This blog is now closed. Thanks for reading. Our live coverage of the war in Ukraine will resume in a few hours. In the meantime you can read all our Ukraine news and analysis here, and this is our latest news story taking in all the main developments:
Today so far ...
The time in Kyiv is now 2am. Here are the latest developments from today:
- All women, children and elderly people have been evacuated from Mariupol’s besieged steel plant, Ukraine’s deputy prime minister has said. Iryna Vereshchuk said the current state of the humanitarian operation in Azovstal has been completed.
- Several missiles hit the southern Ukrainian port city of Odesa, the regional administration’s spokesperson, Serhiy Bratchuk, said. The strikes hit the city after targets in the surrounding Odesa region had been hit by four missiles earlier in the day, Bratchuk said in televised remarks, without giving further detail about the new strikes.
- Two Russian missiles hit locations near the Russian border in Ukraine’s northern Sumy region today, local governor Dmytro Zhyvytskyi said. A border guard was wounded by the strikes on the Myropilske and Khotin municipalities, Zhyvytskyi wrote on Telegram.
- The Ukrainian government has said that it has destroyed another Russian ship. The ministry of defence claimed that Ukrainian Bayraktar TB2 had hit the landing craft of the Serna project, tweeting: “The traditional parade of the Russian Black Sea fleet on May 9 this year will be held near Snake Island – at the bottom of the sea.” Associated Press said it had analysed satellite photos showing the aftermath of the strike.
- The conflict in Ukraine is taking a “heavy toll” on some of Russia’s most capable units, the UK’s ministry of defence said in its latest intelligence report. At least one T-90M, Russia’s most advanced tank, has been destroyed in fighting, the ministry added. “It will take considerable time and expense for Russia to reconstitute its armed forces following this conflict,” the report said.
- The UN security council has issued its first statement on the war in Ukraine, but withheld from using the words “war”, “conflict” or “invasion”. The statement instead “expresses deep concern regarding the maintenance of peace and security of Ukraine” and voiced “strong support” for the secretary general, António Guterres, in seeking a peaceful solution to the “dispute”.
- The World Health Organization indicated it is gathering evidence for potential war crimes committed by Russia. The WHO emergencies director, Mike Ryan, said the agency has already documented 200 attacks on hospitals and clinics in Ukraine, which could violate international law.
- Nearly four million Russians left the country in the first three months of 2022, official statistics published by Russia’s federal security service (FSB) show. Arrivals to former Soviet countries saw a significant spike after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on 24 February. It is unclear how many have since returned to their home country.
- Former US intelligence officers are advising their successors currently in office to shut up and stop boasting about their role in Ukraine’s military successes. Two stories surfaced in as many days in the American press this week, citing unnamed officials as saying that US intelligence was instrumental in the targeting of Russian generals on the battlefield and in the sinking of the Moskva flagship cruiser on the Black Sea.
- Britain has pledged to provide another 1.3bn pounds ($1.60bn) in military support and aid to Ukraine. The new funds will almost double Britain’s previous spending commitments to Ukraine. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said in a statement, “Putin’s brutal attack is not only causing untold devastation in Ukraine – it is also threatening peace and security across Europe.”
- The latest US military aid package to Ukraine, announced by president Joe Biden on Friday, is worth $150m, the secretary of state, Antony Blinken, confirmed. The latest tranche of assistance includes 25,000 155mm artillery rounds, as well as counter-artillery radars, jamming equipment, field equipment and spare parts. It brings Washington’s military assistance to Kyiv since the Russian invasion began to around $3.8bn, Blinken said.
- The Group of Seven (G7) leaders will hold a video call on Sunday with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in a show of unity the day before Russia marks its Victory Day holiday, the White House said. Talks will focus on the latest developments in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, efforts to bolster the country and ways to demonstrate “continued G7 unity in our collective response, including by imposing severe costs for Putin’s war”, a spokesperson for the White House said.
That’s it from me for today. Handing over now to my colleagues in Australia. Thanks for reading.
The director of the Central Intelligence Agency, William Burns, said Russia’s setbacks in Ukraine may be impacting China’s calculus about trying to gain control over Taiwan.
Speaking today at a Washington event hosted by the Financial Times, Burns said China was alarmed by “the fact that what Putin has done is driving Europeans and Americans closer together” and was looking “carefully at what lessons they should draw” for Taiwan.
Burns added:
It strikes us . . . that Xi Jinping is a little bit unsettled by the reputational damage that can come to China by the association with the brutishness of Russia’s aggression against Ukrainians [and] unsettled certainly by the economic uncertainty that’s been produced by the war.
But while the international outcry over the invasion of Ukraine may be impacting China’s thinking about Taiwan, Burns said he did not believe the war had “eroded Xi’s determination over time to gain control over Taiwan”.
Emma Graham-Harrison and Vera Mironova report from Kyiv on the paramilitary unit assisting the city’s strained police force:
The call came around midnight. There was a suspicious man poking around a rundown complex of garages and workshops, police had heard a gunshot and so they wanted backup.
The men of the Maidan group rolled out of the bodyshop that served as their headquarters, into a couple of vans with personalised Maidan numberplates and their own ambulance, and set off into the eerie quiet of curfew-hours Kyiv.
Far from the frontlines, the war is straining society. There has been extraordinary solidarity across Ukraine, with ordinary people risking, and often giving, their lives to help others simply make it through the day, taking food and fuel to vulnerable and elderly people, or driving evacuation vehicles to pick up those stranded at the frontline.
But a minority have taken advantage of the chaos of fighting, the flight of many neighbours into exile, and authorities distracted by an existential threat.
In over two months since the first missiles hit Kyiv, Maidan patrols have picked up opportunists on looting raids, desperate residents driven to steal as the economy collapsed, and Russian spies trying to scope potential targets, gather information or just prepare for orders to come.
UK to provide another 1.3bn pounds of aid to Ukraine
Britain has pledged to provide another £1.3bn ($1.6bn) in military support and aid to Ukraine, Reuters reports.
The news comes one day before G7 leaders are scheduled to participate in a video call with the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, as Russia prepares to hold its 9 May Victory Day celebrations.
The new funds will almost double Britain’s previous spending commitments to Ukraine, as the country tries to push back against the Russian military’s attacks.
Boris Johnson’s government has already sent anti-tank missiles, air defence systems and other weapons to Ukraine since Russia launched its invasion in February.
Johnson’s office said he also plans to meet with executives from leading defence companies later this month to discuss increasing production in response to the war in Ukraine.
Johnson, who visited Ukraine last week and became the first western leader to address its parliament since the start of the invasion, said in a statement:
Putin’s brutal attack is not only causing untold devastation in Ukraine – it is also threatening peace and security across Europe.
Updated
Berlin authorities said investigators are studying a device found and destroyed at a residential building housing Russian news agency staff in the city, Reuters reports.
A Berlin police spokesman said the device was found on Friday, and an investigation is now underway to determine how dangerous the device was and who it may have been targeting.
Russia’s foreign ministry has called on European countries to take steps to protect Russian journalists and their families abroad during the war in Ukraine.
In a statement released on Saturday, the ministry said of the incident in Berlin:
We see this as a direct consequence of the harassment of Russia media and their employees unleashed in the West. The politicised decision to disconnect Russian media from the airwaves in the European Union was the precursor to their physical intimidation, right up to their elimination.
The EU has already banned the state-controlled Russian outlets RT and Sputnik, accusing them of spreading misinformation and Kremlin propaganda about the war.
Updated
“Holding up”, wrote Denys Prokopenko, commander of Ukraine’s Azov regiment, in his latest WhatsApp message to his wife Kateryna from the besieged Azovstal steelworks in the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol.
Speaking via Zoom from Krakow, in eastern Poland, alongside three fellow wives and partners of soldiers living under the remorseless Russian shelling and infiltrating raids, Kateryna, 27, says she is doing everything she can think of to ensure the message at 10pm on Friday evening is not one of her husband’s last.
It is now two weeks since the last Ukrainian defenders of the flattened city of Mariupol, in south-east Ukraine, withdrew to the sprawling complex of hot and fetid tunnels, along with thousands of terrified civilians, including children.
