As we reported earlier, thousands of civilians are trapped in Severodonetsk with a diminishing supply of clean water, sanitation and electricity, according to the UN.

So what do we know about conditions in the key eastern Ukrainian city?

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There are clear parallels with the recent situation in the port city of Mariupol.

Both cities have suffered weeks of bombardment, and in both cities civilians have sought refuge in industrial plants.

In Mariupol, civilians and fighters were holed up for weeks in the Azovstal steelworks. In Severodonetsk it is in bunkers beneath the Azot chemical plant where people are taking shelter.

And like in Mariupol, efforts are now ongoing to establish humanitarian corridors in Severodonetsk to help civilians flee.

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Why is Severodonetsk being targeted?

Severodonetsk and its twin city Lysychansk are at the centre of the battle for Ukraine's eastern Donbas region.

They're important because if Russia takes them, it will control the whole of Luhansk - one of two areas which make up the Donbas.

Last week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky described them as "dead cities", because of the level of destruction Russia's bombardment has caused.

On Monday the local governor said all bridges to Severodonetsk have been destroyed and, with the city virtually isolated, delivering supplies and evacuating civilians seems impossible.

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We've got more detail now on US President Joe Biden's announcement of a $1bn package of security assistance and weapons for Ukraine.

Biden has also announced an additional $225m in humanitarian assistance to help people inside Ukraine, including by supplying safe drinking water, critical medical supplies and health care, food, shelter, and cash for families to purchase essential items.

"The bravery, resilience, and determination of the Ukrainian people continues to inspire the world. And the United States, together with our allies and partners, will not waver in our commitment to the Ukrainian people as they fight for their freedom," Biden says.

Biden also says he and Zelensky discussed US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin’s efforts in Brussels "to co-ordinate additional international support for the Ukrainian armed forces".

Speaking in Brussels where he is attending a conference of Nato member countries' defence ministers, Austin said earlier that Western countries must not "lose steam" when it comes to supporting Ukraine with weapons, as "the stakes are too high".

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The US is providing another $1bn in security assistance to Ukraine, President Joe Biden has announced.

This will include additional artillery and coastal defence weapons, as well as ammunition for artillery and advanced rocket systems for Ukraine's defensive operations in the Donbas, the White House said.

Biden, who said he spoke this morning to his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelensky, added: "I reaffirmed my commitment that the United States will stand by Ukraine as it defends its democracy and support its sovereignty and territorial integrity in the face of unprovoked Russian aggression."

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The death sentences given to the two Britons and a Moroccan national who were captured while fighting in Ukraine will set a "clear example to other soldiers of fortune fighting for Ukraine," according to Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova.

Aiden Aslin and Shaun Pinner were captured fighting with the Ukrainian army and tried as mercenaries by a Russian proxy court.

They went on trial in the so-called Donetsk People's Republic - a pro-Russian breakaway region in eastern Ukraine - alongside a third man, Moroccan national Saaudun Brahim.

The UK government and Ukraine's top prosecutor have said the sentences breach the Geneva Conventions.

Both men were already living in Ukraine at the time of the Russian invasion and their families say they were all contracted to fight for Ukraine.

Emily McGarvey
BBC News Live reporter

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As we've been reporting, thousands of civilians - including women, elderly people and children - are trapped in Severodonetsk with a diminishing supply of clean water, sanitation and electricity, according to the UN.

It said an urgent situation was developing in the bunkers beneath the Azot chemical plant in the key eastern Ukrainian city - where hundreds of civilians are taking shelter from intense fighting.

Saviano Abreu, a spokesman for the UN Humanitarian Affairs office, said the lack of water and sanitation was very worrying.

"It's a huge concern for us because people cannot survive for long without water," he said.

"If they have to rely on unsafe sources, it brings complications with health. We have to make sure, as soon as possible, the people who are still there have access to water."

The UN's humanitarian branch is making preparations to provide aid to those trapped in the city, but it does not currently have access or assurances to get to civilians safely.

Russia promised to open a humanitarian corridor to evacuate civilians from the area today but, so far, there has been no confirmation that this has gone ahead.

