Image source, Reuters

UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace has met his counterparts from 11 other European countries in Iceland to discuss security challenges for northern Europe following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

The Northern Group nations - Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Sweden and the UK - issued a joint statement condemning the invasion and welcoming the decisions of Sweden and Finland to apply to join Nato.

Wallace says it "reinforces our unequivocal condemnation of Putin’s barbaric invasion and our determination that Ukraine succeeds".

He also signed a new agreement with Finland building on the mutual security pact the UK and Finland agreed in May. The pact commits each country to come to the other's aid should it come under attack. You can read more about it here.

Ukraine has dismissed "empty" assurances from Russia's foreign minister that Moscow won't take advantage of the situation if Kyiv allows grain shipments to leave via the Black Sea.

Sergei Lavrov made the comments after talks in Ankara with his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu, who's trying to broker a deal on creating maritime corridors.

Lavrov denied his country was obstructing wheat exports leaving Ukraine and said the onus was on Kyiv to de-mine waters around its ports.

But Ukraine is worried this could make it more vulnerable to attacks from the sea.

Ukraine’s foreign ministry spokesman, Oleg Nikolenko, tweeted:, external "Military equipment is required to protect the coastline and a navy mission to patrol the export routes in the Black Sea".

He warned: "Russia cannot be allowed to use grain corridors to attack southern Ukraine."

Image source, Reuters

If you're just joining us, here are some of the key developments so far today:

Getting grain out of Ukraine

Talks between Russia and Turkey to allow grain exports to resume from Ukraine's ports have ended without a solution. Russia has dismissed claims its invasion has created a global food crisis and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov says he's hopeful that issues around grain exports can be solved - as long as Kyiv de-mines waters around its ports. But Ukraine fears this could make it more vulnerable to attacks from the sea and says any moves to unfreeze its ports must not hinder its security.

Prisoner transfer

More than 1,000 Ukrainian fighters who surrendered after the fall of Mariupol have been transferred to Russia for investigation – according to Russian state media. In Ukraine, the fighters who held up the Russian seizure of the port city for more than two months are seen as national heroes. But in Russia they are viewed very differently and there have been calls from politicians to treat some of them not as prisoners of war, but as war criminals.

The battle for Severodonetsk

Heavy fighting continues in the key eastern Ukrainian city of Severodonetsk, where forces are said to be finding it hard to stave off Russian attacks. UK military intelligence says Ukraine's defences are "holding" although Russia says it now controls most of the city.

We reported earlier that a Kharkiv shopping complex was hit by shelling, marking the first time Ukraine's second biggest city had been targeted in weeks.

Now, we've got CCTV footage of the moment the blast occurred.

The supermarket in the clip, which was closed because of the late hour, was badly damaged but there were no casualties.

Image source, Getty Images

A British former intelligence officer says he "doesn't see" Russian President Vladimir Putin being in power "three to six months from now".

Speaking to BBC Radio 4's World at One programme, Christopher Steele said that once Western sanctions on Russia - particularly energy measures - began to take full effect, Putin's days would be "numbered".

Pushed on his specific time scale, Steele, who authored the Trump-Russia dossier, pointed to "signs that [Putin's] health is failing". If US and UK sources are right, he said, the Russian leader could be "incapacitated" in that time.

Western sanctions against Moscow must be lifted before Russian grain can be delivered to international markets, the Kremlin has said.

"President Putin said… direct and indirect sanctions against Russia must be lifted," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on a conference call.

He said the sanctions, which the West imposed in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, were affecting shipping insurance, payments, and access to European ports."

Peskov added that "no substantive discussions" about lifting them were taking place.

Ukraine and Russia together account for nearly a third of global wheat supplies, while Russia is also a key fertiliser exporter and Ukraine a major supplier of corn and sunflower oil.

Ukraine's grain exports have been halted by a Russian blockade of its Black Sea ports, but Moscow blames the situation on Ukraine's failure to clear mines from the ports.

Image source, Reuters

Ukraine say it's received another 50 bodies of its dead troops following a like-for-like swap with Russia.

The trade took place near the front line in the Zaporizhzhia region, said a government statement.

Thirty-seven of the bodies belonged to defenders of the Azovstal metal works - which became the last bastion of Ukrainian resistance in the besieged port city of Mariupol.

The news follows an exchange earlier in the week which saw Ukraine and Russia each receive 160 bodies of their fallen soldiers.

Orla Guerin
Reporting from the Donbas region

At first glance they are an unlikely line-up for aid workers in a war zone - a dog trainer from Kent, a farmer from Cornwall, and a technology executive from Sussex.

But these three British volunteers were drawn - separately - to Ukraine. They teamed up here and have spent months in harm's way evacuating the elderly and the frail from areas near front lines.

