Russians advance into largest city in Donbas still in Ukrainian hands

Witnesses say tanks moving into Sievierodonetsk amid intense shelling and civilian casualties

Russian tanks and troops have begun advancing into Sievierodonetsk, the largest city in Donbas still held by Ukraine, bringing fighting street by street as the Kremlin’s forces continue to grind forwards in the east of the country.

Witnesses said Russian tanks were advancing towards the centre of the city one blast at a time, razing everything in their path that remains after intense shelling that Ukrainian authorities have said has led to conditions on the ground reminiscent of Mariupol.

Continue reading...

Russian shelling of Sievierodonetsk has destroyed ‘entire critical infrastructure’ of city Zelenskiy says – as it happened

This live blog is now closed, you can find our latest coverage of the Russia-Ukraine war here

Ridge asks Rudyk whether she feels safe. She says she does in the UK, where she is currently visiting and meeting with politicians. Rudyk talks about hearing air raid sirens and attacks on cities in Ukraine.

“The threat and the fear is still there ... I will go back home, because this is the fight we have to put up and we have to win. I dream of the day that all Ukrainians will feel safe. They will be able to sit with their hands on their lap and think ‘we are okay now.’

Continue reading...

Ukraine pleads for weapons as Russian onslaught threatens to turn the tide

As support among some European allies appears to waver, Kyiv calls for advanced rocket systems to hit Russia’s supply lines

Ukraine is in a race against time to save the eastern Donbas region as relentless Russian artillery and air strikes threaten to turn the tide of the war, and support for Kyiv’s continued defiance among some west European allies appears to be slipping.

Ukrainian officials say they urgently need advanced US-made mobile multiple launch rocket systems (MLRS) to halt Russian advances in Luhansk and Donetsk. The rockets would be capable of striking Russian firing positions, military bases, air strips and supply lines at a range of up to 300km (185 miles).

Continue reading...

Russia claims capture of strategic town as fighting rages in east – as it happened

Russia’s defence ministry says town of Lyman is now under full control of its forces, after days of fighting

Russian forces are now in full control of the town of Lyman in eastern Ukraine, the Russian defence ministry has claimed.

Yesterday, Ukraine reported Russia had captured most of Lyman but that its forces were blocking an advance to Sloviansk, a city a half-hour drive further southwest.

Continue reading...

Biden says Putin trying to ‘wipe out’ Ukrainian culture, as prospect of retreat looms in east

US president says Putin trying to eliminate people’s identity, as governor of Luhansk says retreat in Sievierodonetsk may be needed to avoid becoming surrounded.

Joe Biden has accused Vladimir Putin of trying to “wipe out” Ukraine’s culture but suggested the plan had at least partially backfired by spurring the expansion of Nato in Europe.

The US president told 1,200 graduating cadets in Annapolis, Maryland, on Friday: “Not only is he trying to take over Ukraine, he’s literally trying to wipe out the culture and identity of the Ukrainian people. Attacking schools, nurseries, hospitals, museums, with no other purpose than to eliminate a culture.”

Continue reading...

Russia-Ukraine war: what we know on day 94 of the invasion

Moscow planning ‘full-scale victory in Ukraine by autumn’ and besieged Sievierodonetsk almost completely surrounded by Russian forces

Russia is planning a “full-scale victory in Ukraine by autumn” and may again try to take the capital city of Kyiv, according to independent news source Meduza. Officials close to the Kremlin have said confidence has spread to the leadership of United Russia, the country’s ruling party, that a full-scale victory in Ukraine is possible before the end of the year.

The besieged Ukrainian city of Sievierodonetsk appears to be almost completely surrounded by attacking Russian forces. “The Russians are pounding residential neighbourhoods relentlessly,” the governor of Ukraine’s eastern region of Luhansk, Serhiy Haidai, wrote in a Telegram post on Friday. The Kremlin continued to make incremental gains in its offensive in the Donbas region, backed by withering shell fire.

The Luhansk governor has said Ukrainian forces may be forced to retreat from the zone to avoid being captured. “The Russians will not be able to capture Luhansk region in the coming days as analysts have predicted,” Haidai posted on Telegram, adding: “However it is possible that in order not to be surrounded we will have to retreat.”

The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has said the situation in Donbas is “very difficult”. In a short video address, he said Russian forces are concentrated in the coastal region of Ukraine and using “maximum artillery” reserves.

