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Live Reporting

Edited by Claire Heald

All times stated are UK

  1. What's happened today?

    We're wrapping up our live coverage of the war in Ukraine for the day. Here are the main headlines:

    Ukraine Recovery Conference:

    • World leaders and international organisations met in Lugano, Switzerland, to discuss the reconstruction of Ukraine
    • Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said Ukraine needs $750bn for a recovery plan in the wake of Russia's invasion
    • Ursula von der Leyen told the conference that the EU has mobilised around €6.2bn (£5.3bn) in financial support since the start of the war

    In other developments:

    • Turkish officials detained a Russian-flagged cargo ship off the Black Sea coast, which Ukraine claims is carrying stolen grain from Russian-occupied regions
    • UK PM Boris Johnson said G7 leaders are looking at the possibility of getting Ukrainian grain out of the country "in smaller quantities" via the River Danube
    • On the ground, Russian forces have captured the eastern city of Lysychansk, and claimed control of the wider Luhansk region
    • President Putin has congratulated Russian troops on "liberating" the area; Ukraine's President Zelensky has vowed to retake Luhansk
    • And Moscow has accused Ukraine of targeting civilians in a missile strike against the Russian city of Belgorod - but Kyiv has dismissed that claim

    That's it from us. Today's live page was written by Sam Hancock, George Wright, Catherine Evans, James Harness, Victoria Lindrea, Alexandra Fouché and Malu Cursino. Our editors were Jeremy Gahagan, Rob Corp, Heather Sharp and Claire Heald.

  2. Russian archbishop calls for end to bloodshed in Ukraine

    The archbishop of Russia's Belgorod western region has called for an end to the "bloodshed on Ukrainian soil" - in a rare display of public opposition to the Kremlin.

    His remarks - reported in the Russian media - followed a series of missile strikes on the Russian cities of Belgorod and Kursk on Ukraine's border - which Moscow has blamed on Kyiv.

    "Last night, missiles from the armed forces of Ukraine hit sleeping Belgorod people in residential areas," the archbishop wrote, in a statement posted on the church's official website.

    "Among the dead were residents of [Ukraine's] Kharkiv region who came to seek shelter from the war in peaceful Belgorod.

    "We call for a special prayer for the repose of the deceased and for the recovery of the injured; for an end to the bloodshed that is taking place on Ukrainian soil, but which today has also reached our homes."

  3. Fear and denial in damaged Russian city

    Steve Rosenberg

    BBC Russia editor, reporting from Belgorod

    Image caption: The site of the blast in Belgorod

    Developments now on the Russian side of the border with Ukraine...

    In her fifth floor apartment in the Russian city of Belgorod, Lidiya tells me of her narrow escape.

    "At 10 past three on Sunday morning I was woken by a blinding flash and a loud explosion. I ran onto my balcony and saw a giant ball of flames heading towards the building.

    "I ran inside. Suddenly all my windows shattered.

    "Down below I heard shouting and crying. I could see rescuers digging people out of the rubble and carrying away the bodies."

    Russia accuses Ukraine of launching three missiles at Belgorod.

    Ukrainian officials have denied it. But whatever it was that exploded in this southern city, the emergency has completely undermined Moscow's claim that it ordered troops into Ukraine to make Russia safer.

    In reality, the security situation in Belgorod, and other Russian regions near the Ukrainian border, has deteriorated since the invasion.

    "This is the first time something like this has happened in the city," Lidiya tells me. "There was no shelling in the city of Belgorod half a year ago."

    Local officials say four civilians were killed in the explosion and dozens of houses damaged.

    Across the border the scale of destruction has been far greater.

    Since the start of the Russian invasion, thousands of civilians have been killed in Ukraine and some cities have been reduced to rubble by repeated shelling.

    "We need to live in peace with Ukraine. We always used to," Lidiya tells me. "So many of us have relatives in Ukraine. And there are many Ukrainians living here."

    Most of the people I speak to in Belgorod are not so conciliatory.

    Read more here.

  4. WATCH: 'Oligarchs should pay for rebuild'

    Video content

    Video caption: WATCH: PM Denys Shmyhal says Russia's oligarchs should pay the estimated $750bn rebuild costs

    As we've been reporting, leaders from dozens of countries and international organisations are meeting in Switzerland to discuss the future of Ukraine.

    In a speech to the conference, Ukraine's Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal says the confiscated assets of Russia and its oligarchs should be used to rebuild his country.

    Shmyhal says Russia should be held accountable for the destruction caused by the war.

  5. WATCH: Rebuilding Ukraine not an insurmountable challenge - EU chief

    Video content

    Video caption: WATCH: Ursula von der Leyen says Ukraine can emerge from the war a stronger country

    Speaking at the Ukraine Recovery Conference in Switzerland, President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen says the Kremlin wants to undermine the existence of Ukraine.

