US-Russian journalist detained in Russia; Ukrainian parliament votes to ban Ukrainian Orthodox Church

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy has said he is grateful to Joe Biden for his “strong signal of support”, after speaking to the US president shortly before he gave a rare Oval Office address in which he asked Americans to back further military aid to both Ukraine and Israel.

Ukraine’s parliament has voted overwhelmingly to advance legislation seen as effectively banning the Ukrainian Orthodox Church over its ties to Moscow, despite the church’s insistence that it is fully independent and supportive of Ukraine’s fight against Russian invaders.

A United Nations commission of inquiry found additional evidence that Russian forces had committed “indiscriminate attacks” and war crimes in Ukraine, including rape and the deportation of children to Russia.

A Russian-American journalist has been detained in Russia on charges of violating its foreign agents law, reportedly due to her coverage of Russia’s military mobilisation for its invasion of Ukraine. Alsu Kurmasheva, an editor with Radio Free Europe-Radio Liberty’s (RFE-RL) Tatar-Bashkir service, was detained on Wednesday.

European leaders are frustrated about the meeting between Vladimir Putin and Viktor Orbán, the prime minister of Hungary, in Beijing this week. “As it has been repeatedly shown, Putin does not meet European leaders with the aim of achieving peace in Ukraine,” said Petr Pavel, the president of the Czech Republic. “Peace can be achieved without any negotiations on his part simply by ceasing attacks and withdrawing his troops from Ukrainian territory.”

A Ukrainian strike on Russian helicopters and air defence equipment this week could prompt Moscow to once again move its operating bases and command and control nodes farther from the front line, the UK defence ministry said in its daily intelligence briefing.

Russian forces launched 12 missiles, 60 airstrikes and 53 shellings yesterday, and engaged Ukrainian troops in 90 combat engagements, the general staff of the Ukrainian armed forces said in its morning briefing.

A woman was killed in a Russian airstrike on Beryslav in the Kherson oblast this morning, the regional governor said. Oleksandr Prokudin said Russian forces used guided bombs on Beryslav and fired four anti-aircraft guns at the city. An 80-year-old woman was also seriously injured in her home.

Ukraine claimed to make a small incremental gain of 400 metres to the south-west of Verbove in the Zaporizhzhia region. Military spokesperson Oleksandr Stupun said the southern advance was still difficult because of Russian minefields and heavily fortified defences.

Kazakhstan has banned exports to Russia of 106 goods that could be used in the Ukraine war after the ex-Soviet state vowed not to help its ally circumvent western sanctions, local media said Thursday. On a visit to Berlin last month, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said his country will “follow the sanctions regime”, amid suspicions Moscow is still receiving vital goods via Kazakhstan.

Nato is stepping up patrols in the Baltic Sea after recent damage to undersea infrastructure. “The increased measures include additional surveillance and reconnaissance flights. A fleet of four Nato minehunters is also being dispatched to the area,” Nato said in a statement.

Putin calls delivery of ATACMS long-range missiles ‘another mistake’ by US; Russian foreign minister arrives in North Korea ahead of expected Putin trip

• See all our Ukraine war coverage

Vladimir Putin called the US delivery of long-range tactical ballistic missiles to Kyiv “another mistake by the United States” in his first public comments since an unprecedented Ukrainian strike destroyed helicopters at two airfields in Russian-occupied territory this week. The Russian president also claimed that the delivery of the ATACMS missiles, which can strike targets more than 100 miles away and deliver salvoes with cluster munitions, would “simply prolong [Ukraine’s] agony.”

Images of Hungary’s prime minister shaking hands with Putin were “very, very unpleasant” and defied logic given Budapest’s past history with Moscow, the Estonian prime minister, Kaja Kallas, said. Viktor Orbán and Putin held talks in China on Tuesday, with the Hungarian prime minister telling the Russian president he had never wanted to oppose Moscow and is trying to salvage bilateral contacts.

Russia’s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, arrived in North Korea on Wednesday, Russian news agencies said, with a Kremlin spokesperson telling the Tass news agency that the two-day visit was expected to lay the groundwork for a future trip to the country by Putin. The trip took place days after the US said Pyongyang had transferred munitions to Russia for the war in Ukraine.

Russian attacks in the past two days have killed at least 10 civilians in Ukraine and damaged the power grid in the north-eastern city of Kharkiv, Ukrainian officials said. Among the targets hit was a residential building in the south-eastern city of Zaporizhzhia.

The lower house of the Russian parliament has passed the second and third readings of a bill that revokes Russia’s ratification of the comprehensive nuclear test ban treaty. Both were passed unanimously by 415 votes to zero. Ukraine’s foreign ministry later condemned the steps taken, and urged the international community to respond to Moscow’s “provocations”.

US President Joe Biden is to give a primetime speech to Americans on Thursday on the war in Israel and in Ukraine, the White House said. There have been concerns that the war between Israel and Hamas may divert military and international support from Kyiv.

French President Emmanuel Macron reaffirmed his country’s support for Ukraine during a phone call on Wednesday with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, the French presidency said. “He assured the Ukrainian president that the proliferation of crises would not weaken French and European support for Ukraine, which will be there for as long as it takes,” said Macron’s office.

Gen Oleksandr Tarnavskyi, in charge of Ukraine’s operations in the south, said Ukrainian forces had had “partial success to the south of Robotyne.” Robotyne is one of a group of villages in the south that Ukraine wants to secure as part of its advance towards the Sea of Azov – aimed at severing a land bridge linking Russian positions in the south and east.

Biden is reportedly to propose a joint $100bn package for Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan and the migration crisis at the US-Mexico border this week. The package is intended to bypass congressional chaos and bring Democrats, who have sought additional aid for Kyiv for weeks, together with Republicans, who want funds to tighten controls on the southern border.