Ukraine news – live: Putin’s growing ties with Iran are ‘profound threat’, US warns

Russian president Vladimir Putin’s attempts to deepen ties with Iran amid the Ukraine conflict represents a “profound threat,” US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan has said.

Mr Sullivan’s comments come as US officials have said Iran is preparing to help supply Russia several hundred drones, including some that are weapons-capable, to use in Ukraine.

Putin is expected to visit Tehran next week. Mr Sullivan called the timing of the Putin trip “interesting.”

“Russia deepening an alliance with Iran to kill Ukrainians is something that the whole world should look at and see as a profound threat,” he said.

Meanwhile, the US and its allies have said they are working on new measures to starve the Russian war machine while also stopping the price of oil and gasoline from soaring to levels that could crush the global economy.

The Kremlin’s main pillar of financial revenue – oil – has kept the Russian economy afloat despite export bans, sanctions and the freezing of central bank assets.

Key Points

• War continues, shelling does not stop even for a day – Zelensky

• Putin to visit Iran amid reports Tehran wants to supply ‘several hundred’ drones to Russia

• Three reported dead and 31 injured as Russian ‘hits civilian areas’ in Kharkiv

• Moscow says missile strike hit and killed Ukrainian troops on Snake Island

• US, allies aim to cap Russian oil prices to hinder invasion

• Russia's deepening ties with Iran represents a 'profound threat'

Five killed in missile strikes on southern Ukraine city

17:13 , Sam Rkaina

Russian missile strikes in Ukraine’s southern city of Mykolaiv killed at least five people, Ukrainian authorities have said.

It’s he latest in a series of artillery barrages across the country in the past day that left at least 10 dead and nearly 20 wounded in eastern and southern regions.

While Mykolaiv has repeatedly been the target of Russian fire in recent days, Russian missiles also struck the town of Zaporizhzhia on Wednesday, an attack that could signal Moscow’s determination to hold onto territory in Ukraine’s south as it aims to fully conquer the east.

Ukrainian forces have stepped up actions in a bid to reclaim more territory in the south.

Amid the artillery and missile strikes, the US top diplomat accused Russia of committing a “war crime” by forcibly deporting hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian men, women and children to Russia in a bid to change Ukraine’s demographic makeup.

Some of the civilian deaths occurred in Donetsk province, which is part of a region where pro-Russia separatists have fought the government for eight years and which the Kremlin is intent on capturing.

The city of Bakhmut faced particularly heavy shelling as the current focus of Russia’s offensive, Donetsk administrative chief Pavlo Kyrylenko said.

Over 9 million border crossings registered from Ukraine - UN agency

15:54 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

More than 9 million people have crossed the border from Ukraine since Russia invaded the country, according to the UN Refugee Agency.

A total of 9,136,006 border crossings have been recorded since the Russian invasion began on Feb. 24, the agency’s tally showed on Wednesday.

North Korea recognises breakaway of Russia's proxies in east Ukraine

15:24 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

North Korea on Wednesday recognised two Russian-backed breakaway “people’s republics” in eastern Ukraine as independent states, a separatist leader and a Russian state news agency said.

The move makes North Korea only the third country after Russia and Syria to recognise the two breakaway entities, the Donetsk (DPR) and Luhansk People’s Republics (LPR), in Ukraine‘s Donbas region.

In a post on his Telegram channel, DPR leader Denis Pushilin said he hoped for “fruitful cooperation” and increased trade with North Korea, an isolated, nuclear-armed state more than 4,000 miles (6,500 km) away.

The DPR’s embassy in Moscow posted a photo on its Telegram channel of a ceremony in which North Korea’s ambassador to Moscow Sin Hong-chol handed a certificate of recognition to DPR envoy Olga Makeyeva.

North Korea’s embassy in Moscow confirmed it had recognised the independence of both entities on Wednesday, Russia‘s TASS news agency later reported.

Russia, which has backed the regions since 2014, recognised them on the eve of its invasion of Ukraine in a move condemned by Kyiv and the West as illegal.

It justified its decision to launch the war, which it calls a “special military operation”, by saying it was protecting Russian-speakers who live there from “genocide”.

Kyiv and the West have dismissed these assertions as a pretext for waging war and seizing swathes of Ukraine‘s territory.

Ukraine needs assurances to resume grain exports, minister says

14:59 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

The Ukrainian foreign minister says grain exports from his country’s ports won’t resume without security guarantees for ship owners, cargo owners and Ukraine as an independent nation.Military officials from Russia and Ukraine held their governments’ first face-to-face talks in months Wednesday.

They met in Istanbul to discuss a United Nations plan for getting blocked Ukrainian grain to world markets through the Black Sea.Speaking to The Associated Press ahead of the talks, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said any agreement needs to ensure Russia “will respect these corridors, they will not sneak into the harbor and attack ports or that they will not attack ports from the air with their missiles.”

Kuleba also told the AP on Tuesday that Ukraine‘s military is “planning and preparing for full liberation” of Russian-occupied cities and towns near the country’s Black Sea coast.

Ukrainian forces already have stepped up their activity to retake territory in the south as Russia concentrates on eastern Ukraine.Asked about the likelihood of negotiations to end the war that started when Russia invaded neighboring Ukraine on Feb. 24, the foreign minister said peace talks were unlikely to happen soon.

“Russia continues to be in the war mood, and they are not seeking negotiations in good faith. They are seeking a way to make us implement their ultimatums, which is not going to happen,” said Kuleba, who because Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s foreign minister in March 2020.

Death toll from weekend Russian air strike rises to 47

14:40 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Ukraine‘s emergency services agency says the death toll from a weekend Russian air strike in the Donestsk town of Chasiv Yar rose to 47.

Rescue crews continued searching for survivors on Wednesday in the rubble of three apartment buildings hit by missiles on Saturday.

The buildings in a residential area of the town were inhabited mostly by people who work in nearby factories.

