Russia-Ukraine war live: drone attack on Crimea repelled, Russia says; Moscow threatens to scrap grain deal

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Russia claims drone attack on Crimean port repelled

Russia’s Black Sea Fleet repelled a drone attack on the Crimean port of Sevastopol in the early hours of Monday, the Moscow-installed governor of the city has said on the Telegram messaging app.

“According to the latest information: one surface drone was destroyed ... the second one exploded on its own,” governor Mikhail Razvozhaev wrote. “Now the city is quiet but all forces and services remain on alert.” No damage was reported, according to Razvozhaev.

Sevastopol, along with the rest of the Crimean peninsula, was declared annexed by Russia in 2014 but is internationally recognised as part of Ukraine. There was no immediate reaction from Ukraine. Kyiv almost never publicly claims responsibility for attacks inside Russia and on Russian-controlled territory in Ukraine.

Explosions were last heard in Sevastopol in February, according to Ukrainian media, when Razvozhaev said Russian air defences had shot down a drone over the Balaklava Thermal Power Plant.

Crimea and Sevastopol, home to the headquarters of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, have been the sire of regular explosions since August.

In October, a blast crippled the heavily guarded Kerch bridge connecting Crimea to the Russian mainland, a key logistics link for Russian troops in southern Ukraine.

The town of Balaklava, Sevastopol on the Crimean peninsula. Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

Opening summary

Hello and welcome to the Guardian’s live coverage of the war in Ukraine with me, Helen Livingstone. Our top story today:

Russia’s Black Sea Fleet repelled a drone attack on the Crimean port of Sevastopol in the early hours of Monday, the Moscow-installed governor of the city has said through social media.

“According to the latest information: one surface drone was destroyed ... the second one exploded on its own,” governor Mikhail Razvozhaev wrote on the Telegram messaging app according to Reuters. “Now the city is quiet.” No damage was reported, Razvozhaev added.

Sevastopol, along with the rest of the Crimean peninsula, was declared annexed by Russia in 2014 but is internationally recognised as part of Ukraine. There was no immediate reaction from Ukraine. Kyiv almost never publicly claims responsibility for attacks inside Russia and on Russian-controlled territory in Ukraine.

Other key developments:

• Former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev said that if the G7 moved to ban almost all exports to Russia, Moscow would respond by terminating the Black Sea grain deal that enables vital exports of grain from Ukraine. Russia has strongly signalled that it will not allow the deal to continue beyond 18 May.

• Ukraine’s military has set up positions on the eastern side of the Dnipro River near Kherson city, the Institute for the Study of War cites Russian military bloggers as saying. Infiltrating the area could be a first step towards trying to dislodge Russians from positions they are using to shell and shoot at Kherson.

• China’s ambassador to France has sparked anger in eastern Europe and Ukraine while drawing a rebuke from Paris and the EU after questioning the sovereignty of post-Soviet countries. Ambassador Lu Shaye suggested countries that emerged after the fall of the Soviet Union “don’t have effective status under international law because there is not an international agreement confirming their status as sovereign nations”.

• Europe’s military spending grew at a record pace in 2022, reaching a level unseen since the cold war following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, global security researchers said. The rise in Europe helped global military expenditures reach an eighth straight record at $2.24tn, or 2.2% of the world’s gross domestic product, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.

• The Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, has said Moscow “will not forgive” Washington for denying US visas to Russian journalists who were meant to accompany him on a visit to UN headquarters. “We won’t forget, we will not forgive this,” he said. Russia took up the presidency of the 15-member security council in April.

• Russia is advising citizens to avoid travel to Canada. Russia cited what it called numerous cases of discrimination against its citizens, including physical violence, its foreign ministry said.

• Anti-Kremlin protesters staged a rally in Paris on Sunday, urging the EU to impose sanctions on the socialite wife of the Russian deputy defence minister, who they accuse of bypassing sanctions. The protesters said deputy defence minister Timur Ivanov had divorced his wife Svetlana Maniovich last year in order to enable her to live a luxury lifestyle in France and evade sanctions.

• Russia is appealing for “real men” in a new military recruitment drive. Russia’s defence ministry has launched a major drive for volunteer recruits, pitching to their masculine pride amid a limited pool of fighting-age men in Russia, the UK Ministry of Defence says.

• Russia’s defence ministry claims it has captured another three districts in the western part of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine. Troops who have continued into the heavily contested city are thought to be part of the Wagner group of mercenaries.

• Ukrainian foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba is expected to vent Kyiv’s frustration over wrangling that is holding up an EU plan to buy ammunition to help Ukraine during a video meeting with his EU counterparts. A landmark deal for EU countries to jointly buy artillery shells for Ukraine has not yet been implemented due to disagreements over how much of the business has to stay within Europe.