The Austrian chancellor, Karl Nehammer, has stated that Vladimir Putin is “prepared to discuss a prisoner swap with Ukraine”, after holding talks with the Russian president. Nehammer also said Putin had “given signals that he is quite willing to allow exports via the seaports”, adding: “The real willingness will only become apparent when it ... is actually implemented.”

Russia expects to receive 1tn rubles ($14bn) in additional oil and gas revenues this year, the country’s finance minister announced, noting that the additional income will be spent on Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine.

The US president, Joe Biden, accused Putin of attempting to “wipe out” Ukrainian culture and identity during a speech. Biden also said that Putin inadvertently “Nato-ized all of Europe” after Sweden and Finland sought out membership in the alliance following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The US is expected to send long-range rocket systems to Ukraine that could be announced as early as next week, reports CNN. The rocket systems, multiple launch rocket system or MLRS, have been a top request of Ukraine officials who say it is necessary to ward off Russia’s advancements.

More than 100 Russian national guardsmen have been fired for refusing to fight in Ukraine, court documents show. The cases of the 115 national guardsmen, a force also known as Rosgvardia, appear to be the clearest indication yet of dissent among some parts of Russia’s security forces over the invasion of

New UN figures have revealed that 4,031 civilians have died since Russia first invaded Ukraine in February, including 261 children.

Continue reading...

Zelenskiy complains about divisions inside the European Union over more sanctions against Russia – as it happened

This live blog is now closed, you can find our latest coverage of the Russia-Ukraine war here

Maksym Kozytskyi, the governor of Lviv, has posted a status update for the day. He said that there was one air alert overnight, but there were no strikes reported. He also said that for the first time since Lviv started accepting displaced people from elsewhere in Ukraine, there was not a single person who registered for temporary accommodation yesterday.

The impact of the war in Ukraine has been a strong theme running through the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos this week. Today, in about half-an-hour, Vitaliy Klitschko, mayor of Kyiv, will be speaking about how to rebuild the Ukrainian capital after the war, and what aid will be needed. My colleague Graeme Wearden is there, and he will be covering that live on our business blog. I’ll bring you the top lines here.

Continue reading...

Up to 100 Ukraine troops could be dying in Donbas each day, says Zelenskiy

President gives insight into country’s casualties, as Luhansk governor says Russia using ‘scorched-earth’ tactics

Ukraine’s president has given an insight into the level of losses being suffered by Ukrainian forces in the Donbas, saying between 50 to 100 Ukrainians could be dying every day.

While Ukraine and its allies have made much of Russian losses since the war began, the issue of Ukrainian casualties has been something of a black hole.

Continue reading...

Zelenskiy urges ‘maximum sanctions’ against Russia in Davos speech

Ukrainian president tells business leaders they need to decide whether ‘brute force’ should rule the world

Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has urged the west to intensify its economic sanctions against Russia as he said business leaders in Davos needed to decide whether “brute force” should rule the world.

In a keynote video address to the World Economic Forum (WEF), Zelenskiy called for a full oil embargo, the severing of Russian banks from the global financial system, the complete isolation of the Russian IT sector and a ban on trade with Russia.

Continue reading...

Ukraine rules out any ceasefire deal that involves ceding territory to Russia

Presidential aide calls for ‘complete restoration of territorial integrity’ as Polish president backs stance during Kyiv visit

Ukraine has said it will not agree to any ceasefire deal that would involve handing over territory to Russia, as Moscow intensified its attack in the eastern Donbas region on Sunday.

“The war must end with the complete restoration of Ukraine’s territorial integrity and sovereignty,” said Ukraine’s presidential chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, in a Twitter post.

Continue reading...

Russia-Ukraine war: what we know on day 88 of the invasion

Russian airstrikes hit Mykolaiv and Donbas regions; only Ukraine can decide its future, says Polish president

Russian airstrikes hit Ukrainian forces in the Mykolaiv and Donbas regions, targeting command centres, troops and ammunition depots, the Russian defence ministry said on Sunday. The ministry said air-launched missiles hit three command points and four ammunition depots in the Donbas. In Mykolaiv, in the south, Russian rockets reportedly struck a mobile anti-drone system near the settlement of Hannivka.

Severodonetsk is one of Russia’s “immediate tactical priorities”, the UK Ministry of Defence said on Sunday. Russia is deploying Terminator tanks to the area, the MoD has said.

Severodonetsk has been attacked from “four separate directions”, said the region’s governor. Serhiy Haidai said Russian forces had not succeeded in breaking into the city.

Volodymyr Zelenskiy has accused Russia of blocking the export of 22m tonnes of food. The Ukrainian president also said an energy crisis would swiftly follow a food crisis if Ukraine was not given help to unlock its ports.

