Ukraine: Multiple airstrikes hit Kyiv district — live updates

• Missiles strike Kyiv district
• G7 summit kicks off in Germany under shadow of Ukraine war
• Russia to send nuclear-capable missiles to Belarus

This article was last updated at 07:21 UTC/GMT

US, UK, Canada and Japan announce ban on Russian gold exports

The US, UK, Canada and Japan announced Sunday that they will be banning Russian gold exports. The joint action “will directly hit Russian oligarchs and strike at the heart of Putin’s war machine,” said British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
The move by the four G7 powers is supposed to prevent Russian oligarchs from buying gold to reduce the impact of sanctions against Russia. 
Gold accounts for about £12.6 billion pounds (€14.6 billion, or $15.5 billion) to the Russian economy, and is a major export for the country. Due to the sanctions imposed after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, many of the richest have converted their assets into gold to offset the impact of restrictions. 
The London Bullion Market had already suspended six Russian refineries in action announced on March 7. Given London’s central role in the international gold trade and parallel US, Japanese and Canadian action, “this measure will have global reach, shutting the commodity out of formal international markets,” Britain said.

UK intelligence: Sievierodonetsk is a ‘significant achievement’ for Russia in Donbas

Britain’s Ministry of Defense said most Ukrainian forces had withdrawn from their remaining defensive positions in the city of Sievierodonetsk.

The intelligence update said this was a significant development for Russia’s offensive with a focus on the Donbas region.

The British report said Russian forces will also need to advance on the major center of Kramatorsk and secure major supply routes to the Donetsk city if Moscow wishes to occupy the whole of the Donbas region.

Kyiv’s Shevchenkivskyi district struck by missiles

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said on Telegram that multiple explosions had taken place in the central Shevchenkivskyi district at around 6:30 a.m. local time (0330 UTC) on Sunday. 

The district is home to universities, restaurants, and galleries. 

“Ambulance crews and rescuers dispatched to the scene. Residents are being rescued and evacuated from two buildings,” he said.

At least five people were wounded when a missile hit a building, the head of Ukraine’s police force Ihor Klymenko said in a television interview.

Klitschko said the Russian missile strike was intended to “intimidate Ukrainians,” ahead of the NATO summit in Madrid from June 28-30.

Klitschko later said two people were hospitalized and rescue efforts were ongoing as people were trapped under the rubble. He said a seven-year-old girl had been rescued from the rubble, and her mother was currently being removed as well. 

Emmanuelle Chaze, DW’s correspondent in Kyiv, said one person was found dead after the shelling. 

Anton Herashchenko, an advisor to the Ukrainian interior minister, said a nine-story apartment building was struck, and another rocket hit the grounds of a kindergarten.

The AFP news agency had reported four explosions, adding that a residential complex near the center of the city had been hit, causing a fire and cloud of grey smoke.

G7 summit to start in Germany

Germany is hosting the G7 summit from Sunday to Tuesday at the Elmau luxury resort in the Bavarian Alps.

World leaders began arriving on Saturday, including US President Joe Biden. As well as attending the summit, Biden is due to meet for bilateral talks with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

Scholz has said it is important that the summit send a signal of united support for Ukraine.

Proposals to jointly increase pressure on Russia, collective military and humanitarian support for Ukraine, and the impact of the conflict in driving energy and food prices sharply higher will be focal points at the summit.

Putin promised to send Iskander-M missile systems to Belarus

Russia intends to supply nuclear-capable Iskander-M missile systems to Belarus in the coming months, President Vladimir Putin said on Saturday.

“In the coming months, we will transfer to Belarus Iskander-M tactical missile systems, which can use ballistic or cruise missiles, in their conventional and nuclear versions,” Putin said in a broadcast on Russian television at the start of his meeting with Belarusian strongman Alexander Lukashenko in Saint Petersburg.

Putin also said Russia would help Belarus upgrade its fleet of Su-25 fighter jets to make them capable of carrying nuclear weapons.

What happened in Russia’s war in Ukraine on Saturday

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Saturday urged fellow G7 leaders not to “give up” on Ukraine four months into Russia’s war. He also pledged fresh financial support for Kyiv.

In a late-night video address, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said his country had been hit by 45 Russian missiles over the previous 24 hours, which he described as a cynical attempt to break Ukrainians’ spirits.

The Ukrainian city of Sievierodonetsk in Luhansk Oblast is now completely under Russian control, a senior official from Russia’s Defense Ministry has said.

Ukraine’s largest LGBTQ rights event, KyivPride, has taken place jointly with Warsaw’s annual Equality Parade owing to restrictions imposed in Ukraine amid Russia’s invasion.

Buildings and infrastructure at a nuclear research facility in the northeastern city of Kharkiv has been damaged by Russian shelling, Ukraine’s State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate said.

Russia is drawing on reservists to replenish its forces in eastern Ukraine, the head of Ukraine’s military intelligence has told Reuters news agency.

Russia came down heavily on military sites in western and northern Ukraine with dozens of missiles targeting these locations.

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

dh/sms (Reuters, AFP, AP, dpa)

Article source: https://www.dw.com/en/ukraine-multiple-airstrikes-hit-kyiv-district-live-updates/a-62263282?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf