Russia

The blog has come to end for today. Below is a round-up of today’s stories:

Eleven Russian missiles aimed at Kyiv were shot down by the Ukrainian air defence on Monday morning which led to a wave of explosions being heard in the Ukrainian capital. One person was hospitalised as a result of the attacks. The local authority reported that the roof of a two-story building caught fire in the district as a result of falling debris, but that the fire was contained.

The adviser to the head of the office of Ukraine’s president, Mykhailo Podolyak, has suggested that any peace settlement acceptable to Ukraine would include not only a restoration of the country’s sovereign borders, but a demilitarised zone extending between 100km and 120km into Russia. Podolyak tweeted: The key topic of the postwar settlement should be the establishment of safeguards to prevent a recurrence of aggression in the future. To ensure real security for residents of Kharkiv, Chernihiv, Sumy, Zaporizhzhia, Luhansk and Donetsk regions and protect them from shelling, it will be necessary to introduce a demilitarisation zone of 100km-120km on the territory of Belgorod, Bryansk, Kursk, and Rostov republics. Probably with a mandatory international control contingent at the first stage.”

Two people were killed and eight were wounded in a Russian attack on the city of Toretsk on Monday morning, Pavlo Kyrylenko, the governor of the Donetsk region, said. Kyrylenko said Russian forces had used high-explosive aerial bombs in the attack at about 11:30 a.m. local time which damaged a gas station and a multi-storey building in the city.

Polish president, Andrzej Duda, said that he would sign a bill to allow a panel to investigate whether the opposition party Civic Platform (PO), led by Donald Tusk, allowed the country to be unduly influenced by Russia and as a result became too dependent on its fuel when it was in power. The PO party rejects the claims and says the law is designed to destroy support for Tusk in the lead up to the elections being held at the end of the year. Mark Brzezinski, the US ambassador to Poland, also voiced concerns. He said “The U.S. government shares concerns about laws that may ostensibly reduce voters’ ability to vote for those they want to vote for, outside of a clearly defined process in an independent court.”

The Danish prime minister, Mette Frederiksen, said that her government planned to increase spending on military aid to Ukraine by $2.6bn over this year and next year. Earlier this year, Denmark set up a $1b fund for military, civilian and business aid to Ukraine. Danmarks Radio, the Danish public-service broadcaster, reported that the new funds were earmarked for military aid.

Ukraine’s parliament has passed a bill that sanctions Iran for 50 years. The bill was put forward by Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy. The bill will stop Iranian goods transiting through Ukraine and ban use of its airspace, as well as imposing trade, financial and technology sanctions against Iran and its citizens.

Ukraine reported that Russia launched up to 40 cruise missiles and about 35 drones overnight: air defence claimed to have shot down 37 missiles and 29 Shahed drones.

An unspecified military target in the western Khmelnytskyi region was struck, with the regional governor reporting that “five aircraft were disabled” and that a fire had broken out in a fuel warehouse.

In Odesa, fragments of a downed kamikaze drone hit the port infrastructure causing a fire, and rockets and drones were shot down over Lviv, Kirovohrad, Poltava and Mykolaiv regions.

Serhii Popko, the head of Kyiv’s military administration, said Russia was trying to exhaust the country’s air defences with the increased attacks, adding: “The enemy is trying to keep the civilian population in deep psychological tension.” Klitschko added: “Another difficult night for the capital. But, thanks to the professionalism of our defenders, as a result of the air attack of the barbarians in Kyiv, there was no damage or destruction of infrastructural and other objects.

Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin “appears to have again indirectly undermined Russian president Vladimir Putin’s authority and regime”, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) has written in its latest analysis of the conflict. The US-based thinktank bases its assertion on the response given by Prigozhin to a journalist asking about Russian state media’s ban on any discussion of Wagner. Prigozhin said that officials could have benefited from their historic ability to censor information if Russia had not declared war on Ukraine. He then shifted to addressing a single, unnamed official: “If you are starting a war, please have character, will, and steel balls – and only then you will be able to achieve something.”

Foreign investors who left Russia after selling their businesses there between March 2022 and March 2023 withdrew about $36bn from the country, the state RIA news agency reports, citing analysis of data from the Central Bank.

The death toll from a Russian missile attack on a medical facility in Dnipro on Friday has risen from two to four people, according to the region’s governor.

Ukraine’s parliament has passed a bill that sanctions Iran for 50 years after it was put forward by Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy. The Russian ally has supplied Moscow with weapons, including hundreds of drones.

The bill will stop Iranian goods transiting through Ukraine and ban use of its airspace, as well as imposing trade, financial and technology sanctions against Iran and its citizens.

Our video team has compiled an overview of Monday morning’s Russian attacks on Kyiv.

Residents ran to the city’s metro stations and other shelters after a succession of loud bangs as incoming missiles were intercepted and bursts of smoke from air defences dotted the sky.

