Summary
Thank you for joining us for today’s live coverage of the war in Ukraine.
We will be pausing our live reporting overnight and returning in the morning.
In the meantime, you can read our comprehensive summary of the day’s events in our summary below.
- A Russian missile hit a crowded shopping centre in the central Ukrainian city of Kremenchuk on Monday, killing and injuring scores of people, Ukrainian authorities said. Serhiy Kruk, the head of Ukraine’s state emergency service, said at 2am local time on Tuesday: “So far, 16 people have been killed and 59 injured, 25 of whom have been hospitalised.” Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said more than 1,000 people were inside the building at the time of the strike and officials are “still establishing the number of people under the rubble.”
- The attack on Kremenchuk has been met with international outrage. UK foreign secretary, Liz Truss, described the strike as a “shocking and barbaric attack on innocent civilians” while French President, Emmanuel Macron, denounced the attack as an “abomination”.
- Zelenskiy described the attack on Kremenchuk as “one of the most defiant terrorist attacks in European history”. “A peaceful city, an ordinary shopping mall with women, children, ordinary civilians inside,” he said. “Only totally insane terrorists, who should have no place on earth, can strike missiles at such an object. And this is not an off-target missile strike, this is a calculated Russian strike - exactly at this shopping mall.”
- The leaders of the G7 said Vladimir Putin’s attacks aimed at civilians were a “war crime” and condemned the “abominable attack” in Kremenchuk. “We stand united with Ukraine in mourning the innocent victims of this brutal attack. Indiscriminate attacks on innocent civilians constitute a war crime. Russian president Putin and those responsible will be held to account,” a statement read. They said they would “continue to provide financial, humanitarian as well as military support for Ukraine, for as long as it takes”.
- Russian shelling of a residential area in Ukraine’s second largest city, Kharkiv, killed at least five civilians on Monday, the regional governor said. A further 19 people were wounded in the attack, Oleh Synehubov said.
- A Russian missile attack also killed at least eight civilians and wounded 21 in Ukraine’s eastern Lysychansk region of Donbas. “Today, when the civilian people were collecting water from a water tank, the Russians aimed at the crowd,” Serhiy Haidai, Luhansk governor, said on Telegram.
- German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said there can be no return to pre-war ties with Russia. Scholz said that with its attack on Ukraine, Russia has broken “all the rules, all the agreements we have made with each other on countries’ cooperation” following the Group of Seven summit. He said G7 leaders agree that it has led to long-term changes “which will mark international relations for a very, very long time. So it is clear that, in relations with Russia, there can be no way back to the time before the Russian attack on Ukraine.”
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The UN security council will meet on Tuesday to discuss Russia’s targeted attacks on civilians at the request of Ukraine.
- Nato will boost the number of troops on high alert by more than sevenfold to over 300,000 in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Nato’s secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, said the military alliance’s forces in the Baltic states and five other frontline countries would be increased “up to brigade levels” – doubled or trebled to between 3,000 and 5,000 troops. That would amount to “the biggest overhaul of our collective defence and deterrence since the cold war,” he said.
- The US is planning to buy and send more medium- to long-range missile systems to Ukraine, including Nasams, an advanced surface-to-air missile system, according to defence officials. The US national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, confirmed on Monday the US is in the process of of finalising a package that includes advanced air defence capabilities.
- UK defence secretary, Ben Wallace, has reportedly written to the prime minister to call for the defence budget to be lifted to 2.5% of GDP by 2028. The leaked request, first reported by Talk TV, emerged on the eve of the Nato summit in Madrid, which will discuss the renewed threat posed by Russia and the anticipated commitment of hundreds more British troops to the defence of Estonia.
- Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Brazilian counterpart, Jair Bolsonaro, discussed global food security and confirmed their intention to strengthen their strategic partnership, the Kremlin said on Monday. Putin assured Bolsonaro in a phone call that Russia would fulfil all its obligations to supply fertilisers to Brazil, the Kremlin said in a statement as reported by Reuters.
- Iran has submitted an application to become a member in the group of emerging economies known as the BRICS, Iranian and Russians officials said on Monday. “While the White House was thinking about what else to turn off in the world, ban or spoil, Argentina and Iran applied to join the BRICS,” Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova wrote on the Telegram messaging app. Argentina is yet to confirm the reports.
- Any encroachment on the Crimea peninsula by a Nato member-state could amount to a declaration of war on Russia which could lead to “World War Three,” Russia’s former president, Dmitry Medvedev, was quoted as saying on Monday. “For us, Crimea is a part of Russia. And that means forever. Any attempt to encroach on Crimea is a declaration of war against our country. And if this is done by a Nato member-state, this means conflict with the entire North Atlantic alliance; a World War Three. A complete catastrophe,” Medvedev told the Russian news website Argumenty i Fakty.
Any encroachment on the Crimea peninsula by a Nato member-state could amount to a declaration of war on Russia which could lead to “World War Three,” Russia’s former president, Dmitry Medvedev, was quoted as saying on Monday.
According to a Reuters report, Medvedev told the news website Argumenty i Fakty:
For us, Crimea is a part of Russia. And that means forever. Any attempt to encroach on Crimea is a declaration of war against our country.
And if this is done by a Nato member-state, this means conflict with the entire North Atlantic alliance; a World War Three. A complete catastrophe.”
Medvedev, now deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council, also said that if Finland and Sweden joined Nato, Russia would strengthen its borders and would be “ready for retaliatory steps,” and that could include the prospect of installing Iskander hypersonic missiles “on their threshold.”
Iran applies to join BRICS group of emerging countries
Iran has submitted an application to become a member in the group of emerging economies known as the BRICS, an Iranian official said on Monday.
Iran’s membership in the BRICS group, which includes Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, “would result in added values for both sides,” Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson said, according to a Reuters report.
Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said separately that Argentina had also applied to join the group.
Argentina’s President Alberto Fernandez, currently in Europe, has in recent days reiterated his desire for Argentina to join BRICS.
While the White House was thinking about what else to turn off in the world, ban or spoil, Argentina and Iran applied to join the BRICS,” Zakharova wrote on the Telegram messaging app.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has said there can be no return to pre-war ties with Russia.
Scholz said at the Group of Seven summit on Monday that with its attack on Ukraine, Russia has broken “all the rules, all the agreements we have made with each other on countries’ cooperation.”
He said G-7 leaders agree that it has led to long-term changes “which will mark international relations for a very, very long time. So it is clear that, in relations with Russia, there can be no way back to the time before the Russian attack on Ukraine.”
Scholz was speaking after hosting the leaders of five leading democratic emerging economies at the G-7 summit in the Bavarian Alps.
The US is planning to buy and send more medium- to long-range missile systems to Ukraine, according to defence officials.
The arms are hoped to help Ukrainian forces hold onto the last remaining segments of land in the eastern Donbas.
A senior defence official told the Associated Press that Ukrainian forces are already effectively using advanced rocket systems, and that more of those will go into Ukraine with trained troops soon.
A new plan for the US to buy and send Nasams, an advanced surface-to-air missile system, to Ukraine, is also in the works and would add to its longer-range rocket and missile strike capabilities.
President Joe Biden is expected to announce soon that the US is purchasing Nasams, a Norwegian-developed anti-aircraft system, to provide medium- to long-range defence for Ukraine, according to an administration official familiar with the matter.
