Diplomacy

• UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was “causing massive suffering and devastation” at a UN Security Council meeting chaired by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
• Ukraine’s allies condemned the Russia-convened meeting at the UN as a cynical exercise. The meeting, led by Lavrov, was to discuss protecting the UN Charter, which Moscow is accused of breaching with its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
• Washington’s UN ambassador made a direct plea to Lavrov for the release of detained US journalist Evan Gershkovich and former US marine Paul Whelan.
• Beijing tried to defuse anger in Europe after China’s ambassador to France questioned the sovereignty of countries that were once part of the Soviet Union.
• On a trip to Ukraine, Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas said she supported Kyiv’s calls to join NATO “as soon as conditions allow”, as well as its membership in the EU.
• A Moscow court rejected an appeal from the woman accused of killing a pro-Kremlin war blogger in a St Petersburg café.

Fighting

• Russia’s Black Sea Fleet repelled a drone attack on the Crimean port of Sevastopol in the early hours of Monday, the Moscow-installed governor of the city said.
• Russia’s defence ministry accused Ukraine of attempting to attack its ships in the Black Sea, which it said was threatening prospects for a renewed deal on grain exports.
• Yevgeny Prigozhin, the founder of the Wagner Group of mercenaries, said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenksyy would start a counteroffensive if and when Bakhmut falls.
• The Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank, said Ukrainian military forces had established positions on the eastern side of the Dnieper River, raising speculations of a counterattack. Russia pounded the southern Ukrainian cities of Kherson and Beryslav, destroying about 30 buildings and injuring civilians.
• Moscow said a ‘Ukrainian’ drone has been found outside Moscow. Igor Sukhin, head of the Bogorodsky city district outside the capital, said a local resident had found the drone in a forest.

Weaponry

• EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell expressed confidence that the bloc will finalise a plan soon to buy ammunition for Ukraine.