Governor of Donetsk urges 350,000 civilians to evacuate – as it happened | Ukraine
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Governor of Donetsk urges 350,000 civilians to evacuate
A day after Russian president Vladimir Putin declared victory in seizing an eastern Ukraine province essential to his wartime aims, his troops escalated their offensive in the neighboring province Tuesday, prompting the governor to urge more than a quarter-million residents to evacuate.
Associated Press reports:
Gov. Pavlo Kyrylenko said that getting the 350,000 people remaining in Donetsk province out is necessary to save lives and to enable the Ukrainian army to better defend towns from the Russian advance.
“The destiny of the whole country will be decided by the Donetsk region,” Gov. Pavlo Kyrylenko told reporters in Kramatrosk, the province’s administrative center and home to the Ukrainian military’s regional headquarters.
“Once there are less people, we will be able to concentrate more on our enemy and perform our main tasks” Kyrylenko said.
Another Donetsk city in the path of Moscow’s offensive came under sustained bombardment Tuesday.
Mayor Vadim Lyakh said on Facebook that “massive shelling” pummeled Sloviansk, which had a population of about 107,000 before Russian invaded Ukraine more than four months ago. The mayor, who urged residents hours earlier to evacuate, advised them to take cover in shelters.
At least one person was killed and another seven wounded Tuesday, Lyakh said. He said the city’s central market and several districts came under attack, adding that authorities were assessing the extent of the damage.
Key events:
Summary
Thank you for joining us for today’s live coverage of the war in Ukraine.
We will be pausing our live reporting overnight and returning in the morning.
In the meantime, you can read our comprehensive summary of the day’s events below.
- The governor of Donetsk has urged 350,000 civilians to evacuate as Russian troops escalate their offensive in the region. “The destiny of the whole country will be decided by the Donetsk region,” Pavlo Kyrylenko told reporters. “Once there are less people, we will be able to concentrate more on our enemy and perform our main tasks.”
- Ukrainian forces have taken up new defensive lines in Donetsk, where they still control major cities, and plan to launch counter-offensives in the south of the country. The Luhansk governor, Serhiy Haidai, said the weeks-long battle for Lysychansk had drawn in Russian troops that could have been fighting on other fronts, and had given Ukraine’s forces time to build fortifications in the Donetsk region to make it “harder for the Russians there”.
- Ukraine has asked Turkey to investigate three additional Russian ships that it alleges transported stolen grain. A 13 June letter seen by Reuters revealed that the Ukrainian prosecutor general’s office asked Turkey’s ministry of justice to investigate and provide evidence on three ships that it believes to have allegedly transported stolen grain from occupied Ukrainian territories such as Kherson.
- The head of the Russian-imposed administration of the occupied Zaporizhzhia region of Ukraine, Yevgeny Balitsky, has said the region plans to sell Ukraine’s grain to the Middle East. The main countries involved in the deal were Iraq, Iran and Saudi Arabia. Ukraine has repeatedly accused Russia of stealing grain, a charge that Moscow has denied.
- Russia is planning to launch a railway link between Rostov region and the areas of Donetsk and Luhansk it occupies in eastern Ukraine, Russian state media reports. Building transport links has also been a priority for the Russian occupiers between Crimea, which it annexed in 2014, and the areas of Kherson which it occupies.
- The 30 Nato member countries have signed accession protocols for Finland and Sweden, sending the membership bids of the two Nordic countries to allied parliaments for approval. Nato’s secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, urged allies to swiftly ratify and assured the two countries of the alliance’s support in the meantime. Canada became the first country to formally ratify Finland and Sweden’s accession.
- The UN has documented 270 cases of “arbitrary detention and enforced disappearance” of civilians in parts of Ukraine held by Russian and Russian-backed forces, according to the UN’s human rights chief, Michelle Bachelet. In a speech at the same session at the UN’s human rights council, Ukraine’s deputy foreign minister, Emine Dzhaparova accused Russia of kidnappings on a “massive” scale.
- Latvia will reinstate compulsory military service, its defence minister, Artis Pabriks, announced on Tuesday following growing tension with neighbouring Russia amid Moscow’s war in Ukraine.
