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Reports of heavy shelling in Kharkiv region
There have been reports of heavy shelling in the Kharkiv region this morning. Several homes in the city of Kupyansk have been hit with anti-aircraft missiles, according to local officials.
The hit caused fires at residential houses and garages and four cars were destroyed, but there were no casualties, according to Oleh Syniehubov, head of the Kharkiv regional military administration.
Posting on his Telegram account, Syniehubov also said extensive de-mining has been taking place in the region, with 123 munitions neutralised on Saturday.
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Summary
As the time has just passed 6pm in Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine, here’s a roundup of Sunday’s news from the conflict so far.
Four people have been killed from an overnight Ukrainian strike on the Russian border village of Suzemka, the governor of Russia’s western Bryansk region said on Sunday. “Two more civilians have been found and removed from the rubble. Unfortunately, both of them died,” local governor Alexander Bogomaz said on Telegram.
A growing poverty crisis in Ukraine has led many to turn to Kyiv’s pawn shops to surrender mobile phones, appliances and other belongings in order to get by.
Poverty increased from 5.5% to 24.2% in Ukraine in 2022, pushing 7.1 million more people into poverty with the worst impact out of sight in rural villages, according to a recent report by the World Bank. With unemployment unofficially at 36% and inflation hitting 26.6% at the end of 2022, the institution’s regional country director for eastern Europe, Arup Banerji, had warned that poverty could soar.
Ukraine is preparing for the much-expected counter offensive, with the war entering into a stalemate in recent months. It is hoped Ukrainian forces will have similar gains to autumn last year, where they retook part of Kherson.
Ahead of the offensive, the Russian army has replaced its highest ranking official in charge of logistics. Alexei Kuzmenkov - a former official from the National Guard has replaced Col Gen Mikhail Mizintsev.
Funerals for two of the six children killed in a Russian missile strike on a tower block in Uman, central Ukraine, on Friday have taken place. A cruise missile caused a whole section of the building to collapse, killing at least 23, in one of the deadliest attacks on civilians this year.
The number of children killed by the war has reached 477, according to figures just posted to the Ukrainian prosecutor general’s Telegram account. The toll rose after it emerged on Saturday that two more children had died in the rocket attack in Uman.
Two people were injured in Kherson by Russian shelling, deputy head of Kherson oblast Council Yuriy Sobolevsky has said. More than 27 attacks were reported on residential areas of the wider Kherson region on Saturday, according to its authorities, with about 135 shells fired.
There have been reports of heavy shelling in the Kharkiv region. Several homes in the city of Kupyansk have been hit with anti-aircraft missiles, according to local officials. The hit caused fires at residential houses and garages and four cars were destroyed. No casualties have been reported.
The UK Ministry of Defence reports that Russian commanders have likely started “punishing breaches in discipline” by detaining offending troops in what they call ‘Zindans’ – which are holes in the ground covered with a metal grille.
Former US House speaker Nancy Pelosi has spoken about her surprise visit to Ukraine just after the Russian invasion had begun, a year on from her trip. “It was very, it was dangerous,” Pelosi told the Associated Press. “We never feared about it, but we thought we could die because we’re visiting a serious, serious war zone.”
In another interview, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy recalled the early days of Russia’s invasion, saying in an interview he carries a pistol and would have fought to the death alongside his inner circle had the Russians stormed his Kyiv headquarters at the start of the war. “I know how to shoot. Could you imagine [a headline like] ‘The president of Ukraine is taken captive by Russians?’ This is a disgrace. I believe this would be a disgrace,” he told the 1+1 television channel. “I think if they had gone inside, into the administration, we would not be here,” he said.
Joe Biden says he is ‘working like hell’ to secure release of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, held in Russia on espionage charges. He praised the “absolute courage” of the US journalist and reiterated calls on Moscow for his immediate release. Biden, speaking at an annual dinner for White House correspondents on Saturday night, directly addressed the parents of Gershkovich. “We all stand with you. Evan went to Russia to shed light on the darkness that you all escaped from, years ago. Absolute courage … to the entire family, everyone in this hall stands with you. We’re working every day to secure his release,” Biden said.
Ukraine’s General Staff of the Armed Forces is claiming that 470 Russian troops were killed in fighting on Saturday. A daily update on social media said this brought Russia’s total combat losses to 19,0510 since the start of the war. The total has not been independently verified.
This is Harry Taylor bringing you the latest developments from Ukraine for the rest of the evening.
The Russian army has replaced its highest ranking general in charge of logistics ahead of an expected counter-offensive by Kyiv.
AFP reports:
The announcement followed days of rumours about the sacking of Colonel General Mikhail Mizintsev, under British sanctions for his role in the siege of the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol, which Russian troops captured a year ago.
In a statement, the Russian defence ministry said Alexei Kuzmenkov - a former official from the National Guard - had replaced Mizintsev.
“Kuzmenkov was appointed to the position of deputy defence minister of the Russian Federation, responsible for the logistical support of the Armed Forces,” the ministry said.
The statement did not say why Mizintsev was replaced after just seven months on the job.
Nicknamed “the Butcher of Mariupol” by some Western media, Mizintsev was appointed to the logistics post days after President Vladimir Putin announced a mobilisation drive last September.
Funerals for two of the six children killed in a Russian missile strike on a tower block in Uman on Friday took place this afternoon. A cruise missile collapsed a whole section of the building, killing at least 23, in one of the deadliest attacks on civilians this year.
Photographs show residents carrying the caskets of children named by Reuters as Sofia, 11 and Kyrylo, 17. Another shows their younger brother Mikhail, 6, looking on in distress at the funeral.
