Ukraine Russia news – live: Putin’s forces ‘caught in trap’ in Bakhmut as Kyiv’s troops advance

Ukraine said its troops had caught occupying Russian troops ‘in a trap’ in the shattered eastern city of Bakhmut, where its forces have been gaining ground as part of their counter-offensive. Russian accounts of the fighting said Moscow’s forces have repelled or contained Ukrainian advances in the east and south. More than 500 days into the invasion, Ukraine’s counter-offensive which began early last month has focused on capturing clusters of villages in the southeast and moving in on Russian forces holding Bakhmut. Officials on Monday noted advances in both sectors. ‘Bakhmut. The enemy is caught in a trap,’ general Oleksander Syrskyi, in charge of Ukraine’s ground forces, said bluntly on the Telegram messaging app. ‘The city is under the fire control of (our) defence forces…the enemy is being pushed out of their positions.’ In the south, general Oleksander Tarnavskyi said on Telegram Ukrainian forces were ‘on the move’ and Russian forces had lost the equivalent of hundreds of men over 24 hours. Key Points Wagner chief’s commanders met Putin after short-lived mutiny, pledged loyalty Russia launches overnight air attack on Kyiv as Nato summit starts Why Ukraine’s plea for Nato membership is such a challenge for the West Biden to see Zelensky at Nato summit in Lithuania tomorrow NATO’s Stoltenberg: Not seen any movement of Wagner fighters to Belarus 09:44 , Martha Mchardy NATO has not seen any movement of Wagner group fighters to Belarus, Russia’s ally in its war against Ukraine, NATO secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg said on Tuesday. ‘We are monitoring the situation very closely,’ Stoltenberg told journalists ahead of NATO’s two-day summit in Vilnius. Over the week-end, Poland began moving over 1,000 troops to the east of the country amid rising concern in the NATO member that the presence of Wagner Group fighters in Belarus could lead to increased tension on its border. Putin’s forces ‘caught in trap’ in Bakhmut as Kyiv’s troops advance 09:42 , Martha Mchardy Ukraine said on Monday its troops had caught occupying Russian troops ‘in a trap’ in the shattered eastern city of Bakhmut, where its forces have been gaining ground as part of their counter-offensive. Russian accounts of the fighting said Moscow’s forces have repelled or contained Ukrainian advances in the east and south. More than 500 days into the invasion, Ukraine’s counter-offensive which began early last month has focused on capturing clusters of villages in the southeast and moving in on Russian forces holding Bakhmut. Officials on Monday noted advances in both sectors. ‘Bakhmut. The enemy is caught in a trap,’ general Oleksander Syrskyi, in charge of Ukraine’s ground forces, said bluntly on the Telegram messaging app. ‘The city is under the fire control of (our) defence forces…the enemy is being pushed out of their positions.’ In the south, general Oleksander Tarnavskyi said on Telegram Ukrainian forces were ‘on the move’ and Russian forces had lost the equivalent of hundreds of men over 24 hours. Bilateral assurances for Ukraine will complement NATO summit decisions -Stoltenberg 09:33 , Martha Mchardy Bilateral security assurances for Ukraine will complement decisions on the country’s future membership of NATO made at the alliance’s summit in Vilnius, secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg said on Tuesday. ‘Some allies are having bilateral and multilateral dialogues with Ukraine on a framework to have in place continued support for Ukraine (…) this will complement and supplement the decisions made at the NATO summit,’ Stoltenberg said before the start of the summit. No changes in Russia’s nuclear posture, NATO chief says 09:32 , Martha Mchardy NATO has not seen a change in Russia’s nuclear posture despite its announcement that it is stationing nuclear weapons in Belarus, NATO secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg said on Tuesday. ‘The nuclear rhetoric of Russia is reckless and dangerous. NATO allies are monitoring closely what Russia is doing; so far we haven’t seen any changes in the Russian nuclear deployment posture that requires a change from us, but we will remain vigilant,’ Stoltenberg said before a summit of NATO leaders in Vilnius. As Russia’s war on Ukraine drags on, what is Nato and what is it doing to help? 09:30 , Martha Mchardy With Russia’s war on Ukraine in its 17th month, and Western countries sending increasingly hi-tech and long-range weapons and ammunition to help President Volodymyr Zelensky defend his country, it’s easy to lose track of where Nato stands. Secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg – the top civilian official at the world’s biggest security alliance –routinely praises allies for helping Ukraine’s troops to fight back. But when he does, Stoltenberg is talking about individual member countries, not Nato as an organization. Ahead of the Nato summit in Lithuanian capital Vilnius begins on Tuesday, here’s a look at the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and what it’s doing to help Ukraine: NATO allies will send clear