his prison life to Putin and Russia’s former president, Dmitry Medvdev, and said there was a loudspeaker in his barrack that plays songs like “Glory to the FSB”.
1/12 I live like Putin and Medvedev.
— Alexey Navalny (@navalny) July 1, 2022
At least I think so when I look at the fence around my barrack. Everyone has the usual fence, and inside there are rods to dry the laundry on.
6/12 6:00 - Wake up. Ten minutes to make bed, wash, shave, etc.
— Alexey Navalny (@navalny) July 1, 2022
6:10 - Exercise.
6:20 - Escort to breakfast.
6:40 - Search and escort to work.
At work, you sit for 7 hours at the sewing machine on a stool below knee height.
10:20- 15-minute lunch break.
10/12 But you know me, I'm an optimist and look for the bright side even in my dark existence. I have as much fun as I can. While sewing, I've memorised Hamlet's monologue in English.
— Alexey Navalny (@navalny) July 1, 2022
Ukraine’s agriculture ministry has said grain exports have fallen 43% year-on-year to 1.41m tonnes in June, having slumped since the start of the war as its Black Sea ports – the key route for shipments – have been largely closed off.
Reuters reports the ministry said farmers in southern and eastern Ukraine had already started the 2022 harvest, threshing 293,800 tonnes of grain from around 1% of the sown area.
The government has previously said Ukraine could harvest up to 65m tonnes of grain and oilseeds this year, compared with 106m in 2021, due to the loss of land to Russian forces and lower grain yields.
Updated
Finland says it did not discuss the extradition of any specific individuals to Turkey in Madrid
The process of Sweden and Finland joining Nato appears to have some difficulty ahead of it yet. The invitation must be ratified in parliament by all 30 allies, and there still seems to be some conflict between the Nordic countries and Turkey over what was agreed earlier in the week in Madrid. Turkey had threatened to veto their membership bids.
Reuters reports that this morning Finnish foreign minister Pekka Haavisto said Finland and Turkey did not discuss the extradition of any specific individuals or groups of people during negotiations at the Nato summit.
“We agreed that now we have a signed a text and everything that we have signed is in the text,” Haavisto told a news conference in Helsinki. “We did not, in Madrid, discuss about any individuals.”
Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said yesterday that Finland and Sweden must keep promises of extraditions made during the talks, or ratification of the Nordic nations’ Nato memberships will not be sent to the Turkish parliament.
After four hours of talks in Madrid on Tuesday, Turkey, Finland and Sweden signed a joint memorandum on security measures in exchange for Turkey lifting its veto on their Nato memberships, imposed by Ankara in May due to its concerns about terrorism. The signed memorandum did not list any individuals for extradition.
Schools in Kyiv will reopen for classes for the start of the school year on 1 September, the city’s authorities said.
Schools in the Ukrainian capital are now on summer holiday after going online when Russia launched its invasion of the country on 24 February.
The head of Kyiv’s education and science department, Olena Fidanyan, was cited by AFP as saying that the most important task for the new school year “is the safety of students and teachers”.
Territories adjacent to the schools will be checked for explosives and bomb shelters in schools will be restocked with water, medicine and other necessities, she said.
All schools will hold “the necessary training with teachers and children on actions during an air-raid alert”, she added.
Those children who have not been able to return to Kyiv will be able to study remotely, Fidanyan said.
Updated
Russia has threatened to close its embassy in Bulgaria after Sofia announced that it would expel 70 Russian diplomatic staff.
Russia’s ambassador to Bulgaria, Eleonora Mitrofanova, said the closure of the Russian embassy would inevitably lead to the closure of Bulgaria’s embassy in Moscow.
Earlier this week, Bulgaria’s prime minister, Kiril Petkov, said his country would expel 70 Russian diplomatic staff on espionage concerns. The move was the largest expulsion of Russian diplomats by Sofia in recent years and more than halved the size of Moscow’s diplomatic footprint in Bulgaria.
Mitrofanova called the expulsions an “unprecedented hostile” step and on Thursday told Sofia to reverse its decision by midday on Friday.
In a statement released by the embassy today, Mitrofanova said:
Unfortunately, our appeal to the Bulgarian foreign ministry has been ignored.
