Russia-Ukraine battle reside: Russia claims US liable for Ukrainian assault on Crimean peninsula

Olga Stefanishyna, the deputy prime minister for European and Euro-Atlantic integration, has stated that Ukraine is on an “irreversible” course of western integration after the EU agreed to formally begin entry negotiations this week.

“This is the utmost will of the Ukrainian people. And this is the irreversibility. And you’ve seen Ukrainians stand up for their choice,” Stefanishyna, who will head the opening of the accession talks in Luxembourg tomorrow, stated in Kyiv on Sunday.

EU member international locations agreed on Friday to begin entry talks with Ukraine and Moldova – overcoming vocal opposition from Hungary which takes over the EU’s rotating presidency from Belgium on 1 July. The method of becoming a member of varies for every nation however may take years. Turkey began its accession talks virtually twenty years in the past and continues to be ready for full membership.

Kyiv utilized for EU membership within the weeks after Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022 and it was granted candidate standing 4 months later.

The Ukrainian authorities has been implementing sweeping reforms beneficial by the EU, together with anti-corruption measures, laws for public administration and enhancements in meals security requirements.

The demise toll from Sunday’s assaults within the southern Russian area of Dagestan has risen to 19 folks, Russia’s investigative committee stated on Monday.

Gunmen opened hearth in two cities in Russia’s north Caucasus area of Dagestan, concentrating on a synagogue, two Orthodox church buildings and a police put up, based on Russian media.

Within the metropolis of Derbent, gunmen attacked a synagogue, residence to a Jewish group within the predominantly Muslim area. Russia’s state media Tass stated the attackers additionally shot at two close by Orthodox church buildings, killing a police officer and a priest.

In a separate taking pictures which occurred concurrently, a gaggle opened hearth on police in Makhachkala, the capital of Dagestan, situated about 75 miles north alongside the Caspian Beach. Based on native authorities, at the very least one police officer was killed. You may learn the total report by my colleague, Pjotr Sauer, right here.

Ukraine will get the primary tranche of navy assist from frozen Russian property subsequent week, EU overseas coverage chief says

Jennifer Rankin

Jennifer Rankin is the Guardian’s Brussels correspondent

Ukraine will get the primary tranche of navy assist from frozen Russian property subsequent week, after officers devised a workaround to keep away from a Hungarian veto, based on the EU’s high diplomat.

Josep Borrell, the EU’s excessive consultant for overseas and safety coverage, stated Ukraine would get the primary tranche of cash from revenues from Russia’s frozen property subsequent week, following “a legal procedure to avoid any kind of blockage”.

The EU agreed in Might to grab an estimated €4.4bn curiosity on €191 bn Russian property immobilised by western sanctions which were frozen contained in the union, at Belgium’s Euroclear. The cash will fund weapons and assist for Ukraine, unfold over a number of funds.

The authorized process to keep away from a Hungarian veto may assist unlock a G7 plan to lend Ukraine $50bn primarily based on the frozen property.

Talking to reporters forward of a gathering of EU overseas ministers this morning, Borrell stated the cash would come subsequent week.

He stated:

I can not have this cash in my pocket. This cash is for navy help for Ukraine and the choice must be taken instantly avoiding any form of blockage.

We’ve got these revenues coming from the frozen property and we’ve got to search for a approach with the intention to use them, avoiding any form of blockage.

We’ve got a course of with the intention to make this work shortly. The primary tranche of cash will come subsequent week, in July. The second will come some months later. Ukraine wants extra assist and wishes extra assist now earlier than the summer time.

Hungary’s Kremlin-friendly authorities is obstructing six selections to help Ukraine and officers need to keep away from the plans for the frozen property being caught in the identical veto.

As we talked about within the opening abstract, a Russian assault on Ukraine’s southern metropolis of Odesa is reported to have struck civilian infrastructure. Regional governor, Oleh Kiper, has now stated the assault injured at the very least three folks on Monday morning.

A 19-year-old boy and two middle-aged males had been taken to hospital, he wrote on Telegram.

The air pressure had warned the town’s residents of the specter of incoming missiles earlier than the explosions sounded, Reuters reported.

Odesa, one in every of Ukraine’s greatest ports, has lengthy been a goal of Russian assaults, particularly after Moscow stop a UN-brokered deal final yr that had allowed protected passage for Ukrainian grain shipments through the Black Sea.

Howdy and welcome to the Guardian’s reside protection of the battle in Ukraine. The time has simply gone previous 10:35am in Kyiv.

Russia claimed on Sunday that the US was liable for a Ukrainian assault on the Russian-annexed Crimean peninsula through which 5 US-supplied missiles that killed 4 folks, together with two kids, and injured 151 extra. These figures haven’t been independently verified by the Guardian.

The defence ministry in Moscow stated US specialists had set the Atacms missiles’ flight coordinates on the premise of data from US spy satellites, which means Washington was immediately accountable.

The ministry stated:

Duty for the deliberate missile assault on the civilians of Sevastopol is borne above all by Washington, which provided these weapons to Ukraine, and by the Kyiv regime, from whose territory this strike was carried out.

The US started supplying Ukraine with longer vary Atacms missiles, which have a 300-kilometre (186-mile) vary, earlier this yr.

Listed below are among the different principal developments:

• A Russian assault on Ukraine’s southern metropolis of Odesa on Monday struck civilian infrastructure and triggered casualties, the area’s governor stated. Ukraine’s inside ministry printed pictures of an enormous cloud of smoke rising from the positioning the place emergency providers had been working to place out a fireplace.

• Vladimir Putin thanked North Korean chief Kim Jong-un for his hospitality throughout the go to to Pyongyang final week which Putin stated introduced bilateral ties to an unprecedented degree, the Kremlin stated.

• Senior officers of South Korea, the US and Japan condemned “in the strongest possible terms” deepening navy cooperation between North Korea and Russia, saying Putin’s current go to to Pyongyang triggered grave concern, a joint assertion launched by Seoul’s overseas ministry stated on Monday.

• A high North Korean navy official criticised the US over its increasing navy help to Ukraine, based on state media, KCNA. Pak Jong Chon reportedly stated Russia has the “right to opt for any kind of retaliatory strike”, including if Washington stored pushing Ukraine to a “proxy war” in opposition to Russia, it may provoke a stronger response from Moscow, and a “new world war”. He referred to feedback by the Pentagon final week that Ukrainian forces can use US provided weapons to strike Russian forces wherever throughout the border into Russia.

• One individual was killed and three injured in Russia’s Belgorod area, bordering Ukraine, when three Ukrainian drones attacked the town of Grayvoron, regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov stated. Air defences in a single day shot down 33 Ukrainian drones over Russia’s western Bryansk, Smolensk, Lipetsk and Tula areas, the Russian defence ministry stated Sunday.

• A brand new assault on Kharkiv killed at the very least one individual and injured 11 others on Sunday, based on native officers. Mayor Ihor Terekhov stated the town was attacked by a guided bomb and that round half of Kharkiv was with out electrical energy due to the strike.

• Ukrainians are having to deal with widespread emergency blackouts as Russia continues to pound important infrastructure.