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       Zelensky shuts down anchor’s suggestion that Trump would have stopped Russian invasion

       Russia has called flight bans that prevented its foreign minister from heading to Serbia “hostile action”.

       A Kremlin spokesperson said such actions could cause problems with the timetabling of high-level diplomatic meetings after Sergei Lavrov was forced to call off his visit.

       The foreign minister said: “If a visit by the Russian foreign minister to Serbia is seen in the West as something approaching a threat on a universal scale, then things in the West are clearly pretty bad.”

       He said that he would instead invite his Serbian counterpart to visit him in Moscow, adding: “The main thing is no one will be able to destroy our relations with Serbia”.

       Meanwhile, the UK is stepping up its delivery of arms to Ukraine with long-range rocket launchers to boost the fightback in the eastern Donbas region.

       On the ground, Kyiv has been hit by its first missiles in a month and intense fighting continues in Sievierodonetsk, the main battlefield in the east.

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       Show latest update 1654517893 Situation in Sievierodonetsk ‘worsening’ for Ukraine, governor warns

       The situation in the key eastern city of Sievierodonetsk “has worsened” for Ukraine, the regional governor has warned – with Moscow having amassed “an enormous amount of equipment and personnel”.

       Serhiy Haidai said that fierce fighting was continuing in the city of Sievierodonetsk – the epicenter of the Russian offensive – and described the situation as “quite dynamic”.

       “Our defenders managed to conduct counteroffensive and free nearly half of the city, but the situation has worsened again now,” Mr Haidai told the Associated Press. “Our guys are defending the positions in the industrial zone on the outskirts of the city.”

       “The shelling of Sievierodonetsk has intensified, [the Russians] are destroying everything in line with their scorched earth tactics,” he alleged.

       Haidai said that the Russians have also continued the intensive bombardment of nearby Lysychansk, warning that Moscow “have an enormous amount of equipment and personnel, they have pulled up a lot of reserves”.

       He claimed Russia had shelled a humanitarian center in Lysychansk and destroyed a bakery, and that 98 people had left the town over the past 24 hours.

       While a key highway between Bakhmut and Lysychansk has been under constant shelling, it remains in Ukrainian hands, Mr Haidai said.

       Andy Gregory 6 June 2022 13:18

       1654516817 Long-range weapon deliveries will see Russia push Ukrainian forces further from its borders, Lavrov claims

       Moscow has said it will respond to Western deliveries of long-range weapons to Ukraine by pushing Kyiv’s forces further from Russia’s border.

       “The longer the range of the systems that will be delivered, the further we will move back the Nazis from that line from which threats to Russian-speakers and the Russian Federation may come,” foreign minister Sergei Lavrov told reporters.

       Since the start of its invasion, Russia has said it aims to clear Ukraine of Nazis, a line rejected by Kyiv and the West as baseless war propaganda.

       Andy Gregory 6 June 2022 13:00

       1654515247 UK ‘unwavering’ in support for Ukraine, Boris Johnson says

       With a vote of confidence in his leadership just hours away, Boris Johnson has shared a picture of himself on the phone to Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky.

       The third social media post shared from the prime minister’s account since the confidence vote was announced said that Mr Zelensky had “just updated me on the ongoing battle against Russian aggression in the Donbas”.

       It added: “It's clear the Ukrainian people will not bow to Russian brutality. We're unwavering in our mission of ensuring Ukraine is defended and supported for the long-term.”

       Andy Gregory 6 June 2022 12:34

       1654513061 Russia calls Lavrov flight bans ‘hostile action'

       The Kremlin has said airspace closures by three eastern European countries which prevented its foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, from travelling to Serbia were a “hostile action.”

       Countries surrounding Serbia - Bulgaria, North Macedonia and Montenegro - closed their airspace to an official plane that would have carried Moscow’s top diplomat to Belgrade on Monday.

       Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters such actions could cause problems with the timetabling of high-level diplomatic meetings. But they would not prevent Moscow from maintaining contacts with friendly countries, he said.

       Russia’s foreign minister was forced to cancel a trip to Serbia due to flight bans

       (POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

       Reuters

       Zoe Tidman 6 June 2022 11:57

       1654512462 Full story: Zelensky trip to frontline

       Volodymyr Zelensky made a daring trip to the frontline on Sunday as the battle for eastern Ukraine continued to rage, Rory Sullivan reports.

       The Ukrainian president met soldiers in Lysychansk and Soledar, cities located close to Sievierodonetsk, the main focus of Russia’s assault in the Donbas, an area which comprises the provinces of Luhansk and Donetsk.

       More here:

       Zoe Tidman 6 June 2022 11:47

       1654511442 ‘We cannot trust Putin,’ Ukrainian minister says

       Ukraine’s minister of foreign affairs has warned against trusting Vladimir Putin’s promise on Odesa:

       Zoe Tidman 6 June 2022 11:30

       1654510354 Nuclear watchdog wants to send experts to Ukraine plant

       The UN nuclear watchdog is “developing the modalities” for an international mission of experts it hopes to send to the Russian-held nuclear power plant at Zaporizhzhia in Ukraine.

       The plant was attacked in the first weeks of the war. Tom Batchelor reported at the time:

       Everything we know about the nuclear power plant seized by Russia Russian shelling causes damage but safety of compound not affected, officials insist

       Zoe Tidman 6 June 2022 11:12

       1654509310 Concerns over war’s impact on marine ecosystem

       Scientists studying the Black Sea claim “several thousand” dolphins have died in the region amid the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine, Vishwam Sankaran reports.

       Russia’s war on Ukraine has already killed several thousand dolphins, scientists say Turkish marine research foundation has also raised alarm about war’s effects on marine ecosystems

       Zoe Tidman 6 June 2022 10:55

       1654508382 Why did Russia invade Ukraine?

       The war in Ukraine has now been going on for longer than 100 days.

       Thomas Kingsley and Joe Sommerlad take a look at why and how it started:

       Why did Russia invade Ukraine? Russia-Ukraine war explained

       Zoe Tidman 6 June 2022 10:39

       1654507422 Russia should keep US embassy open, ambassador says

       Russia should not close the US embassy despite the crisis triggered by the war in Ukraine, the US ambassador to Moscow was quoted as saying on Monday.

       “We must preserve the ability to speak to each other,” John Sullivan told Russia’s state news agency TASS in an interview.

       US ambassador to Russia, John Sullivan, was interviewed by Russia’s state news agency

       (Getty Images)

       Zoe Tidman 6 June 2022 10:23

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