Russia's MoD made the claim amid fierce street-by-street fighting in the key eastern Ukrainian city, although it cannot be verified.
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The war in Ukraine, which passed its 100 day anniversary Friday, is now one of the bloodiest conflicts to shake Europe in decades. Thousands have died, millions are displaced and whole cities lie in ruins.
With the rhetoric hardening on both sides, Ukrainian fighters on the ground battled Russian forces in the country's east on Saturday, particularly in the key eastern city of Severodonetsk which saw fierce fighting.
After a regional governor claimed Ukrainian forces had pushed Russia's military back in certain parts of the area, Russia's MoD later said Ukrainian forces were now in retreat.
Euronews could not independently verify this.
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Key points
- Russia has been accused of playing 'hunger games' with the world over Ukrainian wheat exports.
- Fighting continues to rage in two key eastern Ukrainian cities, Severodonetsk and Lysychansk.
- Russia's MoD has claimed Ukrainian forces are retreating from Severodonetsk, although this cannot be verified by Euronews.
- A centuries-old Orthodox monastery has caught fire near the frontline in eastern Ukraine. Both sides blame each other for the blaze.
- Ukraine's FM dismissed a warning by the French President not to 'humilate' Russia.
- United Nations head renewed calls for peace in Ukraine.
- The Ukraine war marked its 100th day anniversary Friday.
That's the end of our live blog for today.
Follow our coverage of the Ukraine war tomorrow.
Ukrainian units retreating from Severodonetsk - claims Russia
Russia's Defence Ministry has claimed Ukrainian armed forces are retreating from the key eastern city of Severodonetsk, after suffering critical losses of up to 90 per cent.
In a Saturday Telegram post, the Russian MoD said Ukrainian forces were retreating towards Lysychansk, a city on the other side of the Siverskyi Donets river.
The post gave no further details.
Euronews cannot verify these claims independently.
Earlier Saturday, the Ukrainian regional governor said Ukrainian forces had pushed Russian troops back from certain areas of Severodonetsk.
Severodonetsk is a key focus of the Russian war effort at present. It is one of only two cities in the prized Donbas region that it does not control.
Ukraine dismisses Macron's warning not to 'humiliate' Russia
Ukrainian foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, has rebuked a warning by Macron not to "humiliate" Russia, so that a diplomatic solution to the Ukraine war may be reached.
The French President offered to mediate the conflict and warned against embarrassing Moscow in an interview on Saturday.
Such calls “could only humiliate France and every other country that calls for it," said Kuleba in response to Macron's comments.
"It is Russia that humiliates itself," he added. "We all better focus on how to put Russia in its place. This will bring peace and save lives."
Flames engulf famous Ukrainian monastery caught up in war
A famous wooden monastery in eastern Ukraine, known as the Sviatohirsk Lavra, has caught on fire, as fighting rages in the area.
A Ukrainian government tweet shows the old Orthodox monastery in one piece, accompanying a photo of it ablaze.
"As a result of hostilities, a large-scale fire broke out on the territory of the All Saints Hermitage of the Holy Dormition Sviatohirsk Lavra," the Ukrainian Orthodox Church says on its website. "The flames engulfed the main shrine of the monastery."
The monastery is affiliated with the Moscow Patriarchate, which is run by Patriarch Kirill, an ally of President Vladimir Putin and supporter of the Russian military.
The Ukrainian government tweet alleges that Russian forces killed four monks there on 30 May. Euronews cannot independently verify this claim.
Russia's Defense Ministry has alleged that Ukrainian nationalists set fire to the monastery as they retreated from Svyatogorsk, reports the state-affiliated TASS news agency. Again this cannot be verfied
A Ukrainian army officer, Yurii Kochevenko, posted a photo of the burning monastery on Facebook, with the caption: "Another crime of Russian barbarians for whom there is nothing sacred."
The monastery stands on cliffs by the Siverskyi Donets river. Russian troops have tried repeatedly to cross the river, aiming to encircle the Ukrainian army. Sviatohirsk lies just north of Slovyansk, a city held by the Ukrainians.
The monastery dates back centuries and was closed by the Communists in the last century, but was reopened in 1992 after the Soviet Union’s collapse.
Ukraine minister: Azov fighters 'will end up here in Kyiv'
The Ukrainian Interior Minister has said Ukraine is "doing everything it can" to bring soldiers of the Azov regiment, who were taken captive when the southern city of Mariupol fell, back home.
"We all know that they will end up here, in Kyiv, and we are doing everything to make it happen," said Interior Minister Denys Monastyrskyy Saturday on Telegram.
Ukrainian intelligence agents are communicating with Azov regiment servicemen, who withstood a gruelling Russian siege at the city's steel works for several weeks, before being captured.
"It is through them that we learn more about their living conditions, food, and possibilities for their release," Monastyrskyy added in the post.
A huge question mark has hung over the heads of the Ukrainian fighters.
After the sprawling Avoz Steel plant was captured by Russian forces, they were taken to territory controlled by Moscow-backed separatists in Ukraine.
Ukraine has called for a prisoner swap but some in Russia - including the deputy foreign minister - have said they should be put on trial.
Read more about how the wives and partners of the Avoz fighters fared during the siege below.
Azov wives: 'This is not a reality show. The truth is horrible'
'Our forces are pushing them back' in Severodonetsk, says Ukrainian regional governor
The governor of the Lugansk region, Sergiï Gaïdaï, has said Ukrainian forces are repelling Russia's army in the strategic Severodonetsk city in a Saturday interview.
"Initial information indicates that they have succeeded in taking control of most of the city. But our forces are pushing them back now," he said.