Mark Brzezinski, the US ambassador to Poland, has voiced concerns about a bill Polish president Andrzej Duda said he would sign that would investigate whether the Donald Tusk-led opposition party allowed the country to be unduly influenced by Russia when they were in power and became too dependent on its fuel, Reuters reports.

“The U.S. government shares concerns about laws that may ostensibly reduce voters’ ability to vote for those they want to vote for, outside of a clearly defined process in an independent court,” Brzezinski told broadcaster TVN24 BiS.

Tusk is set to lead the Civic Platform (PO) party into parliamentary elections later this year. The PO party rejects the claims and says the law is designed to destroy support for Tusk in the lead up to the elections.

Under the bill, anyone who is found to have acted under Russian influence faces an effective ten-year ban from holding public office.

Reuters reports that Pavlo Kyrylenko, the governor of the Donetsk region, said two people have been killed and eight were wounded in a Russian attack on the city of Toretsk on Monday morning.

Kyrylenko said Russian forces had used high-explosive aerial bombs in the attack at about 11:30 a.m. local time which damaged a gas station and a multi-storey building in the city.

Rescue services were working at the site, he said, urging remaining residents to evacuate.

“Every day, the Russians purposefully hit civilians in the Donetsk region,” Kyrylenko said on the Telegram messaging app.

Here are some pictures of people in Kyiv on Monday morning taking shelter in a metro station during an air alert.

Explosions were heard in the capital on Monday as Russian troops fired 11 missiles towards the city. The missiles were destroyed by the Ukrainian air defence.

Reuters reports that the Polish president, Andrzej Duda, said on Monday that he would sign a bill to allow a panel to investigate whether the opposition party Civic Platform (PO), led by Donald Tusk, allowed the country to be unduly influenced by Russia and as a result became too dependent on its fuel when it was in power.

The PO party was in government from 2007 to 2015. Tusk, who was formerly the president of the European Council and prime minister of Poland, is to lead the party into parliamentary elections at the end of the year.

The party rejects the claims and says the law is designed to destroy support for Tusk in the lead up to the elections.

PO lawmaker Marcin Kierwinski told broadcaster TVN24: “In a normal democratic country, somebody who is president of that country would never sign such a Stalin-esque law.”

Duda said he would sign the bill because he believed it “should enter into force,” but he also said he would ask the constitutional tribunal to examine claims that it was unconstitutional.

The bill would set up an investigative commission that could deliver an initial report in September.

The parliamentary commission will investigate the period between 2007 and 2022 and will have the power to impose upon anyone found to have acted under Russian influence a 10-year ban from holding security clearance or working in roles responsible for public funds, effectively disqualifying them from public office.

During Tusk’s time in office, the construction of a liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminal, allowing the import of non-Russia gas, began and the nation signed a deal with Russia’s Gazprom in 2010, which the official justification of the bill mentions.

The Danish prime minister, Mette Frederiksen, said on Monday that her government planned to increase spending on military aid to Ukraine by $2.6bn over this year and next year, Reuters reports.

Earlier this year, Denmark set up a $1b fund for military, civilian and business aid to Ukraine.

Danmarks Radio, the Danish public-service broadcaster, reported that the new funds were earmarked for military aid.

Responding to the news on Twitter, the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said: “This major contribution will further strengthen the combat capabilities of the armed forces of Ukraine in the short and medium term. Our strength is in unity!”

Grateful to the @folketinget, the Danish government and the Danish people for the decision to increase the financing of the Ukraine Fund by $2.6 billion. This major contribution will further strengthen the combat capabilities of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the short and medium…

The adviser to the head of the office of Ukraine’s president, Mykhailo Podolyak, has suggested that any peace settlement acceptable to Ukraine would include not only a restoration of the country’s sovereign borders, but a demilitarised zone extending between 100km and 120km into Russia. He tweeted:

The key topic of the postwar settlement should be the establishment of safeguards to prevent a recurrence of aggression in the future. To ensure real security for residents of Kharkiv, Chernihiv, Sumy, Zaporizhzhia, Luhansk and Donetsk regions and protect them from shelling, it will be necessary to introduce a demilitarisation zone of 100km-120km on the territory of Belgorod, Bryansk, Kursk, and Rostov republics. Probably with a mandatory international control contingent at the first stage.

Earlier today a video clip circulated of Belgorod’s governor, Vyacheslav Gladkov, suggesting that the simplest solution to cross-border shelling of Russia from Ukraine was for Kharkiv region to be absorbed into Belgorod region.

Shaun Walker is in Bratislava for the Guardian:

Kostiantin Vashchenko, state secretary of the Ukrainian ministry of defence, speaking at the Globsec forum here in Bratislava, said “only two or three” people know the date that Ukraine’s much-anticipated counteroffensive will begin, and suggested the reason it has been trailed for so long was partly to influence Russia psychologically, saying:

The counteroffensive isn’t just military – it’s also diplomatic and informational. We see our enemies are very nervous, because waiting for death is even worse than death … Nobody knows the day the offensive will start. A couple, maybe three people know. I don’t know the real date but [I think] it will be in the nearest future.

