Ukrainian troops, he adds, have advanced 50 kilometers (31 miles) along a narrow front line and recaptured or surrounded several towns. Says: Ukrainian units are now threatening the city of Kupiansk. his capture would be a major blow to Russia because he is on supply routes to the Donbas frontline. With Ukrainian operations also continuing in Kherson, the Russian defensive front is under pressure on both its northern and southern flanks. Important events Show only key events Please enable JavaScript to use this feature
Another 350 Russian soldiers killed, Ukraine says
Another 350 Russian soldiers have been killed in Ukraine, according to the latest estimates from the Ukrainian military. In its latest daily figures, Ukraine’s defense ministry said total Russian deaths now stood at 52,250, up from 51,900 on Friday. It also said that Russia lost a total of 4,584 armored fighting vehicles, 239 military aircraft, 212 helicopters and 311 multiple launch missile systems. The numbers follow the success of Ukraine’s counterattack in the Kharkiv region. A quote included with them in a ministry tweet: “One cannot plan for the unexpected.” The UN says it has documented “torture and ill-treatment” of prisoners of war held by Russian forces in Ukraine. It also said it had confirmed at least 5,767 civilian deaths and 8,292 wounded, although it added that the actual numbers were “likely much higher”. The findings were presented Friday at a briefing from Odessa by Matilda Bogner, head of the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine. “We have documented that prisoners of war under the authority of the Russian Federation and held by the armed forces of the Russian Federation or affiliated armed groups have been subjected to torture and ill-treatment,” he said. Bogner said that in some places the detainees had been deprived of adequate food, water, health care and hygiene, and referred to a penal colony in Olenivka, a Russian-controlled town in southern Ukraine, where prisoners of war were reportedly “suffering from diseases, including hepatitis A and tuberculosis’. It added that its group had “unfettered access” to detention facilities controlled by the Ukrainian government, while Russia “has not provided access to prisoners of war held on its territory or territory under its control.” Updated at 08.56 BST The German foreign minister arrived in Kyiv for a surprise visit. Annalena Baerbock said her trip, the second since the invasion began, was meant to show Berlin’s support for Ukraine in its fight against Russia. “I traveled to Kyiv today to show that they can continue to count on us,” she said in a statement. “That we will continue to stand by Ukraine for as long as necessary with arms deliveries and with humanitarian and financial support.” It comes just a week after Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmygal visited Berlin, where he repeated a call for Germany to supply Ukraine with more weapons. In recent weeks, Germany has sent shells, rocket launchers and anti-aircraft missiles to Kyiv. Heavier weapons such as anti-aircraft systems, pick-up-mounted missile launchers and anti-drone equipment are also due in an additional military aid package worth more than €500m (£438m). Earlier this week, Berlin said it would also work with the Netherlands to train Ukrainian soldiers in demining. Baerbock said it is “clear that Putin is counting on us to tire of sympathizing with the plight of Ukraine.” “He believes he can divide our societies with lies and blackmail us with power deliveries,” he said. “This calculation should not and will not work. Because all of Europe knows that Ukraine is defending our peace.” Ukrainian forces have seized an expanding swath of territory previously held by Russia in the east in a “very sharp and rapid” advance, a Russia-based regional official said on Friday, in a breakthrough that may mark a turning point in the war. After remaining silent for a day, Russia effectively acknowledged that a section of its front line had collapsed southeast of Ukraine’s second-largest city Kharkiv, Reuters reports. Vitaly Gadchev, head of the Russian-backed administration in the Kharkiv region, told state television: The enemy is delaying as much as possible, but several settlements have already come under the control of Ukrainian armed formations. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy later said that Kiev forces had liberated more than 30 settlements in the Kharkiv region so far and that fighting was continuing in the eastern Donbas region and in the south. Gadchev had claimed his government was trying to “evacuate” civilians from towns including Izium, Russia’s main stronghold and logistics base in the province. Zelenskiy adviser Oleksiy Arestovych said in a video posted on YouTube that the Russian defenders in Izium were almost isolated. He said hundreds of Russians had died so far and several hundred more had been captured, citing what he described as reports from the front lines. Updated at 08.32 BST
Russian forces caught by surprise, UK says
As we just reported, the UK Ministry of Defense reports that the Ukrainian counterattack has taken Russian forces by surprise. Ukrainian troops, he adds, have advanced 50 kilometers (31 miles) along a narrow front line and recaptured or surrounded several towns. Says: Ukrainian units are now threatening the city of Kupiansk. his capture would be a major blow to Russia because he is on supply routes to the Donbas front line. With Ukrainian operations also continuing in Kherson, the Russian defensive front is under pressure on both its northern and southern flanks.
Summary
Hello and welcome back to the Guardian’s continuing live coverage of the war in Ukraine. Here’s a rundown of the latest developments as it ticks past 10am in Kyiv on the 199th day of Russia’s invasion.
The UK says Russian forces were likely to be “caught by surprise” by Ukraine’s counter-attack, which has now advanced 50km into territory previously held by Russia. In its daily intelligence briefing, the UK Ministry of Defense reports that Ukrainian units have captured or surrounded several towns Russia says it is sending reinforcements to the Kharkiv region in eastern Ukraine, where Kiev’s forces have reported strong gains as part of a wider counteroffensive. Russian state media broadcast footage on Friday of columns of Russian tanks, support vehicles and artillery traveling along paved roads and dirt roads. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said his forces had liberated more than 30 settlements in the Kharkiv region and that fighting was continuing in eastern Donbas and the south. The European Commission has urged EU states to review the conditions under which they grant visas to Russian travelers and weed out applicants who pose a security threat. “We should not be naive, Putin’s aim is to destroy the EU and he would like to attack us where we are weakest,” EU Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson said on Friday. The general staff of the Ukrainian armed forces said it repelled Russian attacks near 10 settlements, the Kyiv Independent reported. The staff said on Friday that Russian forces had launched more than 12 missiles and more than 12 airstrikes on Ukrainian territory in the previous 24 hours. The bombing destroyed electricity infrastructure in Enerhodar, the Ukrainian town where staff operating the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant live. Bombing was a growing threat to the plant, the UN nuclear watchdog said on Friday. The U.N. nuclear watchdog said conditions at the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant were increasingly precarious and that a safety zone should be immediately established around it to prevent a nuclear accident. The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Mariano Grossi, said on Friday that there was little chance of restoring reliable power lines offsite to the plant and that its Ukrainian operator was considering shutting down the only remaining active reactor. EU finance ministers backed a €5 billion loan for Ukraine to help maintain the country’s schools, hospitals and other essential functions amid Russia’s invasion. The loan, agreed on Friday, will be backed by guarantees from EU member states and is part of a total package of 9 billion euros announced in May. The EU executive has pledged to devise unprecedented measures in the coming days to deal with an energy price shock as a result of Russia’s war in Ukraine, including a controversial gas price cap that could further anger the Kremlin. European energy ministers tasked the European Commission with working through this weekend to draw up legal texts that would include emergency funding for consumers struggling to afford rising bills. A Russian-appointed official in Ukraine’s Kharkiv region announced Friday that civilians are being evacuated from three of the region’s Russian-controlled territories threatened by a Ukrainian counteroffensive.
