A summary of today's developments
The Russian news outlet Kommersant reported that two Russian fighter jets and two military helicopters had been shot down on Saturday close to the Ukrainian border. Kommersant said on its website that the Su-34 fighter-bomber, Su-35 fighter and two Mi-8 helicopters had made up a raiding party, and had been “shot down almost simultaneously” in an ambush in the Bryansk region, adjoining northeast Ukraine.
A 15-year-old girl was among two people killed and ten people were injured in a Russian shelling attack, Ukraine’s defence ministry said. The eastern city of Kostyantynivka was targeted by Smerch rocket launchers, it added.
Volodymyr Zelenskiy held talks in Italy with the prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, President Sergio Mattarella and Pope Francis. The trip is Zelenskiy’s first to Italy since Russia invaded on 24 February last year.
Ukrainian forces have regained at least a kilometre of territory in Bakhmut amid a Russian withdrawal that reflects Moscow’s “severe shortage of credible combat units”, the UK Ministry of Defence has said in its latest intelligence briefing. It said elements of a Russian brigade withdrew “in bad order” from their positions on the southern flank of the eastern Ukrainian city, the scene of the war’s longest battle. The brigade had been “dogged with allegations of poor morale and limited combat effectiveness”.
Zelenskiy will be received in Berlin on Sunday, German government sources told Reuters on Saturday, as the leader seeks to shore up support from key allies against Russia’s invasion. The Ukrainian leader last visited Germany for the Munich security council in February last year just before the war broke out.
The German government will provide further military equipment worth €2.7bn (£2.4bn) to Ukraine in what would be the biggest Berlin has provided since Russia’s invasion. The package includes 20 Marder infantry fighting vehicles, 30 Leopard 1 tanks, 15 Gepard anti-aircraft tanks, 200 reconnaissance drones, four additional Iris-T anti-aircraft systems including ammunition, additional artillery ammunition and more than 200 armoured combat and logistics vehicles, according to Der Spiegel.
Russian attacks injured three people in the southern Ukrainian city of Mykolaiv, the city’s mayor said. The strikes occurred early on Saturday, Oleksandr Sienkevych said on his Telegram channel. Russian forces targeted a local factory, also damaging nearby residential buildings, causing fires in three apartments and damaging an educational institution, he said.
Russian-installed officials in Luhansk have said missiles fired by Ukrainian forces injured six children and a Russian parliamentarian and damaged two disused factories in the eastern Ukrainian region’s main city, about 100km (60 miles) behind the frontlines.
A Russian SU-34 warplane crashed in the Bryansk region bordering Ukraine, Tass news agency reported, quoting emergency services, in the second such incident on Saturday after a helicopter was seemingly downed in the same region.
Two Russian pilots were killed when a Russian Mi-28 military helicopter crashed in the annexed peninsula of Crimea, Russian news agencies reported, citing the defence ministry. It said it believed the reason for Friday’s crash was equipment failure, Tass reported.
An unidentified object that entered Polish airspace from the direction of Belarus was probably an observation balloon, the defence ministry said on Saturday on Twitter. A spokesperson for Poland’s territorial defence force told Reuters a search for the object was under way. Russian and Belarusian authorities were not immediately available for comment.
Russia’s defence ministry said on Saturday two industrial sites in the occupied city of Luhansk have been struck with Storm Shadow long-range cruise missiles supplied by Britain.
Zelenskiy has thanked the British prime minister, Rishi Sunak, for the provision of long-range cruise missiles. The UK defence secretary, Ben Wallace, earlier confirmed it would send the Storm Shadow missiles, prompting a threat from the Kremlin of a military response.
Police in the Russian city of St Petersburg have created an anti-drone unit to detect unmanned drones after a suspected attack on the Kremlin last week. The unit was launched on Tuesday during the annual second world war Victory Day celebrations on St Petersburg’s Palace Square, the city’s interior ministry said.
South Africa’s foreign ministry has summoned the US ambassador over allegations he made that the country had provided arms and ammunition to Russia for its war in Ukraine. Reuben Brigety said on Thursday that South Africa had loaded weapons and ammunition on to a Russian vessel, which is under sanctions, at the Simon’s Town naval base near Cape Town in December last year and that the arms were then transported to Russia.
Russia’s defence ministry has said Ukrainian forces carried out “offensive operations” along the entire line of contact near Soledar, the ministry’s official Zvezda news outlet reported. More than 1,000 troops and up to 40 tanks were used in Thursday’s assault, it said on Friday, adding that the attacks were “repulsed”.
The UN nuclear watchdog chief, Rafael Grossi, plans to present an agreement with Russia and Ukraine on protecting the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant to the UN security council this month, indicating a deal is close, four diplomats have told Reuters. Grossi has been trying for months to secure an agreement to reduce the risk of a catastrophic accident from shelling at the Russian-occupied nuclear power station, Europe’s biggest.
Rishi Sunak expressed disappointment at a decision to block Zelenskiy’s request to speak via video at Saturday’s Eurovision grand final. The European Broadcasting Union, which produces the event, said the Ukrainian president had “laudable” intentions but rejected the request over fears it could politicise the event.
A 15-year-old girl was among two people killed and 10 people were injured in a Russian shelling attack, Ukraine’s defence ministry said.
