Ukraine war live: Russia orders evacuations 'ahead of Ukrainian counter offensive'

Russian forces have announced the evacuation of occupied areas of the Zaporizhzhia region in southern Ukraine which lie in the path of an anticipated counter-offensive.

Yevgeny Balitsky, Russia-appointed head of the Zaporizhzhia region, announced an evacuation of residents from 18 towns close to the front line on Friday afternoon.

Mr Balitsky said in a statement that Ukrainian forces intensified shelling of the area in recent days.

He said residents of the north of the region, including the town of Enerhodar that hosts a major nuclear power station, are encouraged to leave for safer areas:

"Parents and children, disabled people and hospital patients will be given priority and moved further away from the front line."

The exiled mayor of the occupied Ukrainian town of Melitopol, Ivan Fyodorov, said there was “panic” in Melitopol, with long lines at petrol stations. There were also reports that those working for the occupation administration were told to stay at home “in case of explosions”.

03:00 PM

Today's liveblog is now closed

Thanks for following today's liveblog. Here is a summary of today’s stories:

• The head of the Wagner mercenary group has said he may withdraw his troops from the Russian advance on Bakhmut as soon as May 10, as he launched a vicious attack on “Kremlin b-----s” over lack of weapons supplies.

• In his most outspoken criticism of the Kremlin so far, Yevgeny Prigozhin said in a video on Thursday night that the group lacked 70pc of the ammunition that they needed, and appealed directly to defence minister Sergei Shoigu and the Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces.

• Russian forces have announced the evacuation of 18 towns in occupied areas of the Zaporizhzhia region in southern Ukraine which lie in the path of an anticipated counter-offensive.

• Record high water levels threaten to overwhelm a major dam in southern Ukraine and damage parts of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, a Russian official told state news agency TASS.

We will be back tomorrow with all the latest updates on Ukraine.

02:42 PM

Pictured: Yevgeny Prigozhin says Shoigu and Gerasimov should bear responsibility for Wagner dead and wounded

02:31 PM

Prigozhin: Shoigu and Gerasimov should bear responsibility for 'tens of thousands' of Wagner dead and injured

The head of the Wagner Group has said that Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu and the Chief of General Staff Valery Gerasimov must bear the responsibility for "tens of thousands of Wagner dead and injured".

Yevgeny Prigozhin said in a video uploaded to Telegram: "For the tens of thousands killed and wounded, they will bear responsibility in front of their mothers and children, I will achieve that."

Hours earlier, Mr Prigozhin threatened to pull out his fighters from the front line city of Bakhmut next week unless he gets more ammunition.

02:13 PM

Russia's ambassador to Poland summoned over murder of ambassador comments

Russia's ambassador to Poland has been summoned to the Polish foreign ministry regarding a statement by the former ombudsman for the children of Russia calling for the murder of Poland's ambassador, a spokesman has said.

Lukasz Jasina, of Poland's foreign ministry, wrote on Twitter: "The Polish side expressed a firm protest regarding the situation and expectation of an immediate initiation of criminal proceedings and immediate punishment of the perpetrator." The Tweet referred to ex-ombudsman Pavel Astakhov.

Warsaw is one of Ukraine's staunchest allies.

02:04 PM

Pictured: People sheltering inside a subway station during an air raid alert in Kyiv

01:49 PM

Moscow hopes to capture Bakhmut by May 9, says Ukrainian official

A senior Ukrainian official has said that Russia was bringing Wagner Group fighters from along the front line to Bakhmut, as Moscow wanted to capture the city in time for Victory Day celebrations on May 9.

Speaking on Ukrainian television, Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Maliar said: “"The Russians are inclined towards symbolism and their key historic myth is May 9 and they really have set the objective of taking control of Bakhmut by this date.”

Ms Maliar added: “We are now seeing them pulling (fighters) from the entire offensive line where the Wagner fighters were, they are pulling (them) to the Bakhmut direction."

01:36 PM

Czech President gifts pistol to Zelensky

Czech President Petr Pavel has given Volodymyr Zelensky a pistol "as a sign of respect for Ukrainian heroism".

Mr Pavel wrote on Twitter: "In February 2022, 🇷🇺 hit hard on the resilience of the Ukrainian people. From the beginning, Czech weapons helped them in the fight. As a sign of respect for heroism, I gave [President Zelensky] the legendary CZ 75 serial number 22. The Order of the White Lion edition describes the courage."

01:03 PM

Reports of evacuation preparations of Russian-occupied areas in the south

The exiled mayor of the occupied Ukrainian town of Melitopol has cited reports indicating that Russian occupation authorities in the south might be preparing an evacuation in the face of a possible Ukrainian counter-offensive, Nataliya Vasilyeva reports. 