    However, Ukraine can emerge from the war as a stronger and more modern country, she says.

  6. Ukraine to tackle corruption as part of its recovery plan

    As we've been reporting this afternoon, the Ukraine Recovery Conference is under way in Lugano, Switzerland.

    World leaders and international organisations have been discussing how they will support Ukraine in its recovery and reconstruction, following Russia's invasion on 24 February.

    Ukraine's Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said Ukraine needs $750bn for a recovery plan.

    Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, said the EU has mobilised around €6.2bn (£5.3bn) in financial support for Ukraine since the start of Russia's invasion.

    But, also on the agenda, are anti-corruption pledges and demands from Ukraine.

    Swiss President Ignazio Cassis, co-host of the conference, said: "It is crucial that these efforts continue unwaveringly, especially in the fight against corruption, improving transparency and the independence of the judiciary, and that they are not stalled by the war."

    A side event to discuss anti-corruption strategies has been organised alongside the two-day conference.

    This is co-hosted by the EU Anti-Corruption Initiative (EUACI), which was set up in 2017 with the aim of reducing corruption in Ukraine at the national and local level.

    Mathias Cormann, secretary general of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) spoke at the Ukraine Recovery Conference.

    He said Ukraine was working closely with the OECD in an anti-corruption initiative that aims to tackle bribery and other forms of corruption in the country.

  7. WATCH: Goal is for our 'Ukrainians friends' to win - PM

    Video content

    Video caption: UK goal is for our 'Ukrainians friends' to win - PM

    President Putin will find "new targets" if Russia is not stopped in its war against Ukraine, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson tells MPs in the House of Commons.

    He says the goal must be for "our Ukrainians friends" to win and that Ukraine and President Volodymyr Zelensky must have the "strength to finish this war".

    He's been updating MPs after the Nato summit in Madrid last week.

  8. G7 leaders looking at getting grain out of Ukraine via Danube, says UK PM

    Leaders of the G7 group of rich nations are looking at the possibility of getting much-need Ukrainian grain out of the country "in smaller quantities" via the River Danube river, UK PM Boris Johnson also tells MPs.

    The World Trade Organization said a food crisis as a result of the Ukraine war could last for years without intervention.

    Millions of tonnes of grain are sitting in warehouses and Ukrainian ports that cannot be exported due to a combination of anti-ship mines in the Black Sea and a Russian naval blockade.

    Read more on that here.

    Johnson says the UK is not looking at breaching the Montreux Convention - an international agreement that regulates maritime traffic in the Black Sea - and there are alternative solutions that don't involve the presence of British warships.

    Johnson says getting grain out of Ukraine "might involve a tougher approach, but what we are also looking at is the possibility of using the rivers, using the Danube in particular".

    But, he adds, this might have to be done "in smaller quantities" rather than "a giant maritime convoy" using the Black Sea.

  9. Boris Johnson's back from his travels after international summits

    Away from the action in Ukraine and in diplomatic moves, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has been updating the MPs in the House of Commons after he spent the last week attending international summits in Africa and Europe, where the conflict in Ukraine dominated.

    Here's what he had to say:

    • He described a Russian missile strike on a shopping centre in Kremenchuk as a "barbaric attack on an obviously civilian target" which has "strengthened the resolve of my fellow leaders" to provide Ukraine with more financial, military and diplomatic backing
    • The UK will join Japan, the US and Canada to ban imports of Russian gold
    • Not all Commonwealth countries agree that Putin's actions in Ukraine have raised prices - but he has tried to "counter the myths"

    Labour leader Keir Starmer replied:

  10. Volunteer fighters 'want payback', as Russians 'wipe out' Luhansk

    Sarah Rainsford

    Eastern Europe correspondent, reporting from Kyiv

    Image caption: (l-r) Mark, ‘Skif’ and Nikolai: mechanic, businessman and medic - turned soldiers

    Three Ukrainian soldiers who’ve served in the Donbas have described the fighting there as brutal. They say the Russian troops they faced are far more experienced and ruthless than those who tried to take Kyiv in the spring.

    “Russians like to destroy a city, a village, totally. Never mind who’s there - Ukrainian civilians or military,” Mark, a volunteer fighter just back from the front line in the Luhansk region, told me.

    He said Russia was using its overwhelming firepower to "wipe out" villages in its advance, leaving the Ukrainians with little cover.

    Another soldier, Nikolai, told me he’d be lying if he didn’t admit it was "terrifying".

    They asked for more support, more weapons.

