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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
World
Samantha Lock (now); Maya Yang, Léonie Chao-Fong, Martin Belam (earlier)

Ukraine rules out ceding territory to Russia as part of any ceasefire deal – as it happened

United Nations Ukraine Russia United Kingdom United States Missile Volodymyr Zelenksyy Nova Kakhovka Turkey
Apartment buildings damaged during fighting in Severodonetsk.
Apartment buildings damaged during fighting in Severodonetsk. Photograph: AP

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 below.

  • A breakthrough deal to resume exporting Ukrainian grain has been announced with the establishment of a coordination and monitoring centre in Istanbul. Turkey’s defence minister Hulusi Akar said Ankara will ensure the safety of shipments in transit and the parties will jointly check grain cargoes in ports after officials from Ukraine, Russia, United Nations and Turkey met for talks in Istanbul on Wednesday. UN chief Antonio Guterres described the talks as a “critical step forward” but said more work was needed before a deal is set to be signed next week.
  • A traffic jam of more than 130 cargo ships loaded with Ukrainian grain is waiting in the Black Sea to pass into the Danube. The ships are waiting to access exit routes through the Sulina and Bystre estuary canals to reach a series of ports and terminals in Romania from where the grain can be transported on around the world
  • Russian and proxy forces have reportedly entered the town of Siversk in Ukraine’s Donetsk region, according to Russian media reports. State news agency Tass quoted Vitaly Kiselyov, an official from the self-appointed Luhansk People’s Republic, as saying the town could fall within a couple of days, but it was not clear what that claim was based on.
  • Russia has forcibly removed nearly 2 million people from Ukraine, including several hundred thousand children, since its invasion of the country, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said. Tens of thousands of Ukrainian are being held in filtration camps in the temporarily Russian-occupied territories, Zelenskiy said in a video address to the Asian Leadership Conference in Seoul on Wednesday.
  • Russian forces will probably focus on taking several small Donbas towns during the coming week, including Siversk and Dolyna on the approaches to Slovyansk and Kramatorsk, according to the UK Ministry of Defence. “The urban areas of Slovyansk and Kramatorsk likely remain the principal objectives for this phase of the operation,” the British intelligence report said.
  • A third American national is being held captive by pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine, according to reports. Suedi Murekezi, 35, was arrested last month in Kherson, a Russian-occupied port city in southern Ukraine where he had been living for more than two years, his brother Sele Murekezi said.
  • Lithuania will allow sanctioned Russian goods to transit its territory on their way to Russia’s Kaliningrad exclave, its foreign ministry said on Wednesday, reversing its policy after new European Commission guidelines.
  • The global economic outlook that has “darkened significantly” following the consequences of the war in Ukraine, according to the head of the International Monetary Fund. Kristalina Georgieva said the global outlook remains “extremely uncertain” with an increased risk of recession. “The human tragedy of the war in Ukraine has worsened. So, too, has its economic impact … and it’s only getting worse,” she said. G20 finance ministers and central bank governors are preparing to meet in Bali this week.

Updated

Russian forces enter town of Siversk, separatist official says

Russian and proxy forces have entered the town of Siversk in Ukraine’s Donetsk region, according to Russian media reports.

State news agency Tass quoted Vitaly Kiselyov, an official from the self-appointed Luhansk People’s Republic, as saying the town could fall within a couple of days, but it was not clear what that claim was based on.

Ukraine’s armed forces said in their evening operational update that Russia had not conducted any new assaults on the frontline that includes Siversk, but that the town had been fired upon by artillery.

The Guardian has not been able to immediately verify the report.

In its latest intelligence report, the UK Ministry of Defence predicted that Russian forces will likely focus on taking several small towns during the coming week, including Siversk and Dolyna on the approaches to Slovyansk and Kramatorsk.

Gazprom says no guarantee Nord Stream pipeline will work

Russian energy giant Gazprom said Wednesday it could not guarantee the good functioning of the Nord Stream gas pipeline and did not know if a “critical” turbine engine would be returned from repair in Canada.

Gazprom started ten days of maintenance on the Nord Stream 1 pipeline on Monday as turbines are currently undergoing maintenance at a Canadian site owned by German industrial giant Siemens.

The company said in a statement, as reported by Agence France-Presse, on Wednesday:

Gazprom does not have a single document to allow (German company) Siemens to take out of Canada the gas turbine engine currently being repaired there.

In these circumstances, it is not possible to draw an objective conclusion about the development of the situation and ensuring the safe operation of the Portovaya station - a critical facility for the Nord Stream gas pipeline.”

Over the weekend, Canada agreed to deliver to Germany turbines needed to maintain the pipeline, despite sanctions in place against Russia and appeals from Ukraine.

The annual work on the gas link was scheduled long in advance, but many fear Gazprom might seize the opportunity to shut off the valves.

Berlin has not provided a timetable for the return of the turbines. A government spokesman said Monday that Siemens was “planning to transport (the turbines) as soon as possible” from Canada to Germany, and then onto Russia to be installed.

Lithuania to allow sanctioned Russian goods to transit

Lithuania will allow sanctioned Russian goods to transit its territory on their way to Russia’s Kaliningrad exclave, its foreign ministry said on Wednesday, reversing its policy after new European Commission guidelines.

The new guidelines on Wednesday followed weeks of tension among Moscow, European Union member Lithuania and the European Union that tested Europe’s resolve to enforce sanctions on Russia.

Kaliningrad, which is bordered by EU states and relies on railways and roads through Lithuania for most goods, has had some freight transport from mainland Russia cut off since 17 June under sanctions imposed by Brussels.

The sanctions were designed to bar entry into the EU of certain Russian products, such as vodka and steel.

