Zelensky cancels foreign trips as Russia attacks north-east Ukraine

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We are ending our live coverage soon. Before we go, here's the latest on the Russian offensive in Ukraine:

• Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky cancelled all upcoming foreign trips, as his troops struggle to contain a new cross-border attack from Russian forces
• Over recent days, Russia launched a new offensive, not far from Ukraine's second city of Kharkiv, which has forced some Ukrainian troops to withdraw
• In Ukraine's city of Vovchansk, residents were urged to evacuate by the area's police chief
• Further south, Russia claimed to capture Robotyne, a village Kyiv took back last summer. However, a Ukrainian military spokesperson roundly denied those claims saying; "This information is not true"
• In the midst of all these clashes, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken pledged an additional $2bn military funding for Ukraine whilst on a visit to Kyiv
• Shortly after that announcement, Russia's President Vladimir Putin made a public address stating that defence spending in the country would be increased to more than 8% of GDP
• Putin also said that further military operations in Ukraine are being planned
• As Ukrainian forces continue fighting against the latest Russian offensive in the north-western suburbs, Russia's air strikes on Ukraine's southern cities have injured at least 17 people

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In Kyiv, Anthony Blinken said the US was rushing ammunition to Ukraine’s front lines.

Washington feels the sense of urgency, because it alone has been to blame for the critical delay in sending new American weapons to its ally.

Ukraine is said to burn up about $2.5bn worth of munitions a month.

From last summer the White House tried to get tens of billions of dollars of new funding approved to replenish its arms.

But Congress wouldn’t back it, gripped by partisan divisions in which the right of the Republican Party and allies of Donald Trump, focused on blocking the spiralling budget demands for Ukraine’s defence.

It even became a key factor in them ousting their own speaker of the House Of Representatives last year.

With the deadlock finally broken three weeks ago, and a $60bn package passed, the Biden administration is now trying to make up for lost time and get artillery shells and air defence interceptors urgently onto the battlefield.

That said, Ukraine’s problems aren’t all about a scarcity of arms - it also has a manpower shortage that’s handed more of the advantage to Moscow.

At today’s news conference, a Ukrainian journalist pressed Blinken on whether he would match the British Foreign Secretary David Cameron by saying Ukraine had a right to strike inside Russian territory.

Blinken would not take the bait, repeating his line that the US doesn’t encourage or enable strikes outside of Ukraine - but that the US would still back it with equipment while it made its own decisions on conducting what he called a defensive war.

He is walking right up to this line. But not crossing it.

From announcing a $2bn military aid package for Ukraine, to taking part in a late night jam session in a Kyiv bar - it's all in a day's work for Washington's top diplomat.

Antony Blinken last night played a rendition of Neil Young's Rockin' in the Free World with a local band. You can watch part of the performance below.

The song was released by in 1989 after a planned concert in the Soviet Union was cancelled.

Before he began playing, Blinken told the audience: "You need to know, the United States is with you...and the free world is with you, too."

He faced criticism from some Ukrainians for taking part while troops are fighting in trenches, struggling to hold back a Russian advance amid a shortage of weapons.

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Ukraine’s latest trade figures once again highlight the financial difficulties of fighting a war.

Money continued to flow out of the country because Ukraine needs to buy in things that will help it take on Russia, at the same time it is struggling to earn money from selling what it makes.

Exports came in at $10.1bn in the first three months of this year, but its imports were $15.9bn, meaning about $5.8bn left the country. That’s about 10% more than in the same period last year.

Before the war, grain exports were a big earner but the amount of money brought in from selling cereal crops such as wheat, maize and barley to other countries fell 16% and reflects problems in producing this stuff with less land, less workers to harvest it and the logistical and political challenges Ukraine has faced in getting it out of the country.

Ukraine has been spending more money on the vehicles it needs to fight the war with Russia, and amid damage to the power infrastructure money has been spent on making nuclear plants that are still operational, such as Khmelnytskyi, more resilient.

Ukraine can scarcely afford the outflow of money, the most recent estimate of the repair bill from two years of war came in at $486bn.

Two airports in the Russian republic of Tatarstan have been reopened, following their closure earlier today because of an apparent Ukrainian drone attack.

