Ukraine-Russia war – live: Putin and Zelensky trade blows over nuclear plant attack ‘threats’

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has claimed Russian forces have mined the roof of several reactors at the Zaporizhia nuclear plant to make it appear Kyiv has attacked its own site.

Experts from the UN nuclear watchdog based at the plant, Europe’s largest, say they have seen no indications of explosives but that they need more access to be sure.

Troops had placed “objects resembling explosives on the roof of several power units”, Mr Zelensky said.

But Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: “There is a great threat of sabotage by the Kyiv regime, which can be catastrophic in its consequences.”

International Atomic Energy Agency director general Rafael Mariano Grossi said he was aware of both Kyiv’s and Moscow’s claims and reiterated that “nuclear power plants should never, under any circumstances, be attacked”.

Earlier, the Ministry of Defence said Vladimir Putin’s ‘General Armageddon’ has now been missing for 10 days.

General Sergei Surovikin, deputy commander of Russia’s forces in Ukraine, has not been seen in public since , since the Wagner Group mutiny, the ministry confirmed.

“Reports of Surovikin’s arrest cannot be confirmed, but authorities will likely be suspicious of his long association with Wagner,” it said.

Key Points

• Ukraine and Russia trade accusations of imminent attack on Europe's largest nuclear plant

• Putin’s ‘General Armageddon’ missing for over 10 days now, says UK MoD

• Russian forces placing explosive-like objects on roof of nuclear power plant, says Zelensky

• Ukraine facing ‘serious resistance’ from Russia in battlefield

• Putin claims Russia ‘united’ days after mutiny

• Putin’s troops ‘suffering key weaknesses’

60 apartments, 50 cars damaged in Russian attack in Lviv

05:27 , Arpan Rai

Three people have been killed in a Russian missile attack in Lviv, Ukraine, and the mayor says more people are wounded.

Mayor Andriy Sadovyi says around 60 apartments and 50 cars in the area of the strike were damaged.

Emergency service workers are searching in the debris early on Thursday morning for more people trapped.

Russian missile attack on Lviv, Ukraine, kills 3 people and wounds more, mayor says

Russian state TV attacks Wagner chief over mutiny, says investigation still live

04:46 , Arpan Rai

Russian state TV attacked Yevgeny Prigozhin, the exiled mercenary leader of an aborted armed mutiny last month, and said an investigation into what had happened was still being vigorously pursued.

In a programme called “60 Minutes” broadcast on Wednesday evening on the state Rossiya-1 TV channel, what was billed as exclusive footage shot during law enforcement raids of Mr Prigozhin’s office in St Petersburg and one of his estates there was shown.

The programme’s host, lawmaker Yevgeny Popov, called Mr Prigozhin “a traitor” and the footage was presented by a specially invited guest and journalist Eduard Petrov as proof of the Wagner chief’s criminal past and hypocrisy in calling out corruption in the armed forces.

The footage showed boxes full of high-denomination roubles in his office and bundles of dollars in his luxurious residence along with what was called his personal helicopter, an arms cache, a collection of wigs, a fully equipped medical treatment room, and a collection of souvenir sledge hammers, the tool Wagner allegedly used to bludgeon traitors to death in videos that surfaced online.

“Nobody planned to close this case. The investigation is ongoing,” said Mr Petrov, adding that investigators had concluded that a video used by Mr Prigozhin as a pretext to start the mutiny which showed an alleged Russian strike on a mercenary camp was a fake.

Images of armed Russian law enforcement agents entering Prigozhin’s office were shown.

“I consider that the creation of Yevgeny Prigozhin’s image as a people’s hero was all done by media fed by Yevgeny Prigozhin,” said Petrov, referring to media outlets financed by Prigozhin. “After it failed, they quickly closed and fled.”

The founder of the Wagner mercenary group, took control of the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don on 24 June, seized the command centre there where Russia coordinates its war in Ukraine, and sent a column of fighters towards Moscow before standing down after striking a deal with the Kremlin.

Three killed in overnight Russian attack on Ukraine

04:11 , Arpan Rai

At least three people have been killed in a Russian rocket attack on western city of Lviv in Ukraine, mayor said.

Shortly after announcing injuries due to rocket fire, mayor Andriy Sadovy said three people have been killed in the attack.

Regional governor Maksym Kozytskiy said in a Telegram post that a critical infrastructure facility had been damaged, without providing further details.

Widespread air alerts were sounded across Ukraine earlier today amid reports of cruise missiles entering Ukrainian airspace.

Mr Sadovy also reported a series of explosions in his city.

Four injured after rocket attack in Ukraine’s Lviv

04:03 , Arpan Rai

At least four people were injured after explosions in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv and the casualty count was growing, a local official said.

Officials said a Russian rocket struck an apartment building overnight in the western Ukrainian city.

“At this moment it is known that four are wounded as a result of rocket fire,” mayor Andriy Sadovy said in a post on his Telegram channel.

One person in a serious condition had been transported by ambulance, the mayor said.

“The number is increasing,” Mr Sadovy said.

UK, Canada, Sweden, Ukraine take Iran to top UN court over 2020 downing of a Ukrainian passenger jet

03:30 , Martha Mchardy

The United Kingdom, Canada, Sweden and Ukraine launched a case against Iran at the United Nations’ highest court Wednesday over the downing in 2020 of a Ukrainian passenger jet and the deaths of all 176 passengers and crew.

The four countries want the International Court of Justice to rule that Iran illegally shot down the Ukraine International Airlines plane and to order Tehran to apologize and pay compensation to the families of the victims.

Flight PS752 was travelling from Tehran to Kyiv on Jan. 8, 2020 when it was shot down soon after takeoff. The people killed included nationals and residents of Canada, Sweden, Ukraine and the United Kingdom, as well as Afghanistan and Iran. Their ages ranged from 1 year to 74 years old.

UK, Canada, Sweden, Ukraine take Iran to top UN court over 2020 downing of a Ukrainian passenger jet

Zelensky says Russia has planted explosives on Ukraine nuclear plant

02:30 , Martha Mchardy

Russia has planted explosives on the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant to simulate an attack, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has warned, as an alert was issued for evacuations in the event of a radiation leak.

Mr Zelensky said on Tuesday that Russian forces are planning to commit a “new evil” after their alleged attack on Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant last month, citing intelligence.

“Now we have information from our intelligence that the Russian military has placed objects resembling explosives on the roof of several power units of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant,” he said in his nightly video address.

Zelensky says Russia has planted explosives on Ukraine nuclear plant

Latest pictures front the Donetsk frontline

01:30 , Martha Mchardy

After secret documents leak, Pentagon plans tighter controls to protect classified information

Thursday 6 July 2023 00:30 , Martha Mchardy

The Pentagon on Wednesday announced plans to tighten protection for classified information following the explosive leaks of hundreds of intelligence documents that were accessed through security gaps at a Massachusetts Air National Guard base.

Airman 1st Class Jack Texeira, 21, is accused of leaking the highly classified military documents in a chatroom on Discord, a social media platform that started as a hangout for gamers.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, in a memo released Wednesday, ordered all of the department’s secured rooms where classified information is stored and accessed to be brought into compliance with intelligence community standards for oversight and tracking. The changes call for increased levels of physical security, additional controls to ensure documents aren’t improperly removed, and the assignment of top-secret control officers to monitor users.

