Ukraine launches first cluster bomb attack on Russian troops

Ukraine has launched its first cluster bomb attack against Russian forces in southeastern Ukraine, according to reports.

The Washington Post reported that the controversial weapons were fired at Russian trenches slowing down Ukraine’s advance, citing Ukrainian officials familiar with the matter.

It is the first report of the weapons use since the US started sending them to Kyiv this month.

Cluster bombs are also expected to be used near Bakhmut. The weapons spray “bomblets” across an area three times the size of a football pitch.

03:09 PM BST

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02:59 PM BST

Belarus Red Cross chief admits illegally taking Ukrainian children out of the country

The Belarus Red Cross has sparked international outrage after its chief told Belarusian state television that the organisation is actively involved in bringing Ukrainian children from Russian-occupied areas to Belarus.

Both Ukraine and the Belarusian opposition have decried the transfer as unlawful deportations, and there have been calls for international war crimes charges for Alexander Lukashenko, the authoritarian Belarus leader, similar to the charges against Russian president Vladimir Putin.

The actions of the Belarus Red Cross drew stern criticism from the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.

Read more here

02:42 PM BST

Watch: Wagner 'near Polish border'

02:28 PM BST

Moscow slaps domestic travel restrictions on UK diplomats in Russia

Moscow has announced that British diplomats working in Russia will need to notify authorities in advance about their movements around the country.

Russia’s foreign ministry said it summoned Britain’s charge d’affaires Tom Dodd to inform him of a “notification procedure for the movement of employees of British diplomatic missions”.

Moscow said it was introduced in response to the “hostile actions” of London, a key ally of Ukraine. The measures will not apply to the British ambassador and several other diplomats.

02:21 PM BST

Kyiv condemns Russian warning against ships travelling to Ukraine

Ukraine’s foreign ministry has condemned a warning by Russia that any ships travelling to Ukrainian Black Sea ports will be seen as possibly carrying military cargoes.

“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine strongly condemns any threats to use force against civilian ships, regardless of their flag,” it said.

Russia’s Defence Ministry said on Wednesday it would deem all ships travelling to Ukraine to be potentially carrying military cargo and “the flag countries of such ships will be considered parties to the Ukrainian conflict”.

Ukraine’s foreign ministry said: “The intention to consider foreign ships as military targets grossly violates Russia’s obligations under international law not only to Ukraine but also to all countries engaged in peaceful shipping in the Black Sea.”

It added that Russia’s statement had no legitimate military purpose, but was aimed at intimidating Ukraine and neutral states.

02:21 PM BST

Wagner in military exercises near Polish border

Wagner fighters will conduct military exercises near the Polish border in Belarus, the Belarusian defence ministry has said.

The militia will train Belarussian special forces at a firing range near Brest, triggering concern from Nato-member Poland.

It comes as Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin was shown in a video on Wednesday welcoming his fighters to Belarus, telling them they would take no further part in the Ukraine war for now but ordering them to gather their strength for Africa.

Poland said earlier this month it would send 500 police to shore up security at its border with Belarus to deal with potential threats after Wagner mercenaries as well as rising numbers of migrants crossing.

A deal was struck for the mercenaries to move to Belarus after Wagner’s failed June 23-24 mutiny.

01:45 PM BST

UK sanctions people, businesses 'linked' to Wagner's Africa ops

Britain announced sanctions against 13 individuals and businesses it said have links to the Russian mercenary group Wagner in Africa, accusing them of crimes there including killings and torture.

The people and entities targeted - which will no longer be able to deal with UK citizens, companies and banks, and have any UK assets frozen - are allegedly involved in Wagner’s activities in Mali, Central African Republic (CAR) and Sudan.

They include the purported head of Wagner in Mali, Ivan Aleksandrovitch Maslov, its chief in CAR, Vitalii Viktorovitch Perfilev, and the group’s operations head there Konstantin Aleksandrovitch Pikalov.

London noted Pikalov is known as the “right hand man” of Wagner founder Yevgeny Prigozhin, who has already been sanctioned by Britain alongside several of his key commanders who have participated in Russia’s war in Ukraine.

01:44 PM BST

Pictured: A man reacts at the scene of a rocket strike on an administrative building in the southern Ukrainian city of Odesa

12:45 PM BST

'A third hellish night'

Russian missiles and drones hit the Ukrainian port of Odesa for a third “hellish” night in a row, Sergiy Kruk, head of the Ukrainian State Emergency Service has said.