The defence ministry said it had downed a Ukrainian drone over Tartarstan.

Russian news agencies quoted Rosaviatsiya, the country’s aviation agency, as saying that the restrictions on airport operations in the republic's capital Kazan, as well as the Begishevo airport in Nizhnekamsk, were lifted in the morning.

The airports were not in operation for approximately an hour, with two flights rerouted from Kazan to alternate airports and one more from Nizhnekamsk.

In addition to the claim of a drone shot down in Tatarstan, the Russian Defence Ministry also said they'd shot down ten UAVs over the Belgorod region and five others in the Kursk region. Three UAVs were also intercepted over the Bryansk region.

As we've been reporting, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has promised extra military funding for Ukraine in its war with Russia.

Watch the clip below to hear what he said:

AFPCopyright: AFP

Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that the leadership in his country must do everything in its power to ensure that troops have all the necessary resources to successfully carry out their tasks in Ukraine.

"We must make maximum use of all our administrative resources to ensure the main task – the successful work of our combat units on the line of contact within the framework of a special military operation," he said.

Putin was speaking at a meeting dedicated to the development of the Russian defence industry.

The Ukrainian military have denied the claims that Russia has captured the village of Robotyne, a settlement in the southern Zaporizhzhia region.

"This information is not true," Dmytro Pletenchuk, the military spokesman, was quoted by Ukrinform agency as saying, and Serhiy Skibchuk, spokesperson for the 65th brigade fighting in the area told a leading news website, Ukrayinska Pravda, that Russian troops were "only on the outskirts" of Robotyne.

"Inside the village, there are still our positions. The Russians are kicked out on a daily basis. And every day they enter again and try to establish their positions," the spokesman added.

The Russian Defence Ministry had claimed that "units of the Dnepr group of forces had completely liberated the settlement of Robotyne in Zaporizhzhia Region" earlier on Wednesday.

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I remember one vivid scene from pre-war Vovchansk, a small Ukrainian town in the Kharkiv region, on the border with Russia where Ukrainian forces "partially pushed back" Russian forces this morning.

Eleven-year-old Sonia happily walked along the street in the early hours of Sunday morning. She was on her way to attend a break dancing class organised by a famous local dancer.

Sonia was smiling in the anticipation of the class. It was early autumn, and the sun was shining in Vovchansk.

Sonia's world has now been destroyed. Russian forces incessantly attack Vovchansk from air and land. They drop tens of guided aviation bombs, and launch numerous missiles and scorching shells.

Around 80 per cent of Vovchansk lays in ruins and ashes.

One more Ukrainian town is being turned into ghost land. One more piece of land that Russia wants to grab.

Although the Ukrainian authorities say they control the situation, it looks quite alarming for Ukraine. Most probably, the seizure and occupation of Vovchansk by Russia is just a matter of time.

If Russia manages to capture more villages around this town to the north of Kharkiv, its artillery might be able to target Kharkiv again, Ukraine's second largest city, like it did at the beginning of the war.

I'm thinking about Sonia's love for dance and her dream to become a military servicewoman. I hope even if she lost her home, she won't lose her dream.

BBCCopyright: BBC

Russia's recent territorial gains in Kharkiv region have prompted questions in Ukraine about the quality of defensive lines.

The commander of a reconnaissance unit, Denys Yaroslavsky, claimed on Facebook that the first line of defence "simply did not exist" near Vovchansk and that Russian forces "entered on foot".

Prominent war correspondent Yuriy Butusov echoed the allegations: "There are no signs of any defensive structures in and around the town." According to him, the defensive lines were located far from the border and the minefields could only stop armoured vehicles.

Responding to the criticism, the head of administration of the Defence Ministry's State Special Transport Service, Brig Gen Oleksandr Yakovets, said that the first line of fortifications had been at a distance of one and a half to six kilometres from the border. It is normally built by military units holding positions, with no heavy equipment involved because of constant enemy strikes, he noted.

Meanwhile, the Mezha anti-corruption centre suspects that millions of dollars could have been stolen when fortifications in Kharkiv region were built. Its head, Martyna Bohuslavets, said in a commentary on the leading news website Ukrayinska Pravda that contracts with suppliers of wood for the fortifications had signs of being fictitious.

