US spy chief suggests Russia could use nuclear weapons if war continues to stall; Odesa comes under renewed missile attacks
Ukrainian forces have retaken villages in the Kharkiv region, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has said in his nightly address. The liberation of Cherkaski Tyshky, Ruski Tyshki, Borshchova and Slobozhanske could signal a new phase in the war, Zelenskiy said, while cautioning against expecting “certain victories”.
Belarus has said it will deploy special operations troops in three areas near its southern border with Ukraine. The Belarusian president, Alexander Lukashenko, said Moscow had agreed to help Minsk produce missiles and warned Belarus could “inflict unacceptable damage on the enemy”.
The number of civilians killed in Ukraine since the beginning of the war is “thousands higher” than official figures, the head of the UN’s human rights monitoring mission in the country said. The official UN civilian death toll in Ukraine stands at 3,381 as well as 3,680 injured.
At least 100 civilians remained in the Azovstal steelworks under heavy Russian fire in the southern Ukrainian city of Mariupol, an aide to the city’s mayor said. Ukraine’s Azov Regiment made a plea to the international community for help, saying its soldiers were trapped in “completely unsanitary conditions, with open wounds” and without necessary medication or food.
The UK prime minister, Boris Johnson, will visit Finland and Sweden on Wednesday as they consider whether to apply for Nato membership. Downing Street said they would discuss “broader security issues”.
Ukrainian officials said they found the bodies of 44 civilians in the rubble of a five-storey building that was destroyed in March in Izium, about 120km (75 miles) from Kharkiv.
US lawmakers in the House of Representatives have approved more than $40bn more aid for Ukraine. The legislation was due to go the US Senate with hopes high for its passage.
Vladimir Putin will “turn to more drastic means” to achieve his objectives in Ukraine, potentially triggering his resort to using a nuclear weapon, the US director of national intelligence has said. Avril Haines told the Senate armed services committee that the Russian president was “preparing for prolonged conflict” in Ukraine and that his strategic goals have “probably not changed”.
The UN general assembly has voted overwhelmingly for the Czech Republic to replace Russia on the top human rights body.
Ukraine has said it will suspend the flow of gas through a transit point that it says delivers almost a third of the fuel piped from Russia to Europe through Ukraine. GTSOU, which operates Ukraine’s gas system, said it would stop shipments via Sokhranivka from Wednesday, declaring “force majeure”, a clause invoked when a business is hit by something beyond its control, Reuters reported. Russia’s Gazprom said this would be “technologically impossible”.
Four Russian regional governors reportedly resigned on Tuesday as the country braces for the impact of economic sanctions. The heads of the Tomsk, Saratov, Kirov and Mari El regions announced their immediate departure from office, while the head of Ryazan region said he would not run for another term.
Ukraine has been voted through to the grand final in the Eurovision song contest. At the end of their semi-final performance, the folk-rap group Kalush Orchestra thanked viewers for supporting Ukraine amid the Russian invasion.
The number of Ukrainians who have fled their country since Russia’s invasion on 24 February is approaching six million, according to the United Nations.