Ukrainian deputy prime minister Iryna Vereshchuk said on Saturday that all women, children and older adults had been evacuated.
For the 2,000 soldiers, 700 of whom are said to be injured, hope, however, is quickly dwindling, as has become cruelly clear from the irregular messages coming out of the works. “The last message was yesterday,” Kateryna says of the text from her 30-year-old husband. I said ‘Hold up, we will do everything in our power to save you.’”
Updated
Jill Biden expressed gratitude to the first lady of Romania, Carmen Johannis, for hosting her today at a public school that Ukrainian refugee children have started attending after fleeing their country.
“To my fellow teacher and First Lady, thank you for an afternoon in Romania full of compassion and hope,” Biden said on Twitter. “Not only do we share a love for our students, but we stand united in our support for the Ukrainian people.”
To my fellow teacher and First Lady, thank you for an afternoon in Romania full of compassion and hope.
— Jill Biden (@FLOTUS) May 7, 2022
Not only do we share a love for our students, but we stand united in our support for the Ukrainian people. pic.twitter.com/EHMJGylKYW
The American first lady is currently on a four-day trip to Romania and Slovakia, which is meant to show US support for Ukrainian refugees.
On Sunday, which is Mother’s Day in the US, Biden will travel to the Slovakia-Ukraine border to meet with Ukrainian mothers and children who were forced to leave their country after the Russian invasion.
The director of the Central Intelligence Agency, William Burns, was asked about the fears of Vladimir Putin using a nuclear weapon in frustration, as the Russian military has suffered setbacks in Ukraine.
Burns said today at a Washington event organised by the Financial Times:
We stay very sharply focused as an intelligence service, as I know our counterparts and allied countries do on those possibilities, at a moment when the stakes are very high for Putin’s Russia.
And those risks in the second phase of the conflict are serious and shouldn’t be underestimated. But we don’t see practical evidence of preparations for that at this stage.
Celebrity chef José Andrés said his organization, World Central Kitchen, has opened a new warehouse in Dnipro to help feed families affected by the war in Ukraine.
Andrés’ team is compiling 15 kilo food bundles for families to cook with and distributing the packages across the region, particularly to areas near the frontlines where it is more difficult to access food.
Since the start of the Russian invasion in February, Dnipro has become “a logistical hub for humanitarian aid and a reception point for people fleeing the war in the Donbas and other parts of the country”, NPR wrote in March.
Our new @WCKitchen warehouse is up and running in Dnipro in Ukraine! The team is creating 30 pound food bundles for families to cook with…They are distributed across the region—especially to villages near the front lines that don’t have reliable access to food! #ChefsForUkraine pic.twitter.com/qzRe2oLDGD
— José Andrés (@chefjoseandres) May 7, 2022
Updated
Michael McFaul, the former US ambassador to Russia under Barack Obama, has called on diplomats in Moscow to avoid the country’s 9 May Victory Day celebrations.
McFaul said any ambassador who opposes “annexation, imperialism, and Putin’s horrific, unjustified invasion of Ukraine” should not attend the parade on Red Square planned for Monday.
I assume all ambassadors from countries that are against annexation, imperialism, and Putin's horrific, unjustified invasion of Ukraine will not attend the May 9th parade on Red Square.
— Michael McFaul (@McFaul) May 7, 2022
McFaul’s message comes as Russia tries to take the last stronghold in Mariupol, the besieged steel plant, in time for the 9 May celebrations.
The Guardian’s Moscow correspondent, Andrew Roth, wrote about how Putin faces an array of dangerous options in Ukraine as Victory Day approaches:
Updated
Now that all women and children have been evacuated from Mariupol’s besieged steel plant, attention has turned to the Ukrainian fighters still trying to defend the site.
Hundreds of soldiers remain at the plant, and the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said on Friday that his government was working on a diplomatic effort to save those still there.
The fighters have insisted they will not surrender, but officials fear they will come under increased attack in the coming days as Russia tries to take the last remaining Mariupol stronghold in time for the country’s 9 May Victory Day celebrations.
The wives of at least two Ukrainian fighters still at the plant have been in Rome, begging for the international community to rescue the trapped soldiers.
One of the wives, Kateryna Prokopenko, told the Associated Press on Thursday:
Assault continues. Many dead and new injured ... They are waiting for the evacuation operation from Europe, or they will all die.
Updated
Observer columnist Nick Cohen argues that Rupert Murdoch should face sanctions over Fox News’ promotion of Russian propaganda:
If the west could find the courage, it would order an immediate freeze of Rupert Murdoch’s assets. His Fox News presenters and Russia’s propagandists are so intermeshed that separating the two is as impossible as unbaking a cake.
On Russian state news, as on Fox, bawling ideologues scream threats then whine about their victimhood as they incite anger and self-pity in equal measures. Its arguments range from the appropriation of anti-fascism by Greater Russian imperialists – the 40 countries supporting Ukraine were “today’s collective Hitler”, viewers were told last week – to the apocalyptic delirium of the boss of RT (Russia Today) Margarita Simonyan. Nuclear war is my “horror”, she shuddered, “but we will go to heaven, while they will simply croak”.
Russia would never give genuine western journalists airtime. But it can always find a slot for its favourite quisling: Fox News’s Tucker Carlson. He pushes out Russian propaganda lines or perhaps creates his own lies for Russia to use. Ukraine, not Russia, is the real tyranny. Nato provoked poor Vladimir Putin. The west is plotting to use biological weapons.
Murdoch is boosting Russian morale and, conversely, undermining Ukrainian resolve by supplying a dictatorship with foreign validation. Do not underestimate its importance.
WHO gathers evidence for Russia's possible war crimes
During the World Health Organization press conference in Kyiv today, officials indicated they are gathering evidence for potential war crimes committed by Russia, Reuters reports.
The WHO emergencies director, Mike Ryan, said the agency has already documented 200 attacks on hospitals and clinics in Ukraine, which could violate international law.
Ryan said:
Intentional attacks on healthcare facilities are a breach of international humanitarian law and as such – based on investigation and attribution of the attack – represent war crimes in any situation. ...
We continue to document and bear witness to these attacks ... and we trust that the U.N. system and the International Criminal Court and others will take the necessary investigations in order to assess the criminal intent behind these attacks.
Russia has denied past accusations of committing war crimes or targeting civilians in Ukraine, but those denials have been met with increasing scepticism from western officials.
The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said Thursday that Russian troops have already destroyed or damaged nearly 400 healthcare institutions in the country.
Updated
The speaker of the US House, Nancy Pelosi, was asked about the request from Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, for the Biden administration to designate Russia as a state sponsor of terror.
Appearing on the network MSNBC yesterday, Pelosi said:
I’ve been advocating that for a while. If Russia is not listed as a state sponsor of terrorism, tear up the list. ... You have a president of a country who has turned his own soldiers into such acts of violence.
Pelosi, a Democrat, also discussed her recent trip to Ukraine, where she met Zelenskiy:
We brought our admiration and commendation to the people of Ukraine for their courage and fighting for democracy because that’s what this fight is about.
Updated
Putin’s choices filled with peril on eve of Victory Day parade
On the brink of its May 9 Victory Day celebrations, Russia looks very far from triumph in its war in Ukraine. And all of its options going forward are fraught with danger.
After a disastrous assault on Kyiv, Russia is engaged in an attempt to take territory in Ukraine’s east, as its military nears exhaustion and sanctions continue to escalate.
“With the current force that they have, the push that they’re attempting now is all that they have left,” said Jeffrey Edmonds, former director for Russia on the US national security council and senior analyst at the CNA thinktank.
“Militaries just don’t recover that quickly from such a devastating loss. And given how effective the Ukrainians have been with our support, I just don’t think they’re going to be able to achieve their objectives within the coming weeks. And the coming weeks are going to be the telltale of where this is going.”
Facing setbacks, officials have suggested that Vladimir Putin may use the May 9 holiday to repackage the war in Ukraine. Dramatic options include escalation through a formal declaration of war or general mobilisation – or de-escalating by proclaiming victory.
Updated
The director general of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, sent a message of solidarity with the Ukrainian people as they confront Russia’s attacks.
Speaking from the government media center in Kyiv today, Tedros said:
My message to all the people of Ukraine is this: WHO stands by you.