She added:
I intend to quickly put the question of the closure of Russia’s embassy in Bulgaria before my country’s leadership, which will inevitably mean the closure of the Bulgarian diplomatic mission in Moscow.
Responsibility for the “grave consequences of this step” will rest with Petkov’s government, Mitrofanova said.
Updated
Moscow has told Ukrainian teachers in occupied territories to sign a document within weeks certifying their willingness to switch to teaching the Russian school curriculum.
The move puts many of them in a difficult position. If they do not sign, they will lose their jobs and be at risk of retaliation from Russian forces. If they sign, there is the risk of charges from Ukrainian authorities, which view teaching the Russian curriculum as a form of collaboration with the enemy.
The Guardian spoke with teachers in Russian-occupied parts of south-east Ukraine whose identities, for safety reasons, cannot be revealed. They said that around mid-June newly appointed local authorities told them they had until 21 July either to sign a document certifying their readiness to follow the Russian school curriculum or resign, with many of them being threatened with eviction from their homes.
The Russian education minister, Sergey Kravtsov, announced in June that when the new school year began in September all schools in Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine were to work according to Russian standards.
“We will do our best to open schools on 1 September so that they are as ready as possible to function according to Russian standards,” Kravtsov said. “Integration will take place. We are already taking some steps in this direction: teacher training and the supply of textbooks.”
One teacher living in a village in the occupied area of Kharkiv said: “At the moment, only history, geography, language and primary schoolteachers were asked to sign the document.”
“Math, physics, biology and chemistry curriculum in Russia don’t carry propaganda, so they are left alone, at least for now,” he added.
Death toll rises to eight in Russian strike on Mykolaiv residential building
Eight people have now been confirmed dead after a Russian missile strike on a residential building in Ukraine’s southern city of Mykolaiv on Wednesday, according to local officials.
Ukraine’s state emergency service reported late last night that the body of a man was discovered under a collapsed staircase, bringing the total death toll to eight and six wounded.
On Wednesday, mayor Oleksandr Senkevych said eight missiles had hit the city, adding that the residential building appeared to have been hit by a Russian X-55 cruise missile. Photographs from the scene showed smoke billowing from a four-storey building with its upper floor partly destroyed.
Updated
Zelenskiy hails new chapter for Ukraine after formal candidacy starts
Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said a new chapter had started for his country and the EU after Brussels formally accepted Ukraine’s candidacy to join the bloc.
Zelenskiy said it was a “big honour and big responsibility” to work towards realising the “aspirations of our country” in a speech to Ukraine’s parliament, adding:
Now we’re not close. Now we are together.
He added:
We made a journey of 115 days to candidate status and our journey to membership shouldn’t take decades. We should make it down this road quickly.
Updated
Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, has claimed pressure from the west has pushed Russia to accelerate its integration with neighbouring Belarus.
“Russia and Belarus continue to grow in their cooperation in the political, trade, economic, cultural and humanitarian spheres,” Putin said in a video message at a Russia-Belarus forum. He continued:
The unprecedented political and social pressure from the so-called collective west is pushing us to speed up the unification process.
Together it is easier to minimise the damage from the illegal sanctions, it is easier to set up the production of demanded products, develop new competencies and expand cooperation with friendly countries.
Last week, Russia’s defence minister, Sergei Shoigu, said Russia and Belarus must take urgent joint measures to improve their defence capabilities and troops’ combat readiness.
Updated
Odesa death toll rises to 19
At least 19 people, including two children, have been confirmed dead after Russian missile strikes on an apartment building and resort in Odesa in southern Ukraine, according to Ukrainian officials.
A further 38 people, including six children and a pregnant woman, were hospitalised with injuries, Ukraine’s security service said.
Nearly all of the victims were in a nine-storey building hit by one missile in the village of Serhiyivka at 1am local time on Friday. At least two people, including a 12-year-old boy, were killed in a separate strike on a holiday resort in the village.
Ukraine’s deputy foreign minister, Yevhenii Yenin, said there were no military targets or infrastructure in the vicinity of the areas struck by missiles.
Speaking at the scene, Yenin said rescue operations were ongoing but “we don’t expect to find anyone alive”.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov denied that Russia was hitting civilian targets. “I would like to remind you of the president’s words that the Russian armed forces do not work with civilian targets,” Peskov told reporters.