    All three soldiers agree with Ukraine pulling back when its troops are outgunned: “It’s very hard to hold ground. It’s a lot of deaths. There’s nothing left there now anyway. No civilians. No city. They bombed it all."

    They can’t give details of casualties, but talked of "so many". “People we studied with, shared food with, volunteers like us. Many are gone.”

    And yet, they insisted they would go back to the Donbas within days to fight on.

    “We want payback,” said Nikolai. “And we want to protect our families, our friends, from the terrible things that Russians do with our civilians. [What happened in] Irpin, Hostemel, Bucha... we can’t let it happen again.”

  11. More than 10,000 left in Lysychansk - official

    Sophie Williams

    Reporting from Kyiv

    Turning to the situation on the ground in that region, Serhiy Haidai, head of Luhansk regional administration, says that more than 10,000 people are left in Lysychansk in eastern Ukraine.

    He made the remarks during an interview with Ukrainian media.

    Lysychansk is the latest city to have been taken by Russian troops.

    Ukrainian military said that after heavy fighting, defending forces were forced to withdraw from their positions.

  12. Russian cosmonauts celebrate Luhansk capture

    Image caption: Russian cosmonauts on the ISS held the flag of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People's Republic

    In March, not long after Russia invaded Ukraine, three Russian cosmonauts boarded the International Space Station wearing yellow and blue, in what many perceived as a show of support for Ukraine.

    They were warmly welcomed on board, hugging and greeting their American, Russian and German fellow crew members.

    The Russian space agency denied the claims.

    "Sometimes yellow is just yellow," said the Roscosmos space agency at the time.

    But now Denis Matveyev, Oleg Artemyev and Sergey Korsakov have been pictured celebrating Russia's capture of the last major city in the eastern Ukrainian region of Luhansk.

    Image caption: Many thought the team were showing solidarity with Ukraine in March, although the Russian space agency denied this

    The agency posted pictures of the three men smiling as they held up flags of Russia's proxies in eastern Ukraine, the self-proclaimed Luhansk People's Republic and Donetsk People's Republic.

    "This is a long-awaited day that the residents of the occupied areas of the Luhansk region had been waiting eight years for," Roscosmos wrote on the Telegram messaging app.

    "We are convinced that July 3, 2022, will forever remain in the history of the (Luhansk People's) Republic."

  13. What is the Ukraine Recovery Conference?

    As we've been reporting, leaders from dozens of countries and international organisations are meeting in Lugano, Switzerland to discuss the reconstruction of Ukraine.

    What's happening?

    It's an event that's been happening every year since 2017, usually called the Ukraine Reform Conference, but this year renamed the Ukraine Recovery Conference.

    It is usually an opportunity for Ukraine to show other nations the progress it is making and for international partners to express support.

    Why is this meeting so significant?

    This is the first URC since Russian's invasion in February, leaving those in attendance with the sizeable task of trying to map out Ukraine's road to recovery from a war that has left entire pockets of the country in ruins.

    It is not a conference where donors will be pledging money. It aims to establish the principle and priorities for a reconstruction project that is being compared in scale to the US Marshall Plan for Europe after the Second World War.

    What's on the agenda?

    Ukraine conference is expected to work towards a "Lugano Declaration" and to begin to work out a road map for the reconstruction of Ukraine.

    Kyiv's own recovery plan will be discussed, as well as roles and contributions of international partners.

    The conference website says social, economic, environmental and infrastructure recovery will all be considered, as well as reforms that are possible or necessary to implement in the current situation.

    What's needed for recovery?

    Ukraine's PM Denys Shmyal, who is in Switzerland at the summit, told attendees that his country needed $750bn for a recovery plan. It comes after more than $100bn worth of damage was caused to Ukrainian infrastructure during the fighting, he said.

  14. Analysis

    What will Russia's next move be, now Lysychansk has fallen?

    Joe Inwood

    Reporting from Kyiv

    It seems almost certain that Russia will push on to try and take the rest of the Donbas region, especially the cities of Slavyansk and Kramatorsk - both of which were shelled in recent days.

    Kramatorsk is said to hold particular significance to the separatist movement, being the site of the first uprisings in 2014.

    Beyond that, the wider Russian strategy is not clear.

    Much will depend on the state of their forces if - or when - they take the Donbas region.

    Putin has tacitly acknowledged this, saying: “The units that took part in active hostilities and achieved success and victory in the Luhansk direction should certainly rest and increase their combat capabilities.”

    If they are still making rapid advances, they could continue their push to take the entire south of Ukraine, up to and maybe even including the major city of Dnipro or beyond.

    If, however, they are as exhausted as many analysts predict, and as Putin hinted, it is conceivable they will declare an end to the “special military operation”, Russia’s euphemistic phrase for this full scale war.