Nasams is the same system used by the US to protect the airspace around the White House and Capitol in Washington.
Both the defence official and the administration official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss US military assessments and plans that have yet to be announced.
Moscow police have reportedly detained one of the few politicians openly opposing the Kremlin’s war in Ukraine who remains in Russia.
A journalist friend said Ilya Yashin, a municipal deputy, was taken into custody while they walked in a Moscow park on Monday.
The journalist, Irina Babloyan, told Russian state media agency, Tass, he was taken to a detention facility in the Russian capital’s Luzhniki neighbourhood.
After charges of discrediting the Russian army were filed against him last month, Yashin said he wouldn’t run away or retract his criticism of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Latvia-based independent Russian news site Meduza reported.
'One of the most defiant terrorist attacks in European history': Zelenskiy
Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskiy has described Russia’s attack on the shopping mall in Kremenchuk as “one of the most defiant terrorist attacks in European history”.
Zelenskiy made the remarks during his latest national address on Monday evening:
Today’s Russian strike at a shopping mall in Kremenchuk is one of the most defiant terrorist attacks in European history.
A peaceful city, an ordinary shopping mall with women, children, ordinary civilians inside... Before the air alarm there were about a thousand people. Fortunately, as far as we know at this time, many people managed to get out in time. They were taken out in time. But there were still people inside: staff, some visitors...
Only totally insane terrorists, who should have no place on earth, can strike missiles at such an object. And this is not an off-target missile strike, this is a calculated Russian strike - exactly at this shopping mall.”
While Zelenskiy said it is not yet possible to establish the number of victims, he predicted that the losses “may be significant”.
We are establishing the number of people under the rubble.”
Putin and Bolsonaro to strengthen strategic partnership: Kremlin
Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Brazilian counterpart, Jair Bolsonaro, discussed global food security and confirmed their intention to strengthen their strategic partnership, the Kremlin said on Monday.
Putin assured Bolsonaro in a phone call that Russia would fulfil all its obligations to supply fertilisers to Brazil, the Kremlin said in a statement as reported by Reuters.
The South American leader confirmed his call with Putin during an event on Monday.
I just had a phone call with President Putin of Russia, in which we talked about food security and also energy security,” Bolsonaro said, adding that his agriculture and energy ministers were also on the call.
The head of Ukraine’s state emergency service (SES) has also corroborated reports that the death toll from the Kremenchuk strike has increased to 16 fatalities.
In an online post written about 2am local time, Serhiy Kruk, said:
We continue to work at the site of the rocket attack on the shopping centre in Kremenchuk.
The main tasks currently performed by rescuers are to carry out rescue operations, dismantle debris and eliminate fires.
So far, 16 people have been killed and 59 injured, 25 of whom have been hospitalised.”
Updated
The Kremenchuk district prosecutor office has provided some more detail from the scene of the deadly attack.
Mykola Lukash spoke to Guardian reporter, Lorenzo Tondo.
We haven’t found any children’s bodies. A lot of bodies are burnt. We need to carry out DNA tests. At the current moment 14 bodies were found here on the site and another one died in the hospital. We also found six body fragments, arms legs etc...”
Lukash said more equipment will be coming from Kyiv, including larger cranes, on Tuesday.
The official added that so far 40 missing persons applications have been submitted by those fearing they have lost family in the attack.
Anton Herashchenko, Ukraine’s senior presidential advisor and former deputy minister for internal affairs, has provided another update on the death toll from the missile strike in Kremenchuk.
Writing on his Telegram channel early this morning, the official said:
It is known about 16 dead and 59 injured, of which 25 people were hospitalised.”
Updated
US President Joe Biden reportedly plans to announce an extension of some of the increased US troop presence in Poland and changes to US deployments in several Baltic nations that he authorised ahead of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, NBC News reported on Monday, citing officials.
The changes to the US troop footprint could affect countries such as Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, the outlet added.
To the extent there could be new troops deploying to the region on a more permanent basis, officials said the number would be minimal, but several hundred could remain in Poland on a more permanent basis.
Guardian photographer, Alessio Mamo, was at the scene in central Ukraine where a missile strike hit a busy shopping centre in Kremenchuk.
Some of the striking images can be seen below.
Today, the residents of Kyiv and other regions woke up to missile strikes at civilian infrastructure. Innocent people were killed, children injured. Prosecutors, investigators, and military experts are working at the crime scenes.
— Iryna Venediktova (@VenediktovaIV) June 26, 2022
Every day we record 100-200 #RussianWarCrimes.1/2 pic.twitter.com/Do3Ba6zKaK
Updated
French President Emmanuel Macron has denounced Russia’s deadly strike on a shopping centre in Kremenchuk, Ukraine, as an “abomination”, amid growing international outrage at the attack.
Russia’s bombing of a shopping centre in Kremenchuk is an abomination.
We share the pain of the victims’ families, and the anger in the face of such an atrocity. The Russian people have to see the truth.”
Macron tweeted video footage of the blazing shopping centre with black smoke pouring off it.
Обстрел Россией торгового центра в Кременчуге – это полный ужас. Мы разделяем боль семей жертв. И гнев перед лицом такой подлости. Российский народ должен увидеть правду:pic.twitter.com/7drortbGSE
— Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) June 27, 2022
Today so far
It’s 1am in Ukraine.
- Rescue efforts continue in Kremenchuk, where a Russian missile strike on a busy shopping centre killed at least 14 and wounded dozens more. The death toll is expected to rise. At least 40 missing persons reports had been submitted by locals searching for loved ones who had gone missing in the building.
- World leaders around the globe have condemned the attack in Kremenchuk, with G7 leaders issuing a statement and France’s foreign ministry coming out to say that Russia must be held accountable for its deliberate actions against civilians – a war crime
- The UN security council will meet tomorrow to discuss Russia’s targeted attacks on civilians, which, just today, included a missile attack on civilians collecting water in Lysychansk that killed at least eight and a widespread hit in Kharkiv that killed at least five who were just walking in the street.
Updated
The UN security council will meet tomorrow to discuss Russia’s attacks on civilians, which would include, just today, a missile attack on a crowded shopping mall in Kremenchuk that killed at least 14, a targeted missile strike on civilians collecting water in Lysychansk that killed at least eight and widespread hit on Kharkiv that killed at least five.
Sickening. Absolutely sickening. The @UN Security Council will meet tomorrow to discuss Russia’s atrocities against civilians. We must continue to hold Russia accountable. https://t.co/RuBx8IFGay
— Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield (@USAmbUN) June 27, 2022
Officials have updated the death toll for the Russian missile strike on the shopping centre in Kremenchuk to 14, with the wounded still numbering in the dozens. Numbers are expected to rise as rescue efforts continue through the night.
At least 40 missing persons reports had been submitted by locals searching for loved ones who had gone missing in the building.
More than 1,000 people were believed to be in the building when the missile struck, according to president Volodymyr Zelenskiy. The missile ignited a massive fire that took 300 emergency workers more than four hours to extinguish.
Read more here:
Updated
G7 leaders: 'We will not rest until Russia ends its cruel and senseless war'
The G7 leaders have issued a statement on the Russian missile attack on a shopping centre in Kremenchuk that killed at least 13 and wounded dozens:
“We, the leaders of the G7, solemnly condemn the abominable attack on a shopping mall in Kremenchuk. We stand united with Ukraine in mourning the innocent victims of this brutal attack.”