Moscow earlier said restricting overland transit of goods from Russia to Kaliningrad amounted to an illegal blockade; Lithuania said it had no choice but to enforce rules imposed by Brussels.

This decision, which removes restrictions on a certain range of products transported by rail, is a demonstration of realism and common sense,” a Russian foreign ministry spokesperson said by email to Reuters on Wednesday. “Although we still have questions about the contents of this document.”

Kaliningrad Governor Anton Alikhanov wrote on Telegram the new guidelines are “only the first step needed” to solve the stand-off: “We will continue to work towards the complete removal of restrictions”.

Updated

War has 'darkened significantly' global economic outlook: IMF

As G20 ministers and central bank governors gather in Bali this week, they face a global economic outlook that has “darkened significantly”, the head of the International Monetary Fund has said.

Kristalina Georgieva hinted the IMF will downgrade its expectations for global economic growth this month, saying the outlook remains “extremely uncertain” and blaming the war in Ukraine, higher than expected inflation, and the ongoing Covid pandemic.

In a statement, she said:

It is going to be a tough 2022—and possibly an even tougher 2023, with increased risk of recession.

The human tragedy of the war in Ukraine has worsened. So, too, has its economic impact especially through commodity price shocks that are slowing growth and exacerbating a cost-of-living crisis that affects hundreds of millions of people—and especially poor people who cannot afford to feed their families. And it’s only getting worse.

G20 finance ministers and central bank governors are preparing to meet in Bali where they will discuss the global economy, including food security, and the impact of the war in Ukraine.

Georgieva called for “decisive action and strong international cooperation, led by the G20”.

Indonesia’s central bank governor Perry Warjiyo is cautious about the prospect of reaching an agreement over the way forward, saying: “We hope for the best, but of course prepare for the worst”.

Georgieva said that inflation has “broadened beyond food and energy prices” in that has led many central banks to increase the cost of borrowing, something she said will “need to continue”.

Summary

It’s 1am in Kyiv. Here’s where things stand:

  • Turkish, Ukrainian, Russian and UN officials have established a coordination center in Istanbul to monitor grain exports, the head of Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenksiy’s office said on Wednesday. “Its task will be to carry out general monitoring and coordination of safe navigation in the Black Sea,” Andriy Yermak said.
  • A UNHCR survey has revealed that 65 percent of Ukrainian refugees intend to stay in their host countries for the time being. The survey cited main reasons being safety concerns, family ties and employment opportunity access.
  • At least 14 civilians have been injured after Russian missiles struck an unnamed commercial enterprise in Zaporizhizhia on July 13, the Kyiv Independent reports. Rescue workers are currently on scene where two Russian missiles severely damaged the enterprise’s facilities, local authorities said.
  • Rare footage has emerged of Russian filtration procedure applied to Ukrainians in Russian-occupied territories, Euromaidan reports. In the video, Russian occupiers can be seen asking Ukrainians to undress and examining them for patriotic tattoos on Mariupol streets.
  • Hungary has declared a “state of danger” on Wednesday due to the energy crisis caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Gergely Gulyas, chief of staff of Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s office announced a seven-point plan to tackle the energy crisis and listed the measures after a cabinet meeting.
  • Russia and Ukraine will hold new talks in Turkey next week on resolving their dispute over blocked grain exports, the Turkish defence minister said Wednesday. “It was agreed that the Russian and Ukrainian delegations should meet again in Turkey next week,” Hulusi Akar said in a statement after the first talks in Istanbul between Russian and Ukrainian delegations since March.

That’s it from me, Maya Yang, as I hand over the blog to my colleague in Australia, Samantha Lock, who will be bringing you the latest updates. I’ll be back tomorrow, thank you.

Breakthrough deal announced at Ukraine grain export talks

Ukraine, the United Nations and Turkey all hailed progress at talks in Istanbul with Russia designed to resume Black Sea grain exports on Wednesday.

Officials said they have established a coordination centre in Istanbul to monitor grain exports.

The head of Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenksiy’s office, Andriy Yermak, said:

Its task will be to carry out general monitoring and coordination of safe navigation in the Black Sea.

This will ensure the export of Ukrainian grain and guarantee food security for millions of people around the world.”

Turkey’s defence minister Hulusi Akar said an agreement would be signed next week, adding that Ankara will ensure the safety of shipments in transit and the parties will jointly check grain cargoes in ports.

However, UN chief Antonio Guterres said more work was needed before a deal was signed. Guterres told reporters in New York:

We have seen a critical step forward. We still need a lot of goodwill and commitments by all parties.”

Zelenksiy addressed the news in his latest address:

Today in the news there are many references to the meeting in Turkey regarding the unblocking of agricultural exports from our country through the Black Sea.

We are indeed making significant efforts to restore the supply of food to the world market. And I am grateful to the United Nations and Turkey for their respective efforts.”

Updated

A UNHCR survey has revealed that 65 percent of Ukrainian refugees intend to stay in their host countries for the time being.

The survey cited main reasons being safety concerns, family ties and employment opportunity access.

The survey also revealed that 16 percent of Ukrainian refugees plan to return to their home country.

Main reasons for return include improved situation, economic reasons and access to services, and wanting to reunite with families.

At least 14 civilians have been injured after Russian missiles struck an unnamed commercial enterprise in Zaporizhizhia on July 13, the Kyiv Independent reports.

Rescue workers are currently on scene where two Russian missiles severely damaged the enterprise’s facilities, local authorities said.

Rare footage has emerged of Russian filtration procedure applied to Ukrainians in Russian-occupied territories, Euromaidan reports.

In the video, Russian occupiers can be seen asking Ukrainians to undress and examining them for patriotic tattoos on Mariupol streets.