The WHO emergencies director, Mike Ryan, said that the organisation has documented 200 attacks on healthcare facilities in Ukraine and would share its findings with those investigating potential crimes committed in the war.
Updated
The Ukrainian foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, said he spoke to his counterpart in Angola about how the war against Russia is affecting global food security.
Kuleba said on Twitter that he and Tete Antonio discussed “steps to develop trade” and “the need to fully unblock Ukraine’s food exports”.
Spoke with Angola's Foreign Minister Tete Antonio @amb_tete on our further cooperation within international organizations and steps to develop trade. We focused on ways to mitigate the impact of war on global food security and the need to fully unblock Ukraine’s food exports.
— Dmytro Kuleba (@DmytroKuleba) May 7, 2022
The Global Network Against Food Crises, an agency set up by the United Nations and the EU, issued a report on Tuesday warning that the war in Ukraine could exacerbate food insecurity around the world.
Countries that already face high levels of food insecurity – such as Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Somalia and Yemen – could be put in even more danger if the war drags on, considering many countries import wheat from Russia and Ukraine.
The report said:
Countries already coping with high levels of acute hunger are particularly vulnerable to (the war) due to their high dependency on imports of food and (their) vulnerability to global food price shocks.
Updated
The director of the Central Intelligence Agency, William Burns, has warned that Vladimir Putin is “doubling down” on the war in Ukraine, despite the global condemnation he has faced.
Speaking at a Financial Times event in Washington, Burns said:
He’s in a frame of mind in which he doesn’t believe he can afford to lose. I think he’s convinced right now that doubling down still will enable him to make progress.
Burns also expressed concern that the recent reports about the intelligence that the US has shared with Ukraine are “irresponsible” and “very risky,” as they could further enflame tensions with Russia.
Today so far...
The time in Kyiv is now 8pm. Here are the latest developments from today:
- All women, children and elderly people have been evacuated from Mariupol’s besieged steel plant, Ukraine’s deputy prime minister has said. Iryna Vereshchuk said the current state of the humanitarian operation in Azovstal has been completed.
- Several missiles hit the southern Ukrainian port city of Odesa, the regional administration’s spokesperson, Serhiy Bratchuk, said. The strikes hit the city after targets in the surrounding Odesa region had been hit by four missiles earlier in the day, Bratchuk said in televised remarks, without giving further detail about the new strikes.
- Two Russian missiles hit locations near the Russian border in Ukraine’s northern Sumy region today, local governor Dmytro Zhyvytskyi said. A border guard was wounded by the strikes on the Myropilske and Khotin municipalities, Zhyvytskyi wrote on Telegram.
-
The Ukrainian government has said that it has destroyed another Russian ship. The ministry of defence claimed that Ukrainian Bayraktar TB2 had hit the landing craft of the Serna project, tweeting: “The traditional parade of the Russian Black Sea fleet on May 9 this year will be held near Snake Island – at the bottom of the sea.” Associated Press said it had analysed satellite photos showing the aftermath of the strike.
- The International Committee of the Red Cross said it is hopeful that more civilians will be able to be evacuated from the besieged Azovstal steel plant in the Ukrainian city of Mariupol. Ukraine said 50 civilians were evacuated on Friday, but accused Russia of violating a ceasefire intended to allow dozens more still trapped at the plant to leave.
- The conflict in Ukraine is taking a “heavy toll” on some of Russia’s most capable units, the UK’s ministry of defence said in its latest intelligence report. At least one T-90M, Russia’s most advanced tank, has been destroyed in fighting, the ministry added. “It will take considerable time and expense for Russia to reconstitute its armed forces following this conflict,” the report said.
-
The UN security council has issued its first statement on the war in Ukraine, but withheld from using the words “war”, “conflict” or “invasion”.
The statement instead “expresses deep concern regarding the maintenance of peace and security of Ukraine” and voiced “strong support” for the secretary general, António Guterres, in seeking a peaceful solution to the “dispute”.
- Nearly four million Russians left the country in the first three months of 2022, official statistics published by Russia’s federal security service (FSB) show. Arrivals to former Soviet countries saw a significant spike after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on 24 February. It is unclear how many have since returned to their home country.
- Former US intelligence officers are advising their successors currently in office to shut up and stop boasting about their role in Ukraine’s military successes. Two stories surfaced in as many days in the American press this week, citing unnamed officials as saying that US intelligence was instrumental in the targeting of Russian generals on the battlefield and in the sinking of the Moskva flagship cruiser on the Black Sea.
- The latest US military aid package to Ukraine, announced by president Joe Biden on Friday, is worth $150m, the secretary of state, Antony Blinken, confirmed. The latest tranche of assistance includes 25,000 155mm artillery rounds, as well as counter-artillery radars, jamming equipment, field equipment and spare parts. It brings Washington’s military assistance to Kyiv since the Russian invasion began to around $3.8bn, Blinken said.
- The Group of Seven (G7) leaders will hold a video call on Sunday with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in a show of unity the day before Russia marks its Victory Day holiday, the White House said. Talks will focus on the latest developments in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, efforts to bolster the country and ways to demonstrate “continued G7 unity in our collective response, including by imposing severe costs for Putin’s war”, a spokesperson for the White House said.
That’s it from me, Miranda, for today. Handing over now to Joan E Greve in Washington. Thanks for reading.
Jill Biden has met with Ukrainian refugees in Romania who shared their stories of escape with the US first lady, who told them: “We stand with you.”
After hearing from Svitlana Gollyak, a refugee from Kharkiv, and other women, Biden told them that “mothers will do anything for their children”, adding that they were “amazingly strong and resilient,” reports the Associated Press.
During a craft activity, Biden watched as children wrote messages on paper cutouts of their hands, with one young girl writing: “I want to return to my father”.
Biden later told reporters that her words were “heartbreaking.”
She is on the second day of a four-day trip to Romania and Slovakia intended to show US support for Ukrainian refugees.
All women, children and elderly evacuated from besieged steel plant in Mariupol
All women, children and elderly people have been evacuated from Mariupol’s besieged steel plant, Ukraine’s deputy prime minister has said.
Iryna Vereshchuk said the current state of the humanitarian operation in Azovstal has been completed.
“This part of the Mariupol humanitarian operation is over,” she wrote on Telegram on Saturday.
It comes after Ukraine announced an evacuation plan for the plant and other parts of the city on Friday.
Earlier, Russian-backed separatists in the Donetsk region said that 50 civilians had been evacuated.
Updated
William Burns, the CIA director, has been talking in Washington about the recent leaks in the US press about the role of US intelligence in the targeting of Russian generals in Ukraine and the sinking of the warship Moskva.
He is clearly not happy about it.
I absolutely agree it is irresponsible. It’s very risky. It’s dangerous when people talk too much, whether it’s leaking in private or talking in public about specific intelligence issues.
Russia continues assault on Mariupol steelworks, says Ukraine
Ukraine’s military command has said that Russia is continuing its assault on the Azovstal steelworks in Mariupol.
“With the support of artillery and tank fire, (the enemy) is continuing storming actions,” they wrote in an evening Facebook briefing.
Ukraine said many civilians remain trapped at the plant alongside Ukrainian troops, reports Reuters.
It comes after Russia’s Interfax news agency reported that Moscow-backed separatists in the Donetsk region said an additional 50 people had been evacuated.
But by 4pm GMT, Reuters reports that its journalists had not seen any sign of their arrival at a reception centre near Mariupol.
Updated
50 more civilians evacuated from Mariupol steelworks, pro-Russian forces say
An additional 50 people have been evacuated from the besieged steelworks in Mariupol, pro-Russian forces have said.
The defence headquarters of Russian-backed Donetsk separatists said on Telegram that a total of 176 civilians have now been evacuated from Azovstal, reports Reuters, who could not immediately verify the claim.
It comes after about 50 civilians were moved from the plant on Friday to a nearby reception centre in territory held by the separatists and dozens of civilians were evacuated last weekend.
“Today, May 7, 50 people were evacuated from the territory of the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol,” the separatists said.
Russia’s most senior lawmaker accused Washington of coordinating military operations in Ukraine, which he said amounted to the US “directly participating in military actions” against Russia, Reuters reports.
