World

Ukraine warned Monday that Russian forces were preparing to intensify their fight for key cities in the Donbas, where the death toll from a weekend attack rose to 30 as rocket strikes killed six in the country’s second city.

The attacks in Kharkiv in northeast Ukraine came as Europe braced for deeper cuts in gas supplies from Russia.

Kharkiv regional chief Oleg Synyegubov said Russian fire on Monday targeted “a shopping centre and civilian residences”.

Prosecutors in his region said “six civilians were killed, including a 17-year-old and his father, who were driving past” at the time of the attack, according to the Interfax-Ukraine news agency.

Russian state-run news agency TASS reported meanwhile that the pro-Moscow head of the Russian-occupied village of Velikiy Burluk in Kharkiv had been killed after his car was blown up.

The Russian-run administration there blamed Yevgeny Yunakov’s death on a “terror attack” organised by Ukrainian authorities, according to TASS.

In eastern Ukraine — the focal point for a grinding Russian offensive — 30 people were left dead by Russian strikes over the weekend on the town of Chasiv Yar in the Donetsk region, the emergency services said.

Russian defence ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov claimed “more than 300” Ukrainian combatants had been killed in a Russian strike near Chasiv Yar, without giving a date.

Having fought long battles to capture areas of the eastern Lugansk region, Russian troops are now turning their focus to Donetsk as they look to take control of the whole Donbas.

The eastern region was under persistent shelling, but Russian ground attacks were all but paused, the Ukrainian army said Monday.

– ‘No safe place’ –

It warned, however, that Russian troops were likely planning to launch some of their heaviest attacks yet in the Donetsk region.

“There are signs of enemy units preparing to intensify combat operations in the direction of Kramatorsk and Bakhmut,” it said, referring to two main cities still under Ukrainian control.

Moscow’s slow advance into the east — despite fierce Ukrainian resistance emboldened by recent deliveries of Western-supplied artillery — contrasts with their failure to capture the capital Kyiv at the start of the invasion.

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte during a visit to Kyiv said his country would supply Ukraine with more long-range artillery and an aid package worth 200 million euro ($201 million).

“This war may last longer than we all hoped or expected. But that does not mean we can sit back and passively watch how it unfolds. We have to stay focused and continue to support Ukraine in every way,” Rutte told a press conference with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Western weapons — in particular, precision, long-range artillery — were “already changing the course of the war,” Secretary of the National Security and Defence Council, Oleksiy Danilov, said earlier Monday.

In Bucha, a town outside Kyiv, 36-year-old web designer Maxim said just three months ago, Russian soldiers were rummaging through his home and sleeping in his children’s bedroom.

“In this atmosphere, I feel like nothing can happen and that life is normal,” he said, sitting with his family outside his home. 

“But we know there’s a war and there’s no place safe in Ukraine right now.”

– Gas worries –

The repercussions of the conflict were being felt in western Europe as Russian gas giant Gazprom on Monday began more than a week of routine maintenance on its Nord Stream 1 pipeline.

Germany and other European countries cast a worried eye on energy supplies after Italy’s Eni and Austria’s OMV said Gazprom was further reducing the supply of gas.

Eni said flows were dropping to 21 million cubic meters (741 million cubic feet) per day, down from a recent average of about 32 million, while OMV said it would see a 70-percent reduction.

After Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February, Germany suspended certification of a second pipeline, Nord Stream 2, as fears grew over Europe’s massive dependence on Russian gas.

In a bureaucratic swipe at Kyiv, Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday signed a decree to fast-track citizenship for all Ukrainians.

The foreign ministry in Kyiv hit back calling  it “another encroachment on the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, incompatible with the norms and principles of international law.

The decree builds on previous orders — including one issued earlier in the invasion — making it easier for Ukrainians living under Moscow-occupied territory to receive Russian passports.

Putin and his Belarusian counterpart, strongman Alexander Lukashenko, meanwhile discussed possible joint measures against neighbouring Lithuania over its “illegal” transit restrictions affecting Moscow’s exclave of Kaliningrad.

