Ukraine news – live: At least 13 dead as Russian missile strikes Kremenchuk mall
Volodymyr Zelensky said it’s ‘impossible to even imagine’ how many killed
G7 leaders focus on helping Ukraine and punishing Russia
At least 13 people have died and more than 50 people were injured after a missile hit a crowded shopping centre in Ukraine.
Poltava region’s governor Dmytro Lunin gave updates to the death toll for the mall in the central Ukrainian city of Kremenchuk.
But scores of people are feared to have been killed in the missile attack that Ukraine blamed Russia for.
President Volodymyr Zelensky that more than 1,000 people were in the shopping centre at the time of the attack.
He said: “It is impossible to even imagine the number of victims.”
Footage posted on social media showed a large fire and smoke billowing into the sky as people were fleeing from the burning building.
Following the attack, Boris Johnson condemned Vladimir Putin’s “cruelty and barbarism”.
The PM added: “Once again our thoughts are with the families of innocent victims in Ukraine.
“Putin must realise that his behaviour will do nothing but strengthen the resolve of the Ukraine and every other G7 country to stand by the Ukraine for as long as it takes.”
Ukraine will take higher ground in Lysychansk after failure in Sievierodonetsk
Ukraine will defend its eastern front from higher ground in the city of Lysychansk after withdrawing from a Russian onslaught in its neighbouring city of Sievierodonetsk, Ukraine’s military spy chief said on Saturday.
Russia has been replenishing forces with reservists as part of a covert mobilisation and it is pointless to hope Moscow will simply run out of troops in this war, Kyrylo Budanov told Reuters.
The 36-year-old head of the Defence Ministry’s shadowy Main Directorate of Intelligence spoke in a rare interview in Kyiv hours before Russia claimed full control of the city of Sievierodonetsk where Ukrainian forces had been bombarded for weeks.
Mr Budanov declined to comment in any detail on Ukrainian partisan resistance efforts in occupied parts of Ukraine, but used menacing language for partisan targets.
“Those people who betrayed Ukraine and all those wretches who came here to destroy our country will be destroyed. There is no other objective,” he said.
He declined to elaborate on any plans for a counteroffensive in the occupied region of Kherson that Russia seized at the beginning of its 24 February invasion.
G7 leaders have issued a joint statement condemning the Russian strike on a shopping centre in Ukraine as the death toll from the attack mounts.
The statement said: “We, the leaders of the G7, solemnly condemn the abominable attack on a shopping mall in Kremenchuk.
“We stand united with Ukraine in mourning the innocent victims of this brutal attack.
“Indiscriminate attacks on innocent civilians constitute a war crime. Russian President Putin and those responsible will be held to account.
“Today, we underlined our unwavering support for Ukraine in the face of the Russian aggression, an unjustified war of choice that has been raging for 124 days.”
They said they would “continue to provide financial, humanitarian as well as military support for Ukraine, for as long as it takes”.
“We will not rest until Russia ends its cruel and senseless war on Ukraine.”
G7 leaders are at a summit in Germany until tomorrow to discuss their response to the war.
France demands Russia ‘answers’ for Ukraine shopping centre missile attack
Russia must answer for the deadly missile strike on a crowded Ukrainian shopping centre, France’s foreign ministry said.
At least 13 people died and 50 were wounded after two Russian missiles hit the building in the central Ukrainian city of Kremenchuk, according to the region’s governor.
Many more are feared to be dead, as there were about 1,000 people in the building when the missiles struck.
The French foreign ministry spokeswoman said: “Russia must answer for these acts. France supports the fight against impunity in Ukraine.”
Kharkiv shelling death toll rises to five
The death toll from the shelling in Kharkiv today has increased to five.
At least 22 people, including five children, have also been wounded in the city in north-east Ukraine.
Oleh Synehubov, governor of the Kharkiv region, posted on Telegram: “All of them are civilians of Kharkiv, who were walking on the streets, on playgrounds. My sincere condolences to their families.”
At least eight killed in missile attack on Lysychansk, in Luhansk - governor
At least eight civilians were killed and 21 wounded in missile attack on the city Lysychansk in the Luhansk region of eastern Ukraine.
Serhiy Gaidai, governor of the Luhansk region, said on the Telegram messaging app: “Today, when the civilian people were collecting water from a water tank, the Russians aimed at the crowd.”