14:20 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

The leader of a Moscow-backed separatist government in eastern Ukraine‘s Donetsk province said foreign fighters convicted of terrorism and trying to overturn constitutional order for working with Ukrainian troops have appealed against their death sentences.

If the appellate court in the separatists’ self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic rejects the appeals, two British men and a Moroccan could face a firing squad.

Rebel leader Denis Pushilin said about 100 members of Ukrainian National Guard battalion captured after the fall of the city of Mariupol were scheduled to appear before a court soon.

Russia's fast-tracking of passports for Ukrainians is 'propaganda', Germany says

14:00 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Germany on Wednesday dismissed as “propaganda” a Russian decree that simplifies rules for Ukrainians to obtain Russian passports.

Russia has said that residents of areas of southern and eastern Ukraine occupied since February’s invasion are entitled to become Russian citizens, a move that Ukraine and Western countries say confirms that Moscow plans to retain control of those regions.

The German spokesperson said that “it’s part of Russian propaganda. Ukraine is a sovereign, independent state. No other state can give Ukrainian citizens any kind of passport.”

U.S. calls for observers in Russian-held amid reports of child separation

13:40 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

The United States on Wednesday called on Russia to immediately release Ukrainians it has forced out from their home country and to allow outside observers, citing reports that Moscow was putting Ukrainian children up for adoption and “disappearing’ thousands of others.

“The unlawful transfer and deportation of protected persons is a grave breach of the Fourth Geneva Convention on the protection of civilians and  is a war crime,” U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement.

Heavy shelling kills five, wounds 18

13:18 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Renewed Russian artillery barrages across Ukraine killed at least five civilians and wounded another 18 in the past day, the office of Ukraine‘s president reported Wednesday as Moscow attempted to expand and consolidate its gains in the country’s east.Most of the deaths occurred in Donetsk province, which is part of a region where pro-Russia separatists have fought for eight years and the Kremlin is intent on capturing. The city of Bakhmut faced particularly heavy shelling as the current focus of Russia‘s offensive, Donetsk administrative chief Pavlo Kyrylenko said.In adjacent Luhansk province, which Russian and separatist forces have all but conquered, Ukrainian soldiers battled to retain control of two outlying villages amid the shelling, Gov. Serhiy Haidai said.Luhansk and Donetsk together make up Ukraine‘s Donbas region, a mostly Russian-speaking region of steel factories, mines and other industries vital to the economy. The Russians are “deliberately turning Donbas into ashes, and there will be just no people left on the territories captured,” Haidai said.

Kyiv denies Russia shot down four Ukrainian jets

12:51 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Ukraine‘s air force denied on Wednesday that Russian forces had shot down four Ukrainian military jets in Ukraine.

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

Yuriy Ihnat, a spokesperson for the Ukrainian Air Force, dismissed the assertion as propaganda.

Russia's deepening ties with Iran represents a 'profound threat'

12:34 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Russian president Vladimir Putin’s attempts to deepen ties with Iran amid the Ukraine conflict represents a “profound threat,” US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said on Wednesday.

Sullivan’s comments come as US officials have said Iran is preparing to help supply Russia several hundred drones, including some that are weapons-capable, to use in Ukraine. Putin is expected to visit Tehran next week.

Sullivan called the timing of the Putin trip “interesting.”

“Russia deepening an alliance with Iran to kill Ukrainians is something that the whole world should look at and see as a profound threat,” Sullivan said.

Ukraine rules out ceding territory to Russia to secure peace

12:16 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba on Wednesday ruled out ceding territory to Russia as part of any peace deal and said no peace talks were under way between Moscow and Kyiv.

“The objective of Ukraine in this war... is to liberate our territories, restore our territorial integrity, and full sovereignty in the east and south of Ukraine,” he told a briefing.

Germany expects direct but difficult dialogue with Russia at G20

11:58 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Germany is expecting more open and direct discussions with Russia at the upcoming meeting of finance ministers from the Group of 20 nations, government sources said on Wednesday, after a G20 meeting in April was disrupted by walkouts.

“Most will want to adopt a different approach on the day after April,” one of the sources added, referring to a walkout staged by top officials from Britain, the United States and Canada.

Efforts by Indonesia, which is hosting the meeting in Bali on Friday and Saturday, to reach agreement on a joint communique will be very difficult, the source said, adding that Russia and China were banding together more closely amid a crisis with the West over Moscow’s war in Ukraine.

Lego pulls out of Russia ‘indefinitely’ and closes 81 stores

11:40 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Lego has made the decision to close its shops in Russia “indefinitely” following Vladmir Putin’s launch of war on Ukraine.

The Danish toy company had already ended its sales into Russia in February, shortly after the invasion began.

But on 12 July, Lego cut off its partnership with Inventive Retail Group- a local company which runs many of the toy giant’s stores.

Find out all the details here:

Lego pulls out of Russia ‘indefinitely’ and closes 81 stores

Ukraine close to making deal with Russia over grain exports, foreign minister says

11:22 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Ukrainian foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba was quoted by Spanish newspaper El Pais as saying that Kyiv was “two steps away” from hammering out a deal with Moscow regarding grain exports.

“The security concerns, linked to Russia‘s position, need to be addressed. We are in the final phase and now everything depends on Russia,” he said, adding that Moscow could still drag out the talks.

Russia‘s invasion and sea blockade of Ukraine has stalled exports, leaving dozens of ships stranded and more than 20 million tonnes of grain stuck in silos at Odesa.

Farmers of both countries are currently harvesting the 2022 wheat crop. July-November is usually the busiest time for traders to ship the new crop from both countries.

The coming harvest is also at risk as Ukraine is now short of storage space due to the halt in exports

Russia says EU ban on goods transit to Kaliningrad 'not resolved'

11:05 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

The Kremlin said on Wednesday it was expecting progress over a possible European Union deal to allow Russia to transit some sanctioned goods to its Kaliningrad exclave via the EU, but the problem had not been resolved.