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Here are the latest developments in the war in Ukraine:

– Toll climbs after deadly eastern strike –

The death toll from a Russian missile strike which partially destroyed an apartment building in the town of Chasiv Yar on Sunday rises to 26, as Moscow’s forces seek to consolidate their control over the eastern Donbas region. 

“26 dead people have been discovered and removed from the rubble” while nine people were recovered alive, the emergency services say in a statement on social media, adding that work is ongoing.

Six people also die in rocket strikes on the northeastern city of Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city.

Kharkiv regional chief Oleg Synyegubov says Russian fire targeted “civilian facilities — a shopping centre and civilian residences”.

Having battled to capture areas of the eastern Lugansk region, Russian troops are now focussing on neighbouring Donetsk as they look to take control of the whole industrial Donbas region.

– Heavy attacks to come: Ukrainian army –

Russian troops are believed to be planning to launch some of their heaviest attacks yet in the Donetsk region, the Ukrainian army warns.

“There are signs of enemy units preparing to intensify combat operations in the direction of Kramatorsk and Bakhmut,” it says, referring to two main cities still under Ukrainian control.

– Reduced gas supplies –

Russian energy giant Gazprom begins 10 days of maintenance on its Nord Stream 1 pipeline — with Germany and other European countries watching anxiously to see if the gas comes back on.

After the Nord Stream stop, Italian energy company Eni and Austrian Group OMV both report their supplies from Gazprom had also been reduced.

– ‘War may last longer’: Dutch PM –

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte says during a visit to Kyiv his country will supply Ukraine with more long-range artillery and an aid package worth 200 million euros ($201 million).

“This war may last longer than we all hoped or expected. But that does not mean we can sit back and passively watch how it unfolds. We have to stay focused and continue to support Ukraine in every way,” he tells a press conference with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

– Kaliningrad standoff –

Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Belarusian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko discuss possible joint measures against neighbouring Lithuania over its transit restrictions affecting Moscow’s exclave of Kaliningrad, the Kremlin says.

Vilnius has restricted the transit of goods sanctioned by the EU into Kaliningrad, a Russian region sandwiched between NATO members Lithuania and Poland, since mid-June. The move has infuriated Moscow, which says it is illegal. 

– Russian citizenship fast tracked –

Putin signs a decree to fast-track citizenship for all Ukrainians.

The move builds on previous orders — including one issued earlier in the invasion — making it easier for Ukrainians living in Moscow-occupied territory to receive Russian passports.

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British composer Monty Norman, best known for writing the iconic theme music for the James Bond films, died on Monday at the age of 94, his official website announced.

“It is with sadness we share the news that Monty Norman died on 11th July 2022 after a short illness,” read the statement.

Norman was born Monty Noserovitch in east London, to Jewish parents, on April 4, 1928.

He began his singing career with big bands before turning to composing, penning songs for musicals and films including “Songbook” and “Poppy and Make Me An Offer” and for pop stars such as Cliff Richard.

His best-known work came when he was asked to score the first James Bond film, “Dr No”, in 1962, although the producers drafted in John Barry to rearrange the piece.

Barry said he had actually written the piece, but Norman won a libel case against the Sunday Times when it made similar claims.

The theme became an integral part of the Bond brand, featuring in 24 subsequent films.

Firefighters in Portugal on Monday contained two forest fires that ravaged the centre of the country which is under a state of emergency due to an ongoing heatwave. 

The blazes left 27 people with minor injuries, while seven houses and two agricultural structures were damaged in recent days, said Andre Fernandes, a civil protection commander.

“There is no significant fire active at this moment (but) the situation is serious,” he added at a media briefing.

The most serious fire started on Thursday in the town of Ourem, 130 kilometres (80 miles) north of Lisbon.

It tore through around 2,000 hectares (4,900 acres) of vegetation and some 600 firefighters remained in the area after it was contained to prevent it restarting.

