Russia-Ukraine war latest: search and rescue operation after Dnipro strike ends as 20 people still missing

Oleh Synyehubov, the governor of Kharkiv, has posted images to Telegram of the damaged education facility in Kupiansk, which he says was struck at 2.30pm local time by an “enemy S-300 missile”. The images have been reproduced on social media.

Synyehubov said: “According to preliminary information, there were no casualties. However, the premises of the educational institution were almost completely destroyed.”

The claims have not been independently verified.

Suspilne, the Ukrainian state broadcaster, has reported on Telegram that its correspondents have heard explosions in Kherson.

Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has posted to Telegram after having a conversation with Germany’s federal president, Frank-Walter Steinmeier. In his message, Zelenskiy said:

Ukraine appreciates the important new defence decisions taken by the German leadership at the beginning of this year, as well as the significant support in the humanitarian, financial and defence spheres since the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion.

During the meeting in the format of a video conference with federal president of Germany, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, we discussed the situation on the frontline, the necessity of increasing defence support for Ukraine, the diplomatic process on the implementation of the Ukrainian peace formula.

Thank you for the comprehensive assistance of Germany to Ukrainians. For the assistance that made our army stronger, for the financial support. I would like to express particular gratitude to the citizens of Germany for sheltering Ukrainians in this difficult period.

Kyrylo Tymoshenko, the deputy head of the office of president of Ukraine, has given details on Telegram of an attack on Kupiansk in the Kharkiv region. He has written:

The occupiers attacked the educational institution with S-300 missiles. One of the educational buildings was destroyed. There are no casualties. Emergency services are on site.

Social media users have identified the target as the motor transport technical school. The claims have not been independently verified.

A makeshift memorial has appeared in Moscow to commemorate the victims of Russia’s missile attack on a residential building in the Ukrainian city of Dnipro.

The Wall Street Journal’s Matthew Luxmoore shared images of the memorial at the foot of a statue of the Ukrainian writer, Lesya Ukrainka, in central Moscow.

The jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny has vowed he will not surrender to “corrupt judges, lying propagandists, and Kremlin crooks” on the second anniversary of his return to Russia and imprisonment.

Navalny, the most prominent opponent of Vladimir Putin, was arrested on arrival at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport on 17 January 2021, after recovering in Germany from being poisoned with novichok, a Soviet-made nerve agent, on a trip to Siberia in 2020. He has accused Putin of being behind the attack.

Navalny wrote on Twitter via his lawyer:

It has been exactly two years since I returned to Russia. I have spent these two years in prison. When you write a post like this, you have to ask yourself: How many more of such anniversary posts will you have to write?

“Miserable, exhausted” Russia has been “pillaged, wounded, dragged into an aggressive war”, he continued. “Any opposition to this gang – even if only symbolic in my current limited capacity – is important.”

I said it two years ago, and I will say it again: Russia is my country. I was born and raised here, my parents are here, and I made a family here – I found a loved one and had kids with her.

He added:

I’m not going to surrender my country to them, and I believe that the darkness will eventually fade away. But as long as it persists, I will do all I can, try to do what is right, and urge everyone not to abandon hope.

Last week, Navalny said he had flu symptoms including a fever, but that he was being kept in a punishment cell at his maximum-security prison outside Moscow and denied basic medication.

Navalny “is in urgent need of medical assistance”, a German government spokesperson said on Saturday, reiterating a call for his release.

Navalny’s daughter, Dasha Navalnaya, has published a video today calling for her father’s release, accusing the Putin regime of “tormenting and depriving” him “of any connection with the world in order to silence him”.

The US is imposing visa restrictions on 25 people for undermining democracy in Belarus with politically motivated trials of opposition leaders and activists, secretary of state, Antony Blinken, has announced.

The Belarusian government, led by President Alexander Lukashenko, continues to “repress the Belarusian people and their democratic aspirations”, a statement by Blinken said.

A statement by Blinken reads:

Those regime officials targeted in today’s action include members of the National Assembly of Belarus for their role in passing legislation to authorise the death penalty for persons convicted of supposed ‘attempted acts of terrorism,’ a charge used to repress and intimidate the democratic opposition and civil society.

The announcement comes as Belarus put its exiled opposition leader, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, on trial in absentia on treason charges. Rights activists estimate about 1,500 people are in jail in Belarus on politically motivated charges.

Tsikhanouskaya, 40, fled Belarus after running against Lukashenko in the 2020 presidential election which was followed by mass protests over alleged electoral fraud. Tsikhanouskaya, who now lives in the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius, faces a possible jail term of up to 15 years.

Blinken described Tsikhanouskaya’s trial as “politically motivated” and the latest example of the regime’s “efforts to intimidate and repress those who seek justice, respect for human rights, and a democratic Belarus”.

The head of Russia’s Wagner mercenary group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, has said a French foreign legion soldier has been found dead in eastern Ukraine.

Writing on Telegram, Prigozhin said the body of Yevhenii Koulyk had been found in the territory of the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic.

It has not been possible to independently verify his claim.

Search and rescue operation in Dnipro ends as 20 people still missing

Volodymyr Zelenskiy has said he is “grateful” to the EU and Ursula von der Leyen, the head of the European Commission, after Ukraine received the first €3bn in emergency aid for Ukraine.

The €3bn is the first tranche of an €18bn fund intended to help Ukraine’s government run essential public services during the winter.