The eastern city of Kostyantynivka was targeted by Smerch rocket launchers, it added.
russian terrorists once again shelled Kostyantynivka, Donetsk region, with "Smerch" rocket launchers. Apartment buildings, private houses, a gas station, a pharmacy, and shops were damaged or destroyed. At least 2 people died, including a 15 yo girl, and 10 were injured. pic.twitter.com/qnLnqQ9eYQ
— Defense of Ukraine (@DefenceU) May 13, 2023
Updated
Ukrainian troops are advancing in two directions in the eastern city of Bakhmut but the situation in the city centre is more complicated, deputy defence minister Hanna Malyar said.
“The enemy is not able to take control of the city,” Malyar wrote on the Telegram messaging app.
Russian fighter jets and military helicopters 'shot down close to the Ukrainian border'
The Russian news outlet Kommersant reported that two Russian fighter jets and two military helicopters had been shot down on Saturday close to the Ukrainian border.
Kommersant said on its website that the Su-34 fighter-bomber, Su-35 fighter and two Mi-8 helicopters had made up a raiding party, and had been “shot down almost simultaneously” in an ambush in the Bryansk region, adjoining northeast Ukraine.
“According to preliminary data ... the fighters were supposed to deliver a missile and bomb attack on targets in the Chernihiv region of Ukraine, and the helicopters were there to back them up – among other things to pick up the ‘Su’ crews if they were shot down.”
The Russian state news agency Tass said a Russian Su-34 warplane had crashed in that region but did not specify a cause.
Tass also cited an emergency services official as saying an engine fire in a helicopter had caused it to crash near Klintsy, which is about 40 km (25 miles) from the border.
It made no mention of the Su-35 or of a second helicopter.
Updated
President Zelensky has tweeted details of his meeting today with the Pope at the Vatican.
I met with Pope Francis @Pontifex.
— Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) May 13, 2023
I'm grateful for his personal attention to the tragedy of millions of Ukrainians. I spoke about tens of thousands of deported 🇺🇦 children. We must make every effort to return them home.
In addition, I asked to condemn 🇷🇺 crimes in Ukraine.…
Japan has expressed concern about Russian and Chinese military co-operation in Asia and believes the two countries are “strengthening” their joint exercises.
Foreign minister Yoshimasa Hayashi said the security situation in Europe and the Indo-Pacific region was indivisible since the war in Ukraine started, Sky News reports.
Russia’s invasion has “shaken the very foundation of the international order” and Vladimir Putin must face a united response from the worldwide community, he told international ministers in Sweden.
“In addition, China and Russia are strengthening their military collaboration, including joint flights of their bombers and joint naval exercises in the vicinity of Japan,” Hayahshi said.
A ballad about ethnic cleansing was an unusual choice for Eurovision, a competition best known for glam, kitschy pop. But seven years ago Crimean Tatar singer Jamala swept Ukraine to its second victory in the song contest with 1944.
It told the story of the deportation of her entire people – hundreds of thousands of women, children and men – from their ancestral home to central Asia on Stalin’s orders.
The Tatars’ exile lasted decades, and when they were finally allowed to return, their centuries-long history had been all but erased. Russians had moved into their homes, and the peninsula’s geography had been rewritten, with towns and villages all given new Russian names.
Music is particularly important to Crimean Tatars because the brutality of the deportations means an entire people have been left with very few physical heirlooms.
Families were given just 15 minutes to pack for their long journey crammed into cattle wagons, could take only what they could carry and ended up selling almost everything of value to survive in exile.
Updated
The head of Russia’s federal crime agency suggested that key sectors of the economy should be returned to state ownership to support Moscow’s war in Ukraine.
Moscow has already seized assets or acquired them at a heavy discount from some western firms that have quit Russia or scaled back their activities since the invasion, Reuters reports.
“We are essentially talking about economic security in a war,” Alexander Bastrykin, head of the investigative committee, told a conference that was streamed online.
“Let’s go along the path of nationalising the main sectors of our economy.”
Updated
Ukraine has regained at least a kilometre of territory in the eastern city of Bakhmut amid an alleged Russian withdrawal from the area, as the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy flew to Rome to meet Pope Francis for the first time since Russia’s invasion, writes Lorenzo Tondo and Luke Harding.
The UK’s Ministry of Defence said that over the past four days, Russian troops from the 72nd separate motor rifle brigade (72 SMRB) had possibly withdrawn “in bad order” from their positions on the southern flank of the Bakhmut operation. The move, according to British intelligence, reflected Moscow’s lack of effective combat units.
In its latest intelligence briefing posted on Twitter, the MoD wrote: “72 SMRB is an element of Russia’s 3rd Army Corps, a formation created in autumn 2023 [sic] and dogged with allegations of poor morale and limited combat effectiveness”.
Updated
Summary
It’s approaching 6pm in Ukraine, here’s a look at the latest news.
Volodymyr Zelenskiy arrived in Italy on Saturday for talks with the prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, President Sergio Mattarella and Pope Francis. The trip is Zelenskiy’s first to Italy since Russia invaded on 24 February last year.
Meloni, has promised Italy’s full support to Ukraine in its efforts to repel Russia’s “brutal and unjust aggression.”
Speaking alongside Zelenskiy on Saturday, Meloni said Italy would continue to supply Ukraine with weapons and back his country for as long as is necessary.
“We are betting on Ukraine’s victory,” Meloni said.
In other developments:
Ukrainian forces have regained at least a kilometre of territory in Bakhmut amid a Russian withdrawal that reflects Moscow’s “severe shortage of credible combat units”, the UK Ministry of Defence has said in its latest intelligence briefing. It said elements of a Russian brigade withdrew “in bad order” from their positions on the southern flank of the eastern Ukrainian city, the scene of the war’s longest battle. The brigade had been “dogged with allegations of poor morale and limited combat effectiveness”.
