TOP STORIES

• European leaders on Wednesday hailed a new "register of damage" for Ukraine they agreed to in Iceland as "historic" and a first step to making Russia pay for the conflict. READ MORE BELOW

• Ukrainian forces have taken back about 20 square kilometers of territory from Russia around the eastern city of Bakhmut in recent days, said Ukraine's Deputy Defense Minister, although it was conceded Moscow's forces were pushing deeper inside the town. READ MORE BELOW

• The last grain ship has left a Ukraine port under a deal allowing the safe Black Sea export of Ukraine grain a day before Russia could quit the pact over obstacles to its grain and fertilizer exports.

• The Kremlin said it would not enter into "hypothetical discussions" on what Russia would do if the Black Sea grain deal lapses on Thursday. Moscow has said it will quit the deal, under which Russia allows Ukraine to export grain safely from Black Sea ports despite the ongoing conflict.

• Ukraine has denied a Russian hypersonic missile destroyed a U.S.-made Patriot missile defense system during an air strike on Kyiv.

• Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu dismissed Ukraine's claim that it shot down six Kinzhal hypersonic missiles overnight, saying Moscow had not launched that many, reported the RIA news agency.

• The head of Russia's private Wagner mercenary group said a U.S. volunteer had died fighting alongside Ukrainian troops in the country's east.

• German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said his government wanted pragmatic measures to prevent the circumvention of sanctions imposed on Russia.

• A joint statement said Canada and South Korea would continue to provide Ukraine with assistance and "coordinate with like-minded partners' longer-term plans" to ensure Ukraine's independence.

• UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak plans to discuss the longer-term security arrangements needed to support Ukraine when he meets other leaders at the Council of Europe Summit in Iceland.

• Hungary did not approve the disbursement of the next tranche of military support for Ukraine provided under the EU's European Peace Facility.

• South Korea signed an agreement with Ukraine on its plan to provide a $130 million financial aid package, a day after the visiting first lady requested military assistance.

• Ukraine and Russia will face off before the UN's top court on June 6, when judges will hear Ukraine's claim that Moscow violated a U.N. treaty by supporting pro-Russian separatists identified by a Dutch court as being responsible for the 2014 downing of flight MH17.

IN DETAIL

European leaders sign war register for Ukraine

European leaders on Wednesday hailed a new "register of damage" for Ukraine they signed up to as "historic" and a first step to making Russia pay for the conflict in Ukraine.

The instrument, created by the 46-nation Council of Europe, sets up an evidentiary record ahead of a possible future prosecution of Russian leaders, thus laying the groundwork for compensation.

It was a "first, necessary, urgent step" ensuring "justice that is centered on the victims" of the conflict, said council head Marija Pejcinovic Buric on arrival at the second day of the summit in Iceland.

She said that by early Wednesday 40 countries had signed onto the creation of the register, including the U.S. and all other G7 nations.

Leaders emphasised that countries outside the Council of Europe – a pan-continental rights body separate from the European Union but incorporating all 27 EU member states – could back the register. 

"There will be no reliable peace without justice," President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a video address at the summit opening. Ukraine, a Council of Europe member, welcomed the initiative. 

Russia was removed from the council last year after the start of the conflict in Ukraine.

Bakhmut battles rage on 

Ukraine said it had pushed Russian forces from the flanks of Bakhmut, but conceded that Moscow's forces were pushing deeper inside the embattled town.

Deputy Defense Minister Ganna Malyar said Ukraine had wrested back about 20 square kilometers of a Russian pincer movement around Bakhmut. She added: "At the same time, the enemy is advancing in some measure inside Bakhmut itself and is completely destroying the town with artillery."

Referring to the Russian paramilitary group, the commander of Ukraine's ground forces Oleksandr Syrskyi said: "Wagner's men went into Bakhmut like rats into a mousetrap." 

The wave of Russian strikes overnight came just over a week after Kyiv announced it had shot down a Kinzhal nuclear-capable hypersonic missile for the first time, using U.S.-supplied Patriot systems.

Russia denied Kyiv's latest claim to have shot down six of the hypersonic missiles during the overnight barrage on Tuesday.

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