A terrorist attack targeting Ukraine's leadership has been thwarted by law-enforcement agencies, a government minister in Kyiv says.

Ukrainian First Deputy Interior Minister Yevhen Yenin says: "It is thanks to the information we are receiving from our operational sources that we have managed to prevent a terrorist act against the leadership of our country."

Speaking in a TV interview today, as quoted by the Interfax-Ukraine news agency, Yenin says he cannot disclose any details. But he says "it will be possible to tell about it in significantly more detail after the victory" in the war with Russia.

The BBC has not independently verified the minister's remarks.

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Western countries must not "lose steam" when it comes to supporting Ukraine with weapons, the US says.

"The stakes are too high," says Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin - who adds that the war has reached a "pivotal" moment.

Austin was speaking at a meeting in Brussels of dozens of countries supporting Ukraine.

Earlier, Nato Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said the military alliance would continue supplying Ukraine with arms.

Image source, AFP

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Resistance to the occupation of Mariupol continues, despite the city falling into Russian hands last month.

Writing on Telegram, external, Petro Andryushchenko, an adviser to Mariupol's Ukrainian mayor, said the city "did not accept the occupation".

He claimed two tow trucks and three other large vehicles were set on fire last week in the car park of the Russian Emergencies Ministry.

The post also detailed the fatal stabbing of a ministry employee in a crowd awaiting humanitarian aid near the city's metro.

"Retribution is near. Glory to Ukraine!," concluded the post, in a warning to Russian soldiers in the city.

The southern port city was all but destroyed by weeks of shelling and is now at risk of a major cholera outbreak, according to the UK's Ministry of Defence.

Contaminated food and water, as well as uncollected dead bodies and rubbish littering the streets, are contributing to the spread of disease, the MoD said.

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If you are just checking in, here's a summary of the main stories from the Ukraine war this afternoon.

• Thousands of civilians - including women, elderly people and children - are trapped in Severodonetsk with a diminishing supply of clean water, sanitation and electricity, according to spokesperson for the UN Humanitarian Affairs office, Saviano Abreu

• A pledge by Russia to establish a humanitarian corridor in order to evacuate civilians holed up in a chemical plant in Severodonetsk does not appear to have taken effect
• Thousands of civilians - including women, elderly people and children - are trapped in bunkers beneath the Azot chemical plant in the city with a diminishing supply of clean water
• Russian media and separatist officials have blamed Ukraine for the civilian's plight, claiming the Ukrainian soldiers who have taken refuge in the factory are using them as human shields
• Severodonetsk's mayor says the Ukrainians are still in control of the industrial district of the city and denies it has been completely cut off - although most of it is in Russian hands
• The spike in global food prices is "a direct consequence" of Russia's war in Ukraine, says Nato chief Jens Stoltenberg - and cannot be blamed on Western sanctions
• The Nato secretary-general says the export of food from Ukraine is 'critical'; Turkey says it is awaiting a Russian response to its plan to create "safe corridors" in the Black Sea for Ukraine's grain
• Nato will continue to supply Ukraine with heavy weapons and long-range systems, with a new package of assistance to Kyiv set to be agreed at a summit in Brussels imminently

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Russian occupying forces in Melitopol, in southern Ukraine, are plundering the cherry and sunflower seed harvests, the local mayor has alleged.

Ivan Fedorov accuses Russian troops of effectively looting two local cherry companies "removing 100% of the harvest and installing their own management there".

Russians were also paying paltry amounts to small farmers for their cherry harvests, he said, in comments reported by the Kyiv-based Unian news agency.

Fedorov also claimed the sunflower harvest was being exported to Crimea by lorry and train.

He said Russians began to remove the sunflower seeds "maximally", from both farmers and elevators [storage containers for grain], earlier this week.

Nato says Russia's invasion of Ukraine has triggered a hike in global food prices - and the subsequent threat of hunger for many of the world's most poor

Jonathan Beale
BBC defence correspondent

UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace says he expects the delivery of British multiple rocket launch systems to Ukraine to be completed “imminently”.

Speaking at a press conference with his Norwegian counterpart, Wallace says the UK is also still looking at supplying Ukraine with Harpoon anti-ship missiles. Denmark and the Netherlands have already sent Harpoon missiles and land-based launchers to Ukraine.

Wallace says the UK version of the missile is slightly different and normally launched from a ship. The UK will have to ensure its missiles are compatible with the systems already supplied.

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Ukrainian troops are currently in the UK being trained in how to use the multiple rocket launchers as well as light artillery field guns being supplied by a number of nations.

It’s believed the UK is supplying three multiple rocket launchers to Ukraine, but the MoD has not confirmed that figure. The US is sending four of its Himars rocket launch systems to Ukraine.

This afternoon, US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin is chairing a meeting in Brussels of the “contact group” of nearly 50 nations who’ve pledged support for Ukraine.

Image source, US Department of Defense

Sebastian Usher
Middle East Editor, World Service

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As part of moves by the EU to try to end its reliance on gas supplies from Russia, the bloc has signed a provisional deal with Israel and Egypt for the export of natural gas.

The deal would see a significant increase in the amount of Israeli natural gas exported to Egypt, where it can be liquefied and then sent on to European markets.

Israel is estimated to have gas reserves of at least one trillion cubic metres. Two routes to bring the gas to Europe are currently under consideration - the Egypt route is one option, while a projected pipeline through Turkey is another.

Russia supplies the EU with 40% of the natural gas it imports.

EU officials say the bloc's dependence on Russian gas allows Moscow to practice a form of blackmail over Europe. In March, the EU committed to reducing gas imports from Russia by two-thirds within a year.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen says: "This is a big step forward in the energy supply to Europe but also for Egypt to become a regional energy hub."

Read more: Matt McGrath on the EU's energy plans

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Ukraine exported 40% less grain in the first half of June than in the same period in 2021.

The Ministry for Agrarian Policy and Food blamed the drop on Russia's blockade of Ukrainian ports on the Black Sea, the Interfax-Ukraine news agency reports.

However, across the year, the ministry also said that overall export - from July 2021-June 2022 - 10.3% higher than the previous 12 months.

Meanwhile, First Deputy Agrarian Policy and Food Minister Taras Vysotskyy says if Ukraine's ports remain blocked, it will use mobile grain elevators to store grain that cannot be exported.

"Mobile elevator banks and containers are being brought in now as a Plan B to store grain if quick export is impossible," he says.

It comes amid concern Ukraine will be unable to find storage for 15m tonnes of grain by October.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping have spoken on the phone today, and have agreed to increase economic co-operation in the face of Western sanctions on Russia, the Kremlin says.

"It was agreed to expand co-operation in the energy, financial, industrial, transport and other areas, taking into account the situation in the global economy that has become more complicated due to the unlawful sanctions policy of the West," the Kremlin said.

Image source, Reuters

Rob Cameron
Reporting from Prague

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Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky has addressed members of the Czech parliament via videolink, and compared his country's plight with the Soviet-led invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968.

President Zelensky thanked the Czechs for their support - providing heavy weapons at a crucial point in the conflict.

"We are with you, be with us," he said, quoting a famous line from one of the last radio broadcasts in 1968 before Russian soldiers took over the Czechoslovak Radio building.

He said Ukraine was now using the same words to appeal to all democratic nations of the world.

Zelensky also warned Vladimir Putin would not stop at Ukraine, and the whole of central and eastern Europe was at risk from Russian aggression.

Sofia Bettiza & Svyatoslav Khomenko
BBC News

A video of an elderly Ukrainian woman brandishing a Soviet flag went viral and become the stuff of Kremlin propaganda, but what really happened? We tracked her down to try to establish the truth.

The woman has become known as Babushka Z - "grandmother" in Russian, the Z referring to the symbol often painted on armoured vehicles.

She is gobsmacked when we show her photos of her newfound fame. "I've never seen any of it," she says.

The video shows her walking towards two Ukrainian soldiers holding a Soviet flag.

