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Russian forces left a trail of destruction Thursday while seeking to push deeper into the eastern Donbas region, as the Kremlin warned its campaign had not yet started in earnest.

Diplomatic tensions meanwhile mounted between Ankara and Kyiv, where Ukrainian officials have accused Turkey of ignoring calls to seize grain being transported by a Russian ship.

A Russian air strike in the eastern industrial city of Kramatorsk left at least one dead and several others wounded earlier in the day, as Russian seeks full control of the surrounding Donbas.

The explosion left a gaping crater next to a hotel and residential buildings and several cars were on the fire, AFP journalists said, as emergency services arrived on the scene.

It came ahead of a speech by Russian President Vladimir Putin to lawmakers in which he said that Moscow’ offensive in Ukraine had not yet begun “in earnest”.

He also sounded a note of menace towards the West, telling the alliance that has coalesced against his invasion of Ukraine that if they wanted to defeat Russia on the battlefield “let them try”.

He accused “the collective West” of unleashing a “war” in Ukraine and said Russia’s intervention in the pro-Western country marked the beginning of a shift to a “multi-polar world.”

The head of Ukraine’s battled-scarred Donetsk region Pavlo Kyrylenko announced before the strike on Kramatorsk that Russian bombardments had killed at least seven people over the past 24 hours.

The fatalities came after Ukrainian officials re-issued urgent pleas for civilians in the surrounding region to flee, as Russian forces turn their sights on the nearby eastern city of Sloviansk.

Vitaliy, a plumber, told AFP in the industrial hub that his wife and her daughter from a previous marriage, who is six months pregnant, were evacuated from the city the day before.

“Tomorrow I will join the army,” he said.

– ‘Well fortified’ –

Sloviansk mayor Vadym Lyakh said around 23,000 people remained from a pre-war population of 110,000.

“Evacuation is ongoing. We take people out every day,” he said.

“The city is well fortified,” he added, claiming Russian forces had been unable to surround the city.

Sloviansk is Russia’s next target after their capture of the nearby sister cities of Severodonetsk and Lysychansk.

Russian forces captured the cities in the Lugansk region after long battles, consolidating their hold in the east after failing at the start of the February invasion to take the capital Kyiv and Ukraine’s second-largest city Kharkiv.

Despite the raging conflict, Kyiv took the time to hail outgoing UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, one of the embattled country’s keenest allies throughout the war.

Johnson said that even though he was heading towards the exit, Britain would continue supporting Ukraine for “as long as it takes”. 

“We all welcome this news with sadness. Not only me, but also all of Ukrainian society,” President Volodymyr Zelensky said, after Johnson resigned as leader of Britain’s Conservative party, paving the way for the selection of a new prime minister.

“We don’t doubt that Great Britain’s support will continue, but your personal leadership and your charisma made it special,” he said.

A diplomatic crisis too was flaring between Ukraine and Turkey over the apparent transport by Russia of grain allegedly stolen from Ukraine.

Kyiv says that a 7,000-tonne vessel, the Zhibek Zholy, set off from Ukraine’s Kremlin-occupied port of Berdyansk after picking up confiscated wheat and called last week for Turkey to seize it.

The marinetraffic.com website on Thursday showed the vessel moving away from Turkey’s Black Sea port of Karasu before apparently switching off its transponder and disappearing from view.

Ukraine said it was “deeply disappointed” that Turkey had not acted on its request to seize the ship.

– ‘Control over Snake Island’ –

Despite Ukraine’s recent territorial losses, Zelensky in an evening address on Wednesday had praised new heavy Western artillery for boosting Ukraine’s firepower.

“Their accuracy is exactly as it should be,” he said.

“Our defenders inflict notable blows on warehouses and other points which are important for the logistics of the occupiers,” he said.

Ukraine also said it had regained control of Snake Island in the Black Sea, after raising its flag there this week following the withdrawal of Russian forces.

Senior military official Oleksiy Gromov said Ukrainian forces had “effectively re-established… control over Snake Island,” but did not specify whether there was a lasting military presence on the rocky outcrop.

Russia said it pulled back from the symbolic island last week in a gesture of “good will”, but has since continued targeting positions on the island.

The Russian defence ministry said it had carried out “precision” missile strikes on the island early Thursday, killing Ukrainian soldiers and forcing survivors to flee.

Finland meanwhile passed legislation to build stronger fences on its border with Russia, as the country seeks to join NATO following the invasion. 

burs-jbr/gw/cdw

US basketball star Brittney Griner pleaded guilty Thursday to drug smuggling charges in a Russian court but denied intending to break the law in a case that has further inflamed tensions between Moscow and Washington. 

