Key events
If you missed it earlier, overnight it has emerged in court documents that Jack Teixeira, the US air national guard member charged with being behind the so-called Pentagon leaks of highly classified military documents, was warned repeatedly over his mishandling of classified material.
Teixeira is accused of sharing highly classified documents about top national security issues in a chatroom on Discord, a social media platform that started as a hangout for gamers. He has not yet entered a plea.
The leaked documents appear to detail US and Nato aid to Ukraine and US intelligence assessments regarding allies that could strain ties with those nations. Some show real-time details from February and March of Ukraine’s and Russia’s battlefield positions and precise numbers of battlefield gear flowing into Ukraine from its allies.
Read more here: Pentagon leaks suspect was warned off viewing classified material – prosecutors
Train derailment in Crimea caused by ‘interference by outsiders’
Rail traffic has been suspended between Simferopol, capital of the Crimean peninsula, and the city of Sevastopol, after a freight train carrying grain derailed, the region’s Russian-installed leader said on Thursday.
The derailment was caused by “interference by outsiders”, Crimean railways confirmed in a statement.
Governor Sergei Aksyonov said that wagons loaded with grain had derailed and no one was injured. Images that purport to be from the scene show cargo wagons derailed.
Earlier, Reuters reports, the Baza Telegram channel, which has links to Russian security services, had reported an explosion on a railway line.
Crimea was unilaterally annexed by Russia in 2014.
Crimea’s Russian-installed governor Sergei Aksyonov has posted to Telegram to state that “wagons with grain derailed” in the Simeferopol region. He did not give a cause. It has led to train services being halted.
Tass reports that the train service between Simferopol and Sevastopol in Crimea has been suspended.
Reuters reports that earlier the Baza Telegram channel, which has links to Russian security services, had reported an explosion on a railway line in the region.
The claims have not been independently verified. The Russian Federation unilaterally annexed Crimea in 2014.
The FT today has a piece by Felicia Schwartz in Washington and Henry Foy in Tokyo casting forward to later in the year, and raising the spectre that European allies worry about the longevity of US support for Ukraine. They write:
Washington has been Ukraine’s dominant source of weaponry and US officials say sufficient preapproved funds remain to sustain Kyiv for about five more months, covering a crucial counter-offensive planned for the coming weeks.
But European allies are increasingly uncertain about whether the US will come close to matching its existing $48bn package, adopted in 2022, particularly as it requires a vote in Congress this autumn against the backdrop of more partisan debate on the war.
With polling showing US support for Ukraine waning, some European allies say the Biden administration is under pressure to show that tens of billions of dollars in assistance have made a significant impact on the battlefield.
Some of the officials pointed to the UN general assembly and G20 leaders’ summit taking place consecutively in early September as two crucial diplomatic events where both sides would come under large pressure to come to the table.
“If we get to September and Ukraine has not made significant gains, then the international pressure on [the west] to bring them to negotiations will be enormous,” said one of the officials on condition of anonymity. “The same is true for Russia if the counter-offensive leaves them routed.”
Yesterday Russia’s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, posited that the war might come to an end with the US abandoning its allies, citing the US withdrawal from Afghanistan and the abandonment of the authorities “on whom they had relied throughout the 20-year occupation of that country”.
Lavrov said: “Many political analysts have been writing about this. They predict that this entire crisis will continue for as long as the Americans need it to. These people [the government in Kyiv] will remain in power for as long as the US needs them there.”
Here are some photos of the aftermath of this morning’s strikes:
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Here is more from Li’s statement, via Reuters:
“China is willing to promote the international community to form the greatest common denominator for resolving the Ukrainian crisis, and make its own efforts to stop the fighting and (establish a) ceasefire and restore peace as soon as possible,” the statement said.
Li Hui, China’s special envoy for Eurasian Affairs, visited Kyiv on Tuesday and Wednesday, where he exchanged views with Zelenskiy, the Ukrainian foreign minister and other state leaders on ways to end the Ukraine-Russia conflict through a political settlement, the foreign ministry statement said.
Li, who is a former ambassador to Russia, will also visit Poland, France, Germany and finally Russia during a multi-day trip. He is the most senior Chinese official to visit Ukraine since Russia invaded in February 2022.
During Li’s visit to Kyiv, bilateral relations were also discussed, and both sides agreed to work to maintain mutual respect and keep moving forward with mutually beneficial co-operation, China’s foreign ministry said.
Both governments agreed that a recent phone call between President Xi Jinping and Zelenskiy had pointed out the direction for the development of relations.
China and Ukraine agreed to work together, says Chinese foreign ministry
China and Ukraine agreed they should work together to continue their mutual respect and keep their mutually beneficial cooperation moving forward, the Chinese foreign ministry said in statement on Thursday.
The statement comes after China’s Special Envoy of Eurasian Affairs Li Hui met with the president of Ukraine.
“China has always played a constructive role in alleviating the humanitarian situation in Ukraine in its own way and will continue to provide assistance to Ukraine within its capacity,” the foreign ministry said.
Thursday’s attacks on Kyiv are ninth in May
It was the ninth time this month that Russian air raids have targeted the capital, a clear escalation after weeks of lull and ahead of a much-anticipated Ukrainian counteroffensive using newly supplied advanced Western weapons.
The attack was carried out by strategic bombers from the Caspian region, probably using cruise missiles, and Russia later deployed reconnaissance craft over the capital. According to preliminary information, all enemy targets were destroyed, Serhiy Popko, head of the Kyiv Military Administration said in a Telegram post.
