A man stands atop a Russian tank and flies the Ukrainian flag, defying the Russian occupation of Kherson in southern Ukraine, March 2022

EA on BBC: US Finally Allows Ukraine’s Strikes Inside Russia

Monday’s Coverage: US Lifts Ban on Kyiv’s Strikes Inside Russia

Map: Institute for the Study of War

UPDATE 1827 GMT:

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has called on German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to back Ukraine’s strike capabilities inside Russia.

“I think after [Vladimir Putin’s] statements about nuclear weapons, it is also time for Germany to support corresponding decisions,” Zelensky said during a briefing in Kyiv alongside Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen.

Scholz has refused to provide German-made Taurus long-range missiles to Kyiv. On Monday, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said (see 0730 GMT) that the lifting of the US ban on Ukraine’s strikes inside Russia was “important” and “essential”.

Frederiksen announced a grant of around $138 million for development of Ukraine’s arms industry.

More than 130 million euros directly to Ukraine’s defense industry because we know now what your industry is capable of.

Because we know that these investments make a real difference on the battlefield. And make no mistake, our support is long-term.

UPDATE 1416 GMT:

Senior US and Ukrainian officials have confirmed that American-made ATACMS missiles have been fired into Russia for the first time during Vladimir Putin’s 33-month invasion of Ukraine.

The officials confirmed the early-morning strike on a military facility in the Bryansk region in southwestern Russia.

Andrii Kovalenko of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, said the strike hit warehouses housing “artillery ammunition, including North Korean ammunition for their systems”.

Significantly, the area is outside the Kursk region, where US officials had indicated the missiles were to be deployed.

Russia’s Defense Ministry claimed it downed five of six incoming ATACMS missiles, and that the other was damaged. It declared that falling fragments caused a fire at a military facility but there were no casualties.

UPDATE 1344 GMT:

In the decisive moments — and they will come next year — we should not allow anyone in the world to doubt Ukraine’s resilience.

At this stage of the war, it is being decided who will prevail. Whether us over the enemy, or the enemy over us Ukrainians…and Europeans. And everyone in the world who wants to live freely and not be subject to a dictator.

We have achieved the highest level of closeness with the EU and NATO since our independence. All necessary architecture for the negotiation process with the EU has been formed. Ukraine’s right to NATO membership is vitally important for all of us.

UPDATE 1337 GMT:

The toll has risen to at least 12 killed, including an 8-year-old boy, and 11 wounded from the Russian drone attack on the town of Hlukhiv in the Sumy region in northern Ukraine late Monday (see 0849 GMT).

The drone struck a dormitory and an educational facility.

UPDATE 1152 GMT:

Marking the 1,000th day of Russia’s full-scale invasion, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky has addressed the European Parliament by video link.

Zelensky said that resistance of the invasion had proved that “our shared European values” are “not just words, not something abstract”.

European values and the European way of life, when transformed into action, protect the lives of real people.

Putin does not value people or rules. He values only money and power. These are the things we must take away from him to restore peace.

No one can enjoy calm waters during a storm, and we must do everything to end this war fairly and justly.

The President said that even with North Korea’s Kim Jong-un by his side — and with the prospect of 100,000 North Korean troops deployed for Moscow’s invasion — Putin “remains smaller” than Europe’s states.

He appealed for more sanctions and the release of Russia’s frozen funds and assets in Europe.

Implicitly referring to US permission for long-range missile strikes inside Russia, Zelensky said:

Russia will lack real motivation to engage in meaningful negotiations without fires in its ammunition depots on Russian territory, without disruption to its military logistics, without destroying Russian airbases, without it losing capabilities to produce missiles and drones, and without its assets being confiscated.

He appeared to chide German Chancellor Olaf Scholz over his hour-long phone call with Vladimir Putin last Friday:

While some European leaders think about some elections or something like this…Putin is focused on winning this war. He will not stop on his own. The more time he has, the worse the conditions become.

UPDATE 1144 GMT:

The UK has added 10 individuals and entities to its sanctions of Russia.

A designations target “those supporting Vladimir Putin’s attempts to forcibly deport and indoctrinate Ukraine’s children and erase their Ukrainian cultural heritage”, said a Government statement.

Foreign Secretary David Lammy said:

No child should ever be used as a pawn in war, yet President Putin’s targeting of Ukrainian children shows the depths he will go to in his mission to erase Ukraine and its people from the map.

The Ukraine Government says it has confirmed the deportation of almost 20,000 children to Russia or Russian-occupied areas. Around 6,000 Ukrainian children are in a network of re-education camps.

In March 2023 the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Vladimir Putin and Russia’s Commissioner for “Children’s Rights”, Maria Lvova-Belova, over the deportations.

UPDATE 0932 GMT:

A joint declaration from the G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil has watered down previous criticism of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The statement included only broad references to “human suffering” and “negative added impacts of the war” as it welcomed “initiatives that support a comprehensive, just, and durable peace”.

The statement had only one paragraph devoted to Ukraine, in comparison with seven from last year’s G20 summit. It omitted condemnation of Ukraine-related nuclear threats, a demand for a cessation of attacks on food and energy infrastructure, and the phrase: “Today’s era must not be of war.”

“It is not the language on Ukraine that we would have liked to see,” said “one senior diplomat from a western G20 member”.

Some European delegations sought tougher language condemning Russia, amid Moscow’s intense missile and drone attack on civilian areas in Ukraine on Sunday. They finally stepped back amid fears that it could derail the joint declaration.

“The language is not strong enough…there’s nothing on the latest attacks,” said one European diplomat. “But nobody wanted to push too far, otherwise it would have been a fight and there would be no statement.”

UPDATE 0916 GMT:

European Union foreign policy head Josep Borrell, commenting on the US lifting of the ban on Ukraine’s long-range missile strikes inside Russia, has said:

Some countries are already following this path openly, others are doing it without words, someone has not yet said anything, but I am sure that they will follow the example of the United States, allowing them to fight Russia on Russian territory. This is fully consistent with international law.

Borrell did not specify which countries are permitting the strikes, but Ukraine also has UK-made Storm Shadow missiles and French-made SCALPs.

UPDATE 0913 GMT:

The toll has risen to nine killed, including an 8-year-old boy, from this morning’s Russian drone strike on Hlukhiv in the Sumy region in northern Ukraine (see 0849 GMT).

UPDATE 0908 GMT:

Video, released by President Voloydmyr Zelensky’s office, marking the 1000th day of the Russian invasion:

UPDATE 0849 GMT:

Russia has carried out its second deadly strike in just over 24 hours on the Sumy region in northern Ukraine.

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky posted:

Russia continues to terrorize our border regions. Last night, a drone hit Hlukhiv, destroying a dormitory at one of the local educational institutions. Tragically, as of now, we know that seven people, including a child, were killed in this attack.

More than ten people, including two children, are injured and there may still be people trapped under the rubble.

On Sunday night, at least 11 civilians were killed and 89 injured by a missile strike on a nine-story residential building.

Ukraine air defenses downed 51 of 87 Iran-type attack drones launched by Russia overnight. Another 30 were lost to electronic counter-measures.

In the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine, Russian attacked killed three residents and injured seven on Monday.

Two people were slain in Kostiantynivka and one in Siversk.

UPDATE 0840 GMT:

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has posted:

UPDATE 0730 GMT:

French President Emmanuel Macron has praised the “totally good” decision by the US lifting the ban on Ukraine’s long-range missile strikes inside Russia.

“Russia is the only power that made an escalatory decision…. It’s really this break that led to the US decision,” Macron said.

Macron did not say if France will now permit its SCALP missiles to be deployed. However, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer hinted that, with the removal of the US veto, Ukraine can strike with British-made Storm Shadows.

I’ve been really clear for a long time now, we need to double down. We need to make sure Ukraine has what is necessary for as long as necessary, because we cannot allow Putin to win this war.

Maria Eagle, a junior Defence Minister, said Ukraine would “absolutely” be able to use missile defense systems “as it sees fit”: “We intend to align with our allies in making sure Ukraine can make use of the capability that has been offered by those who have committed support to that country in its fight.”

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said the US decision was “important” and “essential”. But a German Government spokesperson said Berlin was maintaining the decision by Chancellor Olaf Scholz not to supply Ukraine with long-range Taurus missiles.

Dutch Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp added:

This is an adequate response to the North Korean troop presence on the Russian side.

The Netherlands has repeatedly advocated that weapons that we supply to Ukraine can also be deployed on Russian territory. After all, that is the territory of the aggressor.

Veldkamp regretted that the decision had been made public: “”I would have preferred it to be a surprise for the Russians.”

Ukraine Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha said of the Biden Administration’s change of position:

It could be a gamechanger. The longer Ukraine can strike, the shorter the war will be….[We have the] full right to strike military targets on the territory of Russia. It could have a very positive impact on the situation on the battlefield.

UPDATE 0719 GMT:

At least 10 people were killed and 44 wounded in Russia’s missile attack on Odesa in southern Ukraine on Monday.

The fatalities included seven police officers, a medic, and two residents. Fourteen officers are four children were among the wounded, of whom three are in critical condition.

The Ukraine Air Force said air defenses downed an Iskander-M ballistic missile but it “fell into the residential sector of the city’s Prymorskyi district”.

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy reacted:

These are not random strikes – these are show strikes. After calls and meetings with Putin, after all the false gossip in the media about supposedly ‘refraining’ from strikes. Russia is showing what it is really interested in: only war.

ORIGINAL ENTRY: Ukraine is marking the 1,000th day of Russia’s full-scale invasion.

Vladimir Putin unleashed his forces on February 24, 2022. They quickly moved beyond Crimea, seized in 2014, and the Donbass region in the east, where Russia’s military were supporting separatists.

Special forces fought for Hostomel airport near Kyiv and ground offensives advanced on the capital and Ukraine’s second city Kharkiv. But Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy refused to surrender, saying, “I need a ride, not ammunition.”

The invaders withdrew from the Kyiv region and northern Ukraine in April, and Ukraine liberated parts of the east and the south in the autumn.

Ukraine’s military Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi posted on Tuesday:

For 1,000 days, the Armed Forces of Ukraine have been confronting the enemy on the front line, which stretches over 1,000 kilometers.

In the frozen trenches of Donetsk Oblast and in the burning steppes of Kherson Oblast under shells, hail, and anti-aircraft guns, we are fighting for the right to life. For us and our children.

In his daily address to the nation, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke of his visits to Pokrovsk and Kupyansk in the east, where a 13-month Russian offensive has taken villages and the towns of Avdiivka, Vuhledar, and Selydove: