Russia-Ukraine war: Russians flee Lyman as Ukrainian troops retake city a day after Putin’s illegal annexation – live

Russia’s Gazprom has suspended gas deliveries to Italy’s Eni, blaming a transport problem in Austria, AFP reports.

The Italian energy giant said on Saturday:

Gazprom told us that it was not able to confirm the delivery of the volumes demanded for today, citing the impossibility of gas transport through Austria. Russian gas flows to Eni via the Tarvisio entry point will be naught.

Before the war in Ukraine, nearly 45% of Italy’s imported gas came from Russia. Most of the gas from Russia to Italy passes through Ukraine via the Trans Austria Gas Pipeline.

Ukraine’s state security service shared a video on Twitter on Saturday showing the “scene of a war crime by Russian troops” with damaged cars and charred human remains.

Russian troops recently shot a civilian column between occupied Svatov in Luhansk region and liberated Kupyansk in Kharkiv region, they said.

Warning: this video contains graphic images.

The IOC president Thomas Bach has been accused of violating the Games’ principles by suggesting that its athletes might be allowed to return to competition provided they did not support the invasion of Ukraine, Reuters reports.

Bach told Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera:

It is not about necessarily having Russia back. It’s about having athletes with a Russian passport who do not support the war back in competition … This war has not been started by the Russian athletes.

Russia has been barred from competing under its flag or playing its national anthem at successive Games as punishment for widespread doping violations.

Russian news agencies quoted Russian sports minister Oleg Matytsin as responding:

The main task of the international Olympic movement is to provide athletes with equal access to participation in the Olympic Games, regardless of their views and religions, traditions and citizenship. Bach’s latest statement goes against Olympic principles.

Russian authorities have informed the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that the head of Ukraine’s Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant was “temporarily detained” for questioning, Reuters reports.

Earlier, we reported that the UN nuclear watchdog was seeking clarification from Russian authorities after Ihor Murashov was detained on his way from Europe’s largest nuclear plant to the town of Enerhodar at about 4pm on Friday.

Petro Kotin, the head of Ukraine’s atomic energy company, said his detention “jeopardises the safety of operation of Ukraine and Europe’s largest nuclear power plant”.

Here are the latest photos from Ukraine and elsewhere:

The Kyiv Independent reports that Kharkiv Oblast governor Oleh Syniehubov has said Ukrainian authorities found the bodies of at least 20 people in a civilian convoy near the city of Kupiansk. Syniehubov believes they were killed while they attempted to flee Russian soldiers.

Ukrainian news website Suspilne reports that there were six cars in the convoy which were found covered in bullet holes and burned out. According to Suspilne, a child was among the dead. Syniehubov described the massacre as “cruelty that has no justification”.

Russian-installed officials in Ukraine’s east accused Ukraine of shelling a convoy of refugees being evacuated from the Kharkiv region and killing around 30 civilians, as reported by Russian state media on Thursday.

It was not immediately clear if they were referring to the same convoy.

Andriy Yermak, head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, has shared a video which appears to show Ukrainian soldiers holding a Ukrainian flag at the entrance to the city of Lyman, in the Donetsk region which has been occupied by Russian soldiers since May, the Kyiv Independent reports.

Reuters reports that Serhii Cherevatyi, a spokesman of Ukraine’s Operational Command East, said that Lyman is an important step towards the “liberation” of the region of Donbas.

It’s 3pm in Ukraine, here’s the latest:

• Russia is trying to transfer the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant to the Russian energy firm Rosatom, the head of Ukraine’s atomic energy company said. Speaking with BBC News on Saturday, Petro Kotin said “they are trying to make our personnel just to sign the accurate deals for the work at Rosatom”.

• The Danish prime minister, Mette Frederiksen, said she shared key information on the damaged Nord Stream pipelines with Liz Truss at a meeting in Downing Street. “This is sabotage and it is critical infrastructure. So of course, this is a very serious situation,” told reporters outside No 10.

• The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has requested clarifications from Russian authorities following reports that the director-general of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant has been detained.