Only Ukraine has the right to decide its future, the Polish president told lawmakers in Kyiv on Sunday. Andrzej Duda said: “Worrying voices have appeared, saying that Ukraine should give in to Putin’s demands. Only Ukraine has the right to decide about its future … nothing about you without you.” Duda became the first foreign leader to give a speech in person to the Ukrainian parliament since Russia’s invasion.

Russia’s state gas company, Gazprom, halted gas exports to Finland, which refused Moscow’s demands to pay in roubles for Russian gas after western countries imposed sanctions. Gasum, Finland’s state-owned energy company, said it would use other sources, such as the Balticconnector pipeline, which links Finland to its fellow EU member Estonia.

Ukraine has suggested it is willing to resume talks with Russia. Speaking on Saturday, Zelenskiy said: “Discussions between Ukraine and Russia will undoubtedly take place … under what format I don’t know … but the war will be bloody, there will be fighting and [it] will only definitively end through diplomacy.” He added: “We want everything back. And the Russian Federation doesn’t want to return anything. That’s why the ending will be at the negotiating table.”

Continue reading...

Zelenskiy signals readiness for new talks if Mariupol troops are not harmed

Ukrainian leader tells TV station ‘there are things that can only be reached at the negotiating table’

Ukraine has suggested that it is willing to resume talks with Russia as Moscow claimed to have taken full control of the besieged city of Mariupol – its biggest prize since it invaded Ukraine in February.

Speaking to a television channel on Saturday, Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said that “discussions between Ukraine and Russia will undoubtedly take place”.

Continue reading...

Only diplomacy can end Ukraine war, says Volodymyr Zelenskiy

Country’s president emphasises need for talks to resume with Russia after previous negotiations stalled

Ukraine’s president has said the war can only be resolved through diplomacy, despite the current suspension of negotiations.

“Discussions between Ukraine and Russia will undoubtedly take place,” Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in an interview with a Ukrainian television channel.

Continue reading...

Intense fighting around Severodonetsk as Zelenskiy says Donbas is ‘hell’

Russian forces thought to be trying to cut one of the main supply routes to Ukrainian defenders in the area

Intense fighting has been reported around the Ukrainian city of Severodonetsk as Russian forces appear to be stepping up an offensive to encircle its Ukrainian defenders.

Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said the eastern provinces of Luhansk and Donetsk – known collectively as the Donbas – were being turned into “hell” and warned that what he called the “final stage of the war” would be the bloodiest.

Continue reading...

Fate of hundreds of Ukrainian soldiers unclear as Azovstal resistance ends

Ukraine says there will be prisoner swap but some Russian officials have said forces could be tried or executed

The fate of hundreds of Ukrainian soldiers who have ended weeks of resistance at the Azovstal steelworks in Mariupol remains unclear, after the fighters surrendered and were transferred to Russian-controlled territory.

Ukraine’s deputy defence minister said they would be swapped in a prisoner exchange, but some Russian officials said on Tuesday they could be tried and even executed. MPs in Russia’s State Duma said they would propose new laws that could derail prisoner exchanges of fighters who Moscow claims are “terrorists”.

Continue reading...

Questions over future of evacuated Azovstal fighters – as it happened

This blog is now closed.

The evacuation of Ukrainian fighters from Mariupol’s Azovstal steel plant, their last remaining redoubt in the city, began on Monday. Here are some images from that evacuation:

A village in Russia’s western province of Kursk bordering Ukraine came under Ukrainian fire on Tuesday, regional governor Roman Starovoit said, according to Reuters, but there were no injuries, although three houses and a school were hit.

Continue reading...

Moscow set to call referendum on Mariupol joining Russia, says Ukraine

Kremlin poised to hold referendum in ruined city in bid to secure grip on the region

Moscow is preparing to hold a referendum in Mariupol on whether the city will join Russia, Ukrainian officials have claimed, following the announcement of a similar poll in Georgia’s breakaway region of South Ossetia.

Petro Andryushchenko, an adviser to the port city’s mayor, who is operating in exile, said sources among those remaining among its ruins believed a vote on its future was in the making, even as residents were going without food and water.

Continue reading...

Mitch McConnell visits Kyiv with delegation of Republican US senators

Senators meet Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy who praises US bipartisan support for his country

The US Senate minority leader, Mitch McConnell, has joined the growing list of US politicians making visits to Kyiv, it emerged on Saturday

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy welcomed McConnell’s visit as a powerful signal of bipartisan support for Ukraine.

Continue reading...