Russia Ukraine war news today latest live: Finland joins Nato, as ‘paranoid Putin hides in bunkers’

Finland has officially joined Nato, doubling the military alliance’s border with Russia and dealing a significant blow to president Vladimir Putin.

Finland’s membership became official when its foreign minister handed over documents completing its accession process to US secretary of state Antony Blinken.

The US State Department is the repository of Nato texts concerning membership.

Russia has warned that it would be forced to take “retaliatory measures” to address what it called security threats created by Finland’s membership, and that it will bolster forces near Finland if Nato sends any additional troops or equipment to what will be its 31st member country.

Ukrainian forces placed in the muddy dugouts have described the battlefield situation in Bakhmut where dozens of Russian artillery and missile attacks continue on a daily basis.

Near the town of Niu-York, 50 km south of Bakhmut, a commander of an infantry unit explains: “They creep in, fire and try to exhaust us. Then they evaluate the situation and can move forward for a little more”.

“Meanwhile, we try to let them get closer to us so that we can hit them more precisely,” the military commander who gave his nom-de-guerre as “Bodia” told Reuters.

Earlier this week, the chief of Russia’s Wagner mercenary force, Yevgeny Prigozhin claimed that his forces have “legally” captured the mining city and logistics hub but Ukraine swiftly denied the reports and said that the fighting continues.

Ukrainian commanders leading the charge in the bitter battle for Bakhmut have said that the relentless attacks from Russia have continued.

“In the Bakhmut sector, there was no let-up in enemy actions aimed at storming the city of Bakhmut. At least 20 enemy attacks were repelled here alone over the past 24 hours,” the Ukrainian general staff said in a report on Facebook.

At least tens of thousands of Ukrainian civilians and soldiers on both sides have been killed in the Russian invasion of Ukraine that started in February last year.

The battle for Bakhmut has been one of the bloodiest of the conflict, with heavy casualties on both sides and the city largely destroyed.

Former US secretary of state Mike Pompeo has warned against larger threats from Vladimir Putin to Europe if Russia wins the war against Ukraine after he returned from his visit to the war-hit nation yesterday.

“I’ve just left Ukraine. I’ve seen the damage caused by Putin’s invasion. And I’ve been inspired by the bravery of the Ukrainian people. One thing is clear: helping Ukraine end this war is in America’s core interest,” Mr Pompeo said.

He added: “Supporting Ukraine isn’t about abstract ideals like ‘global democracy’: it’s about strengthening OUR national and economic security.”

“If Putin wins, he’ll control critical exports to the US. And he’ll be on the brink of a broader war in Europe. We can’t let that happen,” the former top US official from Donald Trump administration said.

Lauding the Ukrainian people for enduring “indescribable suffering”, Mr Pompeo said that the “resilient” people are “not asking for American troops—just our support”.

We should give it to them, Mr Pompeo said.

Visuals from the former director of the CIA visit showed him dressed in casual attire and interacting with locals and children in Ukraine at a site of the attack as a building hollowed out likely in an artillery attack appeared in the backdrop.

Mr Pompeo said he had travelled to Ukraine with a delegation of US businessmen and representatives of several humanitarian institutions. He visited a military hospital and also met Ukrainian government officials.

Britain has blocked the UN webcast of an informal Security Council meeting on Ukraine on Wednesday at which Russia’s commissioner for children’s rights – who the International Criminal Court wants to arrest on war crimes charges – is due to speak, diplomats said.

Russia had told council members that the discussion about Ukraine will focus on “evacuating children from conflict zone” and signalled that commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova would feature.

Such meetings are held at UN headquarters, but not in the Security Council chamber, and briefings can be done virtually. All 15 council members have to agree to allow it to be webcast by the United Nations.

Britain blocked the webcast because Russia would not confirm who would brief, diplomats said on Tuesday. Russia’s Deputy UN Ambassador Dmitry Polyanskiy confirmed Britain’s move on Twitter.

“Russia will from now on block UN webcasts of all similar meetings citing ‘UK censorship clause’,” Polyanskiy wrote. Later on Tuesday Russia confirmed that Lvova-Belova would speak at the briefing.

Diplomats have said it is rare for a U.N. webcast to be blocked. However, last month China blocked the UN webcast of a US-convened informal Security Council meeting on human rights abuses in North Korea.

Senior diplomats from Russia, Turkey, Syria and Iran wrapped up two days of talks in Moscow on Tuesday, part of the Kremlin’s efforts to help broker a rapprochement between the Turkish and Syrian governments.

The Russian and Turkish foreign ministries issued terse readouts, saying diplomats discussed preparations for a planned meeting of the four countries’ foreign ministers. Moscow described the consultations as “frank and direct,” and Ankara said they were held in a “transparent and clear manner,” while offering no details.

The talks in Moscow were held as UN-mediated negotiations aimed at reaching a political solution to Syria’s conflict have stalled.

Russia’s foreign minister has accused Washington of trying to wreck Russia’s planned summit with African countries as part of efforts to isolate Moscow.

Moscow is preparing for its second summit with African countries, scheduled for the end of July in St Petersburg, including work on infrastructure, technology and energy projects.

Sergei Lavrov told the news site Argumenty i Fakty that Moscow was different from Western countries in its relations with Africa in that “we never tell our foreign partners how they are supposed to live,” claiming: “We have no secret agenda.”

“It is true that the United States and its vassals are doing everything possible to achieve Russia’s international isolation,” Mr Lavrov told the website. “In particular, they are trying to torpedo the planned second Russia-Africa summit … to persuade our African friends not to take part.”

He claimed, however, that the chances of damaging the conference were diminishing as “fewer and fewer people are now willing to pull out all the stops for former colonial powers”, saying: “Attempts to interfere in our cooperation with countries for the global South and East will therefore continue, but success is far from guaranteed.”

The US State Department did not address Lavrov’s accusations directly, but said in a statement that Washington was pursuing strong relationships with African countries “to address the shared challenges we face. Our Africa policy is about Africa.”

A 26-year-old woman has been charged with terrorism offences in Russia over a bombing that killed a military blogger who had been a high-profile cheerleader for Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine.

Footage released by the Russian interior ministry on Monday appeared to show Darya Trepova admitting to bringing a statuette to the restaurant in St Petersburg, which blew up, also allegedly injuring 42 others. She did not say that she knew there would be an explosion or who had given her the object.

While it is unclear whether her account was given under duress, Ms Trepova’s husband told Russian website SVTV News that – despite being against the war in Ukraine – his wife “would never kill” and “was framed”.

But on Tuesday, Russian investigators said they had charged Trepova with committing “a terrorist act by an organised group that caused intentional death” and the “illegal possession of explosive devices by an organised group”.

The Russian embassy in Washington has reacted to the Pentagon’s announcement of $2.6bn of military aid for Ukraine by accusing the United States of wanting to drag out the conflict as long as possible.

“The decision to supply weapons to Kyiv is a step towards escalating the Ukrainian crisis and increasing the number of civilian casualties,” Russian news agency Tass cited an embassy statement as saying.

Volodymyr Zelensky has told the US National Governors Association that the United States could protect its values by helping Ukraine.

“Our cooperation will allow for the new enhancement of your security, for our economy and yours, for jobs in both our countries,” the Ukrainian president said by video link on Tuesday.

“The main thing is not to lose time, not to lose the chance we have. Act now, help now. Ukrainians act so that Americans don’t have to fight – and together we gain new strength for our countries,” he added.