Russia Ukraine war live: UK pledges missiles worth £162m as Kyiv appoints new foreign minister

A father has misplaced his whole household after his home was destroyed throughout Russia’s assault on the western Ukrainian metropolis of Lviv.

Yaroslav Bazylevych’s spouse Eugenia and the couple’s three daughters, Yarya, 21, Daria, 18 and Emilia, seven, have been all killed on Wednesday morning.

The assault led Lviv mayor Andriy Sadovyi to accuse Russia of “eliminating Ukrainians by (killing off) whole households”.

Ukrainian emergency providers mentioned his daughters – Daryna, 18, her sisters Yaryna, 21, and Emilia, 7, and their 43-year-old mom Yevhenia have been killed whereas sheltering within the staircase of their residential constructing.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky will probably go to the US air base in western Germany immediately to request elevated Western army assist, in response to German journal Der Spiegel.

Ukraine’s allies face renewed calls from Mr Zelensky for extra air defences and loosened restrictions on how far into Russia Ukraine can fireplace American-provided munitions.

“Air defence methods and missiles are wanted in Ukraine, not in a warehouse someplace,” Mr Zelensky mentioned this week. “Lengthy-range strikes that may defend us from Russian terror are wanted now.”

High US army leaders, together with defence secretary Lloyd Austin, might be in Germany to debate Ukraine’s wartime wants after Russia performed one among its deadliest airstrikes within the battle and Ukraine continued its offensive in Russia’s Kursk area.

The British authorities will ship 650 light-weight multi-role missiles value £162m to assist defend the nation from Russian drones and bombing.

The brand new provide of missiles was introduced as British defence minister John Healey attended the Ukraine Defence Contact Group, an ad-hoc coalition of some 50 nations, at a US air base in Germany.

“This new dedication will give an necessary increase to Ukraine’s air defences,” Mr Healey mentioned.

The Ministry of Defence mentioned the missiles made by Thales have a spread of greater than 6km and may be fired from a wide range of platforms on land, sea and air.

In what seems to be the primary incident of its sort, the Belarus Air Pressure has shot down two assault drones launched by its ally Russia – suggesting they’d flown off target, a monitoring group claimed.

Belaruski Hajun, a monitoring group in Minsk, mentioned a number of Belarusian fighter jets have been scrambled to intercept the drones close to the town of Gomel round 1.30am native time. Gomel lies inside about 30km of the Ukraine-Belarus border.

That is the primary reported incident involving Belarusian Air Pressure aircraft efficiently downing Russian drones meant for Ukraine.

A 3rd Russian assault drone was additionally downed round 2.30am in Belarusian air area, the group mentioned however shared no extra info.

Russia launched one other large-scale drone assault on Ukraine in a single day, concentrating on a number of areas of the nation, Ukraine’s Air Pressure mentioned.

Ukrainian lawmakers voted on Thursday to nominate a brand new international minister and two new deputy prime ministers, as President Volodymyr Zelenskiy carries out his greatest authorities shakeup since Russia’s Feb. 2022 invasion.

Andrii Sybiha, 49, an skilled diplomat who doesn’t have a outstanding public profile, takes the reins of the international ministry, changing Dmytro Kuleba, who has been among the best identified public faces of Ukraine within the West in recent times.

The brand new international ministry management is just not anticipated to have an effect on coverage considerably; Zelenskiy and his workplace have taken the main function in international affairs in the course of the warfare with Russia.

The Ukrainian chief, who travels to the USA this month and hopes to current a “victory plan” to President Joe Biden, has mentioned that Ukraine wants “new vitality” and that this autumn might be necessary for Ukraine within the warfare.

Dmytro Razumkov, an opposition lawmaker, predicted the brand new appointments would change little, saying most choices have been made in Zelenskiy’s workplace, which was conferred appreciable new emergency powers underneath wartime martial legislation.

Ukraine has achieved rather a lot in its Kursk offensive into Russia nevertheless it’s arduous to say how the scenario will develop subsequent, Nato Secretary Normal Jens Stoltenberg advised reporters in Oslo on Thursday.

“Solely the Ukrainians could make the tough decisions which can be wanted, similar to the place to deploy their forces and what kind of warfare is acceptable on this scenario,” Stoltenberg mentioned.

Russian forces are advancing within the east of Ukraine whereas Ukrainian troops have made a daring incursion into Russia’s Kursk area, the place it on 6 August launched the largest international assault on Russia since World Warfare Two.

Mr Stoltenberg mentioned Ukraine has the correct to self-defence, together with with long-range missiles that may attain army targets on Russian territory.