Lithuania blocked Russia from sending goods which have fallen under EU sanctions across its territory in June, triggering outrage in Moscow and promises of a response.

Two-thirds of Ukraine refugees plan to stay put for now , UN reports

10:47 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Around two-thirds of refugees from Ukraine expect to stay in their host countries until hostilities subside and the security situation improves after Russia‘s invasion, a survey by the United Nations refugee agency UNHCR has found.

Most of the refugees from Ukraine, mainly women and children, hope to return home eventually, according to the survey of around 4,900 people from Ukraine now living in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Moldova, Poland, Romania and Slovakia. The survey was conducted between mid-May and mid-June.

UNHCR says more than 5.6 million refugees are now recorded across Europe, with nearly 8.8 million people crossing out of Ukraine and nearly 3.3 million crossing back in since the Russian invasion on Feb. 24.

“They are anxious to reunite with friends and family and worry about those who stayed behind. Most want to wait until hostilities have subsided,” the report released on Wednesday said.

Of those seeking to return, 40% planned to do so in the next month, said UNHCR, adding that a higher proportion of refugees from the capital Kyiv and areas in the west were planning to return than those who arrived from the east and north.

Russia says its forces shot down three Ukrainian jets

10:34 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Russia‘s defence ministry said on Wednesday that Russian forces shot down four Ukrainian military jets over eastern Ukraine.

Russian fighter jets destroyed an Su-25 and Su-24 - both Soviet-era jets used by the Ukrainian air force - over the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine and a Mig-29, another Soviet-designed fighter aircraft, in the Mykolaiv region of southern Ukraine, the defence ministry said in a daily briefing.

Reuters was not able to verify the reports.

ICYMI: Russia sanctions: Which brands are severing ties over Ukraine invasion?

10:03 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Economic boycotts have been implemented worldwide by countries and institutions to restrict Vladimir Putin and place financial pressure on the Kremlin to end their invasion.

Here is an ever-growing list of sanctions that have been imposed by countries, businesses and the sporting, arts and music world to date:

Which brands are severing ties with Russia over Ukraine invasion?

Litgrid says Baltics can connect to European grid within 24h if Russia cuts power

09:45 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

European power grid network ENTSO-E will connect to the Baltic states’ grids within 24 hours if the countries were to be disconnected by Russia, Lithuanian power grid operator Litgrid said.

“If Russia disconnects us, even today, we would be ready. Our analysis shows that power supply would not be rationed, no serious disruptions expected,” Litgrid CEO Rokas Masiulis told a news conference on Wednesday.

“Our agreement with European operators is that we get synchronised within 24 hours,” he said.

In June, sources told Reuters European grid operators were ready to implement immediately a long-term plan to bring the Baltic states, which rely on the Russian grid for electricity, into the European Union system in the event Moscow cuts them off.

Masiulis said Lithuania was aiming to decouple the Baltic States from the Russian power grid in early 2024, compared to a previous plan for end-2025. He said discussions with Estonia and Latvia on the matter had started, and that the European Commission was also involved.

Lithuania aims to decouple Baltics from Russian power grid early 2024, Litgrid CEO says

09:30 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Lithuania is pushing to decouple the Baltic States from the Russian power grid already in early 2024 compared to a previous plan for end-2025, Lithuanian power grid operator Litgrid’s CEO Rokas Masiulis said on Wednesday.

He said discussions with Estonia and Latvia on the matter had started, and that the European Commission was also involved.

‘If you can’t send tanks, send crisps’: The Briton on the front line in Ukraine’s foreign legion

09:11 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Ukraine relies on large numbers of overseas fighters in its battle with Russia.

Bel Trew, in Kharkiv, spoke to some of those who have volunteered to fight thousands of miles from home in the country’s foreign legion

‘If you can’t send tanks, send crisps’: The Briton in Ukraine’s foreign legion

Kremlin critic charged over criticising fighting in Ukraine

08:51 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Russian prosecutors have brought criminal charges against another opposition figure who has criticized Russia’s military campaign in Ukraine, his lawyer said.

Ilya Yashin was due to be released after spending 15 days in jail on charges of failing to obey police. Instead, Yashin was charged under a new law making it a crime to spread false information about the military, said his lawyer, Vadim Prokhorov. It carries a potential sentence of up to 15 years in prison.

Kremlin critic charged over criticizing fighting in Ukraine

Minister: Brazil wants to buy a lot of diesel from Russia

08:34 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Brazil’s foreign minister has said the country wants to buy as much diesel fuel as it can from Russia following a deal with Moscow.

Carlos França called Russia “a strategic partner” and said Brazil is in short supply of diesel.

“Of course, we have to make sure that we have enough diesel for the Brazilian agribusiness and, of course, for Brazilian drivers,” he said. “So that’s why we were looking … for very reliable suppliers of diesel and Russia is one of them.”

Minister: Brazil wants to buy a lot of diesel from Russia

Chris Cuomo calls himself ‘free agent’ and starts livestreaming reports from Ukraine front line

08:17 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Chris Cuomo, the news anchor fired last year by CNN in the wake of revelations that he advised his brother, former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, through a sexual misconduct scandal, is now reporting live from Ukraine.

Mr Cuomo posted a report to his Instagram page on Monday night that included eight short segments of video showing the position and state of Ukrainian soldiers, weapons, and stored grain, along with interviews with Ukrainian military personnel.

In his caption, Mr Cuomo compared the conflict between Russia and Ukraine to World War II, writes Abe Asher.

Chris Cuomo calls himself ‘free agent’ and starts livestreaming from Ukraine

US, allies aim to cap Russian oil prices to hinder invasion

07:59 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

With thousands of sanctions already imposed on Russia to flatten its economy, the U.S. and its allies are working on new measures to starve the Russian war machine while also stopping the price of oil and gasoline from soaring to levels that could crush the global economy.

Read more here:

US, allies aim to cap Russian oil prices to hinder invasion

Russia would consider gas transit via Ukraine beyond 2024, foreign ministry says

07:40 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Russia will consider continuing to send gas to Europe via Ukraine beyond its current deal which ends in 2024, as long as European countries still want Russian gas and Ukraine‘s national transit system works, the RIA Novosti news agency on Wednesday cited the foreign ministry as saying.

Despite the war in Ukraine, Russia has continued to ship large quantities of gas across Ukraine into Europe - Moscow’s key global customer for its multi-billion dollar gas exports

Turkey, Russia, Ukraine, U.N. set to meet on grain exports

07:21 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Russian, Ukrainian and Turkish military delegations are set to meet U.N. officials in Istanbul on Wednesday for talks on a possible deal to resume safe exports of Ukraine grain from the major Black Sea port of Odesa as a global food crisis worsens.

Turkey has been working with the United Nations to broker a deal after Russia‘s Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine fuelled prices for grains, cooking oils, fuel and fertilizer. Turkish Defence Minister Hulusi Akar announced the latest talks on Tuesday.

“We are working hard indeed but there is still a way to go,” U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told reporters on Tuesday. “Many people are talking about it. We prefer to try and do it.”

Diplomats say details of the plan under discussion include Ukrainian vessels guiding grain ships in and out through mined port waters; Russia agreeing to a truce while shipments move; and Turkey - supported by the United Nations - inspecting ships to allay Russian fears of weapons smuggling.

Ukraine sparked hopes on Tuesday for an increase in grain exports despite Russia‘s blockade of Black Sea ports, noting that ships had started to pass through an important mouth of the Danube river.

Anti-Russian sentiment leading to attacks on Moscow’s officials, targeting likely to escalate - British MoD

06:37 , Arpan Rai

The British defence ministry has pointed to rising anti-Russian sentiment after attacks on Russian functionaries have been reported in areas occupied by Russia in Ukraine.

“Anti-Russian sentiment in occupied Ukraine is leading to Russian and pro-Russian officials being targeted. The Russian-appointed administration in Velykyy Burluk acknowledged that one of its mayors was killed on 11 July 2022 by a car bombing,” the ministry said.

The British ministry has warned that the targeting of officials is likely to escalate, “exacerbating the already significant challenges facing the Russian occupiers and potentially increasing the pressure on already reduced military and security formations”.

On the war front, the ministry said Russian forces in the Donbas will narrow down their battle aims on taking several small towns in the coming week, “including Siversk and Dolyna on the approaches to Slovyansk and Kramatorsk”.

“The urban areas of Slovyansk and Kramatorsk likely remain the principal objectives for this phase of the operation,” the MoD said.

It added that Russia continues to “seek to undermine the legitimacy of the Ukrainian state and consolidate its own governance and administrative control over occupied parts of Ukraine”.

“Recently this has included an initiative to twin Russian and Ukrainian cities and regions to develop post-conflict administrations and a decree to make it easier for Ukrainians to obtain Russian citizenship,” the ministry said in its latest intelligence update.

Ukraine claims attack on Russian ammunition depot in south

05:38 , Arpan Rai

Ukraine’s southern military command has claimed responsibility for the long-range rocket attacks on Russian forces in southern Ukraine.

The military has said that they have destroyed the ammunition store.

The military command said: “Based on the results of our rocket and artillery units, the enemy lost 52 (people), an Msta-B howitzer, a mortar and seven armoured and other vehicles, as well as an ammunition depot in Nova Kakhovka.”

According to the Russian TASS news agency, at least 7 people were killed and around 70 were injured in the strike in the Kherson region.

However, Ukrainian military officials have said around 70 people were injured.

Putin’s troops no longer have strategic strength, says Zelensky

05:12 , Arpan Rai

Russian soldiers invading Ukraine do not possess the strategic strength of what they are doing in the besieged country, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said late on Tuesday.

“139 days of such a war, almost 20 weeks... The so-called second army of the world is afraid of Ukrainians and is able to do something only on the basis of bottomless stocks of old Soviet weapons,” Mr Zelensky said in his nightly address.

He added: “They no longer have strategic strength, character, or understanding of what they are doing here on our land. They also don’t have even an iota of courage to admit defeat and withdraw troops from Ukrainian territory.”

Mr Zelensky said that the occupiers have “already felt very well what modern artillery is, and they will not have a safe rear anywhere on our land, which they occupied”.

“They have felt that the operations of our reconnaissance officers to protect their Homeland are much more powerful than any of their “special operations”.

Russian soldiers - and we know this from interceptions of their conversations - are truly afraid of our Armed Forces,” he said.

Chris Cuomo calls himself ‘free agent’ and starts livestreaming reports from Ukraine front line

04:33 , Arpan Rai

After getting fired by CNN, news anchor Chris Cuomo is now reporting live from Ukraine, visuals from his social media show.

Mr Cuomo was sacked by the television channel in the wake of revelations that he advised his brother, former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, through a sexual misconduct scandal.

He took to his Instagram page on Monday night and shared eight short segments of video showing the position and state of Ukrainian soldiers, weapons, and stored grain, along with interviews with Ukrainian military personnel.

In his caption, Mr Cuomo compared the conflict between Russia and Ukraine to World War II.

“Shelling is destroying homes, schools, adults kids...often with banned weapons say Ukrainians, showing us cluster bombs and describing mines that are tearing through young and old,” Mr Cuomo wrote.

Read the full story here:

Chris Cuomo calls himself ‘free agent’ and starts livestreaming from Ukraine

War continues, shelling does not stop even for a day - Zelensky

04:20 , Arpan Rai

Volodymyr Zelensky shared the operational update from the ongoing war in Ukraine and said that the Russian shelling has not stopped even for a day since 24 February.

“Every day we receive and experience a lot of painful news. The war continues, Russian shelling does not stop for a single day. Today there were regular strikes at Mykolaiv - missiles, artillery,” Mr Zelensky said.

He added that the Russian soldiers have again hit Kharkiv and the communities of the region - Staryi Saltiv, Zolochiv, Bayrak and others. “There are victims - wounded and killed. In Donbas, offensive attempts do not stop, the situation there does not get easier, and the losses do not get smaller. We must remember this. We must see this, draw attention to this,” the Ukrainian president said.

Mr Zelensky added: “And it should also be remembered that even in such conditions, the state takes steps forward - in cooperation with partners - in institutional development. And, of course, on the frontline.”

Row over turbine for Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline

03:37 , Sam Rkaina

A group representing the Ukrainian diaspora said it was seeking a judicial review of the Canadian government’s decision to return a repaired turbine to Germany that is needed for the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline.

The Canadian government on Saturday said it was issuing a “time-limited and revocable permit” to exempt the return of turbines from its Russian sanctions as Europe seeks continued energy flows until it can end its dependency on Russian gas.

Ukraine’s energy and foreign ministries said on Sunday the decision amounted to adjusting sanctions imposed on Moscow “to the whims of Russia” and called for it to be reversed.

Russia last month cited the delayed return of the turbine, which Germany’s Siemens Energy has been servicing in Canada, as the reason behind its reduction of flows to 40% of capacity through the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline from Russia to Germany.

“This exemption to the sanctions regime against Russia is totally unacceptable,” the Ukrainian World Congress said in a statement. “There are real alternatives to Germany’s gas needs, including buying through Ukraine’s pipeline.”

The Ukrainian World Congress said it had filed a notice of application for judicial review to the Federal Court and was requesting “a declaration that the decision to provide a permit to Siemens was unreasonable and unauthorized and an order quashing the permit.”

Chris Cuomo is ‘free agent’ and starts livestreaming reports from Ukraine front line

03:00 , Sam Rkaina

Chris Cuomo, the news anchor fired last year by CNN in the wake of revelations that he advised his brother, former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, through a sexual misconduct scandal, is now reporting live from Ukraine.

Mr Cuomo posted a report to his Instagram page on Monday night that included eight short segments of video showing the position and state of Ukrainian soldiers, weapons, and stored grain, along with interviews with Ukrainian military personnel.

In his caption, Mr Cuomo compared the conflict between Russia and Ukraine to World War II.

Click here for the full story.

EU has frozen 13 billion euros worth of assets over Russian war

01:36 , Sam Rkaina

The European Union has so far frozen 13.8 billion euros ($13.83 billion) worth of assets held by Russian oligarchs, other individuals and entities sanctioned for Moscow’s war against Ukraine, the bloc’s top justice official said.

Military delegations from Ukraine, Russia and Turkey will meet UN officials in Istanbul on Wednesday to discuss a possible deal to resume safe exports of Ukraine grain from the major Black Sea port of Odesa as a global food crisis worsens.

More than 20 million tonnes of grain are currently stuck in silos in Odesa.

Zelensky says ‘occupiers will not be safe anywhere on our land'

Tuesday 12 July 2022 23:05 , Sam Rkaina

“The occupiers have already felt what modern artillery is like, and their rear will not be safe anywhere on our land that they have occupied,” President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address.

“They have felt that the operations of our intelligence officers for defending their homeland are of a magnitude stronger than any of their special operations.”

Elsewhere in Ukraine, Russian shelling over the past 24 hours killed at least 16 civilians and wounded 48 more, Ukraine’s presidential office said in its Tuesday morning update.

Cities and towns in five southeast regions came under Russian fire, the office said.

Nine civilians were killed and two more wounded in Donetsk province, which makes up half of the Donbas.

Russian rocket attacks targeted the cities of Sloviansk and Toretsk, where a kindergarten was hit, the presidential office said.

The British military said Tuesday that Russia was continuing to make “small, incremental gains” in Donetsk, where heavy fighting led the province’s governor last week to urge its 350,000 remaining residents to move to safer places in western Ukraine.

The death toll from a Russian rocket attack that struck a Donetsk apartment building Saturday rose to 41, the emergency services agency said Tuesday afternoon.

It said four more bodies were found and nine people were rescued from the rubble of the building in Chasiv Yar.

Yet many in the Donbas, a fertile industrial region in eastern Ukraine consisting of the Donetsk and Luhansk provinces, refuse — or are unable — to flee, despite scores of civilians being killed and wounded each week.

In northeaster Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, and its surrounding region, Russian strikes hit residential buildings, killing four civilians and wounding nine, Ukrainian officials said.

“The Russians continue their tactics of intimidating the peaceful population of the Kharkiv region,” Kharkiv Gov. Oleh Syniehubov wrote Tuesday on Telegram.

Ukraine ‘destroys Russian ammo depot in the south'

Tuesday 12 July 2022 22:25 , Sam Rkaina

The Ukrainian military has reported destroying a Russian ammunition depot in southern Ukraine, resulting in a massive explosion captured on social media.

An overnight rocket strike targeted the depot in Russian-held Nova Kakhovka, the Ukrainian military’s southern command said. Nova Kakhovka is about 35 miles east of the Black Sea port city of Kherson, which is also occupied by Russian forces.

The precision of the strike suggested Ukrainian forces used US-supplied multiple-launch High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, or HIMARS. Ukraine indicated in recent days that it might launch a counteroffensive to reclaim territory in the south as Russia bombards the eastern Donbas region.

Russia’s Tass news agency offered a different account of the blast in Nova Kakhovka, saying that a mineral fertilizer storage facility exploded and that a market, hospital and houses were damaged. Some of the ingredients in fertilizer can be used for ammunition.

