Russia defends death sentences for captured Britons
Updates from BBC correspondents: Joe Inwood and Nick Beake in Kyiv, Wyre Davies and Joel Gunter in Kharkiv, Orla Guerin in Donbas, and Steve Rosenberg in Moscow
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Updates from BBC correspondents: Joe Inwood and Nick Beake in Kyiv, Wyre Davies and Joel Gunter in Kharkiv, Orla Guerin in Donbas, and Steve Rosenberg in Moscow
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Edited by Rob Corp
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Dead bodies are poisoning water supply in Mariupol - mayor
Diana Kuryshko
BBC Ukrainian correspondent
More now from the mayor of Mariupol, who is no longer in the city but has been speaking to the BBC about the situation there, saying there is evidence of a cholera outbreak in Mariupol, and dozens may be sick.
"They are scared of the situation with the disease because it discredits them," said Vadym Boychenko.
"There are a lot of dead in Mariupol. They have not cleared the bodies of those they killed in the bombings. Many bodies are still under the ruins. The problem is compounded by the absence of garbage collection – the system hasn’t been functioning since February."
Boychenko said the situation was being made worse by it now being summer and hot - with heavy rain ruining makeshift burial places - and a lack of functioning water and sewerage systems.
"The resulting mix flows towards rivers and wells, where people draw and use it. This water is already poisoned. It has already propagated throughout the city. The occupation authorities bring water to the city, but not enough. People still go to the wells and take that poisoned water."
The mayor said measures are being taken to prevent the spread of the disease to other regions of Ukraine. “People travelling from Mariupol to the territories under Ukrainian control will be tested for cholera symptoms," he said.
Sweden seeks to persuade Turkey over Nato membership
Sweden's Foreign Minister Ann Linde says the country aims to make constructive progress in talks with Turkey over the Nordic country's application to join Nato.
Sweden and Finland applied to join Nato last month in light of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, but Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has stated his opposition to the application.
He accuses the two Nordic nations of harbouring members of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), a group it views as a terrorist organisation, and followers of Fethullah Gulen, who Ankara accuses of orchestrating a 2016 coup attempt.
"Our application has received broad support among Nato members," Linde said in a foreign policy declaration.
"Our ambition is to, in a constructive spirit, make progress on the questions that Turkey has raised," she told parliament.
Dozens may be sick with cholera in Mariupol, says city's mayor
Diana Kuryshko
BBC Ukrainian correspondent
We've been reporting today on the situation in Mariupol, with Ukrainian officials warning that the conditions there are getting worse and people are at risk of diseases.
The city's mayor - who is not in Mariupol, but is living in a Ukrainian-controlled territory - estimates that dozens of residents may be sick, and this number is expected to grow.
"Cholera, dysentery and other infectious diseases are already in the city, but they [the occupation authorities] are concealing it," said Vadym Boychenko. "The city has been closed for quarantine. Nobody is let in or out.
“This is an infection. It spreads very quickly. There are no means of holding it back. No doctors, no hospitals for infectious diseases. They have destroyed such a hospital in our city, including all the equipment. They have killed our doctors. This infectious war may claim thousands of lives.”
According to him, there are no documented cases of cholera patients being treated in the city hospital, because there is no access to the hospital.
However, Boychenko is convinced that there is sufficient evidence of a cholera outbreak in Mariupol.
Zelensky grateful to 'true friends' in UK
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We've got some more detail now from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's meeting with UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace in Kyiv.
Zelensky thanked Britain for having provided weapons and financial support to Ukraine, as well as imposing sanctions on Russia.
"I am grateful to Britain as a whole, the government, the prime minister.
"We can talk about this - we will be grateful for a long time. The war has clearly shown who our true friends are," he said, in a video posted on Telegram.
Wallace said he saw a lot of common things in the two nations' histories, referring to both facing "a much stronger enemy army" in a nod to World War Two and suggesting Ukraine can be successful in this war.
"We see now that Ukraine is able to force out Russia from Donbas," he added.
"We see that the regime I am talking about is on the verge of collapse, at least in terms of military power. I mean they are now also on the verge of exhaustion."
