G7 nations have condemned Russia's occupation of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant and called on Moscow to "immediately hand back full control" to Ukraine.

Ukrainian staff operating the plant "must be able to carry out their duties without threats or pressure. It is Russia's continued control of the plant that endangers the region," the G7 foreign ministers said in a statement.

"The Russian Federation must immediately withdraw its troops from within Ukraine's internationally recognized borders and respect Ukraine's territory and sovereignty," it said.

Image source, REUTERS/Alexander Ermochenko

Shelling at Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant has violated virtually all seven nuclear safety and security pillars, the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Mariano Grossi, has said.

However, IAEA experts believe the shelling hasn't caused an immediate nuclear safety threat, based on information provided by Ukraine, Grossi says.

For days, Ukraine and Russia have blamed each other for attacks on the site, which is Europe's largest nuclear plant and has raised concerns of a major accident.

The complex has been under Russian occupation since early March, although Ukrainian technicians still operate it.

"All military activities that endanger nuclear security must be stopped," Grossi has said.

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Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky has said the war in his country "began with Crimea and must end with its liberation".

Crimea lies on a peninsula stretching out from the south of Ukraine between the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov. It is separated from Russia to the east by the narrow Kerch Strait.

In 2014, Kremlin-backed forces seized control of the Crimean peninsula, and the territory, which has a Russian-speaking majority, voted to join Russia in a referendum Ukraine and the West have disputed and deem illegal.

Russia's President Vladimir Putin signed a law formalising Russia's takeover of Crimea from Ukraine that year, despite sanctions from the EU and the US. But Crimea is still internationally recognised as part of Ukraine.

It has a strategically important location and has been used by Russia to launch attacks on targets deep inside Ukraine.

Sevastopol - the largest city in Crimea - has also been used by Russia as home of its Black Sea Fleet, which has been leading a blockade of the Ukrainian coastline.

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More now on Russian shelling in the Dnipropetrovsk region of Ukraine.

The region's governor earlier said that 13 people were killed in the strikes.

Some 20 high-rise apartment blocks, the town council and other buildings were damaged in Marhanets, which has a population of about 45,000.

The State Emergency Service of Ukraine has released photos from the town showing some of the damage.

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Ukraine's Air Force command says "about a dozen" Russian warplanes may have been destroyed in explosions at an airfield in Russian-occupied Crimea.

"Judging by videos we saw on social networks it is clear that their munitions depot was struck," Air Force spokesman Yuriy Ihnat tells Ukrainian TV, as seen by BBC Monitoring.

Su-34 bombers and Su-24 aircraft were hit, and "possibly" helicopters too, he says.

Russia's defence ministry insists the blasts were down to ammunition that had exploded in a store and there was no "fire impact" from outside - although this has not been independently verified.

And Ukrainian presidential aide Mykhailo Podolyak has denied Ukraine was behind the blasts, telling the Dozhd online television channel: "Of course not. What do we have to do with this?"

Any attack on Crimea by Ukraine would be considered deeply serious by Moscow. Russia sounded a warning last month when ex-President Dmitry Medvedev threatened "Judgement Day will instantly await" if Ukraine targeted Crimea.

Ihnat says Russian aircraft based at the airfield in Novofedorivka had been patrolling air space around Ukraine 24 hours a day, so the explosions at the airfield were a "positive" development for Ukraine.

Image source, AFP via Getty Images

The United States has announced it will provide $89m (£73m) to Ukraine for removing land mines put in place by Russian forces.

About 160,000 mines have been defused in Ukraine since March, but around five million Ukrainians still live in areas threatened by bombs planted by the Russians, according to the US State Department.

An official says Ukraine's challenge to attempt to disarm unexploded ordnance "may be on a par" with similar efforts in Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos following the American war of the 1960s and 70s.

"Russia's unlawful and unprovoked further invasion of Ukraine has littered massive swaths of the country with landmines, unexploded ordnance, and improvised explosive devices," the State Department says in a statement.

"These explosive hazards block access to fertile farmland, delay reconstruction efforts, prevent displaced communities from returning to their homes, and continue to kill and maim innocent Ukrainian civilians."

Hugo Bachega
Reporting from Kyiv

A top Ukrainian official has denied Ukraine was responsible for a series of explosions that rocked a Russian airbase in Crimea.

Russia has played down the blasts that killed one person.

President Volodymyr Zelensky has said the war in Ukraine began in Crimea and must end with its liberation - saying Crimea was Ukrainian, and that it’d be returned to Ukrainians.

In his nightly address, he didn’t mention the explosions, but did say Russia has turned the peninsula into one of the most dangerous places in Europe.

