Russian missile strikes hit Kremenchuk, Lysychansk and Kharkiv – as it happened

Thank you for joining us for today’s live coverage of the war in Ukraine.

We will be pausing our live reporting overnight and returning in the morning.

In the meantime, you can read our comprehensive summary of the day’s events in our summary below.

• A Russian missile hit a crowded shopping centre in the central Ukrainian city of Kremenchuk on Monday, killing and injuring scores of people, Ukrainian authorities said. Serhiy Kruk, the head of Ukraine’s state emergency service, said at 2am local time on Tuesday: “So far, 16 people have been killed and 59 injured, 25 of whom have been hospitalised.” Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said more than 1,000 people were inside the building at the time of the strike and officials are “still establishing the number of people under the rubble.”

• The attack on Kremenchuk has been met with international outrage. UK foreign secretary, Liz Truss, described the strike as a “shocking and barbaric attack on innocent civilians” while French President, Emmanuel Macron, denounced the attack as an “abomination”.

• Zelenskiy described the attack on Kremenchuk as “one of the most defiant terrorist attacks in European history”. “A peaceful city, an ordinary shopping mall with women, children, ordinary civilians inside,” he said. “Only totally insane terrorists, who should have no place on earth, can strike missiles at such an object. And this is not an off-target missile strike, this is a calculated Russian strike - exactly at this shopping mall.”

• The leaders of the G7 said Vladimir Putin’s attacks aimed at civilians were a “war crime” and condemned the “abominable attack” in Kremenchuk. “We stand united with Ukraine in mourning the innocent victims of this brutal attack. Indiscriminate attacks on innocent civilians constitute a war crime. Russian president Putin and those responsible will be held to account,” a statement read. They said they would “continue to provide financial, humanitarian as well as military support for Ukraine, for as long as it takes”.

• Russian shelling of a residential area in Ukraine’s second largest city, Kharkiv, killed at least five civilians on Monday, the regional governor said. A further 19 people were wounded in the attack, Oleh Synehubov said.

• A Russian missile attack also killed at least eight civilians and wounded 21 in Ukraine’s eastern Lysychansk region of Donbas. “Today, when the civilian people were collecting water from a water tank, the Russians aimed at the crowd,” Serhiy Haidai, Luhansk governor, said on Telegram.

• German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said there can be no return to pre-war ties with Russia. Scholz said that with its attack on Ukraine, Russia has broken “all the rules, all the agreements we have made with each other on countries’ cooperation” following the Group of Seven summit. He said G7 leaders agree that it has led to long-term changes “which will mark international relations for a very, very long time. So it is clear that, in relations with Russia, there can be no way back to the time before the Russian attack on Ukraine.”

• The UN security council will meet on Tuesday to discuss Russia’s targeted attacks on civilians at the request of Ukraine.
  
• Nato will boost the number of troops on high alert by more than sevenfold to over 300,000 in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Nato’s secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, said the military alliance’s forces in the Baltic states and five other frontline countries would be increased “up to brigade levels” – doubled or trebled to between 3,000 and 5,000 troops. That would amount to “the biggest overhaul of our collective defence and deterrence since the cold war,” he said.

• The US is planning to buy and send more medium- to long-range missile systems to Ukraine, including Nasams, an advanced surface-to-air missile system, according to defence officials. The US national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, confirmed on Monday the US is in the process of of finalising a package that includes advanced air defence capabilities.

• UK defence secretary, Ben Wallace, has reportedly written to the prime minister to call for the defence budget to be lifted to 2.5% of GDP by 2028. The leaked request, first reported by Talk TV, emerged on the eve of the Nato summit in Madrid, which will discuss the renewed threat posed by Russia and the anticipated commitment of hundreds more British troops to the defence of Estonia.

• Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Brazilian counterpart, Jair Bolsonaro, discussed global food security and confirmed their intention to strengthen their strategic partnership, the Kremlin said on Monday. Putin assured Bolsonaro in a phone call that Russia would fulfil all its obligations to supply fertilisers to Brazil, the Kremlin said in a statement as reported by Reuters.

• Iran has submitted an application to become a member in the group of emerging economies known as the BRICS, Iranian and Russians officials said on Monday. “While the White House was thinking about what else to turn off in the world, ban or spoil, Argentina and Iran applied to join the BRICS,” Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova wrote on the Telegram messaging app. Argentina is yet to confirm the reports.
• Any encroachment on the Crimea peninsula by a Nato member-state could amount to a declaration of war on Russia which could lead to “World War Three,” Russia’s former president, Dmitry Medvedev, was quoted as saying on Monday. “For us, Crimea is a part of Russia. And that means forever. Any attempt to encroach on Crimea is a declaration of war against our country. And if this is done by a Nato member-state, this means conflict with the entire North Atlantic alliance; a World War Three. A complete catastrophe,” Medvedev told the Russian news website Argumenty i Fakty.

