Russia-Ukraine war latest: at least 10 killed after missile strike hits busy shopping centre in Kremenchuk

Patrick Wintour

UN secretary general Antonio Guterres briefed the G7 leaders that his talks to lift the blockade on Ukrainian grain from ports on the Black Sea had reached “the moment of truth”, warning of dire consequences if a negotiated settlement is not reached soon between Ukraine and Russia.

Guterres told G7 leaders that UN teams were holding separate talks with Russia and Ukraine to ensure both sides’ grains and fertilisers reached the market.

He said a conditional agreement was in place whereby Ukrainian grain would leave three Ukrainian held ports including Odessa with Russian consent without the need for the de-mining of the ports that had been previously thought necessary. The ships would then travel through the Black Sea towards Turkey in designated safe lanes with oversight of the operation jointly being in the hands of Ukraine, Russia, Turkey and the UN. Ukraine has accepted a Russian demand that the grain ships are inspected in Turkish waters for weapons before they reach Ukrainian ports.

The separate discussions with Russia have focussed on ensuring the EU gives guarantees that no sanctions will be imposed on Russia grain exports, and insurance will be provided.

The two deals are conditional on another.

Although the EU commission president Ursula von der Leyen said at the Guterres briefing it was possible a silver lining was close, it has taken nearly a month to approach an agreement and no final settlement had been reached with Russia.

The report back on the talks by Guterres had been sought by the Italian prime minister Mario Draghi.

It is widely accepted that reopening of the sea lanes is critical, and the alternatives of transport via rail through Poland or to Romanian ports cannot reach the normal volumes of 5m tonnes of Ukrainian grain exports per month.

Ukraine has 25m tonnes of corn, sunflower oil, wheat and other agricultural products stored. It exported 1.11 million tonnes of grain in the first 22 days of June, down 44% from the same period in 2021.

Today so far

Rachel Hall

It has been another tragic day in the Ukraine invasion, with concerns mounting about intensified violence.

Here are the main events:

• A Russian missile strike hit a crowded shopping centre in the central Ukrainian city of Kremenchuk and killed at least 10 people and wounded 40.
• The regional governor of Kharkiv said that Russian shelling of the city of Kharkiv in north-east Ukraine killed four people and wounded 19 on Monday.
• Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskiy is understood to have told G7 leaders not to let the conflict in his country “drag on over winter”, and asked for anti-aircraft defence systems, more sanctions on Russia and security guarantees.
• The G7 issued a statement pledging to stand with Ukraine for “as long as it takes”.
• Russia imposed sanctions on 43 Canadian citizens and expelled eight Greek diplomats.
• Ukraine’s richest man filed a lawsuit against Russia at Europe’s top human rights court on Monday, seeking compensation over what he has said are billions of dollars in business losses since Russia’s invasion.

Thank you for following. I’m handing over to my colleague Vivian Ho in the US for the rest of the day.

The Russian missile strike that hit a crowded shopping centre in the central Ukrainian city of Kremenchuk has killed at least 10 people and wounded 40, a senior Ukrainian official has said.

The Guardian reporters Pjotr Sauer and Lorenzo Tondo report that Kyrylo Tymoshenko, the deputy head of the presidential office, said a rescue operation was under way and that nine of the wounded were in a serious condition.

Dmitry Lunin, the governor of the Poltava region, said that ten people were killed as a result of the blast, a number that he said could grow as more information becomes available.

Kremenchuk is the site of Ukraine’s biggest oil refinery and stands on the banks of the Dnieper River. The city serves as the administrative centre of the Kremenchuk district in Poltava oblast.

The Guardian’s updated full report is here:

Meanwhile, Reuters reports that a UN spokesperson has condemned the attacks as “deplorable” and expressed concerns about intensified violence.

It also reported that Ukraine’s air force command said the mall was hit by two long-range X-22 missiles fired from Tu-22M3 bombers that flew from Shaykovka airfield in Russia’s Kaluga region.

Russia did not immediately comment on the Ukrainian assertion. It has denied deliberately targeting civilians during in its “special military operation” in Ukraine.

