Ukraine orders forces from Sievierodonetsk: governor

• Russia's assault on Ukraine enters fifth month

• Germany to hold conference on world food crisis amid Black Sea port blockade

• Ukraine granted EU candidate status

• Luhansk governor says Ukrainian forces ordered to withdraw from Sievierodonetsk

This article was last updated at 2330 UTC/GMT

This live updates article has been closed. Click here for the latest developments on Russia's war in Ukraine.

Canada blames Putin for causing famine for developing world

Canada's minister of international development, Harjit Sajjan, told DW that Russian President Vladimir Putin "needs to be held accountable" for the suffering he has caused by blocking food exports from Ukraine.

"Vladimir Putin's war has not only caused needless suffering for the Ukrainian population but is now creating famine for the developing world," the minister said.

Sajjan also said he understood the anger of developing nations whose populations were going hungry because grain supplies from Ukraine were not reaching them.

"This is the sole responsibility of Vladimir Putin. He is purposely blocking access to food, purposely allowing people to die, and this is wrong, and he needs to be held accountable," Sajjan said.

Zelenskyy vows to help Georgia on its way to EU

Tens of thousands of people turned out in the Georgian capital of Tbilisi on Friday to call for the country's accession to the European Union.

The demonstration came after EU leaders granted Ukraine and Moldova candidate status on Thursday at an EU summit, while Georgia was given the prospect of becoming an official candidate once it carries out reforms.

Demonstrators also called for Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili to resign, saying his government has not sufficiently pushed for Georgia to become an EU membership candidate.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addressed the protesters via video link, saying that Ukraine will help Georgia on its way to the EU.

He also said he is grateful to Georgians fighting against Russia together with Ukrainians.

"We will never give up, because Donbas and Crimea are our land just as Abkhazia and South Ossetia are your land. And even if someone wants to forget about it, if someone wants to erase it, we will remind them of it. We will stand by you," Zelenskyy said.

Zelenskyy calls on Ukrainians to be proud of EU candidate status

In his nightly address, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukrainians should appreciate and be proud of the country's EU candidate status.

He mentioned the public discussion of the conditions that Ukraine must meet to become a member of the EU but asked the Ukrainian public to realize what the country has already achieved.

"Let us rejoice at least a little, quietly, modestly, in our souls, let us rejoice for ourselves, our state. Let's feel the moment and the taste of this moment,” Zelenskyy said.

He compared the path to EU membership to climbing Mount Everest.

“Imagine conquering Everest. We reached the penultimate point, did not look around, did not take a breath, and talk about the further way to the top ... Or maybe first we will remember that we overcame 7 thousand meters? Do not be ashamed to talk about our achievements," the Ukrainian president said.

Ukraine accuses US-sanctioned lawmaker of working for Russia

Ukraine's domestic security agency, the State Security Service (SBU), said it had uncovered a Russian spy network involving Ukrainian lawmaker Andriy Derkach.

The SBU accused him of setting up a network of private security firms to help ease and support the entry of Russian units into cities during Moscow's invasion. They said Derkach received million of dollars every several months to do this.

The SBU cited testimony from Derkach's parliamentary aide Ihor Kolykhayev, who was arrested at the beginning of the war.

Kolykhayev said Derkach's security firms "had to ensure the passage of [Russian] vehicles, get into armored vehicles with Russian flags, and thus ensure [the Russian army's] peaceful entry into the city."

Derkach could not immediately be reached for comment. He has previously denied wrongdoing and said he had been targeted for exposing corruption.

The US government had previously labeled him as an "active Russian agent" for attempts to influence the 2020 US presidential election.

Moscow warns Ukraine, Moldova's candidate status detrimental to the EU

Russia's foreign ministry described the decision by European Union leaders to accept Ukraine and Moldova as membership candidates as a move to "contain Russia" geopolitically and said it would have negative consequences.

The ministry's spokesperson, Maria Zakharova said the EU was sacrificing its democratic ideals at the expense of "unrestrained expansion and the political and economic enslavement of its neighbors."

She said it was an attempt to encroach on Russia's sphere of influence within the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) made up of ex-Soviet states.

"They are not thinking of the negative consequences of such a step," she said.

Ukraine wants 'fire parity' with Russia

Ukraine needs "fire parity" with Russia, Ukraine's top general told his US counterpart during a phone call on Friday.

"We discussed the operational situation and the delivery flow of international technical assistance," Ukraine's General Valeriy Zaluzhniy wrote on the Telegram app after a phone call with US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Mark Milley.

