Joe Inwood
Reporting from Kyiv

Image source, Alamy

Ukraine has repeatedly said it needed more heavy weaponry, artillery, rocket systems and high tech equipment to help face down the overwhelming firepower of the Russians.

This latest package of military support from the US - which includes 18 howitzer artillery pieces, thousands of rounds of ammunition, plus two harpoon naval defence systems – is another step in the right direction for the Ukrainians.

In his nightly address, President Zelensky welcomed the aid – saying “I am grateful for this support, it is especially important for our defence in Donbas.”

And it is badly needed in the eastern region – where Russian forces are said to be continuing their slow but relentless advances.

The main focus of their efforts remains the city of Severodonetsk, where thousands of civilians are still trapped.

Ukrainian forces are thought to be holding on there - for how long may well depend on how quickly this new aid can get to the front lines.

And now an update from the world of Ukrainian commemorative stamps.

In recent weeks we've brought you news of stamps depicting Ukrainian soldiers resisting the Russian attack on Snake Island in the Black Sea with a defiant hand gesture.

That was followed by images of crowds queueing to buy the second edition entitled "Russian warship - done!", marking the sinking of the Moskva missile cruiser in April.

Now, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ukraine's postal service is creating stamps depicting a tractor pulling a Russian tank.

This follows the appearance early in the conflict of several videos on social media showing tractors in the grain-growing nation towing captured Russian armoured vehicles.

Image source, EPA

Image source, EPA

The leaders of France, Germany and Italy are expected to visit Kyiv on Thursday, in a bid to show their support for Ukraine.

The visit by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, French President Emmanuel Macron and Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi comes as the European Commission is due to make recommendations on Kyiv's membership prospects.

"We are at a point when we need to send clear political signals, us Europeans, towards Ukraine and its people when it is resisting heroically," Mr Macron had said a day earlier.

Welcome back to our live coverage of the Ukraine war. Here is a round-up of the latest developments:

• China's President Xi Jinping has in a call with Russian President Putin assured him of Beijing's support on Russian "sovereignty"
• A US State department spokesperson responded by saying that China would find itself on the "wrong side of history", said an AFP report
• Fears are growing for thousands of civilians trapped in the Ukrainian city of Severodonetsk with essential supplies running out
• Many are taking shelter in bunkers beneath the city's Azot chemical plant
• The UN is hoping to provide aid to those trapped in the city, but continued fighting means its agencies cannot get access or assurances to safely reach the civilians still there, including women, children and the elderly

We're pausing our live coverage of the war in Ukraine for now, and will see you again tomorrow morning.

Today's updates were brought to you by Nathan Williams, Victoria Lindrea, Emily McGarvey, Marita Moloney, James Clarke, Rob Corp, Heather Sharp, Emma Owen, Alex Therrien and James FitzGerald.

Image source, Reuters

Weapons for Ukraine

• US President Joe Biden has promised Kyiv a fresh $1bn (£820m) in security assistance and weapons, as fighting continues to rage in the eastern Donbas region
• Defence ministers from countries in the Nato military alliance have met in Brussels - with the US defence secretary calling on his allies to increase their own weapons deliveries during a "pivotal" moment in the war
• Earlier, Nato chief Jens Stoltenberg said he expected the 30-member alliance to agree further support for Ukraine at a summit later this month

Fighting in the east

• Thousands of civilians are trapped in underground bunkers in the besieged city of Severodonetsk with a diminishing supply of clean water and other essentials, the UN has warned
• A pledge from Russia to open an evacuation corridor for civilians to leave a chemical plant in the conflict-hit city on Wednesday failed to materialise

Food supply concerns

• Ukraine exported 40% less grain in the first half of June than during the same period in 2021, according to government figures cited by the Interfax-Ukraine news agency
• A spike in global food prices has been caused by the invasion of Ukraine, a key grain exporter, says the Nato chief - and not as a result of Western sanctions on Russia, as Moscow has claimed

You can read more about what happened today in our round-up.

Image source, EPA

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky has said he's "grateful" for the $1bn (£820m) worth of support announced by the United States earlier today.

The package - which includes artillery and modern rocket systems - will be especially important for the defence of the Donbas region, Zelensky says.

"Of course, we will do our best to outmatch their advantages for now. Every day I fight for Ukraine to get the necessary weapons and equipment," he adds in his nightly video address, external.