In Odesa, a man was found dead “under the rubble”, regional governor Oleg Kiper said. The body of another man was found in Mykolaiv, officials said.

A number of residential buildings as well as stores, cafes and banks in the city were damaged, while some continued to burn in the hours after the strikes.

Rescue teams were searching through the debris under pouring rain to find survivors after the Russians struck the city centre.

12:21 PM BST

Ukraine urges restoration of Black Sea grain initiative

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has called for the restoration of the Black Sea grain initiative to meet the challenge of global food insecurity.

Mr Kuleba is visiting Islamabad on a two-day trip.

His counterpart in Pakistan Bilawal Bhutto Zardari endorsed his comments, saying he planned to take the issue up with the secretary general of the United Nations.

The Black Sea grain deal expired on Monday after Russia quit it.

“We had to find the way to export our grain to the global market,” said Kuleba, adding, “land corridors cannot export the full amount of cereals available for export, this is the issue, which means prices will go up because of shortages of delivery.”

12:03 PM BST

Children are not the only ones being abducted by Russia

Elderly and vulnerable Ukrainians were taken into Russian territory, stripped of their citizenship, forced to give blood and left in agony from botched medical procedures, a Telegraph investigation has found.

The senior citizens were placed in the Russian care system after Vladimir Putin’s forces occupied their hometowns and villages in the early stages of the war.

Those who managed to escape back to Ukraine have told how they were “treated with disdain” and abused.

Read more from Verity Bowman here

11:29 AM BST

Zelensky: We will make it through this terrible time

11:08 AM BST

Death toll rises to two in Odesa strikes

At least two people were killed in the Odesa attacks, its governor has said.

Oleh Kiper, the governor of Odesa, said the two people who died in Odesa were a 21-year-old security guard and another person who was found dead under rubble during a search and rescue operation.

In Mykolaiv, another southern city close to the Black Sea, at least 19 people were injured overnight, the region’s Governor Vitalii Kim said in a statement on Telegram.

10:47 AM BST

Odesa and Mykolaiv in pictures:

10:16 AM BST

One killed in Russian attack on Ukrainian port cities

One person was killed and 27 wounded after Russian strikes hit Odesa and Mykolaiv for a third consecutive night after Moscow pulled out of a grain export deal, officials said.

In Mykolaiv, fire fighters tackled a huge blaze overnight. A three-storey residential building was left without its top floor and a line of adjacent buildings was left charred and gutted by fire.

Kyiv’s air force said the military shot down five cruise missiles and 13 attack drones launched by Russian forces overnight at the southern Mykolaiv and Odesa regions.

A previous round of overnight strikes on Odesa destroyed 60,000 tonnes of grain meant for export, Kyiv said on Wednesday, with president Volodymyr Zelensky accusing Moscow of “deliberately” targeting the supplies.

One person was also killed in Russian shelling in the northeastern region of Kharkiv, regional authorities said.

09:46 AM BST

Poland 'monitoring situation' on Belarus border

Poland’s defence ministry is monitoring the situation on the border with Belarus and is prepared for various scenarios, it said, after Belarus said mercenaries from Russia’s Wagner Group would take part in military exercises near the border.

“Poland’s borders are secure, we are monitoring the situation on our eastern border on an ongoing basis and we are prepared for various scenarios as the situation develops,” the defence ministry said in an emailed statement.

Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin was shown in a video on Wednesday welcoming his fighters to Belarus, telling them they would take no further part in the Ukraine war for now but ordering them to gather their strength for Africa.

09:31 AM BST

21 injured in overnight strikes in southern Ukraine

A third night of Russian air attacks targeted Ukraine’s southern cities and wounded at least 21 people, Ukrainian officials said.

At least 19 people were injured in Mykolaiv, a southern city close to the Black Sea, the region’s Governor Vitalii Kim said in a statement on Telegram.

Russian strikes destroyed several floors of a three-story building and caused a fire that affected an area of 450 square meters and burned for hours.

Kim said two people were hospitalized, including a child.

In the port city of Odesa, at least two were injured following a Russian air attack that damaged buildings in the city centre and caused a fire affecting an area of 300 square meters (3200 square feet), said Odesa Governor Oleh Kiper.