Zelenskiy will be received in Berlin on Sunday, German government sources told Reuters on Saturday, as the leader seeks to shore up support from key allies against Russia’s invasion. The Ukrainian leader last visited Germany for the Munich security council in February last year just before the war broke out.
The German government will provide further military equipment worth €2.7bn (£2.4bn) to Ukraine in what would be the biggest Berlin has provided since Russia’s invasion. The package includes 20 Marder infantry fighting vehicles, 30 Leopard 1 tanks, 15 Gepard anti-aircraft tanks, 200 reconnaissance drones, four additional Iris-T anti-aircraft systems including ammunition, additional artillery ammunition and more than 200 armoured combat and logistics vehicles, according to Der Spiegel.
Russian attacks injured three people in the southern Ukrainian city of Mykolaiv, the city’s mayor said. The strikes occurred early on Saturday, Oleksandr Sienkevych said on his Telegram channel. Russian forces targeted a local factory, also damaging nearby residential buildings, causing fires in three apartments and damaging an educational institution, he said.
Russian-installed officials in Luhansk have said missiles fired by Ukrainian forces injured six children and a Russian parliamentarian and damaged two disused factories in the eastern Ukrainian region’s main city, about 100km (60 miles) behind the frontlines.
A Russian SU-34 warplane crashed in the Bryansk region bordering Ukraine, Tass news agency reported, quoting emergency services, in the second such incident on Saturday after a helicopter was seemingly downed in the same region.
Two Russian pilots were killed when a Russian Mi-28 military helicopter crashed in the annexed peninsula of Crimea, Russian news agencies reported, citing the defence ministry. It said it believed the reason for Friday’s crash was equipment failure, Tass reported.
An unidentified object that entered Polish airspace from the direction of Belarus was probably an observation balloon, the defence ministry said on Saturday on Twitter. A spokesperson for Poland’s territorial defence force told Reuters a search for the object was under way. Russian and Belarusian authorities were not immediately available for comment.
Russia’s defence ministry said on Saturday two industrial sites in the occupied city of Luhansk have been struck with Storm Shadow long-range cruise missiles supplied by Britain.
Zelenskiy has thanked the British prime minister, Rishi Sunak, for the provision of long-range cruise missiles. The UK defence secretary, Ben Wallace, earlier confirmed it would send the Storm Shadow missiles, prompting a threat from the Kremlin of a military response.
Police in the Russian city of St Petersburg have created an anti-drone unit to detect unmanned drones after a suspected attack on the Kremlin last week. The unit was launched on Tuesday during the annual second world war Victory Day celebrations on St Petersburg’s Palace Square, the city’s interior ministry said.
South Africa’s foreign ministry has summoned the US ambassador over allegations he made that the country had provided arms and ammunition to Russia for its war in Ukraine. Reuben Brigety said on Thursday that South Africa had loaded weapons and ammunition on to a Russian vessel, which is under sanctions, at the Simon’s Town naval base near Cape Town in December last year and that the arms were then transported to Russia.
Russia’s defence ministry has said Ukrainian forces carried out “offensive operations” along the entire line of contact near Soledar, the ministry’s official Zvezda news outlet reported. More than 1,000 troops and up to 40 tanks were used in Thursday’s assault, it said on Friday, adding that the attacks were “repulsed”.
The UN nuclear watchdog chief, Rafael Grossi, plans to present an agreement with Russia and Ukraine on protecting the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant to the UN security council this month, indicating a deal is close, four diplomats have told Reuters. Grossi has been trying for months to secure an agreement to reduce the risk of a catastrophic accident from shelling at the Russian-occupied nuclear power station, Europe’s biggest.
Rishi Sunak expressed disappointment at a decision to block Zelenskiy’s request to speak via video at Saturday’s Eurovision grand final. The European Broadcasting Union, which produces the event, said the Ukrainian president had “laudable” intentions but rejected the request over fears it could politicise the event.
Updated
Zelenskiy meets with Pope Francis at the Vatican
Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has met Pope Francis at the Vatican, who said in late April the Holy See is involved in a peace mission to end the war with Russia.
Earlier the president met his Italian counterpart, Sergio Mattarella, and then prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, before he was due to head to the Vatican.
Both Mattarella and Meloni reiterated Italy’s full support for Ukraine in terms of military, financial, humanitarian and reconstruction aid in the short and long term.
At a news conference after her meeting with Zelenskiy, Meloni condemned Russia’s “brutal and unjust aggression,” pledged Italy’s support for Ukraine for “as long as is necessary,” and urged Russia to immediately withdraw.
“You can’t achieve peace through a surrender,” she said, echoing a previous comment by Mattarella. “It would be a very grave precedent for all nations of the world.”
She emphasised Italy’s support for Ukraine’s membership of the European Union and the “intensification” of a partnership with Nato.
Updated
Volodymyr Zelenskiy has arrived at the Vatican for a private audience with Pope Francis.
Updated
Two Russian jets and two helicopters reportedly downed
Guardian foreign correspondent Luke Harding reporting from Kyiv.
There are unconfirmed reports that another plane and helicopter has crashed, in what appears to be a disastrous day for Russian aviation. Moscow Telegram channels reported that an SU-35 warplane had been shot down too, together with a second Mi8 helicopter.