    They might hope a unilateral ceasefire would take some steam out of the international support for Ukraine, with some, perhaps France and Germany, pushing for peace.

    Ukraine would no doubt continue the fight, but without a steady stream of weaponry, it could be that the front line becomes a frozen conflict, much like it did between 2014 and 2022. That would suit Russia, keeping its neighbour in a state of turmoil and unrest.

    Read more here.

  15. Turkey detains ship over claims of stolen Ukrainian grain - reports

    Image caption: The cargo ship is anchored about 1km from the shore, outside Karasu port in northwest Turkey

    Turkish officials have detained a Russian-flagged cargo ship off the Black Sea coast, which Ukraine claims is carrying stolen grain, according to Reuters.

    "Upon request, the ship named Zhibek Zholy was halted off [the port of] Karasu," the news agency quoted a senior Turkish official as saying on Monday.

    Allegations of stolen Ukrainian grain were "being investigated thoroughly", the official said, with Russia, the United Nations and third parties involved in talks.

    An official at Ukraine's Foreign Ministry, citing the nation's maritime administration, told Reuters the ship was carrying the first consignment of 4,500 tonnes of grain from Berdyansk, a Russian-occupied port in south Ukraine.

    A decision regarding the cargo would be made following a meeting of investigators on Monday, said Vasyl Bodnar, Ukraine's ambassador to Turkey, on national TV - adding that Ukraine was hoping for the confiscation of the grain.

    Kyiv has accused Moscow of stealing grain from a number ofterritories seized by Russian forces since the invasionbegan in February.

    The Kremlin has previously denied stealing Ukrainian grain.

  16. New Marshall Plan needed, Truss says

    British Foreign Minister Liz Truss has called for a new Marshall Plan - the post-World War Two US aid program for Europe - to re-build Ukraine.

    Truss said the new aid program needs to be driven by Ukraine itself and there should be an immediate push to support Ukrainians' return to their homeland.

    She said it is important to give people "hope about the future".

    Truss said the UK would be hosting next year's Ukraine Reconstruction Conference, which will include key British stakeholders.

    She added the UK would "continue to lead in supporting the Ukrainian government's reconstruction and development plan".

  17. We cannot allow Russia to undermine Ukraine's existence - von der Leyen

    The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, has said the Kremlin's goal is the military, political and economic destruction of Ukraine.

    She said Russia wanted to undermine Ukraine's very existence as a state and this could not be allowed to happen.

    The EU will set up a reconstruction platform to co-ordinate the rebuilding of Ukraine once the war ends, she added.

    The platform will be used to map investment needs, co-ordinate action and channel resources, she told the Ukraine Recovery Conference in Switzerland.

    The EU has mobilised around €6.2bn (£5.3bn) in financial support since the start of Russia's invasion, she said.

    "And... more will come. We will engage substantially in the mid- and long-term reconstruction."

  18. We need $750bn for reconstruction, says Ukraine's PM

    Image caption: Cities such as Kharkiv have been devastated by the war

    Ukraine needs $750bn for a recovery plan in the wake of Russia's invasion - Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said on Monday.

    Shmyhal told the Ukraine Recovery Conference, currently taking place in Switzerland, there had been over $100bn of direct damage to infrastructure from Russian aggression.

    The two-day conference in Lugano, which has already heard from President Zelensky, is bringing together several world leaders and NGOs with the aim of drawing up a roadmap for Ukraine's reconstruction after the war.

  19. Rebuilding Ukraine 'common task' of democratic world - Zelensky

    Talks are under way in Lugano, southern Switzerland, to discuss the reconstruction of Ukraine.

    Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said rebuilding Ukraine was the "common task of the whole democratic world".

    Speaking via video link during the international conference, Zelensky said the "reconstruction of Ukraine is the biggest contribution to the support of global peace".

    Several world leaders and international organisations are attending the two-day conference. They are meeting to draw up a roadmap for Ukraine's recovery and reconstruction.

  20. Russian troops begin 'administrative activities' in Severodonetsk

    Sophie Williams

    Reporting from Kyiv

    Here in Ukraine, there are reports that Russian forces are trying to start “administrative activities” in Severodonetsk.

    Oleksandr Stryuk, Ukrainian head of the Severodonetsk city military-civilian administration says a commandant’s office is being set up in order to conduct a census of the city's population.

    “They are now intensively looking for housing and communal services specialists to at least somehow restore the city’s infrastructure,” Stryuk said, adding that portable generators will not be enough to get the city back up and running.

    Russia took full control of the city last month. The city was once home to some 100,000 people but most of its residents are thought to have fled.