🔴 Live: Rare morning attack on Kyiv as Russia continues bombardment

6:07pm: Russia won’t enter into negotiations if it doesn’t win the war, EU’s Borrell says 

The European Union’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell, on Monday said he believed Russia will only be willing to negotiate if it wins the war in Ukraine, adding that he was “not optimistic” about what could happen in the conflict this summer.

“I see Russia’s clear intent to win the war,” Borrell said at an event in Barcelona. “Russia will not go into a negotiation if it doesn’t win the war.”

6:04pm: Two dead, eight wounded in Russian attack in Donetsk region 

Two people were killed and eight wounded in a Russian attack on the city of Toretsk in the eastern region of Donetsk on Monday, regional governor Pavlo Kyrylenko said.

Kyrylenko said Russia had used high-explosive aerial bombs in the attack at about 11:30 a.m. (0830 GMT), damaging a gas station and a multi-storey building in the small city which had a pre-war population of about 30,000 people.

Rescue services were working at the site, he said, urging remaining residents to evacuate. “Every day, the Russians purposefully hit civilians in the Donetsk region,” Kyrylenko said on the Telegram messaging app.

Russia has previously denied targeting civilians and has rejected allegations of war crimes in what it calls a “special military operation”.

The Donetsk region has seen some of the fiercest battles of Russia’s war on Ukraine.

4:53pm: Ukraine approves sanctions against Russian ally Iran 

Kyiv’s parliament on Monday approved a sanctions package against Russia’s ally Iran, accused of sending weapons to Moscow during its more than year-long invasion of Ukraine.

The package was approved by parliament one day after Ukraine said Russia used Iranian Shahed drones in the largest UAV attack on the capital since the beginning of the invasion.

“The resolution synchronises Ukrainian sanctions with the actions of the entire civilised world on the path to the complete isolation of Iran,” the Ukrainian parliament said on its website.

4:16pm: Ukraine aide proposes demilitarised zone in Russia in peace settlement

A Ukrainian presidential aide said on Monday a demilitarised zone of 100-120 km (62-75 miles) should be established inside Russia along the border with Ukraine as part of a post-war settlement.

The zone would be necessary to protect Ukrainian regions from shelling, presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak wrote on Twitter.

3:11pm: Kyiv residents shocked by daytime Russian air assault 

Russia on Monday launched its second attack on the Ukrainian capital in just 24 hours since the start of the weekend and 16th of this month. One person was killed on Sunday morning, while none were reported injured overnight. However, one person was reported to have been injured this morning in Kyiv’s historic Podil neighbourhood. What is unusual about this latest attack is that it took place during the day. Air sirens often go off during the day in Kyiv, but these are generally a false alarm.

FRANCE 24’s correspondent Gulliver Cragg tells us more:

1:40pm: Ukraine says downed all 11 Iskander missiles launched by Russia

Ukraine said it had downed all the Russian missiles fired on the country on Monday in a second wave of attacks.

“A total of 11 missiles were fired: ‘Iskander-M’ and ‘Iskander-K’ from a northerly direction,” Ukraine’s armed forces chief Valery Zaluzhny said, adding that “all the targets were destroyed by air defences”.

1:36pm: Russia’s Lavrov warns Black Sea grain deal in danger of collapsing

Russia said on Monday that the Black Sea grain deal would no longer be operational unless a UN agreement with Moscow to overcome obstacles to Russian grain and fertiliser exports was fulfilled.

“If everything remains as it is, and apparently it will, then it will be necessary to proceed from the fact that it [the deal] is no longer functioning,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said during a visit to Nairobi.

An agreement struck in July last year requires the United Nations to help Russia overcome any obstacles to its grain and fertiliser exports for three years.

Lavrov said that agreement was not being fulfilled “at all”, and that less than 3 percent of the grain exported under the deal had reached the world’s poorest countries.

12:06pm: Swedish foreign minister to meet Turkish counterpart for NATO discussion

Sweden’s Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom will meet his Turkish counterpart this week to discuss Sweden’s delayed NATO accession process, he told a broadcaster on Monday.

Billstrom said he had contacted Mevlut Cavusoglu to congratulate President Tayyip Erdogan on his victory in the presidential election over the weekend.

“He responded very quickly and confirmed that we could make contact and discuss the NATO question,” Swedish national broadcaster SVT reported Billstrom as saying.

The meeting will take place at meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Oslo on Thursday.

12:03pm: Kyiv says it shot down all Russian missiles fired in Monday’s second attack

Ukrainian air defences shot down all missiles fired at Kyiv in a daytime attack on Monday and no targets were hit in the capital, the city’s military administration said.

The air attack followed hours after overnight missile and drone strikes and was the 16th on Kyiv this month, it said.

11:40am: Belarus’s Lukashenko says there can be ‘nuclear weapons for everyone’

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said that if any other country wanted to join a Russia-Belarus union there could be “nuclear weapons for everyone”.