Ukraine has said Russia's artillery advantage on the Donbas frontlines is taking a significant toll on its troops.

Kyiv has called on its Western partners to supply more weapons to minimize the deficit.

Auschwitz Museum says it's a target of Russian propaganda

The Auschwitz-Birkenau museum denounced posts on Russian social media accounts suggesting the World War II sites were used to spread hate against Russians as "primitive" propaganda.

The museum said that social media posts falsely claim to show anti-Russian stickers placed around the memorial at the former Auschwitz death camp in southern Poland.

"Russia and Russians,'' the stickers appearing in fake images say, "the only gas you and your country deserve is Zyklon B.''
That is a reference to the gas the Nazis used in the mass murder of Jews.

The images were tweeted by official Russian sites, including the Russian Arms Control Delegation in Vienna, and retweeted by the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The Auschwitz Museum said it found no such stickers at the places depicted in the images and security cameras did not capture anyone affixing anything to the locations.

"Everything indicates that the photographs are simply a manipulation,'' the museum said, describing the images as "primitive and gross propaganda.''

G7 foreign ministers blame Russia for the worsening global hunger crisis

The foreign ministers of the G7 have blamed Russia for worsening the global hunger crisis and called on Moscow to un-block the Ukrainian Black Sea ports for food exports.

"All G7 sanctions include exemptions to allow Russian food and agricultural products to get to global markets," the ministers said in a statement issued by the German Foreign office.

Earlier German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said Russia was using hunger "as a weapon" and "taking the whole world hostage."

Speaking at a G7 foreign minister meeting on food security in Berlin, Baerbock said the food crisis was partly to do with climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic, "but only with Russia's invasion of Ukraine did the wave become a tsunami."

Baerbock said that the situation is drastic, with 345 million people at risk of suffering from food scarcity.

"It is a hunger crisis that is looming over us like a life-threatening wave," she said.

Putin blames Western sanctions for food crisis

President Vladimir Putin says the war in Ukraine was not to blame for the global food crisis, and pointed instead to the restrictions the West had placed on Russia.

The Russian leader blamed Western countries, especially the United States, for "destabilizing global agricultural production" with restrictions on fertilizer delivery from Russia and Belarus and by "making it difficult" for Moscow to export grain.

He made the accusations even though Europeans do not prohibit importing and transporting Russian agricultural goods or payment for Russian imports.

Putin addressed a "BRICS Plus" virtual summit that brought together the leaders of 17 countries, including China, India, Brazil, and South Africa.

He slammed the "hysteria" surrounding grain that has been trapped in Ukrainian ports since the start of Russia's invasion, saying that it "does not solve any problems on the global grain market."

Lavrov accuses EU, NATO of preparing to wage war on Russia

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov accused the European Union and NATO of joining forces to wage war on Russia.

"The EU, together with NATO, is also putting together such a modern coalition for a fight and ultimately for a war on the Russian Federation. We will watch all this very closely," he said during a visit to Azerbaijan.

On the EU summit's decision to grant Ukraine candidate status, Lavrov said it did not pose a "threat or risk" to Russia because the bloc is not a military alliance like NATO.

But he said the Kremlin thinks the EU's stance and outlook have become more anti-Russian.

"We are well aware that the EU evolved over the past few years, getting an aggressive ideological background, first of all, a Russophobic background,'' Lavrov said.

IAEA 'increasingly concerned' for staff at Zaporizhzhia power plant

The UN's nuclear watchdog is anxious about the conditions Ukrainian staff are working in at the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.

"The IAEA is aware of recent reports in the media and elsewhere indicating a deteriorating situation for Ukrainian staff at the country's largest nuclear power plant," the International Atomic Energy Agency said in a statement.

It added that it was "increasingly concerned about the difficult conditions facing staff."

Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine is Europe's largest, and the IAEA demanded access to verify the inventory of nuclear material held at the plant.

Zelenskyy calls on Glastonbury fans to 'spread the truth about Russia's war'

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has made one of his now-trademark video-link appearances at the Glastonbury music festival in southwest England, calling on fans to urge politicians to help end Russia's invasion of his country.

"Russia has stolen our peace," he said in his English-language appeal.

Ukrainians also wanted to "to live life as we used to and enjoy freedom and this wonderful summer" following the COVID pandemic, he said. "But we cannot do that because the most terrible (thing) has happened."

He urged the crowds to "spread the truth about Russia's war" and help Ukrainian refugees.

"Put pressure on all the politicians you know to help restore peace in Ukraine. Time is priceless and every day is measured in human lives," he added.

The famous festival is taking place for the first time since 2019 after a two-year break amid the pandemic.

Russia's Ukraine invasion has made hunger crisis a 'tsunami': German foreign minister

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has told a conference on food security in Berlin that "more than €44 billion ($46.4 billion)" will be needed to help fight a growing hunger crisis in many world regions, saying only half that money had been raised so far.

She said 345 million people were at risk of suffering from food scarcity, calling the situation  "a hunger crisis that is looming over us like a life-threatening wave."  

Baerbock said that climate change and COVID-19 pandemic had contributed to the crisis, "but only with Russia's invasion of Ukraine did the wave become a tsunami," accusing Russia of using hunger "as a weapon" and "taking the  whole world hostage."

Speaking at a joint press conference, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Russia's war against Ukraine, and not Western sanctions, will cause 40 or 50 million more people to go hungry.

"There is no reason other than Russia's blockade of Ukraine and Russia's refusal in many cases to export its own grain for political reasons," said Blinken.

Blinken was seemingly responding to claims by Moscow that Western sanctions and Ukrainian actions are to blame for the current food crisis.

Moscow calls Ukraine's EU candidacy 'domestic' affair

The European Union's decision on Thursday to grant official EU candidate status to Ukraine was a "domestic" one and unlikely to worsen Moscow's already bad relations with the bloc, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has told reporters

"These are domestic European affairs. It is very important for us that all these processes do not bring more problems to us and more problems in the relations of these countries with us," he said, saying it would be "very difficult to spoil [Russian-EU relations] further."

Peskov also said that Moldova, which was also accorded EU candidate status, "wants to become European more than the Europeans themselves."

"It seems to them that the more anti-Russian they seem, the more Europeans should like them," he added.

Both Ukraine and Moldova are former occupied republics of the Soviet Union.

Germany looking to adapt Nord Stream 2 sections for LNG: Report

The German Economy Ministry is considering converting sections of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline into a connection for a liquefied natural gas terminal on the Baltic Sea coast as it seeks alternatives to Russian gas, the German news magazine Der Spiegel has reported.

The ministry is looking at possibly expropriating the part of the pipeline system located on German territory and cutting it off from the rest, Spiegel added.

Certification for the pipeline was suspended by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on February 22, 2022, over Russia's recognition of the self-declared Donetsk and Luhansk republics and the deployment of Russian troops in territory held by the two Moscow-backed entities.

The Switzerland-based Gazprom subsidiary Nord Stream 2 AG filed for bankruptcy on March 1, 2022.

Russian-backed official in Ukraine's Kherson killed by car bomb: Russian news agencies

A Moscow-appointed official in the Kherson region of Ukraine has been killed by an explosive device planted in his car, the Russian Interfax and other news agencies have reported.

The death was later confirmed by the deputy head of the Kherson region, Kirill Stremousov, also appointed by Moscow

"Today, my friend, head of the department of family, youth and sports of the Kherson region, Dmitry Savluchenko, passed away,"  Stremousov said on Telegram, calling the death the "result of a terrorist act."

It is the first confirmed death of pro-Russian official in such an attack.

In early June, the US think tank The Institute for the Study of War noted that there was "an increase in partisan activity in southern Ukraine" directed at Russian-installed officals and troops amid growing resistance on the part of local populations.

Kherson is located near Ukraine's Crimean peninsula, which Russia invaded and annexed in 2014, and was one of the first regions to be occupied by Russian forces when they started their latest invasion of Ukraine on February 24.

Russia could stop gas deliveries to Germany: Regulator

Russia might completely cut off its supply of gas to Germany, leading to shortages and large price rises, according to the chief of the country's Federal Network Agency, the body that regulates energy markets.

If Russian gas supply were to cease, it would likely "result in either too little gas at the end of winter or already — a very difficult situation — in the fall or winter," Klaus Müller told German public broadcaster ARD.

Müller urged consumers to reduce gas use as much as possible in their homes, warning that they should put money aside in view of the fact that heating bills could double or even triple.

On Thursday, the German government declared the second "alarm" level  of its gas emergency plan following a significant reduction in gas deliveries from Russia.

A planned dayslong maintenance shutdown in mid-July of the Nord Stream 1 pipeline that carries gas from Russia to Germany has sparked fears over whether Russia will turn the gas back on when work is finished.

Ukraine pulling back soldiers from Sievierodonetsk: Governor

Ukraine has ordered the withdrawal of its troops from the battleground twin city of Sievierodonetsk, where Russian forces have slowly advanced over the last several weeks, Luhansk governor Serhiy Gaidai said on Friday.

"Ukrainian armed forces will have to retreat from Sievierodonetsk. They have received an order to do so,"  the governor of the region, which includes the city, said on Telegram.

"Remaining in positions smashed to pieces over many months just for the sake of staying there does not make sense," the governor said.

Sievierodonetsk is the last major city in the Luhansk region still partially under Ukrainian control.

Ukraine repels Russian attack on Lysychansk but loses key village, says governor

Ukrainian soldiers held off a Russian attack on the southern outskirts of Lysychansk in the Luhansk region, Serhiy Gaidai, the area's governor, said on Telegram on Friday.

However, the governor added that Russia had seized control of the village of Mykolaivka, which is situated near a crucial highway to Lysychansk. 

Lysychansk, the focus of intense fighting, is the last city in Luhansk that Ukraine still fully holds.

US senator urges safety review of Russian air carriers

US Senator Marco Rubio, the top Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee, called on the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to probe the safety of Russian airlines.

Sanctions have crippled the Russian airline industry, preventing Moscow from acquiring new parts and planes. It has also denied Russia access from some forms of technical support for aircraft.

Although the US, Canada, and the EU have banned Russian planes from their airspace, Russian commercial carriers are still flying routes in regions such as the Middle East and Asia-Pacific. These flights could pose a safety risk to Americans onboard. 

"So long as Russian airlines maintain such operations, they pose a potential threat to international travelers, as well as to Russians flying domestically," Rubio said in a request to the FAA.

"Many Russian airlines have attempted to evade stringent US export controls, continuing to operate flights to Beijing, Delhi, Dubai and elsewhere after being blocked," he added. 

The FAA has not yet commented on the request, but earlier downgraded its air safety rating for Russia in April.

Russia's war enters 5th month

Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which began on February 24, is heading into its fifth month, with fighting now centered on Ukraine's eastern Donbas region.

Ukrainian presidential adviser Oleksiy Arestovych said the fighting in the Donbas is now "entering a sort of fearsome climax." Russia's attacks are targeting the twin cities of Sievierodonetsk and Lysychansk, the last remaining Ukrainian-controlled holdouts in Luhansk province.

Russia's attack has led to an unprecedented response from the West, with sanctions targeting the Russian financial, energy and travel sectors, among others.

On Sunday, leaders of the G7 nations will meet in Germany to further formulate their response to Russia's attacks. Next week, NATO will meet in Spain to discuss mutual security amid the invasion, with Finland and Sweden seeking to join the alliance.

What happened in Russia war in Ukraine on Thursday

Leaders of the European Union decided to make Ukraine an official candidate for membership in the 27-country bloc. The EU has been largely united in backing Ukraine since Russia invaded on February 24, adopting unprecedented economic sanctions against Moscow. Just four days after Russia launched its war, Ukraine applied to become a member of the EU. 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy welcomed the decision, calling it "a unique and historic moment" in relations with the 27-nation bloc. "Ukraine's future is in the EU," he tweeted.

The United States said it will send another $450 million (€428 million) in military aid to Ukraine. The package, which comes on the heels of a $1 billion military aid package announced last week, will include additional HIMAR medium-range missile systems.

Norway and the European Union struck an agreement that will increase gas Norwegian exports to its partners in the EU. The news comes as several EU countries face gas shortages as a result of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Before Moscow's February 24 invasion, the EU was importing about 20% of its gas from Norway as compared to 40% from Russia.

A dozen EU member states have suffered reductions in gas supply from Russia, according to Frans Timmermans, the bloc's climate policy chief.

Moscow has halted gas exports to Poland and the Netherlands as a result of the conflict. Germany announced that it had officially entered Phase 2 of its Emergency Energy Plan, which could trigger higher prices as well as increased dependency on the country's coal industry.

So far, 152 cultural and historic heritage sites in Ukraine have been fully or partially destroyed since Russia began its invasion, said experts from the UN's cultural agency, UNESCO.

Among the damaged or destroyed sites are museums and monuments, churches and other religious buildings, and libraries and other exceptional buildings, UNESCO said in an updated assessment.

Russian troops or officials who are found to have knowingly damaged Ukraine heritage sites could be prosecuted under international law, UNESCO has warned.

Click here to catch up with all of Thursday's major developments regarding the war in Ukraine.

lo,wd/sms (Reuters, AFP, AP, dpa)