09:22 AM BST

Ukrainian grain 'cannot be left to rot in silos,' says German foreign minister

Germany is working with allies to ensure that Ukrainian grain is not left to rot in silos after Russia pulled out of an export deal, and will intensify work on getting the grain out by rail, Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has said.

Speaking on the sidelines of a meeting of European Union foreign ministers in Brussels, Ms Baerbock accused Russia of blackmail and trying to use the grain as a weapon at the expense of the world’s poorest.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has accused Western countries of “perverting” the grain deal, brokered by the United Nations and Turkey.

“Hundreds of thousands of people, not to say millions, urgently need the grain from Ukraine, which is why we are working with all our international partners so that the grain in Ukraine does not rot in silos in the next few weeks, but reaches the people of the world who urgently need it,”Ms Baerbock said.

08:50 AM BST

Russia 'causing global food crisis' with grain deal withdrawal, says EU official

Russia is responsible for a major global food supply crisis, the European Union’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell has said, some days after the Kremlin announced it would suspend an agreement for Ukrainian grain exports through the Black Sea.

“What we already know is that this is going to create a big and huge food crisis in the world..”, Mr Borrell told journalists before heading into a EU foreign ministers’ meeting.

Mr Borrell also accused Russia of deliberately attacking grain storage facilities in the southern port city of Odesa, which he said would further deepen the food crisis.

08:30 AM BST

Aftermath of Odesa attack in pictures:

08:27 AM BST

Wagner fighters and Belarus hold military exercises near Poland's border

Mercenaries from Russia’s Wagner group will help train Belarusian special forces during exercises at a military range near the border with Nato member Poland, the Belarusian defence ministry has said.

Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin was shown in a video on Wednesday welcoming his fighters to Belarus, telling them they would take no further part in the Ukraine war for now but ordering them to gather their strength for Africa.

“The armed forces of Belarus continue joint training with the fighters of the Wagner PMC (Private Military Company),” the Belarusian defence ministry said.

“During the week, special operations forces units together with representatives of the Company will work out combat training tasks at the Brest military range.”

08:24 AM BST

Latest MoD update: Russia 'likely' made the decision to leave grain deal some time ago

08:05 AM BST

Putin threats to Ukraine ships sends wheat prices soaring

Wheat prices have soared further after the Kremlin threatened to attack ships carrying grain to Ukrainian ports.

US wheat futures rocketed by 8.5 per cent on Wednesday, their biggest daily rise since just after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Russia’s Ministry of Defense warned that all vessels in the Black Sea heading to Ukrainian ports would be considered potential carriers of military cargo starting Thursday.

08:03 AM BST

Explosions in Odesa for third night in a row

08:02 AM BST

Majority of Britons believe UK should support Ukraine for 'as long as it takes'

A majority of Britons believe the UK should provide assistance to Ukraine for as long as it takes, new polling has found.

A survey of more than 2,158 people found 53 per cent of Britons are in favour of helping Ukraine for as long as it takes.

Only 6 per cent thought the UK should immediately withdraw support from Ukraine.

According to the survey from the British Foreign Policy Group by JL Partners, which polled 2,158 people, the majority of Britons support all forms of aid being offered to Ukraine, including:

• Providing humanitarian assistance (85 per cent)

• Imposing economic sanctions on Russia (75 per cent)

• Accepting Ukrainian refugees (70 per cent)

• Providing military aid (68 per cent)

• Providing F-16 fighter jets (56 per cent)

07:44 AM BST

'Welcome to hell': Russia's Wagner chief welcomes fighters to Belarus in first sighting since mutiny

07:37 AM BST

18 wounded in Russian strike says Mykolaiv governor

At least 18 people were wounded by a Russian strike on the Ukrainian port city of Mykolaiv, regional governor Vitaliy Kim said.

“Russians hit the city centre. A garage and a 3-story residential building are on fire,” Mykolaiv governor Vitaliy Kim wrote on Telegram.

Eighteen people had been wounded and nine of them had been hospitalised, including five children, he added, without specifying their condition or if they had been in the residential building.

He did not give details on the strike.

07:33 AM BST

Ukraine 'shot down 13 drones' launched by Russia overnight

Ukraine’s military shot down five cruise missiles and 13 attack drones launched by Russian forces overnight at the southern Mykolaiv and Odesa regions, Kyiv’s air force has said.

It said Russia fired 19 cruise missiles and 19 drones in total, but did not specify exactly where the others struck.

07:32 AM BST

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