Another military helicopter crashed on Friday in Crimea. It was unclear whether the two aircraft and two helicopters were downed on Saturday because of friendly fire, or if the Ukrainians targeted them with missiles.
Updated
Zelenskiy to visit Germany
Volodymyr Zelenskiy will be received in Berlin on Sunday, German government sources told Reuters on Saturday, as the leader seeks to shore up support from key allies against Russia’s invasion.
Zelenskiy will arrive from Italy where he was meeting with Italian officials and Pope Francis on Saturday.
The Ukrainian leader last visited Germany for the Munich security council in February last year just before the war broke out.
Germany on Saturday announced €2.7 bn of military aid to Ukraine, its biggest such package yet since the Russian invasion, and pledged further support for Kyiv for as long as necessary.
The country has also taken in around a million Ukrainian refugees.
Christian Mölling, deputy director at the German council on foreign relations said Zelenskiy will probably want to know directly from Chancellor Olaf Scholz how he sees the war ending.
Mölling said:
Does Germany want a Ukrainian victory or is it enough for the war to end? It will be important for Zelenskiy to hear directly from the chancellor how he thinks … Ukraine needs financial assistance to pay its debt so it doesn’t go bankrupt and Germany plays a big role there.
He added: “And Ukraine is seeing that in Germany other topics are beginning to move into the foreground.”
Updated
Italy promises Ukraine full support
Prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, has promised Italy’s full support to Ukraine in its efforts to repel Russia’s “brutal and unjust aggression.”
Speaking alongside Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Saturday, Meloni said Italy would continue to supply Ukraine with weapons and back his country for as long as is necessary.
“We are betting on Ukraine’s victory,” Meloni said.
Earlier in the day Zelenskiy met Italy’s head of state, Sergio Mattarella, in the president’s Quirinale palace and he will shortly head to the Vatican for talks with Pope Francis.
Updated
Here are the latest images from Ukraine and elsewhere:
Updated
Summary
It’s 4pm in Ukraine, here’s a look at the latest news.
Volodymyr Zelenskiy arrived in Italy on Saturday for talks with the prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, President Sergio Mattarella and Pope Francis. The trip is Zelenskiy’s first to Italy since Russia invaded on 24 February last year.
Italy is fully supporting Ukraine in its resistance against Russia’s invasion, the Italian head of state said in welcoming Zelenskiy to his residence in Rome on Saturday.
“It is an honour to have you here in Rome,” Mattarella told Zelenskiy, in remarks aired on Italian television.
In other developments:
Ukrainian forces have regained at least a kilometre of territory in Bakhmut amid a Russian withdrawal that reflects Moscow’s “severe shortage of credible combat units”, the UK Ministry of Defence has said in its latest intelligence briefing. It said elements of a Russian brigade withdrew “in bad order” from their positions on the southern flank of the eastern Ukrainian city, the scene of the war’s longest battle. The brigade had been “dogged with allegations of poor morale and limited combat effectiveness”.
The German government will provide further military equipment worth €2.7bn (£2.4bn) to Ukraine in what would be the biggest Berlin has provided since Russia’s invasion. The package includes 20 Marder infantry fighting vehicles, 30 Leopard 1 tanks, 15 Gepard anti-aircraft tanks, 200 reconnaissance drones, four additional Iris-T anti-aircraft systems including ammunition, additional artillery ammunition and more than 200 armoured combat and logistics vehicles, according to Der Spiegel.
Russian attacks injured three people in the southern Ukrainian city of Mykolaiv, the city’s mayor said. The strikes occurred early on Saturday, Oleksandr Sienkevych said on his Telegram channel. Russian forces targeted a local factory, also damaging nearby residential buildings, causing fires in three apartments and damaging an educational institution, he said.
Russian-installed officials in Luhansk have said missiles fired by Ukrainian forces injured six children and a Russian parliamentarian and damaged two disused factories in the eastern Ukrainian region’s main city, about 100km (60 miles) behind the frontlines.
A Russian SU-34 warplane crashed in the Bryansk region bordering Ukraine, Tass news agency reported, quoting emergency services, in the second such incident on Saturday after a helicopter was seemingly downed in the same region.
Two Russian pilots were killed when a Russian Mi-28 military helicopter crashed in the annexed peninsula of Crimea, Russian news agencies reported, citing the defence ministry. It said it believed the reason for Friday’s crash was equipment failure, Tass reported.
An unidentified object that entered Polish airspace from the direction of Belarus was probably an observation balloon, the defence ministry said on Saturday on Twitter. A spokesperson for Poland’s territorial defence force told Reuters a search for the object was under way. Russian and Belarusian authorities were not immediately available for comment.
Russia’s defence ministry said on Saturday two industrial sites in the occupied city of Luhansk have been struck with Storm Shadow long-range cruise missiles supplied by Britain.
The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has thanked the British prime minister, Rishi Sunak, for the provision of long-range cruise missiles. The UK defence secretary, Ben Wallace, earlier confirmed it would send the Storm Shadow missiles, prompting a threat from the Kremlin of a military response.
Police in the Russian city of St Petersburg have created an anti-drone unit to detect unmanned drones after a suspected attack on the Kremlin last week. The unit was launched on Tuesday during the annual second world war Victory Day celebrations on St Petersburg’s Palace Square, the city’s interior ministry said.