Ukraine has intensified its calls for more weaponry from its allies in the West as it tries to counter a Russian offensive focused on the east of the country.

Zelensky also hailed a further $225m (£185m) of humanitarian assistance promised by President Biden.

And he acknowledged Wednesday's phone call with the UK's Prime Minister Boris Johnson, which also focused on support for the Ukrainian defence.

Image source, Boris Johnson/Twitter

Boris Johnson is hopeful progress can be made in the "coming days" on getting grain shipments out of Ukraine, a spokeswoman for the prime minister has said.

Johnson and his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelensky, spoke on Wednesday evening about Russia's "unforgivable blockade of grain", the spokeswoman said, and the PM reiterated the UK's "unwavering support" for Ukraine during the Russian invasion.

The Russian naval blockade has imposed an economic stranglehold on Ukraine - one of the world's biggest grain exporters - as well as threatening food supplies to some of the world's poorest countries.

Efforts have been made by Turkey to broker a deal to allow ships to safely leave Ukraine's Black Sea ports.

Russia has previously claimed that the blame for the current impasse lies with Ukraine.

Image source, Reuters

We've carried many reports on the plight of those trapped in the Azot chemical plant in Severodonetsk today.

Russia had pledged to establish a humanitarian corridor to evacuate some of those who have been holed up there under heavy bombardment for weeks - but it has failed to materialise.

Now Russia has accused Ukrainian forces of preventing anyone from leaving.

In a statement posted on its Telegram social media channel, Russia said "the Kyiv authorities cynically scuppered the humanitarian operation".

Ukrainian forces, it went on, "used the humanitarian pause to regroup to more advantageous positions whilst hiding behind a human shield of civilians".

Ukraine has not yet responded to the claims.

Image source, Getty Images

A move by Russian energy firm Gazprom to reduce the amount of gas it supplies to Germany was "political" rather than a "technical, justifiable decision", Germany's economy minister has said.

Economy Minister Robert Habeck said Russia's actions showed that it was urgent for European countries to end their dependency on fossil fuels.

Gazprom said it is limiting the amount of gas it sends through the Nord Stream pipeline to under 70 million cubic metres per day - well under half the current rate.

The gas giant also announced a sharp reduction for Italy. Both countries are heavily reliant on Russian gas but are looking at how to reduce their dependency.

The US has urged its citizens to avoid travel to Ukraine - following reports that two Americans have been captured by Russian forces.

John Kirby, a National Security Council spokesman, told reporters that the claims have not yet been verified.

But if they are the US will do "everything we can" to get its citizens back, he said.

Delivering his no-travel advice, Kirby said: "If you feel passionate about supporting Ukraine, there are any number of other ways of doing that which are safer and just as effective."

Ever since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, China has sought to remain neutral on the conflict, calling for a peaceful solution.

And in a call today, China's President Xi Jinping assured Russian President Putin of Beijing's support for Moscow's "sovereignty and security", according to news agency AFP.

But the US has expressed concern, warning that nations which side with Putin over his invasion of Ukraine will be "on the wrong side of history".

"China claims to be neutral, but its behaviour makes clear that it is still investing in close ties to Russia," AFP quotes a US State Department spokesperson as saying.

China's bilateral trade with Russia surged in the first quarter of the year, rising by 28% from the previous year, according to Chinese customs data.

Image source, b

A little more from US General Mark Milley, who has said the Russians have lost roughly 20-30% of their armoured force during the war in Ukraine.

"That's significant, that's huge," the chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff told journalists at Nato's headquarters in Brussels.

He said that although the Ukrainians were outgunned and outnumbered in the eastern Donbas region, "war is not just a game of numbers, it's how you use them".

The Russians were carrying out mass firing "without necessarily achieving military effect", he said.

But the Ukrainians were using "much better artillery techniques" and "fighting a very effective fight tactically with both fires and manoeuvres", he added.

He also said reports in the media that 100 Ukraine soldiers were dying each day, with another 100-300 injured, were "in the ballpark" of US assessments.

Image source, Reuters

We reported earlier on a phone conversation between Russia's President Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping.

According to the Kremlin, they agreed to increase economic co-operation in the face of Western sanctions against Russia.

Now, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova has made further comments on the issue, speaking about Western countries' attempts to reduce their reliance on Russian oil and gas.

