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Russia-Ukraine war live news: 10 killed in strike on Donetsk apartment block; Zelenskiy dismisses ambassadors

Russia-Ukraine war live news: 10 killed in strike on Donetsk apartment block; Zelenskiy dismisses ambassadors

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At least 10 dead after Russian rockets destroy apartment building

Earlier we reported that Russian rockets destroyed a five-story apartment building in the eastern Ukraine town of Chasiv Yar.

Ukrainian emergency services initially gave a death toll of six, but later said it has risen to at least 10.

Pavlo Kyrylenko, governor of the Donetsk region, said about three dozen people could be trapped in the rubble, Reuters reported.

Rescuers have made contact with two people who are under the wreckage, he said on the Telegram messaging app.

Kyrylenko said the town of about 12,000 was hit by Uragan rockets, which are fired from truck-borne systems.

Chasiv Yar is about 20 kilometers (12 miles) southeast of Kramatorsk, a city that is expected to be a major target of Russian forces as they move westward.

Key events:

In case you missed it earlier, British forces have begun training Ukrainian soldiers in a new programme to help in their fight against Russia.

The UK defence secretary, Ben Wallace, visited the military camp in the north-west where up to 10,000 Ukrainian soldiers will arrive for specialist military training

Ben Wallace visits Ukrainian soldiers training at British military camp – video

Kate Connolly

Kate Connolly

There have been mixed reactions in Germany to the news that the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has recalled the country’s outspoken ambassador to Germany, Andriy Melnyk. Zelenskiy described the withdrawal in his video message on Saturday evening, as a “normal procedure”.

Melnyk had been stationed in Germany since 2015, almost twice the length of regular diplomatic postings. He had stoked controversy in Germany for refusing to mince his words over what he saw as reluctance on the part of the German government to arm Ukraine in its war against Russia.

Even before the war, he was an outspoken critic of the German establishment, accusing it of pandering to Russia, attacking in particular president Frank-Walter Steinmeier in 2021 for defending the now defunct Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline as one of the last bridges between Germany and Russia.

He was referred to as an “undiplomatic diplomat” after calling the chancellor, Olaf Scholz, an “offended liver sausage” after Scholz refused to travel to Kyiv after Steinmeier was uninvited over his pipeline remarks.

At the same time the 46 year old also won many plaudits for the staunch and passionate way in which he stood up for his country, becoming a regular and popular guest on TV chat shows.

But more recently Melnyk himself came under fire for praising the ultra nationalist and anti-Semite Stepan Bandera, who headed an organisation which was responsible for massacres and ethnic cleansing and collaborated with Nazi Germany. He is celebrated as a freedom fighter in western Ukraine. Critics in Germany have been quick to interpret Zelenskiy’s withdrawal of Melnyk as a reaction to the criticism.

Tributes to Melnyk have come from across Germany, including from the leading Green politician and deputy president of the Bundestag, Katrin Göring-Eckardt, who said he had earned Germans’ respect. “Andriy Melnyk has thrown his entire energy into his commitment to his country.

He is an unmistakable and tireless voice for a free Ukraine,” she said. But she added she did not share his views on Bandera. “But independently of that, I wish him all the best for him personally and for his future service and above all for his country,” she said.

Melnyk, an active Twitter user, has yet to comment on his withdrawal. However, he has been tipped for a post in the foreign ministry in Kyiv, with some reports out of Ukraine saying he may even be destined for the job of deputy foreign minister.

Pictures sent on the news wire on Sunday show the rescue operation underway after Russian rockets hit an apartment block in Chasiv Yar.

At 10 people have been killed and dozens are thought to be trapped beneath the rubble.

A rescue operation is underway after a missile strike on an apartment building in Chasiv Yar that has killed at least 10 people. Handout via REUTERS.
A rescue operation is underway after a missile strike on an apartment building in Chasiv Yar that has killed at least 10 people. Handout via REUTERS. Photograph: Donetsk Region Governor Pavlo Kyrylenko/Reuters
Emergency services search for survivors beneath the rubble in Chasiv Yar, Ukraine. Handout via REUTERS
Emergency services search for survivors beneath the rubble in Chasiv Yar, Ukraine. Handout via REUTERS Photograph: Donetsk Region Governor Pavlo Kyrylenko/Reuters

Summary

Here is a brief summary of the most recent developments:

