Missile hits Kremenchuk shopping mall

 In the central Ukrainian city of Kremenchuk, a Russian missile strike has hit a crowded shopping centre, killing at least 13 people and wounding 50, senior Ukrainian officials say.

NATO will increase the strength of its rapid reaction force nearly eightfold to 300,000 troops, Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg says.

The US will provide an advanced air missile defence system to Ukraine, US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan confirms on the sidelines of the G7 summit taking place in southern Germany.

Russia’s ‘abominable attack’ on Ukraine mall ‘a war crime’: G7

Russia’s “brutal” missile strike on a crowded shopping mall in central Ukraine constitutes a war crime, G7 leaders have said, vowing that Putin and those responsible would be held to account.

“Indiscriminate attacks on innocent civilians constitute a war crime,” the leaders said in a statement as they “solemnly condemn the abominable attack” in Kremenchuk city.

Ukraine requests UN Security Council meeting Tuesday: Diplomats

Ukraine has called for an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council over recent Russian strikes on civilian targets, the presidency of the UN body has said.

The missile strike on a shopping centre in Kremenchuk “is the main focus” of the meeting, set for Tuesday at 19:00 GMT, said a spokesman for the Albanian mission, which currently holds the rotating Security Council presidency.

The “shelling all over Kyiv” on Sunday, which hit a residential complex, will also be discussed at the meeting, the spokesman said.

Turkey’s Baykar to donate three UAVs to Ukraine after crowdfunding campaign

Turkish defence firm Baykar has said it will donate three unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to Ukraine, after a crowdfunding campaign there raised enough funds to buy “several” of the Bayraktar TB2 model.

The TB2 has been hugely popular in Ukraine, where it helped destroy Russian artillery systems and armoured vehicles. It even became the subject of a patriotic expletive-strewn hit song in Ukraine that mocked Russian troops, with the chorus “Bayraktar, Bayraktar”.

Athens slams Russian decision to expel Greek diplomats

The Foreign Ministry in Greece has slammed Russia’s decision to expel eight Greek diplomats as a “decision without a foundation”.

The remaining Greek diplomats would “continue their mission under particularly difficult conditions,” the ministry said in a statement.

Greece expelled 12 Russian diplomats at the beginning of April. Relations between Athens and Moscow are at their lowest since the collapse of the Soviet Union, due to Greece’s participation in sanctions imposed on Russia due to the war, as well as weapons deliveries to Ukraine.