- “Indiscriminate attacks on innocent civilians constitute a war crime. Russian President Putin and those responsible will be held to account.”
- “Today, we underlined our unwavering support for Ukraine in the face of the Russian aggression, an unjustified war of choice that has been raging for 124 days. We will continue to provide financial, humanitarian as well as military support for Ukraine, for as long as it takes.”
- “We will not rest until Russia ends its cruel and senseless war on Ukraine.”
Guardian reporter Lorenzo Tondo is reporting from the scene of a Kremenchuk shopping centre, where a Russian missile strike killed at least 13 today and wounded dozens more:
Emergency teams at the scene said it took four hours to extinguish the blaze caused by the missile strike.
“We pulled out several bodies, but there are definitely more trapped under the rubble,” said Oleksii, 46, a firefighter. “This is normally a very crowded place.”
Read more here:
With at least 13 confirmed dead in the Russian missile attack on the shopping centre in Kremenchuk, there have been more than 40 reports from friends and family of persons that are unaccounted for – at least 40 people still missing.
After the Russian missile attack on the Kremenchug shopping mall in the Poltava region, there were more than 40 complaints from citizens about the disappearance of their relatives. 13 dead, 59 wounded, half of them in critical state pic.twitter.com/bIoFrE2cnJ
— Iuliia Mendel (@IuliiaMendel) June 27, 2022
Updated
As recovery and rescue efforts continue hours after a Russian missile attack struck a shopping mall in Kremenchuk, killing at least 13 and wounding 56, the reports from the scene have been devastating.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said more than 1,000 people were inside when the strikes happened. The death toll and number of wounded is expected to rise.
We’re at the mall in Kremenchuk which was hit by Russia. Utter devastation. pic.twitter.com/pNxt0FhkwQ
— James Longman (@JamesAALongman) June 27, 2022
The recovery won’t be of bodies. It is of body parts. This is horrific. I’ve just seen a torso with one arm attached brought out on a piece of canvas. The dazed look of the recovery teams wondering which way to go with it.
— James Longman (@JamesAALongman) June 27, 2022
I’m in Kremenchuk at the site of the place that was once an Amstar shopping center. 13 people are dead, 25 in the hospital. “People just burned alive,” the interior minister said. I saw a photo of a burned corpse which looked to me that the woman was writhing in agony. pic.twitter.com/6SlBNKhrce
— Valerie Hopkins (@VALERIEinNYT) June 27, 2022
#Kremenchuk now pic.twitter.com/cU6acchKfR
— Lorenzo Tondo (@lorenzo_tondo) June 27, 2022
At least 8 civilians killed in Lysychansk
A Russian missile attack has killed at least eight civilians and wounded 21 in Lysychansk, Reuters is reporting.
“Today, when the civilian people were collecting water from a water tank, the Russians aimed at the crowd,” Serhiy Gaidai, governor of the Luhansk oblast said on Telegram.
#Lysyschansk, #Luhansk region.
— Emine Dzheppar (@EmineDzheppar) June 27, 2022
A father learns that his daughter was killed. She was among those who gathered to get some fresh water.#Russian occupies deliberately fired multiple rocket launcher at them.
At least 8 people killed, at least 20 injured.#StandWithUkraine pic.twitter.com/YRjM1zMalq
France: Russia must answer for deadly missile strike
France’s foreign ministry has issued a statement saying that Russia must answer for the deadly missile strike on the busy shopping centre in Kremenchuk that has killed at least 13 and wounded 56.
France condemns the Russian missile strike on a supermarket in Kremenchuk #Ukraine. By indiscriminately bombing civilians and civilian infrastructure, Russia continues its appalling violations of international humanitarian law. Russia must be held accountable for its actions. https://t.co/x8rt71iNgU pic.twitter.com/1BZiAVdG32
— Catherine Colonna (@MinColonna) June 27, 2022
“Russia must answer for these acts. France supports the fight against impunity in Ukraine,” the foreign ministry’s spokeswoman said in a statement.
Updated
On Telegram, Dmytro Lunin, governor of the central Poltava region, has now updated the death toll for the Russian missile attack on the shopping centre in Kremenchuk to 13 people.
Death toll of Russian attack on Kremenchuk mall rose to 13 - Poltava Oblast Head Dmytro Lunin
— Euromaidan Press (@EuromaidanPress) June 27, 2022
"It is too early to talk about the final death toll," the official added.https://t.co/R6rUUGGm1A
World leaders around the globe have condemned the attack, with United Kingdom prime minister Boris Johnson saying at the G7 meeting that the attack would strengthen the resolve of G7 leaders.
I am now in #Kremenchuk, at the site of the tragedy.
— Anton Gerashchenko (@Gerashchenko_en) June 27, 2022
The whole world should see #RussianWarCrimes in #Ukraine.
English subtitles pic.twitter.com/e0DoocnTNu
Read more here:
Updated
Officials have updated the death toll for the Russian missile strike on the shopping centre in Kremenchuk to 11, with the number of wounded now totalling 50, Reuters is reporting. Numbers are expected to rise.
Dmytro Lunin, governor of the central Poltava region, called the attack “an act of terrorism against civilians”, noting that there there was no military target nearby that Russia could have been aiming at.
United Kingdom foreign secretary Liz Truss has sounded off on today’s Russian missile strike on a shopping mall in Kremenchuk that killed at least 1o and wounded 40:
This is a shocking and barbaric attack on innocent civilians and my thoughts are with all those affected. https://t.co/8q5F1XPoVo
— Liz Truss (@trussliz) June 27, 2022
UN secretary general Antonio Guterres briefed the G7 leaders that his talks to lift the blockade on Ukrainian grain from ports on the Black Sea had reached “the moment of truth”, warning of dire consequences if a negotiated settlement is not reached soon between Ukraine and Russia.
Guterres told G7 leaders that UN teams were holding separate talks with Russia and Ukraine to ensure both sides’ grains and fertilisers reached the market.
He said a conditional agreement was in place whereby Ukrainian grain would leave three Ukrainian held ports including Odessa with Russian consent without the need for the de-mining of the ports that had been previously thought necessary. The ships would then travel through the Black Sea towards Turkey in designated safe lanes with oversight of the operation jointly being in the hands of Ukraine, Russia, Turkey and the UN. Ukraine has accepted a Russian demand that the grain ships are inspected in Turkish waters for weapons before they reach Ukrainian ports.
The separate discussions with Russia have focussed on ensuring the EU gives guarantees that no sanctions will be imposed on Russia grain exports, and insurance will be provided.
The two deals are conditional on another.
Although the EU commission president Ursula von der Leyen said at the Guterres briefing it was possible a silver lining was close, it has taken nearly a month to approach an agreement and no final settlement had been reached with Russia.
The report back on the talks by Guterres had been sought by the Italian prime minister Mario Draghi.
It is widely accepted that reopening of the sea lanes is critical, and the alternatives of transport via rail through Poland or to Romanian ports cannot reach the normal volumes of 5m tonnes of Ukrainian grain exports per month.