  • Russian rockets hit the eastern Ukraine town of Chasiv Yar, destroying a five-storey apartment building and killing at least 10 people, officials said Sunday.
    Pavlo Kyrylenko, governor of the Donetsk region, said about three dozen people could be trapped in the rubble. Rescuers have made contact with two people who are under the wreckage, he said on the Telegram messaging app.
  • Russia has restricted access to the website of Germany’s Die Welt newspaper, Reuters reports.This has come at the request of prosecutors according to Roskomnadzor, the country’s communications regulator. It was not immediately clear why prosecutors asked for the restriction in respect of welt.de page.
  • Russian forces have most likely made some small territorial advances around Popasna, the latest intelligence update from the Ministry of Defence said on Sunday. It said that the Russian military continues to strike the Sloviansk area of the Donbas from around Izium to the north and near Lysychansk to the east.The update added that the E40 – which links Donetsk and Kharkiv – is likely to be an important objective for Russian forces as it advances through Donetsk Oblast.
  • French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said on Sunday that a cutoff of Russian gas shipments was currently the most likely scenario, Reuters reported. He told a business and economics conference:”Let’s prepare for a cut off Russian gas. Today it’s the most likely scenario.”
  • Zelenskiy said on Saturday night the Russian army had attacked the cities of Mykolaiv, Kharkiv, Kryvy Rih, and communities of Zaporizhzhia region, covering a broad swathe of the country.
  • The governor of the Luhansk region said Russian forces were creating “hell” in shelling the eastern region of Donetsk. Serhiy Haidai said Russian forces fired eight artillery shells, three mortar shells and launched nine rocket strikes overnight.
  • At least five people were killed on Saturday, and seven others injured, by renewed Russian shelling in Donetsk, Ukraine officials said. A missile attack in Druzkivka, northern Donetsk, tore apart a supermarket.
  • US secretary of state Antony Blinken said his country’s “commitment to the people of Ukraine is resolute” while announcing more than $360m in additional aid.
  • At least five people were killed on Saturday, and seven others injured, by renewed Russian shelling in Donetsk, Ukraine officials said. A missile attack in Druzkivka, northern Donetsk, tore apart a supermarket.

At least 10 dead after Russian rockets destroy apartment building

Earlier we reported that Russian rockets destroyed a five-story apartment building in the eastern Ukraine town of Chasiv Yar.

Ukrainian emergency services initially gave a death toll of six, but later said it has risen to at least 10.

Pavlo Kyrylenko, governor of the Donetsk region, said about three dozen people could be trapped in the rubble, Reuters reported.

Rescuers have made contact with two people who are under the wreckage, he said on the Telegram messaging app.

Kyrylenko said the town of about 12,000 was hit by Uragan rockets, which are fired from truck-borne systems.

Chasiv Yar is about 20 kilometers (12 miles) southeast of Kramatorsk, a city that is expected to be a major target of Russian forces as they move westward.

Emily Dugan

A talented 17-year-old violinist living on the frontline in south-east Ukraine has been left waiting three months for a British visa, revealing serious flaws in government promises to help unaccompanied children.

Anastasiia, who lives in the Russian occupied Zaporizhzhia region, where fighting has been intense, has faced constant shelling while waiting to join a family in Hertfordshire.

“There are so many bombs and rockets and buildings on fire now,” she said. “They are fighting every day. I can go out but it is also very dangerous.”

The Guardian is not publishing her surname as she will need to cross checkpoints to escape.

Anastasiia is one of about 1,000 unaccompanied children who applied to Britain under the Homes for Ukraine scheme and were left in limbo after the government changed its policy and said children had to travel with parents or guardians.

Russia has restricted access to the website of Germany’s Die Welt newspaper, Reuters reports.

This has come at the request of prosecutors, according to Roskomnadzor, the country’s communications regulator.

Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine it has regularly accused the west of spreading false information and has blocked or limited access to the BBC, Voice of America, Deutsche Welle and other media outlets.

It was not immediately clear why prosecutors asked for the restriction in respect of welt.de.

Roskomnadzor did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.

Here are some of the latest pictures of the impact of the war in Ukraine and beyond.