A satellite photo taken Tuesday and analyzed by The Associated Press showed significant damage. A huge crater gaped precisely where a large warehouse-like structure once stood.

Ukraine now has eight of the HIMAR systems, a truck-mounted missile launcher with high accuracy, and Washington has promised to send four more.

Ukraine ships pass through Danube in new hope for grain exports

Tuesday 12 July 2022 21:48 , Sam Rkaina

Ukraine’s infrastructure ministry said 16 ships had passed through the Danube’s newly-reopened Bystre rivermouth in the last four days and that the opening up of the Bystre was an important step towards speeding up grain exports.

Ukraine was also negotiating with Romanian colleagues and European Commission representatives about increasing crossings through the Sulina canal, Yuriy Vaskov, deputy infrastructure minister, said in the statement.

Under such conditions, and with access to the Bystre route, Vaskov added, Ukraine expected congestion to be cleared within a week “and we will be able to increase the monthly export of grain by 500,000 tonnes.”

Russian prosecutors bring criminal charges against another war critic

Tuesday 12 July 2022 21:15 , Sam Rkaina

Russian prosecutors have brought criminal charges against another opposition figure who has criticized the country’s military campaign in Ukraine.Ilya Yashin was due to be released after spending 15 days in jail on charges of failing to obey police.

Instead, Yashin was charged under a new law making it a crime to spread false information about the military, said his lawyer, Vadim Prokhorov. It carries a potential sentence of up to 15 years in prison.

Prosecutors were searching Yashin’s Moscow home on Tuesday evening, Prokhorov said on Facebook.

Russia has cracked down on those who criticism what it calls the “special military operation” in Ukraine.

Vladimir Kara-Muza, a well-known opposition figure, was arrested in April and charged under the same law.

‘Donetsk People’s Republic' opens embassy in Russia and defends death penalty

Tuesday 12 July 2022 20:45 , Sam Rkaina

The self-styled Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) opened an embassy in Russia today, one of only two countries to recognise the breakaway statelet in eastern Ukraine, and defended its right to impose capital punishment.

DPR Foreign Minister Natalia Nikonorova said the territory’s use of the death penalty - which it has handed down to two Britons and a Moroccan for fighting as “mercenaries” for Ukraine - was irrelevant to its bid for diplomatic recognition.

Asked if capital punishment would tarnish the DPR’s image, she said: “We consider that mercenary activity is indeed a terrible crime because people, for a reward, come to another country to kill other people, despite having no personal goals connected to the conflict in question.

“Yes, it is the highest measure of punishment, but it is in our legislation and it is not linked to the further process of recognition of the Donetsk People’s Republic by other states.”

Britons Aiden Aslin and Shaun Pinner and Moroccan Brahim Saadoun were sentenced last month after what Western politicians described as a show trial. Their appeals are pending.

Their relatives say they are soldiers who were under contract to the Ukrainian army and are therefore entitled to the protection of the Geneva Conventions on the treatment of prisoners of war.

So far, only Russia and Syria have recognised the DPR as independent, but Nikonorova said it was also in discussions with the ambassador of North Korea.

The opening of the embassy, in a building close to Moscow’s Garden Ring artery, was a low-key affair with no senior Russian government figures present.

DPR officials’ plans for a grand ceremony had been put on hold because of the grave situation in eastern Ukraine, which is the main focus of the current fighting.

“We can’t celebrate here when our countrymen are dying,” ambassador Olga Makeyeva said.

In a move denounced by Kyiv and the West as illegal, Russia recognised the independence of the DPR and another breakaway entity, the Luhansk People’s Republic, three days before President Vladimir Putin sent his forces into Ukraine on Feb. 24 on what he calls a “special military operation”.

Death toll from Donetsk flatblock strike rises to 43

Tuesday 12 July 2022 20:15 , Liam James

The death toll from a strike by Russian rockets on a collapsed flatblock in the Donetsk region town of Chasiv Yar has risen to 43, with rescue work still ongoing after four days, Ukrainian emergency services said.

Over 420 tonnes of rubble had been cleared and 9 people rescued from under the ruins, the regional emergency services directorate wrote on Facebook.

Andriy Yermak, chief of staff to Volodymyr Zelensky, said on Sunday the strike was “another terrorist attack,” and that Russia should be designated as a state sponsor of terrorism as a result.

Russia, which denies deliberately targeting civilians, said on Monday it had “destroyed the temporary deployment point” of a Ukrainian territorial defence unit in Chasiv Yar.

Ukraine takes out Russian troops and ammo in Kherson – Kyiv

Tuesday 12 July 2022 19:06 , Liam James

Ukraine said on Tuesday it had carried out a long-range rocket strike against Russian forces and military equipment in Kherson, southern Ukraine – territory Kyiv plans to retake in a counteroffensive using hundreds of thousands of troops.

The strike hit an ammunition dump in the town of Nova Kakhovka and killed 52 Russians, Ukraine‘s military said. It came after Washington supplied Ukraine with advanced Himars mobile artillery systems which Kyiv says its forces are using with ever greater efficiency.

A Russian-installed official in Kherson gave a different version of events. He said at least seven people had been killed and that civilians and civilian infrastructure had been hit.

The Independent could not independently verify the battlefield accounts.

The area Ukraine struck is one that Russia seized soon after launching on 24 February what Moscow called “a special military operation” and is of strategic importance due to its Black Sea access and proximity to Russian-annexed Crimea.

At least 12 killed in Mykolaiv strike

Tuesday 12 July 2022 17:56 , Liam James

At least 12 people were wounded in shelling of Ukraine’s southern city of Mykolaiv overnight, the regional governor said on Tuesday.

Rockets from multiple rocket launchers landed on two medical facilities and residential buildings, Vitaly Kim said.

“So far there are 12 wounded,” Kim said in a post on the Telegram messaging app.

Around midday on Tuesday Mr Kim raised fears of another impending strike as he announced on Telegram that an air raid siren had ben triggered over Mykolaiv.

