Blasts reported in Ukrainian capital as well as Chernihiv and Mariupol; White House says US president ‘looks forward’ to meeting Ukraine leader in Japan
Welcome back to our live coverage of Russia’s war in Ukraine. I’m Adam Fulton and here’s a run through the latest developments.
Russia renewed air attacks on the Ukrainian capital overnight, with authorities reporting falling debris in three districts of Kyiv and a fire on the roof of a residential building.
The US has said it will back a joint international effort to train Ukrainian pilots to fly F-16 and other modern fighter jets, marking a significant boost to western support for Kyiv as it prepares a major counteroffensive. The news was welcomed by Volodymyr Zelenskiy and the UK prime minister, Rishi Sunak, whose RAF will be involved in the initiative.
Zelenskiy has addressed Arab League leaders in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, and asked them not to turn a blind eye to what is happening in Ukraine. After the visit, the Saudi foreign minister declared the country to be neutral in the conflict.
The US has halted exports of a slew of consumer goods to Russia including clothes dryers, snow plows and milking machines out of concern the goods may be repurposed to support Moscow’s war in Ukraine. The list of banned consumer goods came as the Biden administration also added 71 companies to a trade blacklist.
Ukraine said on Friday it had repelled attacks by Russian forces trying to recapture land they had lost around Bakhmut, where Kyiv says it has inflicted heavy Russian casualties. Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of the Russian Wagner mercenary group leading the assault on the devastated eastern Ukrainian city, said in a Telegram message that “heavy, bloody battles” were continuing and claimed his men were close to completing the capture of Bakhmut itself.
Russia has sanctioned former US president Barack Obama in response to the US sanctioning 300 individuals, companies and institutions. The US measures are largely targeted at energy production.
Western leaders at the Group of Seven summit in Japan have urged Russia to stop its objection to the renewal of the Black Sea grain deal and told it to halt “threatening global food supplies”.
The UK unveiled a swathe of new sanctions ahead of the G7 meeting in Hiroshima. Sunak announced a UK ban on imports of Russian diamonds and Russian-origin copper, nickel and aluminium. Sunak also has a self-declared mission to push India into showing greater support for Ukraine.
Hungary has stepped up threats to block further EU funds for weapons to aid Ukraine, marring a show of unity from western nations at the G7 summit.
Australia has imposed a new set of sanctions and an export ban on Russia. The sanctions will target 21 entities and three individuals, with entities including the major Russian oil company Rosneft, gold company Polyus PJSC, steel company Severstal PJSC and five banks.
The Russian government has put the British prosecutor of the international criminal court, Karim Khan, on a wanted list in an act of retribution after the Hague-based court issued an arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin for allegedly overseeing the abduction of Ukrainian children.
Ukrainian air defence claimed it destroyed 19 drones and missiles out of 28 launched on Friday morning. “Three Kalibr missiles launched from the Black Sea and 16 drones were shot down. Shelling continues on an almost daily basis,” a Ukrainian air force spokesperson, Yuriy Ihnat, told Ukrainian television. Maksym Kozytskyi, governor of Lviv, posted to Telegram to say five drones had been shot down overnight above his western Ukrainian region.
