Battlefield deaths from global conflicts hit 30-year high, study finds

Since 2021, the overall number of deaths, including of civilians, has risen to the highest level in three decades, Peace Research Institute Oslo reports

Deaths from civil conflicts and battles across the world over the past three years have risen to the highest level in three decades, according to a new report.

Research by the Peace Research Institute Oslo (Prio) showed that while the number of battlefield deaths fell compared with the previous two years, since 2021 the overall number of conflict-related deaths, including of civilians, has risen to the highest level in 30 years.

Continue reading...

Russia-Ukraine war live: Jets outside Ukraine could become targets says Russian politician; Russia claims to have taken Donetsk village

Russian defence politician says military airfields outside of Ukraine targets if raids launched from there; Russian claims it has taken Staromaiorsk

Belarus said on Monday its army was taking part in the second stage of Russian exercises to practice the deployment of tactical nuclear weapons, Reuters reports.

The first phase of the drills, ordered by president Vladimir Putin, took place last month.
The Belarus defence ministry said the exercises were being held “in the interests of guaranteeing our own security” and were not intended as a threat to other countries.

Continue reading...

Ukraine reconstruction agency chief quits day before recovery conference

Mustafa Nayyem says he has been undermined by Kyiv government and stopped from attending event in Berlin

The head of Ukraine’s reconstruction agency has resigned a day before an international conference on the country’s long-term reconstruction, saying he had been prevented from attending after being systematically undermined by the Ukrainian government from doing his job.

Mustafa Nayyem announced his resignation in a Facebook post on Monday after previously sending a strongly worded message to a number of foreign partners criticising the Ukrainian administration for a wide range of mistakes.

The lack of “government approval for the payment of $150m (£118m) borrowed from the European Investment Bank for critical projects including water supply and energy protection”.

Being “plagued by inexplicable bureaucratic delays”.

A “significant reduction in salaries” at his agency (a senior expert now earns the equivalent of €320 [£270] a month) leading to a loss of a quarter of staff since January.

Continue reading...

Ukraine recovery conference urged to focus on preventing energy blackouts

NGOs fear discussion at Berlin event about long-term reconstruction may seem irrelevant amid power cuts

Russian damage to Ukraine’s power grid has led to calls for a recovery conference starting in Berlin on Tuesday to pivot away from long-term reconstruction and focus on preventing prolonged energy blackouts this winter.

Lengthy summer power cuts, as well as domestic price increases, are already afflicting Ukraine, with state agencies forced to cut energy use, adding urgency to the calls to boost air defences.

Continue reading...

David Cameron falls victim to hoax call from ‘former Ukraine president’

Foreign secretary had brief video call with person claiming to be Petro Poroshenko, says Foreign Office

The UK foreign secretary, David Cameron, has been the victim of a hoax video call with someone claiming to be Petro Poroshenko, the former president of Ukraine, it has been revealed.

A number of text messages were exchanged followed by a brief video call between Lord Cameron and someone purporting to be Poroshenko, the Foreign Office said in a statement.

Continue reading...

Joe Biden apologises to Zelenskiy for delay in US military support

US president says sorry for ‘weeks of not knowing’, referring to members of Congress holding up $225m aid package

The US president, Joe Biden, has apologised publicly to the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, for the months of delay in American military assistance that allowed Russia to make gains on the battlefield, and announced a further $225m (£177m) in military aid to Ukraine.

Meeting Zelenskiy in Paris on Friday, Biden told him: “You haven’t bowed down, you haven’t yielded at all, you continue to fight in a way that is … just remarkable. We are not going to walk away from you.”

Continue reading...

Biden and Macron use D-day event to emphasise support for Ukraine

Leaders rally behind Zelenskiy to make clear to Putin that, as in 1944, freedom in Europe is worth fighting for

Joe Biden and Emmanuel Macron have marked the 80th anniversary of D-day with a rallying cry for support for Ukraine as Volodymyr Zelenskiy was embraced by western leaders in Normandy.

The US president used his address at the American commemorative event to send a message to Moscow that the US and its allies “will not bow down” and will “stand for freedom”.

Continue reading...

D-day 80th anniversary comes at time of conflict and growing carelessness

As grim memory of world war fades, many people are anxious amid rise of nationalist, country-first rhetoric

Twenty-two British D-day veterans, the youngest nearly 100, crossed the Channel on Tuesday to mark this week’s 80th anniversary of the landings in Normandy, representing a thinning thread to the heroics of two or three generations ago when about 150,000 allied soldiers began a seaborne invasion of western Europe that helped end the second world war.

Ron Hayward, a tank trooper who lost his legs fighting in France three weeks after D-day, told crowds assembled in Portsmouth on Wednesday why he and other soldiers were there: “I represent the men and women who put their lives on hold to go and fight for democracy and this country. I am here to honour their memory and their legacy, and to ensure that their story is never forgotten.”

Continue reading...

Russia-Ukraine war: Joe Biden and Volodymyr Zelenskiy to meet for talks in Normandy – as it happened

US president and Ukrainian president to sit down after they arrive for anniversary of D-day landings in France, White House confirms. This live blog is closed

French president Emmanuel Macron is to host US president Joe Biden, British King Charles and Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau on the shores of Normandy, representing the three main countries involved in the landings on 6 June 1944, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP).

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and about 200 surviving war veterans are also expected to attend.

Continue reading...

Guardian’s Lorenzo Tondo wins Italy’s prestigious Premiolino award

Correspondent scoops ‘Italian Pulitzer’ for ‘exceptional work’ reporting on Ukraine and Israel-Gaza conflict

The Guardian international correspondent Lorenzo Tondo has been awarded the Premiolino, one of Italy’s oldest and most prestigious journalism prizes, for his reporting on the war in Ukraine and the conflict between Israel and Hamas.