The Kyiv city administration has posted to Telegram to state that “during the daytime shelling of the capital, more than 41,000 people were in the underground” today, and that overnight “more than 9,000 citizens took refuge in subway stations, including 1,120 children”.

It claimed “this is the largest number of people who stayed at the stations at night during the current month”.

It reminded residents that “during an alarm, you can get chairs and drinking water at the stations. Keep in mind that the stations are quite chilly, so take warm clothes with you.”

Suspilne, Ukraine’s state broadcaster, reports that a 61-year-old man has been killed when “Russian troops fired artillery at the village of Kozatske in the Kherson region”.

It cited the local authority.

Kozatske is on the right bank of the Dnieper River, opposite the portion of the Kherson region which is under Russian occupation.

The foreign ministers of Sweden and Turkey will meet “soon” to discuss Stockholm’s delayed bid to join Nato, the Swedish foreign ministry said on Monday.

Swedish foreign minister, Tobias Billstrom, initially told broadcaster SVT on Monday he would meet his Turkish counterpart, Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, on Thursday at a gathering of Nato foreign ministers in Oslo.

“But we have been informed that Turkey’s foreign minister is not coming, so there won’t be any meeting there,” Reuters reports a spokesperson for Billstrom said, adding that the meeting would nevertheless take place “soon”.

Discussions between the two countries over Nato ground to a halt during the recent Turkish election, which Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has now won.

“I look forward to being able to shift into a higher gear and speed things up now we know what the result is,” Billstrom said.

The process is much delayed. Sweden has in the past accused Turkey over its human rights record, while Ankara is unhappy that Stockholm has, in its eyes, harboured groups that Turkey considers to be terrorists. Finland’s application to join Nato has been approved, but Sweden’s is still dependent on ratification from both Turkey and Hungary.

Olena Zelenska has posted a video clip from Kyiv this morning of children running towards air raid shelters as the alarm sounded in the capital. Ukraine’s first lady tweeted:

Kyiv. The morning after a sleepless night under fire. Anxiety again … Children screaming running for cover to the sounds of explosions is our reality. But it doesn’t have to be that way – anywhere, ever. Fear cannot be turned off – but we do not freeze, but act. Ukraine continues to fight.

The clip showed groups of children running through the street in increasing panic while some bystanders stood and watched them.

Eleven missiles ballistic and cruise missiles launched by Russia aimed at Kyiv were shot down today, according to Valerii Zaluzhnyi, the commander-in-chief of Ukraine’s armed forces.

According to @CinC_AFU, on May 29 russians attacked Kyiv and Kyiv region with 11 missiles (Iskander-K and Iskander-M).ALL MISSILES WERE SHOT DOWN.Excellent work of the Ukrainian air defenders!

Monday’s daytime attack on Kyiv marks Russia’s 16th airstrike on the Ukrainian capital this month, Reuters reports.

This morning’s events follow on from Russian attacks over the weekend, which were the biggest drone attacks yet on the Ukrainian capital. They hit as the city prepared to mark the annual celebration of its founding. The attacks killed one person and injured two.

Shaun Walker, our central and eastern Europe correspondent, is at the Globsec conference in Bratislava today.

During one of the early sessions where central European foreign ministers discussed how Europe should deal with Russia after the war in Ukraine is over, Austria’s foreign minister, Alexander Schallenberg, was challenged over his country’s military neutrality and traditional policy of maintaining links with Russia.

He said Austria was not a member of Nato but was “never neutral as far as values are concerned”. But he said after even after a Ukrainian victory, Europe would need a policy to engage Russia.

“Whatever we do, history doesn’t change and geography won’t change. We have to be capable of making the difference between Putin and his henchmen, and the ordinary Russians. It might be difficult, but I believe there is a very important difference, which we manage to make with Iran and with North Korea,” said Schallenberg.

The Czech foreign minister, Jan Lipavsky, disagreed, saying the problem was broader than just the Russian leadership: “It’s not only about Putin, it’s Russian imperialism, it’s the idea that Russia is not sure of its borders, that it can come and with sheer force proclaim ‘This is my territory’… We need to be ready to protect Europe from this evil idea of Russian imperialism.”

The geopolitical conference draws world leaders, foreign ministers and defence ministers from across Europe and will run for the next three days, with the main topic on the agenda being the war in Ukraine for the second year running.

The best known speaker this year is the French president, Emmanuel Macron, who will address the forum on Wednesday. The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, was due to address the forum this morning but it’s been postponed.

RIA, the Russian state-owned news agency, reports that Russian forces hit Ukrainian airbases overnight and all their targets were destroyed, according to the nation’s defence ministry.

Ukrainian officials said earlier that Russia had struck targets across the country, using dozens of missiles and drones, Reuters reports.