Updated
Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine will begin using the death penalty in 2025, according to an updated criminal code of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR).
A Russian proxy court in the DPR sentenced two Britons, Aiden Aslin and Shaun Pinner, and Moroccan Brahim Saadoun to death on charges of “terrorism”. The ruling has been condemned as a “sham judgment” in Britain.
The new criminal code, in effect from Friday, states that the death penalty should be carried out by firing squad and that the head of the Russian-controlled DPR has the final say on issuing pardons to anybody sentenced to death.
It is unclear what the new rules would mean for the captured men, Reuters reports.
On Thursday, the European court of human rights (ECHR) said it had issued an order to Russia to ensure that the men do not face the death penalty.
In response, the Kremlin said it was not bound by rulings from the ECHR, from which Russia pulled out after its troops invaded Ukraine on 24 February.
Updated
The EU’s flag was hoisted in the plenary hall of Ukraine’s parliament after an address by the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen.
During her speech, Von der Leyen congratulated Ukraine on becoming an EU candidate state.
“You have gained the endorsement and respect of all EU member states,” she said.
Ukraine now has a very clear European perspective, it is a candidate country for the EU.
Updated
US basketball star Brittney Griner has arrived at a courtroom on the outskirts of Moscow for the beginning of her criminal trial, more than four months after she was arrested at an airport for cannabis possession.
Griner, 31, was seen wearing a Jimi Hendrix T-shirt as she arrived at Khimki city court in handcuffs, with US embassy staff in attendance.
The Phoenix Mercury star and two-time US Olympic gold medalist could spend 10 years in prison if convicted on charges of large-scale transportation of drugs.
The trial will be partially closed and with a limited media presence, which a court spokesperson said was “on the request of the defence, the request of Griner herself”.
During his press briefing today, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov denied Griner’s case was politically motivated.
Peskov told reporters:
I can only operate with known facts, and the facts indicate that the eminent athlete was detained with illegal drugs that contained narcotic substances. There are articles in Russian legislation that provide for punishment for such crimes. Only the court can pass a verdict.
At a closed-door preliminary hearing on Monday, the court in Khimki extended Griner’s detention for a further six months after she appeared for a preliminary hearing held behind closed doors. Griner had previously been ordered to remain in pretrial detention until 2 July.
Updated
Today so far …
- Two children were among 19 people killed by a missile strike in Odesa, according to the latest update from regional governor Maksym Marchenko. He said “As a result of a night missile strike by Tu-22 strategic aircraft from the Black Sea in the Belgorod-Dniester district of Odesa region, three X-22 missiles hit an apartment building and a recreation centre. 31 people were hospitalised, including 4 children and a pregnant woman. 8 people were rescued from the rubble, including 3 children. Rescue work continues.” The Kremlin has denied responsibility for the strike.
- Ursula von der Leyen has told Ukraine that there is “a long road ahead” for its bid to become a European Union member, but that “Europe will be at your side every step of the way”. In a speech via video link to Ukraine’s parliament this morning, the president of the European Commission said: “There is a long road ahead but Europe will be at your side every step of the way, for as long as it takes, from these dark days of war until the moment you cross the door that leads into our European Union.”
- Volodymyr Zelenskiy has said Ukraine’s path to European Union membership should “not take years or decades” and vowed to make Ukraine’s part of the process “perfect”. He said “Our path to membership should not take years or decades. We have to overcome this path quickly. Make our part of the job perfect. To enable our friends in the European Union to make another historic decision for us just as quickly and in a consolidated way.”
- Ukrainian forces said Thursday they have pushed Russian forces from Snake Island, a strategic Black Sea outpost off the southern coast. Russia portrayed the pullout from the island as a “goodwill gesture”. Ukraine’s military said the Russians fled the island in two speedboats after a barrage of Ukrainian artillery and missile strikes.
- The situation in the eastern Ukrainian city of Lysychansk is “extremely difficult” as Russian forces’ continuous shelling makes it impossible for civilians to evacuate, officials say. “There is a lot of shelling and from multiple directions. The Russian army is approaching from different directions towards Lysychansk,” Luhansk’s regional governor, Serhiy Haidai said, adding that Russian forces remained on the city outskirts, where there was currently no street fighting.
