Here are the latest developments in the war in Ukraine:

Western arms supplies hit

Russia claims its missiles have taken out a “large batch” of Western-supplied weapons and ammunition, that were being stored at an aluminium plant in the southeastern city of Zaporizhzhia.

The US and Britain have been prodding allies to send more heavy weapons to Ukraine to sway the conflict.

On Tuesday, Germany announced that it planned to send anti-aircraft tanks, marking a break from its previously cautious approach on arms shipments.

Russia halts gas to Poland and Bulgaria

Russia’s Gazprom halts gas shipments to Poland and Bulgaria in Moscow’s latest use of gas as a weapon in the conflict.

Bulgaria is almost completely dependent on Russia for its annual consumption of about 3.0 billion cubic metres of gas, while Poland is hoping to receive gas from Norway via a pipeline that is expected to be completed later this year.

“There will be no shortage of gas in Polish homes,” Climate Minister Anna Moskwa writes on Twitter.

‘Coordinated’ EU response

The EU promises “solidarity” with Poland and Bulgaria and a “coordinated” response to Gazprom’s decision to turn of the taps.

“Gazprom’s announcement is another attempt by Russia to blackmail us with gas. We are prepared for this scenario. We are mapping out our coordinated EU response,” European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen says on Twitter.

East Ukraine villages fall

According to AFP, Ukraine says that Russian forces have captured several eastern villages as part of Moscow’s offensive to take control of the Donbas region, which Russia has vowed to “liberate”.

The defence ministry said the villages of Velyka Komyshuvakha and Zavody in the northeastern Kharkiv region and Zarichne and Novotoshkivske in the Donetsk region had fallen.

Russia aims to create a land border between territory held by pro-Russian separatists in parts of the Donbas and the Russian-annexed Black Sea peninsula of Crimea.

Moldova unrest

Pro-Russian separatists in Moldova claim shots were fired across the border from western Ukraine towards a village housing a Russian arms depot in the breakaway Transnistria region.
Transnistria’s interior ministry says drones overflew the village of Kolbasna before the gunfire.

There are growing fears that Moscow-backed Transnistria could be drawn into the war in Ukraine following a series of mysterious attacks on state infrastructure.

Transnistria’s leadership has suggested Ukraine is to blame. Kyiv has accused Russia of staging the attacks as a pretext to make a grab for Transnistria.

Putin has ‘hope’ for negotiations

Russian President Vladimir Putin tells UN chief Antonio Guterres that he still faith in diplomacy.

“Despite the fact that the military operation is ongoing, we still hope that we will be able to reach agreements on the diplomatic track. We are negotiating, we do not reject (talks),” Putin tells Guterres during a visit by the UN secretary general to Moscow.

Guterres is also due to visit Kyiv.

Friendship statue demolished

“It took some effort but the Soviet sculpture of the two workers – symbolising the reunification of Ukraine and Russia – was dismantled this evening,” Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko writes on social media.

The Star