Russia Ukraine war live: Deadly attack on Kharkiv supermarket kills 14 and leaves dozens wounded

The Biden administration announced on Friday an additional $275 million in military aid for Ukraine as Kyiv struggles to hold off advances by Russian troops in the Kharkiv region.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the package, which was previewed on Thursday by two U.S. officials, “is part of our efforts to help Ukraine repel Russia’s assault near Kharkiv.”

“Assistance from previous packages has already made it to the front lines, and we will move this new assistance as quickly as possible so the Ukrainian military can use it to defend their territory and protect the Ukrainian people,” Blinken said in a statement.

People from villages and towns around the region have been forced from their homes by fierce fighting, reports Tom Watling:

The Russian assault on the Ukraine’s northeastern region of Kharkiv threatens to leave thousands of newly-displaced civilians without homes, UN officials and aid workers have told The Independent, as the United Nations grapples with an “extremely worrying” shortage of humanitarian aid.

It began last month with the arrest of a Russian deputy defense minister. Then the head of the ministry’s personnel directorate was hauled into court. This week, two more senior military officials were detained. All face charges of corruption, which they have denied.

The arrests began after President Vladimir Putin began his fifth term and shuffled his ally, longtime Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, into a new post.

Lithuania holds presidential elections on Sunday, with incumbent Gitanas Nauseda expected to win after a campaign dominated by security concerns in the European Union and NATO member next door to Russia.

The Baltic nation of 2.8 million people has been a staunch ally of Ukraine since Russia‘s 2022 invasion. Like other countries in the region, it worries it could be Moscow’s next target.

Nauseda, 60, a former senior economist with Swedish banking group SEB who is not affiliated with any party, won the first round of the election on May 12 with 44% of the votes, short of the 50% he needed for an outright victory.

In the run-off, he is facing Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte, 49, from the ruling centre-right Homeland Union party that has been trailing in opinion polls. She was the only woman out of eight candidates in the first round and came second with 20%.

Polls close at 8 p.m. (1700 GMT), with results expected before midnight.

Just over half of Lithuanians believe a Russian attack is possible or even very likely, according to a ELTA/Baltijos Tyrimai poll conducted between February and March. Russia has regularly dismissed concerns that it might attack a NATO member.

Nauseda told a debate on Tuesday he sees Russia as an enemy. “Our enemies – who even call themselves our enemies, who are enemies of us and all the democratic world – are attempting to destabilise our politics, and we must do all to resist.”

Secretary of State Antony Blinken will travel to eastern Europe next week as concerns mount about Russia’s advances in Ukraine, potential Russian interference in neighboring Moldova and pro-Moscow legislation being promoted in the former Soviet republic of Georgia, the State Department said Friday.

Blinken will visit the Moldovan capital of Chişinau on Wednesday before attending a NATO foreign ministers meeting in Prague on Thursday and Friday.

That meeting will be the military alliance’s last major diplomatic get-together before leaders meet at a summit to celebrate NATO’s 80th anniversary in Washington in July.

Russian forces have taken over the village of Berestove in Ukraine‘s northeastern Kharkiv region, the TASS news agency cited Russia‘s defence ministry as saying on Sunday.

Reuters could not immediately verify the battlefield reports.

Finance officials from the Group of Seven rich democracies said they had moved toward agreement on a U.S. proposal to squeeze more money for Ukraine from Russian assets frozen in their countries. But the ministers left a final deal to be worked out ahead of a June summit of national leaders.

“We are making progress in our discussions on potential avenues to bring forward the extraordinary profits stemming from immobilized Russian sovereign assets to the benefit of Ukraine,” the draft statement said, without providing details.

Despite the progress made at the the meeting in Stresa, on the shores of Lago Maggiore in northern Italy, a final decision on how the assets will be used will rest with the G7 national leaders, including U.S. President Joe Biden, next month at their annual summit in Fasano, in southern Italy.

President Volodymyr Zelensky warned Sunday that Russia is preparing to intensify its offensive along Ukraine’s northern border, as the death toll rose to 14 in an aerial bomb attack on a large construction supplies store in the city of Kharkiv.

The bombing of Kharkiv on Saturday afternoon also left 43 injured and 16 missing, Kharkiv Gov. Oleh Syniehubov said.

In a video statement from Kharkiv, Zelensky said that Russia is preparing offensive actions 90 kilometers (55 miles) northwest of Ukraine’s second largest city. He said that Russians “gather another group of troops near our border.”

A nighttime Russian attack destroyed train tracks and rolling stock in Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv region, officials said Friday, and authorities organized the evacuation of children from the area that is being pummeled by the Kremlin’s forces in a powerful new offensive.

The overnight strike also damaged buildings and freight cars, according to Ukraine’s national railway operator Ukrzaliznytsia. No injuries were reported.

Authorities have evacuated more than 11,000 people from the Kharkiv region since Russia launched an offensive there on May 10, regional Gov. Oleh Syniehubov said. Officials on Friday announced the mandatory evacuation over the next 60 days of 123 orphans and children living without their parents in the area.