Jessica Parker
Reporting from Brussels

Image source, EPA

European Union ambassadors have approved the bloc’s sixth sanctions package against Russia, but removed Orthodox Church Patriarch Kirill from the list, following objections by Hungary.

Diplomats report irritation with Hungary – particularly after Prime Minister Viktor Orban was handed major concessions on the oil embargo – but it was felt that ultimately the package was the most important thing.

EU leaders gave broad political agreement to the sanctions at a summit earlier this week but a legal text still had to be approved by member states at ambassador level.

The EU agreed to stop importing Russian oil brought by ship - which is most of it - but will keep importing via pipelines.

Image source, Getty Images

The US Treasury has announced a round of new sanctions against Russian individuals.

The latest sanctions target a Kremlin-aligned yacht brokerage and several prominent Russian government officials.

Close Putin associate and money manager, Sergei Roldugin, who is a custodian of the Russian president’s offshore wealth is also on the list.

The State Department has imposed sanctions on five of Russia’s oligarchs and elites, including Maria Zakharova, the spokeswoman of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Alexey Mordashov, one of Russia’s wealthiest billionaires; and family members and entities associated with the oligarchs and elites.

“Russia’s elites, up to and including President Putin, rely on complex support networks to hide, move, and maintain their wealth and luxury assets,” said Brian Nelson, undersecretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence.

“Today’s action demonstrates that Treasury can and will go after those responsible for shielding and maintaining these ill-gotten interests. We will continue to enforce our sanctions and expose the corrupt systems by which President Putin and his elites enrich themselves.”

Ukraine would consider switching off its Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant - which now lies in Russian-occupied territory - if Kyiv loses control of operations at the site, the Interfax news agency reported a prime ministerial aide as saying.

The facility, in south-east Ukraine, is Europe's largest nuclear power plant.

The official is quoted as saying that as long as control commands are executed and the "site maintains the regime" it would not be stopped.

"But the scenario in which the station could move completely out of control and we stop it is also being looked at," the official added.

Image source, .

As we have been reporting oil cartel OPEC+ has agreed to increase supplies by about 50%.

But it is important to note the increase will only compensate for some lost output from Russia.

It is estimated that Russia's oil production has fallen by about one million barrels per day as a result of Western sanctions.

The US has welcomed the decision to increase oil supplies and says it recognises a Saudi Arabia's role in achieving a consensus, Reuters reports.

Major oil producers, led by Saudi Arabia, have agreed to boost output following the European Union's announcement of a major cut in Russian oil imports.

As sanctions have increased on Russia, oil prices have risen to record highs, putting pressure on the OPEC+ group of producers to release more supplies to relieve the market.

Analysts had expected the OPEC+ group to stick to only modestly increasing the amount of oil they release, according to AFP - with predictions that output would increase by another 432,000 barrels per day in July.

But Reuters is reporting an OPEC+ source saying the group has agreed to raise output by 648,000 barrels per day in July and the same in August.

EU leaders agreed on Monday to ban more than two-thirds of Russian oil imports, while the UK has already said it plans to phase out Russian oil imports by the end of 2022.

Image source, .

Image source, Reuters

The Turkish drone manufacturer Baykar has given a Bayraktar TB2 drone to Lithuania, on the understanding it will be donated to Ukraine to help fight Russian forces.

The Istanbul firm said it would gift the TB2, which has a 12-metre wingspan and can reach 25,000ft, after Lithuania approached the company with funds raised specifically to buy a drone for Ukraine.

The manufacturer offered the drone for free on the condition that the funds were given instead to support "humanitarian aid" in Ukraine.

The TB2 drone has proved highly successful at targeting and destroying Russian artillery systems and armoured vehicles over the course of the three-month war in Ukraine.

"It is an illegal invasion so TB2 is helping the honourable people of Ukraine defend their country," Baykar executive Selcuk Bayraktar told Reuters last month.

Bayraktar is married to the daughter of Turkish president Tayyip Erdogan, who continues to offer to act as a mediator in any peace negotiations between Russia and Ukraine - although peace talks are currently on hold.