After secret documents leak, Pentagon plans tighter controls to protect classified information

Pictures show Nova Kakhovka dam dried-up after collapse

Wednesday 5 July 2023 23:30 , Martha Mchardy

In pictures: Armed police on scene after mans ‘blows himself up’ in Kyiv court

Wednesday 5 July 2023 22:30 , Martha Mchardy

Defendant accused over four deaths ‘blew himself up’ in court

Wednesday 5 July 2023 21:30 , Jane Dalton

A man who detonated a explosive device at a court in the Ukrainian capital died after barricading himself inside part of the building, interior minister Ihor Klymenko said, citing “preliminary information”.

Two members of a special rapid response security forces unit were hurt during attempts to bring the man under control at the Shevchenkivskyi court in the centre of the capital. Two loud noises were heard during the incident.

Klymenko, briefing reporters at the scene, said the man had “presumably...died from the explosive device”.

Writing on the Telegram messaging app, he wrote: “According to preliminary information, he blew himself up.”

Klymenko identified the suspect as Ihor Humenyuk and said he had been attending a hearing as a suspect in connection with the deaths of four Ukrainian national guardsmen in 2015.

After the hearing, he said the man had first locked himself into a bathroom and tossed an explosive device at two guards.

Stopped from leaving the building by officers firing into the air, he barricaded himself into another room, Klymenko said. He refused to negotiate with officials and threw another device at the two officers who were injured.

Georgian ambassador says he will leave Ukraine under president’s order

Wednesday 5 July 2023 21:20 , Martha Mchardy

Georgia’s ambassador to Ukraine, ordered home by President Volodymyr Zelensky in a disagreement over Georgia’s jailed former leader, told media on Wednesday he would comply with the order, though he described Kyiv’s stand as “misguided”.

“Forty-eight hours runs out tomorrow at 12 noon. I will try my very best to leave Ukraine by 12,” Ambassador Giorgi Zakarashvili told Georgia’s Rustavi-2 television in reports published in Ukrainian and Russian media.

Zakarashvili was summoned to Ukraine’s foreign ministry in connection with Kyiv’s complaint that Georgian former President Mikheil Saakashvili was being refused permission to leave the country for medical treatment.

The diplomat told Rustavi-2 that the request for him to leave for 48 hours of consultations would hurt relations and was “misguided” as Georgia supported Ukraine in its conflict with Russia.

Georgian Foreign Minister Ilia Darchiashvili earlier criticised the order imposed on the ambassador as “incomprehensible and baseless”, but said the envoy would soon return to his post in Kyiv.

The complaints, he said, were unfounded as Georgia took seriously its treatment of all inmates, including Saakashvili.

Saakashvili, president of ex-Soviet Georgia from 2004 to 2013, is serving a six-year sentence for abuse of power, a charge he and his supporters say was politically motivated.

In a video shot during a court hearing this week, an emaciated Saakashvili lifted his shirt to show protruding ribs.

Saakashvili has asked to be transferred abroad for treatment. He has staged multiple hunger strikes while in prison and alleges he has been poisoned

Washington monitors nuclear plant conditions

Wednesday 5 July 2023 20:26 , Jane Dalton

The White House says it is continuing to monitor conditions at the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant after Moscow and Kyiv accused each other of plotting to stage an attack on the facility.

Experts from the UN nuclear watchdog based there have yet to observe any indications of mines or explosives at the plant, but they need more access to be sure, the agency says.

Man who detonated explosives in Kyiv court house dead -Ukrainian minister

Wednesday 5 July 2023 19:02 , Martha Mchardy

A man who detonated explosives in a court house in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on Wednesday has died, Ukrainian Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said.

Klymenko, in a statement at the site of the explosion at the Shevchenkivskyi court house said the man may have stepped inadvertently on explosives.

Zelensky says Russia has planted explosives on Ukraine nuclear plant

Wednesday 5 July 2023 18:30 , Martha Mchardy

Russia has planted explosives on the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant to simulate an attack, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has warned, as an alert was issued for evacuations in the event of a radiation leak.

Mr Zelensky said on Tuesday that Russian forces are planning to commit a “new evil” after their alleged attack on Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant last month, citing intelligence.

“Now we have information from our intelligence that the Russian military has placed objects resembling explosives on the roof of several power units of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant,” he said in his nightly video address.

Shweta Sharma reports:

Zelensky says Russia has planted explosives on Ukraine nuclear plant

Ukraine and Russia trade accusations of imminent attack on Europe's largest nuclear plant

Wednesday 5 July 2023 18:00 , Martha Mchardy

Ukraine and Russia accused each other Wednesday of planning to attack one of the world’s largest nuclear power plants, which is located in southeastern Ukraine and occupied by Russian troops, but neither side provided evidence to support their claims.

Citing intelligence reports, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russian troops had placed “objects resembling explosives on the roof of several power units” of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant. The objects could be used to “simulate” an attack, he said, meaning a false flag attack.

A statement from the General Staff of Ukraine’s armed forces said the “foreign objects” were placed on the outer roof of the plant’s third and fourth power units.

Ukraine and Russia trade accusations of imminent attack on Europe's largest nuclear plant.

James Cleverly and Ben Wallace give update on support to Ukraine in Poland

Wednesday 5 July 2023 17:30 , Martha Mchardy

James Cleverly and Ben Wallace discussed their respective nations’ responses to the war in Ukraine.

Wednesday’s meeting comes after the head of Britain’s armed forces said that Vladimir Putin’s army has lost as many as 2,500 tanks in Ukraine.

Admiral Sir Tony Radakin told a committee in parliament that Ukraine’s main counter-offensive is yet to come.

“The question is, how do you take a front line that is more than a thousand kilometres long and turn it into more of a problem for Russia than for Ukraine?,” Admiral Sir Tony said.

Watch: James Cleverly and Ben Wallace give update on support to Ukraine in Poland

Ukrainian police investigate reported explosion in a Kyiv court

Wednesday 5 July 2023 16:57 , Martha Mchardy

Ukrainian police said on Wednesday they were investigating a reported explosion in a district court in the capital Kyiv.

The Kyiv city military administration said the explosion took place at 5.20 p.m. (1420 GMT) in the Shevchenskivskyi court in the centre of the capital.

Police said on the Telegram messaging app that officers and other experts were at the site. It quoted preliminary information that a device had been detonated by a man who had been taken to a court hearing.

“An extraordinary event took place in the Shevchenkivskyi Court of the city of Kyiv. The police received a report about the explosion,” Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said.

“The details are being clarified. Stay calm and stay away from the scene.”

The minister made no mention of any link with Russia.

Mock jail cell of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny unveiled before NATO summit

Wednesday 5 July 2023 16:56 , Martha Mchardy

A mock prison cell imitating one in which prominent Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has spent months of solitary confinement was put on display in Vilnius on Wednesday, ahead of a NATO summit in the Lithuanian capital next week.

Oleg Navalny unveiled the display to highlight the case of his 47-year-old brother who has faced a string of court cases over the years that he says are politically motivated.

“His health is of serious concern to us,” Oleg Navalny, 40, said. “We are barred from passing him medicine, so the problems cannot be alleviated. And all this worsens the consequences of the poisoning ... But he is still in a fighting mood.”

Alexei Navalny survived what he described as an attempt to poison him during a flight in Siberia in 2020, with what Western laboratory tests determined was a nerve agent. He was treated in Germany but voluntarily returned to Russia in 2021, where he was jailed.

The Kremlin denies accusations by the West and rights groups that Alexei Navalny is a political prisoner. It routinely refuses to comment on his case and refers questions about him to the courts and prison service.

The mock cell, measuring two metres by three metres, has a small window, a wooden chair, a decrepit mattress, sink and floor toilet, as well as a fold-down table and bed.

Describing his brother’s experience in solitary confinement, Oleg Navalny, who is himself on a Russian wanted list, said: “Time almost stops ... All one does is wait for food to arrive.”