"I know my parents worry," says the dog trainer who, at 21, is the youngest. "I have had phone calls with my mum where she has been in tears, but they are just really proud of what I am doing.

Shelling is a constant threat. One run was so risky they were ordered by the Ukrainian military to put their body armour on.

Read more about the volunteers' stories here.

Image source, EPA

Russia has signalled further plans to stage votes in an apparent bid to annex territory held by its soldiers in southern Ukraine.

An official installed in the Zaporizhzhia region by the Kremlin tells the Russian TASS news agency there are plans to hold a referendum on joining Russia.

He gave no date for any such vote, but said the poll would be valid if there was a 50% turnout.

Yesterday, an Russian-installed official in the Kherson region, suggested that Moscow could attempt to stage a similar vote there.

Observers say it is unlikely that any credible poll could be held in a region where active hostilities are taking place.

A "referendum" in 2014, which saw Russia annex Ukraine's Crimean peninsula, was condemned by Western nations as illegal and a sham.

Leading climate change researchers say the world is witnessing a "gold rush" for new fossil fuel projects.

A report by Climate Action Tracker (CAT) warns that the world risks being locked into "irreversible warming" after the war in Ukraine prompted energy prices to soar and new investment in oil and gas.

The rush for new fossil fuel infrastructure "supposedly helps with short-term energy supply", Professor Niklas Höhne, of NewClimate Institute, tells the BBC.

"But new infrastructure once it's built will be there for decades and we will definitely miss the climate targets."

Read more here.

Image source, Reuters

The cost of the war in Ukraine will continue to drive up inflation and dampen growth for at least the next year, according to a forecast from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, external.

The OECD is a group of 38 countries, including some of the world's biggest economies, which work together with the aim of developing policies to promote sustainable economic growth.

Ongoing fighting since the Russian invasion and tough sanctions against Moscow have helped lead to increasing food and energy prices.

The OECD thinks global growth will drop from 4.5% to 3% and expects inflation in some member countries to reach 9% - double pre-war forecasts.

But, Laurence Boone, external, — the organisation's chief economist, tells the BBC there are reasons to be slightly optimistic.

"Global growth of 3% is still very healthy," she says. "Employment is high, unemployment rates are low. It is true we have inflation higher than expected for a while. But we don't expect this pressure to continue rising, so that means we will see inflation decelerating over the course of 2023."

She says the removal of Covid-era support policies in some countries will see prices come down.

Russia-Turkey food talks end without a solutionpublished at 12:50 British Summer Time 8 June 2022

12:50 BST 8 June 2022

Anna Foster
Reporting from Istanbul

Image source, Getty Images

Even though Russia has lost many friends and allies since the war in Ukraine started, it still talks regularly to Turkey.

Today their foreign ministers Sergei Lavrov and Mevlut Çavuşoğlu met again, discussing the potential to get Ukrainian wheat moving out of its ports.

Ukraine urgently needs to export its grain to help its damaged economy. It’s also vital to feed countries around the world that are facing a food crisis because of the war.

But it wasn’t part of these talks, so there was never a real chance any concrete plans could be made today.

Ukraine is firm on one point in particular – proper assurances that any safe, de-mined pathway wouldn’t be used by Russia to stage attacks.

It said it could trust the Turkish navy to control any channel that might be set up. But no agreement has been reached, and these talks ended not with a solution, only a plan to arrange further negotiations.

Image source, Getty Images

More now on Ukraine's grain backlog problem. Millions of tonnes of seeds currently cannot be sent overseas as sea ports are blocked.

So what does that look like?

The country's grain association says more than half of the storage capacity in Ukrainian-held territory is currently full, according to quotes carried by the Reuters news agency.

Ukraine has 55 million tonnes of silo space, of which 30 million is stocked, the association says.

It adds that only 20 million tonnes can be sent abroad each year without the availability of ports on the Black Sea.

Russia denies it's to blame for risking a worldwide food crisis with its blockade of Ukraine's port cities. It claims the onus is on Kyiv to guarantee the safety of ships by de-mining nearby waters.

Ukraine is suffering "significant losses in manpower, weapons and military equipment" in the eastern Donbas region, Russia says in its latest account of the war.

Its defence ministry claims:

• Ukraine lost more than 300 personnel, six tanks and other vehicles during three days of fighting for the town of Svyatogorsk
• Artillery strikes in the Zaporizhzhia region have killed a further 320 Ukrainian "nationalists"
• Two more Ukrainian jets and a helicopter have been shot down in the Mykolaiv region
• High-precision missiles have struck targets including factories and weapons depots in and around Kharkiv, to the north

It was not possible for the BBC to independently confirm the claims.