Image source, Getty Images

The resignation of Valentin Yumashev, a Kremlin adviser who helped Vladimir Putin to become president, follows some other high-profile resignations.

But none of the really significant figures in Mr Putin’s entourage have quit since he launched the 24 February invasion of Ukraine.

Mr Yumashev is the son-in-law of former Russian President Boris Yeltsin, and ran his administration in 1997 when ex-KGB spy Vladimir Putin was promoted to the ruling circle.

Who else has quit serving under President Putin since the war erupted?

• The most influential was Anatoly Chubais, who was Mr Putin’s envoy to international organisations for sustainable development. He resigned on 23 March, but did not speak out about the war. He is best known in Russia for managing controversial privatisations under Yeltsin, which created super-rich oligarchs but also angered millions of Russians. He was a deputy prime minister and later, under Putin, ran the state electricity monopoly RAO UES.
• Arkady Dvorkovich, a former deputy PM and top economic adviser to ex-president Dmitry Medvedev, condemned the war in an interview with Mother Jones magazine in mid-March. He said “wars are the worst things one might face in life… including this war”. “My thoughts are with Ukrainian civilians.” Putin supporters castigated him – and he resigned as head of the state-backed Skolkovo Foundation, which promotes business startups.
• On 23 May Boris Bondarev, a veteran Russian diplomat at the UN Office in Geneva, resigned and sent out a scathing letter condemning the war in Ukraine. He called it “bloody, witless and absolutely needless”.
• In mid-March three prominent journalists resigned from state-run TV news. Channel One’s Europe correspondent Zhanna Agalakova quit, as did two senior journalists at NTV. Lilia Gildeyeva had worked for the channel as a presenter since 2006 and Vadim Glusker had been at NTV for almost 30 years

Read more here about resignations from Russian state TV.

Image source, Getty Images

Russia's economy minister says the country risks seeing job cuts and a decline in investment as it finds itself under Western sanctions over Ukraine.

Maxim Reshetnikov said unemployment stands at just 4% "but this situation should not deceive", he told a briefing.

A "protracted demand crisis" could "lead to a reduction in employment", he said.

"We see that there are risks here," he added.

Russia's economy has been hammered by sanctions introduced by Western countries since February.

The initial shock forced the stock market in Russia to close temporarily and saw people queueing up at cash machines, worried about their savings.

The rouble has, however, returned to pre-war levels thanks to interventions by Russia's central bank.

Its interventions included limiting the amount of money people could transfer abroad, as well as forcing exporters to convert 80% of their overseas incomes into Russian currency.

Read more: What pain lies ahead for Russia's economy?

Ukraine has raised its main interest rate to a seven-year high in its first tightening of monetary policy since the Russian invasion.

The rate was lifted from 10% to 25%, and at a briefing Central Bank governor Kyrylo Shevchenko called for talks with the International Monetary Fund on a new aid programme, according to Reuters.

The war has devastated the economy with many businesses forced to close, as well as destroying infrastructure and blocking shipping routes.

The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) had frozen its main rate at 10% when the invasion began, but last week signalled it could resume regular monetary policy reviews as business activity partially recovered in safer parts of the country.

The move to raise the interest rate takes it to its highest level since 2015, when the country's economy was reeling from Russia's annexation of Crimea and war in the eastern Donbas region.

Image source, Reuters

Ukrainian volunteers and officials who refuse to collaborate with Russian authorities in the occupied city of Mariupol and nearby villages are being imprisoned and executed, BBC Monitoring reports the Mariupol city council saying.

A Telegram post from the authority, which cites mayor Vadym Boychenko, says a "fake DPR [self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic] court" has sentenced the head of one coastal Azov village to 10 years in prison while at least one civil servant has been executed by shooting.

Dozens of volunteers, who helped evacuate residents and tried to deliver food and water to the blockaded city in March and April, are also being held in Olenivka prison, the city council says.

"A Ukrainian judge is also awaiting a verdict from the fake republic. There are reports of her being tortured," it adds.

Meanwhile, Petro Andryushchenko, an adviser to the mayor of Mariupol, has said on Telegram Russian occupying troops have sought to speed up the distribution of Russian passports in Mariupol.