South Africa’s foreign ministry has summoned the US ambassador over allegations he made that the country had provided arms and ammunition to Russia for its war in Ukraine. Reuben Brigety said on Thursday that South Africa had loaded weapons and ammunition on to a Russian vessel, which is under sanctions, at the Simon’s Town naval base near Cape Town in December last year and that the arms were then transported to Russia.
Russia’s defence ministry has said Ukrainian forces carried out “offensive operations” along the entire line of contact near Soledar, the ministry’s official Zvezda news outlet reported. More than 1,000 troops and up to 40 tanks were used in Thursday’s assault, it said on Friday, adding that the attacks were “repulsed”.
The UN nuclear watchdog chief, Rafael Grossi, plans to present an agreement with Russia and Ukraine on protecting the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant to the UN security council this month, indicating a deal is close, four diplomats have told Reuters. Grossi has been trying for months to secure an agreement to reduce the risk of a catastrophic accident from shelling at the Russian-occupied nuclear power station, Europe’s biggest.
Rishi Sunak, the British prime minister, has expressed disappointment at a decision to block Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s request to speak via video at Saturday’s Eurovision grand final. The European Broadcasting Union, which produces the event, said the Ukrainian president had “laudable” intentions but rejected the request over fears it could politicise the event.
Updated
UK-supplied missiles used to attack occupied Luhansk, Russia claims
Russia’s defence ministry says two industrial sites in the occupied city of Luhansk have been struck with Storm Shadow long-range cruise missiles supplied by Britain.
On Thursday, the UK became the first country to say it had started supplying Kyiv with long-range cruise missiles, which will allow it to hit Russian troops and supply dumps far behind the frontlines as Ukraine prepares a major counteroffensive.
On Saturday, Russia said:
Storm Shadow air-to-air missiles supplied to the Kyiv regime by Britain were used for the strike.
The British defence secretary, Ben Wallace, said the missiles could be used within Ukrainian territory, implying that he had received assurances from Kyiv that they would not be used to attack targets inside Russia’s internationally accepted borders.
The Russian ministry said the missiles had hit a plant producing polymers and a meat-processing factory.
Updated
Ukraine regains at least 1km in Bakhmut
Ukraine has regained at least a kilometre of territory in the eastern city of Bakhmut amid an alleged Russian withdrawal from the area.
Over the past four days, Russian troops from the 72nd separate motor rifle brigade (72 SMRB) possibly withdrew “in bad order” from their positions on the southern flank of the Bakhmut operation, said the UK’s Ministry of Defence. The move, according to the British intelligence, reflected Moscow’s “severe shortage of credible combat units”.
“72 SMRB is an element of Russia’s 3rd Army Corps, a formation created in autumn 2023 [sic] and dogged with allegations of poor morale and limited combat effectiveness,” the UK MoD said in its latest intelligence briefing posted on Twitter. “Its deployment to such a demanding and operationally important sector highlights Russia’s severe shortage of credible combat units.”
The statement came a day after Russia’s first admission that Ukraine was successfully recapturing ground around Bakhmut. Moscow’s defence ministry said on Friday that some of its troops had fallen back “to more advantageous defensive positions” near a reservoir north-west of the city, which the Kremlin has been trying to take for more than 10 months.
There has been intense speculation that Ukraine is about to launch its much-anticipated counteroffensive, with several Russian military bloggers claiming on Thursday that the counterattack had already started and that Kyiv had already broken through parts of the frontline. Military analysts have suggested Ukraine’s localised offensive in Bakhmut appears to indicate it is trying to pin down Russian forces in the city. But Ukrainian officials on Friday played down these reports.
Updated
More photos are emerging from Zelenskiy’s Rome visit where he met Italian president, Sergio Mattarella, at the Quirinale presidential palace, and prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, at Palazzo Chigi.
The visit is his first to Italy since Russia invaded in February last year. Meloni visited Zelenskiy in Kyiv in February to assure him of Italy’s continued support for Ukraine, despite some of her allies, most notably former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, having longstanding, close ties with Moscow.
Later, the Ukrainian president will meet Pope Francis. The meeting is expected to be the most significant part of Zelenskiy’s time in Italy. He previously met the pope at the Vatican in 2020 and the two have had several phone conversations since the war began.
Zelenskiy is also expected to be the guest on a popular Italian television talkshow before heading to Germany.
Updated
A Russian SU-34 warplane crashed in the Bryansk region bordering Ukraine, Tass news agency reported, quoting emergency services, in the second such incident on Saturday after a helicopter was seemingly downed in the same region.
Updated
A painting by Banksy has been dismounted from a heavily damaged building in Irpin, west of Kyiv according to Sky News.
Banksy, whose work can sell for millions, had painted six others last year in places affected by heavy fighting after Russia invaded Ukraine in late February.
Updated
Italy is fully supporting Ukraine in its resistance against Russia’s invasion, the Italian head of state said in welcoming Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy to his residence in Rome on Saturday.
“It is an honour to have you here in Rome,” president Sergio Mattarella told Zelenskiy, in remarks aired on Italian television.
“I asked to meet you again after our conversation of years ago, although in this different condition, we are fully at your side,” Mattarella said.
Zelenskiy arrives in Italy
Zelenskiy has arrived in Italy on Saturday for talks with prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, President Sergio Mattarella and Pope Francis.
The trip is Zelenskiy’s first to Italy since Russia invaded on 24 February last year. He held talks with president, Sergio Mattarella, at the Quirinale Palace and is due to have a working lunch with prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, before heading to the Vatican.
As he headed to the presidential palace, Zeleniskiy’s motorcade passed by small groups holding Ukrainian flags, with one person holding up a sign condemning Russia.