US officials have said the United States has provided intelligence to Ukraine to help counter the Russian assault, but have denied that this intelligence includes precise targeting data.
Vyacheslav Volodin, speaker of the lower house of parliament, the Duma, wrote on his Telegram channel:
Washington is essentially coordinating and developing military operations, thereby directly participating in military actions against our country.
Today so far...
It is 5.15pm in Kyiv. Here’s where we stand:
- Several missiles hit the southern Ukrainian port city of Odesa, the regional administration’s spokesperson, Serhiy Bratchuk, said. The strikes hit the city after targets in the surrounding Odesa region had been hit by four missiles earlier in the day, Bratchuk said in televised remarks, without giving further detail about the new strikes.
- Two Russian missiles hit locations near the Russian border in Ukraine’s northern Sumy region today, local governor Dmytro Zhyvytskyi said. A border guard was wounded by the strikes on the Myropilske and Khotin municipalities, Zhyvytskyi wrote on Telegram.
-
The Ukrainian government has said that it has destroyed another Russian ship. The ministry of defence claimed that Ukrainian Bayraktar TB2 had hit the landing craft of the Serna project, tweeting: “The traditional parade of the Russian Black Sea fleet on May 9 this year will be held near Snake Island – at the bottom of the sea.” Associated Press said it had analysed satellite photos showing the aftermath of the strike.
- The International Committee of the Red Cross said it is hopeful that more civilians will be able to be evacuated from the besieged Azovstal steel plant in the Ukrainian city of Mariupol. Ukraine said 50 civilians were evacuated on Friday, but accused Russia of violating a ceasefire intended to allow dozens more still trapped at the plant to leave.
- The conflict in Ukraine is taking a “heavy toll” on some of Russia’s most capable units, the UK’s ministry of defence said in its latest intelligence report. At least one T-90M, Russia’s most advanced tank, has been destroyed in fighting, the ministry added. “It will take considerable time and expense for Russia to reconstitute its armed forces following this conflict,” the report said.
-
The UN security council has issued its first statement on the war in Ukraine, but withheld from using the words “war”, “conflict” or “invasion”.
The statement instead “expresses deep concern regarding the maintenance of peace and security of Ukraine” and voiced “strong support” for the secretary general, António Guterres, in seeking a peaceful solution to the “dispute”.
- Nearly four million Russians left the country in the first three months of 2022, official statistics published by Russia’s federal security service (FSB) show. Arrivals to former Soviet countries saw a significant spike after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on 24 February. It is unclear how many have since returned to their home country.
- Former US intelligence officers are advising their successors currently in office to shut up and stop boasting about their role in Ukraine’s military successes. Two stories surfaced in as many days in the American press this week, citing unnamed officials as saying that US intelligence was instrumental in the targeting of Russian generals on the battlefield and in the sinking of the Moskva flagship cruiser on the Black Sea.
- The latest US military aid package to Ukraine, announced by president Joe Biden on Friday, is worth $150m, the secretary of state, Antony Blinken, confirmed. The latest tranche of assistance includes 25,000 155mm artillery rounds, as well as counter-artillery radars, jamming equipment, field equipment and spare parts. It brings Washington’s military assistance to Kyiv since the Russian invasion began to around $3.8bn, Blinken said.
- The Group of Seven (G7) leaders will hold a video call on Sunday with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in a show of unity the day before Russia marks its Victory Day holiday, the White House said. Talks will focus on the latest developments in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, efforts to bolster the country and ways to demonstrate “continued G7 unity in our collective response, including by imposing severe costs for Putin’s war”, a spokesperson for the White House said.
Good afternoon from London. It’s Léonie Chao-Fong with you with all the latest news from the war in Ukraine. Feel free to get in touch on Twitter or via email.
Updated
Russian shelling destroyed a museum dedicated to the 18th century philosopher and poet, Hryhoriy Skovoroda, in the Ukrainian village of Skovorodynivka, Kharkiv regional governor Oleh Sinegubov said.
Overnight shelling struck the roof of the Hryhoriy Skovoroda Literary Memorial Museum, injuring a staff member, causing a fire that destroyed the building, Sinegubov said in a post on social media, adding:
The premises were practically all destroyed.
The most valuable items in the museum had been moved earlier to a safer place, Sinegubov said.
Skovoroda, a famous philosopher and poet of Ukraine Cossack origin, spent the last years of his life on an estate of the local landowners in the village of Ivanovka, which was later renamed in his honour – Skovorodynivka, Reuters reports.
Sinegubov continued:
This year marks the 300th anniversary of the great philosopher’s birth.
The occupiers can destroy the museum where Hryhoriy Skovoroda worked for the last years of his life and where he was buried. But they will not destroy our memory and our values.
The head of Ukraine’s negotiating team, Mykhailo Podolyak, a key adviser to President Zelenskiy, said more people would be interested in Skovoroda’s philosophy and visit the museum after its restoration.
Podolyak tweeted:
Boards and bricks may be destroyed, but not ideas.
H. Skovoroda is known not only in 🇺🇦, but also worldwide. More people will be interested in his philosophy and visit his museum after restoration. Boards and bricks may be destroyed, but not ideas. No one has done more to promote 🇺🇦 culture than the Kremlin's "strategists". pic.twitter.com/oD1v7MYlk7
— Михайло Подоляк (@Podolyak_M) May 7, 2022
Updated
Two Russian missiles hit locations near the Russian border in Ukraine’s northern Sumy region today, local governor Dmytro Zhyvytskyi said.
A border guard was wounded by the strikes on the Myropilske and Khotin municipalities, Zhyvytskyi wrote on Telegram.
Russian forces fully withdrew from Sumy region in early April after advancing into parts of the region at the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Reuters reports. It was not able to immediately confirm details of the report.
“It’s heaviest of all for the boys,” says Irina as she watches her son, Denys, play one-twos with a new teammate on an artificial surface in Warsaw’s northern suburbs.
“His father isn’t here, and his older brother joined the army. It’s just the two of us. The language barrier is hard for me, but I’m willing to go through all the difficulties. Everything we’re doing now” – she motions to a fellow Ukrainian mother, standing along the touchline – “is for the sake of our children’s future.”
Denys is one of nine young Ukrainian footballers given a place to play by Turbo Academy, one of the most highly regarded setups in Poland. Most are 13 or 14; they held genuine hope of careers in the game before Russia invaded their country and, while safety was the primary consideration upon leaving, maintaining their prospects was a vital factor too. Football has virtually ground to a halt while Ukraine is defended but Turbo are among numerous clubs in Europe trying to help its budding stars.
“Back home, our boys would put football before everything else,” Irina says. “But now our house has been destroyed, the pitches bombed, and there is no way they can stay. Here, they are being given a chance.”
Most of Turbo’s intake are from the academy of the second-tier club FK Kramatorsk, 50 miles north of Donetsk in Ukraine’s intensely troubled east. Irina and Denys were exceptions: they had, in fact, moved to Kyiv shortly before the invasion. Denys was ready to join Shakhtar’s youth setup, which is based there, when life turned upside down. On 25 March the youngsters arrived, six with their mothers, at the Polish border town of Medyka. Turbo’s goalkeeping coach, Grzegorz Jedrzejewski, had learned from a contact that a group of Ukrainian players were looking to leave. With help from the Polish Football Association, he arranged for a bus to collect them.
“We’d been waiting for a week to find out when they were coming,” Jedrzejewski says. “They had been sheltering in basements, but then they decided the time was right to leave because of all the bombs, and I got the call. They travelled from Kramatorsk to Kyiv, then on to Medyka. I waited at the border, at night, shouting out names from a list. It was a group of people who had no idea what they would be doing from one day to the next. Only when I got there did I fully understand what Putin has done.”
Updated
Russian missile strikes reported in Odesa
Several missiles hit the southern Ukrainian port city of Odesa, the regional administration’s spokesperson, Serhiy Bratchuk, said.
The strikes hit the city after targets in the surrounding Odesa region had been hit by four missiles earlier in the day, Bratchuk said in televised remarks.
He did not give further detail about the new strikes, saying that the facts were still being established.
