BBC News War in Ukraine

BBCCopyright: BBC

Here in Kremenchuk, a number of people are still searching for their missing relatives after a Russian missile hit a Ukrainian shopping centre on Monday. Many have been posting images of their loved ones to social media in the hope of finding news.

We met 18-year-old Dariya Kokhanovska. Her mother, Larysa, worked as a cleaner in the Comfy store inside the shopping mall. Dariya hasn’t seen her mother since she left for work on Monday.

"The police have asked me to give a DNA sample - the result will be in two days. What the result will be, we don’t know," she says.

Dariya herself heard the explosions. She instantly picked up the phone to call her parents. Her father answered but her mother did not.

BBCCopyright: BBC

"For now, all I can say is that I feel emptiness," she says.

At least 18 people are known to have died and 25 are still in hospital.

"We are a peaceful country," Dariya says. "Russia attacked a peaceful country.

"Putin is under God. And he sees everyone. Everyone who is firing rockets on peaceful cities."

ReutersCopyright: Reuters

Fresh-faced and smiling in Madrid, PM Magdalena Andersson looked happy as she told Swedish Television’s morning show that she’d slept well after the “big day” that saw Turkey finally agree to a Nato spot for Sweden and Finland.

It was a marked contrast to the reaction from Amineh Kakabaveh, an independent MP and a member of Sweden's 100,000-strong Kurdish diaspora. She's appeared on international TV channels to argue Sweden shouldn’t make concessions to Turkey, which she describes as an Islamist dictatorship.

Speaking on a crackly line from the passenger seat of a moving car, Kakabaveh described Tuesday as “a black day in Swedish political history” and said Kurds were being sacrificed for the sake of Nato membership.

But while plenty of Kurds in Sweden back Kakabaveh, she has little power. Around 80% of MPs supported Sweden's Nato application, and with parliament now broken up and an election due in September, Andersson’s Social Democrat party no longer needs Kakabaveh's support.

EPACopyright: EPA

More from Madrid now, where Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told leaders his country needs more modern weapons and financial support to defend itself against Russia,

The leader - addressing the likes of US President Joe Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron via video link - also warned that Russia wouldn't stop at Ukraine.

The question is, "who is next?", he asked adding,:

Quote Message: This is not a war being waged by Russia against only Ukraine. This is a war for the right to dictate conditions in Europe - for what the future world order will be like.

This is not a war being waged by Russia against only Ukraine. This is a war for the right to dictate conditions in Europe - for what the future world order will be like.

ReutersCopyright: Reuters

Over in Madrid, some of the world leaders attending a Nato summit have been speaking about the war and the West's intention to keep supporting Ukraine.

Spanish PM Pedro Sanchez, the summit's host, says Russia will be identified as the military alliance's "main threat" in its new strategic concept, as opposed to a strategic partner previously.

"We are sending a strong message to Putin," he adds, "'You will not win'."

Meanwhile, Olaf Scholz, the German chancellor, says Nato will continue to supply Ukraine with weapons "for as long as it is necessary".

“It is good that the countries gathered here - [and] many others, too - make their contributions so Ukraine can defend itself - by providing financial means, humanitarian aid but also by providing the weapons that Ukraine urgently needs,” Scholz is quoted by Reuters as saying on the summit's second day.

EPACopyright: EPA

In some ways, not much. The Nordic nations became official partners of Nato in 1994 and have since become major contributors to the alliance. They have taken part in several Nato missions since the end of the Cold War.

One key change, however, is the fact that both countries will for the first time have security guarantees from nuclear states under Nato's Article 5, which views an attack on one member state as an attack on all.

Historian Henrik Meinander previously said Finns were mentally prepared for membership, following a succession of small steps towards Nato since the fall of the Soviet Union.

In short, angering Russia. President Vladimir Putin believes Nato expansion is a direct threat to his country's security, so Sweden and Finland joining the alliance will likely be perceived as a provocation.

Russia's foreign ministry says both countries have been warned of the “consequences” of such a move. Former President Dmitry Medvedev, a close ally of the Russian leader, has warned that Nato accession may prompt Moscow to deploy nuclear weapons in Kaliningrad, the Russian exclave between Poland and Lithuania.

While not dismissing these threats, Finnish ex-Prime Minister Alexander Stubb suggested a more realistic risk was of Russian cyber-attacks, disinformation campaigns and occasional airspace violations.

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Swedish Armed ForcesCopyright: Swedish Armed Forces

Sweden and Finland are both joining Nato – a monumental shift for two nations with a long history of wartime neutrality. During a Nato summit in Madrid, they overcame what is likely to be the final obstacle – objections by Turkey. But why now?

Finland

For many Finns, events in Ukraine bring a haunting sense of familiarity. The Soviets invaded Finland in late 1939. For more than three months the Finnish army put up fierce resistance, despite being heavily outnumbered. They avoided occupation, but ended up losing 10% of their territory.

Watching the war in Ukraine unfold was like reliving this history, said Iro Sarkka, a political scientist at the University of Helsinki. Finns were looking at their 1,340km (830 mile) border with Russia, she said, and thinking: “Could this happen to us?”

Sweden

Sweden has also felt endangered in recent years, with several reported airspace violations by Russian military aircraft. In 2014, Swedes were transfixed by reports that a Russian submarine was lurking in the shallow waters of the Stockholm archipelago.

Two years later Sweden's army returned to the small but strategically important Baltic Sea island of Gotland, after abandoning it for two decades.

Hello, and welcome back to our live coverage of the war in Ukraine.

It’s set to be another busy day, with Finland and Sweden due to be formally invited to join the Nato military alliance after Turkey lifted its objections.

Stay tuned as we bring you live updates from the Nato summit in Madrid, as well as the situation on the ground in Ukraine.