Ukraine-Russia war – live: Three killed in Russian rocket attack on western city Lviv

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

Mayor Andriy Sadovy said three people have been killed in the attack and others injured, and that 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.

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.

This comes as Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has claimed Russian forces have rigged the roof of several reactors at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant with explosives, to make it appear Kyiv has attacked its own facility.

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

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’

Belarus leader Lukashenko says Prigozhin is back in Russia

08:59 , Eleanor Noyce

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, who last month brokered a deal to end an armed mutiny in Russia, said on Thursday that Russian mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin was no longer in Belarus.

Lukashenko said on 27 June that Prigozhin had arrived in Belarus as part of the deal.

But he told reporters on Thursday: “As for Prigozhin, he’s in St Petersburg. He is not on the territory of Belarus.”

Kremlin: Ukraine trying to drag countries into conflict with Zelenskiy's Bulgaria visit

11:09 , Eleanor Noyce

The Kremlin on Thursday said that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s visit to Bulgaria showed that Kyiv was doing all it could to drag as many countries as possible into the conflict.

Zelensky said he was in the Bulgarian capital Sofia for talks with the country’s president and prime minister on issues including security and next week’s NATO summit.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said discussions like those Zelensky was having in Bulgaria would not affect the outcome of what Russia calls its “special military operation” in Ukraine in a big way, as he said the current situation on the front line was showing.

Lukashenko says he is ready to mediate Ukraine peace talks - TASS

10:55 , Eleanor Noyce

Belarus leader Alexander Lukashenko on Thursday said he was ready to mediate Ukraine peace talks if Moscow and Kyiv deem it necessary, the TASS news agency reported.

Lukashenko, who last month brokered a deal to end an armed mutiny in Russia, was speaking in Minsk.

He added that Ukraine had hit a dead end but there was still a chance of a way out.

Western ideas that Russia ready to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine are false - foreign ministry

10:49 , Eleanor Noyce

Western ideas that Russia is ready to use weapons of mass destruction in Ukraine are false, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Thursday.

How many casualties has Russia suffered in Ukraine?

10:45 , Eleanor Noyce

Establishing accurate data on the number of military casualties sustained since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began on 24 February 2022 is difficult for two reasons. The severity of the fighting on the ground and the fact that both sides are inclined to keep their cards close to their chests to avoid damaging morale – especially at a time when the war is entering a pivotal new stage.

The Kremlin, in particular, is unlikely to admit to high fatality rates among its troops because to do so would amount to a confession that Vladimir Putin’s spurious war to “de-Nazify” Russia’s neighbour state is not going according to plan and, in fact, represents a monumental miscalculation on the part of its leader, who is already under pressure at home over the attempted uprising by Wagner Group mercenaries.

My colleague Joe Sommerlad reports:

How many casualties has Russia suffered in Ukraine?

Ukraine’s Zelensky visits Bulgaria for talks on security, NATO

10:23 , Eleanor Noyce

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Thursday he was in the Bulgarian capital of Sofia for talks with the country’s president and prime minister on issues including security and next week’s NATO summit.

“Defense support, (Ukraine‘s) Euro-Atlantic integration, the NATO Summit, security guarantees, and the implementation of the Peace Formula (for ending Russia’s war on Ukraine),” Zelensky wrote on the Telegram messaging app.

Attack thwarted on energy facility in Russia's Tyumen - investigators

10:15 , Eleanor Noyce

Russian investigators on Thursday said the FSB security service had shot dead a 38-year-old Russian man as he made preparations to blow up an energy facility in the oil-rich Tyumen region.

The FSB security service said an unspecified number of Russian citizens had been preparing to commit an act of terrorism “at the request of representatives of Ukrainian paramilitary groups”, an allegation it has levelled more and more frequently in recent weeks.

The Investigative Committee, which handles major crimes, published video footage of officers using metal detectors in a field near a wooded area and said a man had shot at and tried to kill FSB officers.

“He did not respond to warnings. The attacker was killed by return fire,” the Committee said.

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.

Ukraine hardly ever publicly claims responsibility for attacks inside Russia.

The FSB detained a man on Wednesday accused of planning to destroy an energy facility on Sakhalin island, off Russia’s Pacific coast.

Belarus leader Lukashenko expecting serious Ukrainian push before NATO summit

09:50 , Eleanor Noyce

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko on Thursday said he expected Ukrainian forces to try to do something serious on the front line before a NATO summit in Lithuania next week.

Lukashenko said such a move would see Ukraine destroy its best reserves and bury its own military capability.

In pictures: Inside Yevgeny Prigozhin’s palace following Russian searches

09:34 , Eleanor Noyce

In raiding Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin’s St Petersburg palace, Putin’s armed officers have allegedly found a closet containing wigs, an alligator and a photograph depicting the severed heads of his enemies, MailOnline reports.

Yesterday, pro-Kremlin newspaper Izvestia confirmed that Putin’s forces were conducting a search of the mansion whilst Prigozhin remained in Belarus.

However, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has since noted that the Wagner chief is now back in St Petersburg.

Wagner chief Prigozhin is in Russia and troops have remained in camps, president of Belarus says

09:24 , Eleanor Noyce

The president of Belarus says Russian mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin is in St. Petersburg and his Wagner troops have remained at the camps they stayed in before an attempted mutiny against Moscow.

President Alexander Lukashenko helped broker a deal under which Prigozhin ended his abortive mutiny on 24 June in exchange for security guarantees for himself and his soldiers. The deal allowed Prigozhin and his troops to move to Belarus.