Hungary has declared a “state of danger” on Wednesday due to the energy crisis caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Gergely Gulyas, chief of staff of Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s office, announced a seven-point plan to tackle the energy crisis and listed the measures after a cabinet meeting.

“The situation is very difficult everywhere in Europe because of the war and the sanctions taken in response,” he said, adding that the new plan will come into effect in August.

The government will step up domestic natural gas production from 1.5 to 2.0bn cubic metres, while seeking other sources of gas.

It will also impose an export ban on energy sources such as firewood and increase domestic production of lignite coal. In addition, the government will reopen a power station at Matra and extend the operation of the Paks nuclear power plant near Budapest.

People who consume more than average amounts of energy will have to pay for it at the market price rather than the heavily subsidised state rates. That could affect up to a quarter of the population, said Gulyas.

Hungary currently imports 65% of its oil and 80% of its gas from Russia.

Updated

Russia and Ukraine will hold new talks in Turkey next week on resolving their dispute over blocked grain exports, the Turkish defence minister said Wednesday.

“It was agreed that the Russian and Ukrainian delegations should meet again in Turkey next week,” Hulusi Akar said in a statement after the first talks in Istanbul between Russian and Ukrainian delegations since March.

Akar said the two countries’ defence delegations agreed on “joint controls” at ports and on ways to “ensure the safety of the transfer routes” across the Black Sea.

He hinted that a final agreement on releasing approximately 20 to 25m tonnes of grain currently blocked in Ukrainian ports could be announced next week.

“At this meeting, which we will hold next week, all the details will be reviewed once again and the work we have done will be signed,” Akar said.

A handout photo made available by the Turkish Defence Ministry press office shows, Turkish Defence Minister Hulusi Akar speaks after the Turkish, Russian, Ukrainian and UN diplomats meeting for grain talks in Istanbul, Turkey, 13 July 2022.
A handout photo made available by the Turkish Defence Ministry press office shows, Turkish Defence Minister Hulusi Akar speaks after the Turkish, Russian, Ukrainian and UN diplomats meeting for grain talks in Istanbul, Turkey, 13 July 2022. Photograph: Turkish Defence Ministry Press Office/EPA

Updated

Summary of the day so far

It’s 9pm in Kyiv. Here’s where we stand:

  • At least seven people were reportedly killed by a Ukrainian missile strike on a large ammunition store in the town of Nova Kakhovka, in Russia-occupied Kherson. The claims of fatalities attributed to recently acquired US weapons were made by the Russian-installed administration in the town and could not be immediately verified.
  • Russian forces will probably focus on taking several small Donbas towns during the coming week, including Siversk and Dolyna on the approaches to Slovyansk and Kramatorsk, according to the UK Ministry of Defence. “The urban areas of Slovyansk and Kramatorsk likely remain the principal objectives for this phase of the operation,” the British intelligence report said.
  • Military delegations from Ukraine, Russia and Turkey met with UN officials in Istanbul to discuss a possible deal to resume safe exports of Ukraine grain. The four-way meeting comes as exports across the Black Sea continue to be blocked by Russian warships and sea mines Kyiv has laid to avert a feared amphibious assault. Ukraine’s foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, was quoted as saying that Kyiv believed a deal was “two steps away”.
  • A third American national is being held captive by pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine, according to reports. Suedi Murekezi, 35, was arrested last month in Kherson, a Russian-occupied port city in southern Ukraine where he had been living for more than two years, his brother Sele Murekezi said.

A traffic jam of more than 130 cargo ships loaded with Ukrainian grain is waiting in the Black Sea to pass into the Danube as negotiators from Moscow, Kyiv, the UN and Turkey began talks in Istanbul on easing Ukrainian agricultural exports.

The ships are waiting to access exit routes through the Sulina and Bystre estuary canals to reach a series of ports and terminals in Romania from where the grain can be transhipped to global destinations, amid mounting global concern about the Russian blockade on Ukrainian exports through the Black Sea.

Maritime tracking services showed a logjam of ships waiting to pass into the Danube since a second route through the Bystre estuary was opened after the recent Russian retreat from nearby and strategic Zmiinye [Snake] Island, which had threatened shipping close to Odesa.

Previously ships had only been able to pass into the Danube via the Sulina Canal, whose passage is one way, with cargo vessels having to wait weeks to pass through the canal.

Although large carriers cannot pass through the Bystre estuary, limiting the amount of grain that can be exported, Ukrainian officials said that already 16 ships had transited the Bystre route in the past four days since it had reopened.

Zelenskiy: Two million Ukrainians have been forcibly taken to Russia

Russia has forcibly removed nearly 2 million people from Ukraine, including several hundred thousand children, since its invasion of the country, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said.

Tens of thousands of Ukrainian are being held in filtration camps in the temporarily Russian-occupied territories, Zelenskiy said in a video address to the Asian Leadership Conference in Seoul.

In comments translated by Ukrinform, Zelenskiy said:

Just imagine this number – 2 million people. That’s how many of our people have already been taken to Russia.

Among those who had been forcibly removed from Ukraine and taken to Russia were “several hundred thousand children”, Zelenskiy said. He continued:

No one will name the exact numbers at the moment – all these deported people are deprived of means of communication, their IDs have been taken from them, they are being intimidated and taken them to remote areas of Russia, so that it will be as difficult as possible for them to return home to their Motherland.

Young women were among those being held in so-called filtration camps in occupied territories, he said:

Young women disappear there. I believe you all understand what’s happening to them there.

Updated

Ukraine severs diplomatic relations with North Korea

Ukraine’s foreign ministry has announced it has cut ties with the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), most commonly referred to in the west as North Korea, over its recognition of two pro-Russian occupied territories in the east of Ukraine.