• Ukraine has encircled Russia’s forces around a bastion that is critical for Moscow at the eastern town of Lyman, in an operation that is still under way. Russia’s forces at Lyman totalled about 5,000 to 5,500 soldiers, but the number of encircled troops may have fallen because of casualties and some soldiers trying to break out of the encirclement, according to a spokesperson for Ukraine’s eastern forces.

• The Ministry of Defence said Russia’s expansion strategy has resulted in “killing civilians it now claims are its own citizens”.The MoD said Russia is expending “strategically valuable military assets” in attempts to gain tactical advantage.

• The Ukrainian director-general of the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant has been detained by a Russian patrol, according to Energoatom. The company said his detention on Friday “jeopardises the safety of operation of Ukraine and Europe’s largest nuclear power plant.”

• Turkey which has been at the centre of mediation between the west and Russia, rejected Russia’s annexation of Ukraine, calling the decision a “grave violation” of international law.

A key adviser to Ukraine’s President Zelenskiy, Mykhailo Podolyak, said “negotiations are possible” but “with the new president of Russia”.

Tweeting on Saturday, Podolyak said there is no point in negotiating with those who “dance on bones” – referring to Putin and other officials.

A superyacht linked to sanctioned Russian billionaire Igor Kesaev is for sale for €29.5m (about £26m).

A US-based luxury yacht broker is advertising the 168-ft MySky yacht, according to an email seen by Reuters from the brokerage firm to undisclosed recipients on 14 September.

Kesaev was sanctioned in April by the UK and EU following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, with the EU citing his involvement in military weapons production in Russia, as well as links to the Russian government “and its security forces”.

The United States has not sanctioned Kesaev, and the US Treasury did not respond to requests for comment, Reuters reports.

Sara Gioanola, a spokesperson for Heesen Yachts, the Netherlands-based firm that built MySky, confirmed that Kesaev commissioned it and another yacht, called Sky. Reuters was unable to confirm independently that Kesaev still has direct ownership in MySky.

On Friday Volodymyr Zelenskiy announced that Ukraine was officially applying for membership of Nato, hours after Vladimir Putin said in a Kremlin ceremony that he was annexing four Ukrainian provinces.

In a speech filmed outside his presidential office in Kyiv, Zelenskiy said he was taking this “decisive step” in order to protect “the entire community” of Ukrainians. He promised that the application would happen in an “expedited manner”.

Speaking with BBC News on Saturday, Petro Kotin said “they are trying to make our personnel just to sign the accurate deals for the work at Rosatom”.

His remarks come after reports that the Ukrainian director-general of the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, Ihor Murashov, had been detained by a Russian patrol on Friday afternoon.

Citing previous attempts, Kotin added:

We expect that they’re trying to make him accept this move from Russians to catch the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant by Rosatom.

Kotin also described Murashov as the main person responsible for the plant’s safety, which is currently operated by 7,000 people on site.

Here’s a video of Ukraine’s armed forces raising the nation’s flag before the entrance sign to the city of Lyman, where Ukraine said it encircled thousands of Russian troops earlier today.

The Danish prime minister, Mette Frederiksen, said she shared key information on the damaged Nord Stream pipelines with Liz Truss at a meeting in Downing Street.

Following the meeting, outside No 10, Frederiksen told PA news:

Of course, it has been very important for me to underline that the Danish authorities have said that this this is not an accident. This is sabotage and it is critical infrastructure. So of course, this is a very serious situation.

Both Britain and Denmark have reaffirmed their support for Ukraine, following Vladimir Putin’s annexation of four regions on Friday.

We talked most of all about the situation in Ukraine and the so-called referendums in Ukraine. As you know, Britain and Denmark are very supportive of Ukraine and we will continue to be so and to continue our work and our co-operation.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has requested clarifications from Russian authorities following reports that the director-general of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant has been detained.

A spokesperson for the IAEA, the UN nuclear watchdog, told Reuters:

We have contacted Russian authorities and are requesting clarifications.

Earlier, we reported that Ihor Murashov had been detained on his way from Europe’s largest nuclear plant to the town of Enerhodar at about 4pm on Friday.

Petro Kotin, the head of Ukraine’s atomic energy company, said his detention “jeopardises the safety of operation of Ukraine and Europe’s largest nuclear power plant”.

Here are the latest photos from Ukraine and elsewhere: