Russia-Ukraine war live: Russia launches missile attack on Kyiv hours before critical Nato summit begins

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Hungary‘s ratification of Sweden‘s Nato membership is “only a technical issue” now and the government backs Sweden’s bid, Reuters reports the foreign minister P?ter Szijj?rt? as saying as he was heading to the Nato summit in Vilnius.

Reuters has a quick snap that Norway‘s government has announced it will increase its military support to Ukraine by 2.5bn krone this year, taking it to 10bn (?740m/$960m).

Ukraine has said it shot down 26 Russian drones overnight, however two got through and caused damage in Odesa.

Citing the Ukrainian air force, Suspilne reported Russia attacked Ukraine with 28 Shahed drones from the south-eastern direction, of which 26 were shot down.

The report on Telegram continued:

Two kamikaze drones hit the administration building of a port facility in Odesa: two port terminals, including a grain one, caught fire. The fire was extinguished, there were no critical damages or injuries.

Odesa is one of the ports included in the Black Sea grain initiative, which expires next week.

Jen Stoltenberg, the Nato secretary general, has had some words for the media this morning. Reuters quotes him saying that Ukraine has come much closer to Nato, and that should be reflected in all Nato decision-making.

He said the wording of the final communique from the summit was being worked upon, and he was confident it would send a positive message on Ukraine’s path to membership.

Nato’s policy towards Russia increases the risk of direct conflict between bloc members and Moscow, Russia’s RIA news agency cited the Russian ambassador to Belgium as saying.

Reuters reports Alexander Tokovinin said the regional defence plans that Nato intends to adopt at the summit starting today would make the bloc’s confrontation with Russia more tense and prolonged.

Tokovinin was the latest Russian voice to echo this line, as rhetoric intensifies heading into the Nato summit in Vilnius.

Hungary’s farm minister will go to Turkey for talks with his Turkish counterpart about extending the deal that allows Ukraine to export grain from its Black Sea ports, the minister has said on Facebook.

“Turkey is a key player in the long-term handling of market difficulties caused by Ukrainian grain imports,” the Hungarian minister for agriculture said.

Reuters reports Istv?n Nagy said he was holding talks on behalf of countries in central and eastern Europe that had been affected by increased Ukrainian grain flows.

Ukraine has increased its reliance on grain export routes through eastern Europe since being invaded by Russia. Five countries – Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia – sought import restrictions on the shipments, which the EU allowed. They complained cheaper Ukrainian grain was making domestic production unprofitable.

The deal is due to expire next week. Moscow has repeatedly said it sees no grounds to extend it, complaining that western sanctions are impacting on its agricultural exports.

The US national security adviser, Jake, Sullivan said in comments a few minutes ago that the US and allies would “send a positive message” on Ukraine’s future membership of Nato at the summit, which kicks off today in Lithuania.

He also said a new Nato aid package for Ukraine would be agreed on.

Russian construction firms may be fined for failing to provide “volunteers” to serve in Ukraine, the UK Ministry of Defence said in its intelligence report this morning.

“Moscow’s municipal authorities are highly likely threatening to withdraw contracts from construction firms if they fail to hit quotas for providing ‘volunteers’ to serve in Ukraine. One company has reportedly been set a target of 30 volunteers by the end of August 2023,” the Ministry wrote.

It said the measure was likely to mainly impact ethnic minorities, “who make up the majority of Moscow’s construction workers” and that the move, “is highly likely at least tacitly endorsed by Moscow mayor Sergey Sobyanin. It continues his track record of trying to minimise the impact of the conflict on better-off Muscovites, while still being seen to support the war effort.”

Ukraine said on Monday its troops had caught occupying Russian troops “in a trap” in the shattered eastern city of Bakhmut, where its forces have been gaining ground as part of their counter offensive.

Russian accounts of the fighting said Moscow’s forces have repelled or contained Ukrainian advances in the east and south.

“Bakhmut. The enemy is caught in a trap,” General Oleksander Syrskyi, in charge of Ukraine’s ground forces, said on the Telegram messaging app. “The city is under the fire control of (our) defence forces…the enemy is being pushed out of their positions.”

In the south, General Oleksander Tarnavskyi said on Telegram Ukrainian forces were “on the move” and Russian forces had lost the equivalent of hundreds of men over 24 hours.

The Guardian was unable to verify these claims.

Ukraine’s Ministry of Internal affairs has posted its report of the overnight attack on Kyiv on Telegram, saying:

The remains of the Shahed were discovered in one of the settlements of the region. Windows and outbuildings of private households were damaged, and grass flooring caught fire. There were no victims reported.

Appropriate services are available on site.

Ukraine will be part of Nato, Zelenskiy said in his nightly address on Monday, and he expects to see an “algorithm” for Kyiv’s pathway to officially joining to emerge from the summit.

“We are still working on the wording, that is, on the specific words of such confirmation, but we already understand the fact that Ukraine will be in the alliance,” Zelenskiy said late on Monday in his nightly video address.

“And we are working to make the algorithm for gaining membership as clear and fast as possible.”

Zelenskiy said the Vilnius summit must confirm Ukraine is already “de facto” a member of Nato as it has its weapons and shares values with the alliance.

“Even if different positions are voiced, it is still clear that Ukraine deserves to be in the alliance,” Zelenskiy said. “Not now – there is a war, but we need a clear signal. And we need this signal right now.”

Russia launched an overnight air strike on Kyiv in early hours on Tuesday, Ukraine’s military said, just hours before the start of the Nato summit in Lithuania that is to tackle security threats from Moscow.

“The enemy attacked Kyiv from the air for the second time this month, Serhiy Popko, a head of Kyiv’s military administration, said in a post on the Telegram channel.

Ukraine’s air defence systems shot down all the Iranian-made Shahed drones Russia launched before they reached their targets, Popko said. There was no immediate information about damage or casualties.

Air raid alerts blasted over Kyiv for an hour and longer in other parts of Ukraine’s east, according to Ukraine’s Air Force.

The summit in Vilnius, which starts on Tuesday, will be dominated by the repercussions of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, with leaders set to approve Nato’s first comprehensive plans since the end of the Cold War to defend against any attack from Moscow.

Welcome back to our live coverage of the war in Ukraine. My name is Helen Sullivan and I’ll be bringing you the latest.

Russia launched an overnight airstrike on Kyiv in the early hours of Tuesday, Ukraine’s military said, just hours before the start of the Nato summit in Lithuania that is set to tackle security threats from Moscow.

“The enemy attacked Kyiv from the air for the second time this month”, Serhiy Popko, a head of Kyiv’s military administration, said in a post on the Telegram channel.

According to preliminary information, Ukraine’s air defence systems shot down all the Iranian-made Shahed drones Russia launched before they reached their targets, Popko said.

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on the eve of the Nato summit that Ukraine will be part of the alliance and expects from the meeting an “algorithm” for Kyiv to officially join it.

“We are still working on the wording, that is, on the specific words of such confirmation, but we already understand the fact that Ukraine will be in the alliance,” Zelenskiy said late on Monday in his nightly video address.

Other key recent developments:

A Russian attack on a humanitarian aid distribution point in south-eastern Ukraine killed seven people, emergency services said on Monday, while two people were killed by Russian shelling in the east. Yuriy Malashko, governor of Zaporizhzhia region, said a guided aviation bomb was used in Sunday’s attack on a school building being used to distribute aid in the small town of Orikhiv.

Turkey agreed on Monday to allow Sweden to join Nato, setting the stage for the allies to showcase their unity at a summit focused on supporting Ukraine against Russia’s invasion. Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdo?an’s block on Sweden’s membership bid had cast a cloud over preparations for Tuesday’s meeting, but the countries ironed out their differences in eleventh-hour talks in Vilnius.

Nato members are not expected to set clear preconditions for Ukraine’s eventual membership to the military alliance in the face of caution from the US and Germany while the war with Russia continues. Ukraine wants clarity on when and how it can join the alliance after the war with Russia ends, believing that western military protection is the only way it can remain unthreatened by its neighbour. However, it looks instead likely to be offered closer integration with Nato and a stronger political declaration in favour of its membership in principle.

The British prime minister, Rishi Sunak, has said he wants to work with allies to discuss a pathway for Ukraine to join Nato, but the exact mechanism was up for discussion, his spokesperson said on Monday, after talks with the US president, Joe Biden.

Russian president Vladimir Putin met with Yevgeny Prigozhin, the Wagner leader, just days after a short-lived rebellion by the mercenary chief and his private army, according to the Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov. A three-hour meeting took place on 29 June, which also involved commanders from the military company Prigozhin founded, Peskov said. Prigozhin has had a longstanding conflict with Russia’s top military brass which on 24 June culminated in an armed mutiny in which he led his fighters into Russia.

Ukrainian troops pressed on with their campaign to recapture Russian-held areas in the south-east on Sunday as president Volodymyr Zelenskiy said that his country’s forces had “taken the initiative” after an earlier slowdown. Russian accounts said heavy fighting gripped areas outside the eastern city of Bakhmut, captured by Russian mercenary Wagner forces in May after months of battles. Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov said one of his units was deployed in the area.

Russia will continue to cooperate with Beijing and can count on China’s “friendly shoulder”, the speaker of Russia’s upper house of parliament said on Monday after meeting Chinese president Xi Jinping in Beijing. “We can count on a firm and reliable friendly shoulder in China,” Valentina Matvienko said.