The two-time Olympic gold medallist and WNBA champion, detained days before Russia sent troops to Ukraine, faces up to a decade behind bars for bringing vape cartridges with cannabis oil into the country.

The 31-year-old basketball star told a court in the town of Khimki outside Moscow that she “would like to plead guilty” to all the charges, but stressed she had “no intention” of breaking any Russian law.

“I was in a rush packing. And the cartridges accidentally ended up in my bag.”

The athlete, who is six-foot-nine (2.06 metres) tall, wore a red T-shirt and matching trousers. She walked into the courtroom with her tattooed arms handcuffed to a Russian guard. 

Her lawyer Alexander Boykov called for “as soft a sentence as possible”. 

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that US embassy officials attended Griner’s trial and delivered to her a letter from US President Joe Biden.

“We will not relent until Brittney, Paul Whelan, and all other wrongfully detained Americans are reunited with their loved ones,” Blinken tweeted.

Griner’s lawyer Boykov said she had “appreciated” receiving the letter from Biden, who said on Wednesday that he would make bringing her home a “priority.”

– ‘Negligence’ –

Moscow hit back, saying that US “hype” over Griner would not help her case.

“The hype and working on the public, with all the love for this genre among modern politicians, currently only disturbs” the court procress, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said.

“It does not just distract from the case but creates interference in the core sense of the word. Silence is needed here.” 

In a call with Griner’s wife, Biden said the star was “wrongfully detained under intolerable circumstances”. 

The US leader said he had written to the WBNA star, after she had sent him a hand-written letter presented to the White House on July 4, US Independence Day. 

“I realise you are dealing with so much, but please don’t forget about me and the other American detainees,” Griner wrote.

“Please do all you can to bring us home.”

But Ryabkov said letters between the two would not help the star’s fate.

“It is not correspondence of this kind that can help, but a serious perception by the American side of the signals they received from Moscow, through specialised channels,” he said. 

Another member of Griner’s defence team, Maria Blagovolina, said it was her client’s decision to plead guilty.

“Brittney stressed that she committed the crime by negligence,” Blagovolina said.

“We hope that this circumstance, together with the evidence of the defense, will be taken into account by the court.”

– New hearing –

The professional basketball player was detained in February in the days before Russia sent troops to Ukraine, with the United States and its allies imposing unprecedented sanctions on Moscow in response.

Her case has become a new sticking point in ties between the United States and Russia, with Washington putting its special envoy in charge of hostages on the case. 

Griner came to Russia in February to play club basketball during the US off-season — a common path for American stars seeking additional income.

She was detained at a Moscow airport after she was found carrying vape cartridges with cannabis oil in her luggage. 

US authorities initially kept a low profile on the case, which was not made known to the general public until March 5, but have since upped the ante.

Russian law is strict in such cases and other foreigners have recently been handed heavy sentences on drug-related charges.

Last month, a Moscow court sentenced a former US diplomat, Marc Fogel, to 14 years in prison for “large-scale” cannabis smuggling.

Russia and the United States regularly clash over the detention of each other’s citizens and sometimes exchange them in scenes reminiscent of the Cold War.

The next hearing in the case will be held on July 14.

Boris Johnson resigned on Thursday as leader of Britain’s Conservative party, triggering a race to succeed him as prime minister after a frenzied 48 hours which saw dozens desert his scandal-hit government.

Johnson acknowledged it was “clearly the will of the parliamentary Conservative party that there should be a new leader of that party, and therefore a new prime minister”.

In a speech outside 10 Downing Street, he said he would stay on until his successor is found but faced calls to leave immediately and for an acting leader to be appointed.

Conservative John Major, who was prime minister from 1990 to 1997, said Johnson’s extended tenure — and the powers that still go with it — was “unwise and may be unsustainable”.

The leadership election will take place in the coming months. The victor will replace Johnson by the party’s annual conference in early October. 

But polling suggested most Britons favour his immediate exit, amid claims that Johnson is only hanging on to enjoy a wedding party at his government-funded country retreat.

Johnson’s tumultuous three years in office were defined by Brexit, the Covid pandemic and non-stop controversy about his reputation for mendacity.

– ‘Best job’ –

He said he was “sad… to be giving up the best job in the world”, justifying his fight to stay on to deliver the mandate he won in a Brexit-dominated general election in December 2019.

In the six-minute address, watched by his few remaining Tory allies and his wife Carrie, he promised support for Ukraine “for as long as it takes”.

Johnson reiterated his backing in a call afterwards to President Volodymyr Zelensky, Downing Street said.

Zelensky said he and Ukraine would be sad to see him go, praising his “personal leadership” and “charisma”.

