For full coverage of the crisis in Ukraine, visit Flashpoint Ukraine.
The latest developments in Russia’s war on Ukraine. All times EDT.
10 p.m.: “Russia’s missile strike on a train station full of civilians in Ukraine fits a pattern of atrocities. We will continue, together with partners from around the world, to stand with Ukraine and seek accountability for Russian officials,” U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Twitter. On Ukraine’s holiday, Russia's military avoided Kyiv and targeted frontline towns like Kharkiv, Mykolaiv, Nikopol and Dnipro with artillery attacks, Ukraine presidential adviser Oleksiy Arestovych said.
“Massive shelling of Ukraine on Independence Day,” fellow presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak added on Twitter.
6:30 p.m. Russian forces fired nine rockets at facilities in the city of Zaporizhzhia on Wednesday, according to reports by Anatolii Kurtiev, the Acting Mayor of Zaporizhzhia, in The Kyiv Independent. Kurtiev said the strike blasted windows out of six residential buildings.
5 p.m.: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says a Russian missile strike hit the Chaplyne railway station in the central Dnipropetrovsk region, killing at least 22 people and wounding dozens, RFE/RL reports.
4:35 p.m.: The Ukrainian president called Russia’s six-month war against his country “insane” and said the world has an interest in Ukraine’s security. “Today, our country celebrates Independence Day, and now every one of you can see how much the world is dependent on our independence,” Volodymyr Zelenskyy told a meeting of the U.N. Security Council on the 31st anniversary of Ukraine’s independence from the former Soviet Union.
12:35 p.m.: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has made an unannounced visit to Ukraine’s capital, where he met with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and pledged additional aid to fight the Russian invasion.
Bloomberg reports that Johnson announced $64 million in fresh equipment Wednesday and promised "thousands of drones and anti-tank munitions” for Ukrainian forces.
The prime minister, who is due to leave office in two weeks, also said Britain will continue to back Ukraine “in the days and months ahead.”
This is Johnson’s third visit to Ukraine since Russia invaded six months ago. He was recently voted out of the premiership by his own Conservative party.
11:26 a.m.: VOA’s Margaret Besheer notes that Russia failed to block the Ukrainian president’s address:
11:20 am: VOA’s Margaret Besheer reports that Ukraine’s president demands Russia pull forces from occupied nuclear plant.
11:15 a.m.: United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres says he is “gravely concerned” about the situation at the Russian-occupied nuclear power plant in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine.
The plant in eastern Ukraine is near the front lines and has come under fire multiple times in recent weeks, raising fears of a nuclear disaster. Ukrainian staff have continued to operate the facilities in hopes of preventing a Chernobyl-style meltdown.
Addressing a U.N. Security Council meeting on Ukraine Wednesday, Guterres said “The security of the plant must be ensured, and the plant must be re-established as purely civilian infrastructure.”
“Any further escalation of the situation could lead to self-destruction,” he said.
The International Atomic Energy Agency is seeking access to the plant. Guterres said the U.N. has the logistics and security capacity in Ukraine to support an IAEA mission to the plant, “provided both Russia and Ukraine agree.”
10:18 a.m.: Italy’s premier says the country has reduced its reliance on Russian natural gas by finding new sources in other countries such as Algeria and Azerbaijan, reports the Associated Press.
Premier Mario Draghi said Wednesday that Italy’s gas reserves are currently at 80 percent of capacity and could hit 90 percent by October. He said Italy could be completely independent of Russian supplies by fall 2024 if it installs two new regasification plants – plants that turn liquified natural gas back to a gaseous state.
Natural gas is a key energy source for heating homes and generating electricity. European countries are trying to build up their reserves ahead of winter to limit the effect of Russia slowing or shutting down gas pipelines, in order to exert economic pressure on countries that oppose the invasion of Ukraine.
On Tuesday, Germany’s interior minister said the country’s natural gas storage facilities are now more than 80 percent full.
9:20 a.m.: Ukraine has rejected an independence day greeting from Belarussian leader Alexander Lukashenko, who allowed Russia to stage attacks on Ukraine from his country’s territory.
Reuters reports that in a message on his website Wednesday, Lukashenko wished Ukrainians peaceful skies and success “in restoring a decent life.” He said current disputes could not destroy centuries-old good relations between the Ukrainian and Belarussian peoples.
Mykhailo Podolyak, a senior aide to Ukrainian President Vlodomir Zelenskyy condemned the statement on Twitter.
"Lukashenko truly believes the world does not notice his participation in crimes against Ukraine," Podolyak wrote. "That is why he cynically wishes us a 'peaceful sky' while allowing deadly rockets to hit us.”
8:10 a.m.: Russia’s defense minister says the slowing pace of the Russian campaign in Ukraine is deliberate, and driven by the need to reduce civilian casualties, reports Reuters.
Sergei Shoigu made the remarks Wednesday at a meeting of the Shanhgai Cooperation Organization in Uzbekistan.
Since launching their invasion six months ago, Russian forces have made only incremental progress in the face of stiff Ukrainian resistance, and Ukraine has repeatedly accused Russia of striking civilian targets such as apartment buildings, shopping malls, schools and theaters.
7:27 a.m.: Ukraine’s top soccer league opened its new season Tuesday night, in a bid to boost public morale amid Russia’s invasion.
The teams, Shakhtar Donetsk and Metalist 1925, fought to a 0-0 draw at the Olympiysky stadium in Kyiv, reports AFP. The match took place with no fans in the stands as a security precaution.