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Let's take you back to Vovchansk, the town in the Kharkiv region that's under the spotlight today.

Russian troops entered parts of it this morning, with the situation there described by the police department as "extremely difficult".

Russian troops entered Volchansk from the north and street battles continue in the city, the head of the region's patrol police told a Ukranian TV channel.

Alexey Kharkovsky said that almost 80% of the city had been destroyed, including residential buildings, streets and roads.

He also said that the authorities had been evacuating the people of Vovchansk since the Russian offensive started on Friday with the help of Ukrainian police; more than 7,000 people have left the city so far. And during all this time the city had been under heavy shelling, he added.

Ukraine's state emergency service says 8,000 people have been evacuated from the Kharkiv region since Friday.

In the border areas, around two hundred people are under fire coming from the Russian side.

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ReutersCopyright: Reuters

More now from the US, where White House national security spokesperson John Kirby says it's possible Russia could make further advances in the coming weeks, but Washington does not anticipate any major breakthroughs.

Kirby also told reporters that the US had been working around the clock to get Ukraine what it needs to defend itself as Russia's offensive has intensified.

Military analyst Sean Bell says what the West and President Zelensky will be concerned about “appears to be a sort of second front” just to the north-east of Kharkiv, “which could be extremely dangerous”.

Speaking to BBC News, Bell adds that this is why Zelensky has to be "prepared to commit his reserves" should the offensive around the Vovchansk region "prevail".

He says the key question is whether or not this second front is “a major push, or whether it’s just a tactical operation”.

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As Ukrainian forces are fighting against the latest Russian offensive in the north-western suburbs, Russia's continuing air strikes on Ukraine's southern cities of Mykolaiv and Kherson have injured at least 17 people, say local officials.

The regional governor says that 11 people, including at least one teenager, have been injured in Kherson, with residential buildings and an educational facility damaged.

In the Mykolaiv region, a separate Russian missile attack caused a heavy fire in a car repair shop and at least six people were wounded, according to the emergency services.

There is no confirmation yet from the Russian side.

Yesterday, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) suggested the pace of the offensive in the northern Kharkiv region appeared to have “slowed” over a 24-hour period.

According to the research group, activity in the area was “consistent” with their assessment that Russian forces were “prioritising the creation of a ‘buffer zone’ in the international border area”.

As we have been reporting, president Volodymyr Zelensky postponed all his foreign travel plans, as Kyiv reported that Russian infantry had entered the north-eastern border town of Vovchansk.

The ISW said yesterday that several Russian and Ukrainian sources reported that Russian forces were “using new tactics in this direction — using smaller assault groups of no more than five people to penetrate Ukrainian positions before merging with other small assault groups to unite into a larger strike group.”

BBC News has not verified the report from the ISW.

AFPCopyright: AFP

Russia's President Vladimir Putin has said that work to plan a further "military operation" in Ukraine is under way.

On the existing ground offensive, Putin said: "Our troops are improving in all positions, in all directions, every day" along the front in Ukraine and that the advance was going to plan.

At a meeting in the Kremlin with Defence Minister Andrei Belousov, Secretary of the Security Council Sergei Shoigu, and top generals, said the work of the military was "proceeding according to the plan".

The Russian leader added that defence spending would rise to more than 8% of GDP in the coming year.

His address came shortly after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced during a visit to Kyiv today that the US would provide an additional $2bn in military funding to Ukraine.

• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has postponed all his foreign travel plans after Russian forces entered parts of the north-eastern border town of Vovchansk, in the Kharkiv region

• Vovchansk police department says the situation in the city is "extremely difficult" and calls on residents to evacuate
• But the Ukrainian military says it "partially pushed back" Russian forces from parts of Vovchansk on Wednesday

• The Russian offensive in north-east Ukraine began on Friday with a cross-border incursion

• In Kyiv, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is concluding a trip to Ukraine - and says the US will provide an additional $2bn to Ukraine
• "We're rushing ammunition, armoured vehicles, missiles, air defences to get them to the front lines," Blinken says