Lego closes all its shops in Russia

Tuesday 12 July 2022 16:43 , Sam Rkaina

Danish toy giant Lego has decided to close its shops in Russia months after the country’s Government launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

The company initially ended its sales into Russia shortly after the invasion began in late February.

It matched hundreds of other Western companies pulling out following the Kremlin’s aggression.

On Tuesday it cut off its partnership with Inventive Retail Group, a local company which runs dozens of stores for the toymaker.

It will also lay off most of its Moscow team, the company said.

“The Lego Group paused shipments to Russia in March. Given the continued extensive disruption in the operating environment, we have decided to indefinitely cease commercial operations in Russia,” Lego said in a statement on Tuesday.

“This includes ending employment for most of our Moscow-based team and our partnership with Inventive Retail Group who owned and operated 81 stores on the brand’s behalf.”

Grain dispute must be solved under auspices of UN, say Ukraine

Tuesday 12 July 2022 15:54 , Joe Middleton

Ahead of scheduled four-way talks in Turkey to unblock Ukraine‘s grain exports, Ukraine‘s foreign ministry said on Tuesday the grain issue must be resolved under the auspices of the United Nations.

“Ukraine advocates that the issue of unblocking Ukrainian grain be resolved under the auspices of the U.N.,” foreign ministry spokesperson Oleg Nikolenko told Reuters.

“In this context, we are grateful to Secretary General Antonio Guterres for his active efforts to find a solution that will guarantee the security of the southern regions of our country,” he said.

Reuters

German justice minister on war crime investigation

Tuesday 12 July 2022 14:50 , Zoe Tidman

Germany’s justice minister said investigating war crimes in Ukraine was likely to take “many years” but he was confident they will ultimately be successful.

Justice minister Marco Buschmann said there will “probably be hundreds of thousands, maybe even millions of pieces of evidence that have to be sifted through, documented and evaluated”.

The German federal prosecutor’s office said in early March that it had started looking into possible war crimes committed by Russian forces in Ukraine.

PA

£1.7bn to pay Ukraine health workers’ salaries

Tuesday 12 July 2022 14:35 , Zoe Tidman

Ukraine is getting an additional $1.7bn dollars (£1.4bn) in assistance from the US government and the World Bank to pay the salaries of its beleaguered healthcare workers and provide other essential services.

Viktor Liashko, Ukraine‘s minister of health, said paying health workers’ salaries is becoming more difficult each month “due to the overwhelming burden of war”.

He said the investment was not just more financial support, but an “investment that makes us a step closer to victory”.

AP

Putin to visit Iran amid reports Tehran wants to supply ‘several hundred’ drones to Russia

Tuesday 12 July 2022 14:04 , Joe Middleton

Vladimir Putin will visit Iran next week amid concerns that Russia is turning to Tehran to provide weapons for use in Ukraine, something the US claims could happen imminently.

The visit assumes even greater significance as Joe Biden is slated to begin a trip to Iran’s regional rivals Saudi Arabia and Israel starting on Wednesday.

Both the countries have resisted joining global efforts to punish Russia for its invasion of Ukraine due to their domestic interests.

Sravasti Dasgupta reports.

Putin to visit Iran amid reports Tehran wants to supply drones to Russia

Ukrainian forces claim to have struck Russian ammunition depot

Tuesday 12 July 2022 13:29 , Joe Middleton

Ukrainian authorities have said their forces targeted a Russian ammunition depot in southern Ukraine overnight, resulting in a massive explosion captured on social media.

The Ukrainian military’s southern command said a rocket strike targeted the depot in Russian-held Nova Kakhovka, about 35 miles east of the Black Sea port city of Kherson, which is also occupied by Russian forces.

The precision of the strike suggested Ukrainian forces used US-supplied multiple-launch High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) to hit the area.

Ukraine indicated in recent days that it might launch a counteroffensive to reclaim territory in the country’s south as Russia devotes resources to capturing all of the eastern Donbas region.

Russia’s Tass news agency offered a different account of the blast in Nova Kakhovka, saying a mineral fertiliser storage facility exploded, and that a market, hospital and houses were damaged in the strike.

Some of the ingredients in fertiliser can be used for ammunition. A satellite photo taken on Tuesday and analysed by the Associated Press showed significant damage.

A massive crater stood precisely where a large warehouse-like structure once stood in the city.

Ukraine PM thanks US for ‘incredible support'

Tuesday 12 July 2022 13:01 , Joe Middleton

Prime minister Denys Shmyhal thanked the United States on Tuesday for its “incredible support” after Ukraine received a further $1.7-billion in international financial assistance.

Shmyhal confirmed receipt of a grant which he said on Saturday would come from a Single-Donor Trust Fund created by the World Bank’s International Bank for Reconstruction, the International Development Association and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

“Grateful to U.S. & @POTUS for incredible support,” he wrote on Twitter on Tuesday.

He said on Saturday the non-refundable grant had been agreed “due to Russia’s large-scale aggression against Ukraine“ and would go towards state budget costs for medical services.

Russian military equipment captured by Ukrainian armed forces on display in Prague

Tuesday 12 July 2022 12:06 , Joe Middleton

Pieces of Russian military equipment that were captured or destroyed by the Ukrainian armed forces during the ongoing war are being displayed at an exhibition in Prague.

The display, organised by Ukraine’s internal affairs ministry, was unveiled on Monday at Letna Plain, a large open space a short distance from Prague Castle. It shows a damaged T-90 tank, Buk air defence system and a Msta howitzer, among other weapons.

The exhibition of war trophies is aimed at showing the “horrors of war” and highlighting the resistance Ukrainian soldiers have put up, officials said.

Stuti Mishra reports.