He cited "sources" as saying that the DPR's migration ministry had instructed the Moscow-installed authorities in the city to find premises where paperwork would be submitted by residents to obtain Russian passports.

The BBC cannot independently verify these claims.

Russian Defence Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov has told state-run news agency RIA Novosti that the total number of foreign mercenaries in Ukraine has almost halved - from 6,600 to 3,500.

The defence ministry has made several claims today that the BBC is unable to verify.

Mr Konashenkov added that "hundreds of foreign mercenaries in Ukraine were destroyed by Russian high-precision long-range weapons shortly after they arrived at the places where they underwent additional training and coordination of tactical units".

"But most of the mercenaries were destroyed in the combat zone due to the low level of training and lack of real combat experience."

His remarks come after Russia's National Guard said one of its brigade commanders had been killed in a Donbas battle against pro-Ukrainian forces which included Ben Grant, the son of Helen Grant, the Conservative MP for Maidstone and The Weald.

Image source, Reuters

Russia does not plan to "close the window" to Europe, the Kremlin said.

Despite relations between Moscow and the West hitting new lows following the invasion of Ukraine, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov insisted: "We are not planning to close anything."

The phrase "window to Europe" harks back to Peter the Great, Russia's first emperor who ruled for more 40 years until 1725. Next week marks the 350th anniversary of his birth.

Peskov said President Putin highly valued Peter the Great's role as he had profound knowledge of history.

Russia has criticised the US decision to arm Ukraine with more advanced artillery systems, accusing Washington of "adding fuel to the fire" - but says it won't change the course of war.

"Pumping (Western) weapons into Ukraine does not change all the parameters of the special operation," Peskov told reporters on a conference call.

"Its goals will be achieved, but this will bring more suffering to Ukraine."

Fierce fighting continues in eastern Ukraine where officials admit as much as 80% of the major industrial city of Severodonetsk is now in Russian hands.

The funeral of Maj Gen Kanamat Botashev is taking place in Russia, days after he was shot down flying a fighter jet over eastern Ukraine.

The body of the retired pilot, whose plane was downed over the Luhansk region last week, was taken by helicopter to Karachay-Cherkessia in Russia's Northern Caucasus, local reports say. He was the highest-ranking pilot to have been lost by Russia's invasion force since the war began on 24 February.

The general was flying an Su-25 warplane when it was targeted by a Stinger shoulder-fired missile system, BBC Russian reported.

Russian reports said President Vladimir Putin had posthumously awarded him the title Hero of Russia.

Ukraine’s defence ministry says 12 Russian generals have been killed so far during the invasion, but Russia has confirmed only two such fatalities.

Jessica Parker
Reporting from Brussels

Image source, AFP via Getty Images

The struggle to get the EU’s sixth package of sanctions over the line goes on.

It had been hoped that ambassadors would formally adopt the measures at a meeting last night. But diplomats say a spanner in the works is that Hungary doesn’t want the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, and Putin ally, Patriarch Kirill added to the sanctions list.

The patriarch is a staunch supporter of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, while at the same time claiming Russia has "never attacked anyone".

Hungarian PM Viktor Orban has previously voiced opposition to the idea but a senior official told the BBC that the matter was not raised at a summit of leaders earlier this week.

It was at that summit that Viktor Orban already won major concessions on the EU’s move to ban most Russian oil imports by the end of the year. Ambassadors meet again this afternoon in Luxembourg to try again.

Image source, AFP via Getty Images

Just joining us or need a re-cap? Here are the latest developments from Ukraine:

• Street fighting is taking place in Severodonetsk, where 80% of the key industrial city has now fallen to Russian forces, says Luhansk's regional chief
• The Russian army is trying to break through Ukraine's defence line from all directions in Severodonetsk, the chief says
• Many civilians are still hiding in shelters in the city, including under the city's big Azot chemical factory
• Taking Severodonetsk would mean Russia controls almost all of Luhansk, in the eastern Donbas region. Many believe President Putin could claim victory in the war if Russian forces take Donbas

• President Volodymyr Zelensky has addressed the Luxembourg parliament, stating that Russia controls 20% of Ukraine's territory
• Russian forces shelled the city of Kharkiv overnight and carried out a missile strike in Lviv

Image source, Ukrainian presidency

Russia is now controlling about 20% of Ukraine's territory - this is much more than Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands put together, President Volodymyr Zelensky has said.

Addressing Luxembourg's parliament, he said almost 125,000 sq km (48,260 sq miles) was now in Moscow's hands. That includes Crimea and parts of eastern Ukraine that Russian proxy forces seized in 2014, which made up roughly 7% of Ukraine's territory.

Zelensky said the current frontline extended for more than 1,000km (620 miles).

Nearly 12 million Ukrainians have been forced to flee their homes since the start of the Russian invasion on 24 February, and over five million of them - mostly women and children - have gone abroad, he said. The UN puts the total number displaced at almost 15 million.

Zelensky also claimed that Russian military losses now stood at more than 30,000 - more than overall Soviet casualties during the war in Afghanistan in 1979-89, and the two Chechen wars in 1994-2000.

Russia has so far given details of more than 1,300 deaths in Ukraine.

BBC Monitoring
The world through its media

A few weeks ago, the city of Slovyansk was a major hub for Ukrainians fleeing the Russian invasion to get to before they fled west.

Now the city's mayor has said a recent bout of Russian shelling has left the town without electricity and he's called on residents to evacuate.

In a Telegram post from the city administration, Vadym Lyakh said Russian shelling had damaged a residential neighbourhood on the outskirts of the city.

"Fortunately, no-one was killed or injured. But because of the broken high-voltage line, there is no electricity in the city. Works to restore power supply are already under way," he was quoted as saying. Currently, there is no tap water supply either. "The best solution in this situation is evacuation. Take care of yourselves. Pack up!" Lyakh said.

Image source, Getty Images

The Ukrainian foreign ministry says it is working with other countries as part of its campaign to end the Russian naval blockade of its ports so that exports of grain can resume.

Kyiv says it wants the UN to step in to restore its access to the Black Sea so it can resume deliveries of farm produce.

Russian ships are preventing Ukrainian vessels from leaving port - meaning millions of tonnes of grain cannot be delivered. Many countries now face a shortage of wheat and the lack of supply is contributing to rocketing prices for staple foods.

"We call on countries whose food security may suffer more from Russian aggression against Ukraine to use their contacts with Moscow to force it to lift the blockade of Ukrainian seaports and end the war," foreign ministry spokesman Oleg Nikolenko wrote on Facebook.

A number of African nations have been hit by rising prices and the head of the African Union, Senegalese President Macky Sall, has said he will meet Russia's Vladimir Putin tomorrow to discuss the crisis. His office said the visit would seek to free up stocks of cereals and fertilisers as well as easing the conflict.

Russia has warned that the EU's decision to partially phase out Russian oilis a "self-destructive" step that could backfire on the bloc.

On Monday, EU member states said 90% of oil imports would be cut by the end of this year, as part of further sanctions to punish Moscow for invading Ukraine.

But Russia's foreign ministry says the move is "highly likely to provoke further price increases, destabilise energy markets, and disrupt supply chains".

Moscow has also insisted it will not sell its oil at a loss. At a press briefing, the Kremlin said even if demand fell in one part of the world, it would increase in another - and Russian flows would be redirected accordingly.

Oil purchases from Russia by India - the world's third-largest consumer of oil - have more than doubled from last year, as India takes advantage of discounted prices.

However, European Council chief Charles Michel argues the EU-wide ban will cut off a huge source of financing for the Russian war machine, putting pressure on Moscow to agree a diplomatic solution and bring the invasion to an end.

Ukrainians had a couple of hours of relief from the war last night as millions watched their national team defeat Scotland 3-1 to set up a World Cup play-off final against Wales.

While thousands of Ukrainian fans packed into Glasgow's Hampden Park, soldiers back at home took a break to enjoy the victory at Hampden Park in Glasgow.

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Public TV Kharkiv