From Ukrainian MP, Lesia Vasylenko:
#Odesa skies are black all morning. Missile and rocket attacks are basically ongoing. #Ukraine anti air strike systems have a lot of work today pic.twitter.com/Ghm8moT0Dc
— Lesia Vasylenko (@lesiavasylenko) May 7, 2022
Ukrainian journalist Olga Tokariuk said Russian forces were intensifying their attacks ahead of 9 May, Russia’s Victory Day commemorating the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany in the second world war.
Hello from the basement again! Air raid alerts across all of Ukraine's territory. Russian missile strikes reported in Odesa. As predicted, Russians intensify attacks from air ahead of May 9. Whatever importance that date held before, Russia completely discredited it
— Olga Tokariuk (@olgatokariuk) May 7, 2022
Ukraine’s regional military administration said Russia fired four missiles at Odesa earlier today, writing:
The enemy continues not only the physical destruction of the region’s infrastructure, but also the psychological pressure on the civilian population
There were no casualties from the missile strikes, it said.
The Guardian has not been able to confirm the details of the report.
Updated
The International Committee of the Red Cross said it is hopeful that more civilians will be able to be evacuated from the besieged Azovstal steel plant in the Ukrainian city of Mariupol.
The Red Cross and United Nations have been working to get civilians out from the Azovstal plant, where an estimated 200 civilians along with Ukrainian fighters have been holed up for weeks.
Ukraine said 50 civilians were evacuated on Friday, but accused Russia of violating a ceasefire intended to allow dozens more still trapped at the plant to leave.
In an interview with Swiss newspaper Neue Zürcher Zeitung, Dominik Stillhart, the ICRC’s director of operations, said:
Experience shows that a successful action helps further evacuations because now both sides have seen that it works. We hope that we can now build on this minimum of trust.
He said it was “extremely frustrating” that it took weeks of painstaking work to get Russian and Ukrainian authorities on board and to organise the logistic details for evacuations out of the southern port city.
He added:
You know the pictures from Mariupol: such apocalyptic scenarios could also threaten other cities, such as Zaporizhzhia, Kramatorsk or Odesa.
In talks with the parties to the conflict, we express our concern about this kind of warfare. Unfortunately, I see no reason to hope that this conflict will soon be over.
Updated
Ukrainian government claims to have destroyed another Russian ship
The Ukrainian government has said that it has destroyed another Russian ship.
The ministry of defence claimed that Ukrainian Bayraktar TB2 had hit the landing craft of the Serna project, tweeting: “The traditional parade of the Russian Black Sea fleet on May 9 this year will be held near Snake Island - at the bottom of the sea.”
Ukrainian Bayraktar TB2 destroyed another Russian ship. This time the landing craft of the "Serna" project. The traditional parade of the russian Black Sea fleet on May 9 this year will be held near Snake Island - at the bottom of the sea. pic.twitter.com/WYEPywmAwX
— Defence of Ukraine (@DefenceU) May 7, 2022
Pro-Russian separatists in Moldova claim they were hit four times by suspected drones overnight near the Ukrainian border.
The interior ministry of Transdniestria released photos of craters it claimed had been created by the strikes and said nobody had been injured.
It comes after nearly two weeks of similar reported incidents in the Transdniestria breakaway region, raising alarm internationally that Russia’s war in Ukraine could spread.
Russian forces have held a dress rehearsal for a planned military parade to commemorate Victory Day in Moscow on Monday.
An RS-24 Yars intercontinental ballistic missile rolled through Red Square as part of the rehearsal, while warplanes and helicopters flew overhead, troops marched in formation and artillery vehicles drove by.
The holiday traditionally marks the defeat of Nazi Germany during the second world war, but this year many Russians will be thinking about their troops in Ukraine, reports the Associated Press.
G7 leaders, including the US president, Joe Biden, plan to hold a video call on Sunday with the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, ahead of the holiday in a show of unity, the White House has said.
Updated
Jill Biden has praised the Romanian government and aid organisations for their help for Ukrainians during a visit to Bucharest – but warned that it was “just the beginning”.
The US first lady made the stark assessment following a briefing at the US embassy, where she was told that Romania had received nearly 900,000 refugees since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Saturday marked the second day of a four-day trip to Romania and Slovakia intended to show US support for Ukrainian refugees.
“It’s amazing. It’s solidarity here in Romania that you’re all working together,” she said. “I think this is really, unfortunately, just the beginning. Just the beginning.”
During the visit she also asked about mental health services and summer schools for students, the Associated Press reports.
“The Romanian people are amazing, to welcome all these refugees into their homes and offer them food and clothing and shelter and give them their hearts,” she added. “I think the world knows that.”
Updated
US president Joe Biden has announced another package of military assistance for Ukraine as dozens of civilians were evacuated from Mariupol’s besieged steelworks, the last pocket of resistance against Russian troops in the pulverised port city.
Worth $150m, the latest US security assistance for the “brave people of Ukraine” would include artillery munitions and radars, Biden said. A senior US official said it included counter-artillery radars used for detecting the source of enemy fire, and electronic jamming equipment.
Friday’s new batch brings the total value of US weaponry sent to Ukraine since the invasion began to $3.8bn (£3bn) – and the president urged Congress to further approve a huge $33bn package including $20bn in military aid, “to strengthen Ukraine on the battlefield and at the negotiating table”.
Biden and leaders of other G7 nations will hold a virtual summit with Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, on Sunday. They are expected to discuss western support for Kyiv in its struggle against Russian president Vladimir Putin’s invasion.
It comes as the UN security council issued its first statement on the war in Ukraine, but withheld from using the words “war”, “conflict” or “invasion”.
The statement instead “expresses deep concern regarding the maintenance of peace and security of Ukraine” and voiced “strong support” for teh UN secretary general, António Guterres, in seeking a peaceful solution to the “dispute”.
“The security council expresses deep concern regarding the maintenance of peace and security of Ukraine,” read the statement released on Friday night. Russia, which has a veto in the council, has stymied all prior bids to adopt a statement on Ukraine.
Updated
The video was a terrible way for Vadim Yevdokimenko to find out that his father had been murdered. Alexei had been missing for weeks, since he went out in early March to scavenge firewood for cooking in their shattered, Russian-occupied town of Bucha.
Yevdokimenko and his mother, Lilia, clung to a fading hope that he might have been captured and taken across the border, and that he would return in a prisoner exchange – the fate of some Ukrainian men.
But this week the 20-year-old student barber spotted his father’s face in footage of Ukrainians tortured and murdered during the occupation. The only solace the family can reach for now is giving Alexei a decent burial, but they cannot find his body.
So they had come to wait outside a white tent set up in the grounds of Bucha hospital, where French forensic investigators were swabbing a queue of quietly desperate people for their DNA, to see if any of them have relatives lying in the nearby morgue.
After weeks of exhumations, the morgue holds more than 200 bodies that have not been identified. Some were buried without documents and are waiting to be claimed, but many are too disfigured by their deaths, or their treatment after death, to be identified by sight.
“This is the first time we have done this. At first we didn’t know how many people would come,” said Andrei Turbar, the deputy prosecutor for Bucha district, as dozens of relatives filled in forms and waited for their tests. The crowd underlined how many people are missing in just one small suburban town outside Kyiv.
Ukrainians who saw their loved ones killed or have collected their bodies for burial are grappling with terrible grief. But thousands more are dealing with a loss compounded by the agony of uncertainty.
Some are searching for children or parents, a spouse or siblings who went missing when the Russians were slaughtering civilians. Others got bad news from a friend or an image online, but have not been able to find the remains of the person they loved.
A Ukrainian drone strike reportedly hit Russian positions on Snake Island, 186 miles (300km) west of Crimea, on Friday.
Associated Press said it had analysed satellite photos showing the aftermath of the strike, without giving further details.
Satellite photos analyzed by the @AP from @planet show the aftermath of a suspected Ukrainian drone strike Friday on Russian positions on Snake Island, with thick black smoke rising overhead. The Ukrainian military has been publishing videos of strikes there. pic.twitter.com/UD05siiusQ
— Jon Gambrell | جون (@jongambrellAP) May 7, 2022
Some 50 people were evacuated from the besieged Azovstal steel plant in the Ukrainian city of Mariupol, Russia’s Interfax news agency cited the territorial defence headquarters of the self-declared Donetsk People’s Republic, the so-called separatist region backed and recognised by Russia.