Russia moved ahead last week with a plan to deploy tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, in the Kremlin’s first deployment of such warheads outside Russia since the 1991 fall of the Soviet Union, spurring concerns in the West.

In an interview on Russia’s state television late on Sunday, Lukashenko, President Vladimir Putin’s staunchest ally among Russia’s neighbours, said that it must be “strategically understood” that Minsk and Moscow have a unique chance to unite.

“No one is against Kazakhstan and other countries having the same close relations that we have with the Russian Federation,” Lukashenko said. “If someone is worried … (then) it is very simple: join in the Union State of Belarus and Russia. That’s all: there will be nuclear weapons for everyone.” He added that it was his own view – not the view of Russia.

11:38am: Ukraine air force says ballistic missiles used in new attack on Kyiv

Russia fired ballistic missiles at Kyiv during a daytime attack on the Ukrainian capital on Monday morning, the Ukrainian air force said.

“The enemy used missiles of a ballistic trajectory – preliminarily Iskanders. There is a possibility that S-300 and S-400 missiles were also used,” air force spokesman Yuri Ihnat told Ukrainian TV.

11:24am: Ukraine forces shell settlements in Russia’s Belgorod border region, says governor

The governor of Russia’s Belgorod region, which borders Ukraine, said on Monday that several frontier settlements were being shelled simultaneously by Ukrainian forces.

In a statement published on the Telegram messaging app, Vyacheslav Gladkov said two industrial facilities in the town of Shebekino had been shelled and that four employees had been wounded.

11:10am: Day-time explosions, air raid sirens sound over Kyiv

At least 10 explosions were heard in the Ukraine capital Kyiv from around 11:10 am (0810 GMT) on Monday after another night of air defences repelling strikes, several news agencies reported.

Mayor Vitali Klitschko noted explosions “in the central districts” of the city, a rare occurrence in daytime, and told residents to “stay in shelters”. “The attack on Kyiv continues”, he added minutes after.

Klitschko said emergency services were working on extinguishing rocket debris burning on the road in Kyiv’s northern Obolonskiy district. The city administration said air defences were at work over the capital, after air raid sirens sounded.

10:52am: Polish president to create commission to investigate Russian influence

Polish president Andrzej Duda will sign a bill creating a commission to investigate Russian influence into law, he said on Monday, despite criticism that it is a government attempt to launch a witch hunt against political opponents in an election year

9:52am: Russian strike hits military facility in western Ukraine

Russian overnight strikes hit a military facility in the region of Khmelnytsky in western Ukraine, the local administration said on Monday in a rare admission of military targets being struck.

“Russian troops hit several sites including a military one in the Khmelnytsky region,” the administration said on social media, adding that fuel depots and five aircraft had been hit.

7:56am: Russia puts US Senator Graham on wanted list

Russia’s interior ministry has put US Senator Lindsey Graham on a wanted list, Russian news agency TASS reported.

Graham disputed Russian criticism of his support for Ukraine on Sunday, saying he had simply praised the spirit of Ukrainians in resisting a Russian invasion with assistance provided by Washington.

7:54am: Ukraine says shot down 29 of 35 drones, 37 of 40 Russia-launched missiles

Ukraine’s Air Force said on Monday it had shot down 29 out of 35 Russia-launched drones and 37 out of 40 cruise missiles overnight.

The Air Force also said on its Telegram channel that Russia targeted military facilities and critical infrastructure in its Monday attacks

7:46am: Russia damages Ukraine’s Odesa port in overnight drone attack

A Russian drone attack damaged some infrastructure in Ukraine’s Black Sea port of Odesa, which is key for its grain exports, the Ukrainian military said on Monday.

“A fire broke out in the port infrastructure of Odesa as a result of the hit. It was quickly extinguished. Information on the extent of the damage is being updated,” the military’s southern command said on Facebook.

The military did not specify whether the damage at the port threatened grain exports. It is only through ports in the Odessa region that Ukraine can export grain and other food items as part of an initiative on grain.

The Ukrainian military said Russian forces had used Iranian-made Shahed drones in the attack but gave no details

00:00am: Russia launches 15^th air raid on Kyiv this month

Russia launched a new wave of air attacks on Kyiv in early hours on Monday using drones and cruise missiles, with the military administration of the Ukrainian capital saying defence forces shot down more than 40 targets.

In what was Russia’s 15^th air assault on the city in May and second overnight attack in a row and of similar intensity, there were no major damages or casualties in Kyiv, officials said.

“Another difficult night for the capital,” Kyiv Mayor Vitaly Klitschko said on the Telegram messaging channel.

Key developments from Sunday, May 28:

Russia pummeled Ukraine’s capital Kyiv in an overnight drone attack which was described as the largest of its kind since the start of the invasion. Ukraine said it managed to down 58 of the 59 drones fired.

Moscow, meanwhile, on Sunday warned Western nations that they would be “playing with fire” if they agree to provide Kyiv with US-made F-16 fighter jets ahead of Ukraine’s long-anticipated counteroffensive.

Read yesterday’s live blog to see how the day’s events unfolded.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP & Reuters)