Russia’s attack on a shopping centre in Kremenchuk met with global outrage as officials confirm at least 18 killed in the strike
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World leaders condemn Russian attack on Ukraine shopping centre
G7 leaders say missile strike on mall in Kremenchuk was a war crime, as rescue efforts continue
World leaders have denounced Russia’s deadly strike on a shopping centre in the Ukrainian city of Kremenchuk as “abominable” and a war crime.
The search for survivors continues after the missile strike on a mall that had more than 1,000 people in it at the time, according to Ukraine’s president, Volodoymyr Zelenskiy.
Continue reading...At least 16 dead as Russian missile hits shopping centre in Ukraine
Scores of people injured and at least 40 feared missing after strike in central city of Kremenchuk
A Russian missile hit a crowded shopping centre in the central Ukrainian city of Kremenchuk on Monday, killing and injuring scores of people, the Ukrainian authorities said.
Ukraine’s president, Volodoymyr Zelenskiy, said more than 1,000 people were inside the building at the time of the strike. Images from the scene showed giant plumes of black smoke and flames, with emergency crews rushing in to search for victims and put out fires.
Continue reading...Ben Wallace ‘wants defence budget lifted to 2.5% of GDP by 2028’
Defence secretary’s leaked letter to the PM warns of future shortfalls in military personnel and long range rocket artillery
Ben Wallace has reportedly written to the prime minister to call for the defence budget to be lifted to 2.5% of GDP by 2028, as newly released figures from Nato show the proportion spent by the UK has fallen for a second year running.
The defence secretary also called for increases in personnel numbers, despite recent cuts to the army, and warned of future shortfalls in naval and air force crews, as well as in long range rocket artillery.
Continue reading...Johnson issues open invitation to Russian scientists ‘dismayed by Putin’s violence’
Prime minister asks disaffected Russian academics to defect to the UK alongside Ukrainian colleagues
Boris Johnson has issued an open invitation for disaffected Russian scientists to defect to the UK, as he used the G7 summit to argue that allowing Russia to prevail in Ukraine would usher in a highly damaging era of global instability.
As part of an expansion to a twinning system with Ukrainian universities, allowing Ukrainian academics to continue their research at UK institutions, Johnson said this offer extended to their Russian counterparts.
Continue reading...Olaf Scholz says world must ‘avoid Putin’s trap’ and claims of discord
German chancellor argues there is more unity in the west and support for Ukraine against Russia’s invasion
The German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, has said the world is more unified in its support for Ukraine than Russia suggests, as the war dominated a G7 meeting also tasked with crises in food supply, the climate emergency and a breakdown in global order.
“We must not walk into the trap Putin sets of asserting that the world is divided into the global west – the G7 and its friends in the north – and all the rest. That’s not true,” Scholz told Germany’s ZDF television.
Continue reading...Russia-Ukraine war latest: at least 16 killed after missile strike hits busy shopping centre in Kremenchuk
Zelenskiy says over 1,000 civilians were inside mall at time of attack, as eight civilians killed while collecting water in Lysychansk
- Full report: civilians killed after Russian missile hits shopping centre
- Nato to put 300,000 troops on high alert over Russia threat
- Olaf Scholz says world must ‘avoid Putin’s trap’ and claims of discord
- Zelenskiy meets G7 leaders as US plans to offer air defence system
- What we know on day 124 of Russia’s invasion
Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskiy is set to address world leaders at the G7 meeting virtually today. He has just posted to Telegram pictures of damage from missile strikes in Kyiv, with the message:
No Russian missiles, no strikes can break the morale of Ukrainians. And each of their missiles is an argument in our negotiations with partners.
Our armed forces continue to destroy the occupiers on the line of contact. In the Kharkiv direction, the invaders attacked in the direction of Dementiivka and Pitomnyk, suffered losses and retreated. In the area of Izium, the enemy does not stop trying to advance. Our defenders are resisting, destroying the occupiers’ manpower and armoured vehicles.
Continue reading...Government wins vote on second reading of Northern Ireland protocol bill – as it happened
This live blog has now closed, you can find our latest political coverage here
- Boris Johnson urges world leaders to hold firm on Ukraine
- PM defends Northern Ireland protocol bill ahead of Commons vote
Boris Johnson restated his commitment to levelling up this morning. (See 12.03pm.) But a new report from the Resolution Foundation underlines quite what a challenge this will be. Using data showing how average incomes at local authority level have changed since 1997, it says inequalities have been persistent and that over the last 25 years overall change has been limited. It says:
We begin by showing that income differences at the local authority level are substantial. In 2019, before housing costs income per person in the richest local authority – Kensington and Chelsea (£52,451) – was 4.5 times that of the poorest – Nottingham (£11,708). These outliers clearly paint an extreme picture, but even when we compare incomes at the 75th and the 25th percentiles the differences remain significant. In 2019, for example, Oxford had an average per person income that was more than 20 per cent higher than Torbay (£18,700, compared with £15,372). More critically, the income gaps between places are enduring: the differences we observe in 1997 explain 80 per cent of the variation in average local authority income per person 22 years on. This means, for example, that the average income per person in Hammersmith and Fulham has stubbornly been two-to-three times higher than in Burnley for more than two decades.