Around 50 civilians had been evacuated yesterday to a reception centre in the village of Bezimenne in an area of Donetsk under the control of Russia-backed separatists about 30km east of Mariupol.
Nearly four million Russians left the country in the first three months of 2022, official statistics published by Russia’s federal security service (FSB) show.
A total of 3,880,679 Russians travelled between January and March, according to the figures. It is unclear how many have since returned to their home country.
Arrivals to former Soviet countries saw a significant spike after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on 24 February. Russians who left the country out of opposition to the war were joined by those escaping rumoured border closures, martial law and mass mobilisation that have so far not materialised, the Moscow Times reports.
Georgia took in 38,281 Russians in the first quarter of 2022, the FSB said, a nearly fivefold increase from the 8,504 Russians accepted over the same time last year.
Tajikistan also saw a nearly fivefold increase in Russian arrivals, from 8,857 in January-March 2021 to 40,054 in the same time period this year.
Estonia saw a fourfold increase (125,426) compared with last year (29,364). Fellow Baltic states Latvia (25,568 compared with 13,521) and Lithuania (48,197 compared with 41,838) saw slight increases.
Armenia saw a threefold jump of 134,129 from 44,586 over the same time last year. Uzbekistan saw a similar threefold at 53,084 this year compared with 15,206 in 2021.
The number of Russians arriving in Kazakhstan doubled to 204,947 in January-March 2022 from 122,330.
There was a slight increase in the number of Russians travelling to Ukraine – 328,435, up from 316,286 in January-March 2021.
Updated
Russia’s defence ministry said its troops destroyed a large stockpile of military equipment from the US and European countries near the Bohodukhiv railway station in Ukraine’s Kharkiv region.
The ministry said it had hit 18 Ukrainian military facilities overnight, including three ammunition depots in Dachne, near the port city of Odesa.
US intelligence told to keep quiet over role in Ukraine military triumphs
Former US intelligence officers are advising their successors currently in office to shut up and stop boasting about their role in Ukraine’s military successes.
Two stories surfaced in as many days in the American press this week, citing unnamed officials as saying that US intelligence was instrumental in the targeting of Russian generals on the battlefield and in the sinking of the Moskva flagship cruiser on the Black Sea.
The initial report in the New York Times on Wednesday about the generals was partially denied by the White House, which said that while the US shares intelligence with Ukrainian forces, it was not specifically shared with the intent to kill Russian general officers.
The next day, NBC, the New York Times and the Washington Post all quoted officials as saying that US intelligence had helped Ukraine hit the Moskva with anti-ship missiles last month, making it the biggest Russian ship to be sunk since the second world war.
As a general rule, espionage is carried out in secret, though western intelligence agencies have turned that rule on its head over the past few months by going public with what they knew about Russian preparations for invasion, and then with daily reports on the battlefield and from behind Russian lines.
The new disclosures are different however, as they concern what the US espionage agencies themselves have been doing, rather than commenting on the state of the war.
In both cases, the US was claiming a hand in historic humiliations for Moscow and for Vladimir Putin, triggering warnings of unintended consequences.
Paul Pillar, a former senior CIA official, said: “My personal view is it’s unwise. I am surprised at the extent of official confirmation of the role of US intelligence in the sinking of the Moskva, and even more so the killing of the generals.
“The big concern is that this sort of public confirmation of this extensive US role in the setbacks dealt to the Russians may provoke Putin into escalation in a way that he might not otherwise feel it necessary to escalate.”
• This post was amended on 9 May 2022 to correct a mistranscription in the quote from Paul Pillar; he referred to the “sinking of the Moskva”, not “sinking into Moscow” as a previous version had it.
Updated
Russian forces have blown up three bridges to slow a Ukrainian counter-offensive in the north-east, according to Ukraine’s military.
In its operation update this morning, Ukraine’s armed forces said in the area of Tsyrkuny and Rusky Tyshky, near Kharkiv:
The occupiers blew up three road bridges in order to slow down the counter-offensive actions of the Defense Forces of Ukraine.
Updated
“They were tears of happiness at first,” says 23-year-old Oksana Balandina of her first dance with her new husband, captured on video by a nurse and now shared across the world.
Six weeks ago, Oksana stood on a mine as she was returning home with her then partner, Viktor Vasyliv, also 23, after venturing out to collect some supplies for elderly neighbours on their street in Lysychansk, an east Ukrainian town on the frontline of the war with Russia.
Oksana, a paediatric nurse, and mother of Diana, 5, and Illia, 7, was, according to medics, fortunate to survive the blast, but she lost both her legs and four fingers on her left hand. Since then she has had moments of utter despair, screaming out that she wants to die, says Viktor, a carpenter, as he crouches by her wheelchair.
Today, however, drinking a takeaway coffee and taking in the sun outside Lviv’s municipal hospital, Oksana – quick to smile – says she feels stronger and grateful, as she dusts some tree blossom off her husband’s cheek.
In part, she says, that is due to an outpouring of support from strangers around the world touched by that moment two weeks ago in the hospital ward when her husband gently lifted his bride, dressed in white, and held her tight as she buried her face in his shoulder and they swayed to tinny music playing on a laptop.
Oksana posted the video on the social media site TikTok and she has since put up other short pieces of film of her trying to keep fit to music since the incident. They have been viewed many thousands of times, provoking the vital comments of support that Viktor says his wife has so treasured during these hard weeks.
“The dance was a complete surprise,” she says. “We had come back to the hospital from the registry office and Natalia and Olesia [hospital volunteers] had brought a dress and a laptop for music. Natalia said, ‘What kind of wedding is that without a dance?’”
“It was pure joy and happiness,” she adds of her response to Viktor picking her up. “But then the realisation came. It’s not how I wanted my first dance to be.”
Updated
Summary so far
Before I hand you over to my colleague in London, Léonie Chao-Fong, here are some of the key developments from overnight.
-
The conflict in Ukraine is taking a “heavy toll” on some of Russia’s most capable units, the UK’s ministry of defence said in its latest intelligence report. At least one T-90M, Russia’s most advanced tank, has been destroyed in fighting, the ministry added. “It will take considerable time and expense for Russia to reconstitute its armed forces following this conflict,” the report said.
- The UN security council has issued its first statement on the war in Ukraine, but withheld from using the words “war”, “conflict” or “invasion”. The statement instead “expresses deep concern regarding the maintenance of peace and security of Ukraine” and voiced “strong support” for the secretary general, António Guterres, in seeking a peaceful solution to the “dispute”.
- Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said the southern port city of Mariupol is “an example of torture and starvation used as a weapon of war”. In an address to Chatham House, he said he was “elected as president of Ukraine and not a mini-Ukraine”, and that Russia must first fall back to the territory it held before its invasion on 23 February if peace talks are to succeed. He also accused Russia of “outright nuclear blackmail” during the speech.
- The latest US military aid package to Ukraine, announced by president Joe Biden on Friday, is worth $150m, the secretary of state, Antony Blinken, confirmed. The latest tranche of assistance includes 25,000 155mm artillery rounds, as well as counter-artillery radars, jamming equipment, field equipment and spare parts. It brings Washington’s military assistance to Kyiv since the Russian invasion began to around $3.8bn, Blinken said.
- Evacuation operations are continuing from the besieged southern city of Mariupol with 40 civilians rescued on Friday, Zelenskiy confirmed in his latest national address.
- Three evacuation buses left the besieged Azovstal steel plant in the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol on Friday, according to Russian media reports. Buses carrying 25 civilians including children were brought out from the plant to a camp in the Russian-controlled town of Bezimenne. An estimated 200 civilians, along with Ukrainian resistance fighters, remained trapped in underground refuges at the huge industrial complex.
- 41 Ukrainian soldiers and civilians captured by Russia, among them 11 women and a cleric, have been freed in a new prisoner exchange, deputy prime minister Iryna Vereshchuk said in a statement on Telegram Friday.
- The Group of Seven (G7) leaders including the US president, Joe Biden, will hold a video call on Sunday with Volodymyr Zelenskiy in a show of unity the day before Russia marks its Victory Day holiday, the White House said.