- Russia’s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, says a new “iron curtain” is descending between Russia and the west, and that Moscow would not trust Washington and Brussels “from now on”. The process “has begun”, Lavrov said after talks with his counterpart from Belarus. “As far as an iron curtain is concerned, essentially it is already descending.”
- Russia is using inaccurate missiles from old Soviet stocks for more than 50% of its strikes in Ukraine, leading to significant loss of civilian life, a brigadier general in Ukraine’s armed forces said. The rate of Russian strikes in Ukraine has more than doubled in the past two weeks, Brig Gen Oleksii Hromov said at a news conference.
- A cargo ship left the Russian-occupied Ukrainian port of Berdiansk for the first time since the city was seized by Moscow’s troops, according to a pro-Russia official. Yevgeny Balitsky, the head of the pro-Russia administration, was cited by Russian state media as saying the first cargo ship to leave Berdiansk was carrying 7,000 tonnes of grain to “friendly countries”, without saying what cargo the ship was carrying.
- Hungary will speed up its defence development programme, prime minister Viktor Orbán told state radio. “We must radically increase our defence capabilities,” Orbán said. He reiterated that Hungary’s interest was for the war in neighbouring Ukraine to end as soon as possible.
That is it from me, Martin Belam, for now. I will be back later. Léonie Chao-Fong will guide you through the next few hours of our live coverage of Russia’s war on Ukraine.
Updated
Kremlin spokesperson says 'Russian armed forces do not work with civilian targets' after Odesa strike kills 18
The Kremlin has dismissed allegations that Russian missiles had struck an apartment building near the Ukrainian Black Sea port of Odesa early on Friday.
Ukrainian authorities said Russian missiles had hit an apartment building and recreation centres, killing at least 18 people and wounding dozens. Regional governor Maksym Marchenko said the dead included two children.
“I would like to remind you of the president’s words that the Russian armed forces do not work with civilian targets,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on a conference call with reporters, according to Reuters.
Last year, Peskov described suggestions that Russia was planning to attack Ukraine as a “hollow and unfounded” invention of the western media, and prior to Russia’s latest invasion in February, he said Russian troops taking part in military exercises in Belarus would be “pulled back to their permanent bases” after their conclusion. Instead, they advanced into northern Ukraine from 24 February in an apparent attempt to capture Kyiv.
Updated
The European Union said Russia’s threat to sever diplomatic ties with Bulgaria in response to its decision to expel 70 Russian diplomats is unjustified.
Reuters reports the EU said Bulgaria’s action was “fully in line with international law”, as the diplomats of the Russian embassy were acting in violation with international treaties.
“The European Union stands in full support and solidarity with Bulgaria in these circumstances and will follow this matter closely,” the EU said in a statement.
Bulgaria’s outgoing prime minister on Thursday already called on Russia to withdraw its diplomatic ultimatum, which included a threat to close Russia’s embassy in the Balkan nation.
Updated
Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov has been visiting Belarus, where he declared: “We stand for unconditional respect for international law.”
The Russian foreign ministry has just posted some text on Telegram to promote his remarks from yesterday, saying:
The future world order is at stake. We will go back to the origins and observe in practice the UN charter principles, above all the principle of sovereign equality of states, or else the world will be plunged into chaos for a long time. Our choice is clear: We stand for unconditional respect for international law. We will uphold this position together with our Belarusian allies and our other numerous likeminded partners who share these approaches, which was confirmed during the recent Brics summit and in the final documents adopted at this summit.
Updated
The self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) in Ukraine has issued its military update for the day.
It claims that “at present, the DPR and Luhansk People’s Republic troops, with fire support from the Russian Federation armed forces, have liberated 240 settlements”. That is an increase of one on the 239 settlements that their briefing had been claiming for some days.
It claims Ukrainian forces have shelled 16 settlements that are under DPR occupation, that seven people were injured, 34 housing constructions and 11 civil infrastructure facilities were damaged.
The claims have not been independently verified. Russia and Syria are the only two UN member states to recognise the DPR as a legitimate authority.
Updated
This is a selection of the latest images that have been sent to us of the aftermath of the missile attack on Odesa which, according to governor Maksym Marchenko, has claimed 18 lives and left more than 30 people in hospital.