Ukraine has 25m tonnes of corn, sunflower oil, wheat and other agricultural products stored. It exported 1.11 million tonnes of grain in the first 22 days of June, down 44% from the same period in 2021.
Kyrylo Tymoshenko, the deputy head of Ukraine’s presidential office, has shared a video of the aftermath of the Russian missile strike on a busy shopping mall in Kremenchuk that killed at least 10 people and wounded 40. More than 1,000 people were inside when the strikes happened, according to president Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
Updated
Today so far
It has been another tragic day in the Ukraine invasion, with concerns mounting about intensified violence.
Here are the main events:
- A Russian missile strike hit a crowded shopping centre in the central Ukrainian city of Kremenchuk and killed at least 10 people and wounded 40.
- The regional governor of Kharkiv said that Russian shelling of the city of Kharkiv in north-east Ukraine killed four people and wounded 19 on Monday.
- Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskiy is understood to have told G7 leaders not to let the conflict in his country “drag on over winter”, and asked for anti-aircraft defence systems, more sanctions on Russia and security guarantees.
- The G7 issued a statement pledging to stand with Ukraine for “as long as it takes”.
- Russia imposed sanctions on 43 Canadian citizens and expelled eight Greek diplomats.
- Ukraine’s richest man filed a lawsuit against Russia at Europe’s top human rights court on Monday, seeking compensation over what he has said are billions of dollars in business losses since Russia’s invasion.
Thank you for following. I’m handing over to my colleague Vivian Ho in the US for the rest of the day.
Updated
Death toll in Kremenchuk shopping centre strike rises to 10, authorities report
The Russian missile strike that hit a crowded shopping centre in the central Ukrainian city of Kremenchuk has killed at least 10 people and wounded 40, a senior Ukrainian official has said.
The Guardian reporters Pjotr Sauer and Lorenzo Tondo report that Kyrylo Tymoshenko, the deputy head of the presidential office, said a rescue operation was under way and that nine of the wounded were in a serious condition.
Dmitry Lunin, the governor of the Poltava region, said that ten people were killed as a result of the blast, a number that he said could grow as more information becomes available.
Kremenchuk is the site of Ukraine’s biggest oil refinery and stands on the banks of the Dnieper River. The city serves as the administrative centre of the Kremenchuk district in Poltava oblast.
The Guardian’s updated full report is here:
Meanwhile, Reuters reports that a UN spokesperson has condemned the attacks as “deplorable” and expressed concerns about intensified violence.
It also reported that Ukraine’s air force command said the mall was hit by two long-range X-22 missiles fired from Tu-22M3 bombers that flew from Shaykovka airfield in Russia’s Kaluga region.
Russia did not immediately comment on the Ukrainian assertion. It has denied deliberately targeting civilians during in its “special military operation” in Ukraine.
“We need more weapons to protect our people, we need missile defences,” Andriy Yermak, head of the president’s office, said.
Vadym Denysenko, an interior ministry adviser, said Russia could have had three motives for the attack.
The first, undoubtedly, is to sow panic, the second is to... destroy our infrastructure, and the third is to... raise the stakes to get the civilised West to sit down again at the table for talks.
Russia, which has captured the eastern Ukrainian city of Sievierodonetsk after a weeks-long assault, has stepped up missile strikes across Ukraine in recent days.
Updated
The UK prime minister, Boris Johnson, has condemned the attack in Kremenchuk, in a statement made at the G7 gathering of world leaders in Bavaria.
He said:
This appalling attack has shown once again the depths of cruelty and barbarism to which the Russian leader will sink.
Once again our thoughts are with the families of the innocent victims of Ukraine. Putin must realise that his behaviour will do nothing but strengthen the resolve of the UK and every other G7 country to stand by Ukraine for as long as it takes.
A joint statement on the attack by G7 leaders was expected later in the day.
Updated
Here are some photos of the aftermath of the Kremenchuk missile strike today.
Here’s an image of the rescue operation.
Meanwhile, Ukraine’s minister of foreign affairs tweeted:
Russia is a disgrace to humanity and it must face consequences. The response should be more heavy arms for Ukraine, more sanctions on Russia, and more businesses leaving Russia.
Large shopping mall in Kremenchuk with hundreds of civilians inside has been hit by a Russian strike. Russia is a disgrace to humanity and it must face consequences. The response should be more heavy arms for Ukraine, more sanctions on Russia, and more businesses leaving Russia. pic.twitter.com/Uvi6fbyShK
— Dmytro Kuleba (@DmytroKuleba) June 27, 2022
Updated
Russian shelling in Kharkiv kills four, says governor
Russian shelling of the city of Kharkiv in north-east Ukraine killed four people and wounded 19 on Monday, the regional governor said.
There was no immediate comment from Russia, which denies targeting civilians.
Oleh Synehubov, the governor of the Kharkiv region, said on the Telegram messaging app:
Doctors are providing all the necessary assistance. Information on the number of victims is being updated.
Updated
Russia confirms strategic partnership with Brazil
The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, and his Brazilian counterpart, Jair Bolsonaro, discussed global food security and confirmed their intention to strengthen their strategic partnership, the Kremlin said on Monday.
Putin assured Bolsonaro in a phone call that Russia would fulfil its obligations to supply fertilisers to Brazil, it added.
Updated
The Guardian’s Italy correspondent, Angela Giuffrida, reports on the impact of food insecurity caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on immigration in Italy:
People escaping famine in north African countries triggered by a shortage of grain due to Russia’s blockade on exports from Ukraine amid its invasion of the country have started to arrive in Italy.
Over the past six months, 26,000 people landed on Italy’s southern shores by boat, up 28% on the same period last year, according to a report in La Stampa newspaper on Monday that cited interior ministry figures.
The economic downturn prompted by the coronavirus pandemic has contributed to the rise in the number of people risking the often treacherous Mediterranean crossing, while more recent arrivals include those fleeing famine in countries in north Africa.
The majority arriving are Bangladeshi construction workers who had been working in Libya before the economic crisis hit, followed by those from Egypt, Tunisia, Afghanistan and Syria.
Luciana Lamorghese, Italy’s interior minister, said last week there risked being “an unprecedented humanitarian crisis”.
“Fifty per cent of wheat consumed in Tunisia comes from Ukraine. In both Tunisia and Egypt there is bread rationing, an effect induced by the war.”
Updated
Russia expels eight Greek diplomats
Russia has declared eight Greek diplomats “personae non gratae” and given them eight days to leave the country, the Russian foreign ministry said on Monday.
Reuters reports:
The foreign ministry said it had summoned the Greek ambassador to protest over what it called “the confrontational course of the Greek authorities towards Russia, including the supply of weapons and military equipment to the Kyiv regime”.
The ministry said it had also protested against a Greek decision to declare a group of Russian diplomats “personae non gratae”.
Updated
At least two killed, 20 wounded in Kremenchuk missile strike
The deputy head of the Ukrainian presidential office has said at least two people have been killed and 20 wounded in the missile strike on a shopping mall.
Kyrylo Tymoshenko, deputy head of President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s office, said nine of the wounded were in a serious condition following the missile strike on the city of Kremenchuk.
Updated
Missile strike hits busy shopping centre in Kremenchuk
A missile strike has hit a crowded shopping centre in Kremenchuk, a city in central Ukraine on the banks of the Dnipro river.
The Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy has said that more than 1,000 civilians were in the shopping centre at the time of the strike, where a fire remains raging.
Reuters reports the president gave no details of casualties but said: “It is impossible to even imagine the number of victims.”
“It’s useless to hope for decency and humanity from Russia,” Zelenskiy wrote on Telegram.
The city’s mayor, Vitaliy Meletskiy, said the strike had caused deaths and injuries, but gave no figures.
Kremenchuk, an industrial city of 217,000 inhabitants before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, is the site of the country’s biggest oil refinery.
Footage circulating on social media shows fire raging and smoke billowing from the entirety of the shopping centre, with fire trucks parked nearby. The video was apparently circulated by Zelenskiy, but has not yet been independently verified.
Oliver Carroll, a correspondent for the Economist, reports “horror scenes”, citing a man speaking on the phone who said people were in the building and the walls were starting to fall in.
Horror scenes in Kremenchuk, as a Russian missile hits a shopping centre. The man speaking on phone : “people were are the building, the walls are starting to fall in” pic.twitter.com/REDBFmuT3R
— Oliver Carroll (@olliecarroll) June 27, 2022
⚡️ Zelensky: 'Russia strikes shopping center in Kremenchuk, while over thousand people inside.'
— The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) June 27, 2022
“The mall is on fire, firefighters are trying to extinguish the fire, the number of victims is impossible to imagine," said President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Volodymyr Zelensky/Telegram pic.twitter.com/Pb8IGeAevD
Nexta, a Belarussian news service operated in exile out of Poland, has posted a video of local residents helping medices to provide first aid to victims.
The local residents are helping the medics to provide first aid to the victims of the missile attack on the #Kremenchuk shopping centre. pic.twitter.com/My1Cs8uGVz
— NEXTA (@nexta_tv) June 27, 2022
There was no immediate comment from Russia, which denies deliberately targeting civilians.
Updated
Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine have granted relatives permission to speak with a Moroccan citizen sentenced to death for fighting with Ukrainian forces, Russia’s RIA Novosti agency reported, citing a top official in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR).
A court in the breakaway DPR, which is only recognised by Russia, sentenced Saaudun Brahim and two British citizens to death in June in what western politicians have decried as a show trial.
This post was corrected to say that relatives, not the Moroccan government, have been granted permission to speak with Brahim.
Updated
Lorenzo Tondo reports for us today on the atmosphere in Kyiv, after the war returned to the city at the weekend:
Four explosions in the space of a few seconds in the early hours of Sunday morning catapulted 23-year-old marketing manager Oleksandr Litvin and the entire city of Kyiv back to a crude reality. Columns of smoke rose over buildings next to his apartment, home to a cluster of universities, restaurants and art galleries, as air-launched Russian missiles fired from the Caspian Sea served as a violent reminder that the Ukrainian capital is still in a conflict zone.
One man was killed as two apartment buildings were hit and six people, including a woman from Russia, were taken to hospital, while a seven-year-old girl was rescued from the rubble. Kyiv’s mayor, Vitali Klitschko, called it an attempt to “intimidate Ukrainians” before the Nato and G7 summits.
“I woke up and saw a large plume of smoke from my window”, said Litvin. “I was out with some friends that night. We started to scream because there had been other blasts. We locked ourselves in the bathroom and waited 10 minutes. Then we went out to see what had happened. It was terrifying.”
Litvin said he was moving back to his parents’ house. “I no longer feel safe in that apartment. I will not go back until the war is over.”
Read more of Lorenzo Tondo’s report from Kyiv here: ‘I thought the bombings were over’: war returns to Kyiv
Moldova’s president said during a visit to Ukraine that her country was “fragile and vulnerable” and needed help to remain “part of the free world”.
Four days after European Union leaders decided to accept Ukraine and Moldova as membership candidates, President Maia Sandu visited three towns where Ukraine suspects Russian forces of committing atrocities, Reuters reports.
“This shouldn’t happen. And, you know, it is heartbreaking to see what we see here and to hear the stories,” she said in Bucha outside Kyiv, calling for anyone found guilty of atrocities to be punished.
Sandu said Moldova, a former Soviet republic of 2.6 million people that borders Ukraine, wanted to determine its own future.
“Moldova is a fragile and vulnerable country,” she said. “Ukraine and Moldova need help. We want this war to stop, this Russian aggression against Ukraine to be stopped as soon as possible. We want to stay part of the free world.”
The breakaway Transnistria region of Moldova has a garrison of Russian troops deployed to it, and is sandwiched between the east of Moldova and the south-west of Ukraine.
Sandu also visited the towns of Borodyanka and Irpin during her trip, and later held talks with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
Updated
Lithuania says it has been hit by cyber-attack
Lithuanian state and private institutions have been hit by a denial-of-service cyber attack, the Baltic country’s National Cyber Security Centre said in a statement released by the defence ministry.
“It is very likely that attacks of similar or greater intensity will continue in the coming days, especially in the transportation, energy and financial sectors,” Reuters reports the centre said.
Secure networks used by state institutions were among those affected, it added.
The news agency is also reporting that Russian hacker group Killnet has claimed responsibility, saying that the attack is in retaliation for Lithuania preventing the transfer of Russian goods across its territory into the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad.
Here are some of the latest images sent to us from Ukraine over the newswires.
Zelenskiy tells G7 not to let Ukraine conflict 'drag on over winter'
Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskiy is understood to have told G7 leaders not to let the conflict in his country “drag on over winter”, Reuters reports.
He told the leaders gathered in Germany at a private meeting held via video link that “if Ukraine wins, you all win”.
And in a sign he was not willing to back down and accept a peace deal that gave up swathes of Ukraine to Russia, the president said: “We will only negotiate from a position of strength.”
Reuters has also reported that a European official said Zelenskiy asked for anti-aircraft defence systems, more sanctions on Russia and security guarantees.
Updated
Reuters has a couple of stories on how western retailers withdrawing from Russia due to the Ukraine conflict is impacting consumers and the fashion industry.
Scores of Western designer labels have quit Russia as part of a backlash against Moscow’s decision to send troops into Ukraine, leaving their domestic competitors to take centre-stage.
At the annual Moscow Fashion Week, which showcases the work of Russian designers, industry professionals said seizing that opportunity would not be easy.
Yulia Lavrichenko, a fashion stylist taking part in the event last week, said:
We need to develop the production of fabrics because our fabrics and accessories are all imported.
Unfortunately, our designers are suffering from this for the time being.
Even Russian couturiers rely heavily on Italy to provide the exclusive materials that go into clothing their wealthy clientele.
While China, Bangladesh, Belarus and Turkey all continue to provide mass-market clothes and materials to Russia, Italy is taking part in European Union sanctions that make trade at the luxury end very difficult.
Olga Sinitsyna, whose brand SCORA designs hats and accessories, said her business was just emerging from the shock of the pandemic when Russia’s military campaign began, sending the rouble tumbling and import prices skyrocketing.
The rouble has since bounced back, “but logistics are 10 times more expensive”, she said, adding that she had been left with no choice but to increase her prices.
She said:
You have to understand that everything you see here is not made from Russian raw materials.
This, of course, affects the cost … But here the choice is either you do it – or you cry and do nothing. I choose to do it.