- Germany will also send seven self-propelled howitzers to Ukraine, on top of five artillery systems the Dutch government has already pledged, the German defence minister, Christine Lambrecht, said. The PzH 2000 is one of the most powerful artillery weapons in the Bundeswehr inventories and can hit targets at a distance of 40km (25 miles).
-
The UK government has said it will give Ukraine 287 mobile generators in addition to 569 generators it had donated earlier.
- US officials have said they shared information about the location of the Russian warship Moskva with Ukraine prior to its sinking last month, a fresh demonstration of the close intelligence support Kyiv is receiving from Washington. However, Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby deflected questions about whether the US provided information to Ukraine that helped military leaders target Russian generals, instead saying Ukraine “makes the decisions” when it comes to how they use US intel.
- Amnesty International said there was compelling evidence that Russian troops had committed war crimes in the Kyiv area in February and March as Ukrainians line up to take DNA tests to identify dead bodies in Bucha. A total of 10,257 alleged war crimes committed by Russian forces are currently under investigation, according to Ukraine’s prosecutor generals office.
- Italian officials have seized a yacht with ties to the Russian government and believed to belong to the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, according to a release from the Ministry of Economy and Finance on Friday.
You can also read our earlier summary here.
Updated
More than 10,000 alleged war crimes committed by Russian forces are currently under investigation, according to Ukraine’s prosecutor generals office.
A total of 10,257 cases have been logged and 223 children have died in Ukraine since Russia launched its invasion on 24 February, the office said in an update early this morning.
Another 633 children have reportedly been injured.
Updated
Ukrainians are taking DNA tests to identify dead bodies in Bucha, the Guardian’s Emma Graham-Harrison reports.
After weeks of exhumations, a morgue in Bucha holds more than 200 bodies that have not been identified. Some were buried without documents and are waiting to be claimed, but many are too disfigured by their deaths, or their treatment after death, to be identified by sight.
Ukrainians who saw their loved ones killed or have collected their bodies for burial are grappling with terrible grief. But thousands more are dealing with a loss compounded by the agony of uncertainty.
Some are searching for children or parents, a spouse or siblings who went missing when the Russians were slaughtering civilians. Others got bad news from a friend or an image online, but have not been able to find the remains of the person they loved.
So everyone lining up outside the tent in Bucha has come with the bleakest of hopes – to continue in limbo, confirm a death, or find a body they will be able to bury but not recognise.
Read the full story below.
A Moscow museum is chronicling Nato ‘cruelty’ with paintings of wounded children and grieving women lining the walls, according to a report from Agence France-Presse.
“Nato. A chronicle of cruelty” opened at the Museum of Contemporary Russian History in Moscow with displays dedicated to the history of Nato including the United States’ atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945, despite the western military alliance being founded only in 1949.
It also lists the bloc’s bombing of Yugoslavia in 1999, US-led wars in Iraq and Afghanistan as well as cooperation between Ukraine and Nato “that has led” to the current conflict, the news agency reports.
“Every time it’s difficult to talk about the crimes committed by Nato troops,” guide Yaroslav Polestrov, 46, told an AFP reporter.
Just days before Moscow’s annual military parade to mark the Soviet victory in World War II on May 9, the exhibition was reportedly well attended.
Lining the walls are photos of anti-Nato demonstrations in Europe and numerous photos of children in conflict zones, some visibly injured.
Guide Polestrov showed students a jumble of Ukrainian blue and yellow flags displayed next to a Nazi SS helmet and a US flag, with maps illustrating just how far into Russia Nato missiles can reach.
On the 1999 Nato bombings of Yugoslavia, he said: “Russia and China did not agree with... the decision made by (Bill) Clinton, President of the United States and criminals like him”.
“It is necessary that children, adolescents and even many adults see for themselves how rotten the Western world is,” two women, who signed their full names, wrote in a message seen by AFP.
Other visitors blasted Moscow’s narrative. “This exhibition is Soviet-style propaganda crap,” read one entry.
Images of evacuees from the Azovstal steel plant arriving to safety at a temporary accommodation centre in Bezimenne, eastern Ukraine, have just dropped on our newswires today.
War in Ukraine taking 'heavy toll' on Russian units, UK MoD says
The conflict in Ukraine is taking a “heavy toll” on some of Russia’s most capable units, the UK’s ministry of defence has said in its latest intelligence report.
At least one T-90M, Russia’s most advanced tank, has been destroyed in fighting, the ministry added. The T-90M was introduced in 2016 and includes improved armour, an upgraded gun and enhanced satellite navigation systems.
Approximately 100 T-90M tanks are currently in service amongst Russia’s best equipped units, including those fighting in Ukraine, British intelligence claimed adding that the system’s upgraded armour, designed to counter anti-tank weaponry, remains vulnerable if unsupported by other force elements.
The report continued:
The conflict in Ukraine is taking a heavy toll on some of Russia’s most capable units and most advanced capabilities.
It will take considerable time and expense for Russia to reconstitute its armed forces following this conflict.
It will be particularly challenging to replace modernised and advanced equipment due to sanctions restricting Russia’s access to critical microelectronic components.
Latest Defence Intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine - 07 May 2022
— Ministry of Defence 🇬🇧 (@DefenceHQ) May 7, 2022
Find out more about the UK government's response: https://t.co/cAYdsWHMvV
🇺🇦 #StandWithUkraine 🇺🇦 pic.twitter.com/4z2cRVCJpf
Updated
Taiwan has said it hopes that the world would sanction China like it is sanctioning Russia for its war on Ukraine if Beijing were to invade the island, Reuters is reporting.
Speaking to reporters in Taipei on Saturday, foreign minister Joseph Wu said it was important to stand with others in denouncing Russia’s invasion and sanctioning both Russia and Belarus.
In the future, if we are threatened with force by China, or are invaded, of course we hope the international community can understand and support Taiwan, and sanction these kinds of aggressive behaviours,” he said.
So Taiwan stands with the international community, and takes these actions,” Wu said, referring to the sanctions.
Taiwan has raised its alert level since the Ukraine war began, wary of China making a similar move, though the government in Taipei has reported no signs of an imminent Chinese attack.
China, which has not condemned Russia’s invasion, has dismissed any comparisons with Taiwan, saying it is not a country and merely a Chinese province, a view the democratically-elected government in Taipei strongly disputes.
Taiwan has joined in western-led sanctions on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine in moves that are largely symbolic given Taiwan’s minimal levels of direct trade with Russia.
Ukraine’s plight has won broad public sympathy in Taiwan due to what many people view as the parallels between what is happening in Ukraine and what could happen in Taiwan - an island China claims as its own.
Pentagon: US intel to Ukraine is 'legitimate, lawful, limited'
US officials have deflected questions that intelligence from the Pentagon helped Ukraine kill top Russian generals and sink the Moskva missile cruiser.
The US defence department’s spokesperson, John Kirby, held a press conference on Friday where he was asked about reports that the Pentagon has provided information with Ukrainian leaders to help them target and kill Russian generals.
US officials earlier confirmed that they shared information about the location of the Russian warship Moskva with Ukraine prior to its sinking last month but Kirby said it was Ukraine that “makes the decisions” when it comes to how it uses US intel and emphasised the importance of being careful when discussing intelligence-sharing with other countries.
Kirby told reporters:
We provide [Ukrainians] what we believe to be relevant and timely information about Russian units that could allow them to adjust and execute their self- defence to the best of their ability. ...
The Pentagon spokesperson also emphasised that other countries have provided Ukraine with information on Russian troop movements:
We are not the only sole source of intelligence and information to the Ukrainians. They get intelligence from other nations as well. And they have a pretty robust intelligence collection capability of their own. ...
And if they do decide to do something with that intelligence, then they make the decisions about acting on it....
The kind of intelligence that we provide them – it’s legitimate, it’s lawful, and it’s limited.”
Kirby also stressed that Ukraine combines intelligence from many countries and the US is “not the sole source of intelligence and information to the Ukrainians”.
The US has also been providing the location and other details of the Russian military’s mobile headquarters, which has allowed Ukraine to target them with artillery strikes, potentially disrupting the invaders’ command and control.