Russia has violated 'about 400 international treaties', Zelensky says
Russia has violated "about 400 different international treaties", Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said.
Speaking to the 2022 Copenhagen Democracy Summit by video-link, the Ukrainian leader said: "Only during Russia's war against Ukraine, and I want to remind you that it started in 2014, not on 24 February [2022], Russia has violated about 400 different international treaties to which our countries are parties."
The president gave numerous examples of treaties he claimed Russia had violated, including the UN Charter.
He said people should recall the Budapest memorandum, claiming Russia has "added maximum cynicism to the whole picture" by violating it. "With this violation, Russia has put an end to the whole struggle for nuclear disarmament in the world."
The Budapest memorandum was an agreement in 1994 in which Ukraine would give up the nuclear weapons that it had inherited from the Soviet era, in exchange for "assurances" about its future security agreed by Russia, the US and Britain.
UK defence secretary makes unannounced visit to Ukraine
The UK's defence secretary Ben Wallace has been on an unannounced visit to Ukraine.
The Ministry of Defence said he was there for two days this week and met his Ukrainian counterpart Oleksii Reznikov, as well as President Volodymyr Zelensky.
In a video posted on the president’s official Telegram channel, Wallace is seen telling Zelensky he is doing an “amazing job".
The MoD said Wallace was able to hear first-hand how the operational needs of Ukraine's armed forces are developing as the nature of the conflict changes.
"This will ensure that the UK's continued support is evolving to meet those requirements and is tailored to the situation on the ground," it said.
It added that the three politician agreed to work more closely "in support of their shared goal of enabling Ukraine to liberate itself from illegal Russian occupation".
It's not clear when the politicians met and whether they were able to discuss the situation of the two British men - Shaun Pinner and Aiden Aslin - who have been sentenced to death after fighting in Ukraine by an unrecognised court in the self-declared Donetsk People's Republic.
The latest in Ukraine
If you're just joining us or want to get up to speed with what's going on in the Ukraine war, here's a recap of the main developments so far today:
Soldiers given death sentences
Conditions in Mariupol
How Russia is faring
Russia's new version of McDonald's unveils logo
Annabelle Liang
BBC News, Business reporter
The Russian fast food chain that was formerly McDonald's in the country has revealed its new logo as it prepares to reopen its restaurants from Sunday.
The new branding features a circle and two lines, which are said to represent a burger and two French fries.
The company has not yet revealed the name of the chain, although a number of options have reportedly been considered.
In May, McDonald's said it would pull out of Russia over the Ukraine war.
It comes as the Russian chain is scheduled to reopen 15 restaurants this weekend, according to Russian state-owned news agency TASS, which cited Sistema PBO, the firm that manages the business previously owned by McDonald's.
The names reportedly under consideration include "Tot Samyi", which translates to "the same one" and "Svobodnaya Kassa" which means "available cash register".
McDonald's temporarily halted its business in Russia in March, less than two weeks after the country invaded Ukraine.
Last month, it announced that it would leave Russia because of the "humanitarian crisis" and "unpredictable operating environment" caused by the war.
Read more here
UK political parties 'stand as one' over sentenced Britons - Starmer
We reported earlier that UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss has called the death sentences given to two Britons an "egregious breach of the Geneva convention".
Among those also condemning the treatment of Aiden Aslin and Shaun Pinner, who were captured by Russian troops while fighting for Ukraine, is Sir Keir Starmer, leader of UK opposition party Labour.
"I utterly condemn the action that's been taken in relation to the two Britons involved and they should be treated as prisoners of war", he told a press conference.
He said the government was right in its approach to securing their release and it was important there is "no party politics in this".
"We stand as one in condemning what is happening here and demanding in the strongest possible terms that they be treated as prisoners of war."
Ukraine establishes council on 'de-Russification'
Ukrainian Culture and Information Policy Minister Oleksandr Tkachenko has announced the establishment of an expert council on "de-communisation and de-Russification".
The committee will include representatives of civil society and culture, historians, publishers, film directors and museum heads, the Interfax-Ukraine news agency quoted him as saying at a briefing.