The children’s father, Dmytro, told the New York Times on Friday that when he went to check the children’s bedroom in the block of flats, “There was no room behind the door, just a cloud of fire and smoke.”
When Dmytro and his wife could not find their older children in the apartment, they initially hoped they might have survived.
Ukrainian forces have released pictures of their troops training in Britain with the Danish military.
The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said its soldiers were learning about seizing and holding positions and battle manoeuvres. Denmark is supporting the UK-led training of the Ukrainian military.
“This training makes it possible to master combat skills, increase the security and operational strength of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, so that military personnel can acquire the necessary tactical knowledge for the defence of Ukraine,” the Ukrainian armed forces said in a post on its official Facebook account.
The photographs show soldiers on manoeuvres behind dry stone walls in rural Britain.
Russia has attacked nine of Ukraine’s 25 regions in the last 24 hours, according to a round up by the Kyiv Independent.
The regions they list as facing bombardment are Sumy, Chernihiv, Kharkiv, Kherson, Mykolaiv, Zaporizhzhia, Dnipropetrovsk, Luhansk, and Donetsk.
One civilian was killed and another injured in Kherson, according to the regional military administration, where they reported 27 attacks on 14 settlements.
The most intense Russian attacks were reported in Luhansk Oblast, where Russian forces are said to have shelled the region 93 times over the past day. No casualties were reported.
Russia’s Ministry of Defence is claiming its forces have taken four blocks in western Bakhmut, Reuters reports.
Russian state-owned news agency RIA reported the claim but it could not be independently verified. Fierce battles have been taking place in the eastern city, that Russian forces have been struggling for months to capture.
Death toll from Ukraine strike on Russian border village rises
The death toll from an overnight Ukrainian strike on the Russian border village of Suzemka has risen to four, the governor of Russia’s western Bryansk region said this afternoon.
“Two more civilians have been found and removed from the rubble. Unfortunately, both of them died,” local governor Alexander Bogomaz said on on Telegram.
A further two people are also being treated in hospital, he said. Earlier on Sunday Bogomaz had said two people were killed in the shelling.
Rubble is still being removed and the village has declared a state of emergency.
A growing poverty crisis in Ukraine has led many to turn to Kyiv’s pawn shops to surrender mobile phones, appliances and other belongings in order to get by.
Poverty increased from 5.5% to 24.2% in Ukraine in 2022, pushing 7.1 million more people into poverty with the worst impact out of sight in rural villages, according to a recent report by the World Bank. With unemployment unofficially at 36% and inflation hitting 26.6% at the end of 2022, the institution’s regional country director for eastern Europe, Arup Banerji, had warned that poverty could soar.
Peter Beaumont is in Irpin and reports on the growing desperation there.
The price of everything has gone up,” says Oleksandr Stepanov, a cashier at a Kyiv pawn shop. “Food is the most expensive and then it is fuel for the car. Some things have gone up by 40-50%. Before the war my wife would go to the supermarket to shop and it would cost 200 hryvnia, now the same shop costs 400-500.
Read the full story here:
Pope Francis has used a visit to Hungary to make an appeal for the end of Russia’s war in Ukraine.
During a Mass on the banks of the Danube at the end of a three-day visit dominated by the Vatican’s concern for the plight of neighbouring Ukraine, he prayed for peace in Ukraine and “a future of hope, not war, a future full of cradles, not tombs, a world of brothers and sisters, not walls.”
He also urged Hungarians and the rest of Europe to welcome migrants and the poor. Among those attending were President Katalin Novak and Hungary’s right-wing populist prime minister, Viktor Orban, whose lukewarm support for Ukraine has rankled fellow European Union members.
Francis has tried to forge a diplomatic balancing act in his pleas to end Russia’s war, expressing solidarity with Ukrainians while keeping the door open to dialogue with Moscow, Associated Press reporter. On Saturday, he prayed with Ukrainian refugees and then met with an envoy of Russian Patriarch Kirill, who has firmly supported Moscow’s invasion.
Multiple Russian rockets have caused damage in Donetsk overnight, according to an update from its regional governor, Pavlo Kyrylenko.
He posted on Telegram that five rockets had hit Kramatorsk at around midnight on Saturday, one near a residential building, two in a field outside the city and two in an industrial area. Velika Novosilka, Ugledar and Avdiivka also came under fire, he said. No casualties were reported.
This post was amended after publication to make a geographical clarification
Ukraine has been selecting injured soldiers to compete in this year’s Invictus games, due to take place in Düsseldorf in September. Many of its team will be competing for the first time having been injured in fighting over the last year.
Wounded veterans competed in nine different categories, including rowing, athletics and powerlifting.
Getty has images from try-outs which took place yesterday in Lviv. Security around the event was tight, for fear of it becoming a target and the date was kept out of the public domain.
As an imminent counter-assault is planned by Ukraine against Russian forces, colleagues Emma Graham-Harrison and Artem Mazhulin report from Zaporizhzhia for The Observer.
The coming months of fighting will show if Ukraine is able to come good on promises to reclaim all its occupied territory, after more than a year of occupation has allowed Russia to dig in extensive fortifications.
The most optimistic among Ukraine and its allies hope for a repeat of the dramatic military triumphs of last spring and autumn, when Moscow was pushed back from Kyiv and then forced out of swathes of the country’s east and south in a few weeks.
The men and women who have spent time facing Russian troops in the trenches are less sanguine about progress, although also certain about the eventual outcome. “Everyone is waiting for it and thinks we will solve everything with one hit. It will take time, and will be hard,” said Luh.
The Observer met Luh, who under military protocol asked to go by his call-sign rather than his name, at a training camp a few dozen kilometres from the frontlines in southern Ukraine.
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