Meloni visited Zelenskiy in Kyiv in February to assure him of Italy’s continued support for Ukraine, despite some of her allies, most notably former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, having longstanding, close ties with Moscow.
The meeting with the pope is expected to be the most significant part of Zelenskiy’s time in Italy. He previously met the pope at the Vatican in 2020 and the two have had several phone conversations since the war began.
Updated
A helicopter crashed in Russia’s Bryansk region bordering Ukraine, Tass news agency has said, citing emergency services on Saturday.
Tass quoted an official as saying preliminary information indicated the helicopter’s engine had caught fire before the crash.
Updated
As a Ukrainian musician and a combat paramedic, the UK’s Eurovision efforts have lifted my heart
Life before war broke out in my home country of Ukraine feels like a distant memory. Before, I was frontman of the band Antytila. I lived with my wife and three children in Kyiv. With my bandmates, we had plans to make new music and tour, playing stadiums across the country. But after February 2022, our only thoughts were to serve; to resist. Life changed radically overnight for all of us.
My bandmates Serhii Vusyk, Dmytro Zholud and I swapped our instruments for rifles and joined the frontline. We became paramedics with the 130th battalion of the Ukrainian territorial defence forces, giving first aid to our injured brothers and saving lives.
It was too dangerous for our families to stay in Kyiv, so our wives and children moved first to western Ukraine before settling abroad. My wife and three children landed in New Jersey, US, where they have remained with my mother and stepfather. My wife, musician Alyosha, wrote last year of how she kept her bags packed by the door, desperate to return home at the first sign of safety. Our separation was made all the more dramatic by the very real threat I was facing each day: would I leave the frontline alive?
Updated
An unidentified object that entered Polish airspace from the direction of Belarus was probably an observation balloon, the defence ministry said on Saturday on Twitter.
Nato-member Poland is on alert for infractions of its airspace as war rages in neighbouring Ukraine after incidents in November and December in which missiles landed on its territory.
“The Air Operations Center noted the appearance in Polish airspace of an object that flew in from the direction of Belarus,” the defence ministry said on Twitter.
“It is probably an observation balloon,” it added. “Radar contact was lost near Rypin”, a town in north-central Poland.
A spokesperson for Poland’s territorial defence force told Reuters a search for the object was under way. Russian and Belarusian authorities were not immediately available for comment.
Updated
Summary
Hello and welcome to our coverage of Russia’s war on Ukraine, now in its 444th day. It’s approaching noon in Ukraine, here’s a look at the latest.
Ukrainian forces have regained at least a kilometre of territory in Bakhmut amid a Russian withdrawal that reflects Moscow’s “severe shortage of credible combat units”, the UK Ministry of Defence has said in its latest intelligence briefing.
It said elements of a Russian brigade withdrew “in bad order” from their positions on the southern flank of the eastern Ukrainian city, the scene of the war’s longest battle. The brigade had been “dogged with allegations of poor morale and limited combat effectiveness”.
In other developments:
Zelenskiy arrived in Italy on Saturday for talks with prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, President Sergio Mattarella and Pope Francis. The trip is Zelenskiy’s first to Italy since Russia invaded on 24 February last year.
The German government will provide further military equipment worth €2.7bn (£2.4bn) to Ukraine in what would be the biggest Berlin has provided since Russia’s invasion. The package includes 20 Marder infantry fighting vehicles, 30 Leopard 1 tanks, 15 Gepard anti-aircraft tanks, 200 reconnaissance drones, four additional Iris-T anti-aircraft systems including ammunition, additional artillery ammunition and more than 200 armoured combat and logistics vehicles, according to Der Spiegel.
Russian attacks injured three people in the southern Ukrainian city of Mykolaiv, the city’s mayor said. The strikes occurred early on Saturday, Oleksandr Sienkevych said on his Telegram channel. Russian forces targeted a local factory, also damaging nearby residential buildings, causing fires in three apartments and damaging an educational institution, he said.
Russian-installed officials in Luhansk have said missiles fired by Ukrainian forces injured six children and a Russian parliamentarian and damaged two disused factories in the eastern Ukrainian region’s main city, about 100km (60 miles) behind the frontlines.
Two Russian pilots were killed when a Russian Mi-28 military helicopter crashed in the annexed peninsula of Crimea, Russian news agencies reported, citing the defence ministry. It said it believed the reason for Friday’s crash was equipment failure, Tass reported.
The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has thanked the British prime minister, Rishi Sunak, for the provision of long-range cruise missiles. The UK defence secretary, Ben Wallace, earlier confirmed it would send the Storm Shadow missiles, prompting a threat from the Kremlin of a military response.
Police in the Russian city of St Petersburg have created an anti-drone unit to detect unmanned drones after a suspected attack on the Kremlin last week. The unit was launched on Tuesday during the annual second world war Victory Day celebrations on St Petersburg’s Palace Square, the city’s interior ministry said.
South Africa’s foreign ministry has summoned the US ambassador over allegations he made that the country had provided arms and ammunition to Russia for its war in Ukraine. Reuben Brigety said on Thursday that South Africa had loaded weapons and ammunition on to a Russian vessel, which is under sanctions, at the Simon’s Town naval base near Cape Town in December last year and that the arms were then transported to Russia.
Russia’s defence ministry has said Ukrainian forces carried out “offensive operations” along the entire line of contact near Soledar, the ministry’s official Zvezda news outlet reported. More than 1,000 troops and up to 40 tanks were used in Thursday’s assault, it said on Friday, adding that the attacks were “repulsed”.