It is thought to be one reason why about a dozen Russian generals have been killed in the fighting so far, prompting a New York Times report this week with the headline “US Intelligence Is Helping Ukraine Kill Russian Generals, Officials Say” that was shut down by the Pentagon as “misleading”.
However, the fact that the US is willing to confirm it had at least some involvement shows how far Washington is willing to acknowledge its critical backseat role in the 10-week-long war, even at the risk of openly antagonising Moscow.
Updated
G7 to meet with Zelenskiy before Russia marks Victory Day
The Group of Seven (G7) leaders including US President Joe Biden will hold a video call on Sunday with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in a show of unity the day before Russia marks its Victory Day holiday, the White House said.
Talks will focus on the latest developments in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, efforts to bolster the country and ways to demonstrate “continued G7 unity in our collective response, including by imposing severe costs for Putin’s war,” a spokesperson for the White House’s National Security Council said on Monday.
The leaders of the G7 countries, which include the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Japan, Canada and Italy, will hold their virtual meeting with Zelenskiy on Sunday in the US morning, the spokesperson added.
Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One as Biden flew to Ohio for the day, Psaki said the timing of the session was significant because it will take place a day before Putin participates in Victory Day. The holiday on Monday marks the end of World War Two and includes military parades across Russia.
Psaki also said US officials are discussing imposing more sanctions on Russian oligarchs and companies as well as taking steps to avoid Russians previously sanctioned from evading them.
“I’ll be speaking with the members of the G7 this week about what we’re going to do or not do,” Biden told reporters this week.
UN omits words ‘war’ and ‘invasion' in first official statement
The UN Security Council earlier issued its first statement on the war in Ukraine, but withheld from using the words “war”, “conflict” or “invasion”.
The statement instead “expresses deep concern regarding the maintenance of peace and security of Ukraine” and voiced “strong support” for Secretary General Antonio Guterres in seeking a peaceful solution to the “dispute”.
“The Security Council expresses deep concern regarding the maintenance of peace and security of Ukraine,” it reads.
“The Security Council recalls that all Member States have undertaken, under the Charter of the United Nations, the obligation to settle their international disputes by peaceful means.”
I have authorized $150 million in additional U.S. arms, equipment, and supplies for Ukraine to reinforce its defenses to counter Russia’s offensive in the East. We stand #UnitedwithUkraine.
— Secretary Antony Blinken (@SecBlinken) May 6, 2022
“The Security Council expresses strong support for the efforts of the Secretary-General in the search for a peaceful solution.
Wielding veto power in the council, Russia has stymied all prior bids to adopt a statement on Ukraine.
Mexico’s UN ambassador, whose country helped draft the statement, was asked about criticism that it took two months to draft and merely supports the UN secretary general.
Juan Ramon De La Fuente told the Associated Press there has to be a start somewhere and is “a very first initial step but it points on the right direction”.
US announces $150m military aid package
The latest US military aid package to Ukraine, announced by president Joe Biden on Friday, is worth $150m, secretary of state Antony Blinken confirmed.
I have authorised $150 million in additional US arms, equipment, and supplies for Ukraine to reinforce its defences to counter Russia’s offensive in the East,” Blinken said.
The latest tranche of assistance includes 25,000 155mm artillery rounds, as well as counter-artillery radars, jamming equipment, field equipment and spare parts.
I have authorized $150 million in additional U.S. arms, equipment, and supplies for Ukraine to reinforce its defenses to counter Russia’s offensive in the East. We stand #UnitedwithUkraine.
— Secretary Antony Blinken (@SecBlinken) May 6, 2022
I am announcing another package of security assistance that will provide additional artillery munitions, radars, and other equipment to Ukraine,” Biden said in a statement.
“US support, together with the contributions of our Allies and partners, has been critical in helping Ukraine win the battle of Kyiv and hinder Putin’s war aims in Ukraine,” he added.
With the latest $150m US security aid package to Ukraine, Washington’s military assistance to Kyiv since the Russian invasion began has reached around $3.8bn, Blinken said.
Howitzer systems provided by the US have required training for Ukrainian soldiers, with about 220 servicemen having received training and 150 more currently being trained, Kirby added.
Today, the U.S. is continuing our strong support for the brave people of Ukraine as they defend their country. I am announcing another package of security assistance that will provide additional artillery munitions, radars, and other equipment to Ukraine. https://t.co/lpvJbFF9Q3
— President Biden (@POTUS) May 6, 2022
Summary
Hello, I’m Samantha Lock bringing you all the latest updates in the Russia-Ukraine war.
Here are some of the key developments in the past few hours:
- The UN Security Council has issued its first statement on the war in Ukraine, but withheld from using the words “war”, “conflict” or “invasion”. The statement instead “expresses deep concern regarding the maintenance of peace and security of Ukraine” and voiced “strong support” for secretary general Antonio Guterres in seeking a peaceful solution to the “dispute”.
- Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said the southern port city of Mariupol is “an example of torture and starvation used as a weapon of war”. In an address to Chatham House, he said he was “elected as president of Ukraine and not a mini-Ukraine”, and that Russia must first fall back to the territory it held before its invasion on 23 February if peace talks are to succeed. He also accused Russia of “outright nuclear blackmail” during the speech.
- The latest US military aid package to Ukraine, announced by president Joe Biden on Friday, is worth $150m, secretary of state Antony Blinken confirmed. The latest tranche of assistance includes 25,000 155mm artillery rounds, as well as counter-artillery radars, jamming equipment, field equipment and spare parts. It brings Washington’s military assistance to Kyiv since the Russian invasion began to around $3.8bn, Blinken said.
- Evacuation operations are continuing from the besieged southern city of Mariupol with 40 civilians rescued on Friday, Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskiy confirmed in his latest national address.
- Three evacuation buses left the besieged Azovstal steel plant in the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol on Friday, according to Russian media reports. Buses carrying 25 civilians including children were brought out from the plant to a camp in the Russian-controlled town of Bezimenne. An estimated 200 civilians, along with Ukrainian resistance fighters, remained trapped in underground refuges at the huge industrial complex.
-
41 Ukrainian soldiers and civilians captured by Russia, among them 11 women and a cleric, have been freed in a new prisoner exchange, Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said in a statement on Telegram Friday.
- Germany will also send seven self-propelled howitzers to Ukraine, on top of five artillery systems the Dutch government has already pledged, the German defence minister, Christine Lambrecht, said. The PzH 2000 is one of the most powerful artillery weapons in the Bundeswehr inventories and can hit targets at a distance of 40km (25 miles).
-
The UK government has said it will give Ukraine 287 mobile generators in addition to 569 generators it had donated earlier.
- US officials have said they shared information about the location of the Russian warship Moskva with Ukraine prior to its sinking last month, a fresh demonstration of the close intelligence support Kyiv is receiving from Washington. However, Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby deflected questions about whether the US provided information to Ukraine that helped military leaders target Russian generals, instead saying Ukraine “makes the decisions” when it comes to how they use US intel.
- Russia’s foreign ministry said it had summoned Britain’s ambassador to Russia, Deborah Bronnert, adding that it strongly protested in relation to new UK sanctions on Russian media. Russia would continue to react “harshly and decisively” to all sanctions imposed by the UK, the ministry said in a statement.
- Russian troops are attempting to encircle and storm Severodonetsk, the easternmost city in Ukraine held by Kyiv, a local official said. Severodonetsk’s capture would be a major gain for the Russian army which has refocused its efforts on taking the whole of the eastern Donbas region.
- Vladimir Putin will send a “doomsday” warning to the west when he leads celebrations on 9 May. On Russia’s Victory Day on Monday, a fly-past over St Basil’s Cathedral will include the Il-80 “doomsday” command plane, which would carry Russia’s top brass in the event of a nuclear war, Russia’s defence ministry said.
- Amnesty International said there was compelling evidence that Russian troops had committed war crimes in the Kyiv area in February and March. Civilians also suffered abuses such as “reckless shootings and torture” at the hands of Russian forces when they occupied an area outside Ukraine’s capital, including the town of Bucha, in the early stages of the invasion, the rights group said in a report.
- Italian officials have seized a yacht with ties to the Russian government and believed to belong to Russian president Vladimir Putin, according to a release from the Ministry of Economy and Finance on Friday.
Updated