“We need more weapons to protect our people, we need missile defences,” Andriy Yermak, head of the president’s office, said.

Vadym Denysenko, an interior ministry adviser, said Russia could have had three motives for the attack.

The first, undoubtedly, is to sow panic, the second is to… destroy our infrastructure, and the third is to… raise the stakes to get the civilised West to sit down again at the table for talks.

Russia, which has captured the eastern Ukrainian city of Sievierodonetsk after a weeks-long assault, has stepped up missile strikes across Ukraine in recent days.

Russian shelling of the city of Kharkiv in north-east Ukraine killed four people and wounded 19 on Monday, the regional governor said.

There was no immediate comment from Russia, which denies targeting civilians.

Oleh Synehubov, the governor of the Kharkiv region, said on the Telegram messaging app:

Doctors are providing all the necessary assistance. Information on the number of victims is being updated.

The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, and his Brazilian counterpart, Jair Bolsonaro, discussed global food security and confirmed their intention to strengthen their strategic partnership, the Kremlin said on Monday.

Putin assured Bolsonaro in a phone call that Russia would fulfil its obligations to supply fertilisers to Brazil, it added.

The Guardian’s Italy correspondent, Angela Giuffrida, reports on the impact of food insecurity caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on immigration in Italy:

People escaping famine in north African countries triggered by a shortage of grain due to Russia’s blockade on exports from Ukraine amid its invasion of the country have started to arrive in Italy.

Over the past six months, 26,000 people landed on Italy’s southern shores by boat, up 28% on the same period last year, according to a report in La Stampa newspaper on Monday that cited interior ministry figures.

The economic downturn prompted by the coronavirus pandemic has contributed to the rise in the number of people risking the often treacherous Mediterranean crossing, while more recent arrivals include those fleeing famine in countries in north Africa.

The majority arriving are Bangladeshi construction workers who had been working in Libya before the economic crisis hit, followed by those from Egypt, Tunisia, Afghanistan and Syria.

Luciana Lamorghese, Italy’s interior minister, said last week there risked being “an unprecedented humanitarian crisis”.

“Fifty per cent of wheat consumed in Tunisia comes from Ukraine. In both Tunisia and Egypt there is bread rationing, an effect induced by the war.”

Russia has declared eight Greek diplomats “personae non gratae” and given them eight days to leave the country, the Russian foreign ministry said on Monday.

Reuters reports:

The foreign ministry said it had summoned the Greek ambassador to protest over what it called “the confrontational course of the Greek authorities towards Russia, including the supply of weapons and military equipment to the Kyiv regime”.

The ministry said it had also protested against a Greek decision to declare a group of Russian diplomats “personae non gratae”.

The deputy head of the Ukrainian presidential office has said at least two people have been killed and 20 wounded in the missile strike on a shopping mall.

Kyrylo Tymoshenko, deputy head of President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s office, said nine of the wounded were in a serious condition following the missile strike on the city of Kremenchuk.

A missile strike has hit a crowded shopping centre in Kremenchuk, a city in central Ukraine on the banks of the Dnipro river.

The Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy has said that more than 1,000 civilians were in the shopping centre at the time of the strike, where a fire remains raging.

Reuters reports the president gave no details of casualties but said: “It is impossible to even imagine the number of victims.”

“It’s useless to hope for decency and humanity from Russia,” Zelenskiy wrote on Telegram.

The city’s mayor, Vitaliy Meletskiy, said the strike had caused deaths and injuries, but gave no figures.

Kremenchuk, an industrial city of 217,000 inhabitants before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, is the site of the country’s biggest oil refinery.

Footage circulating on social media shows fire raging and smoke billowing from the entirety of the shopping centre, with fire trucks parked nearby. The video was apparently circulated by Zelenskiy, but has not yet been independently verified.

Oliver Carroll, a correspondent for the Economist, reports “horror scenes”, citing a man speaking on the phone who said people were in the building and the walls were starting to fall in.

Nexta, a Belarussian news service operated in exile out of Poland, has posted a video of local residents helping medices to provide first aid to victims.

There was no immediate comment from Russia, which denies deliberately targeting civilians.