Gaïdaï continued that Russia had engaged all of its available forces in the struggle over the key city in the prized eastern Ukrainian Donbas region.
"The situation in the whole region is extremely difficult. The fighting is currently concentrated in Severodonetsk because, from what we have been able to understand, the Russian army has thrown all its weight and reserves" into this battle, said the governor.
Moscow is currently concentrating all of its forces in the Donbas region in a bid to secure Severodonetsk, one of the last unoccupied cities in the region.
Capturing the city would allow Russia to secure its hold on the Donbas, a industrial region partially occupied by pro-Russian separatists since 2014.
(AFP)
NATO chief has 'constructive' dialogue with Turkey about Finland-Sweden membership
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg spoke to Turkey’s president Friday, in a push to allay Turkish resistance to Finland and Sweden joining the alliance.
Stoltenberg said he had a “constructive phone call” with Erdogan, calling Turkey a “valued ally” and praising Turkish efforts to broker a deal to ensure the safe transportation of grain supplies from Ukraine amid global food shortages caused by Russia’s invasion.
He tweeted that he and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan would continue their dialogue, without elaborating.
Turkey has said it will block Sweden and Finland's bids to join the 30-strong defensive alliance, claiming the Scandinavian pair are supporting Kurdish militants Turkey considers terrorists.
Erdogan's office released a statement in which it said the president had emphasised that Sweden and Finland should “make it clear that they have stopped supporting terrorism,” have lifted defence export restrictions on Turkey and are “ready to show alliance solidarity.”
The Nordic states, among other countries, imposed limitations on arms sales in the wake of Turkey's 2019 military incursion into northern Syria.
Later on Friday, Stoltenberg met with Finland’s prime minister, where they discussed “the need to address Turkey’s concerns and move forward” with the Finnish and Swedish membership applications.
(AP)
Switzerland refuses to transfer arms and armoured vehicles to Ukraine
Switzerland said Friday it would not allow Swiss war material to be sent to Ukraine, in keeping with the country's historic policy of neutrality.
However, it said assembly elements or spare parts of war material can still happen, if the manufactured items are likely to be sent to Ukraine, the Swiss Federal Council said.
Both Germany and Denmark have requested arms and armoured vehicles, the government in Bern said in a statement.
Germany wants around 12,400 pieces of Swiss-made 35mm ammunition for Guepard-type anti-aircraft tanks, besides Piranha III tanks.
Denmark's request is for 22 Piranha III tanks produced in Switzerland.
"Since the export of war material from Switzerland to Ukraine cannot be authorised because of the equal treatment resulting from the law of neutrality (...) it is not possible to respond favourably to the requests from Germany and Denmark for the transfer of war material to Ukraine," the Council said.
(AFP)
Fierce fighting rages on in two key eastern Ukrainian cities
Gritty street-by-street, house-by-house fighting continued in two important eastern Ukraine cities Friday, on the 100th day of the war.
Luhansk Governor Serhiy Haidai said fierce battles were raging in Sievierodonetsk, where some 13,000 residents took shelter in basements to escape relentless Russian bombardment.
Ukrainian forces reclaimed 20 per cent of city terrain that had been taken by Russian troops, he added later.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Thursday that there had been “some progress” in the battle for Sievierodonetsk but gave no specific details.
Haidai said Russian forces were also pummeling the neighbouring city of Lysychansk.
Some 20,000 residents remain there — about one-fifth of Lysychansk’s prewar population — even though Russian shelling has shattered 60 per cent of the residential buildings and civilian infrastructure, authorities said.
Both cities are slowly grinding to rubble amidst the fighting.
Russian forces have been trying to capture the strategic Sievierodonetsk and Lysychansk, as they are the only two cities in eastern Ukraine's Luhansk province it does not control.
Luhansk and Donetsk provinces make up the Donbas, an eastern industrial region of Ukraine that Russia wants to capture.
Britain's Defense Ministry said Russia now controls more than 90 per cent of Luhansk and is likely to take it over completely in the next two weeks.
But Haidai said progress made in the past two days shows that Ukraine may be able to hold off the Russian advance for that duration.
This would allow enough time for new, advanced Western weapons to reach Ukrainian hands.
Russia controls almost one-fifth of the country, Zelenskyy said this week. But the president remained defiant in a video message marking 100 days of war.
“We have defended Ukraine for 100 days already,” he said. "Victory will be ours.”
(AP)
Russia is playing 'hunger games' with the world, claims Ukrainian ambassador
A Ukrainian ambassador has accused Russia of playing “hunger games” with the world by claiming that the sanctions against Moscow are the reason grain cannot be exported from the Black Sea.
Yevheniia Filipenko, Ukraine’s envoy to the United Nations (UN) office in Geneva instead placed blame on the Russian invasion of her country.
She made the remarks during an interview on the 100th anniversary of the outbreak of war.
With exports of grain drying up through Ukraine’s embattled or captured ports, Filipenko said Russia has sought to pin the blame for the blockage on Ukraine and Western sanctions that have been levied by the thousands against Moscow.
“Russia has played hunger games recently to put the blame on Ukraine and others for blocking Ukrainian food exports,” she said.
Filipenko said Ukrainian forces were intensely motivated to protect their homeland and would one day win the war. She echoed calls from other top Ukrainian officials for more weapons.
“We are fighting for freedom of Europe and the whole world. So the next 100 days will be very busy for all of us,” she said.
Ukraine is the world's fifth-largest producer of wheat.
(AP)
This is Joshua Askew kicking off the Euronews live blog for today.