Alexei Navalny is serving 11-1/2 years for fraud and contempt of court on charges that he says were trumped up to silence him. He is now on trial on charges, which could jail him for decades, including creating an extremist organisation and making public appeals to commit extremist activity.

UK and Poland sign agreement deepening foreign policy and defence co-operation

Wednesday 5 July 2023 16:05 , Martha Mchardy

The UK has signed a new partnership with Poland aimed at deepening foreign policy and defence co-operation.

Foreign Secretary James Cleverly and Defence Secretary Ben Wallace alongside Polish national defence minister Mariusz Blaszczak agreed joint priorities on issues including Belarus and China.

The Ministry of Defence said the new 2030 Strategic Partnership signed at Lancaster House on Wednesday builds on the 2017 UK-Poland treaty, which provided a framework for enhanced co-operation between the two Nato allies.

At a meeting before the signing, the ministers discussed support for Ukraine and defence and security in the Euro-Atlantic area.

Nina Lloyd reports:

UK and Poland sign agreement deepening foreign policy and defence co-operation

No sign of explosives at Zaporizhzhia yet, but more access needed -IAEA

Wednesday 5 July 2023 15:25 , Martha Mchardy

Experts from the U.N. nuclear watchdog based at the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine have yet to observe any indications of mines or explosives at the plant, but more access is needed to be sure, the agency said on Wednesday.

“The IAEA experts have requested additional access that is necessary to confirm the absence of mines or explosives,” the International Atomic Energy Agency said in a statement. “In particular, access to the rooftops of reactor units 3 and 4 is essential, as well as access to parts of the turbine halls and some parts of the cooling system at the plant.”

Watch live: James Cleverly and Ben Wallace give update on support to Ukraine in Poland

Wednesday 5 July 2023 14:55 , Tara Cobham

Ukraine and Russia trade accusations of imminent attack on nuclear plant

Wednesday 5 July 2023 14:45 , Tara Cobham

Ukrainian and Russian officials have accused each other of planning to attack one of the world's largest nuclear power plants.

Neither side provided evidence in support of the claim over Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in south-eastern Ukraine, which is occupied by Russian troops.

Citing intelligence reports, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russian soldiers had placed "objects resembling explosives on the roof of several power units" of the plant.

The objects could be used to "simulate" an attack, he said, meaning a false flag attack.

A statement from the General Staff of Ukraine's armed forces said the "foreign objects" were placed on the outer roof of the plant's third and fourth power units.

"Their detonation should not damage power units but may create a picture of shelling from Ukraine," the statement said.

In Russia, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov raised the spectre of a potentially "catastrophic" provocation by the Ukrainian army at the nuclear plant, which is Europe's largest but has its six reactors shut down.

"The situation is quite tense. There is a great threat of sabotage by the Kyiv regime, which can be catastrophic in its consequences," Mr Peskov said in response to a reporter's question.

He also claimed that Kremlin is taking "all measures" to counter the alleged Ukrainian threat.

His comments came after Renat Karchaa, an adviser to Russian state nuclear company Rosenergoatom, said there was "no basis" for Mr Zelensky's claims of a plot to simulate an explosion.

The Ukrainian leader made the allegation in his nightly video address on Tuesday.

"Why would we need explosives there? This is nonsense, (aimed at) maintaining tension around the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant," Mr Karchaa said.

Russian media on Tuesday cited Mr Karchaa as saying that Ukraine's military planned to strike the plant with ammunition laced with nuclear waste early on Wednesday. As of Wednesday afternoon, there was no indication of such an attack.

Ukraine has warned for months of Russian plans to cause a deliberate release of radiation from the plant, citing internal intelligence reports.

Officials have alleged that Moscow might try to sabotage the plant in an attempt to derail Kyiv's ongoing counteroffensive in the surrounding Zaporizhzhia region.

Russia occupied the plant in the early stages of the war. Over the past year, Russia and Ukraine repeatedly accused each other of shelling the facility.

Russia says it struck Ukrainian forces near Bakhmut

Wednesday 5 July 2023 13:57 , Tara Cobham

Russia said on Wednesday its forces had struck three Ukrainian army groups near Bakhmut, amid conflicting reports about fighting in the area.

Russia's Wagner mercenary group captured the eastern city in May after 10 months of fighting. Since then, the Russian army in the area has come under fierce pressure from Ukrainian forces who threaten to encircle it.

The Russian defence ministry made no comment in its daily briefing on reports that Russian forces have retreated from the village of Klishchiivka southwest of Bakhmut, which a Russian-installed official in eastern Ukraine denied.

Ukraine has said its forces have had "partial success" in the Klishchiivka area.

Russia's RIA news agency cited a Russian army source as saying that Russian forces had successfully repelled a Ukrainian attack there without retreating and were finishing off the remainder of Ukrainian troops in the area.

Reuters could not independently verify the battlefield situation.

Putin ally appointed to head Russia's TASS news agency

Wednesday 5 July 2023 12:58 , Tara Cobham

Russian President Vladimir Putin's former election spokesman has been appointed to run the state news agency TASS, according to a government order published on Wednesday.

The Kremlin has tightened its control over the media since the start of the Ukraine war, forcing the closure of leading independent news outlets and designating many journalists and publications as "foreign agents".

Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin signed an order dismissing Sergei Mikhailov as general director of TASS and appointing Andrei Kondrashov in his place. Mikhailov had served as general director since 2012.

Kondrashov, 50, is a state television journalist who in 2018 worked as the press secretary of Putin's election headquarters.

TASS traces its history back to 1904 when it was founded as the St Petersburg Telegraph Agency, the first official news agency of Russia. It has retained its Soviet-era name, whose initials stand for Telegraph Agency of the Soviet Union.

UN making 'every effort' to extend Black Sea grain deal, says trade chief

Wednesday 5 July 2023 12:07 , Tara Cobham

The United Nations is making "every effort" to ensure that the Black Sea grain deal and a memorandum of understanding to facilitate access of Russian fertiliser and other products to global markets are extended, UN trade chief Rebeca Grynspan said on Wednesday.

"We need both to continue bringing down prices and have stable markets of food and fertilisers in the world," Grynspan told reporters in Geneva. "The United Nations remains committed to making every effort for the continuation of the agreements."

Rebeca Grynspan, secretary general of the United Nations Conference for Trade and Development, may visit Russia before the Black Sea grain deal expires, she said on Wednesday.

"We will consider going to Moscow in the days that are left, but that has not been confirmed yet," she told reporters in Geneva.

Kremlin says measures being taken at nuclear plant to counter Ukrainian threat

Wednesday 5 July 2023 11:16 , Tara Cobham

The threat of some kind of Ukrainian sabotage of the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine is big and measures are being taken to counter such a threat, the Kremlin said on Wednesday.

Ukraine and Russia on Tuesday accused each other of plotting to stage an attack on Europe's biggest nuclear power facility.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters the consequences of such sabotage could be catastrophic.

"The situation is quite tense because there is indeed a great threat of sabotage by the Kyiv regime, which could be catastrophic in its consequences," he said.

"The Kyiv regime has repeatedly demonstrated its willingness to do anything. Therefore, all measures are being taken to counter such a threat."

He did not present evidence to back his assertion about the Ukrainian threat.

Russian troops took control of the Zaporizhzhia plant last year soon after embarking on what Moscow calls its "special military operation" in Ukraine.

Each side has since regularly accused the other of shelling around the plant and of risking a major nuclear incident.

Russian man planned to destroy energy facility on Sakhalin - FSB

Wednesday 5 July 2023 10:20 , Tara Cobham

Russia's FSB security service said on Wednesday it had detained a man suspected of planning to destroy an energy facility on Sakhalin island off Russia's Pacific coast.

The FSB published a video showing what it said were improvised explosive devices and various chemicals at the house of the man who it said was a follower of "Ukrainian neo-Nazism".

Fires and explosions have occurred at a number of Russian energy, railway and military facilities since Moscow launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Self-styled partisan groups opposed to the war have claimed responsibility for some of the attacks.

The FSB did not say what site the man was suspected of planning to target on Sakhalin, which hosts industrial enterprises owned by Japanese and Indian companies.

Putin’s ‘General Armageddon’ missing for over 10 days now, says UK MoD

Wednesday 5 July 2023 09:48 , Tara Cobham

The British Ministry of Defence says that Russia's General Sergei Surovikin, commander-in-chief of the Russian Aerospace Forces and deputy commander of Russia's forces in Ukraine, has not been seen in public since the 23-24 June Wagner Group mutiny.

His deputy defence minister Colonel General Yunus-bek Yevkurov was also “notably absent from a televised appearance by the Ministry of Defence’s leadership on 3 July”, the ministry said.

“Reports of Surovikin’s arrest cannot be confirmed, but authorities will likely be suspicious of his long association with Wagner dating back to his service in Syria from 2017...."

China’s position on Russian nuclear threat ‘important’, says top Zelenskiy adviser

Wednesday 5 July 2023 09:19 , Tara Cobham

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's chief of staff said on Wednesday that China's position in the face of a potential nuclear threat from Russia was "important".

Andriy Yermak posted a screenshot of an article from the Financial Times about Chinese leader Xi Jinping's reported warning to Russian President Vladimir Putin against a nuclear attack in Ukraine.

"(This is) an important position of (China) regarding the nuclear threat from the insane Russian terrorist," he wrote on the Telegram messaging app.

Inside Ukraine's tech push to counter Russian 'suicide' drone threat

Wednesday 5 July 2023 08:14 , Tara Cobham

In a basement in downtown Kyiv late last month, away from prying eyes, hundreds of engineers and innovators met senior military officials to brainstorm ways to better neutralise the cheap Russian suicide drones that still devastate Ukrainian cities.

It was a rare, close-up glimpse into Ukraine's technology arms race with Russia that draws on private sector innovation seeded with state venture capital, and which is pumping out thousands of combat drones in a booming wartime industry.

"The war today is technological, with changes in technology and on the battlefield happening every day," Mykhailo Fedorov, Ukraine's deputy prime minister and minister for digital transformations, said on the sidelines of the gathering.

High-ranking army officials and ministers mingled with engineers and eccentric enthusiasts at the event. One man arrived in shorts and a baseball cap with a large drone under his arm.

Organisers distributed $3 million in prize money among three teams of experts deemed to have presented the best drones or electronic warfare technology against Russia's "Shahed", drones of Iranian origin which cruise in swarms to their targets and detonate on impact.

In May, Russia attacked Ukraine with a record monthly total of more than 300 drones, official data shows, a challenge for planners anxious to protect energy supplies this winter. Last winter Russia tried to cripple the power grid with air strikes.

"We want to prepare for the... next winter to respond to these challenges," Deputy Prime Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov said.

The Iranian drones fly so low that they can avoid detection by air defences, while their navigation systems are robust enough to make it hard to take them down with anti-drone electronic warfare weapons that disrupt radio frequencies.

The West has supplied sophisticated air defence systems to counter missile attacks, but taking down swarms of drones that cost $50,000 a piece with $1 million missiles is not ideal, officials say.

"That's not profitable, so we need to constantly cut the cost of the tools we use to destroy Shaheds," said Fedorov.

"We're talking about detection (of drones) using acoustic as well as other means, and also about actual destruction."

Russia’s Kursk, Belgorod regions come under fire from Ukraine - governors

Wednesday 5 July 2023 07:34 , Tara Cobham

Russia's Kursk and Belgorod regions came under fire from Ukrainian forces across the border in the early hours of Wednesday, the regions' governors said, adding that no casualties were reported.

"The town of Valuyki is under fire from Ukraine's armed forces," Belgorod Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov wrote on the Telegram messaging app at 07:36 a.m. local time (0436 GMT).

He did not specify whether it was rocket fire, artillery shelling or some other form of attack.

"Air defence system worked, but there is destruction on the ground," Gladkov said.

Separately, Roman Starovoyt, the governor of the Kursk region, north of Belgorod and also bordering Ukraine, said that a school and a private house were damaged when the village of Tyotkino came fire, again without specifying the form of attack.

Reuters could not independently verify the reports.

Ukraine almost never publicly claims responsibility for attacks inside Russia or on Russian-controlled territory in Ukraine. Both sides deny targeting civilians in the 16-month war that Russia launched on its neighbour in February 2022.

Blasts and attacks on Russian regions bordering Ukraine have been occurring on nearly daily in recent months, with Russian officials blaming either Ukrainian forces or pro-Ukrainian saboteurs.

Putin’s ‘General Armageddon’ missing for over 10 days now, says UK MoD

Wednesday 5 July 2023 07:15 , Arpan Rai

The British Ministry of Defence says that Russia’s General Sergei Surovikin, commander-in-chief of the Russian Aerospace Forces and deputy commander of Russia’s forces in Ukraine, has not been seen in public since the 23-24 June Wagner Group mutiny.

His deputy defence minister Colonel General Yunus-bek Yevkurov was also “notably absent from a televised appearance by the Ministry of Defence’s leadership on 3 July”, the ministry said.

“Reports of Surovikin’s arrest cannot be confirmed, but authorities will likely be suspicious of his long association with Wagner dating back to his service in Syria from 2017. Similarly, Yevkurov was filmed talking to Wagner owner Yevgeny Prigozhin during the group’s uncontested take-over of Rostov-on-Don,” the MoD said in its latest intelligence update.

It added that although General Surovikin is largely known in the West by his brutal reputation, he is “one of the more respected senior officers within the Russian military; any official sanction against him is likely to be divisive”.

“The suspicion that has potentially fallen on senior serving officers highlights how Prigozhin’s abortive insurrection has worsened existing fault lines within Russia’s national security community,” the ministry said.

Putin’s army has lost half its combat effectiveness in Ukraine, says UK admiral

Wednesday 5 July 2023 06:49 , Arpan Rai

The Russian army has lost half of its combat effectiveness in the continuing invasion of Ukraine,the head of British armed forces Admiral Sir Tony Radakin said.

“Russia has lost nearly half the combat effectiveness of its army,” Sir Radakin told a parliamentary hearing.

He added: “Last year it fired 10 million artillery shells but at best can produce one million shells a year. It has lost 2,500 tanks and at best can produce 200 [new] tanks a year.”

“Russia is now so weak that it does not have the strength for [its own] counter-offensive,” he said.

He added that the Ukrainian counteroffensive was never meant to be “a singular act” but the military strategy was to “starve, stretch and strike” on Russian forces to break the defensive lines put up by the invading troops.

“The question is, how do you take a front line that is more than a thousand kilometres long and turn it into more of a problem for Russia than for Ukraine?” he said.

“That is why you are seeing multiple axes being probed and feints by Ukraine.”

Russian forces placing explosive-like objects on roof of nuclear power plant, says Zelensky

Wednesday 5 July 2023 06:16 , Arpan Rai

Volodymyr Zelensky has warned that the Russian forces are covering the roof of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant with explosive-like objects.

“Now we have information from our intelligence that the Russian troops have placed objects resembling explosives on the roof of several power units of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. Perhaps to simulate an attack on the plant. Perhaps they have some other scenario,” Mr Zelensky said.