Tkachenko also suggested that local governments should form similar expert councils so that the de-Russification process takes place "according to the law", and "historians, philosophers, local activists could discuss this or that issue".
Russia can keep war going at current pace for a year - Ukrainian intelligence
BBC Monitoring
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Russia is running out of precision missiles and will only be able to continue the war at its current pace for one year, Ukraine's defence directorate has claimed.
The Ukrainian Defence Ministry's main intelligence directorate said Russia was carrying out far fewer missile strikes and was using Kh-22 rockets, which it said were "old Soviet missiles made in the 1970s".
"This shows that Russia is running out of high-precision missiles," said Vadym Skibitskyy from the directorate in a Facebook post.
The directorate said Russia's economic resources would enable it to continue the war at its current pace for one year.
"The Kremlin leadership might try to freeze the war for some time in order to convince the West to cancel sanctions, and then continue the aggression", the directorate added.
"Their goal is all of Ukraine and not only Ukraine."
UK and Ukrainian foreign ministers discuss Britons sentenced to death
UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss has just spoken with her Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba.
They discussed the death sentences given to two Britons, Aiden Aslin and Shaun Pinner, and Moroccan national Brahim Saaudun. The three soldiers were captured by Russian troops while fighting for Ukraine.
All three were convicted by a court which is not internationally recognised in the pro-Russian, so-called Donetsk People's Republic.
Truss tweeted that the judgement against them was an "egregious breach of the Geneva convention" and that she and Kuleba had discussed efforts to secure their release.
Meanwhile, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson spokesman has said he is "appalled" by the death sentences and has ordered ministers to do "everything in their power" to secure their release.
"We completely condemn the sham sentencing of these men to death," a spokesman for the PM said.
"There's no justification at all for this breach of the protection they're entitled to."
Zelensky to speak to Ukrainian students in UK
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is set to address students later as part of a live broadcast to a number of UK universities, organised by the Ukrainian Students Union.
The union was formed earlier this year by students from Ukrainian Societies at various universities in the UK.
Zelensky is expected to stress the importance of continued international support for his country and some students will have the chance to put questions to him.
One of those is Pavel Pimkin, president of Coventry University's Ukrainian Society, who wants to ask the president about how Ukraine will be rebuilt after the war.
"I think he understands students are the future of our nation," Pavel says. "They've organised protests, fundraised for Ukraine, and been enthusiastic in their support for Ukraine - we have a very powerful voice."
We'll bring you details from Zelensky's address later today.
You can read more here.
Russia says sentenced men committed crimes in breakaway region
The Russian foreign minister has claimed the three men sentenced to death - two Britons and one Moroccan - committed crimes in the territory of the so-called Donetsk People's Republic (DPR).
Sergei Lavrov said the trials were held on the "basis of the legislation of the Donetsk People's Republic, because the crimes in question were committed on the DPR's territory".
The DPR, where separatist forces began a military campaign to break away from Ukraine in 2014 with Moscow's support, is internationally recognised as part of Ukraine.
"Everything else is already a subject for speculation, and I would not interfere in the work of the judicial and law enforcement system of the Donetsk People's Republic," Lavrov was quoted as saying by the state-owned RIA Novosti news agency.
Much of the province of Donetsk remains under Ukrainian control, and among members of the United Nations, only Russia recognises the region as the independent DPR.
The men sentenced in Donetsk have the right to appeal for a pardon, the Russian state news agency TASS later quoted the chairman of the "court" as saying.
Politics likely to determine fate of Britons sentenced to death
James Landale
Diplomatic correspondent
Aiden Aslin and Sean Pinner may have been sentenced to death by an unrecognised court in Russian-controlled eastern Ukraine.
But what happens now is likely to be determined more by politics than the law. In the short term, it is thought likely the two men will appeal against the conviction. Russian state media says they have a month to do so.
Ukraine’s prosecutor general, Iryna Venediktova, has launched an official investigation into what she called the “phoney” proceedings.
UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss is raising the case with her Ukrainian counterpart. But for now she has not summoned Russia’s ambassador in London.