and positive message to Ukraine -Stoltenberg 09:16 , Martha Mchardy NATO allies will make clear at their summit in Vilnius how Ukraine can become a member of the alliance in the future, Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on Tuesday. ‘I expect allies will send a clear, united and positive message on the path towards membership for Ukraine,’ Stoltenberg said as he arrived for the start of a summit with leaders of NATO member countries. Russia says U.S. arms supplies to Ukraine signal lack of interest in diplomacy – RIA 08:55 , Martha Mchardy By announcing plans to increase arms supplies to Ukraine, the United States makes clear that it is not interested in a diplomatic solution, the RIA news agency cited senior Russian diplomat Konstantin Gavrilov as saying on Tuesday. Gavrilov also said in comments published on the day of a NATO summit in Lithuania that Europe would be the first to face ‘catastrophic consequences’ if the war escalates. Ukraine claims to have shot down majority of Russian drones overnight 08:53 , Martha Mchardy Russia launched 28 kamikaze drones on the southern port of Odesa and Kyiv in early hours on Tuesday, Ukraine’s military said. Ukraine’s Air Force said that air defence systems shot down 26 of the Iranian-made ‘Shahed’ drones that Russia launched. Over Odesa, 22 were downed and two drones hit an administration building in the port, the local governor said. A grain and another terminal near the Odesa port caught fire, which was quickly extinguished causing no ‘critical damage’ or injuries, governor Oleh Kiper said on the Telegram messaging app. All drones sent towards Kyiv were intercepted, but debris damaged a number of houses in the region, the military said. ‘The enemy attacked Kyiv from the air for the second time this month,’ Serhiy Popko, a head of Kyiv’s military administration, said in a post on the Telegram channel. Witnesses in Ukraine’s capital heard blasts resembling the sound of air defence systems intercepting targets during the air raid. In the Kyiv region that surrounds the capital, 12 residential houses and one multi-storey building suffered minor damage by falling debris, the military head of the region, Ruslan Kravchenko, said on his Facebook page. There were no injuries reported. Europe to face ‘catastrophic consequences’ if Ukraine war escalates, says Russian diplomat 08:35 , Martha Mchardy Europe will be the first to face ‘catastrophic consequences’ if the Ukraine war escalates, the RIA news agency cited Konstantin Gavrilov, a Vienna-based Russian diplomat and senior security negotiator, as saying on Tuesday. Gavrilov, who blamed the United States for pushing towards such an escalation, spoke as NATO countries held a summit in Vilnius. Nato should remove Ukraine’s membership action plan requirement: Stoltenberg 08:30 , Maanya Sachdeva Nato allies should agree to remove the requirement of a Membership Action Plan (MAP) for Ukraine to become a member of the alliance in the future, secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg said on Tuesday. ‘Ukraine has come a long way since we made the decision in 2008 that the next step would be a Membership Action Plan. Ukraine is much closer to Nato, so I think the time has come to reflect that in Nato decisions,’ he said before a summit of Nato leaders in Vilnius. ‘All put together, including that we’ll make clear that Ukraine will become a member, we’ll remove the Membership Action Plan, (….) will send a very strong and positive message from Nato to Ukraine,’ Mr Stoltenberg added. Nato policy increases risk of conflict with Russia, diplomat says 08:00 , Maanya Sachdeva Nato’s policy towards Russia increases the risk of direct conflict between bloc members and Moscow, Russia’ RIA news agency cited the Russian ambassador to Belgium, Alexander Tokovinin, as saying on Tuesday. Tokovinin said the regional defence plans which Nato intends to adopt at the summit starting on Tuesday in Vilnius would make the bloc’s confrontation with Russia more tense and prolonged. Nato to send ‘positive signal’ about Ukraine’s bid to join alliance, says US 07:26 , Arpan Rai Nato will send Ukraine a ‘positive signal’ about Kyiv’s bid to join the alliance when their leaders meet at a summit in Lithuania today, US national security adviser Jake Sullivan said. The top US official was speaking to reporters as negotiators from the 31-strong alliance were finalising a final communique to outline Kyiv’s pathway to membership. In retaliation, Russian diplomats said that differences between the US and Moscow were now narrowing. Unhappy Russian diplomats berate US, Nato: ‘Most unfortunate’ confrontation 06:48 , Arpan Rai Russian diplomats are accusing the US of pushing Nato towards a ‘most unfavourable’ confrontation with Moscow with the decisions expected from the alliance’s summit in Lithuania starting today, claiming that Kyiv’s allies are ‘losing’ in Ukraine. ‘The situation continues to slide towards the most unfavourable outcome in the confrontation between the Russian Federation and the members of the alliance,’ Russian ambassador to the US Anatoly Antonov said late last night. Accusing Washington of preparing to take anti-Russian decisions at the Nato summit, he said: ”Everything is being done to prepare the local public opinion for the approval of any anti-Russian decisions that will be made in Vilnius in the coming days.’ The Kremlin says Ukraine’s potential membership in the alliance would be a threat to Russia and that Moscow will react ‘clearly and firmly’. The summit in the Lithuanian capital is set to be dominated by the repercussions of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, with leaders set to approve Nato’s first comprehensive plans since the end of the Cold War to defend against any attack from Moscow. Diplomats also said differences were narrowing over Ukraine’s push for Nato membership. Konstantin Gavrilov, a Vienna-based Russian diplomat and a senior Russian security negotiator, told the Russian RIA state news agency in an interview the West is ‘losing’ in Ukraine. Moscow threatening ending contracts with construction firms over volunteers for Ukraine war, says UK MoD 06:26 , Arpan Rai Moscow’s municipal authorities are highly likely threatening to withdraw contracts from construction firms if they fail to hit quotas for providing ‘volunteers’ to serve in Ukraine, the British Ministry of Defence said. One company has reportedly been set a target of 30 volunteers by the end of August 2023, the ministry said in its latest intelligence update today. It added that this ultimatum will likely ‘primarily affect ethnic minorities from poorer regions of Russia such as Dagestan and central Asian states, who make up the majority of Moscow’s construction workers’. ‘This measure is highly likely at least tacitly endorsed by Moscow mayor Sergey Sobyanin. It continues his track record of trying to minimise the impact of the conflict on better-off Muscovites, while still being seen to support the war effort,’ the ministry said. Why Ukraine’s plea for Nato membership is such a challenge for the West 05:58 , Arpan Rai For Ukraine’s Western allies, the question of whether the country should be granted its long-held wish for Nato membership is not so straightforward. The advantages in terms of security guarantees from being a member of the alliance are obvious, and only more so given the scale of destruction wrought by Russia’s invasion. While some Eastern European members have been pushing for a swift timetable to admit Ukraine, given their own misgivings about Russia’s action near their borders, a number of Western nations are more cautious, aware that a bond built on collective defence can only hold secure if all believe it is strong. Yesterday, the Kremlin made it clear that ‘Ukraine’s membership in Nato will have very, very negative consequences’. Offering Ukraine membership if the war ends doesn’t work, either. It gives Moscow an incentive to keep the war going, allowing Vladimir Putin to keep pushing one of his narratives that the West is trying to claim Ukraine to weaken Russia. Chris Stevenson explains here: Analysis: Why Ukraine’s plea for Nato membership is such a challenge for the West Russia fires Iranian Shahed drones on Kyiv hours before Nato summit 05:31 , Arpan Rai Russia fired Iranian Shahed drones on Kyiv in an air strike in the early hours of today, officials from Ukraine’s military said, confirming the second attack this month. ‘The enemy attacked Kyiv from the air for the second time this month,’ said Serhiy Popko, head of Kyiv’s military administration. He added that Ukraine’s air defence systems shot down all the drones Russia launched before they reached their targets but did not mention the total number of aerial targets fired and intercepted. There was no immediate information about damage or casualties. This comes just hours before the start of the Nato summit in Lithuania that is to focus on security threats from Moscow. The Ukrainian Air Force confirmed air raid alerts were sounded over Kyiv for an hour and longer in parts of eastern Ukraine. Russia has spoken out against the US and the wider Nato alliance on the eve of the summit over their support for Ukraine, warning that Kyiv’s potential membership of Nato would be met with a ‘clear and firm’ reaction. Wagner chief’s commanders met Putin after short-lived mutiny, pledged loyalty 04:24 , Arpan Rai Wagner mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin and his commanders met with Russian president Vladimir Putin just five days after the aborted mutiny and pledged loyalty to the government, a senior government spokesperson from the Kremlin has said. The three-hour meeting took place 29 June and involved not only Mr Prigozhin but commanders from his Wagner Group military contractor, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov claimed yesterday, in a likely attempt to portray normalcy in the ties between two men who faced off in the biggest military mutiny Russia has seen in decades. He added that Mr Putin gave an assessment of Wagner’s actions on the battlefield in Ukraine, where the mercenaries have fought alongside regular Russian troops, and of the revolt itself. ‘The commanders themselves presented their version of what happened. They underscored that they are staunch supporters and soldiers of the head of