Lukashenko said last week that Prigozhin was in Belarus. He told international reporters Thursday that the mercenary chief is in St. Petersburg and Wagner troops still were at their camps.

Read more:

Wagner chief Prigozhin is in Russia, president of Belarus says

Mapped: Has Ukraine made advances against Russia?

09:01 , Eleanor Noyce

With Russia’s invasion of Ukraine raging for 16 months, Ukraine is now pushing back with its long-awaited counteroffensive that has already recorded a number of gains.

On Monday (26 June), Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky praised Ukrainian troops for advancing “in all sectors”, having spent the day presenting awards to front-line soldiers in the east and south.

“Today in all sectors, our soldiers made advances. It is a happy day,” Mr Zelensky said in his nightly video address, which was delivered from a train after visiting two frontline areas.

Mapped: Has Ukraine made advances against Russia?

Why did Russia invade Ukraine?

08:45 , Eleanor Noyce

Russia’s “special military operation” in Ukraine has been raging for one year now as the conflict continues to record devastating casualties and force the mass displacement of millions of blameless Ukrainians.

Vladimir Putin began the war by claiming Russia’s neighbour needed to be “demilitarised and de-Nazified”, a baseless pretext on which to launch a landgrab against an independent state that happens to have a Jewish president in Volodymyr Zelensky.

Ukraine has fought back courageously against Mr Putin’s warped bid to restore territory lost to Moscow with the collapse of the Soviet Union and has continued to defy the odds by defending itself against Russian onslaughts with the help of Western military aid.

Read more:

Here’s why Putin really invaded Ukraine

In pictures: Locals react after apartment building hit by Russian missile strike

08:28 , Eleanor Noyce

A Russian missile strike killed at least four people in Lviv on Thursday in the biggest attack on the western Ukrainian city’s civilian infrastructure since Russia’s full-scale invasion, Ukrainian officials said.

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy posted a one-minute video online showing buildings with parts of the roof and upper floors destroyed, windows smashed and rescuers searching through the debris for survivors. He said there would be a response.

“Unfortunately, there are wounded and dead. My condolences to the families,” Zelenskiy said on the Telegram messaging app.

“There definitely will be a response to the enemy. It will be a noticeable one.”

Devastating aftermath of deadly Lviv attack captured in drone footage

08:02 , Arpan Rai

Devastating drone footage shows the aftermath of a Russian missile attack on Lviv which has killed at least four people.

Around nine others were injured in an overnight attack, Ukraine’s Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said today.

Approximately 60 apartments and 50 cars in the area of the strike were damaged, Lviv mayor Andriy Sadovyi said.

Drone video posted by Volodymyr Zelensky shows damaged buildings viewed from above, with third and fourth floors of a building ruined.

Emergency services have been searching for people trapped in the debris in the city which has seen hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian war refugees flee to from other areas to the east.

Devastating aftermath of deadly Lviv attack captured in drone footage

Zelensky says he asked for weapons for counteroffensive to start sooner

07:34 , Arpan Rai

Volodymyr Zelensky said he wanted a counteroffensive to have started earlier and had urged Western allies to supplies weapons for that to happen, according to excerpts via a translator in an interview to CNN.

“I’m grateful to the US as the leaders of our support but I told them as well as the European leaders that we would like to start our counteroffensive earlier, and we need all the weapons and materiel for that,” he was quoted as saying.

“Why? Simply because if we start later, it will go slower.”

Ukraine and Russia should stop using cluster bombs, Human Rights Watch says

07:26 , Arpan Rai

Both Russian and Ukrainian forces have used cluster munitions that have killed Ukrainian civilians, Human Rights Watch said in a report today.

The international advocacy group has called on both Russia and Ukraine to stop using the weapons, and urged the US not to supply them.

Ukraine fired cluster munition rockets into Russian-controlled areas in and around the eastern Ukrainian city of Izium last year after Russia invaded Ukraine, Human Rights Watch said, citing interviews with more than 100 residents, witnesses and local emergency personnel.

The Ukrainian attacks killed at least eight civilians and wounded at least 15 civilians in Izium, Human Rights Watch said.

The group has previously reported that Russia’s use of cluster munitions in Ukraine has killed scores of civilians, and the United Nations’ Human Rights Council has also documented the use of such bombs by both sides.

More than 120 countries have signed on to an international treaty banning the weapons, which typically scatter a large number of smaller so-called bomblets over a large area that can kill or maim unwary civilians months or years later.

Russia, Ukraine and the US have all to declined to sign the treaty.

Zelensky vows avenging attack on Lviv

06:57 , Arpan Rai

Volodymyr Zelensky has said Ukraine will serve a “strong” response to Russia for its overnight attack on Lviv which killed four people.

“Lviv. Consequences of the night attack by Russian terrorists. Unfortunately, there are wounded and dead. My condolences to the relatives! There will definitely be a response to the enemy. A strong one,” he said this morning.

Trump and DeSantis don't understand America's 'national interest' in supporting Ukraine, says Pence

06:49 , Arpan Rai

Former president Donald Trump and Florida governor Ron DeSantis do not grasp the broader implications of their call for limited military assistance to Ukraine, former vice president Mike Pence has alleged.

“With all due respect, I think the former president and the governor of Florida just don’t understand Americans’ national interest in supporting the Ukrainian military in repelling the Russian military in Ukraine,” Mr Pence, who is competing with his White House boss and Mr DeSantis for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, said during the interview before a campaign event in Sioux City.

Mr Pence, who visited Ukraine last week, said, “Make no mistake, China is watching.”

Pence says Trump and DeSantis do not understand broader importance of US military aid to Ukraine

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