Ukraine news – live: Russian airstrikes hit Kyiv in ‘symbolic’ attack as G7 starts

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‘Putin is weaponising hunger’: Liz Truss blames Russia for food shortages

Russia has launched airstrikes on the Ukraine capital Kyiv in a ‘symbolic’ attack as the G7 begins summit.

Ukraine officials said 14 missiles were launched against the capital and the region on Sunday morning.

Ukraine’s police chief, Ihor Klymenko, said on national television that five people had been wounded, and police later said one person was killed in the airstrikes. Before Sunday’s early morning attack, Kyiv had not faced any such Russian airstrikes since June 5.

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko told that he believed “it is maybe a symbolic attack” ahead of this week’s NATO summit in Madrid.

It comes as Boris Johnson urged EU leaders to boost their military support for Ukraine, amid concerns a ‘bad peace’ could be agreed due to fatigure over the now five-month war.

And Russian president Vladimir Putin has ramped up the international further tensions by promising to arm its ally Belarus with nuclear-capable Iskander-M missile systems on Ukraine’s border.

Belarus also asked for an upgrade to its airforce, with the aim of making them nuclear-capable.

Key PointsShow latest update 1656300920Moscow must be defeated with ‘all our might’, says Zelensky

Volodymyr Zelensky reiterated demand for more “powerful” artillery to counter Russian missiles and said that the troops sent by Moscow must be defeated with “all our might”.

Confirming the missile attack on Kyiv, Mr Zelensky said: “Part of the missiles were shot down. But only part. We need a powerful air defense – modern, fully effective. Which can ensure complete protection against these missiles.”

“We talk about this every day with our partners. There are already some agreements. And partners need to move faster if they are really partners, not observers,” Mr Zelensky said.

He added that “delays in the transfer of weapons to our state, any restrictions are actually an invitation for Russia to strike again and again.”

“The occupiers – these terrorists – must be beaten with all our might so that they do not think they can put pressure and outplay someone,” he said.The attacks also left two consequence — including a Russian citizen, Mr Zelenksy said.

“The second army of the world triumphantly “defeated” a kindergarten and an apartment building. The man died, he was only 37 years old.”

“There are wounded, among them – a girl named Zhenya, she is seven years old, the daughter of the deceased, now she is in “Okhmatdyt”. Her mother was also wounded. By the way, a citizen of Russia. That’s that.”

Mr Zelensky said that missiles struck the Mykolaiv region, the Chernihiv region, Odesa, Cherkasy.

“Artillery and mortar shelling did not stop in the Kharkiv region, in the Sumy region, in Donbas, in the south of our state. My condolences to the families and friends of the victims. Everyone who was injured is given all the necessary help,” he said.

Urban Rai27 June 2022 04:35

1656295208Ukraine peace deal would give Putin ‘license to manipulate’, Boris Johnson tells Macron

Boris Johnson has warned Emmanuel Macron that any attempt to settle the conflict in Ukraine now will give Russian president Vladimir Putin “license to manipulate” other countries.

The prime minister told the French president that compromise will “only cause enduring instability” as the pair met to discuss the war at the G7 summit in Germany.

Mr Macron was criticised for negotiating with Mr Putin at the start of the invasion and said Russia must not be “humiliated” – raising fears Ukraine could be pushed into giving up territory.

Emily Atkinson27 June 2022 03:00

1656291625Watch: Russian missiles target Kyiv as troops consolidate gains in the east

Russian missiles target Kyiv as firm gains in the east

Emily Atkinson27 June 2022 02:00

1656291600Watch: Zelensky calls for more help from G7 during ‘difficult stage of war’

Ukraine: Zelensky calls for more help from G7 during ‘difficult stage of war’

Emily Atkinson27 June 2022 02:00

1656288000Turkey to attend Nato talks with Finland and Sweden

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will attend a round of talks with the leaders of Sweden and Finland, as well as Nato on Tuesday ahead of the summit in Madrid, an Ankara spokesman has said.