Meanwhile, shoppers were greeted with empty shelves and prices discounted by as much as 70% at visited Decathlon stores in Russia over the weekend before the French sports equipment retailer closed its stores on Monday, hampered by supply constraints.
Scores of western brands have left Russia following a backlash against its military incursion into Ukraine, with McDonald’s, Ikea and Renault among the more high-profile. Others have reported struggles with logistics and supply chains amid western economic and financial sanctions.
Updated
Here’s the full report on the statement Russia’s defence ministry addressing Sunday’s missile strike in Kyiv.
Russia’s defence ministry said that a missile hitting a Kyiv residential building over the weekend could have been the result of a failure of Ukraine’s air defence system.
Ukraine said Russia struck the capital Kyiv for the first time in weeks over the weekend, with US president Joe Biden saying the attacks were more evidence of Russia’s “barbarism” in its offensive against Ukraine.
In a statement, the Russian defence ministry said it believes a Ukrainian Buk missile system intercepted a S-300 air defence missile which then “fell down to a residential building”.
Russia said all four of its missiles launched against an arms factory in Kyiv hit their target.
Moscow has repeatedly denied targeting civilian areas.
Updated
Owner of Mariupol steelworks files lawsuit against Russia
Ukraine’s richest man has filed a lawsuit against Russia at Europe’s top human rights court on Monday, seeking compensation over what he has said are billions of dollars in business losses since Russia’s invasion.
Reuters reports:
Rinat Akhmetov, owner of the Azovstal steelworks in the city of Mariupol where Ukrainian fighters defied weeks of Russian bombardment, sued Russia for “grievous violations of his property rights” at the European Court of Human Rights, his System Capital Management (SCM) holding company said.
It said Akhmetov was also seeking a court order “preventing Russia from engaging in further blockading, looting, diversion and destruction of grain and steel” produced by his companies.
SCM quoted Akhmetov as saying:
Evil cannot go unpunished. Russia’s crimes against Ukraine and our people are egregious, and those guilty of them must be held liable.
The looting of Ukraine*s export commodities, including grain and steel, has already resulted in higher prices and people dying of hunger worldwide. These barbaric actions must be stopped, and Russia must pay in full.
Asked about the suit, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia was no longer under the jurisdiction of the European court of human rights.
Updated
Nato diplomats are wrestling over how to tackle China’s deepening ties with Russia following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, Reuters reports.
Both a summit of the G7 rich industrial democracies now underway in Germany and a Nato summit to follow will examine what is seen as the growing inclination of China to flex its geopolitical muscle and coercive economic might abroad.
The new strategic concept to be endorsed at the Nato summit in Madrid on Wednesday and Thursday is the bloc’s first in the decade and will address increasing threats posed by Russia and, for the first time, China, the world’s second largest economy, US officials said last week.
A White House official voiced confidence on Sunday that the document would include “strong” language on China, but said the negotiations were continuing ahead of the Nato summit in Madrid on June 29-30.
At the Group of Seven summit on Monday, US National Security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters that NATO’s strategy paper would “speak in ways that are unprecedented about the challenge that China poses”.
Negotiators are in addition fine-tuning how to describe the relationship between China and Russia, with the Czech Republic and Hungary strongly opposed to the phrase “strategic convergence” to define it, one of the diplomats said.
Updated
Interfax reports that Russian Defence Ministry confirms Kyiv strike
A Reuters snap is reporting that the Russian Defence Ministry has told Interfax that Russian forces hit the factory of a missile-building corporate, named Artem, in Kyiv on Sunday.
More to follow.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy meets with G7 leaders
The Guardian’s diplomatic correspondent, Patrick Wintour, has the full story on the meeting between the Ukrainian president and G7 leaders via video.
US government sources briefed that Washington plans to announce as soon as this week that it has bought a Norwegian advanced surface-to-air missile defence system for Ukraine,
The announcement of the Nasams purchase will meet one of the key requests from Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who has been warning his key cities are defenceless against Russian missile strikes including those that rained down on the capital, Kyiv, on Sunday.
Zelenskiy’s meeting with the G7 leaders was not shown to the public – he could be seen on a television screen next to the round table where the leaders sat at the summit venue – but in his overnight address to the Ukrainian people he said the country needed a powerful, modern and fully effective air defence system that can ensure complete protection against such missiles.
The air defence system will be one of many pledges of military support including artillery ammunition due to be given to Ukraine either at the German-chaired G7 summit in Bavaria, or at the subsequent Nato defence summit in Madrid.
A US official said G7 leaders were set to pursue a price cap on Moscow’s oil revenues and raise new tariffs on Russian goods.
Updated
G7 pledges to stand with Ukraine 'for as long as it takes'
The G7 has published a statement on Ukraine. Here are the main lines:
- The G7 “will continue to provide financial, humanitarian, military and diplomatic support and stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes”.
- A reiteration of condemnation on Russia’s “unjustified use of nuclear rhetoric”.
- Ukraine must decide on its future peace settlement, “free from external pressure or influence”.
- Concern after the announcement by Russia that it could transfer missiles with nuclear capabilities to Belarus.
- Efforts will continue to provide Ukraine with military and defence equipment.
- The G7 is ready to reach arrangements with interested countries and Ukraine on sustained security commitments.
- Calls for the “immediate return” of Ukrainian nationals taken by force to Russia without their consent.
- Pledge to provide “safe passage” for Ukrainian nationals and to streamline immigration and visas.
- No impunity for war crimes and other atrocities.
- Russia must cease attacks on agricultural infrastructure and stop blocking shipping routes.
- Russia bears “enormous responsibility” for global food insecurity.
- G7 pledges “coordinated initiatives” that promote global food security.
Updated
Russia imposes sanctions on 43 Canadian citizens
Russia has imposed sanctions on 43 Canadian citizens, barring them from entering the country in a tit-for-tat response to western sanctions on Moscow.
The list, published by the foreign ministry, included the chairperson of Canada’s governing Liberal party, Suzanne Cowan, and the former governor of the Bank of England and Bank of Canada, Mark Carney.
In April, Moscow imposed sanctions on 61 Canadian officials and journalists. It has barred dozens of other western politicians, journalists and business figures from entering Russia.
Updated
Today so far …
- Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskiy has virtually addressed the meeting of world leaders at the G7 summit in Germany. He told them he wants the war to be over by the end of the year before winter sets in, and asked for anti-aircraft defence systems, further sanctions on Russia and security guarantees, as well as help to export grain from Ukraine and for reconstruction aid.
- Russian-backed separatists said they were pushing into Lysychansk, the last major city still held by Ukrainian troops in eastern Luhansk province. Lysychansk’s twin city of Sievierodonetsk fell on Saturday in a victory for Moscow’s campaign to seize the eastern provinces of Luhansk and Donetsk on behalf of pro-Russian separatists. Serhai Haidai, Ukraine’s governor of Luhansk, has called on civilians to evacuate Lysychansk, saying that the situation is “very difficult”.
- Russia stepped up airstrikes on Ukraine over the weekend, including on the capital Kyiv, while the strategic eastern city of Sievierodonetsk fell to pro-Russian forces. There had been no major strikes on Kyiv since early June.