Air raid alert over in Mykolaiv
The air raid alert for Mykolaiv has stopped, governor Vitaly Kim just announced on Telegram.
The military also reports “cruise missile” attacks in the central Vinnytsia region of Ukraine, and local media reported explosions in Khmelnytskyi, about 100 kilometres further west.
One person killed in Odesa
A person has been killed in Russian missile strikes on Odesa, the military administration spokesman Serhiy Bratchuk has said on Telegram. Two people were injured.
“Most of the enemy’s missiles were shot down over the sea by the Air Defense Forces. Unfortunately, an industrial object was hit: 1 person died, two were injured,” he wrote.
Attacks ‘unprecedented’, says Kyiv City Regional City Administration
This morning’s strikes on Kyiv are the ninth in a series of recent raids by Russia that are “unprecedented in their power, intensity and variety,” the Kyiv City Regional City Administration (KMBA) wrote a short while ago on Telegram.
Air raid alerts are still in place for Kyiv.
“This time the attack was carried out by strategic bombers Tu-95MS, Tu-160 from the Caspian region, probably by cruise missiles of the X-101/555 type. After launching the rockets, the enemy deployed its reconnaissance UAVs over the capital,” the KMBA wrote.
Ukraine’s army reported several explosions in Kyiv and other parts of the country early Thursday morning, urging people to stay in bomb shelters.
A fire broke out at a business in the city’s Darnytskyi district as a result of falling debris, and an explosion was recorded in the Desnyansky district, according to Kyiv’s mayor, Vitali Klitschko.
“The attack on the capital continues. Do not leave the shelters during the air alert!” he implored on Telegram.
Opening summary
Welcome back to our live coverage of the war in Ukraine with me, Helen Sullivan. Air raid sirens are sounding in Kyiv, where it approaching 7am, as people are urged to take shelter.
Russia launched missiles at Kyiv, with falling debris causing a fire at a business building, authorities reported.
Kyiv Mayor Vitaliy Klitschko wrote on Telegram a short while ago:
“Fire in a garage cooperative due to falling debris in Darnytskyi district. In the same area, debris fell in several places. Previously, there was also an explosion in the Desnyan district. The attack on the capital continues. Do not leave shelters during an air raid!”
We’ll bring you more news as it breaks.
Here are the other key recent developments:
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The Black Sea grain deal has been extended for two more months, in what the UN secretary general, António Guterres, hailed as “good news for the world”. It comes a day before Russia might have quit the pact over obstacles to its grain and fertiliser exports.
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Ukraine’s foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, told a top Chinese envoy at talks in Kyiv on Wednesday that Ukraine would not accept any proposals to end the war that involved losing territory or freezing the conflict, the Ukrainian foreign ministry said. Li Hui, China’s special representative for Eurasian affairs and former ambassador to Russia, visited Ukraine on 16-17 May.
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China has notified several foreign missions in Beijing not to display “politicised propaganda” on their buildings, diplomats have told Reuters, adding the request appeared aimed at Ukrainian flags flown since Russia’s invasion.
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The EU foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, has asked EU governments to add €3.5bn (US$3.85bn) to the European Peace Facility (EPF), a fund used to finance military aid for Ukraine, EU sources have said. The EPF has already allocated €4.6bn in military aid for Ukraine.
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Hungary, though, said it would block the next tranche of EU military support and any new sanctions against Russia unless Ukraine removes Hungarian bank OTP from its list of war sponsors.
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Britain can support Ukraine’s military by enabling other countries that wish to supply fighter jets and other military equipment to do so, the British defence minister has said. “What we can obviously contribute is training and support, again, within limits, because we don’t have F16 pilots,” Ben Wallace said at a press conference in Berlin with his German counterpart when asked about international plans to send jets to Ukraine.
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The Dutch foreign minister said there was no progress to report in international talks on the possible delivery of F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine. “We haven’t reached a solution yet,” Wopke Hoekstra said on Wednesday in response to questions about earlier announced talks of the Dutch with the UK, Denmark, Belgium and other partners.
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The German government is looking into mechanisms to secure war damages for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, including the possibility of using Russian assets, a government spokesperson said. The chancellor, Olaf Scholz, was among European leaders who agreed to set up a register of damages during a meeting in Reykjavik, Reuters reported.
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Belarus, one of Russia’s closest allies, has partially restored controls on their border, Belarusian foreign minister Sergei Aleinik said on Wednesday. This is the first time in 28 years there have been checks at the 770-mile border, AP reported. According to Aleinik, it is to avoid the entry of third-country nationals into Belarus, ahead of the implementation of an intergovernmental agreement on the mutual recognition of visas.
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The number of Kazakhs who believe neighbouring Russia may invade the former Soviet republic has doubled over the past six months, an opinion poll by Kazakh researchers showed on Wednesday. The central Asian country of 20 million has close ties with Moscow but has maintained neutrality in the Ukrainian conflict, refusing to recognise Russia’s annexations.
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Ukraine denied on Wednesday that a Russian hypersonic missile had destroyed a US-made Patriot missile defence system during an airstrike on Kyiv. Two US officials said a Patriot system had probably been damaged but did not appear to have been destroyed.
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The Ukrainian military spokesperson Serhiy Cherevatyi has claimed Ukrainians have made new advances in Bakhmut. Reuters quotes Cherevatyi saying: “We are successfully conducting a defensive operation, counterattacking and during this day our units have penetrated up to 500 metres in some parts of the Bakhmut front.”