Ivan Fyodorov, mayor of Melitopol, said on social media on Friday, local residents report that occupation administration in the towns of Polohy, Tokmak and Molochansk in the Zaporizhzhia region are setting up the evacuation of local residents further away from the front line, to Berdyansk in the south, cutting “escalation” on the battlefield.

He also reported “panic” in Melitopol and long lines to petrol stations. Those working for the occupation administration were reportedly told to stay home “in case of explosions”.

Russian occupation authorities in Zaporizhzhia have not commented on the reports.

12:54 PM

Watch: Russia's Wagner leader threatens to withdraw forces from Bakhmut

12:38 PM

Zelensky adviser: Russian rail 'mishaps' consequence of 'loss of power control over the regions'

The Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykailo Podolyak has said that the "growth of mishaps on the railways and at critical enterprises" in Russia are a result of "weakness of the state".

There have been two incidents on rail tracks in the Russian region of Bryansk this week, where explosive devices allegedly detonated and caused trains to derail.

The UK Ministry of Defence referred to a "recent uptick in Russian rail incidents" in its intelligence update earlier today, and said these incidents "will increase pressure on Russia's internal security forces".

12:18 PM

Defence in Depth: Wagner Vs Kremlin: Russia's second battle in Bakhmut

The Telegraph's Associate Editor (Defence) Dominic Nicholls provided in-depth analysis of the situation in Bakhmut and the tensions between the Kremlin and the Wagner Group of mercenaries headed up by Yevgeny Prigozhin in an episode of Defence in Depth last month.

12:05 PM

Russian men changing gender to ‘avoid’ Ukraine war draft

Russia’s parliament is expected to crack down on gender reassignment in an apparent attempt to discourage young men from registering as women to avoid the draft, Nataliya Vasilyeva reports. 

Despite the Kremlin’s aggressive stance against the LGBT and transgender community, Russia still has fairly liberal legislation that allows change of a gender marker following a psychiatric examination and does not require sex reassignment surgery.

A clampdown was brought up by Russia’s influential justice minister last month, who said it would “take a step towards enshrining family values in the Russian law”.

Read more on this story from The Telegraph's Russia correspondent here. 

11:52 AM

Shipments from Ukraine slow as future of Black Sea initiative in doubt

The pace of shipments from Ukraine under the Black Sea grain initiative has slowed amid growing concern that ships may get stuck if a deal is not renewed later this month, Reuters has reported, citing sources and data.

Russia has threatened to walk away from the deal, brokered by the UN, from May 18 because of the obstacles to Russia's own exports of agricultural products. It has said it will continue talks on the initiative, which has allowed Ukraine to export approximately 29.5 million tons of agricultural products.

However, the number of ships coming in to pick up cargo has dropped this week to two vessels a day from three to four ships on average in the past three weeks, according to data from the agreement's joint coordination centre.

11:25 AM

Ukraine's First Lady to attend King Charles III's Coronation

Ukrainian first lady Olena Zelenska has arrived in the UK for the Coronation of King Charles III on Saturday, the official website for the Ukrainan president said.

Ms Zelenska was seen meeting Akshata Murty, the wife of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, on the steps of Number 10 Downing Street on Thursday. The pair then visited the British Library.

Ms Zelenska thanked the UK for its support of Ukraine, particularly for its assistance in organising and hosting the Eurovision song contest. Ukraine's folk-rap group Kalush won last year, but could not host the event because of the war.

"The inability of the winning country to host this competition should be another reminder to the world of Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine," she said.

11:10 AM

Pictured: Ukrainian soldier pets a kitten in a trench on the front line

10:57 AM

Finnish energy company calls Russian seizure of assets 'unlawful'

Finnish state-owned energy company Fortum Oyj has formally notified the Kremlin that it strongly objects to what it described as Russia's "unlawful" seizure of its subsidiary in the country.

A decree signed by Vladimir Putin last week established temporary control of the Finnish company's Russian assets, which the firm has tried to sell since the invasion of Ukraine last year.

The company said on Friday that it was preparing to take legal action.

"With its actions, the Russian Federation has caused the dismissal of PAO Fortum's CEO and deprived Fortum of its shareholder rights,"  the company said.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the seizure was in accordance with Russian legislation, adding: ""These actions, first of all, are dictated by the need to protect our own interests against the backdrop of the steps taken by countries unfriendly to us."

10:43 AM

Watch: Ukrainian air force downs its own drone over Kyiv after it 'loses control'

10:29 AM

Conflicting accounts as to what caused second fire at Russia oil refinery

There has been a second fire at the Ilsky oil refinery in southern Russia in as many days, which has since been put out, according to Russian media.

TASS news agency said, citing emergency services, that there had been a second drone attack at the oil refinery. However, RIA Novosti, another state-run agency, said that another source in the emergency services said that the fire broke out after fuel reignited from the alleged attack on Thursday.

It was reported that an unidentified drone had fallen on the oil refinery on Thursday, causing a fire.

Interfax reported that the fire was contained even before emergency services arrived, they had been told.

Nobody has claimed responsibility for the attack.

10:12 AM

Pictured: Zelensky with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte on Thursday

09:56 AM

Russia's security council to discuss Kremlin drone incident today

Russia's security council is likely to discuss what Moscow has described as a Ukrainian drone attack on the Kremlin when it meets later today, according to a Kremlin spokesman.

The Kremlin has previously said that it reserves the right to retaliate following the "attack" which they say was carried out by Kyiv but orchestrated by Washington, which both Ukrainian and US officials have denied.

09:38 AM

Ukraine’s counter-offensive: The options for attack – and which is best

The upcoming Ukrainian counter-offensive has to be one of the most over-analysed military operations in history.

Starting late last year, two things became clear: firstly, that both sides would conduct offensives in the spring, and secondly, that Ukraine had to make serious progress towards victory this year because US elections in 2024 could put the country’s massive military support at risk, Mike Martin reports. 

The Russians decided to go early with their offensive. Since January, they have been slowly grinding away in the eastern Donbas region, mostly around the non-strategic town of Bakhmut.

Read more about the options for Ukraine's counter-offensive here.

09:23 AM

Lavrov: Kremlin drone 'attack' impossible without US knowledge

Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov has said that the alleged drone attack on the Kremlin could not have taken place without the knowledge of Washington, and warned that Moscow would respond with "concrete actions".

During a visit to India on Friday, Mr Lavrov said: ""It's clear that without the knowledge of their minders, the terrorists from Kyiv could not have carried out (the attack),"

09:03 AM

Ukrainian air forces downs own drone over Kyiv

The Ukrainian air force said it downed its own drone that lost control over Kyiv on Thursday evening, amid a series of explosions which shook the capital.

The air force said: "At about 8:00 pm (1700 GMT) a Bayraktar TB2 unmanned aerial device lost control during a scheduled flight in the Kyiv region... the target was destroyed!"

It added that it was establishing the cause of a "likely" technical malfunction.

The explosions followed a wave of air attacks by Russia between Wednesday evening and Thursday morning.

08:43 AM

Transcription of the Wagner chief video

Here is a translation by Reuters of the video from Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of the Wagner group:

08:33 AM

Second drone attack on Ilsky refinery, according to emergency services

There has been a second drone attack on the Ilsky oil refinery in southern Russia in as many days, and it has caused a fire, according to the TASS news agency citing emergency services.

Another Russian news agency, RIA Novosti, reported that the fire had been put out and that there were no casualties.

It was not clear who was behind the incident.

08:17 AM

MoD update: Recent rail incidents caused disruption to Russia military movements

In their latest daily intelligence update, the UK Ministry of Defence has said that the "recent uptick" in incidents on railway lines in Russia "has almost certainly caused short-term localised disruption to Russian military rail movements".

On May 1, a train was derailed in the area of Bryansk after an "explosive device" detonated on the tracks. The following day, there were reports of a second train being derailed in the same region, close to the Russian border with Ukraine and Belarus, near the Snezhestkaya railway station.

08:04 AM

High water levels threaten Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, warns Russia

Record high water levels threaten to overwhelm a major dam in southern Ukraine and damage parts of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, a Russian official told state news agency TASS.

The power cable line to the Russian-controlled power plant’s pumping station would be flooded if the Nova Kakhova dam ruptured, an adviser to the general director of nuclear energy firm Rosenergoatom said.

Renat Karchaa told TASS: “This (would create) functional problems for the operation of the plant and risks for nuclear safety.”

07:58 AM

Fights break out between Russian and Ukrainian delegates at meeting in Turkey

A fight broke out between Russian and Ukrainian representatives at a meeting of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Black Sea Economic Community, David Millward reports.

Tempers frayed at the gathering in the Turkish capital of Ankara. Both countries are represented by the body which was founded 30 years ago. For three decades its task has been to provide “joint support for strengthening cooperation and partnership in the region”.

Hopes that the conflict between the two countries could be put aside were dashed, however, when a Russian representative took exception to his Ukrainian counterpart waving his country’s distinctive yellow and blue flag.

Read more on this story and watch the footage here.

07:56 AM

Good morning

Good morning and welcome to today's Ukraine liveblog.

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