Talking about the situation at the Ukrainian nuclear facility under Russia’s control for 16 months now, he said: “The whole world must now realise that common security depends entirely on global attention to the actions of the occupiers at the plant.”

“Russia must clearly realise that the world sees what scenarios terrorists are preparing for, and the world is ready to respond,” he said.

Mr Zelensky added that radiation is a “threat to everyone in the world, and the nuclear power plant must be fully protected from any radiation incidents”.

Ukraine facing ‘serious resistance’ from Russia in battlefield

Wednesday 5 July 2023 04:43 , Arpan Rai

Ukrainian deputy defence minister Hanna Maliar has said the country’s forces were making gains every day in areas outside Bakhmut.

“We are advancing on the southern flank of Bakhmut. To the north, to be honest, there is heavy fighting and so far no advance,” Maliar told national television in the latest assessment of the battlefield situation.

“... Our forces are encountering serious resistance. The enemy is pouring in all its forces to stop in the south and in the east.”

She added that Russian forces were also making advances further north, near Lyman and in Svatove, where Russian troops have recently been particularly active.

Ukraine’s military reported success in repelling Russian attacks in Kupiansk in the north, Bakhmut and near the contested towns of Avdiivka and Maryinka to the south.

It’s General Staff also claimed to have destroyed a formation of Russian forces in Makiivka, a town in the Russian-controlled part of Donetsk region.

Russia-installed officials said one civilian died and 36 were injured in the attack.

While both sides continue to claim that the other is suffering heavy losses, no detailed statistics have been presented by either Kyiv or Moscow.

In the Russian defence ministry’s accounts of frontline fighting, it claimed its forces foiled Ukraine’s in five areas of the eastern Donetsk region.

It also reported repelling attacks near Lyman and disrupting enemy operations in the Zaporizhzhia region, where Ukraine says its forces have captured a cluster of villages.

Ukraine seeing ‘particularly fruitful’ few days in counteroffensive

Wednesday 5 July 2023 04:15 , Arpan Rai

The continuing Ukrainian counteroffensive against Russian forces has been “particularly fruitful” in the past few days, a senior security official has said.

Oleksiy Danilov, secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defence Council said that Ukrainian troops are fulfilling their main tasks.

“At this stage of active hostilities, Ukraine’s defence forces are fulfilling the number one task – the maximum destruction of manpower, equipment, fuel depots, military vehicles, command posts, artillery and air defense forces of the Russian army,” Mr Danilov said on Twitter.

“The last few days have been particularly fruitful,” he said, without providing any details from the battlefield.

Kremlin open to talks over potential prisoner swap involving detained WSJ reporter Evan Gershkovich

Wednesday 5 July 2023 04:00 , Martha Mchardy

The Kremlin on Tuesday held the door open for contacts with the U.S. regarding a possible prisoner exchange that could potentially involve jailed Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, but reaffirmed that such talks must be held out of the public eye.

Asked whether Monday’s consular visits to Gershkovich, who has been held behind bars in Moscow since March on charges of espionage, and Vladimir Dunaev, a Russian citizen in U.S. custody on cybercrime charges, could potentially herald a prisoner swap, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Moscow and Washington have touched on the issue.

“We have said that there have been certain contacts on the subject, but we don’t want them to be discussed in public,” Peskov said in a conference call with reporters. “They must be carried out and continue in complete silence.”

Kremlin open to talks over potential prisoner swap involving detained WSJ reporter

Putin says Russian economy faring better than expected

Wednesday 5 July 2023 03:52 , Arpan Rai

The Russian economy, expected to bleed from hundreds of sanctions from the West, was performing better than expected, Vladimir Putin claimed.

He has been briefed by his prime minister Mikhail Mishustin on the “surprisingly positive” gross domestic product growth and inflation in a meeting at the Kremlin.

Mr Putin has been told the GDP growth may exceed 2 per cent this year and consumer price inflation may not rise above 5 per cent in annual terms.

According to the International Monetary Fund, the Russian economy is expected to grow 0.7 per cent this year.

“Our results, at least for the time being, let’s say, cautiously, are better than previously expected, better than predicted,” Putin said, according to a transcript on the Kremlin’s website.

After contracting 2.1 per cent in 2022, the Russian economy was under particular pressure in spring last year when Kyiv’s allies imposed sweeping sanctions against Moscow over its military campaign in Ukraine.

Putin claims Russia is united than ever just days after Wagner troops march on Moscow

Wednesday 5 July 2023 03:30 , Martha Mchardy

Vladimir Putin claimed that Russians were more united than ever after responding to the short-lived but dramatic mutiny by his private mercenary Wagner group and its march on Moscow.

The Russian president was speaking alongside Asian leaders such as his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping and Indian prime minister Narendra Modi at the virtual meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) on Tuesday. He was delivering his first remarks outside of Moscow acknowledging June’s aborted coup – the biggest challenge to the Russian leader’s rule in decades.

“The Russian people are consolidated as never before,” he said.

Arpan Rai reports:

Putin claims Russia more united than ever just days after Wagner’s failed mutiny

Ukrainians honor award-winning writer killed in Russian missile attack on restaurant

Wednesday 5 July 2023 02:30 , Martha Mchardy

Dozens of people with flowers, many unable to hold back tears, bid farewell Tuesday to an award-winning Ukrainian writer who was among those killed by a Russian missile attack on a popular restaurant in eastern Ukraine.

The memorial service for Victoria Amelina, 37, was held in the crowded main hall of Saint-Michael’s Cathedral in Kyiv, where ceremonies are usually held for soldiers who were killed on the battlefield.

Amelina died in a hospital from injuries sustained in the June 27 strike on a popular restaurant frequently visited by journalists and aid workers in the city of Kramatorsk. Twelve other people also lost their lives in the attack.

Read the full story:

Ukrainians honor award-winning writer killed in Russian missile attack on restaurant

Georgia condemns Ukraine for its protests over health of former president Saakashvili

Wednesday 5 July 2023 01:30 , Martha Mchardy

Georgia’s Foreign Ministry criticized Ukraine on Tuesday for urging the Georgian ambassador to return to Tbilisi for consultations over the poor health of imprisoned former president Mikheil Saakashvili, who is also a Ukrainian citizen.

The Foreign Ministry called Ukraine’s action “an extreme form of escalation.”

Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry had summoned Georgian Ambassador George Zakarashvili to express its protest over the apparent significant deterioration in the health of Saakashvili, who was convicted of abuse of power while he was president in 2004-2013.

Read the full story:

Georgia condemns Ukraine for its protests over health of former president Saakashvili

Today in pictures

Wednesday 5 July 2023 00:30 , Martha Mchardy

Russia and Ukraine accuse each other of plotting imminent attack on nuclear station

Tuesday 4 July 2023 23:30 , Martha Mchardy

Russia and Ukraine on Tuesday accused each other of plotting to stage an attack on the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station, long the subject of mutual recriminations and suspicions.

Russian troops seized the station, Europe’s largest nuclear facility with six reactors, in the days following the Kremlin’s invasion of its neighbour in February 2022.

Each side has since regularly accused the other of shelling around the plant, situated in Ukraine’s south, and risking a major nuclear mishap.

Renat Karchaa, an adviser to the head of Rosenergoatom, which operates Russia’s nuclear network, said Ukraine planned to drop on the plant ammunition laced with nuclear waste transported from another of the country’s five nuclear stations.

“Under cover of darkness overnight on 5th July, the Ukrainian military will try to attack the Zaporizhzhia station using long-range precision equipment and kamikaze attack drones,” Russian news agencies quoted Karchaa as telling Russian television. He offered no evidence in support of his allegation.

A statement issued by the Ukrainian armed forces quoted “operational data” as saying that “explosive devices” had been placed on the roof of the station’s third and fourth reactors on Tuesday. An attack was possible “in the near future”.

“If detonated, they would not damage the reactors but would create an image of shelling from the Ukrainian side,” the statement on Telegram said. It said the Ukrainian army stood “ready to act under any circumstances”.

The military also provided no evidence for its assertions.

None of the reactors at the plant is producing electricity.

The U.N.’s nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, has been trying for more than a year to clinch a deal to ensure the plant is demilitarised and reduce the risks of any possible nuclear accident.

Netherlands and Luxembourg leaders tell Kosovo and Serbia to normalize ties for EU hopes

Tuesday 4 July 2023 22:30 , Natalie Crockett

The leaders of the Netherlands and Luxembourg on Tuesday said that normalizing ties between Kosovo and Serbia would serve not only regional peace and stability but also their prospects of future integration into the European Union.

Prime ministers Mark Rutte of the Netherlands and Xavier Bettel of Luxembourg were on a trip to Pristina after a visit to Belgrade on Monday

They both called on Kosovo and Serbia to deescalate recent tensions that have threatened to push the Balkan region into instability as Europe faces Russia’s aggression in Ukraine.

“We are here to listen. And we are here to try to build these bridges which are sometimes between neighbors. Not that easy to build,” said Bettel, adding “so we have to avoid every new crisis.”

Read more here:

The leaders of the Netherlands and Luxembourg tell Kosovo and Serbia to normalize ties for EU hopes

Ukraine’s Zelensky warns France’s Macron about Russian ‘provocations’ at nuclear plant

Tuesday 4 July 2023 21:57 , Martha Mchardy

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said on Tuesday that he had warned his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, about attempts by Moscow to stage “dangerous provocations” at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant occupied for a year by Russian troops.

“I warned my colleague that the occupation troops are preparing dangerous provocations at the Zaporizhzhia (nuclear plant),” Zelensky tweeted of his telephone call with Macron.

“We agreed to keep the situation under maximum control together with the IAEA,” he said, referring to the U.N.’s International Atomic Energy Agency.

Ukraine and Russia accused each other on Tuesday of plotting to attack the plant, Europe’s largest nuclear facility.

38 people, including 12 children, injured in a Russian missile strike in Kharkiv region

Tuesday 4 July 2023 21:30 , Natalie Crockett

At least 38 people, including 12 children, were injured in a Russian missile strike on Tuesday which an officer said targeted a military funeral in the northeastern Kharkiv region, Ukrainian officials have said.

Television footage from the small town of Pervomaiskyi showed a tall residential building with smashed windows and black smoke pouring out. Mangled cars were in flames nearby, and a man sat in an ambulance with blood over his face.

Regional governor Oleh Synehubov said an Iskander missile had slammed into a residential quarter in Pervomaiskyi at 1.35 pm. Kyiv time.

“We weren’t at home, we went for a walk in the park. I don’t know what happened, I heard an explosion, probably a missile,” a local resident, who gave her name only as Alla, said on the street as she hugged her granddaughter.

“I only remember that when the explosion sounded, we were thrown up into the air. Then we continued walking, we saw blown out windows everywhere, I saw cars on fire. I just can’t get a grip of myself, my legs are still shaking.”

Prosecutors said the youngest of the 38 people hurt in the attack was a child of three months. The child’s condition was not immediately clear.

Russia and Syria to hold military drills

Tuesday 4 July 2023 20:50 , Natalie Crockett

Joint Russian-Syrian air force and air defence exercises will begin in Syria on July 5 and last six days.

Rear Admiral Oleg Gurinov, head of the Russian Reconciliation Centre for Syria, announced the drills on Tuesday, according to Russian news agencies.

“In the course of training it is planned to work out the issues of joint actions of aviation, air defense and electronic warfare forces in repulsion of air strikes,” Gurinov said.

Putin claims Russia ‘united as never before’ as journalist is beaten

Tuesday 4 July 2023 20:10 , Natalie Crockett

Russians are “united as never before,” Vladimir Putin said at his first international summit since an armed revolt that briefly triggered fears of a coup.

“Solidarity and responsibility for the fate of the fatherland was clearly shown,” he said, “by the entire society by standing as a united front against the attempted armed rebellion.”

He was speaking at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation meeting, hosted via videoconference by India and one of the few remaining global platforms where he can get a sympathetic hearing.

Read more from Alastair Jamieson:

Putin claims Russia ‘united as never before’ as prominent journalist is beaten

Kremlin ‘open to talks’ over prisoner swap for detained Wall Street Journal reporter

Tuesday 4 July 2023 19:30 , Natalie Crockett

The Kremlin on Tuesday held the door open for contacts with the US regarding a possible prisoner exchange that could potentially involve jailed Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, but reaffirmed that such talks must be held out of the public eye.

Asked whether Monday’s consular visits to Gershkovich, who has been held behind bars in Moscow since March on charges of espionage, and Vladimir Dunaev, a Russian citizen in U.S. custody on cybercrime charges, could potentially herald a prisoner swap, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Moscow and Washington have touched on the issue.

Read more here:

Kremlin open to talks over potential prisoner swap involving detained WSJ reporter

After the flood: The nightmare is just beginning for those left to rebuild after the Ukraine dam explosion

Tuesday 4 July 2023 18:45 , Martha Mchardy

Bel Trew travels the Dnipro River speaking to some of those who have been left with nothing after the floodwaters wrecked their homes, and hears from officials warning of the extreme long-term consequences that could be felt by the rest of the world.

The unfolding nightmare for those left to rebuild after the Ukraine dam explosion

Pope envoy working on ‘mechanism’ to return children to Ukraine

Tuesday 4 July 2023 18:21 , Martha Mchardy

Pope Francis’ peace envoy for Ukraine, Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, said on Tuesday he is working on a “mechanism” that could ensure the return of children who according to Kyiv have been abducted to Russia.

“We’ll see how we can start the mechanism for the children (and) help as we have said on the humanitarian front, particularly the children that must be able to return to Ukraine”, Zuppi said at a book presentation in Rome.

He said he had personally discussed the issue with Francis.

The Italian cardinal visited Moscow last week, and was previously in the Ukrainian capital. The Vatican has described his efforts as “aimed at identifying humanitarian initiatives, which could open roads to peace”.

Speaking to Italian public broadcaster RAI on Sunday, Zuppi clarified he was not working on a “peace plan” or a “mediation” between Kyiv and Moscow, saying he was focusing on “humanitarian aspects”.

Ukrainians honor award-winning writer killed in Russian missile attack on restaurant

Tuesday 4 July 2023 17:59 , Martha Mchardy

Dozens of people with flowers, many unable to hold back tears, bid farewell Tuesday to an award-winning Ukrainian writer who was among those killed by a Russian missile attack on a popular restaurant in eastern Ukraine.

The memorial service for Victoria Amelina, 37, was held in the crowded main hall of Saint-Michael’s Cathedral in Kyiv, where ceremonies are usually held for soldiers who were killed on the battlefield.

Amelina died in a hospital from injuries sustained in the June 27 strike on a popular restaurant frequently visited by journalists and aid workers in the city of Kramatorsk. Twelve other people also lost their lives in the attack.

Ukrainians honor award-winning writer killed in Russian missile attack on restaurant

Twelve children among 38 wounded by Russian strike in Ukraine

Tuesday 4 July 2023 17:13 , Martha Mchardy

Ukrainian officials said at least 38 people, including 12 children, were wounded in a Russian missile strike on Tuesday which an officer said targeted a military funeral in the northeastern Kharkiv region.