It comes after North Korea said it has officially recognised the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic and the self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic, becoming only the third UN member state to recognise them as legitimate authorities, after Russia and Syria.

In a statement, Ukraine’s foreign ministry said:

We consider this decision as an attempt by Pyongyang to undermine the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine.

Updated

A Moscow court has ordered one of the last prominent opposition figures still in Russia, Ilya Yashin, to be detained for two months pending an investigation into the spreading of “fake information” about Russia’s army.

“Do not be afraid of these scoundrels! Russia will be free!” Yashin shouted in court after the judge ruled to keep him in prison until 12 September.

Yashin, a Moscow city councillor and an ally of jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, was charged with “discrediting” the Russian army. If convicted, he faces up to 15 years in prison for spreading “false information” about Russian forces fighting in Ukraine.

Navalny, who is able to post on Twitter through his lawyers and allies, demanded the immediate release of Yashin and said he had spoken the truth about what was going on in Ukraine.

Days before he was first detained, Yashin, 39, had vowed to stay in Russia despite the looming threat of arrest for his outspoken criticism of President Vladimir Putin and Russia’s actions in Ukraine.

Sitting smiling in the defendant’s glass box, Yashin said:

This is a politically motivated case from the first to the last page.

Last week, an opposition councillor was sentenced to seven years in jail by a court in Moscow for criticising Russia’s military actions in Ukraine, the first prison sentence handed out under the new laws that restrict criticism of the war.

Talks between delegations from Ukraine, Russia, Turkey and UN officials in Istanbul to discuss resuming grain exports from Ukraine from the Black Sea port of Odesa have now ended.

In a statement, the Turkish ministry of defence said:

The four-party meeting between the military delegations of the Ministry of Defense of Turkey, the Russian Federation and Ukraine and the United Nations delegation regarding the safe shipment of grains waiting in Ukrainian ports by sea ended at the Kalender Pavilion.

Ukraine’s foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, was quoted earlier today as saying that Kyiv believed a deal was “two steps away”.

Kuleba said:

The security concerns, linked to Russia’s position, need to be addressed. We are in the final phase and now everything depends on Russia.

Other participants appeared less optimistic and Turkey’s defence ministry gave no further details of the meeting’s outcome after announcing it had ended.

The EU executive has said sanctioned Russian goods can transit through the bloc’s territory to Kaliningrad by rail, but not by road.

In a statement, the European Commission said:

The transit of sanctioned goods by road with Russian operators is not allowed under the EU measures. No such similar prohibition exists for rail transport.

The commission underlined the “importance of monitoring the two-way trade flows between Russia and Kaliningrad ... to ensure that sanctioned goods cannot enter the EU customs territory”.

The statement comes after Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said earlier today that Moscow was expecting progress over a possible EU deal to allow Russia to transit some sanctioned goods to its Kaliningrad exclave via the bloc, but the problem had not been resolved.

Military delegations of United Nations (UN), Turkey, Ukraine and Russian during their four-party meeting in Istanbul.
Military delegations of United Nations (UN), Turkey, Ukraine and Russian during their four-party meeting in Istanbul. Photograph: TURKISH DEFENCE MINISTRY/AFP/Getty Images

Summary of the day so far

It’s 6pm in Kyiv. Here’s where we stand:

  • At least seven people were reportedly killed by a Ukrainian missile strike on a large ammunition store in the town of Nova Kakhovka, in Russia-occupied Kherson. The claims of fatalities attributed to recently acquired US weapons were made by the Russian-installed administration in the town and could not be immediately verified.
  • Russian forces will probably focus on taking several small Donbas towns during the coming week, including Siversk and Dolyna on the approaches to Slovyansk and Kramatorsk, according to the UK Ministry of Defence. “The urban areas of Slovyansk and Kramatorsk likely remain the principal objectives for this phase of the operation,” the British intelligence report said.
  • Military delegations from Ukraine, Russia and Turkey are meeting UN officials in Istanbul to discuss a possible deal to resume safe exports of Ukraine grain. The four-way meeting comes as exports across the Black Sea continue to be blocked by Russian warships and sea mines Kyiv has laid to avert a feared amphibious assault.
  • A third American national is being held captive by pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine, according to reports. Suedi Murekezi, 35, was arrested last month in Kherson, a Russian-occupied port city in southern Ukraine where he had been living for more than two years, his brother Sele Murekezi said.

Hello everyone, it’s Léonie Chao-Fong with you today bringing you all the latest news from the war in Ukraine. Feel free to get in touch on Twitter or via email.

Updated

More than 9 million people have crossed the border from Ukraine since Russia invaded the country on 24 February, according to the UN’s refugee agency.

A total of 9,136,006 border crossings have been recorded since Russian troops invaded Ukraine, the agency said.

Updated

The death toll from a weekend Russian missile attack on a residential apartment block in Chasiv Yar in eastern Ukraine has risen to at least 47, according to a deputy in Ukraine’s presidential office, Kyrylo Tymoshenko.

Saturday’s strike destroyed the five-storey building and damaged several others in the Donetsk region city. The body of one more victim was recovered from the rubble of the building on Wednesday morning, Tymoshenko wrote on Telegram.

Among the 47 people killed in Saturday’s attack included a child, he said.

North Korea offers recognition to the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics

The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), most commonly referred to in the west as North Korea, has officially recognised the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic and the self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic, the pro-Russian occupied territories in the east of Ukraine.

The DPRK becomes only the third UN member state to recognise them as legitimate authorities, after Russia and Syria.

Updated

Blinken: US calls on Russia to halt systematic deportations immediately

US secretary of state Antony Blinken has called for an immediate halt to Russian deportations of Ukrainian citizens, accusing Russia of “deliberately separating Ukrainian children from their parents and abducting others from orphanages before putting them up for adoption inside Russia”.