Russia has denied targeting civilians since it launched its invasion of Ukraine in February.
Putin to travel away from Russia for first time during Ukraine invasion
Vladimir Putin will tomorrow be making his first public trip away from Russia since he launched the invasion of Ukraine.
He will be making the journeys to the former Soviet nations Tajikistan and Turkmenistan for friendly meetings.
Vladimir Putin
On Tuesday, Putin is to meet with authoritarian president Emomali Rahmon in Tajikistan, where Russia has about 7,000 troops in Moscow’s largest base abroad.
The Kremlin said Putin and Rahmon are to discuss measures to improve security along Tajikistan’s porous 843-mile border with Afghanistan.
On Wednesday, Putin is to be in Ashgabat, the capital of Turkmenistan, to attend a summit that also includes representatives from Azerbaijan, Iran and Kazakhstan.
Russian-backed separatists say Morocco can speak with citizen sentenced to death alongside Britons
Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine have granted Morocco permission to speak with a Moroccan citizen sentenced to death for fighting with Ukrainian forces, the state news agency RIA Novosti reported on Monday citing a top official in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) (Thomas Kingsley writes).
Moroccan national Brahim Saadoun was sentenced to death this month alongside British nationals Aiden Aslin and Shaun Pinner on charges of committing war crimes.
All three men fought in the Ukrainian army and were captured by Russian-aligned forces in April. They were accused of being “mercenaries”, a charge which carries the death penalty in the DPR, whose authority is not recognised by any UN country except Russia.
Russian-backed separatists say Morocco can speak with citizen sentenced to death
Brahim Saadoun was sentenced to death this month alongside British nationals Aiden Aslin and Shaun Pinner
EU expects ‘serious disruption’ to Russian gas supply
A “serious disruption” to the European Union’s gas supplies from Russia is likely, the bloc’s energy chief said today as she urged countries to update contingency plans to cope with supply shocks and switch to other fuels wherever possible to conserve gas.
“Since the beginning of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine we have known that a very serious disruption is possible, and now it seems likely. We have done much important work to be prepared for this. But now is the time to step it up,” EU energy commissioner Kadri Simson said after a meeting of energy ministers from EU countries.
Member states agreed today that all natural gas storage across the bloc should be topped up to at least 80 per cent capacity for next winter as they prepare for the possibility of Russia further reducing deliveries.
The European Commission is set to propose an EU plan to prepare for further gas shocks in July, as Russia has already cut or reduced supplies to 12 of the bloc’s 27 member states.
The EU is trying to slash its use of Russian energy and find other sources due to the Kremlin’s war in Ukraine. A ban on imports of Russian coal will start in August, and an embargo on most oil from Russia will be phased in over the coming eight months.
Updated: At least 10 dead as Russian missiles strike a crowded Ukraine shopping mall
Scores of people are feared dead after a crowded shopping centre in the Ukrainian city of Kremenchuk was hit in a missile strike by Russian forces (David Harding writes).
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said as many as 1,000 people were shopping at the time of the attack in the central city of Kremenchuk, a key industrial centre.
At least 10 people have been declared dead and 40 injured, though those numbers are expected to rise, as it is thought unlikely that many people will be found alive in the rubble.
Social media footage showed a huge fire and dark smoke billowing from the mall. Firefighters and soldiers were seen pulling out mangled pieces of metal as they searched for survivors.
‘An act of terror’: At least 10 dead as Russian missiles strike crowded Ukraine mall
An adviser to Ukraine’s President Zelensky says Russia hit the shopping centre ‘just because it wants to kill’
Boris Johnson condemns Putin’s ‘barbarism'
Boris Johnson condemned Vladimir Putin’s “cruelty and barbarism” after a missile strike on a shopping centre in Ukraine when more than 1,000 people were said to have been inside.
The prime minister said: “This appalling attack has shown once again the depths of cruelty and barbarism to which the Russian leader will sink.
“Once again our thoughts are with the families of innocent victims in Ukraine.
“Putin must realise that his behaviour will do nothing but strengthen the resolve of the Ukraine and every other G7 country to stand by the Ukraine for as long as it takes.”
Mr Johnson is in Bavaria on the second day of a three-day G7 summit focusing on the war in Ukraine. World leaders are discussing further measures to take against Russia for its invasion and ways to manage the global economic fallout of the war.
G7 leaders are joined at German summit by presidents of the European Commission and Council
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