Latvia to reinstate compulsory military service
Latvian Defence Minister, Artis Pabriks, said the Baltic state will reinstate compulsory military service following growing tension with neighbouring Russia amid Moscow’s war in Ukraine.
“The current military system of Latvia has reached its limit. Meanwhile we have no reason to think that Russia will change its behaviour,” Pabriks told reporters on Tuesday.
Pabriks said the mandatory military service will apply to men and enter into effect next year, with several options available for fulfilling the requirement.
Pabriks also announced plans to build another military base near the southeastern city of Jekabpils, located closer to the Russian border than the existing Adazi base.
Canada has become the first country to formally ratify Finland and Sweden’s accession to Nato in an accelerated process completed shortly after member nations signed off on the alliance’s expansion on Tuesday.
The accession protocol needs to be ratified by the parliaments of all 30 members before Finland and Sweden can be protected by the Nato defence clause – that an attack on one member is an attack against all.
Before using an administrative process to ratify their membership on Tuesday, Foreign Minister Melanie Joly spoke to opposition lawmakers to make sure they were in agreement, the minister’s spokesman said.
“We wanted to be the first country to ratify,” Joly’s spokesman said.
The signing of the protocol still allows Helsinki and Stockholm to participate in Nato meetings and have greater access to intelligence until ratification.
“Canada has full confidence in Finland and Sweden’s ability to integrate quickly and effectively into Nato and contribute to the alliance’s collective defence,” Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in statement.
Food and energy security will figure prominently in a meeting of G20 foreign ministers in Bali this week.
Ramin Toloui, the US assistant secretary of state for economic and business affairs, told reporters that Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, would raise energy security in the main G20 ministers’ session on Friday and in bilateral meetings.
The group’s members should also insist that Russia support UN efforts to reopen sea lanes blocked by Moscow’s war in Ukraine, the senior US official added.
“G20 countries should hold Russia accountable and insist that it support ongoing UN efforts to reopen the sea lanes for grain delivery,” Toloui said.
Summary
It’s 1am in Kyiv. Here’s where things stand:
- Ukraine has asked Turkey to investigate three additional Russian ships that it alleges transported stolen grain, Reuters reports. A June 13 letter seen by Reuters revealed that the Ukrainian prosecutor general’s office asked Turkey’s ministry of justice to investigate and provide evidence on three ships that it believes to have allegedly transported stolen grain from occupied Ukrainian territories such as Kherson.
- Teachers from Russia have arrived to the Polohy district of Zaporizhizhia region that is occupied by Russia. According to Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense, children will go to kindergartens and schools to study under a Russian curriculum.
- Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy has demanded an explanation from General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces regarding conscripts’ travel restrictions. “I ask the General Staff not to make similar decisions without me in the future,” he said. Only July 5, the General Staff said that individuals subject to military service, conscripts, and reservists would have to obtain permission from the local military registration and enlistment office in order to leave their place of residence.
- The UN rights chief has condemned Russia’s “senseless war” in Ukraine on Tuesday while demanding an end to a “unbearable” civilian suffering as a result of the Russian invasion. “As we enter the fifth month of hostilities, the unbearable toll of the conflict in Ukraine continues to mount,” Michelle Bachelet, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights said in her final appearance before the UN Human Rights Council.
- A day after Russian president Vladimir Putin declared victory in seizing an eastern Ukraine province essential to his wartime aims, his troops escalated their offensive in the neighboring province Tuesday, prompting the governor to urge more than a quarter-million residents to evacuate. Gov. Pavlo Kyrylenko said that getting the 350,000 people remaining in Donetsk province out is necessary to save lives and to enable the Ukrainian army to better defend towns from the Russian advance.
That’s it from me, Maya Yang, as I hand the blog over to my colleagues in Australia who will bring you the latest updates. I’ll be back tomorrow, thank you.
Ukraine has asked Turkey to investigate three additional Russian ships that it alleges transported stolen grain, Reuters reports.