The UN nuclear watchdog chief, Rafael Grossi, plans to present an agreement with Russia and Ukraine on protecting the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant to the UN security council this month, indicating a deal is close, four diplomats have told Reuters. Grossi has been trying for months to secure an agreement to reduce the risk of a catastrophic accident from shelling at the Russian-occupied nuclear power station, Europe’s biggest.
Rishi Sunak, the British prime minister, has expressed disappointment at a decision to block Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s request to speak via video at Saturday’s Eurovision grand final. The European Broadcasting Union, which produces the event, said the Ukrainian president had “laudable” intentions but rejected the request over fears it could politicise the event.
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Zelenskiy arrives in Rome
Volodymyr Zelenskiy has arrived at Rome’s Ciampino airport on Saturday, a political source told Reuters.
Confirming the visit on Twitter, the Ukrainian president said it was important for “approaching victory of Ukraine”.
Today in Rome. I'm meeting with President of Italy Sergio Mattarella, Prime Minister of Italy @GiorgiaMeloni and the Pope @Pontifex. An important visit for approaching victory of Ukraine! 🇮🇹🤝🇺🇦🤝🇻🇦
— Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) May 13, 2023
During his stay in Rome, he will meet the prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, the president, Sergio Mattarella, and Pope Francis. The pontiff said in late April that the Holy See was involved in a peace mission to end the war in Ukraine.
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Ukraine aims for repeat victory in most political Eurovision in years
There will be rockets, soldiers and moustachioed men in their underpants lampooning Vladimir Putin as a “crocodile psychopath” – and that’s just the Croatian act.
One of the most stridently political Eurovision grand finals in years takes place in Liverpool on Saturday night against a backdrop of a war in Ukraine that shows little sign of ending.
The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s request to make a live address during the four-hour broadcast was denied as organisers were concerned it risked politicising the contest. There will be little subtlety, however, in the 67th edition of this ritually outre event.
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The German government is to provide further military equipment worth €2.7bn (£2.4bn) to Ukraine in what would be the biggest Berlin has provided since Russia’s invasion.
The package includes 20 Marder infantry fighting vehicles, 30 Leopard 1 tanks, 15 Gepard anti-aircraft tanks, 200 reconnaissance drones, four additional Iris-T anti-aircraft systems including ammunition, additional artillery ammunition and more than 200 armoured combat and logistics vehicles, according to Der Spiegel.
“We all wish for a speedy end to this terrible and illegal war…. Unfortunately, this is not yet foreseeable. Therefore, Germany will provide any help it can – as long as it takes,” German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said on Saturday.
“Thank you to our allies,” Andriy Yermak, chief of staff to Volodymyr Zelenskiy, wrote in a post on Telegram confirming the package.
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Zelenskiy is expected in Italy on Saturday for talks with government officials and Pope Francis, who in late April said that the Holy See is involved in a peace mission to end the war with Russia.
The trip, Zelenskiy’s first to Italy since Russia invaded on 24 February last year, has not been officially confirmed for security reasons, Reuters reports.
But sources expect him to meet separately with President Sergio Mattarella and the prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, before heading to the Vatican. He is also expected to be the guest of a popular Italian television talk show before heading to Germany.
Meloni visited Zelenskiy in Kyiv in February to assure him of Italy’s continued support for Ukraine, despite some of her allies, most notably the former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, having longstanding, close ties with Moscow.
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Here are the latest images coming across the wires from Ukraine:
South Africans were left angry and baffled after the US accused their country of secretly shipping arms to Russia, a charge that triggered both a government rebuke and the announcement of an inquiry, Agence France-Presse reports.
The US ambassador, Reuben Brigety, said on Thursday that Washington was confident weapons and ammunition had been loaded on a Russian freighter that docked at a Cape Town naval base.
The explosive remarks drew an angry response from President Cyril Ramaphosa, who did not deny the charge but said a retired judge would lead an investigation into it.
They were also seized on by the Kremlin, which on Friday said the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, had agreed to deepen ties with Ramaphosa.
South Africa has been walking a diplomatic tightrope over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which it has refused to condemn, saying it prefers dialogue to end the war.
The country has strong economic and trade relations with the United States and Europe. Trade with Russia is much smaller, but Pretoria has ties with Moscow dating back decades, to when the Kremlin supported the now ruling African National Congress party in its struggle against apartheid.
The announcement of an inquiry was welcomed by the US but met with ridicule and bewilderment at home. The political and economic analyst Daniel Silke said:
It perhaps points to a South African president who simply is unaware of what is happening effectively under his nose.
The Lady R, a cargo vessel under western sanctions flying a Russian flag, docked at South Africa’s largest naval base in December, officially to offload an old order of ammunition. But Brigety said intelligence showed weaponry was loaded on to the vessel before it headed back to Russia.
Bongani Bingwa, the host of a popular morning radio show, wrote on Twitter:
Did we or didn’t we? And if we did, shouldn’t the president know?
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Russian claims of Ukrainian missile strikes on the Luhansk region’s main city have prompted speculation among analysts that Kyiv could have used a new missile with a longer range because the city lies far from Ukrainian positions.
Reuters reports that Moscow-installed officials said on Friday that the missiles had injured six children and a Russian parliamentarian and damaged two disused factories about 100km (60 miles) behind the frontlines.