The soldiers say they have arrived to help and offer her a bag of food. Then they take the flag off her, throw it on the ground and stamp on it. So the woman, feeling insulted, gives the food back to them.

For the Kremlin, this was gold. Russian propaganda is rarely able to centre on individuals. Within days, her image started to appear everywhere.

Her real name is Anna Ivanovna and we tracked her down to Velyka Danylivka, a village near Kharkiv in north-eastern Ukraine.

Her story is very different from the image that the Russian media has been painting. She does not support the war.

So why did Anna greet soldiers with the flag?

She says she has been misunderstood. She claims she confused the two Ukrainian soldiers offering her food with Russian soldiers. "I was just happy that Russians would come and not fight with us. I was happy that we would unite again."

Read the full story here.

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More now from Turkey's Foreign Minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu, who says the country is awaiting a response from Russia for the establishment of a "safe corridor" for grain transfers from Ukraine, without having to clear mines in part of the Black Sea.

Now, Cavusoglu has detailed a UN plan to create a sea corridor from Ukraine for grain exports, saying that safe routes could be formed without needing to clear the mines around Ukrainian ports.

The move differs from his earlier proposal to de-mine Ukraine's ports, a move that Kyiv fears would leave it far more vulnerable to Russian attack from the Black Sea.

Cavusoglu discussed the plan with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Ankara last week, but said further discussions with Moscow and Kyiv were needed. Lavrov said Ukraine would have to clear mines around its ports itself for commercial ships to approach.

He said it would "take some time" to de-mine Ukraine's ports and that a safe sea corridor could meanwhile be established in areas without mines under the UN proposal, adding that Turkey was still awaiting Moscow's reaction to the plan.

Image source, Reuters

Swedish furniture company Ikea is the latest firm to cut back operations in Russia, announcing today that it had made the "difficult decision" to scale down its business after "businesses and supply chains across the world have been heavily impacted".

"We do not see any possibility to resume sales in the foreseeable future," the company said in a statement.

In March, Ikea temporarily closed stores and paused sourcing in Russia as a consequence of the war in Ukraine, but it had continued paying its employees.

Ikea said it would start looking for new owners of four of its factories in Russia.

Hundreds of international brands, including Starbucks, Coca Cola, Levi's and Apple, have left Russia or suspended sales there since the country invaded Ukraine in February.

Image source, AFP via Getty Images

As we've been reporting, Russian media is blaming the Ukrainian army for bringing the trapped civilians in Severodonetsk to the Azot chemical plant to use them as human shields.

Now, a pro-Russian separatist official has blamed Ukrainian forces for disrupting the evacuation of civilians holed up in the Azot plant.

"At Azot, militants are trying to disrupt the evacuation! From the territory of the plant, the militants have begun firing from a mortar and a tank," Rodion Miroshnik, the "ambassador" to Moscow of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People's Republic, said on Telegram.

He said that currently, "the withdrawal of the civilian population from the territory of Azot is completely thwarted" by Ukraine's military.

Russia had pledged to spend the day opening a "humanitarian corridor" from the plant in Severodonetsk, where hundreds of civilians are reportedly sheltering alongside Ukrainian soldiers.

A spokesperson for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs told the BBC that civilians trapped in plant have stayed there because they have "nowhere safe to go" after a number of houses and civilian infrastructure were destroyed by Russian shelling.

Severodonetsk's mayor says the Ukrainians are still in control of the industrial district of the eastern city which has become a focal point for the war.

Oleksandr Stryuk says, in an update on Telegram,, external defenders control that area and its perimeter – "which makes it possible to connect with Lysychansk" – the neighbouring city across the river.

"Efforts are being made to push the enemy back towards the city centre. It's a permanent situation with partial success and tactical retreat in places.

"The situation is difficult but stable," he says.

Stryuk also says the city has not been completely cut off.

"The fact the bridges have been blown up has made things rather complicated, but at the same time there are routes to pull back, even if they are rather dangerous. You can't say that the city has been completely cut off."

After a month of intense fighting and bombardment, most of the city is reportedly now in the hands of the Russians.

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