Defence minister Ben Wallace and Rishi Sunak, whose departure as finance minister Tuesday sparked the cabinet exodus, were among the early frontrunners, a YouGov survey of Tory members suggested.

Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, another potential contender, said Johnson had “made the right decision” as she cut short a trip to Indonesia for a G20 meeting.

“We need calmness and unity now and to keep governing while a new leader is found,” she tweeted.

– Contenders –

Even while eyeing the exit, Johnson sought to steady the ship, making several appointments to replace departed cabinet members. 

They included Greg Clark, an arch “remainer” opposed to Britain’s divorce from the European Union, which Johnson had championed. 

The inexperienced Shailesh Vara was put in charge of Northern Ireland, with the government locked in battle with Brussels over post-Brexit trading rules for the tense territory.

Convening the new-look cabinet after his resignation speech, Johnson confirmed his lame-duck status by saying “major fiscal decisions should be left for the next prime minister”, according to Downing Street.

As late as Wednesday night, Johnson had been defiantly clinging on to power despite a wave of more than 50 government resignations.

He sacked minister Michael Gove, with a Downing Street source describing Johnson’s former Brexit right-hand-man as a “snake” in the media.

But the departure early Thursday of education minister Michelle Donelan and a plea to quit from finance minister Nadhim Zahawi, who have only in their jobs for two days, tipped the balance.

– ‘Arrogant and delusional’ –

Tory MPs also warned him of a new no-confidence vote.

Johnson triumphed in 2019 with a vow to “get Brexit done” following Britain’s shock referendum decision three years prior. But for many, the populist, convention-defying leader had outstayed his welcome.

The Conservative infighting erupted at a time when millions of Britons are battling the worst slump in living standards since the 1950s, fuelling by rocketing energy prices on back of the war in Ukraine.

Johnson’s popularity had already slumped over a series of lockdown-breaking parties in Downing Street, which saw him become the first prime minister to receive a police fine.

“About time, isn’t it? Seriously, I mean have you ever known anyone be so arrogant, ignorant, delusional?” Helen Dewdney, 53, who works in consumer rights, told AFP.

While Johnson oversaw a successful coronavirus vaccine campaign, the former journalist also oversaw one of Europe’s worst death tolls, and nearly died himself from Covid in April 2020.

“Boris Johnson’s legacy is the deaths of nearly 200,000 British people on his watch,” said Lobby Akinnola, from the campaign group Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice.

– After-dinner speeches –

“Whilst Johnson will move on to a life of writing newspaper columns and being paid eye-watering amounts to give after-dinner speeches, there will be no moving on for the families like mine that have been ripped apart by his actions,” he said.

Sunak and health secretary Sajid Javid quit late Tuesday after Johnson apologised for his February appointment of a senior Conservative MP to a prominent role in parliament. 

Chris Pincher resigned as deputy chief whip last week following accusations that he drunkenly groped two men.

Downing Street officials eventually conceded that Johnson had known about other allegations against Pincher back in 2019, and many ministers recoiled at having to defend the appointment.

Tony Travers, director of the think tank LSE London, said the party had once again shown its propensity to turn on unpopular leaders after previously ditching premiers Margaret Thatcher and Theresa May.

“The truth is that the reason the Conservative party is so durable is that it will get rid of its leaders when it thinks they are harming the party,” he told AFP.

“And this allows the party to start again with a new leader and say, ‘look, we’re a completely different enterprise’.”

Although Boris Johnson has been one of the West’s most vocal supporters of Ukraine following Russia’s invasion, experts say the British prime minister’s Thursday resignation will not diminish London’s backing for Kyiv.

“Boris Johnson has been the frontman for this policy, but it’s whole-of-British-government policy,” said Peter Ricketts, a former UK national security advisor and ambassador to France.

“Whoever was prime minister would have done much the same thing,” although “Johnson brought his own particular style to it,” Ricketts added.

Former French ambassador to Britain Sylvie Bermann agreed that though “the line will remain, the style will be different”.

With impassioned speeches and editorials and two visits to Kyiv since Russia’s February 24 attack, on top of arms deliveries, Johnson won admiration from Ukrainians.

“Johnson, despite the domestic scandals, has been solid in his support for Ukraine,” tweeted Alina Polyakova, head of the Washington-based Center for European Policy Analysis, adding that “as a friend told me, ‘he is like a god in Ukraine'”.

Conversely, Moscow was among the first foreign capitals to react Thursday to news of Johnson’s impending departure.

“We would like to hope that some day in Great Britain more professional people who can make decisions through dialogue will come to power,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

“He really does not like us. And we (do not like) him either,” Peskov said of Johnson.

Where other nations have been content to let the British melodrama play out, Russia had been stung by London’s early decisions to send lethal aid, including more than 5,000 anti-tank missiles, to Ukraine.

In late June, Britain decided on a new military aid package worth £1 billion ($1.2 billion) including air defence systems and drones — bringing its total to £2.3 billion.

Announcing he would step down from the leadership of the Conservatives Thursday, Johnson spared a line for Ukraine, saying “we in the UK will continue to back your fight for freedom as long as it takes”.

– ‘Seeking the spotlight’ –

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called Johnson to express his “sadness” over his resignation.

“We all welcome this news with sadness. Not only me, but also all of Ukrainian society,” the presidency quoted Zelensky as saying.

“We don’t doubt that Great Britain’s support will continue, but your personal leadership and your charisma made it special,” he said.

Zelensky adviser Mykhaylo Podolyak thanked the UK leader in a tweet for “always being at the forefront of supporting Ukraine”.

Former French diplomat Bermann said: “Johnson wanted to look like he was out in front, or ‘leading the world’, as he would say.”

But “it’s not at all the true picture,” she said.

Johnson “is constantly seeking the spotlight, it’s true that it’s very nice for Zelensky to have unconditional support, but beyond that, the UK didn’t play a role that stood out particularly from others”.

Ricketts said: “There’s been a bit of one-upmanship in the British approach, in being determined to show the other Europeans that we can do more.” 

“The UK has been one of the leaders, but all of that’s dwarfed by… the Americans,” he added, calling Washington’s response “off the scale in terms of anything the Europeans have done, including Britain”.

Russia’s invasion came as Johnson was plagued by domestic woes, including long-running action over Downing Street parties during Covid lockdown and the allegations about sexual harassment within his governing Conservative party that finally brought him down.

He was accused at home of using his relationship with Zelensky to score points, with many journalists and other observers joking on social media that each new scandal would prompt a visit or phone call to Kyiv.

“He has capitalised on the war to distract attention from his other problems,” Ricketts said.

Nevertheless, although “Johnson established a good personal link with Zelensky… there’s no reason to doubt that that would be handed on to another prime minister,” he added.

“I think Zelensky would be friends with anyone who’s useful to him.”

Russian forces left a trail of destruction Thursday as they sought to push deeper into the eastern Donbas region, as Kyiv thanked outgoing British leader Boris Johnson for his support.

Diplomatic tensions mounted between Ankara and Kyiv, where Ukrainian officials have accused Turkey of ignoring calls to seize grain being transported by a Russian ship.

A Russian air strike in the eastern industrial city of Kramatorsk left at least one dead and several others wounded earlier in the day, as Russian seeks full control of the surrounding Donbas.

The explosion left a gaping crater next to a hotel and residential buildings and several cars were on the fire, AFP journalists said, as emergency services arrived on the scene.

Kyiv hailed Johnson, one of the embattled country’s keenest allies throughout the war, as the British leader made the first step towards leaving office but said the UK would continue supporting Ukraine for “as long as it takes”. 

The head of Ukraine’s battled-scarred Donetsk region Pavlo Kyrylenko announced before the strike on Kramatorsk that Russian bombardments had killed at least seven people over the past 24 hours.

The fatalities came after Ukrainian officials re-issued urgent pleas for civilians in the surrounding region to flee, as Russian forces turn their sights on the nearby eastern city of Sloviansk.

Vitaliy, a plumber, told AFP in the industrial hub that his wife and her daughter from a previous marriage, who is six months pregnant, were evacuated from the city the day before.

“Tomorrow I will join the army,” he said.

– ‘Well fortified’ –

Sloviansk mayor Vadym Lyakh said around 23,000 people remained from a pre-war population of 110,000.

“Evacuation is ongoing. We take people out every day,” he said.

“The city is well fortified,” he added, claiming Russian forces had been unable to surround the city.

Sloviansk is Russia’s next target after their capture of the nearby sister cities of Severodonetsk and Lysychansk.

Russian forces captured the cities in the Lugansk region after long battles, consolidating their hold in the east after failing at the start of the February invasion to take the capital kyiv and Ukraine’s second-largest city Kharkiv.

A diplomatic crisis too was flaring between Ukraine and Turkey over the apparent transport by Russia of grain allegedly stolen from Ukraine.

Kyiv says that a 7,000-tonne vessel, the Zhibek Zholy, set off from Ukraine’s Kremlin-occupied port of Berdyansk after picking up confiscated wheat and called last week for Turkey to seize it.