- Zelenskiy said a wounded seven-year-old girl was pulled from the rubble of a nine-storey apartment block in Kyiv. The girl’s father was killed in the strike, he said. “She was not threatened by anything in our country. She was completely safe, until Russia itself decided that everything was equally hostile to them now – women, children, kindergartens, houses, hospitals, railways,” Zelenskiy said in his nightly address.
- A 21-year-old woman and a 57-year-old woman died in the Kharkiv region as a result of Russian shelling, according to an update from the regional governor Oleh Synyehubov.
- Russia has defaulted on its foreign debt for the first time since 1998, according to reports, further alienating the country from the global financial system after sanctions imposed over its war in Ukraine. The country missed a deadline of Sunday night to meet a 30-day grace period on interest payments of $100m on two Eurobonds originally due on 27 May, Bloomberg reported. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Russia had made the bond payments due in May but the fact they had been blocked by Euroclear because of western sanctions on Russia was “not our problem”.
- UK prime minister Boris Johnson has reiterated his warnings at the G7 summit about “Ukraine fatigue”, while insisting that he believes the gathering of world leaders will remain united on the issue. In an interview, Johnson said there had been concern about “the anxieties of other countries around the world about the continuing war, the effect on food prices, on energy prices”.
- UK environment secretary George Eustice has said the UK is supporting Ukrainian attempts to form a land bridge to facilitate the export of grain from Ukraine. He also said the UK was investing £1.5m in determining the origins of grain supplies to prevent stolen Ukrainian grain reaching world markets.
- The US is likely to announce this week the purchase of an advanced medium- to long-range surface-to-air missile defence system for Ukraine. Washington is also expected to announce other security assistance for Ukraine, including additional artillery ammunition and counter-battery radars to address needs expressed by the Ukrainian military.
- Ukraine’s foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, said G7 countries should respond to the latest missile strikes by imposing further sanctions on Russia and providing more heavy weapons to Ukraine.
- Zelenskiy urged Belarusians to stand in solidarity with Ukraine. “Russian leadership wants to drag you into the Ukraine-Russian war because it doesn’t care about your lives. But you aren’t slaves and can decide your destiny yourself,” Zelenskiy said in a video address to Belarusians.
- The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, will visit two small former Soviet states in central Asia this week, Russian state television reported on Sunday, in what would be the Russian leader’s first known trip abroad since ordering the invasion of Ukraine. Putin will visit Tajikistan and Turkmenistan and then meet the Indonesian president, Joko Widodo, for talks in Moscow, the report on Rossiya 1 television station said.
- The UN Human Rights division in Ukraine said on Sunday that since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February, it has “received hundreds of allegations of torture and ill-treatment, including conflict-related sexual violence”. “People were kept tied and blindfolded for several days, beaten, subjected to mock executions, put in a closed metal box, forced to sing or shout glorifying slogans, provided with no or scarce food or water, and held in overcrowded rooms with no sanitation,” the UN human rights monitoring mission in Ukraine said.
Updated
Reuters has a little more detail on what Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy apparently told G7 leaders – that he wants the war to be ended by the end of the year before winter sets in. That is according to diplomatic sources. There is yet to be any read-out of what Zelenskiy said from the Ukrainian side.
Kremlin: 'not our problem' if Russian bond payments blocked by western sanctions
The Kremlin has rejected claims that it has defaulted on its external debt for the first time since 1998.
Reuters reports that during his regular daily call with reporters, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Russia made bond payments due in May but the fact they had been blocked by Euroclear because of western sanctions on Russia was “not our problem”.
Updated
Here are some of the latest images to be sent to us from Ukraine over the newswires.
Updated
We will not be getting a full video release from the G7 of the address given by Volodymyr Zelenskiy this morning, but Reuters is carrying a first read-out, which it attributes to “a European official speaking on condition of anonymity”.
They say that Zelenskiy asked for anti-aircraft defence systems, further sanctions on Russia and security guarantees, as well as help to export grain from Ukraine and for reconstruction aid.
Updated
UK prime minister Boris Johnson has reiterated his warnings at the G7 summit about “Ukraine fatigue”, while insisting that he believes the gathering of world leaders will remain united on the issue.
In an interview with BBC News, Johnson said there had been concern about “the anxieties of other countries around the world about the continuing war, the effect on food prices, on energy prices”.
He continued: “And what’s really struck me in the last couple of days has been the amazing consistency of our resolve, the continuing unity of the G7 – that has really shone through in the conversations.
“I think there’s a reason for that. The logic of the position is still so clear – there is no deal that President Zelenskiy can really do. In those circumstances, the G7 supporters of Ukraine around the world have to continue to help the Ukrainians to rebuild their economy, to get their grain out. And of course, we have to help them to protect themselves. And that’s what we’re going to continue to do.”
Zelenskiy is to address the G7 virtually on Monday while Johnson, for whom the summit is something of a respite from political woes at home, will push the same message again at the Nato summit in Madrid, which begins on Wednesday.
Updated
Regional governor calls for civilians to evacuate Lysychansk
Serhai Haidai, Ukraine’s governor of Luhansk, has called on civilians to evacuate the eastern Ukrainian city, saying that the situation is “very difficult”.
He posted to Telegram:
Dear residents of Lysychansk city territorial community and their relatives. Due to the real threat to life and health, we call for an evacuation immediately. The situation in the city is very difficult. Save yourself and your loved ones. Take care of the children. Be sure that you will be taken care of in the evacuation cities on the territory of Ukraine.
Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskiy is set to address world leaders at the G7 meeting virtually today. He has just posted to Telegram pictures of damage from missile strikes in Kyiv, with the message:
No Russian missiles, no strikes can break the morale of Ukrainians. And each of their missiles is an argument in our negotiations with partners.
Updated
A 21-year-old woman and a 57-year-old woman died in the Kharkiv region as a result of Russian shelling, according to an update on Telegram from the regional governor, Oleh Synyehubov.
In addition, he said, overnight a Russian missile hit a school yard, and three other civilians “received explosive injuries”.
He posted:
Our armed forces continue to destroy the occupiers on the line of contact. In the Kharkiv direction, the invaders attacked in the direction of Dementiivka and Pitomnyk, suffered losses and retreated. In the area of Izium, the enemy does not stop trying to advance. Our defenders are resisting, destroying the occupiers’ manpower and armoured vehicles.
The claims have not been independently verified.
Updated
Maksym Kozytskyi, governor of Lviv, has posted to Telegram to say that there were two air raid warnings overnight in his region but “the threats did not materialise”, and that 190 people arrived in Lviv from eastern Ukraine on two evacuation trains yesterday.
In the UK, the environment secretary George Eustice has said the UK is supporting Ukrainian attempts to form a land bridge to facilitate the export of grain from Ukraine. Speaking on Sky News, Eustice told viewers there was about 25m tonnes of wheat stuck in Ukraine, and that:
We’ve got about 200m tonnes of wheat in store around the world. And so although it’s a small proportion of the overall total, in the current context it is quite significant. And unless we can get it out, there won’t be stores for this year’s harvest to go into.
So we’re looking at what we can do to help to repair railways, to look at land bridges, so that we can get that wheat out across a land border.
It is now very, very perilous to try to get ships into the Black Sea because the area is mined, and in fact, Ukraine themselves have closed their ports for security reasons. So there’s a whole host of reasons why it’s difficult to get shipping into the Black Sea, and to take that wheat out of Odesa.
