The EU’s executive arm has recommended that Ukraine and its neighbour, Moldova, be designated candidates for membership of the bloc. The announcement by the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, came a day after the EU’s most powerful leaders visited Kyiv in a show of support.
Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, tweeted that the move marks “the first step on the EU membership path that’ll certainly bring our Victory closer”. He said he was grateful to European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, for the “historic decision”, adding that he expects a positive result from the Commission next week.
Vladimir Putin described western sanctions against Russia as “reckless and insane” and of trying to “crush the Russian economy in one go by force”. The European Union has “completely lost sovereignty” he said, and is “dancing to someone else’s tunes”. He accused the EU of “taking everything that is dictated to them and dealing harm” to its population, business and economy. The Russian president was addressing the St Petersburg Economic Forum almost two hours behind schedule after a “denial of service” cyber-attack.
The UK’s prime minister, Boris Johnson, made a surprise visit to Kyiv to meet Zelenskiy. The Ukrainian president said “Many days of this war have proved that Great Britain’s support for Ukraine is firm and resolute. I’m grateful for a powerful support”. Discussions included the supply of heavy weapons, air defence systems and further economic support for Ukraine, as well as a new training programme for Ukraine’s armed forces.
It is now “impossible and physically dangerous” for civilians to leave the Azot chemical plant in Sievierodonetsk due to “constant shelling and fighting”, according to Luhansk’s governor, Serhai Haidai. He said: “There are 568 people in the shelter, including 38 children. Exiting the plant is possible only with a complete ceasefire.” A pro-Russian separatist leader claimed Russian-backed forces would reopen a humanitarian corridor for civilians to leave the plant, the Interfax news agency reported.
Ukraine’s navy has claimed it has struck the Russian rescue tug Spasatel Vasily Bekh, which it says was in the process of the “transportation of ammunition, weapons and personnel of the Black Sea Fleet to Snake Island”. Ukraine’s armed forces strategic communications directorate said the tug boat was hit with two Harpoon missiles. If so, that would mark the first time Ukraine has said it hit a Russian vessel with this type of western-supplied anti-ship rockets.
At least two people have been killed and 20 injured in a Russian missile attack on Mykolaiv in southern Ukraine, according to governor Vitaliy Kim.
The head of the UK’s armed forces has said Russia has already “strategically lost” the war in Ukraine and is now a “more diminished power”. Admiral Sir Tony Radakin said Russia was suffering heavy losses, running out of troops and advanced missiles and would never be able to take over all of Ukraine.
The Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, said Russia is “not ashamed of showing who we are” in an interview with the BBC. “We didn’t invade Ukraine, we declared a special military operation because we had absolutely no other way of explaining to the west that dragging Ukraine into Nato was a criminal act,” he said.
France’s president, Emmanuel Macron, has said he thinks it is unlikely a deal can be done with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, about exporting grain from Ukraine’s Odesa port.
A third American volunteer fighting in Ukraine has been reported as missing amid concerns that all three may have been captured by Russian or pro-Russian forces. The family of the former Marine Corps officer Grady Kurpasi disclosed that he had been missing in the Kherson area since late April following the earlier disclosure that two other American military veterans had lost contact with their families.
The 2023 Eurovision song contest cannot be held in Ukraine given the ongoing war, the European Broadcasting Union has said. Organisers were in talks with the BBC to host the event in the UK instead. However, Ukrainian culture minister, Oleksandr Tkachenko, has insisted Ukraine is still prepared to host the event, and demanded further negotiations.
Nato said on Thursday it is committed to providing equipment to maintain Ukraine’s right to self-defence, and will be making more troop deployments on its eastern flank. Nato’s secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, condemned “a relentless war of attrition against Ukraine” being waged by Russia, and said Nato continued to offer “unprecedented support so it can defend itself against Moscow’s aggression”.
The Chinese president, Xi Jinping, will host a virtual summit with top leaders from Russia, India, Brazil and South Africa next week, marking the first such meeting since the Ukraine crisis unfolded.
Australia’s new prime minister, Anthony Albanese, has said he will consider whether to accept president Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s invitation to visit Ukraine during an upcoming European trip. Albanese said he only became aware of the invitation to visit Ukraine when he read a newspaper report.
Zelenskiy appeared as a hologram while referencing Star Wars in an attempt to secure more aid from big tech firms. He told a crowd of hundreds at the VivaTech trade show in Paris on Thursday that Ukraine was offering technology firms a unique chance to rebuild the country as a fully digital democracy.
A Russian spy tried and failed to secure an internship at the international criminal court using the false identity of a Brazilian citizen that he had built up for as long as a decade, according to Dutch intelligence. Sergey Vladimirovich Cherkasov, 36, accused of being an agent of Russia’s GRU military intelligence, was detained when he arrived and sent back to Brazil the following day.
The UK announced Thursday a fresh wave of sanctions against Russia aimed at people involved with the “barbaric treatment of children in Ukraine”. Those targeted by sanctions include the Russian children’s rights commissioner, Maria Lvova-Belova, military commanders, Vladimir Mikhailovich and Patriarch Kirill, the head of the Russian Orthodox church.