The marinetraffic.com website on Thursday showed the vessel moving away from Turkey’s Black Sea port of Karasu before apparently switching off its transponder and disappearing from view.

Ukraine said it was “deeply disappointed” that Turkey had not acted on its request to seize the ship.

Kyiv was also reeling from the shock of losing one of its most vocal allies in the conflict with Russia, UK Prime Minister Johnson.

“We all welcome this news with sadness. Not only me, but also all of Ukrainian society,” President Volodymyr Zelensky said, after Johnson resigned as leader of Britain’s Conservative party, paving the way for the selection of a new prime minister.

“We don’t doubt that Great Britain’s support will continue, but your personal leadership and your charisma made it special,” he said.

– ‘Control over Snake Island’ –

Despite Ukraine’s recent territorial losses, Zelensky in an evening address on Wednesday had praised new heavy Western artillery for boosting Ukraine’s firepower.

“Their accuracy is exactly as it should be,” he said.

“Our defenders inflict notable blows on warehouses and other points which are important for the logistics of the occupiers,” he said.

Ukraine also said it had regained control of Snake Island in the Black Sea, after raising its flag there this week following the withdrawal of Russian forces.

Senior military official Oleksiy Gromov said Ukrainian forces had “effectively re-established… control over Snake Island,” but did not specify whether there was a lasting military presence on the rocky outcrop.

Russia said it pulled back from the symbolic island last week in a gesture of “good will”, but has since continued targeting positions on the island.

The Russian defence ministry said it had carried out “precision” missile strikes on the island early Thursday, killing Ukrainian soldiers and forcing survivors to flee.

Finland meanwhile passed legislation to build stronger fences on its border with Russia, as the country seeks to join NATO following the invasion. 

burs-jbr/ah

Here are the latest developments in the war in Ukraine:

– Zelensky ‘sad’ over Johnson ouster –

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky telephones Boris Johnson to express his “sadness” over the British leader’s resignation as Conservative leader and impending departure as prime minister.

“We all welcome this news with sadness. Not only me, but also all of Ukrainian society which sympathises with you a lot,” the presidency quotes Zelensky as saying.

Johnson has been seen as one of Ukraine’s most vocal and fervent supporters in the West.

– Eastern cities under fire –

Russian forces grind deeper into the Donbas region with their sights set on the flashpoint eastern city and industrial hub of Sloviansk.

The governor of the battle-scarred Donetsk area of Donbas, Pavlo Kyrylenko, says Russian forces have killed at least seven civilians and injured others in the last 24 hours throughout the Donbas.

Mayor of Sloviansk Vadym Lyakh claims Russia has been unable to surround the city and says around 23,000 people remain there out of a pre-war population of 110,000.

Ukrainian officials re-issue urgent pleas for civilians to flee.

Along with Sloviansk, Russia has also set its sights on Kramatorsk, the administrative capital of the Donetsk region, where at least one person was killed and several wounded in bombardments Thursday, AFP journalists say. 

– Kyiv-Ankara tensions –

A diplomatic crisis flares between Ukraine and Turkey with Kyiv accusing Ankara of ignoring its calls to impound a Russian-flagged ship carrying grain allegedly stolen from Ukraine.

Kyiv alleges that the Zhibek Zholy, which arrived at Turkey’s Black Sea port of Karasu six days ago, slipped out of the Russian-occupied Ukrainian port of Berdyansk with wheat stolen from Ukrainian territory.

Russia denies stealing grain.

After being submitted to Turkish checks, the vessel returned to Russian territorial waters on Thursday, Turkish sources said.

Ukraine said it was “deeply disappointed” Turkey has not impounded the ship and handed back the grain.

The Ukrainian foreign ministry has summoned Turkey’s ambassador to demand an explanation.

– Finland to bolster border fence –

The Finnish parliament passes legislation to build stronger fences on its 1,300-kilometre (800-mile) border with Russia.

Finland and Sweden have begun the process of joining NATO.

Helsinki fears that Moscow could retaliate by flooding Finland’s border with migrants in a repeat of a sudden rush of migrants that arrived at an Arctic border post between Finland and Russia in 2016.

– Russia to create patriotic youth movement – 

Russian lawmakers approve legislation to create a patriotic youth movement reminiscent of Soviet-era youth organisations that will be headed by President Vladimir Putin. 

The movement will aim to enhance Russian values among children from the age of six. 

“The state must create conditions that contribute to the comprehensive spiritual, moral, intellectual and physical development of children, to the learning of patriotism, civil responsibility and respect for adults,” the authors of the legislation said. 

In Soviet times, children were drilled in Communist values by three youth organisations — the Little Octobrists, Young Pioneers and the Komsomol.

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