Sweden follows Finland in application to join Nato; Nato pledges open-ended military support to Ukraine; British intelligence estimates Russia has lost a third of invasion force

Sweden has indicated it will follow Finland in applying for Nato membership. The two countries’ move abandons decades of military non-alignment triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and would redraw the security map of Europe.

Nato chief Jens Stoltenberg said the alliance would look to provide both countries with interim security guarantees while the applications are processed, including possibly by increasing troops in the region.

In apparent retaliation, the Kremlin has pulled the plug on electricity supplies to Finland, with which it shares a 1,300km (800 mile) border.

Nato pledged open-ended military support for Ukraine on Sunday. At a meeting of alliance foreign ministers in Berlin, Germany’s Annalena Baerbock said it would provide military assistance “for as long as Ukraine needs this support for the self-defence of its country”.

British intelligence revealed that Russia may have lost as much as a third of the invasion force, as more than 400 Russian soldiers were estimated to have been killed or wounded last week trying to cross the Donets river. UK defence chiefs said Russia’s offensive in the eastern Donbas region had “lost momentum” and that Moscow’s battle plan was “significantly behind schedule”.

Ukraine’s president Volodymr Zelensky has warned that the military situation in Ukraine’s south-eastern Donbas region is “very difficult” as analysts say Russian president Vladimir Putin has his sights on annexing southern and eastern Ukraine in the months ahead.

Russia’s defence ministry claimed it had carried out “high-precision” missile strikes on four artillery munitions depots in the Donetsk area in the east of Ukraine. The ministry also claimed airstrikes had destroyed two missile-launching systems and radar, and 15 Ukrainian drones around Donetsk and Lugansk.

As Russian forces struggle in Ukraine, Ukrainian forces made inroads. The first Ukrainian battalion reached the Russian border in the Kharkhiv region today.

Ukrainian authorities are conducting at least 10 active rape investigations involving Russian troops, and are calling for other victims to come forward.

Kalush Orchestra, the band that won Eurovision last night for Ukraine, is auctioning off the statuette to raise funds for the Ukrainian army and Ukraine. The win has lifted spirits around Ukraine.

Zelenskiy has warned that the war in his country risks triggering global food shortages and has urged international intervention to prevent global famine. Before the invasion, Ukraine supplied 12% of the planet’s wheat, 15% of its corn and half of its sunflower oil.

A cyberattack on the Lviv city council website resulted in stolen data that ended up published in Telegram channels linked to Russia. This happened the same weekend Italian police thwarted hacker attacks by pro-Russian groups on the Eurovision song contest.

Finland and Sweden confirm intention to join Nato, prompted by Russian invasion of Ukraine

• Russia likely to have lost third of its invasion force, says UK
• Finland formally confirms intention to join Nato
• Zelenskiy hails Eurovision win and plans to ‘one day’ host in Mariupol

Croatia’s foreign minister has said talks between Turkey and Finland and Sweden over its concerns regarding the latter two nations’ wish to join Nato were on the right track after all three met, Reuters reports.

Gordan Grlić-Radman said:

Discussions are on a good track and we hope we will have a good outcome today to show solidarity and speak with one voice.

Shot after shot pounded into the Russian missile battery hidden by the lighthouse on Snake Island, a Black Sea rock 22 miles (35km) from the Ukrainian coast. The edited video, released by the Ukrainian military, showed the strike and its aftermath – all taken from a Turkish-designed Bayraktar TB2 drone.

Until then, evidence of the TB2 – a remotely piloted killer drone with a range of up to 190 miles – had largely disappeared from the conflict. The assumption was that the two dozen or so that Ukraine had bought from Turkey had been shot down and Ankara, not wanting to upset Russia, had declined to supply more.

Head of military intelligence for Ukraine says August will be turning point in conflict; Republican senators travel to Kyiv to show support for Ukraine

• Russian forces are withdrawing from Kharkiv, Ukraine says
• Russia suffers ‘worst aviation losses in decades’, says Zelenskiy
• Refugees staying with UK hosts not cleared by criminal record checks
• Putin warns Finland that joining Nato would harm Russia relations
• Senior US senators visit Zelenskiy in Kyiv

In case you’d missed it, Italy is set to host the Grand Final of the Eurovision song contest later on Saturday – and Ukraine is the favourite to win.

Kalush Orchestra, a band that blends traditional folk and hip-hop, is competing in the event with the song Stefania, which has become an anthem at home, the Guardian’s Rome correspondent Angela Giuffrida reported earlier this week.

Foreign ministers call for action to allow export of Ukrainian grain, as Kyiv claims Russian withdrawal from second-largest city

• Russia-Ukraine war: latest updates

Millions of people will starve to death unless Russia allows the export of Ukrainian grain from blockaded ports, foreign ministers from the G7 have said.

As Germany’s chancellor, Olaf Scholz, warned that Vladimir Putin was intransigent during their bilateral call on Friday, the ministers from Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK and US condemned Moscow for stoking a food crisis.

Ukraine appears to have successfully driven back Russian forces from Kharkiv; Russia to suspend electricity to Finland after Helsinki announces Nato bid

Russia incurred heavy losses during Siverskyi Donets River attempt, according to defence intelligence

• Russia-Ukraine war: latest updates

Ukrainians have repelled multiple attempts by the Russians to cross a strategically significant river in the Donbas, inflicting heavy losses in the process, according to local officials and British intelligence.

Serhiy Haidai, the governor of the Luhansk region, said Russian forces had been repulsed three times as they tried to cross the Siverskyi Donets River, 12 miles (20km) west of Severodonetsk, losing armour and bridging equipment.

US think tank says Ukrainian forces have ‘likely won the battle of Kharkiv’; electricity supplier RAO Nordic says decision to suspend Finnish supply is ‘exceptional’

• First Russian soldier goes on trial in Ukraine for war crimes
• Ukraine has repelled Russia attempt to cross Donbas, UK confirms
• The Ukrainian who walked 225km to safety from Mariupol
• ‘They were furious’: the Russian soldiers refusing to fight
• Russia-Ukraine war: what we know on day 80 of the invasion

Here are some of the latest images we have been sent over the newswires showing the impact of the conflict in Ukraine and beyond.

British foreign secretary Liz Truss said it was vital to keep up the pressure on Russia by supplying more weapons to Ukraine and imposing further sanctions.

Vadim Shysimarin accused of killing civilian on 28 February while fighting in Sumy region in north-east Ukraine

The first war crime trial since Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine has opened in Kyiv in a watershed moment.

Vadim Shysimarin, a 21-year-old Russian commander of the Kantemirovskaya tank division, allegedly killed a civilian on 28 February in the village of Chupakhivka while fighting in the Sumy region in north-east Ukraine.