Eustice also repeated accusations that have been made by Kyiv that Russia is stealing grain – accusations which Moscow has vehemently denied. He said it was important to stop stolen grain getting to the world’s markets, saying:
The other very sad thing that we’re seeing is that Russia is stealing some wheat from those stores. We’ve got to be able to test the provenance of wheat. The UK is a world leader in being able to test the provenance, that’s the precise region in which a crop was grown, through testing of DNA. That’s what we’ve made available. We’re putting that on the table, £1.5m to support that work.
Updated
Olaf Scholz has told broadcaster ZDF that discussions on an import ban on Russian gold are ongoing and need to be held with European Union partners, according to reports from Reuters.
The German chancellor also said he would decide nearer the time whether to attend this year’s G20 summit in Indonesia, which will include Russia.
Updated
Russia defaults on foreign debt – reports
Russia has defaulted on its foreign debt for the first time since 1998, according to reports, further alienating the country from the global financial system after sanctions imposed over its war in Ukraine.
The country missed a deadline of Sunday night to meet a 30-day grace period on interest payments of $100m on two Eurobonds originally due on 27 May, Bloomberg reported on Monday morning. Official confirmation of the default was expected to come from international ratings agencies. Read the full story here.
- This post originally said Russia had defaulted on its debt for the first time since 1917.
Updated
US ‘likely to announce this week purchase of missile defense system for Ukraine’
Reuters is reporting that the US is likely to announce this week the purchase of an advanced medium- to long-range surface-to-air missile defence system for Ukraine, according to a source familiar with the matter.
Washington is also expected to announce other security assistance for Ukraine, including additional artillery ammunition and counter-battery radars to address needs expressed by the Ukrainian military, the source added.
Updated
Russia turns sights on Lysychansk in battle for eastern Ukraine
Russian-backed separatists said they were pushing into Lysychansk, the last major city still held by Ukrainian troops in eastern Luhansk province, Reuters reported on Monday.
Lysychansk’s twin city of Sievierodonetsk fell on Saturday in a victory for Moscow’s campaign to seize the eastern provinces of Luhansk and Donetsk on behalf of pro-Russian separatists.
Tass news agency on Sunday quoted a separatist official as saying Moscow’s forces had entered Lysychansk from five directions and were isolating Ukrainian defenders. Reuters could not confirm the report.
The general staff of Ukraine’s armed forces said Russian forces were using artillery to try to cut off Lysychansk from the south but made no mention of separatists entering the city.
Elena, an elderly woman from Lysychansk, was among dozens of evacuees who arrived in the Ukrainian-held town of Pokrovsk by bus from frontline areas.
“Lysychansk, it was a horror, the last week. Yesterday we could not take it any more,” she said. “I already told my husband if I die, please bury me behind the house.”
Updated
Zelenskiy to press G7 for more help
Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelenskiy will urge world powers to step up their support for Ukraine when he addresses the G7 summit on Monday, as Kyiv reels from the first Russian strikes on the capital in weeks.
US president Joe Biden and his counterparts from the Group of Seven wealthy democracies, meeting in the Bavarian Alps, have stressed their unity in the face of Russia’s aggression - even as the global fallout worsens.
Zelenskiy is set to join the leaders of the United States, Germany, Britain, France, Italy, Japan and Canada via video link at 10:00 am (0800 GMT).
In his daily address late Sunday, Zelenskiy renewed his calls for more weapons and air defence systems to be delivered to Ukraine and for fresh sanctions against Russia by G7 nations.
“We need a powerful air defence - modern, fully effective. Which can ensure complete protection against these missiles. We talk about this every day with our partners. There are already some agreements. And partners need to move faster if they are really partners, not observers,” he said.
“Delays in the transfer of weapons to our state, any restrictions are actually an invitation for Russia to strike again and again.”
Summary
Hello and welcome to today’s ongoing coverage of Russia’s war on Ukraine. It’s coming up to 8am in Kyiv and here’s a summary of the latest developments:
- Russia stepped up air strikes on Ukraine over the weekend, including on the capital of Kyiv, while the strategic eastern city of Sievierodonetsk fell to pro-Russian forces. There had been no major strikes on Kyiv since early June.
- The Ukraine president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said a wounded seven-year-old girl was pulled from the rubble of a nine-storey apartment block in Kyiv. The girl’s father was killed in the strike, he said. “She was not threatened by anything in our country. She was completely safe, until Russia itself decided that everything was equally hostile to them now - women, children, kindergartens, houses, hospitals, railways,” Zelenskiy said in his nightly address.
- The US president, Joe Biden, said that “it’s more of their barbarism”, referring to the missile strikes on Kyiv, as leaders from the G7 countries gathered for a summit in Germany.
- The UK prime minister, Boris Johnson, will use Monday’s session at the G7 summit in Germany to call for urgent action to help get vital grain supplies out of Ukraine’s blockaded ports to support the country’s economy and alleviate shortages around the world, PA reports. Johnson will call for an international solution to the crisis, including finding overland routes for grain supplies to beat the Russian blockade, with £10m in materials and equipment to repair damaged rail infrastructure.
- Ukraine’s foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, said G7 countries should respond to the latest missile strikes by imposing further sanctions on Russia and providing more heavy weapons to Ukraine.
- Zelenskiy urged Belarusians to stand in solidarity with Ukraine. “Russian leadership wants to drag you into the Ukraine-Russian war because it doesn’t care about your lives. But you aren’t slaves and can decide your destiny yourself,” Zelenskiy said in a video address to Belarusians.
- The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, will visit two small former Soviet states in central Asia this week, Russian state television reported on Sunday, in what would be the Russian leader’s first known trip abroad since ordering the invasion of Ukraine. Putin will visit Tajikistan and Turkmenistan and then meet the Indonesian president, Joko Widodo, for talks in Moscow, the report on Rossiya 1 television station said.
- The UN Human Rights division in Ukraine said on Sunday that since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February, it has “received hundreds of allegations of torture and ill-treatment, including conflict-related sexual violence”. “People were kept tied and blindfolded for several days, beaten, subjected to mock executions, put in a closed metal box, forced to sing or shout glorifying slogans, provided with no or scarce food or water, and held in overcrowded rooms with no sanitation,” the UN human rights monitoring mission in Ukraine said.
- France has become the latest country to reconsider its energy options because of the war in Ukraine, announcing on Sunday it was looking into reopening a recently closed coal-fired power station. The energy transition ministry said it was considering reopening the station at Saint-Avold in eastern France this winter, “given the situation in Ukraine” and the effect it was having on energy markets.
- Ukrainian forces have attacked a drilling platform in the Black Sea owned by a Crimean oil and gas company, Russia’s Tass news agency cited local officials as saying on Sunday – the second strike in a week. The platform is operated by Chernomorneftegaz, which Russian-backed officials seized from Ukraine’s national gas operator Naftogaz as part of Moscow’s annexation of the peninsula in 2014.
- Canada deployed two warships to the Baltic Sea and north Atlantic on Sunday, joining a pair of frigates already in the region in attempts to reinforce Nato’s eastern flank in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The navy ships Kingston and Summerside would be on a four-month deployment as part of “deterrence measures in central and eastern Europe” launched in 2014 after Moscow annexed Crimea, the Canadian navy said in a statement.