According to official documents reviewed by Reuters, Ukraine asked Turkey to assist in investigating three Russian-flagged ships as part of Ukraine’s ongoing efforts to investigate what it alleges to be grain theft from Russian-occupied territory.
A June 13 letter seen by Reuters revealed that the Ukrainian prosecutor general’s office asked Turkey’s ministry of justice to investigate and provide evidence on three ships that it believes to have allegedly transported stolen grain from occupied Ukrainian territories such as Kherson.
According to the leter, the ship travelled from the primary grain terminal in Crimea in April and May, which Russia annexed in 2014. the letter urged Turkey to obtain documentation surrounding their cargo and arrival in Turkish ports.
Teachers from Russia have arrived to the Polohy district of Zaporizhizhia region that is occupied by Russia.
According to Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense, children will go to kindergartens and schools to study under a Russian curriculum.
“In case of parental disagreement, the occupation administration threatens to remove children from their families and send them to boarding schools. The parents themselves are promised to be punished by administrative measures – men will be sent to the “army of the DPR [Donetsk People’s Republic]”, women will be sent to communal work related to cleaning the city,” the defense ministry reports.
Satellite images have revealed that a large part of the Russian land force has been redeployed from the Alakurtti military base in Russia near the Finnish border, Euromaidan reports.
Satellite images reveal that a large part of the Russian land force has been redeployed from the Alakurtti military base near the Finnish border.
More than 100 vehicles have been taken away, most likely to Ukraine, despite NATO’s expansion to Finland https://t.co/pW7bRGCSRI
— Euromaidan Press (@EuromaidanPress) July 5, 2022
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy has demanded an explanation from General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces regarding conscripts’ travel restrictions, the Kyiv Independent reports.
“I ask the General Staff not to make similar decisions without me in the future,” he said.
Only July 5, the General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces said that individuals subject to military service, conscripts, and reservists would have to obtain permission from the local military registration and enlistment office in order to leave their place of residence.
The General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces said on July 5 that people subject to military service, conscripts, and reservists would have to obtain permission from the local military registration and enlistment office in order to leave their place of residence.
— The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) July 5, 2022
The UN rights chief has condemned Russia’s “senseless war” in Ukraine on Tuesday while demanding an end to a “unbearable” civilian suffering as a result of the Russian invasion.
“As we enter the fifth month of hostilities, the unbearable toll of the conflict in Ukraine continues to mount,” Michelle Bachelet, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights said in her final appearance before the UN Human Rights Council.
“In the name of every victim of this senseless war, the killings, the torture, the arbitrary detentions must stop.”
Bachelet presented a report on Ukraine’s human rights situation since the Russian invasion of Ukraine. in the context of Russia’s attack, from the February 24 invasion to May 15.
“The high numbers of civilian casualties and the extent of destruction caused to civilian infrastructure continue to raise significant concerns that attacks conducted by Russian armed forces are not complying with international humanitarian law,” Bachelet said.
“While on a much lower scale, it also appears likely that Ukrainian armed forces did not fully comply with IHL in eastern parts of the country.”
Governor of Donetsk urges 350,000 civilians to evacuate
A day after Russian president Vladimir Putin declared victory in seizing an eastern Ukraine province essential to his wartime aims, his troops escalated their offensive in the neighboring province Tuesday, prompting the governor to urge more than a quarter-million residents to evacuate.
Associated Press reports:
Gov. Pavlo Kyrylenko said that getting the 350,000 people remaining in Donetsk province out is necessary to save lives and to enable the Ukrainian army to better defend towns from the Russian advance.
“The destiny of the whole country will be decided by the Donetsk region,” Gov. Pavlo Kyrylenko told reporters in Kramatrosk, the province’s administrative center and home to the Ukrainian military’s regional headquarters.
“Once there are less people, we will be able to concentrate more on our enemy and perform our main tasks” Kyrylenko said.
Another Donetsk city in the path of Moscow’s offensive came under sustained bombardment Tuesday.
Mayor Vadim Lyakh said on Facebook that “massive shelling” pummeled Sloviansk, which had a population of about 107,000 before Russian invaded Ukraine more than four months ago. The mayor, who urged residents hours earlier to evacuate, advised them to take cover in shelters.
At least one person was killed and another seven wounded Tuesday, Lyakh said. He said the city’s central market and several districts came under attack, adding that authorities were assessing the extent of the damage.
Summary
It’s 9pm in Kyiv. Here’s where we stand:
- At least two people were killed and seven injured after Russian forces struck a market and a residential area in the eastern Ukrainian city of Sloviansk, local authorities said. The mayor of Sloviansk called on its remaining residents to evacuate as the Russian invaders stepped up their shelling of the frontline Ukrainian city. Ukraine said on Monday it had retreated from Lysychansk, prompting speculation that Russia would now focus on Sloviansk and Kramatorsk to the south, the two main cities in Donetsk held by Kyiv.
- Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, has declared victory in the eastern Ukrainian region of Luhansk. On Monday, Russia’s defence minister, Sergei Shoigu, told Putin that “the operation” in Luhansk was complete. Putin said the military units “that took part in active hostilities and achieved success, victory” in Luhansk “should rest, increase their combat capabilities”.
- Ukrainian forces have taken up new defensive lines in Donetsk, where they still control major cities, and plan to launch counter-offensives in the south of the country. The Luhansk governor, Serhiy Haidai, said the weeks-long battle for Lysychansk had drawn in Russian troops that could have been fighting on other fronts, and had given Ukraine’s forces time to build fortifications in the Donetsk region to make it “harder for the Russians there”.
- Ukrainian forces are set to raise the country’s flag on Snake Island, a strategic and symbolic outpost in the Black Sea that Russian troops retreated from last week after months of heavy bombardment. Ukraine has considered control of the island as a critical step in loosening Moscow’s blockade on its southern ports.
- Ukrainian forces will be able to fall back to a more readily defendable, straightened front line following Russia’s capture of Lysychansk and control of Ukraine’s eastern Luhansk region, according to British intelligence. Russia’s “relatively rapid capture” of Lysychansk has allowed its forces to extend its control across virtually all of the territory of Luhansk, according to the UK Ministry of Defence.
- Only 3% of Mariupol residents have access to water, according to the Russian-occupied southern Ukrainian city’s mayoral adviser, Petro Andriushchenko. There are no doctors left in the city, he said, leaving more than 100,000 people without healthcare and medication.
- Russia is planning to launch a railway link between Rostov region and the areas of Donetsk and Luhansk it occupies in eastern, Russian state media reported. Building transport links has also been a priority for the Russian occupiers between Crimea, which it annexed in 2014, and the areas of Kherson which it occupies.
- The 30 Nato member countries have signed accession protocols for Finland and Sweden, sending the membership bids of the two Nordic countries to allied parliaments for approval. Nato’s secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, urged allies to swiftly ratify and assured the two countries of the alliance’s support in the meantime.
- The UN has documented 270 cases of “arbitrary detention and enforced disappearance” of civilians in parts of Ukraine held by Russian and Russian-backed forces, according to the UN’s human rights chief, Michelle Bachelet. In a speech at the same session at the UN’s human rights council, Ukraine’s deputy foreign minister, Emine Dzhaparova accused Russia of kidnappings on a “massive” scale.
Britain has added two Russian individuals to its sanctions list – Denis Gafner and Valeriya Kalabayeva.
The sanctions list has been updated to add Gafner and Kalabayeva, both of whom the UK government said were involved in spreading disinformation and promoting Russian actions in Ukraine.
The UN has documented 270 cases of “arbitrary detention and enforced disappearance” of civilians in parts of Ukraine held by Russian and Russian-backed forces, according to the UN’s human rights chief, Michelle Bachelet.
The findings were based on information gained from field visits and interviews conducted with more than 500 victims and witnesses of human rights violations, as well as other sources of data, Bachelet told the UN’s human rights council in an update on the situation in Ukraine.
In a speech at the same session, Ukraine’s deputy foreign minister, Emine Dzhaparova accused Russia of kidnappings on a “massive” scale.
Russia has denied deliberately attacking civilians since the start of the war.
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