Donetsk governor says dozens trapped after hit in town of Chasiv Yar; Volodymyr Zelenskiy says dismissals are ‘normal part of diplomatic practice

• Ukraine urges people of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia to evacuate
• ‘Jokes are strategic’: how Mykolaiv’s leader uses humour to resist Putin

The Independent is reporting that new polling suggests public support from Britons for Ukrainian refugees is waning.

The paper said that polling undertaken by YouGov in March indicated that 75% of people supported Ukrainians settling in the UK.

Warning of ‘huge battle’ as Ukrainian armed forces plan counteroffensive in the Russian-occupied territories

• Russia-Ukraine crisis: live updates

Ukraine has warned residents in southern Kherson and Zaporizhzhia to evacuate as it prepares to launch a counteroffensive to retake the area. The Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions were quickly occupied by Russian troops in late February after they crossed the bridge from Russian-annexed Crimea.

Late on Friday night, Iryna Vereshchuk, the deputy prime minister for the ministry of reintegration of temporarily occupied territories, called on Ukrainians in the occupied territories to leave by “all means possible”.

Luhansk governor says Russian forces shelling indiscriminately, Kyiv criticises Moscow at G20 summit, US sends Ukraine more artillery systems

• See all our Russia-Ukraine war coverage

Luhansk’s governor said Russian forces were indiscriminately shelling populated areas on Friday, Reuters reports. “They are not stopped even by the fact that civilians remain there, dying in houses and yards,” Serhiy Gaidai said.

Ukraine’s deputy prime minister has asked all residents in the Russian-occupied territories of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions to “evacuate by all possible means”. There would be “harsh battle” as the Ukrainian army would be “de-occupying these territories”, he said.

Belgium will reopen its embassy in Kyiv and send a new ambassador, the Belgian prime minister confirmed. The embassy would open next week and ambassador Peter Van De Velde, whom Alexander De Croo met before he was sent to Ukraine, will represent Belgium.

Ukraine’s military says it has destroyed two Russian command posts near Kherson, according to Natalia Humeniuk, a spokesperson for the joint southern command of Ukraine’s armed forces.

The Ukrainian foreign minister criticised Russia at the G20 summit in Bali, saying it prefers to follow its own rules instead of cooperating multilaterally with the international community. “I am strong supporter of multilateralism,” Dmytro Kuleba said. “But it lacks tools to protect itself from those who disrespect other nations, who prefer to play with common rules instead of playing by the rules. We have such a country at this table today – Russia.”

The Ukrainian parliament adopted a set of new laws on Friday during its plenary session. The new laws include safety guarantees for journalists working in battle areas, improved social protection for rescuers, and postponed transitioning to keep records of the gas volumes in units of energy.

The US is sending four more Himars, or high mobility artillery rocket systems, to Ukraine, a US senior defence official said at a press briefing on Friday. The four additional Himars will bring the total number given to Ukraine to 12. According to the official, the first eight were especially useful as the fighting in Donbas against Russian forces evolved into an artillery fight.

Russian president hits out at western involvement in war and claims his forces have not ‘started anything yet in earnest’

Authorities in Odesa are reporting that grain silos in the region and Snake Island have been hit by rockets or missiles overnight.

An official channel for Odesa posted:

Two rockets hit two agricultural hangars at night, which were destroyed. About 35 tonnes of grain were stored in one of them.

According to preliminary data, there are no victims.