In emotional pre-game ceremonies, members of both teams entered the pitch wrapped in Ukrainian flags. After a minute of silence to remember Ukrainians killed in the invasion, the first symbolic kick of the ball was made by a Ukrainian soldier.
6 a.m.: Pope Francis used part of his general audience Wednesday to renew a call for prayers for the Ukrainian people, saying they have “been suffering the horrors of war for six months now,” according to Vatican News.
“I hope that concrete steps will be taken to bring an end to the war and to avert the risk of a nuclear disaster at Zaporizhzhia,” the pope said, referring to a nuclear power plant that Russia and Ukraine have accused each other of attacking in recent weeks.
Pope Francis also talked about what he called “the madness” of war and losses on both sides of the conflict, saying children “have lost their father or mother, whether Russians or Ukrainians.”
5:30 a.m.: The U.K. defense ministry shares the latest map on Russian attacks and troop locations in Ukraine.
5 a.m.: Data from the U.K. Office for National Statistics, or ONS, showed on Wednesday that Britain’s imports of goods from Russia fell to $39 million (33 million pounds) in June this year, the lowest level since records began 25 years ago, Reuters reported.
For the first time since records began, there were no imports of fuel from Russia in June, the ONS said.
British sanctions on Russia following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine in February likely drove the fall in trade, it added.
4:30 a.m.:
4 a.m.: NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg paid tribute to Ukrainians fighting Russian aggression on Ukraine’s independence day.
3:30 a.m.: President Volodymyr Zelenskiyy told Ukrainians on Wednesday in an emotional speech to mark 31 years of independence that Ukraine was reborn when Russia invaded on February 24 and would recapture annexed Crimea and occupied areas in the east, Reuters reported.
In the recorded speech aired on the six-month anniversary of Russia’s February 24 invasion, Zelenskiyy said that Ukraine no longer saw the war ending when there was peace, but when Kyiv was actually victorious.
“A new nation appeared in the world on February 24 at 4 in the morning. It was not born, but reborn. A nation that did not cry, scream or take fright. One that did not flee. Did not give up. And did not forget,” he said.
The 44-year-old wartime leader delivered the speech in his trademark combat fatigues in front of Kyiv’s central monument to independence from the Russia-controlled Soviet Union.
“What for us is the end of the war? We used to say: peace. Now we say: victory,” he said.
The streets of central Kyiv were unusually empty on Wednesday morning following days of dire warnings of the possibility that Russia could launch fresh missile attacks on major cities.
3 a.m.: The Biden administration is expected on Wednesday to announce an additional roughly $3 billion in aid to train and equip Ukrainian forces to fight for years to come, U.S. officials said.
The officials told The Associated Press that the package will fund contracts for as many as three types of drones and other weapons, ammunition and equipment that may not see the battlefront for a year or two.
The total of the aid package — it is being provided under the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative — could change, but not likely by much. Officials said it will include money for the small, hand-launched Puma drones, the longer-endurance Scan Eagle surveillance drones, which are launched by catapult, and, for the first time, the British Vampire drone system, which can be launched off ships. Several officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the aid before its public release.
2:30 a.m.: The New Zealand Defense Force, or NZDF, said on Wednesday a soldier from New Zealand who was on leave from the armed forces has reportedly been killed in Ukraine, Reuters reported.
“The New Zealand Army will work closely with the family of the soldier to offer support at this deeply sad time,” it said. No further details were available, it added.
The soldier was on leave without pay and not on active duty with the NZDF.
The NZDF does not have people in Ukraine, although it has troops in Britain helping to train Ukrainians in front-line combat.
2 a.m.:
1:30 a.m.: The Norwegian defense ministry said on Wednesday that Norway and Britain will jointly supply micro drones to Ukraine to aid in its war with Russia, Reuters reported.
The cost of the Teledyne Flir Black Hornet drones, used for reconnaissance and target identification, will be up to $9.26 million (90 million Norwegian crowns), the ministry said in a statement.
12:30 a.m.: Russian authorities have detained politician Yevgeny Roizman known for his criticism of the Kremlin and, more recently, of the military campaign in Ukraine, Reuters reported Wednesday, citing Russia’s TASS news agency.
Roizman, a former mayor of the city of Yekaterinburg, is being investigated for “discrediting the Russian army,” TASS reported, citing Yekaterinburg security services.
Roizman was one of a handful of Kremlin critics who won mayoral posts following a series of big opposition demonstrations as President Vladimir Putin campaigned for office in 2012.
Russia calls its actions in Ukraine a “special military operation” aimed at ensuring its own security and authorities have prosecuted a number of activists for calling it a war or criticizing Russia’s action.
Ukrainian forces have mounted stiff resistance and the West has imposed sweeping sanctions on Russia in an effort to force it to withdraw its forces.
1 a.m.:
12:15 a.m.:
12:01 a.m.: Ukrainians mark 31 years since they broke free from the Russia-dominated Soviet Union on Wednesday in what is certain to be a day of defiance against the Kremlin’s six-month-old war to subdue the country once again.
Ukraine’s Independence Day falls on the six-month anniversary of Russia’s February 24 invasion and will be marked by subdued celebrations under the threat of attacks from land, air and sea.
Public gatherings are banned in the capital Kyiv and a curfew is in force in the frontline eastern city of Kharkiv, which has weathered months of shelling, Reuters reported.
The government laid out the carcasses of burnt-out Russian tanks and armored vehicles like war trophies in central Kyiv in a show of defiance.
Some information for this report came from The Associated Press and Agence France-Presse.