Leonid Pasechnik, the Russian-installed head of the region, which Russia annexed last year, said the attack was carried out to disrupt local Republic Day celebrations.
The claimed strikes were unable to be verified and there was no immediate official reaction from Kyiv to them.
Ukraine’s Suspilne Donbas television station reported explosions in the city, quoting residents.
Luhansk is about 30km (18 miles) from the border with Russia and 100km from the frontlines of fighting, putting it beyond the reach of most of the shorter-range missiles, such as the US-supplied Himars that Ukraine has largely been using in the conflict.
The UK said this week it had delivered to Ukraine longer-range cruise missiles that could hit targets at 300km – the furthest rockets supplied to Kyiv by its western allies.
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Three injured in Russian strikes on Mykolaiv
Russian attacks injured three people in the southern Ukrainian city of Mykolaiv, the city’s mayor has said.
The strikes occurred early on Saturday, Oleksandr Sienkevych said on his Telegram channel. Russian forces targeted a local factory, also damaging nearby residential buildings, causing fires in three apartments and damaging an educational institution, he said.
In Kyiv, the capital, air raid sirens sounded overnight, the Kyiv Independent reported.
Strikes were also reported in Lviv, western Ukraine, with the regional military administration saying kamikaze drones were involved.
Sienkevych said rescuers were working at the scene in Mykolaiv. One of the injured was taken away by ambulance while two received medical assistance on site.
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Russian retreat in Bakhmut highlights 'shortage of credible combat units', says UK MoD
Ukrainian forces have regained at least a kilometre of territory in Bakhmut amid a Russian withdrawal that reflects its “severe shortage of credible combat units”, the latest UK intelligence briefing has said.
The Ministry of Defence said that over the past four days, elements of Russia’s 72nd separate motor rifle brigade (72 SMRB) likely withdrew “in bad order” from their positions on the southern flank of the Bakhmut operation.
The area was tactically significant because it was a Russian bridgehead on the western side of the Donets-Donbas canal, which marked the frontline through parts of the area, the ministry said in its update, posted on Twitter.
72 SMRB is an element of Russia’s 3rd Army Corps, a formation created in autumn 2023 [sic] and dogged with allegations of poor morale and limited combat effectiveness.
Its deployment to such a demanding and operationally important sector highlights Russia’s severe shortage of credible combat units.
Latest Defence Intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine - 13 May 2023.
— Ministry of Defence 🇬🇧 (@DefenceHQ) May 13, 2023
Find out more about Defence Intelligence's use of language: https://t.co/465CRs1H8l
🇺🇦 #StandWithUkraine 🇺🇦 pic.twitter.com/eWEyVpJr1p
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Opening summary
Hello and welcome back to our coverage of Russia’s war on Ukraine, now in its 444th day. I’m Adam Fulton and here’s a look at the latest.
Ukrainian forces have regained at least a kilometre of territory in Bakhmut amid a Russian withdrawal that reflects Moscow’s “severe shortage of credible combat units”, the UK Ministry of Defence has said in its latest intelligence briefing.
It said elements of a Russian brigade withdrew “in bad order” from their positions on the southern flank of the eastern Ukrainian city, scene of the war’s longest battle. The brigade had been “dogged with allegations of poor morale and limited combat effectiveness”.
More on that story soon. In other developments:
Russian-installed officials in Luhansk have said missiles fired by Ukrainian forces injured six children and a Russian parliamentarian and damaged two disused factories in the eastern Ukrainian region’s main city, about 100km (60 miles) behind the frontlines.
Two Russian pilots were killed when a Russian Mi-28 military helicopter crashed in the annexed peninsula of Crimea, Russian news agencies reported, citing the defence ministry. It said it believed the reason for Friday’s crash was equipment failure, Tass reported.
The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has thanked the British prime minister, Rishi Sunak, for the provision of long-range cruise missiles. The UK defence secretary, Ben Wallace, earlier confirmed it would send the Storm Shadow missiles, prompting a threat from the Kremlin of a military response.
Police in the Russian city of St Petersburg have created an anti-drone unit to detect unmanned drones after a suspected attack on the Kremlin last week. The unit launched on Tuesday during the annual second world war Victory Day celebrations on St Petersburg’s Palace Square, the city’s interior ministry said.
South Africa’s foreign ministry has summoned the US ambassador over allegations he made that the country had provided arms and ammunition to Russia for its war in Ukraine. Reuben Brigety said on Thursday that South Africa had loaded weapons and ammunition on to a Russian vessel, which is under sanctions, at the Simon’s Town naval base near Cape Town in December last year and that the arms were then transported to Russia.
Russia’s defence ministry has said Ukrainian forces carried out “offensive operations” along the entire line of contact near Soledar, the ministry’s official Zvezda news outlet reported. More than a thousand troops and up to 40 tanks were used in Thursday’s assault, it said on Friday, adding that the attacks were “repulsed”.
The UN nuclear watchdog chief, Rafael Grossi, plans to present an agreement with Russia and Ukraine on protecting the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant to the UN security council this month, indicating a deal is close, four diplomats have told Reuters. Grossi has been trying for months to secure an agreement to reduce the risk of a catastrophic accident from shelling at the Russian-occupied nuclear power station, Europe’s biggest.
Rishi Sunak, the British prime minister, has expressed disappointment at a decision to block Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s request to speak via video at Saturday’s Eurovision grand final. The European Broadcasting Union, which produces the event, said the Ukrainian president had “laudable” intentions but rejected the request over fears it could politicise the event.
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