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Any encroachment on the Crimea peninsula by a Nato member-state could amount to a declaration of war on Russia which could lead to “World War Three,” Russia’s former president, Dmitry Medvedev, was quoted as saying on Monday.

According to a Reuters report, Medvedev told the news website Argumenty i Fakty:

For us, Crimea is a part of Russia. And that means forever. Any attempt to encroach on Crimea is a declaration of war against our country.

And if this is done by a Nato member-state, this means conflict with the entire North Atlantic alliance; a World War Three. A complete catastrophe.”

Medvedev, now deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council, also said that if Finland and Sweden joined Nato, Russia would strengthen its borders and would be “ready for retaliatory steps,” and that could include the prospect of installing Iskander hypersonic missiles “on their threshold.”

Iran has submitted an application to become a member in the group of emerging economies known as the BRICS, an Iranian official said on Monday.

Iran’s membership in the BRICS group, which includes Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, “would result in added values for both sides,” Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson said, according to a Reuters report.

Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said separately that Argentina had also applied to join the group.

Argentina’s President Alberto Fernandez, currently in Europe, has in recent days reiterated his desire for Argentina to join BRICS.

While the White House was thinking about what else to turn off in the world, ban or spoil, Argentina and Iran applied to join the BRICS,” Zakharova wrote on the Telegram messaging app.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has said there can be no return to pre-war ties with Russia.

Scholz said at the Group of Seven summit on Monday that with its attack on Ukraine, Russia has broken “all the rules, all the agreements we have made with each other on countries’ cooperation.”

He said G-7 leaders agree that it has led to long-term changes “which will mark international relations for a very, very long time. So it is clear that, in relations with Russia, there can be no way back to the time before the Russian attack on Ukraine.”

Scholz was speaking after hosting the leaders of five leading democratic emerging economies at the G-7 summit in the Bavarian Alps.

The US is planning to buy and send more medium- to long-range missile systems to Ukraine, according to defence officials.

The arms are hoped to help Ukrainian forces hold onto the last remaining segments of land in the eastern Donbas.

A senior defence official told the Associated Press that Ukrainian forces are already effectively using advanced rocket systems, and that more of those will go into Ukraine with trained troops soon.

A new plan for the US to buy and send Nasams, an advanced surface-to-air missile system, to Ukraine, is also in the works and would add to its longer-range rocket and missile strike capabilities.

President Joe Biden is expected to announce soon that the US is purchasing Nasams, a Norwegian-developed anti-aircraft system, to provide medium- to long-range defence for Ukraine, according to an administration official familiar with the matter.

Nasams is the same system used by the US to protect the airspace around the White House and Capitol in Washington.

Both the defence official and the administration official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss US military assessments and plans that have yet to be announced.

Moscow police have reportedly detained one of the few politicians openly opposing the Kremlin’s war in Ukraine who remains in Russia.

A journalist friend said Ilya Yashin, a municipal deputy, was taken into custody while they walked in a Moscow park on Monday.

The journalist, Irina Babloyan, told Russian state media agency, Tass, he was taken to a detention facility in the Russian capital’s Luzhniki neighbourhood.

After charges of discrediting the Russian army were filed against him last month, Yashin said he wouldn’t run away or retract his criticism of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Latvia-based independent Russian news site Meduza reported.

Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskiy has described Russia’s attack on the shopping mall in Kremenchuk as “one of the most defiant terrorist attacks in European history”.

Zelenskiy made the remarks during his latest national address on Monday evening:

Today’s Russian strike at a shopping mall in Kremenchuk is one of the most defiant terrorist attacks in European history.

A peaceful city, an ordinary shopping mall with women, children, ordinary civilians inside... Before the air alarm there were about a thousand people. Fortunately, as far as we know at this time, many people managed to get out in time. They were taken out in time. But there were still people inside: staff, some visitors...

Only totally insane terrorists, who should have no place on earth, can strike missiles at such an object. And this is not an off-target missile strike, this is a calculated Russian strike - exactly at this shopping mall.”

While Zelenskiy said it is not yet possible to establish the number of victims, he predicted that the losses “may be significant”.

We are establishing the number of people under the rubble.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Brazilian counterpart, Jair Bolsonaro, discussed global food security and confirmed their intention to strengthen their strategic partnership, the Kremlin said on Monday.

Putin assured Bolsonaro in a phone call that Russia would fulfil all its obligations to supply fertilisers to Brazil, the Kremlin said in a statement as reported by Reuters.

The South American leader confirmed his call with Putin during an event on Monday.

I just had a phone call with President Putin of Russia, in which we talked about food security and also energy security,” Bolsonaro said, adding that his agriculture and energy ministers were also on the call.

The head of Ukraine’s state emergency service (SES) has also corroborated reports that the death toll from the Kremenchuk strike has increased to 16 fatalities.