Russia’s defence ministry says the blasts happened after ammunition exploded in a store, a claim that hasn’t been independently verified.

Russia invaded and annexed the region in 2014, a move that hasn’t been recognised internationally. Any attack on Crimea would be seen as a significant escalation by Moscow.

Image source, Reuters

United States Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin, who is visiting Nato defence ally Latvia, has repeated the US's commitment to supporting Ukraine, AFP reports.

He says the US will continue to work closely with Latvia to "support the Ukrainian people", "bolster our Nato allies" and to stand strong against Russia's "cruel and premeditated aggression against Ukraine".

Austin goes on to say international efforts to boost Ukraine's military capabilities "continue to make a real difference on the battlefield".

He says this has been "critical" in helping Ukraine defend itself.

We have a bit more information on the overnight shelling in Dnipropetrovsk region.

As we've been reporting the death toll has now reached 13 and the region's governor has called it a "tragic night".

Valentyn Reznichenko says 20 high-rise apartment blocks, the town council and other buildings were damaged in the city of Marhanets.

Reznichenko says 11 houses and a gas pipeline were damaged in the village of Vyshchetarasivka and several people were admitted to hospital, with some "in serious condition".

"We are standing against a cruel enemy who terrorises our towns and villages every day," he says on messaging app Telegram.

The death toll from shelling in Dnipropetrovsk has risen to 13, the region's governor says.

Valentyn Reznichenko says two more people have died in hospital.

"The doctors fought, but could not save them," he writes on Telegram.

Five people remain in a serious condition, he adds.

On Tuesday, a series of explosions rocked the Saky military base, near Novofedorivka in the west of Crimea - which is near seaside resorts popular with Russian tourists.

As we've been reporting, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky did not refer to the attack during his nightly address, but said the war must end with Crimea's liberation. Russia invaded and then annexed Crimea in 2014.

Zelensky's adviser, Mykhailo Podolyak, was asked by the Dozhd online television channel whether Kyiv was responsible for the blasts.

"Of course not. What do we have to do with this?", Podolyak said.

"People who are living under occupation understand that the occupation is coming to an end," he added.

Russia said the explosions were detonations of stored ammunition, not the result of any attack.

The UK's Ministry of Defence has posted its daily defence intelligence update, external and says these are the latest developments from Ukraine:

• Russian commanders are highly likely to face competing priorities with reinforcing their offensive, and strengthening their defences, in the eastern Ukrainian Donbas region
• Russia has almost certainly established a major new ground forces formation - 3rd Army Corps (3 AC) - based at Mulino in Nizhny Novgorod Oblast, east of Moscow. Russia likely plans to get resources from newly-formed "volunteer" battalions, which are being raised across the country, the MoD says
• Regional politicians in Russia have confirmed potential 3 AC recruits are being offered lucrative cash bonuses once they deploy to Ukraine. Recruitment is open for men up to 50 years of age and with only middle-school education
• It will probably be difficult for Russia to bring 3 AC up to strength given very limited levels of popular enthusiasm for volunteering for combat in Ukraine

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Image source, EPA

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said the war in Ukraine began with Crimea and must end with its liberation.

Zelensky made those comments during his nightly video address on Tuesday, just hours after a string of explosions hit a Russian airbase in Crimea and killed one person.

He did not mention Tuesday's blasts but said: "Crimea is Ukrainian and we will never give it up."

Crimea is internationally recognised as part of Ukraine - but the Black Sea peninsula was annexed by Russia in 2014 after a referendum which the global community sees as illegitimate.

Many Ukrainians see this as the start of their war with Russia.

Read more here.

Shelling has left at least 12 people dead overnight in Ukraine, officials are reporting.

On his social media channels, Governor of Dnipropetrovsk Valentyn Reznichenko says 11 people died in his region, in the city of Nikopol, after heavy shelling from Russia.

Reznichenko says it's very difficult to remove the bodies from under the rubble.

He urges people to seek shelter.

Meanwhile in the city of Zaporizhzhia one person has been killed.

Image source, Reuters

Good morning and welcome to our live reporting on the latest from Ukraine.

We’ll bring you all the latest developments throughout the day.

But first, here’s what’s been happening:

• At least 11 people have been killed overnight by Russian shelling in central Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk region, local governor Valentyn Reznichenko says
• Another person has been killed during shelling in Zaporizhzhia
• Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky has said his country “will never give up” Crimea – a peninsula annexed by Russia in 2014 - and the war must end with its liberation
• A string of explosions hit a Russian airbase in Crimea on Tuesday, killing one person
• Ukraine has denied any responsibility for the explosions and Russia's defence ministry said ammunition detonated at the base