ICYMI: Vladimir Putin claims Russia ‘united as never before’ as prominent journalist is beaten

Tuesday 4 July 2023 17:01 , Martha Mchardy

Russians are “united as never before,” Vladimir Putin said at his first international summit since an armed revolt that briefly triggered fears of a coup.

“Solidarity and responsibility for the fate of the fatherland was clearly shown,” he said, “by the entire society by standing as a united front against the attempted armed rebellion.”

He was speaking at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation meeting, hosted via videoconference by India and one of the few remaining global platforms where he can get a sympathetic hearing.

Alastair Jamieson reports:

Putin claims Russia ‘united as never before’ as prominent journalist is beaten

Russia’s Medvedev: 185,000 new contract soldiers have joined armed forces this year

Tuesday 4 July 2023 16:31 , Martha Mchardy

Former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev said on Tuesday that 185,000 new recruits had joined the Russian army as professional contract soldiers since the start of the year.

In a video posted on Telegram, Medvedev, who was earlier this year appointed to a role overseeing Russia’s domestic military production, said that almost 10,000 new recruits had joined up in the last week, after a mutiny by the Wagner Group mercenary organisation was quelled and its fighters were given the option of signing on as regular soldiers.

Latest pictures from Kharkiv as Russian shelling injures 31, including 9 children

Tuesday 4 July 2023 16:10 , Martha Mchardy

European bank to lend Ukrainian city of Dnipro 25mil euros as wartime population swells

Tuesday 4 July 2023 15:24 , Martha Mchardy

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development said on Tuesday it was lending 25 million euros ($27.24 million) to the Ukrainian city of Dnipro to help it cope with an influx of people fleeing fighting.

It said the loan would help ensure the continuous provision of vital municipal services in the southeastern city following the arrival of people forced to flee other locations because of Russia’s war on Ukraine.

“Dnipro and its key municipal utilities have been seriously affected by the war and are struggling to keep day-to-day operations functioning,” the EBRD said in a statement.

Dnipro’s pre-war population of about one million people has been swollen by constant inflows of internally displaced people even though the city has also come under fire since Russia began its full-scale invasion in February 2022.

In December, the EBRD also provided a 25-million-euro loan to Lviv, the biggest city in the western part of Ukraine.

Government officials have said there are about 4.8 million registered internally displaced people in Ukraine.

Ukrainians bid farewell to writer killed in Russian air strike

Tuesday 4 July 2023 14:54 , Martha Mchardy

Tearful mourners filled one of central Kyiv’s main cathedrals on Tuesday to honour a prominent Ukrainian writer and war-crimes researcher killed in a Russian missile strike on a cafe in eastern Ukraine.

Victoria Amelina, 37, died on July 1 from injuries sustained during the June 27 attack, which killed 12 others when Russian forces hit a restaurant packed with civilians in the frontline city of Kramatorsk.

She was an award-winning writer and novelist who also began researching Russian atrocities after the Kremlin’s February 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Colleagues described Amelina, who was born in the western city of Lviv, as fiercely dedicated to seeking justice and promoting Ukraine’s cause on the international stage.

“She was a real crusader for truth. She was extraordinarily persistent,” Roman Avramenko, executive director of Truth Hounds, an NGO that documents Russian war crimes, told reporters after the service.

A wide array of writers, journalists and other public intellectuals streamed into the golden-domed St. Michael’s Cathedral to pay tribute. Relatives and friends broke down as they filed past Amelina’s coffin.

Outside, a pair of musicians then sounded traditional Ukrainian alpine horns, called trembitas, as it was loaded into a hearse.

Military plane crashes in Russia’s Far East - RIA

Tuesday 4 July 2023 14:48 , Martha Mchardy

A Russian MIG-31 military interceptor plane crashed while on training flight over the Kamchatka peninsula in Russia’s Far East, the RIA news agency cited the Russian Pacific navy as saying on Tuesday.

Rescuers are searching for the crew, it said. The plane had no ammunition loaded.

Kyiv says gains made against Putin’s forces in ‘fruitful’ few days of counteroffensive

Tuesday 4 July 2023 14:39 , Martha Mchardy

A Ukrainian counteroffensive against Russian forces has been “particularly fruitful“ in the past few days, a senior security official has said.

Secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defence Council Oleksiy Danilov said Ukraine’s troops were fulfilling their main tasks in the latest positive assessment of the counter-offensive.

“At this stage of active hostilities, Ukraine’s Defense Forces are fulfilling the number one task - the maximum destruction of manpower, equipment, fuel depots, military vehicles, command posts, artillery and air defence forces of the Russian army,” Danilov wrote on Twitter.

“The last few days have been particularly fruitful,” he said, without providing any details from the battlefield.

His comments come after Ukraine’s president Zelensky said on Monday his troops had made progress after a “difficult” week.

Ukraine said on Monday its troops had regained more ground on the eastern and southern fronts although deputy defence minister Hanna Maliar said fighting had surged around the eastern city of Bakhmut, captured by Russian forces in May.

Maliar said the Ukrainian military had taken back 37.4 square kilometres of territory in the past week.

Russia says EU’s SWIFT proposal for grain deal ‘unworkable’

Tuesday 4 July 2023 14:04 , Martha Mchardy

Proposals to set up a subsidiary of the Russian state agricultural bank for the purpose of the Black Sea grain deal are “unworkable”, a spokeswoman for the Russian foreign ministry said on Tuesday.

Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova was commenting on a Financial Times report that the European Union had proposed a special subsidiary of the Russian bank could be connected to the SWIFT international payment system from which the bank itself has been cut off.

Russia sees no grounds to renew grain deal - foreign ministry

Tuesday 4 July 2023 13:49 , Martha Mchardy

Russia sees no basis for renewing the Black Sea grain deal, the Russian foreign ministry said on Tuesday, less than two weeks before the expiration of the agreement which has allowed grain to be shipped out of Black Sea ports despite the war in Ukraine.

The ministry said in a statement Russia was doing everything so that all ships covered by the deal could leave the Black Sea before it expires on July 17.

Nine children among 31 wounded by Russian shelling in Ukraine

Tuesday 4 July 2023 13:23 , Martha Mchardy

Russian shelling wounded at least 31 people, including nine children, in the small town of Pervomaiskyi in Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv region on Tuesday, officials said.

The interior ministry said the youngest of the injured children was aged one.

Oleh Synehubov, the Kharkiv region’s governor, said on the Telegram messaging app that the shelling took place at 13:35 Kyiv time (1035 GMT) and several cars were on fire. He said the windows of eight multi-story building were smashed. He posted several pictures of the building with smashed windows, dark smoke clouds, charred trees, and an overturned car.

“As of 3:00 p.m., we know of a significant number of wounded: 31 people were taken to a hospital (nine of them are children, 2 infants - 1 year, and 10 months),” Andriy Yermak, head of Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelenskiy’s office, said on the Telegram messaging app.

Russia, which began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, did not immediately comment on the incident. Moscow has denied deliberately targeting civilians.

Russia ‘united as never before’, claims Putin

Tuesday 4 July 2023 13:17 , Martha Mchardy

Russians are “united as never before”, Vladimir Putin claimed as he sought to project confidence in the wake of a short-lived revolt.

The Shanghai Co-operation Organisation (SCO) meeting, hosted via videoconference by India, offered the Russian President one of the few remaining platforms in international politics where he can get a sympathetic hearing.

It was his first multilateral summit since an armed rebellion rattled Russia and comes as he is eager to show the West has failed to isolate Moscow over its 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

The Asian security grouping founded by Russia and China to counter western alliances also welcomed Iran as a new member, bringing its membership to nine nations.