Russia has attempted to justify its invasion on the grounds it is ridding Ukraine of "nationalists" or "Nazis" - a claim seen by Kyiv and much of the outside world as baseless propaganda.

Image source, .

An update now on Russian alleged war crimes being investigated in Ukraine.

Iryna Venediktova, Ukraine's prosecutor-general, says she has filed eight more cases to court on top of the three lengthy sentences already handed down to Russian troops.

One solider - 21-year-old Vadim Shishimarin - was given a life sentence for killing an unarmed civilian, while Alexander Bobikin and Alexander Ivanov received more than 11 years each.

Image source, Reuters

Ukraine is investigating more than 16,000 potential war crimes committed by Russia, Venediktova told Ukrainian TV today.

"We are talking about people who didn't just come as military combatants... but also came to rape, kill civilians, loot, humiliate and so on," she is quoted by Reuters as saying.

Moscow still denies its troops have targeted civilians, or committed any war crimes, since its so-called "special military operation" began.

A British couple who met a Ukrainian musician while holidaying on a cruise ship have taken him in and bought him a piano.

Michele and Ron Welsh, from Wigan, met 37-year-old composer Jenya Sujunov in April. He told them he couldn't return to Donetsk - in Russian-occupied eastern Ukraine - prompting the couple to offer up their home.

"The heart-wrenching thing is that he thought he had nowhere to live and nothing to go back to," Ron tells BBC North West Tonight.

Read more here.

Image source, Reuters

There's been Ukrainian reaction to talks between Russia and Turkey about unblocking Ukraine's ports to allow grain to be sent overseas.

Questioned about whether Ukraine expected to be involved in Wednesday's meeting in Ankara, the foreign minister described Wednesday's meeting as regular bilateral talks.

Dmytro Kuleba said Ukraine was negotiating the grain issue mainly through the UN – and reiterated that any deal to unfreeze its ports must not hinder his country's security.

He said he trusted the Turkish navy to protect any future safe route for ships to leave Ukraine.

There is international alarm over millions of tonnes of grain produced by Ukraine which are currently unable to be sent overseas during the invasion. Russia denies it's to blame for any impending food crisis.

Image source, Reuters

Italy is now warning that millions of people could die of hunger unless Russia frees up Ukraine's ports on the Black Sea.

"Blocking grain exports means holding hostage and condemning to death millions of children, women and men," said Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio - after a meeting that included other Mediterranean countries and the UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation.

Di Maio added that the next few weeks would be crucial.

His words are the latest reflection of international worry caused by Ukraine's inability to export food at the normal rate. As you've been hearing, the country is one of the world's top producers of grain.

Russia denies its invasion is sparking a global food crisis. Its own foreign minister says the responsibility is now with Ukraine to de-mine waters around its ports to let ships set sail safely.

Image source, Reuters

The Russian foreign minister says he's hopeful that issues around Ukraine's important grain exports can be solved - as long as Kyiv de-mines waters around its ports.

Sergei Lavrov claims Russia has already done its bit by making the necessary commitments so that ships can sail safely.

He was speaking at a press conference in Ankara following talks on the topic with Mevlut Cavusoglu, his Turkish counterpart.

Cavusoglu - who has tried to broker a deal to unblock Ukrainian exports of grain - described the talks as "fruitful", according to the Reuters news agency.

Ukraine is one of the world's top exporters of grain - but the Russian invasion has prevented it from sending supplies abroad. Russia denies accusations its actions are risking a global food crisis.

Earlier, Russian reports said shipments of grain would resume this week from Berdyansk, an occupied port.

Wyre Davies
Reporting from Kharkiv

At a small shopping complex in the eastern suburbs of Kharkiv, municipal workers were this morning clearing up debris and twisted metal after the latest Russian attack on the city.

The sound of the missile strike could be heard across Ukraine’s second biggest city just before midnight.

A supermarket in the complex, which was closed because of the late hour, was badly damaged but there were no casualties.

An earlier strike - one of several we heard throughout the day - killed a 56-year-old man and injured several other civilians when an appartment block in northern Kharkiv was hit, according to local sources.

Olena Mykolaiivna, one of the workers helping to clear up the site today, said she was worried because, after the relative calm of recent weeks in Kharkiv, residents who had left were starting to return.

"It's obviously still very dangerous here," Olena told me. "I'm worried that Russia is starting these kind of attacks all over again."

At the start of this conflict, Kharkiv and surrounding areas saw some of the fiercest fighting as Russian troops tried to take the city. It's just 20 miles from the Russian border and was fiercely defended by Ukrainian troops. In recent weeks they were able to push Russian forces back beyond the city limits.

However, intelligence reports say Russia may be refocusing its military efforts against targets in northern and eastern Ukraine, including Kharkiv, while also trying to consolidate captured Ukraine territory in the Donbas region further south.