Updated
Zelenskiy says Ukraine's path to EU membership should 'not take years or decades'
Volodymyr Zelenskiy has said Ukraine’s path to European Union membership should “not take years or decades” and vowed to make Ukraine’s part of the process “perfect”.
In response to events in Ukraine’s parliament this morning, where president of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen addressed lawmakers by video, Ukraine’s president has posted to Telegram:
Today, together with the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine and the prime minister, we are signing a joint statement, which is a signal of unity of all branches of government and evidence of our determination to achieve Ukraine’s strategic goal of full membership in the European Union. And signing this statement should mean the same as signing an application to join on the fifth day of the war.
We went to the candidacy for 115 days. And our path to membership should not take years or decades. We have to overcome this path quickly. Make our part of the job perfect. To enable our friends in the European Union to make another historic decision for us just as quickly and in a consolidated way.
This was the scene this morning as the European Union flag was brought into Ukraine’s parliament. Matti Maasikas, the EU’s ambassador to Ukraine, described it on Twitter as “moving to tears”.
Moving to tears - the EU flag is been brought to the plenary hall of @ua_parliament. To stay. pic.twitter.com/qkZxfwjF7O
— Matti Maasikas (@MattiMaasikas) July 1, 2022
Von der Leyen: Europe will be at Ukraine's side 'every step of the way' to EU membership
Ursula von der Leyen has told Ukraine that there is “a long road ahead” for its bid to become a European Union member, but that “Europe will be at your side every step of the way”.
In a speech via video link to Ukraine’s parliament this morning, the president of the European Commission said:
Ukraine is a candidate country to join the European Union, something that seemed almost unimaginable just five months ago.
There is a long road ahead but Europe will be at your side every step of the way, for as long as it takes, from these dark days of war until the moment you cross the door that leads into our European Union.
The next steps are within your reach. But they will require hard work.
Reuters reports she listed among urgent required measures: the adoption of a media law, the implementation of new rules that reduce oligarchs’ excessive clout and the appointment of top anti-corruption officials.
Updated
Ruslan Stefanchuk, chairman of the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine’s parliament, has tweeted his pride at the European Union flag being flown within it, after it was addressed on video by president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen. He wrote:
A historic moment! The flag of the European Union now in the Ukrainian parliament. It was my dream. It came true. And I will add: the Verkhovna Rada deserves the EU flag both in colour and in meaning.
A historic moment! The flag of the European Union now in the Ukrainian Parliament 🇪🇺🇺🇦 It was my dream 💙💛 It came true. And I will add: the Verkhovna Rada deserves the EU flag both in color and in meaning pic.twitter.com/pQi6D1558u
— Ruslan Stefanchuk (@r_stefanchuk) July 1, 2022
Ukraine was accepted as a candidate country for European Union membership on 23 June.
Updated
Rodion Miroshnik, the ambassador to Russia for the self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic (LPR), has been active on Telegram this morning. Firstly he boasted that “even in the Ukrainian general staff there comes an epiphany that they will soon completely lose control over the territory of the LPR”.
He then went on to say: “it is decided that the boots of the Ukrainian Nazi will forever leave the territory of the LPR.”
He also posted a news story suggesting that an area in Moscow may be renamed after the LPR, possibly at the location of the western embassies in Russia’s capital city.
Miroshnik comments: “Personally, I like the British embassy on Luhansk People’s Republic Square. I think Liz Truss is very impressive. You can’t deprive her of such pleasure.”
Several countries, including Lithuania, Latvia, Sweden and Canada, have renamed streets near Russian embassies or consulates in honour of Ukraine.
The self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic was formed in eastern Ukraine in April 2014, and Russia and Syria are the only two UN member states that recognise it is as a legitimate authority.
Updated
Ukraine now has a “very clear European perspective” following the European Union’s decision to grant the country candidate status to join the bloc, European commission president Ursula von der Leyen said in a speech to the Ukrainian parliament.
“Ukraine now has a very clear European perspective. And Ukraine is a candidate country to join the European Union, something that seemed almost unimaginable just five months ago,” Von der Leyen said in a speech by video-link to the assembly on Friday.
“So today is first and foremost. A moment to celebrate this historic milestone, a victory of determination and resolve and a victory for the whole movement that started eight years ago on the Maidan,” Reuters reports she added.