Reuters report that in a statement, Blinken said: “The unlawful transfer and deportation of protected persons is a grave breach of the fourth Geneva convention on the protection of civilians and is a war crime.”

Blinken tweeted:

Russia must immediately halt its systematic “filtration” operations in Ukraine, which have reportedly disappeared, detained, or forcibly deported from their homes approximately up to 1.6 million innocent Ukrainians, including 260,000 children.

Updated

A visit for journalists into the occupied cities of Lysychansk and Sievierodonetsk organised by Russian military has produced striking images of a city that was the focus of Russian military efforts for a considerable time earlier in the war.

A destroyed apartment building in Sievierodonetsk, Luhansk region.
A destroyed apartment building in Sievierodonetsk, Luhansk region, which pro-Russian forces claim shows Ukrainian armed forces possessions inside. Photograph: Sergei Ilnitsky/EPA
Russian servicemen on guard near destroyed apartments buildings in occupied Sievierodonetsk.
Russian servicemen on guard near destroyed apartments buildings in occupied Sievierodonetsk. Photograph: Sergei Ilnitsky/EPA
Destroyed apartment buildings in Sievierodonetsk, with sandbags positioned at the windows. During the Russian assault on the city, Ukrainian sources described how the city was being fought for street-by-street.
Destroyed apartment buildings in Sievierodonetsk, with sandbags positioned at the windows. During the Russian assault on the city, Ukrainian sources described how the city was being fought for street-by-street. Photograph: Sergei Ilnitsky/EPA

Updated

Ukraine has denied claims by Russian forces that it had shot down four Ukrainian military jets in Ukraine.

Russia’s defence ministry said earlier that its forces had destroyed an Su-25 and Su-24 – both Soviet-era jets used by the Ukrainian air force – over the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine along with another Su-25 and a Mig-29, another Soviet-designed fighter aircraft, in the Mykolaiv region of southern Ukraine.

Reuters has cited Yuriy Ihnat, a spokesperson for the Ukrainian Air Force, as dismissing Russia’s assertions as propaganda.

Updated

A third American national is being held captive by pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine, according to his friends and family and a private volunteer group specialising in rescuing US citizens.

Suedi Murekezi, 35, was arrested last month in Kherson, a Russian-occupied port city in southern Ukraine where he had been living for more than two years, his brother Sele Murekezi said.

“We are all extremely worried for his wellbeing. He is obviously in danger,” he said.

Suedi Murekezi, the third American held captive in Ukraine
Suedi Murekezi, the third American held captive in Ukraine. Photograph: Youtube

After having not heard from him for a month, Sele received a call from his brother in the early hours of 7 July, in which he said he was imprisoned in Donetsk, the biggest city in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic backed by Russia.

Murekezi also said he was in the same jail as Alexander Drueke and Andy Tai Ngoc Huynh, two American fighters captured by Russia last month.

Unlike Drueke and Huynh, Murekezi’s friends and family say he did not participate in any fighting in Ukraine and moved to the country about four years ago, settling in Kherson in 2020.

On the phone, Murekezi told his brother he had been falsely accused of participation in pro-Ukrainian protests, a charge that his brother and two close friends in Kherson denied.

“They are using him as a pawn for their own propaganda purposes,” said Sele Murekezi.

Updated

Ukraine rules out any ceasefire deal that involves ceding territory to Russia

Ukraine’s foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, has ruled out ceding territory to Russia as part of any ceasefire deal and said no peace talks were under way between Moscow and Kyiv.

In a briefing, Kuleba said:

The objective of Ukraine in this war … is to liberate our territories, restore our territorial integrity, and full sovereignty in the east and south of Ukraine. This is the end point of our negotiating position.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba
Ukrainian foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba. Photograph: Andrew Kravchenko/AP

He added:

Currently there are no (peace) talks between Russia and Ukraine because of Russia’s position and its continued aggression against our country.

In an interview published before talks in Istanbul involving representatives from Ukraine, Russia, Turkey and the UN, the Ukrainian FM said a deal to resume grain exports blocked by Russia appeared very close.

Updated

Most of the refugees from Ukraine, mainly women and children, hope to leave their host countries and return home eventually, a UN study shows.

Around two-thirds of refugees from Ukraine expect to stay in their host countries until the security situation improves after Russia’s invasion, according to a survey by the UN’s refugee agency UNHCR.

The study, conducted between mid-May and mid-June, surveyed around 4,900 people from Ukraine now living in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Moldova, Poland, Romania and Slovakia.

More than 5.6 million refugees are now recorded across Europe, with 8.8 million people crossing out of Ukraine and nearly 3.3 million crossing back in since the Russian invasion.

Of those seeking to return, 40% planned to do so in the next month, the UNHCR said. It added:

They are anxious to reunite with friends and family and worry about those who stayed behind. Most want to wait until hostilities have subsided.

Updated

The Kremlin said it was expecting progress over a possible EU deal to allow Russia to transit some sanctioned goods to Kaliningrad, but that the problem had not been resolved.

Speaking to reporters today, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said:

There is no finalisation of this situation yet. We expect some progress, but we cannot say that the problem has been removed.

On Monday, Lithuania expanded restrictions on trade through its territory to Russia’s Kaliningrad exclave, with goods sanctioned including concrete, wood, alcohol and alcohol-based industrial chemicals.

The governor of Kaliningrad, Anton Alikhanov, has proposed a total ban on the movement of goods between the three Baltic states and Russia, in response to what authorities in the exclave have called a “blockade”.

Russia’s foreign ministry spokesperson, Maria Zakharova, has warned Lithuania and the EU it could adopt “harsh measures” against them if the transit of goods to and from Kaliningrad did not resume.