Britain is beset by huge economic gaps between different parts of the country, and has been for many decades. While progress has been made in reducing employment gaps, this been offset by a surge in investment income among better-off families in London and the south-east.
People care about these gaps and want them closed, as does the government via its ‘levelling up’ strategy. The key to closing these gaps is to boost the productivity of our major cities outside London, which will also lead to stronger growth overall.
Driving a massive, massive agenda for change is a huge, huge privilege to do. And nobody abandons a privilege like that.
The mandate that the electorate gave us in 2019, there hasn’t been a mandate like it for the Conservative party for 40 years, it’s a mandate to change the country, to unite and to level up, and that’s what we’re going to do.
I’ve got a new mandate from my party which I’m absolutely delighted with … it’s done.
I think the job of government is to get on with governing, and to resist the blandishments of the media, no matter how brilliant, to talk about politics, to talk about ourselves.
I think most fair minded people, looking at how the UK came through Covid, around the world most people would say, actually fair play to them. They got the first vaccine into people’s arms, and they had the fastest vaccine rollout. Actually, they’ve got pretty low unemployment. They’ve got investment flooding into their country, they have got a lot of things going for them.
Continue reading...Russia-Ukraine war: what we know on day 124 of the invasion
G7 leaders to address Ukrainian grain crisis at summit on Monday as Russia renews attacks on Kyiv
Continue reading...Zelenskiy calls on G7 leaders to help end war in Ukraine by winter
President speaks on video link, as leaders discuss economic measures and US confirms plans to send air defence system
The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has urged G7 leaders gathered in Germany to help end the war in Ukraine by the winter as they planned new economic measures against Russia and vowed to “stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes”.
A six-page communique from the group of seven industrialised countries – the US, UK, Canada, Japan, Germany, France and Italy – said it was “committed to helping Ukraine to end Russia’s war … to defend itself and to choose its future”. It said it would provide materials, training, logistics, intelligence and economic support.
Continue reading...Russia defaults on debt for first time since 1998 – reports
Kremlin owes about $40bn but has been shut out of international financial system since invasion of Ukraine
Russia is poised to default on its debt for the first time since 1998, further alienating the country from the global financial system after sanctions imposed over its war in Ukraine.
The country missed a deadline of Sunday night to meet a 30-day grace period on interest payments of $100m (£81.2m) on two eurobonds due originally on 27 May, Bloomberg reported on Monday morning.
Continue reading...Ukrainian spouses in Gaza suffer from double conflict
Women who relocated to Gaza are unable to visit or contact family, and face similar problems in their adoptive home
For more than a decade, Natalya Hassoumi’s family in Ukraine have worried about her safety in the Gaza Strip; they have been unable to reach her for days at a time while airstrikes have pummelled the isolated Palestinian territory. Now, Hassoumi is experiencing something similar. She has not heard from her parents and siblings in Russian-occupied Kherson for three weeks.
“I think the Russians must be making people switch to using Russian networks and sim cards, but I don’t know what’s happening,” the 41-year-old doctor said. “It’s very hard not knowing.”
Continue reading...Russia-Ukraine war: one killed as Kyiv hit by missile strikes; G7 leaders gather in Germany – live updates
Strikes hit Shevchenkivskiy district of Ukraine capital, says mayor Vitali Klitschko; G7 leaders to discuss energy and food crisis at Bavarian retreat
- Russian missiles strike Kyiv for first time in three weeks
- G7: Boris Johnson warns of fatigue in west’s Ukraine support
- Analysis: G7 grapples with world turned upside down
- At a glance: what we know on day 123
Kyiv’s mayor, Vitali Klitschko, says two people have been taken to hospital after Sunday morning’s missile strikes, with search and rescue operations continuing. In a Telegram post, Klitschko said people may still be trapped under rubble at a residential building in the Shevchenkivskyi district.
Some of the dozens of long-range Russian missile strikes on Saturday were, for the first time, launched from Tu-22 bombers deployed from Belarus, Ukraine’s military says.
Continue reading...Russia-Ukraine war: what we know on day 123 of the invasion
Kyiv under attack as G7 leaders meet in Germany; focus of Russia’s campaign shifts to Lysychansk
Kyiv has come under attack for the first time since 5 June, with Russian missiles striking at residential buildings and a Kindergarten in the Shevchenkivskyi district of the capital. At least five people were injured, including a seven-year-old girl. There are unconfirmed reports that her father was killed in the attack. A Russian woman was among the injured.
Another civilian was killed in a missile attack on Cherkasy south-east of the capital. A bridge over the Dnipro river was also hit.
Both the attacks on Kyiv and Cherkasy are being seen message of defiance by Russia to G7 leaders gathering at a summit in Bavaria, Germany. Russia said it hit military targets in Chernihiv, Zhytomyr and Lviv. Joe Biden condemned the Russian attacks as “more barbarism”. Germany’s chancellor Olaf Scholz said they showed the importance of G7 unity.
Members of the G7 have confirmed a ban on imports of Russian gold. The move by Britain, the United States, Japan and Canada is part of efforts to tighten the sanctions squeeze on Moscow. Gold exports were worth $15.2bn to Russia in 2021, and their importance has increased since Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
The UK and France have agreed to provide more support for Ukraine, according to Downing Street. Leaders of the G7 have spoken of their solidarity for Ukraine. “We have to stay together,” Joe Biden said.
Russian forces are trying to cut off the strategic twin city of Lysychansk in eastern Ukraine, having reduced Sievierodonetsk to rubble. Lysychansk is set to become the next main focus of fighting, as Moscow has launched massive artillery bombardments and airstrikes on areas far from the heart of the eastern battles. Ukraine called its retreat from Sievierodonetsk a “tactical withdrawal” to fight from higher ground in Lysychansk on the opposite bank of the Siverskyi Donets river.
Russian news footage has showed defence minister Sergei Shoigu’s visiting troops involved in the Ukraine war. It is unclear if he visited Ukrainian territory, but the footage appeared to confirm that colonel-general Gennady Zhidko is now commanding troops in Ukraine.
The mayors of several European capitals have been duped into holding video calls with a deepfake of their counterpart in Kyiv, Vitali Klitschko. The mayor of Berlin, Franziska Giffey, took part in a scheduled call on the Webex video conferencing platform on Friday with a person she said looked and sounded like Klitschko. “There were no signs that the video conference call wasn’t being held with a real person,” her office said in a statement.
The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said on Saturday that Ukraine will win back all the cities it has lost to Russia, including Sievierodonetsk. “All our cities – Sievierodonetsk, Donetsk, Luhansk – we’ll get them all back,” he said in a late-night video address. Zelenskiy also admitted that the war was becoming difficult to handle emotionally.
Continue reading...Concerns that India is ‘back door’ into Europe for Russian oil
Volume of Russian crude bought and then exported by India suggests some of it may end up in European petrol stations
The huge blue and red hull of the SCF Primorye came into port at Vadinar, western Gujarat, India, earlier this month. The 84,000-tonne oil tanker, built in 2009 and sailing under the Liberian flag, had arrived from the port at Ust-Luga, a settlement in Russia near the border with Estonia.
Until 2017, the Vadinar oil refinery was controlled by Essar – the Indian owner of the Stanlow refinery in Ellesmere Port. Since then a consortium including the sanctioned Russian state-owned oil firm Rosneft and the commodities trader Trafigura, which holds a 24.5% stake, have owned Nayara Energy, which runs the refinery.
Continue reading...Boris Johnson warns of risk of fatigue in west’s support for Ukraine
At G7 summit, PM pushes for renewed sanctions and says he would welcome a visit to UK by Volodymyr Zelenskiy
Boris Johnson has warned about the likelihood of “fatigue” among western nations over continued support for Ukraine, as he began talks at the G7 summit in Germany, where he hopes to push for renewed sanctions against Russia.
Before the first day of the annual gathering of political leaders, held amid ultra-tight security in the Bavarian countryside, Johnson also hailed a new international ban on importing Russia gold.
Continue reading...G7 grapples with packed agenda of world turned upside down
Analysis: A price cap on Russian oil and potential famine in Africa are among issues pressing for attention
A price cap on Russian oil, deferral of climate change commitments, a potential famine in Africa and the further supply of weapons to Ukraine are to crowd into a meeting of G7 world leaders over the next three days held against the backdrop of the biggest geopolitical crisis since 1945.
The agenda reveals how the world has been turned upside down since leaders of the industrialised nations last met in Cornwall a year ago in a summit chaired by Britain, largely to focus on the threat posed by China.
Continue reading...Russia-Ukraine war: Russia takes full control over Sievierodonetsk – live
Ukrainian soldiers have left strategic frontline city
- Russia launches widespread shelling and airstrikes
- ‘The Russians could come any time’: fear on EU border
- What happened in the Russia-Ukraine war this week?
Russian missiles have hit military infrastructure in northern Ukraine, local officials have said.
Reuters reports that Vitaliy Bunechko, governor of the Zhytomyr region in the north of the country, said strikes on a military target killed at least one soldier.
Continue reading...Russia pushes to block off city of Lysychansk, says Ukraine
Moscow launches massive artillery bombardments and airstrikes on eastern city, after Sievierodonetsk destroyed
Russian forces are trying to cut off the strategic twin city of Lysychansk in eastern Ukraine, having reduced Sievierodonetsk to rubble.
Lysychansk is set to become the next main focus of fighting, as Moscow has launched massive artillery bombardments and airstrikes on areas far from the heart of the eastern battles.
Continue reading...‘It’s a horror show’: defiant Kharkiv residents return home despite new Russian offensive
No running water, gas or electricity and apartment blocks destroyed at random… Now civilians in Ukraine’s second biggest city are facing a new Russian offensive
When Tatyana Marchenko, 63, returned to her home in Kharkiv earlier this month, she entered a world of destruction.
Clothes and children’s toys were scattered over the paths between the burned-out buildings, many of which had massive holes where shells had smashed through.
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