Speaking to broadcaster Haberturk, presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said Erdogan and delegate foreign minister Sedat Onal would also attend another round of talks with Swedish and Finnish delegations in Brussels on Monday.

“There will be a four-way summit at the leader level with the attendance of our president in Madrid upon the request of the Nato secretary general,” he said.

Kalin said Erdogan attending the talks with Sweden, Finland and Nato on Tuesday “does not mean we will take a step back from our position.”

Emily Atkinson27 June 2022 01:00

1656284408UK will give £10m to rebuild Ukrainian railways to help export trapped grain out by train

Boris Johnson’s government will pledge £10million to help rebuild Ukraine’s railways in a bid to use trains to export cereal trapped by Vladimir Putin’s blockade in the Black Sea.

The prime minister is set to call on fellow leaders to take urgent action to get essential food supplies out of Ukraine at the G7 Summit in Germany on Monday.

Mr Johnson said the United Nations’ plan to get the grain out of Ukraine is a “non-starter” because Russia will continue to use food supply as a bargaining chip to ease sanctions.

Adam Forrest has the story:

Emily Atkinson27 June 2022 00:00

1656281716Putin cannot ‘get away’ with conquering parts of Ukraine, says Johnson

Boris Johnson said he thinks the US is “still the last, best hope of peace and freedom”.

Speaking to CNN at the G7 summit in Germany, he said Russian president Vladimir Putin must not be allowed to “get away” with conquering parts of Ukraine.

Asked how so-called Ukraine fatigue can be combated in the West, and whether he worries higher energy prices might cause people in the US and UK to decide it is not worth the fight, he said: “I would just say to people in the United States that this is something that America historically does and has to do, and that is to step up for peace and freedom and democracy.

“If we let Putin get away with it, and just annex, conquer, sizeable parts of a free, independent, sovereign country, which is what he is poised to do, if not the whole thing, then the consequences for the world are absolutely catastrophic.”

He said the US came in twice in the last century “as the arsenal of democracy” and President Joe Biden’s current investment in helping Ukraine is “a price worth paying”.

“All I’m saying to people is sometimes America is asked by the world to step up. And getting back to your first question, I think America is still the last, best hope of peace and freedom,” he said.

Emily Atkinson26 June 2022 23:15

1656278116

Boris Johnson and Justin Trudeau mock Putin’s ‘bare-chested horse rides’

Emily Atkinson26 June 2022 22:15

1656274525 Russian airstrikes hit Kyiv killing one in ‘symbolic’ attack as G7 summit begins

Russian missiles have struck a residential building in Kyiv in the first such attack on the Ukraine capital in the three weeks,

One person was killed and five more injured as a result of the early morning attack on Sunday, dubbed ‘symbolic’ by the city mayor as it coincided with the opening of the G7 summit.

Emergency services were seen battling flames in a badly damaged nine-storey residential building, as well as rescuing civilians from the rubble.

Emily Atkinson26 June 2022 21:15

1656272725Putin to make first foreign trip since launching Ukraine war

Russia’s president will visit two small former Soviet states in central Asia this week, according to reports, in what would be the first known trip abroad since ordering the invasion of Ukraine.

Putin has said the ratcheting up of western sanctions against Russia are a reason to build stronger trade ties with other powers such as China, India and Iran.

Pavel Zarubin, the Kremlin correspondent of the Rossiya 1 state television station, said Putin would visit Tajikistan and Turkmenistan and then meet Indonesian president Joko Widodo for talks in Moscow.

In Dushanbe, Putin will meet Tajik president Imomali Rakhmon, a close Russian ally and the longest-serving ruler of a former Soviet state. In Ashgabat, he will attend a summit of Caspian nations including the leaders of Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Iran and Turkmenistan, Zarubin said.

Emily Atkinson26 June 2022 20:45

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