Speaking via video link from the Kremlin, Mr Putin praised the SCO for “playing an increasingly significant role in international affairs, making a real contribution to maintaining peace and stability, ensuring sustainable economic growth of the participating states and strengthening ties between peoples”.

He thanked the SCO nations for supporting Russian authorities during the short-lived armed mutiny mounted by Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin, and said the West has turned Ukraine into “a virtually hostile state - anti-Russia”.

Mr Putin has frequently lashed out at the West for its support of Ukraine in the war.

The summit presents an opportunity for Mr Putin to show he is in control after an insurrection that left some wondering about divisions among Russian elites.

“The Russian people are united as never before,” he said.

“The solidarity and responsibility for the fate of the fatherland was clearly demonstrated by the Russian political circles and the entire society by standing as a united front against the attempted armed rebellion.”

Ukraine tells Georgian ambassador to go home for ‘consultation'

Tuesday 4 July 2023 12:35 , Martha Mchardy

Ukraine’s foreign ministry summoned Georgia’s ambassador on Tuesday to protest against the treatment of jailed former Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili, and told him to go back to Tbilisi to resolve the situation.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky urged the Georgian authorities on Monday to allow Saakashvili, who has Ukrainian citizenship, to come to Kyiv for medical treatment.

Zelensky made the appeal after a video circulated showing Saakashvili looking emaciated during a court hearing and lifting his shirt to show protruding ribs.

"The Georgian diplomat (ambassador) was told that such treatment of Mikheil Saakashvili was absolutely unacceptable. The Georgian government should stop the abuse of the Ukrainian citizen," the Ukrainian foreign ministry said in a statement.

"In this regard, it was proposed to Ambassador of Georgia to Ukraine George Zakarashvili to return to Tbilisi for consultations to find ways of solving the situation."

Masked assailants attack prominent Russian journalist and lawyer in Chechnya

Tuesday 4 July 2023 11:24 , Matt Mathers

Unidentified masked assailants in the Russian province of Chechnya attacked and beat a journalist and a lawyer.

It was an assault that highlights a violent pattern of rampant human rights abuses in the region.

Novaya Gazeta journalist Elena Milashina and lawyer Alexander Nemov had just arrived in Chechnya to attend the trial of Zarema Musayeva, the mother of two local activists who have challenged Chechen authorities.

Just outside the airport, their vehicle was blocked by several cars and they were beaten by several masked assailants, who put guns to their heads and broke their equipment.

Novaya Gazeta said Ms Milashina sustained a brain injury and had several fingers broken, while Mr Nemov had a deep cut on his leg.

They were taken to a hospital in Chechnya’s main city, Grozny, where Ms Milashina repeatedly lost consciousness, according to her newspaper.

Russian human rights ombudsperson Tatyana Moskalkova asked investigators to look into the attack.

NATO agrees to extend boss Stoltenberg’s term by a year

Tuesday 4 July 2023 11:08 , Matt Mathers

NATO decided on Tuesday to extend secretary seneral Jens Stoltenberg’s contract by a further year, opting to stick with an experienced leader as war rages on the alliance’s doorstep rather than try to agree on a successor.

Stoltenberg, a former prime minister of Norway, has been the transatlantic security alliance’s leader since 2014 and his tenure had already been extended three previous times.

The decision means continuity at the top of NATO as its 31 members grapple with the challenge of supporting Ukraine in repelling Moscow’s invasion while avoiding a direct conflict between NATO and Russian forces.

Stoltenberg, 64, is widely seen across the alliance as a steady leader and patient consensus-builder.

In a tweet, Stoltenberg said he was honoured by the decision to extend his term to October 1, 2024.

"The transatlantic bond between Europe and North America has ensured our freedom and security for nearly 75 years, and in a more dangerous world, our Alliance is more important than ever," he said.

Putin claims Russia more united than ever after mutiny

Tuesday 4 July 2023 10:32 , Matt Mathers

President Vladimir Putin told Asian leaders on Tuesday that the Russian people were more united than ever, in his first appearance at an international forum since a short-lived mutiny last month.

"The Russian people are consolidated as never before," Mr Putin told a virtual meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, a group that also includes China and India, as he tried to reassure his allies at the summit that Russia remains a stable country.

"Russian political circles and the whole of society clearly demonstrated their unity and elevated sense of responsibility for the fate of the Fatherland when they responded as a united front against an attempted armed mutiny,” he added.

Modi avoids direction mention of Ukraine in speech

Tuesday 4 July 2023 09:57 , Matt Mathers

India’s prime minister on Tuesday took a veiled swipe at rival neighbor Pakistan and avoided mentioning the war in Ukraine while addressing a group of Asian countries led by China and Russia.

In his opening speech to the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, Modi said the group should not hesitate to criticize countries that are "using terrorism as an instrument of its state policy."

"Terrorism poses a threat to regional peace and we need to take up a joint fight," Modi said without naming Pakistan. India regularly accuses Pakistan of training and arming insurgent groups, a charge Islamabad denies.

Key task of SCO is to support security in the East - Putin

Tuesday 4 July 2023 09:38 , Matt Mathers

A key task of the SCO is to support security in the East, Vladimir Putin has said in a speech to the summit.

The Russian president, in his opening remarks, said the global potential for conflicts is rising and that Moscow would stand up to sanctions and what he described as provocations.

We’ll have more from his address shortly.

Russia will boost ties with Shanghai Cooperation Organisation - Putin

Tuesday 4 July 2023 09:32 , Matt Mathers

Russia plans to boost tie with the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, Vladimir Putin has said.

The Russian president is delivering an address to the SCO this morning. Indian prime minister Narendra Modi has also spoken at the event via video link,

Mr Putin appeared in at the event with Pakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif and Chinese leader Xi Jinping.

ICYMI: Award-winning Ukrainian writer dies of injuries suffered in Russian missile attack on restaurant

Tuesday 4 July 2023 09:20 , Matt Mathers

Award-winning Ukrainian writer Victoria Amelina was among those killed by a deadly Russian missile attack on a popular restaurant frequented by journalists and aid workers in eastern Ukraine, PEN America said.

Amelina, 37, who had turned her attention from literature to document Russian war crimes after the invasion, died from her injuries after the June 27 strike in the city of Kramatorsk, the literature and human rights organization said Sunday in a statement.

Full report:

Award-winning Ukrainian writer dies of injuries suffered in Russian missile attack on restaurant

Putin set to address first global summit since Wagner mutiny

Tuesday 4 July 2023 09:05 , Matt Mathers

President Vladimir Putin will participate this week in his first multilateral summit since an armed rebellion rattled Russia, as part of a rare international grouping in which his country still enjoys support.

Leaders will convene virtually on Tuesday for a summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, a security grouping founded by Russia and China to counter Western alliances from East Asia to the Indian Ocean.

This year’s event is hosted by India, which became a member in 2017. It’s the latest avenue for Prime Minister Narendra Modi to showcase the country’s growing global clout.

Krutika Pathi reports:

Putin set to address first global summit since Wagner mutiny

Senior Ukrainian official: Last few days 'fruitful' for military

Tuesday 4 July 2023 08:29 , Matt Mathers

A senior Ukrainian security official said on Tuesday that Kyiv’s troops are "fulfilling the number one task" in their counteroffensive against Russian forces and have had a "particularly fruitful" last few days.

"At this stage of active hostilities, Ukraine’s defence forces are fulfilling the number one task - the maximum destruction of manpower, equipment, fuel depots, military vehicles, command posts, artillery and air defense forces of the russian army," Oleksiy Danilov, the head of Ukraine’s National Security and Defence Council, wrote on Twitter.

"The last few days have been particularly fruitful."