Bakhmut bombarded in wake of Ukraine attack on Russian air defences

Russian artillery and rockets pounded the Ukrainian town of Bakhmut overnight and into Wednesday morning in what some sources speculated was a reprisal for a Ukrainian attack using a US-supplied Himars missile system on a Russian air defence site in Luhansk.

Others suggested the shelling could signal a renewed Russian offensive aimed at cities in Donetsk province.

In one video posted on social video around midnight from outside Bakhmut, constant rocket strikes can be seen illuminating the night sky and a woman’s voice is heard saying: “My mother is there! Fuck, fuck, fucking hell.”

A man named Nikolai says: “Everything is on fire. They hit the power lines.”

As the woman speaks again, apparently wanting to borrow a phone to call her mother, the man interjects. “Your mum is fucked. It’s Stupky [that’s getting hit],” he says, referring to a northern area of Bakhmut.

Describing the situation on his Telegram channel, the Donetsk governor, Pavlo Kyrylenko, said Russian forces were “constantly shelling the entire free territory of Donetsk region [with] Bakhmut district suffering the most”.

According to Kyrylenko, one person died and five more were injured in the town, which has largely been evacuated.

Read the full story by Peter Beaumont here.

Updated

Two settlements in Ukraine’s Luhansk region remain under Ukrainian control, according to the Ukrainian governor of the region, Serhai Haidai.

He has posted to Telegram to say: “The armed forces of Ukraine maintain defence on the outskirts of Luhansk region – two settlements of the region are under the control of the government.”

He accuses Russia of transporting grain away from Ukraine in trucks, and also says that Russian mobile telephone networks are working in the region.

He also claims that “the Russian army destroyed warehouses with food products, shops and markets in large cities”, saying that the settlements continue to be “on the verge of a humanitarian disaster”.

He says that the gas supply system in Lysychansk and in Rubizhne has been destroyed.

The claims have not been independently verified.

Updated

Summary of the day so far …

  • The death toll from a weekend Russian missile attack on a residential apartment block in Chasiv Yar, eastern Ukraine, rose to at least 45 on Tuesday. Saturday’s strike destroyed the five-storey building and damaged several others in the Donetsk region city. Nine people had been pulled out alive as the rescue operation continued.
  • At least seven people were reportedly killed by a Ukrainian missile strike on a large ammunition store in the town of Nova Kakhovka, in Russia-occupied Kherson, in a strike attributed to recently acquired US weapons. The explosion hit a warehouse close to a key railway line and a dam on the Dnieper river. Footage on social media showed a large explosion lighting up the night, burning ammunition and billowing smoke.
  • Russia has reportedly heavily shelled the eastern town of Bakhmut in the Donetsk region overnight in response to the Nova Kakhovka strike. Kyiv Independent reporter Illia Ponomarenko tweeted alongside footage purportedly of the assault: “Meanwhile, Russia responds by sweeping Bakhmut off the earth with artillery in the night.”
  • The Russian ministry of defence has said that it caused large losses to Ukrainian forces in the last 24 hours, claiming to have killed at least 425 service personnel and shot down three planes and nine unmanned drones.
  • At least five people have been injured and one killed by Russian shelling in the region of Kharkiv, according to the daily update from regional governor Oleh Synyehubov. He has posted to Telegram this morning to say: “The terror of the civilian population of Kharkiv Region by the Russian occupiers continues.”
  • Military delegations from Ukraine, Russia and Turkey will meet UN officials in Istanbul to discuss a possible deal to resume safe exports of Ukraine grain from the major Black Sea port of Odesa as a global food crisis worsens.
  • Grain shipments via the River Danube have increased with the reopening of the Bystre canal. The number of foreign ships reaching Ukraine ports to help with grain exports has doubled to 16 within the last 24 hours, according to Ukraine’s deputy infrastructure minister Yuriy Vaskov. Ukraine has restored long-decommissioned ports to facilitate the exportation of grain due to Russia’s Black Sea blockade, and expects to increase monthly exports to 500,000 tonnes.
  • Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, says Russia “doesn’t have the courage” to admit defeat. In a nationally televised address, Zelenskiy also mocked the Russian military’s apparent reliance on ageing weapons and Soviet-era tactics, and insisted the unity of his country’s citizenry, combined with the strength of Ukraine’s armed forces, meant the outcome of the war was “certain”.
  • Russian forces will probably focus on taking several small Donbas towns during the coming week, including Siversk and Dolyna on the approaches to Slovyansk and Kramatorsk, according to the UK Ministry of Defence. “The urban areas of Slovyansk and Kramatorsk likely remain the principal objectives for this phase of the operation,” the British intelligence report said.

That is it, from me, Martin Belam, for now. I will be back later. Léonie Chao-Fong will be with you next to continue our live coverage of Russia’s war in Ukraine.

Updated

Russian’s ministry of defence has again said that it caused large losses to Ukrainian forces in the last 24 hours, claiming to have killed at least 425 service personnel and shot down three planes and nine unmanned drones.

In particular, Russian forces claim to have killed 350 Ukrainian service personnel in high-precision attacks on a shipyard in Mikolaiv. They also claim to have killed or captured “a sabotage and reconnaissance group” in the area of Dementievka in the Kharkiv region.

Updated

The self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) has issued its regular daily operation briefing. In it, the DPR claims that along with the armed forces of Russia and of the similarly self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic, they have “liberated” 242 settlements in eastern Ukraine. This number has been static for a few days now.

It claims that the Ukrainian army shelled 12 settlements under DPR occupation, causing three deaths and injuries to 12 civilians. It also claims that 38 “housing constructions” and eight civil infrastructure facilities were damaged. The claims have not been independently verified.

Russia’s RIA Novosti news agency is reporting that the Russian delegation has arrived in Turkey for talks over the export of grain from Ukraine. They cite a diplomatic source.

The source told them there was “high confidence” of progress in today’s talks, at which military delegations from Turkey, Russia and Ukraine will meet with a UN delegation at a secret location.

Updated

In western Ukraine it has been quiet overnight, with Lviv’s regional governor Maksym Kozytskyi reporting that there was one air raid warning but no attack materialised. He says that 240 people arrived in Lviv via evacuation trains from the east yesterday.

Updated

One person has been killed and at least five injured by Russian shelling in the region of Kharkiv, according to the daily update from regional governor Oleh Synyehubov.

He has posted to Telegram this morning to say: “The terror of the civilian population of Kharkiv Region by the Russian occupiers continues.”

Synyehubov states that the five injured people “are in the hospital and receiving all the necessary help, their condition is stable, there is no threat to life”.

He claims that overnight a missile attack on the region was thwarted by Ukrainian forces. He also says that “active hostilities continue on the territory of the region”, and that a 55-year-old was killed.

The claims have not been independently verified.

Updated

In recent weeks, the military focus in eastern Ukraine had been pro-Russian forces attempting to take the cities of Sievierodonetsk and Lysychansk. This morning, we have been sent pictures from inside the cities now that they are occupied by the self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic, an authority recognised only by Russia and Syria as legitimate. The photographs were taken on a trip for journalists organised by the Russian ministry of defence.

Luhansk People’s Republic people militia servicemen stand at an exhibition of captured Ukrainian tanks and weapons in Lysychansk.
Luhansk People’s Republic people’s militia servicemen stand at an exhibition of captured Ukrainian tanks and weapons in Lysychansk. Photograph: AP
Journalists were permitted to speak to some local residents outside a building damaged during the fighting in Lysychansk.
Journalists were permitted to speak to some local residents outside a building damaged during the fighting in Lysychansk. Photograph: Alexander Zemlianichenko/AP
Local residents line up to get humanitarian aid from the self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic in Lysychansk.
Local residents line up to get humanitarian aid from the self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic in Lysychansk. Photograph: AP
A Russian soldier stands guard as foreign journalists look at a city sign repainted in the colors of the Russian flag at the entrance of Sievierodonetsk.
A Russian soldier stands guard as foreign journalists look at a city sign repainted in the colours of the Russian flag at the entrance of Sievierodonetsk. Photograph: AP

Updated

Russia likely to take several small Donbas towns in coming week: UK MoD

Russian forces are likely to focus on taking several small Donbas towns during the coming week, including Siversk and Dolyna on the approaches to Slovyansk and Kramatorsk, according to the UK Ministry of Defence.

The urban areas of Slovyansk and Kramatorsk likely remain the principal objectives for this phase of the operation, the British intelligence report said.

Russia also continues to seek to undermine the legitimacy of the Ukrainian state and consolidate its own governance and administrative control over occupied parts of Ukraine, according to the MoD.

Recently this has included an initiative to twin Russian and Ukrainian cities and regions to develop post-conflict administrations and a decree to make it easier for Ukrainians to obtain Russian citizenship.”

Updated

Germany has published a complete list of its military aid for Ukraine after increasing its support package to €2bn.

The list of military aid includes seven Panzerhaubitzen 2000 self-propelled howitzers, cars, a field hospital, spare parts for the MiG-29, armoured vehicles, tanks, air defence systems and MLRS.

Also included are 14,900 anti-tank mines, 500 stinger anti-aircraft missiles and 21.8m rounds of handgun ammunition.

Updated

Russia and Ukraine to meet to break grain impasse in Turkey

Russia and Ukraine are set to hold their first talks with UN and Turkish officials aimed at breaking a months-long impasse over grain exports.

The four-way meeting in Istanbul comes as exports across the Black Sea continue to be blocked by Russian warships and sea mines Kyiv has laid to avert a feared amphibious assault.

The negotiations are being complicated by growing suspicions that Russia is trying to export grain it has stolen from Ukrainian farmers in regions under its control.

The UN secretary general, António Guterres, earlier played down expectations from the Istanbul talks.

We are working hard indeed, but there is still a way to go,” the UN chief told reporters.

The meeting will involve military delegations from the three countries and diplomats from the UN.

Farmer Serhiy gestures standing near a mound of grain in his barn in the village of Ptyche in eastern Donetsk region, Ukraine, on Sunday, 12 June.
Farmer Serhiy gestures standing near a mound of grain in his barn in the village of Ptyche in eastern Donetsk region, Ukraine, on Sunday 12 June. Photograph: Efrem Lukatsky/AP

The Turkish defence minister Hulusi Akar said they would focus “on the safe shipment to international markets of grain waiting in Ukrainian ports”.

Nato member Turkey has been using its good relations with both the Kremlin and the western-backed leaders in Kyiv to try to broker an agreement on a safe way to deliver the grain.

Ukraine estimates that up to 25m tonnes of grain are blocked in its ports.

Turkey says it has 20 merchant ships waiting in the region that could be quickly loaded and sent to world markets.

A plan by the UN proposes the ships follow safe “corridors” that run between the known location of mines.

Updated

The Ukrainian World Congress is taking legal action against Canada for breaking sanctions and transferring repaired turbines to Germany for the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline.

According to a statement released on Tuesday, the organisation said:

Over the past several days, the Ukrainian World Congress together with the Ukrainian Canadian Congress has been pleading with the Government of Canada to revoke the waiver provided to Siemens Canada which allows the return of repaired Nord Stream 1 turbines to Germany. We have also called upon the Government to ensure that all sanctions that have been imposed by Canada on Russia remain in place and are significantly enhanced.