A cyclist emerges from a sandbagged tunnel next to the Dnipro River in Kyiv, Ukraine on Sunday. (AP Photo/Cara Anna)
A cyclist emerges from a sandbagged tunnel next to the Dnipro River in Kyiv, Ukraine on Sunday. Photograph: Cara Anna/AP
A school building heavily damaged by a Russian military strike in Kharkiv, Ukraine. REUTERS/Vyacheslav Madiyevskyy.
A school building heavily damaged by a Russian military strike in Kharkiv, Ukraine. Photograph: Reuters
People march during a rally against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, near the Russian embassy in Seoul, South Korea. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon).
People march during a rally against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, near the Russian embassy in Seoul, South Korea. Photograph: Ahn Young-joon/AP

The Independent is reporting that new polling suggests public support from Britons for Ukrainian refugees is waning.

The paper said that polling undertaken by YouGov in March indicated that 75% of people supported Ukrainians settling in the UK.

A further 42% thought that the amount of Ukrainians coming to the country should be in the tens of thousands.

However the latest figures have dropped to 71% now supporting resettlement in the country.

And a much larger fall, of 29%, in those who want to see tens of thousands of Ukrainians arrive in the UK.

The Guardian is committed to occasionally sharing with readers other media outlets’ coverage of the conflict in Ukraine. You can read the piece by The Independent here.

Canada will return a repaired Russian turbine to Germany that it needs for the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline, despite objections from Ukraine, as the sanctions regime came up against the energy crisis sparked by the war.

Canada’s minister of natural resources, Jonathan Wilkinson, said in a statement on Saturday the government was issuing a “time-limited and revocable permit” to exempt the return of turbines from its Russian sanctions, to support “Europe’s ability to access reliable and affordable energy as they continue to transition away from Russian oil and gas”.

Wilkinson said the export permit was issued after discussions with “our European friends and allies”, and the International Energy Agency.

Russia’s Gazprom cut capacity on the Nord Stream 1 pipeline from Russia to Europe to 40% of usual levels last month, citing the delayed return of equipment being serviced by Germany’s Siemens Energy in Canada. The Kremlin said on Friday it would increase gas supplies to Europe if the turbine were returned. The part is required for maintenance work due to start on Monday.

Russian forces raising ‘true hell’ in the Donbas, says Luhansk governor

Serhiy Haidai said this was despite assessments that Russian forces were taking an operational pause, reported AP.

After the seizure of Lysychansk, some analysts predicted Moscow’s troops would probably take some time to rearm and regroup.

Haidai said on Telegram:

We are trying to contain the Russians’ armed formations along the entire frontline.

So far, there has been no operational pause announced by the enemy. He is still attacking and shelling our lands with the same intensity as before.

Anna MacSwan

In case you missed it earlier, British forces have begun training Ukrainian soldiers in a new programme to help in their fight against Russia.

Up to 10,000 Ukrainian soldiers will arrive in the UK for specialist military training lasting several weeks. The first cohort met the defence secretary, Ben Wallace, on Thursday, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) confirmed.

Wallace described the programme as the next phase of Britain’s support to the Ukrainian army.

He said:

Using the world-class expertise of the British army we will help Ukraine to rebuild its forces and scale up its resistance as they defend their country’s sovereignty and their right to choose their own future.

Russian forces have most likely made some small territorial advances around Popasna, the latest intelligence update from the Ministry of Defence said on Sunday.

It said that the Russian military continues to strike the Sloviansk area of the Donbas from around Izium to the north and near Lysychansk to the east.

The update added that the E40 – which links Donetsk and Kharkiv – is likely to be an important objective for Russian forces as it advances through Donetsk Oblast.

(1/2) Russian artillery continues to strike the Sloviansk area of the Donbas from around Izium to the north and near Lysychansk to the east. Russian forces have likely made some further small territorial advances around Popasna.

— Ministry of Defence 🇬🇧 (@DefenceHQ) July 10, 2022

(2/2) Fires from Izium continue to focus along the axis of the E40 main road. Control of the E40, which links Donetsk to Kharkiv, is likely to be an important objective for Russia as it attempts to advance through Donetsk Oblast.

— Ministry of Defence 🇬🇧 (@DefenceHQ) July 10, 2022

French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said on Sunday that a cutoff of Russian gas shipments was currently the most likely scenario, Reuters reported.

He told a business and economics conference:

Let’s prepare for a cut off Russian gas. Today it’s the most likely scenario.

Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Saturday that he had dismissed several of Kyiv’s senior envoys abroad, including the country’s outspoken ambassador to Germany. Zelenskiy announced the sacking of Ukraine’s ambassadors to Germany, India, the Czech Republic, Norway and Hungary and said new candidates were being readied for the positions.

“This rotation is a normal part of diplomatic practice,” he said in a statement. It was not clear if the envoys would be assigned new positions. Zelenskiy has urged his diplomats to drum up international support and military aid for Ukraine as battles continue.

Russia’s main attacks appear to be focused on Luhansk and Donetsk, with Ukrainian officials earlier reporting strikes on Saturday in both. Those two provinces, parts of which were occupied by pro-Russian separatists before the conflict began in February, comprise the eastern industrial region of the Donbas.

Donetsk regional Governor Pavlo Kyrylenko said on the Telegram messaging service that a Russian missile had struck Druzhkivka, a town behind the front line, and reported shelling of other population centres. Luhansk Governor Serhiy Gaidai said on Telegram that Russian forces were “firing along the entire front line”, though a subsequent Ukrainian counter-attack had forced Moscow to halt its offensive.

Apartment block hit in Donetsk

At least six people have been killed and more than 30 are feared trapped after Russian Uragan rockets hit a five-storey apartment block in Ukraine’s Donetsk region, collapsing the building, the region’s governor said.

Governor Pavlo Kyrylenko said on Telegram that the strike took place on Saturday evening in the town of Chasiv Yar. He said six people had been confirmed killed and five wounded, and that according to information from residents, at least 34 people were likely trapped in the ruins.

Summary

Hello and welcome to our daily live coverage of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. We are now in day 137 of the war. Here is a brief summary of the most recent developments to get you started.

  • Canada has granted a sanctions exemption to allow a repaired Russian turbine to be sent back to Germany for the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline. The Canadian government said the “time-limited and revocable permit” would support “Europe’s ability to access reliable and affordable energy as they continue to transition away from Russian oil and gas”. Canada also announced it would expand sanctions against Russia’s energy sector to include industrial manufacturing.
  • Serhiy Bratchuk, a spokesperson for the Odesa regional military administration, said Russian forces were “purposefully” destroying crops in the Kherson region. He said fires occurred in the fields every day from shelling, and added: “Russian troops do not allow locals to put out fires, destroying granaries and equipment.”
  • Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelenskiy has fired his ambassadors to Germany, India, the Czech Republic, Norway and Hungary, without giving further details as to why. Zelenskiy has urged his diplomats to drum up international support and high-end weapons to slow Russia’s advance. It was not immediately clear whether the envoys would be handed new jobs.
  • Zelenskiy said on Saturday night the Russian army had attacked the cities of Mykolaiv, Kharkiv, Kryvy Rih, and communities of Zaporizhzhia region, covering a broad swathe of the country.
  • Russia is moving forces across the country and assembling them near Ukraine for future offensive operations, according to the UK ministry of defence. The latest intelligence update said a large proportion of the new infantry units were “probably” deploying with MT-LB armoured vehicles taken from long-term storage.
  • The governor of the Luhansk region said Russian forces were creating “hell” in shelling the eastern region of Donetsk. Serhiy Haidai said Russian forces fired eight artillery shells, three mortar shells and launched nine rocket strikes overnight.
  • At least five people were killed on Saturday, and seven others injured, by renewed Russian shelling in Donetsk, Ukraine officials said. A missile attack in Druzkivka, northern Donetsk, tore apart a supermarket.
  • US secretary of state Antony Blinken said his country’s “commitment to the people of Ukraine is resolute” while announcing more than $360m in additional aid.
  • The United Nations said Ukraine’s armed forces bore a large, and perhaps equal, share of the blame for an assault at a nursing home in Luhansk, where dozens of elderly and disabled patients were trapped inside without water or electricity. At least 22 of the 71 patients survived, but the exact number killed remains unknown. A few days before the attack, Ukrainian soldiers took up positions inside the nursing home, making the building a target, the UN said.
  • Kira Rudik, a Ukrainian MP with the centrist Golos party, said rockets struck central Kharkiv, injuring and hospitalising four civilians, including a child.
  • The first cohort of Ukrainian soldiers arrived in the UK to be trained in combat by British forces. The programme will train up to 10,000 Ukrainians over the coming months to give volunteer recruits with little to no military experience the skills to be effective in frontline combat.

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