Updated
The north-eastern region of Sumy in Ukraine had a peaceful night, according to a status update from regional governor Dmytro Zhyvytskyi, but he reports on Telegram that shelling resumed in the morning on the Esman community. There are, he said, no casualties.
Two children among 18 dead after Russian missile strike on Odesa – governor
Two children are among 18 people killed by a missile strike in Odesa, according to the latest update from regional governor Maksym Marchenko.
He posted to Telegram to say:
As a result of a night missile strike by Tu-22 strategic aircraft from the Black Sea in the Belgorod-Dniester district of Odesa region, three X-22 missiles hit an apartment building and a recreation centre.
As of 9am, 18 victims were identified, including 2 children, and 31 people were hospitalised, including 4 children and a pregnant woman. Another 8 sought medical help. 8 people were rescued from the rubble, including 3 children. Rescue work continues.
Earlier, Ukrainian MP Roman Hryshchuk shared a video purportedly from the attack, saying “Just imagine: you wake up and realise that there is no way out. People were trapped in their own apartments after Russian missiles hit a residential high-rise in Odesa.”
The claims have not been independently verified.
Updated
A quick snap from Reuters here that Hungary will speed up its defence development programme, prime minister Viktor Orbán told state radio.
“We must radically increase our defence capabilities,” Orbán said. He reiterated that Hungary’s interest was for the war in neighbouring Ukraine to end as soon as possible.
The US has not seen China evade sanctions or provide military equipment to Russia, a senior US official said on Thursday.
The Commerce Department previously added five companies in China to a trade blacklist on Tuesday for allegedly supporting Russia’s military and defence industrial base.
Reuters reportS US officials have warned of consequences, including sanctions, should China offer material support for Russia’s war effort, but have consistently said they have yet to detect overt Chinese military and economic backing of Moscow.
China is not providing material support. This is normal course-of-business enforcement action against entities that have been backfilling for Russia,” a senior Biden administration official told Reuters, referring to the Commerce blacklist.
We have not seen the PRC (People’s Republic of China) engage in systematic evasion or provide military equipment to Russia,” the official said on condition of anonymity.
Updated
Vitaliy Kim, the governor of Mykolaiv, has posted a status update for the last 24 hours in his region, detailing a list of areas which have been shelled. He claims that the port area of Mykolaiv was hit with “forbidden cluster shells”.
He did not list any people being killed or injured in the ten areas he said had come under fire, but there were some areas he said “victims and consequences” are being clarified.
The claims have not been independently verified.
- This is Martin Belam taking over the live blog in London. You can reach me at martin.belam@theguardian.com
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy has said the launching of power transmissions to Romania was the start of a process that could help Europe reduce its dependence on Russian hydrocarbons.
Zelenskiy’s comments in his nightly video message on Thursday followed an announcement by prime minister Denys Shmyhal that exports had started earlier in the day – with a volume of 100 megawatts – four months into Russia’s war on Ukraine.
The president said the start of exports was “another significant step in our movement toward the European Union”.
Thanks to Ukrainian electricity, a significant part of the Russian gas used by European consumers can be replaced. This is therefore not just a question of export earnings for us but a question of security for all of Europe.
Let me remind you that linking our country to the common EU energy system took place already after the war began. Ukraine is doing things now that once seemed impossible.”
Ukraine reached agreement in mid-March to join the European Network of Transmission System Operators (Entso-E) as an observer after its grid was linked to that of the EU.
The Entso-E said this week that preparations had been completed for the first exports from Ukraine, together with power from ex-Soviet state Moldova, starting on 30 June – using an interconnection with Romania.
Electricity trading on other interconnections between Ukraine and Slovakia and Ukraine and Hungary – as well as between Moldova and Romania would soon follow, it said.
The group said the total trade capacity would initially be set to 100MW in the first phase.
In his earlier announcement, Shmyhal said Ukraine’s electricity export potential towards Europe could reach 2.5 gigawatts.
Updated
Satellite images shows smoke rising from Snake Island, off the coast of Ukraine, on Thursday.
Ukrainian forces say they pushed Russian forces from the strategic Black Sea island.
Ukraine pushes Russian forces from Snake Island
Ukraine has pushed Russian forces from Snake Island, a strategic Black Sea island off the southern coast near the city of Odesa.