A fire that started Friday in the neighbouring commune of Pombal and destroyed 560 hectares was also contained Monday morning, with 300 firefighters remaining on standby.

Another blaze devastated a swathe of forest near Carrazeda de Ansiaes, in an isolated region of the northeastern district of Braganza, between Thursday and Saturday.

Since Thursday Portugal has been hit by high temperatures that are forecast to exceed 45 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) in some regions this week.

“In the coming days we will experience conditions of maximum risk,” Prime Minister Antonio Costa said.

“The slightest lapse in vigilance could result in a fire of significant proportions.”

The Portuguese government issued a national “state of contingency” to reinforce the emergency services and beef up emergency powers.

Lisbon has also asked the European Union to activate its civil protection mechanism, and two fire-fighting planes have already been sent to Portugal from Spain.

“Today the country is better prepared” than in 2017, when forest fires left over 100 people dead, said Costa, who cancelled a visit to Mozambique in response to the crisis.

Eleven hopefuls were on Monday in the race to become the next Conservative party leader and British prime minister but Boris Johnson refused to back any candidate vying to be his successor.

The contest was triggered last week when Johnson, 58, was forced to step down after a frenzy of more than 60 resignations from his government, in opposition to his scandal-hit leadership.

An influential committee of non-ministerial Tory MPs in parliament is set to outline a timetable for the election from about 1800 GMT on Monday.

But with calls for Johnson to leave Downing Street as soon as possible — and to avoid the process dragging into MPs’ summer holidays — the numbers are likely to be whittled down quickly to just two.

The joint-executive secretary of the “1922 Committee”, Bob Blackman, said they were committed to doing that before parliament breaks for the summer on July 21.

“That means that we’ll hold a succession of ballots over the next few days in order to get to that position,” he told Sky News.

Among those running are Rishi Sunak and Sajid Javid, whose departures as finance minister and health minister sparked the wave of resignations.

Foreign Secretary Liz Truss and Sunak’s successor Nadhim Zahawi have also declared, and Home Secretary Priti Patel is reportedly mulling a bid.

Brexit figurehead Johnson dramatically announced his departure as party leader last Thursday but is staying on in Downing Street until a replacement is found.

Javid said that with Britain facing a soaring cost-of-living crisis, energy price hikes and the war in Ukraine, there was a need more than ever for “competence” in the country’s leaders.

“I’ve every hope that this campaign can and will be the turning point that we need,” he said at a campaign launch.

“People want to see who’s ready to take on these crises as well as the next election campaign,” he added.

– Fall from grace –

Central to the “1922 Committee” ruling is expected to be how many MPs need to support a candidate for them to be allowed in the race.

Blackman said any prospective candidate may need the backing of 18 or more MPs.

On a visit to a science research institute in London, Johnson was asked directly if he would endorse any of the candidates, six of whom are from black and minority ethnic backgrounds.

“The job of the prime minister at this stage is to let the party decide, let them get on with it, and to continue delivering on the projects that we were elected to deliver,” he said.

Johnson’s fall from grace has been spectacular. In December 2019 he won a landslide 80-seat victory on a promise to take Britain out of the European Union.

His parliamentary majority allowed him to do just that but his premiership was hit by waves of scandal, not least about lockdown-breaking parties in Downing Street that saw him fined by police.

Another row blew up last week about his appointment of a senior colleague despite knowing of sexual assault allegations against him, sparking the government resignations.

In his speech, he blamed the “herd” for moving against him, and his allies have been briefing angrily against former chancellor of the exchequer Rishi Sunak.

But Johnson refused to say Monday whether he felt betrayed.

“I don’t want to say any more about all that,” he said. 

“There’s a contest under way and that has happened and you know, I wouldn’t want to damage any chances by offering my support. 

“I just have to get on and in the last few days or weeks… the constitutional function of the prime minister in this situation is to continue to discharge the mandate. And that’s what I’m doing,” he added. 

“The more we focus on the people who elect us… (and) the less we talk about politics at Westminster, the generally happier we will all be.”