In an online post written about 2am local time, Serhiy Kruk, said:

We continue to work at the site of the rocket attack on the shopping centre in Kremenchuk.

The main tasks currently performed by rescuers are to carry out rescue operations, dismantle debris and eliminate fires.

So far, 16 people have been killed and 59 injured, 25 of whom have been hospitalised.”

The Kremenchuk district prosecutor office has provided some more detail from the scene of the deadly attack.

Mykola Lukash spoke to Guardian reporter, Lorenzo Tondo.

We haven’t found any children’s bodies. A lot of bodies are burnt. We need to carry out DNA tests. At the current moment 14 bodies were found here on the site and another one died in the hospital. We also found six body fragments, arms legs etc...”

Lukash said more equipment will be coming from Kyiv, including larger cranes, on Tuesday.

The official added that so far 40 missing persons applications have been submitted by those fearing they have lost family in the attack.

Anton Herashchenko, Ukraine’s senior presidential advisor and former deputy minister for internal affairs, has provided another update on the death toll from the missile strike in Kremenchuk.

Writing on his Telegram channel early this morning, the official said:

It is known about 16 dead and 59 injured, of which 25 people were hospitalised.”

US President Joe Biden reportedly plans to announce an extension of some of the increased US troop presence in Poland and changes to US deployments in several Baltic nations that he authorised ahead of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, NBC News reported on Monday, citing officials.

The changes to the US troop footprint could affect countries such as Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, the outlet added.

To the extent there could be new troops deploying to the region on a more permanent basis, officials said the number would be minimal, but several hundred could remain in Poland on a more permanent basis.

Guardian photographer, Alessio Mamo, was at the scene in central Ukraine where a missile strike hit a busy shopping centre in Kremenchuk.

Some of the striking images can be seen below.

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French President Emmanuel Macron has denounced Russia’s deadly strike on a shopping centre in Kremenchuk, Ukraine, as an “abomination”, amid growing international outrage at the attack.

Russia’s bombing of a shopping centre in Kremenchuk is an abomination.

We share the pain of the victims’ families, and the anger in the face of such an atrocity. The Russian people have to see the truth.”

Macron tweeted video footage of the blazing shopping centre with black smoke pouring off it.

It’s 1am in Ukraine.

• Rescue efforts continue in Kremenchuk, where a Russian missile strike on a busy shopping centre killed at least 14 and wounded dozens more. The death toll is expected to rise. At least 40 missing persons reports had been submitted by locals searching for loved ones who had gone missing in the building.

• World leaders around the globe have condemned the attack in Kremenchuk, with G7 leaders issuing a statement and France’s foreign ministry coming out to say that Russia must be held accountable for its deliberate actions against civilians – a war crime

• The UN security council will meet tomorrow to discuss Russia’s targeted attacks on civilians, which, just today, included a missile attack on civilians collecting water in Lysychansk that killed at least eight and a widespread hit in Kharkiv that killed at least five who were just walking in the street.

The UN security council will meet tomorrow to discuss Russia’s attacks on civilians, which would include, just today, a missile attack on a crowded shopping mall in Kremenchuk that killed at least 14, a targeted missile strike on civilians collecting water in Lysychansk that killed at least eight and widespread hit on Kharkiv that killed at least five.

Officials have updated the death toll for the Russian missile strike on the shopping centre in Kremenchuk to 14, with the wounded still numbering in the dozens. Numbers are expected to rise as rescue efforts continue through the night.

At least 40 missing persons reports had been submitted by locals searching for loved ones who had gone missing in the building.

More than 1,000 people were believed to be in the building when the missile struck, according to president Volodymyr Zelenskiy. The missile ignited a massive fire that took 300 emergency workers more than four hours to extinguish.

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The G7 leaders have issued a statement on the Russian missile attack on a shopping centre in Kremenchuk that killed at least 13 and wounded dozens:

“We, the leaders of the G7, solemnly condemn the abominable attack on a shopping mall in Kremenchuk. We stand united with Ukraine in mourning the innocent victims of this brutal attack.”

• “Indiscriminate attacks on innocent civilians constitute a war crime. Russian President Putin and those responsible will be held to account.”

• “Today, we underlined our unwavering support for Ukraine in the face of the Russian aggression, an unjustified war of choice that has been raging for 124 days. We will continue to provide financial, humanitarian as well as military support for Ukraine, for as long as it takes.”

• “We will not rest until Russia ends its cruel and senseless war on Ukraine.”

27 Jun 202217.15 EDT

Lorenzo Tondo

Guardian reporter Lorenzo Tondo is reporting from the scene of a Kremenchuk shopping centre, where a Russian missile strike killed at least 13 today and wounded dozens more:

Emergency teams at the scene said it took four hours to extinguish the blaze caused by the missile strike.

“We pulled out several bodies, but there are definitely more trapped under the rubble,” said Oleksii, 46, a firefighter. “This is normally a very crowded place.”

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