Russia portrayed the pullout from Snake Island off the port city of Odesa as a “goodwill gesture”. Ukraine’s military said the Russians fled the island in two speedboats after a barrage of Ukrainian artillery and missile strikes.
Ukraine’s win will weaken any plans Russia may have for a future land attack on that stretch of coastline, Ukrainian officials say.
Valeriy Zaluzhnyi, the commander of Ukraine’s armed forces, said Ukrainian-made Bohdana howitzers had played an important role in routing Russian forces from Snake Island, and he thanked foreign partners for their support.
“KABOOM!” Tweeted Andriy Yermak, the head of the Ukrainian presidential administration. “No more Russian troops on Snake Island.”
Russia’s ministry of defence stated that it had completed its assigned tasks and was tactically withdrawing to allow for grain exports from Ukraine’s Black Sea ports. “In order to organise humanitarian grain corridors as part of the implementation of joint agreements reached with the participation of the UN, the Russian Federation decided to leave its positions on Zmiinyi Island,” the ministry said.
Yermak described Russia’s claim of goodwill as a lie.
Updated
Zelenskiy hails ‘significant’ Snake Island victory
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy earlier hailed a victory over Russian forces occupying Snake Island, a strategic Black Sea island off the southern coast near the city of Odesa.
He said Zmiinyi Island – or Snake Island – was “free” after Russian forces withdrew from the strategic post.
Zmiinyi Island is a strategic point, and it significantly changes the situation in the Black Sea. It does not guarantee safety yet, it does not yet guarantee that the enemy will not return. But it already limits the actions of the occupiers significantly. Step by step, we will drive them out of our sea, our land, and our sky.”
Snake Island was made famous when Russia first captured it in February. A Ukrainian soldier posted on the island told an attacking Russian warship to “go fuck yourself”, which has become one of the most popular Ukrainian slogans of resistance since the invasion.
Updated
Russian missile strikes on Odesa kill 17, Ukraine says
At least 17 people have been killed after two Russian missiles struck a multi-storey apartment building and a recreation centre in the southern port city of Odesa in the early hours of Friday, Ukrainian officials have said.
Ukraine’s state emergency services (SES) said that as of 6am on Friday, 14 people had been killed and 30 injured – including three children – in the attack on the apartment building.
Three people – including a child – were killed in a seperate attack on a recreation centre, with one injured, said the SES.
The Guardian could not immediately confirm details of the incident.
Ukrainian MP, Roman Hryshchuk, shared a video purportedly from the attack.
“Just imagine: you wake up and realise that there is no way out. People were trapped in their own apartments after Russian missiles hit a residential high-rise in Odesa,” he wrote alongside the video.
Just imagine: you wake up and realize that there is no way out. People were trapped in their own apartments after russian missiles hit a residential high-rise in #Odesa
— Roman Hryshchuk (@grishchukroma) July 1, 2022
At least 10 people have been confirming dead
Rescue workers are working. pic.twitter.com/IELdbwicPQ
Summary and welcome
Hello it’s Samantha Lock back with you as we unpack all the latest news from Ukraine this morning.
Major developments overnight include a victory over Snake Island where Ukrainian forces pushed Russian troops from the strategic Black Sea outpost off the southern coast near the city of Odesa.
Russia portrayed the pullout from Snake Island as a “goodwill gesture”. Ukraine’s military said the Russians fled the island in two speedboats after a barrage of Ukrainian artillery and missile strikes.
And in the early hours of this morning, two Russian missiles reportedly struck a multi-storey apartment building and a recreation centre in Odesa.
At least 17 people were killed, Ukrainian officials have said.
Here are all the latest lines as of 8am in Kyiv.
- Russia’s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, says a new “iron curtain” is descending between Russia and the west, and that Moscow would not trust Washington and Brussels “from now on”. The process “has begun”, Lavrov said after talks with his counterpart from Belarus. “As far as an iron curtain is concerned, essentially it is already descending.”
-
Ukrainian forces say they have pushed Russian forces from Snake Island, a strategic Black Sea outpost off the southern coast. Russia portrayed the pullout from the island as a “goodwill gesture”. Ukraine’s military said the Russians fled the island in two speedboats following a barrage of Ukrainian artillery and missile strikes.