To date, our efforts have been unsuccessful, and we have had no choice but to take legal action.”

The organisation filed a notice of application for judicial review, sating that the decision to grant the permit was not reasonable, transparent, or properly authorised.

We cannot supply a terrorist state with the tools it needs to finance the killing of tens of thousands of innocent people,” Paul Grod, President and of the UWC, said.

This is not just about a turbine or possible many turbines to support Russia’s energy exports, this is about continuously succumbing to Russia’s blackmail.”

Strike on Russian-held Nova Kakhovka attributed to US-supplied missile

At least seven people were reportedly killed by a Ukrainian missile strike on a large ammunition store in the town of Nova Kakhovka, in Russia-occupied Kherson, in a strike attributed to recently acquired US weapons.

The claims of fatalities were made by the Russian-installed administration in the town and could not be immediately verified, though footage on social media showed a large explosion lighting up the night, burning ammunition and towering smoke.

The explosion hit a warehouse close to a key railway line and a dam on the Dnipro River. Imaging from Nasa’s Firms global fire tracking system showed a number of secondary blazes in buildings around the initial blast site.

Kyiv said it had launched artillery barrages that a destroyed a Russian arms depot, hitting artillery, armoured vehicles “and a warehouse with ammunition”, and in addition carried out a “special operation” to free military captives in the Moscow-controlled region. Russian-backed authorities accused Ukraine of damaging civilian infrastructure.

Pro-Russia officials and some Ukrainian commentators were quick to suggest that the explosion was the result of a strike by Ukraine’s newly supplied US Himars missile system. A number of recent strikes on ammunition warehouses and Russian command centres have been attributed to Himars.

Summary and welcome

Hello and welcome back to the Guardian’s rolling live coverage of Russia’s war in Ukraine.

I’m Samantha Lock and I will be bringing you all the latest developments for the next short while.

It is approaching 8am in Kyiv and here is where things currently stand:

  • The death toll from a weekend Russian missile attack on a residential apartment block in Chasiv Yar, eastern Ukraine, rose to at least 45 on Tuesday. Saturday’s strike destroyed the five-storey building and damaged several others in the Donetsk region city. Nine people had been pulled out alive as the rescue operation continued.
  • At least seven people were reportedly killed by a Ukrainian missile strike on a large ammunition store in the town of Nova Kakhovka, in Russia-occupied Kherson, in a strike attributed to recently acquired US weapons. The explosion hit a warehouse close to a key railway line and a dam on the Dnieper river. Footage on social media showed a large explosion lighting up the night, burning ammunition and billowing smoke.
  • Russia has reportedly heavily shelled the eastern town of Bakhmut in the Donetsk region overnight in response to the Nova Kakhovka strike. Kyiv Independent reporter Illia Ponomarenko tweeted alongside footage purportedly of the assault: “Meanwhile, Russia responds by sweeping Bakhmut off the earth with artillery in the night.”
  • Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, says Russia “doesn’t have the courage” to admit defeat. In a nationally televised address, Zelenskiy also mocked the Russian military’s apparent reliance on ageing weapons and Soviet-era tactics, and insisted the unity of his country’s citizenry, combined with the strength of Ukraine’s armed forces, meant the outcome of the war was “certain”.
  • Grain shipments via the Danube river have increased with the reopening of the Bystre canal. The number of foreign ships reaching Ukraine ports to help with grain exports has doubled to 16 within the last 24 hours, according to Ukraine’s deputy infrastructure minister Yuriy Vaskov. Ukraine has restored long-decommissioned ports to facilitate the exportation of grain due to Russia’s Black Sea blockade, and expects to increase monthly exports to 500,000 tonnes.
  • The US treasury announced on Tuesday it was sending an additional $1.7bn (£1.4bn) in economic aid to Ukraine to fund “essential services”. European foreign ministers late on Monday approved €1bn (£850m) in aid, the first instalment of a €9bn rescue package agreed in May.
  • The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, is set to visit Tehran next week to hold talks with the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. The meeting comes as the US has accused Iran of preparing to supply Russia with hundreds of weapons-capable drones for use in Ukraine.
  • Military delegations from Ukraine, Russia and Turkey will meet UN officials in Istanbul on Wednesday to discuss a possible deal to resume safe exports of Ukraine grain from the major Black Sea port of Odesa as a global food crisis worsens.
  • The UN human rights office (OHCHR) said on Tuesday that more than 5,000 civilians have been killed in Ukraine since Russia invaded on 24 February, adding that the real toll was probably much higher.
  • The European Union has so far frozen €13.8bn (£11.7bn) worth of assets held by Russian oligarchs, other individuals and entities sanctioned for Moscow’s war against Ukraine, the EU’s top justice official said on Tuesday.
  • Russia has claimed to have killed a significant number of foreign mercenaries fighting in Ukraine in the last three weeks, including 23 from Britain.
  • Russia has launched a criminal case against one of the last opposition figures remaining in the country, for allegedly spreading false information about the Russian army, his lawyer said on Tuesday. Ilya Yashin, 39, a Moscow city councillor, was sentenced to 15 days in jail last month for disobeying police. He had been set to be released in the early hours of Wednesday.
  • The appeals over the death sentences of captured Aiden Aslin, Shaun Pinner and Saaudun Brahim will be dealt with within a month, an official from the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic said. The UK foreign secretary, Liz Truss, has said she “utterly condemns” the sentencing, stating: “They are prisoners of war. This is a sham judgment with absolutely no legitimacy.”
  • Brazil is looking to buy as much diesel as it can from Russia and the deals closed “as recently as yesterday”, the Brazilian foreign minister Carlos Franca said on Tuesday, without giving further details.
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