Officials fear that if the UK makes this a bilateral dispute with Russia, that would fuel the false claims that the two men are mercenaries, rather than Britons who have made Ukraine their home and served in its armed forces for several years.
Nor could Truss formally negotiate with the authorities in Donetsk because UK does not recognise the People’s Republic as a separate state.
So for now perhaps the best hope might be for Aslin and Pinner to be released as part of a prisoner swap between Ukraine and Russia. But that might be some time coming if Russia wishes to continue using the two men to put political pressure on the UK.
UN voices concern over death sentences
More now on the two Britons and one Moroccan soldier who have been sentenced to death by pro-Moscow separatists after being captured by Russian troops while fighting for Ukraine.
"The UN Human Rights Office is concerned about the so-called Supreme Court of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic sentencing three servicemen to death," spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani told reporters in Geneva.
"Since 2015, we have observed that the so-called judiciary in these self-proclaimed republics has not complied with essential fair trial guarantees, such as public hearings, independence, impartiality of the courts and the right not to be compelled to testify.
"Such trials against prisoners of war amount to a war crime."
Families seek help for death sentence British fighters
The families of the two British men sentenced to death for fighting Russian forces in Ukraine say they need urgent access to medical and legal help.
Aiden Aslin and Shaun Pinner were captured fighting with the Ukrainian army and tried as mercenaries by a Russian proxy court.
Richard Fuller, the local MP of Pinner's family in Bedfordshire, says he's spoken to his mother and stepfather, who "clearly are very very anxious".
He says their priority is that the two men have "access to proper health services and the Red Cross" and to independent legal advice as they prepare their defence and any appeal.
You can read more here.
Cholera: What is it and how can it be treated?
Smitha Mundasad
Health reporter
We've been reporting today on warnings of a potential outbreak of cholera in the occupied southern city of Mariupol.
Cholera can be a very serious illness. In the most severe cases, if left untreated, the disease can kill within hours.
It is caused by a bacterium called Vibrio cholerae and people tend to catch it by eating food or drinking water contaminated with the bug.
The spread of cholera is closely linked to poor sanitation facilities and unsafe drinking water where the bug can thrive and spread.
It is a disease that often adds to the suffering in humanitarian crises – when there is disruption of water and sanitation supplies and people shelter in crowded spaces, with extra pressure on water and sanitation systems.
It takes anywhere between 12 hours and five days for a person to show symptoms after ingesting the contaminated food and water.
Some people get watery diarrhoea and become severely dehydrated. This needs rapid treatment with fluids and antibiotics.
Others get mild to moderate symptoms and many with the disease do not have symptoms at all.
But even when symptom-free they can carry the bug in their faeces for up to 10 days after getting the infection - and it can then be shed back into the environment, with the potential to infect other people.
Cholera vaccines, in combination with improvements in water and sanitation, can help get cholera outbreaks under control.
Moscow 'wants to destroy our statehood' - Ukraine
Moscow wants to "completely destroy Ukrainian statehood", Kyiv's defence ministry spokesman says.
"Russia's strategic goal is the complete destruction of Ukraine ... They won't let us live in peace," Oleksandr Motuzyanyk told national TV.
"The Russian Federation wants to completely destroy Ukrainian statehood and install a government it can control here."
Moscow says it's carrying out a "special military operation" and does not plan to occupy Ukraine.
Russia is looking for weak points in Ukrainian defences near the Siversky Donets River in eastern Ukraine, he added.
If Russia captures the cities of Severodonetsk and Lysychansk on the Siverskyi Donets, it will hold all of Luhansk, one of two provinces in the Donbas region that Moscow claims on behalf of separatists.
Ukraine hits back at Putin over 'original territories' comment
One of Ukraine's presidential advisers has hit back at comments from Vladimir Putin in which the Russian president sought to justify his invasion of Ukraine.
Putin had said his country was now trying to regain its "original" territories, just as the Russian ruler Peter the Great did in the 18th Century.
Podolyak also said there should be no talk about saving face for Russia, instead saying there should discussion about be "immediate de-imperialization".
It comes after Ukraine expressed anger at French President Emmanuel Macron's after he said it was vital Russia was not humiliated over its invasion.