"China knows what it wants and doesn't shoot itself in the foot. While to the west of Moscow, they shoot themselves in the head," Zakharova told reporters, according to Reuters.

"The West isolated itself from us," Zakharova added.

She said Russia had previously held a "stable" attitude to "Western so-called partners", but said the West had "turned down this partnership and co-operation of mutual interest".

"All fundamental principles on which strategic stability and security were based have been undermined. Everything was destroyed single-handedly by the West," she said.

Jonathan Beale
Reporting from Stuttgart

Image source, IDCC

In the attic of an austere US military barracks in the German city of Stuttgart, dozens of military personnel from 26 nations are working round the clock to deliver weapons to Ukraine.

From this room, Western allies have already helped deliver nearly $8bn (£6.6bn) worth of weapons and ammunition to Ukraine's armed forces. That's 66,000 tonnes - the equivalent of 5,000 London double-decker buses, as one British officer worked out.

Most of what happens at Patch Barracks is highly classified. We are asked to leave all electronic devices behind and we are not allowed to film or talk to the Ukrainians who are part of the International Donors Coordination Cell.

Military personnel from dozens of countries bash the phones and pore over computer screens.

They include a small team from Ukraine, led by a three-star general. At the start of each day he sets out what his country needs. The situation in the Donbas appears increasingly bleak, but here in Stuttgart there's more a sense of urgency than panic.

Read more.

Image source, Alamy

Image source, .

Much of today's live page reporting has focused on the situation in the eastern Ukrainian city of Severodonetsk - which Russia is keen to seize so that it can take control of the entire Luhansk region.

The BBC World Service's Outside Source programme has been speaking to Maria, who is originally from Severodonetsk, but left several years ago and now divides her time between the UK and Dubai.

She told the programme that her father was killed by Russian troops in the early stages of the war.

Maria also told the World Service a bit about her home city.

Image source, Getty Images

Almost 10,000 Ukrainian civilians have been killed or wounded since the outbreak of the war, according to the United Nations.

Figures released by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, external today suggest that 4,452 civilians have been killed, while 5,531 have been injured.

The death toll since 24 February includes 280 children.

Most of the fatalities and injuries have been caused by the use of explosive weapons with a wide impact area, including shelling and rocket, missile and air strikes, the OHCHR says.

It believes that the actual figures are considerably higher than those reported, with casualties from areas of heavy fighting yet to be corroborated.

US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin has been speaking about the US and international effort to help arm Ukraine, including the latest $1bn in weaponry.

Asked if Ukraine had been sent "too little too late", he said the US and its allies "remain focused on Ukraine's needs".

He said they work closely with the Ukrainian leadership, including its defence ministry, who give them a picture of battlefield dynamics and discuss what it is required.

Currently they have requested long-range firing capability, armour and mid-range anti-aircraft capability, and also howitzers.

He said they are also looking ahead to what will be needed "several weeks and months" into the near-term future.

Image source, Reuters

US General Mark Milley, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, says the Himars rocket system, together with ammunition and trained crews, will be transferred to Ukraine by the end of this month.

This means in a few weeks they will have trained, long-range rocket artillery in the fight, he says.

Gen Milley - US President Joe Biden's most senior military officer - was speaking alongside Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin at Nato headquarters in Brussels.

The Himars system can launch multiple precision-guided missiles at targets as far as 70km (45 miles) away - far further than the artillery that Ukraine currently has.

The US has previously said it agreed to provide them only after gaining assurances from Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelensky that the weapons would not be used to attack targets inside Russia.

Gen Milley said the US and allies had trained 60 Ukrainian personnel on Himars, as well as 420 on M777 howitzers and others on armoured personnel carriers and unmanned aerial systems.

He said the international community had provided 97,000 anti-tank systems - more than there are tanks in the world.

Image source, Reuters

More now from US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin at Nato's headquarters in Brussels on the latest US package of support for Ukraine.

Speaking at a press conference, Austin said the $1bn package included guided MRLS munitions, 18 more M777 howitzers and the tactical vehicles to tow them, and 36,000 rounds of ammunition.

It also includes funds which will help Ukraine with two additional harpoon coastal defence systems and thousands of secure radios, night version devices, thermal sights and other optics, he added.

Austin said: "We'll deepen coordination and cooperation... and we'll continue to stand up for the rules-based international order that protects us all."