Russian military equipment captured by Ukrainian armed forces on display in Prague

Putin set for talks with Erdogan and Raisi

Tuesday 12 July 2022 11:18 , Joe Middleton

Russian president Vladimir Putin will meet his Turkish counterpart Tayyip Erdogan and Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi to discuss Syria during a visit to Tehran next Tuesday, the Kremlin said.

It will be only Putin’s second foreign trip since the start of Moscow’s armed intervention in Ukraine,following a trip to Central Asia at the end of June.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said three leaders - from the three guarantor states of the Astana process, designed to find a peace settlement in Syria - would hold a trilateral meeting.

Russia and Iran are the key military and political backers of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, while Turkey has provided military assistance to the Free Syrian Army and other rebel groups still fighting against Assad’s forces in northwest Syria.

The Kremlin had said on Monday that Putin and Erdogan, would hold in-person talks soon after a phone conversation in which they discussed efforts to facilitate grain exports from Ukraine.

Peskov made no mention on Tuesday of any bilateral meeting between Putin and Raisi in Tehran.

Reuters

Chasiv Yar death toll rises to 34

Tuesday 12 July 2022 10:24 , Joe Middleton

The death toll in a Russian rocket attack that struck an apartment building in eastern Ukraine on Saturday has risen to 34., according to a top official.

The head of the Donetsk regional military administration, Pavlo Kyrylenko, made the announcement on social media, saying nine wounded people had been recovered from the building in Chasiv Yar.

Mr Kyrylenko said that one child was among the dead and that more than 70 per cent of the rubble has now been cleared by the emergency services.

At least 12 wounded after shelling in Mykolaiv

Tuesday 12 July 2022 09:19 , Joe Middleton

At least 12 people were wounded in shelling of Ukraine‘s southern city of Mykolaiv overnight, the regional governor said on Tuesday.

Rockets from multiple launchers landed on two medical facilities and residential buildings, Vitaly Kim said.

“So far there are 12 wounded,” Kim said in a post on the Telegram messaging app. Russia, which invaded Ukraine in what it calls a special military operation, denies targeting civilians.

ICYMI: Ukraine plans ‘million-strong’ army to retake south from Russia

Tuesday 12 July 2022 08:58 , Joe Middleton

Ukraine is planning to arm a million-strong force with western-supplied weapons as it seeks to retake southern territories seized by Russia, Kyiv’s defence minister has claimed.

President Volodymyr Zelensky has told Ukraine’s military to retake coastal areas vital to the country’s economy, Oleksii Reznikov said, as Kyiv’s forces continued to engage in fierce fighting over control of the eastern Donbas region.

In a public appeal for Ukraine’s allies to expedite weapons shipments, Mr Reznikov warned that “each day we’re waiting for howitzers we can lose a hundred soldiers”, channelling Winston Churchill as he added: “Give us the tools, we will finish the job.”

Andy Gregory reports.

Ukraine plans ‘million-strong’ army to retake south from Russia

Moment man pulled from rubble after Russian strike in Ukraine

Tuesday 12 July 2022 08:32 , Joe Middleton

Russian forces making ‘small incremental’ gains - MoD

Tuesday 12 July 2022 07:40 , Joe Middleton

The latest intelligence update from the Ministry of Defence says that Russian forces “continue to make small incremental territorial gains in Donetsk oblast with Russia claiming to have seized control of the town of Hryhorivka.”

It adds that they are also continuing “their assault along the E-40 main supply route towards the cities of Slovyansk and Kramatorsk.”

However they may be experiencing personnel shortages and are having to recruit from prisons, the update suggests.

Russia likely maintaining 'military pressure' on Ukraine, claims UK

Tuesday 12 July 2022 07:10 , Arpan Rai

The British defence ministry has said that Russia is likely maintaining a military edge over Ukraine as its troops continue to reorganise before advancing into another round of heavy assault in the ongoing war.

“Russian forces are likely maintaining military pressure on Ukrainian forces whilst regrouping and reconstituting for further offensives in the near future,” the ministry said in its latest intelligence update.

On the battle lines, the ministry said that Russian troops are continuing to make small incremental territorial gains in Donetsk oblast with Russia claiming to have seized control of the town of Hryhorivka.

“Russian forces also continue their assault along the E-40 main supply route towards the cities of Slovyansk and Kramatorsk,” the ministry said.

However, it added that a shortage of personnel in the Russian Armed Forces’ may be forcing the Russian MOD to turn to non-traditional recruitment.

“This includes recruiting personnel from Russian prisons for the Wagner Private Military Company,” the ministry said.

If true, this move likely indicates difficulties in replacing the significant numbers of Russian casualties, the ministry added.

Six killed in Ukrainian attack, claims Russia

Tuesday 12 July 2022 06:34 , Arpan Rai

At least six people have been killed in Russian-held town Nova Kakhovka in southern Kherson after a strike by Ukraine’s armed forces, Moscow-backed officials in the region said.

“There are six people confirmed. And many dozens injured, (with) shrapnel wounds, cuts,” Vladimir Leontyev, head of the Kakhovka District military-civilian administration in the Kherson region, said, reported TASS Russian state news agency.

He added that many are still trapped under the rubble.

“The injured are being taken to the hospital, but many people are blocked in their apartments and houses,” Mr Leontyev said.

Kyiv has not commented on the attack and casualties.

Ukraine braces for fresh assault from Putin’s troops

Tuesday 12 July 2022 06:25 , Arpan Rai

Ukrainian fighters are preparing for renewed aggression from Russia’s ground forces as Moscow prepares to intensify attacks to seize the eastern Donetsk region, officials said on Tuesday.

Shelling across Ukraine has amounted to preparing for an increase in hostilities from Vladimir Putin’s soldiers, Ukraine’s general staff said. Russia is also eyeing to expand and seize control of the entire Donbas region - Ukraine’s industrial heartland.

Russia has carried out 34 airstrikes since Saturday, Volodymyr Zelensky said, adding that 31 people have been killed so far and dozens have been trapped.