-
A Russian missile struck a multi-story apartment building in Ukraine’s Black Sea port of Odesa early on Friday, killing at least 10 people, a local official said.
“The number of dead as a result of a strike on a multi-story apartment building has now risen to 10,” Serhiy Bratchuk, spokesman for the Odesa regional administration said on his Telegram channel.
- The situation in the eastern Ukrainian city of Lysychansk is “extremely difficult” as Russian forces’ continuous shelling makes it impossible for civilians to evacuate, officials say. “There is a lot of shelling and from multiple directions. The Russian army is approaching from different directions towards Lysychansk,” Luhansk’s regional governor, Serhiy Haidai said, adding that Russian forces remained on the city outskirts, where there was currently no street fighting.
- Russia is using inaccurate missiles from old Soviet stocks for more than 50% of its strikes in Ukraine, leading to significant loss of civilian life, a brigadier general in Ukraine’s armed forces said. The rate of Russian strikes in Ukraine has more than doubled in the past two weeks, Brig Gen Oleksii Hromov said at a news conference.
- A cargo ship left the Russian-occupied Ukrainian port of Berdiansk for the first time since the city was seized by Moscow’s troops, according to a pro-Russia official. Yevgeny Balitsky, the head of the pro-Russia administration, was cited by Russian state media as saying the first cargo ship to leave Berdiansk was carrying 7,000 tonnes of grain to “friendly countries”, without saying what cargo the ship was carrying.
- Joe Biden declared that the US and Nato allies will stick with Ukraine “as long as it takes” as the military alliance promised hundreds of thousands more troops to defend eastern Europe. The US president also announced another $800m of military aid to Kyiv – but questions remained over how much detail there was behind the plan to create a 300,000-strong force to deter any Russian attack.
- Nato’s secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, has said Sweden and Finland are expected to formally sign the Nato accession protocol on Tuesday. Following the Nato summit in Madrid, Stoltenberg said leaders had decided to support Kyiv “to make sure Ukraine prevails as an independent sovereign state in Europe”.
- Turkey’s president has warned that Ankara could still block Finland and Sweden’s accession to Nato if the two countries fail to fully meet his expectations. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said that if the two Nordic countries reneged on their promises, including to extradite terror suspects with links to outlawed Kurdish groups, Turkey’s parliament could refuse to ratify the deal reached on Tuesday.
- Estonian and Latvian defence ministers signed a letter of intent on Thursday at the Nato summit in Madrid for joint procurement of medium-range anti-aircraft systems.“The aggression of Russia in Ukraine clearly shows the need for air defence systems,” the Latvian defence minister, Artis Pabriks, said in a statement.
- The French president, Emmanuel Macron, said France would deliver six Caesar howitzers and a “significant number” of armoured vehicles to Ukraine. He added that the Nato allies meeting in Madrid “unanimously decided” to boost humanitarian and military aid to Ukraine.
- The UK’s foreign secretary, Liz Truss, said it was a “realistic” ambition to push Russian forces out of Ukraine entirely. Asked whether the British government believed Russia could be pushed out of all of Ukraine within a foreseeable timeframe, Truss replied: “It is realistic, and that is why we are supplying the extra lethal aid we’re supplying.”
- Russia’s foreign ministry said it had summoned the British ambassador in Moscow, Deborah Bronnert, to protest against Boris Johnson’s “offensive” remarks regarding Russia and Vladimir Putin. A strong protest was expressed to the ambassador over “the frankly boorish statements of the British leadership regarding Russia, its leader and official representatives of the authorities, as well as the Russian people”, it said in a statement.
- Norway’s foreign minister, Anniken Huitfeldt, has said her nation is not blocking Russian access to Svalbard. On Wednesday, Russia accused Norway of disrupting the delivery of critical supplies and threatened retaliation. Huitfeldt said Norway was not blocking Russian access to the Arctic archipelago, only applying international sanctions, and that Russia had other means to reach its settlements.
- The Indonesian president, Joko Widodo, arrived in Moscow, where he will urge Vladimir Putin to agree to a ceasefire and seek ways to allow the export of grain from Ukraine. Widodo also met with the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, on Wednesday during a visit he described as a “manifestation of the Indonesian people’s concern for the situation in Ukraine”.