Tondo, 42, who joined the news organisation in 2016 and covers Ukraine, the Middle East and the migration crisis around the Mediterranean, is the first Italian journalist working for a foreign publication to win the award, known as the “Italian Pulitzer”.

Continue reading...

French military instructors in Ukraine would be ‘legitimate target’, Russia says

Foreign minister Sergei Lavrov makes statement after permission given by Kyiv for trainers to come from France to support its troops

Any French military instructors in Ukraine would be a “legitimate target” for Russian armed forces, Russia’s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, said on Tuesday during a tour of Africa, where frustration with the west has swayed several countries toward Moscow.

Lavrov made the remarks at joint news conference with the Republic of Congo’s foreign minister, Jean Claude Gakosso.

Continue reading...

Security dominating agenda in Baltic states before European elections amid Ukraine war – as it happened

Conflict with Russia and Europe’s ability to defend itself fuelling concerns across continent, candidates say

Asked how the Liberal Alliance chose to pursue a membership in the EPP, Dahl said “to be quite honest, there is less wokeness in the EPP, and we are strongly against wokeness.”

“We don’t really mind other parties disagreeing with us on areas that are really not the jurisdiction of the EU,” he added.

Continue reading...

Russia-Ukraine war: Russia announces fresh sanctions against UK figures over ‘hostile’ actions – as it happened

‘Establishment figures’, journalists and experts banned from entering country over what it terms ‘provocative anti-Russian rhetoric’

Here’s a bit of detail from the Financial Times’ report that the Power of Siberia-2 gas pipeline project has run into trouble. Spokespeople for both Beijing and Moscow issued statements in relation to reports that the project is deadlocked – so in case you’ve not read the FT’s report, this is what that’s all about.

Citing three people close to the matter, the FT reported that the Power of Siberia-2 gas pipeline project has stalled over demands made by Beijing on price and supply levels.

What is Beijing asking for? It concerns both prices and supply, according to the FT’s sources. The people familiar with the matter told the newspaper that China wants to pay little more than Russia’s heavily subsidised domestic prices and would only commit to buying a small proportion of the pipeline’s planned annual capacity.

What does this mean? It shows how Beijing has the upper hand in this deal – Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has left president Vladimir Putin increasingly dependent on China as Gazprom suffers heavy losses.

What is the Kremlin asking for? When Putin and Xi met last month in Beijing, Putin made three key requests, according to the people familiar with the matter. A deal on the pipeline; more Chinese bank activity in Russia; and for China to decline to attend a peace conference being organised by Ukraine.

Continue reading...

Russian interference suspected after coffins draped with tricolour placed at Eiffel Tower

Three men charged after five coffins inscribed with ‘French soldiers in the Ukraine’ were left at tower

French police are investigating whether the placing of five full-sized coffins covered with the French tricolour at the Eiffel Tower at the weekend was another act of Russian interference.

Three men were formally put under investigation on Monday – the equivalent of being charged – in connection with the coffins, each of which was inscribed with “French soldiers in the Ukraine”.

Continue reading...

Zelenskiy: Trump risks being ‘loser president’ if he imposes bad deal on Ukraine

Exclusive: Ukrainian leader says bad peace deal in event of Trump victory would mean end of US as global ‘player’

Donald Trump risks being a “loser president” if he wins November’s election and imposes a bad peace deal on Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskiy has said, saying it would mean the end of the US as a global “player”.

In an interview with the Guardian in Kyiv, Zelenskiy said he had “no strategy yet” for what to do if Trump returned to the White House, and that the former British prime minister Boris Johnson had approached him on his behalf.

Continue reading...

Zelenskiy accuses China of deterring countries from going to peace summit

Ukrainian president says Beijing is supporting efforts by Moscow to warn leaders off attending Swiss meeting

Volodomyr Zelenskiy has accused China of discouraging other countries from attending a peace summit in Switzerland later this month that is aimed at bringing peace to war-ravaged Ukraine.

Speaking at Asia’s biggest security conference, the Shangri-La Dialogue, in Singapore, the Ukrainian president sought to rally support among Asia-Pacific nations, urging them to attend the Swiss meeting.

Continue reading...

Russia-Ukraine war: energy facilities hit across Ukraine in overnight strikes – as it happened

This live blog is now closed, you can read more of our Ukraine war coverage here

Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelenskiy has now arrived in Singapore for the annual Shangri-La security summit, where he will address delegates tomorrow.

He is expected to hold talks with US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and other leaders attending the conference, seeking support for a “peace summit” this month in Switzerland.

Continue reading...

Moscow decries US move to allow its weapons to be used on targets in Russia

Senior officials say decision marks serious escalation and their threat to use tactical nuclear weapons is not a bluff

The Kremlin has said Joe Biden’s decision to allow Ukraine to use US-supplied weapons against targets in Russia demonstrates Washington’s deep involvement in the conflict, as some of Vladimir Putin’s allies increased their nuclear threats against the west.

The Kremlin spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, told journalists on Friday that Moscow was already aware of attempts by Ukraine to strike targets on Russian territory with weapons provided by the US.

Continue reading...

Russia-Ukraine war: Moscow troop build-up near Kharkiv ‘still not enough for large-scale offensive’ – as it happened

Ukraine’s top commander says enemy sending reinforcements to area but lacks numbers for a major push

Russia’s foreign ministry said on Thursday it was finalising a proposal for “retaliatory measures” against the EU over the bloc’s ban on the broadcast of four Russian media outlets on its territory.

The EU said earlier this month it was suspending the distribution of the Voice of Europe, the RIA Novosti news agency and the Izvestia and Rossiyskaya Gazeta newspapers.

Continue reading...