Ukraine war latest updates: Ukraine was 'prepared' - after Russian forces tried to 'break through' in Kharkiv

Russian shelling of Vovchansk, in the Kharkiv area, has killed one civilian and injured another five, according to the region's governor.

Another was killed in a nearby village, Oleh Synehubov adds.

As we have reported today, Ukrainian officials say fighting is intensifying in the Kharkiv region, with Russian troops trying to "break through" and create a buffer zone (see our 12.32pm post).

Volodymyr Zelenskyy, meanwhile, has just told a press conference Ukraine's forces were prepared for a new Russian ground assault on the borer of the northeastern Kharkiv region.

"Ukraine met them there with troops - brigades and artillery," he said, adding Russia could send more troops to support its attempted advance.

More now from Kharkiv, where fighting appears to be intensifying.

Ukraine's defence ministry says its forces are repelling an attack in the Kharkiv region, with Kyiv sending reinforcements after an attempt to "break though" at about 5am this morning.

A high-ranking Ukrainian military source says Russian forces have advanced 1km near Vovchansk, in the Kharkiv region.

The source, who declined to be named, said Russian forces are aiming to push Ukrainian troops as far back as 10km from the border to create a buffer zone.

Russian attacks on the region may be a sign Moscow is seeking to open a new front in the war, with reports of a recent build-up of troops in the area suggesting Russia wants to divert and spread Ukraine's depleted defensive forces.

"At approximately 5am, there was an attempt by the enemy to break through our defensive line under the cover of armoured vehicles," the ministry said.

"As of now, these attacks have been repulsed; battles of varying intensity continue."

Russia's Victory Day celebrations yesterday, which every year commemorate the Soviet Union's defeat of Nazi Germany in the Second World War, was "reduced in scale", according to the UK's ministry of defence.

In an intelligence update shared on X, the MoD says parades were cancelled in 24 cities this year, primarily in regions bordering Ukraine, likely "due to poor security".

This compares to 21 cancelled parades last year, the ministry adds.

The major parade was in Moscow, with "less modern military equipment on display when compared to pre-war parades", although the fly-past was reinstated.

Of the 30 units on show, the MoD says, two-thirds came from military academies and youth and veteran groups.

There was also an "absence of heavy armoured vehicles", with just the one battle tank leading the procession - a Second World War-era T-34 tank, which traditionally kicks off the parade.

There were 20 battle tanks in 2020, the MoD says.

"With the significant losses in Russian personnel and equipment as a result of the Ukraine war, there was no opportunity for Russia to use the parades to use demonstrate military strength," the MoD concludes.

Russia is capitalising on Ukraine's shortage of weapons and ammunition to seize the initiative on the battlefield.

After two years of protracted attritional warfare, Russia is once again on the front-foot in Ukraine.

If the West is to deny President Putin a strategically important success in Ukraine, it will need to find new ways to combat Russia's aggression.

To date, the West has limited Ukraine's ability to strike back at Russia by restricting the use of Western weapons - particularly long range missiles - to Russian-occupied Ukrainian territory, for fear of escalating the conflict.

However, Ukraine needs the maximum flexibility possible if it is to prevail over its numerically superior adversary - this is one of the core topics covered by our military analyst Sean Bell in this week's RedMatrix podcast.

Russian momentum

The US's $60bn package of military aid to Ukraine was finally agreed at the end of April after months of delay.

As Bell highlights, President Putin is capitalising on Ukraine's shortage of weapons to intensify his offensive operations in the Donbas, where his forces are gaining momentum and seizing numerous small settlements.

Whether these tactical gains can develop into a strategic breakthrough remains to be seen, but momentum is a vital component of warfare - and Russia has it.

Securing approval in the US for the $60bn of military aid was not a simple process. 

Understandable concerns over the relative priorities of domestic issues amid support for a non-NATO nation thousands of miles away divided opinion; it was no coincidence that US secretary of state Antony Blinken highlighted the delivery of US military equipment and ammunition had created "jobs for the US".

No strikes on Russia

The aid package also included a number of long-range missiles - the US Army ATACMS.

These systems have the range to threaten all Russian forces in occupied Ukraine, and could be crucial in helping Ukraine turn the tide of the war back in Ukraine's favour.

However, defence secretary Lloyd Austin reiterated these weapons could not be used to target within Russia itself.   

Wars on this scale consume vast resources. Russia relies on its oil exports to provide revenues to invest in its national defence industrial base, and also purchase vast quantities of munitions from North Korea and Iran.

Therefore, President Zelenskyy has deliberately targeted some of Russia's immense oil refining capacity to reduce Russia's oil revenues.  

However, any reduction in global supply of oil inevitably increases the price. Austin was questioned on this point at one of the defence department hearings, where it was suggested this was one of the reasons that the US placed limitations on the use of US weapons.  

Putin's sabre-rattling

In contrast, during a visit to Kyiv earlier this month, Lord Cameron announced it is up to Ukraine to decide how to use British weapons and insisted it has the right to strike targets on Russian territory.

This notable shift in stance from the UK prompted the Russian foreign ministry to claim this would have "catastrophic" consequences.

As Bell notes, President Putin knows strategic success in Ukraine relies on deterring increased Western support for Ukraine, and to date, his sabre-rattling has successfully tempered Western political appetite for an escalation.  

Regardless of the political rhetoric, the West faces a stark choice.

Ukraine is utterly dependent on Western support to stem the Russian invasion. President Putin knows this, so he is using all tools at his disposal to deter increased Western involvement.

However, should Putin prevail, what next?

If a nuclear superpower is at liberty to attack any non-nuclear power without consequence, that has profound implications for global security.   

But how far is the West prepared to go to stop Putin's brutal offensive?

Russian sabotage groups tried to break through into Ukraine, according to Kharkiv's governor, as Moscow steps up its shelling of the region.

Oleh Synehubov said the attempts were rebuffed by Ukraine's armed forces, who "confidently hold their positions" and have not lost "a single metre".

He said shelling continued in the town of Vovchansk throughout the night, but the Russian group "does not pose a threat to Kharkiv".

"Its forces are sufficient only for provocations in the northern direction," he claims.

But he did call on residents to stay in shelters as Russia "makes no difference" between military and civilian targets.

We reported this morning that Ukrainian officials say a Russian missile attack injured two people and set three houses on fire in the northeastern city of Kharkiv (see our 9.04am post).

Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-biggest city, lies 30km from the Russian border and is particularly exposed to aerial attacks. 

Pictures from the scene appear to show badly damaged homes from the latest round of airstrikes.

Moscow's mayor says anti-aircraft units intercepted a drone over the south of the city early this morning.

Nobody was injured and no damage was caused by falling debris, according to Sergei Sobyanin, who says the drone was downed over the Podolsk district just south of the capital.

Russia's defence ministry claims a total of five Ukrainian-launched drones were destroyed overnight over the Moscow area as well as over the Bryansk and Belgorod regions bordering Ukraine. 

The governor of Bryansk region, which borders Ukraine, said there was no damage or injuries as a result of the attack.

According to a NATO official's estimate last month, Ukraine has disrupted 15% of Russia's oil refining capacity as it steps up drone attacks across the border.

Just yesterday, Kyiv claimed a drone travelled 1,500km into Russia to hit a major oil processing plant in Bashkortostan, also known as Bashkiria, as we reported earlier (see our 8.48am post).

Drone attacks targeting Moscow, however, are rarer.

By law, the government in Russia had to resign just before Vladimir Putin was sworn in as president for another six-year term on Tuesday.

This means there was, at least in theory, the possibility Mr Putin could shake things up, but it now appears he is not planning any significant reshuffle.

Analysts say he is looking to project an image of stability and satisfaction with his team's progress, as the Russian parliament Speaker all but confirmed Mikhail Mishustin will remain in post as prime minister.

The Duma's approval of the low-key Mr Mishustin is nearly certain, as there is virtually no opposition in parliament.

"President Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin submitted to the State Duma a proposal on the candidacy of Mikhail Vladimirovich Mishustin for the post of chairman of the government," the speaker of the Duma, Vyacheslav Volodin, said.

"Today, deputies will make a responsible decision on behalf of their constituents on this issue."

No political ambitions

Mr Mishustin, a career bureaucrat, was said to have no political ambitions before Mr Putin tapped him as prime minister in 2020.

With no background in the security services, he is not part of the so-called siloviki (strongmen) faction of intelligence veterans close to Mr Putin.

While keeping a low profile, however, Mr Mishustin has been credited with keeping Russia's economy afloat after Kyiv's allies hit the country with sanctions.

Before becoming prime minister, Mishustin headed the federal tax service for a decade, where he was credited with more than doubling revenues.

Two people were injured in a Russian attack on residential buildings in the Kharkiv region, Ukrainian officials say.

All 10 drones were downed, the air force said, but not before a fire broke out at the buildings targeted.

Russia also launched two anti-aircraft guided missiles, the air force added.

Oleh Sinehubov, governor of the Kharkiv region, said three residential houses were set on fire and about dozens damaged as a result of the attack, which he said targeted both infrastructure and residential areas.

Photos appear to show houses badly damaged.

Two people, including an 11-year-old child, were shell-shocked and were receiving medical help, Mr Sinehubov added.

Hello and welcome back to our coverage of the war in Ukraine.

One of the most significant developments over the past 24 hours came from Volodymyr Zelenskyy's office, with the Ukrainian president dismissing the head of the state guards.

This came two days after the state security service (SBU) said it had caught two men - colonels in the state guard service - accused of plotting the assassination of Mr Zelenskyy and other top officials.

The SBU said the assassinations were to have been a "gift" for Vladimir Putin as he was sworn in for a new term in the Kremlin on Tuesday.

It said the men were recruited by Russia's Federal Security Service who leaked classified information to Moscow - Russia has not commented.

Before we press on with updates from today, here's a look at other major events from the past day:

• Ukraine claims one of its drones flew a record 1,500km to hit a Russian oil facility in the Bashkiria region;
• A separate drone attack on another oil refinery caused a fire in the Kaluga region, which borders the broader Moscow area, according to Russian media;
• Ukrainian rescuers say they have evacuated the elderly and the sick from the eastern town of Toretsk as Russian forces close in;
• Mr Putin accused the West of risking a global conflict as Russia marked the Soviet Union's victory over Nazi Germany in the Second World War.