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Volodymyr Zelenskyy dismisses Ukraine’s defence minister on eve of Starmer visit

Volodymyr Zelenskyy has dismissed Ukraine’s popular defence minister, despite pleas from foreign partners and civil society for him to keep his job, as part of wide-ranging government reshuffle. In a post on Telegram Mykhailo Fedorov announced that he was leaving his position, saying it had been a “great honour” to serve the Ukrainian people. He was widely credited with transforming the defence ministry and reducing corruption. His six months in office coincided with a dramatic improvement in Ukraine’s position on the battlefield. Kyiv has repeatedly hit Russian oil refineries with long-range drones, embarrassing Vladimir Putin and creating nationwide fuel shortages. In his farewell message Fedorov, 35, listed his achievements. They included disabling Starlink for Russian troops and procuring more drones, used to destroy “enemy logistics” and to isolate occupied Crimea. He said he had “radically improved” the procurement system, saving the state budget “billions of dollars”. On the day of his departure the minister revealed Ukraine’s military had successfully tested a ballistic missile. “We fundamentally revised ⁠the technical requirements and achieved maximum accuracy. We reduced the ‌cost by 30%. Ukraine will enter a new league,” he said. The sacking appeared likely to overshadow Keir Starmer’s visit to Kyiv. The British prime minister, who is due to leave office this week, arrived on Thursday to mark the country’s support for Ukraine during his premiership. It is unclear if Fedorov will get another cabinet post. On Wednesday Ukraine’s parliament accepted the resignation of prime minister Yulia Svyrydenko after Zelenskyy said his government needed a reset. Her replacement is likely to be Serhiy Koretskyi, the head of the energy company Naftogaz. Fedorov’s removal has outraged his supporters, and comes amid rumours of a feud with Ukraine’s commander in chief Col Gen Oleksandr Syrskyi . Friends of Ukraine, including the former US ambassador in Moscow, Michael McFaul, this week urged Zelenskyy to keep Fedorov in his post. Serhii Sternenko, an aide to the sacked minister, wrote bitterly: “It is a pity our country today is significantly further from victory. Real reforms have not even been allowed to begin, although we have still managed to bring about a great deal of change.” He complained of “deliberate delays” and “bureaucratic obstacles”. The opposition politician Iryna Gerashchenko condemned the move. Speaking in Ukraine’s parliament before the news was confirmed, she asked: “How is it that Zelenskyy’s only sensible appointment, Minister Fedorov, is in limbo today?” Online commentators were scathing. Within minutes of the announcement, thousands posted messages backing Fedorov. One wrote, bluntly: “I don’t understand this decision.” Another added: “A minister who gave hope to millions and showed what can happen when you are interested in the victory of your country.” The deputy director of the Politika thinktank, Artem Bronzhukov, described the rapid turnover of defence ministers in Ukraine as “abnormal” in a country fighting a large-scale war against an enemy such as Russia. He said Fedorov had visibly improved the situation on the frontline and beyond in “three or four months”. “The results are noticeable in middle strikes, where Ukraine has turned the Crimean peninsula into a virtual island. Against this background, there is a credit of trust in Mykhailo Fedorov. He is supported by our western partners, he is supported by the progressive part of society,” Bronzhukov told Radio NV.

Revealed: Bucharest tourists hiring rentals that could collapse in an earthquake

Tourists in the Romanian capital, Bucharest, are staying in illegal accommodation listed on Airbnb and Booking.com in buildings considered so seismically vulnerable they could collapse in the event of a major earthquake, according to exclusive data shared with the Guardian. Analysis of data collected by Re:Rise, a Romanian organisation working on seismic risk reduction, identified at least 207 illegal tourist rental properties advertised across the two platforms in Bucharest at the end of May, with a combined capacity to host more than 1,000 visitors each night. Booking.com listed 116 of them, 47 were on Airbnb, and 44 listings were on both platforms. All were in buildings qualifying for the highest level of seismic risk. Bucharest is the most seismically vulnerable capital in the EU, with two major earthquakes in the last century, the most recent of which, in 1977, killed more than 1,500 people, injured more than 10,000 and brought down 32 buildings in under a minute. Experts believe another such quake is inevitable, warning that the damage could well exceed that of previous disasters because much of the city’s building stock has become structurally unsound in recent decades. In an effort to clamp down on unsafe housing in 2024, Romania outlawed short- and long-term rentals in high-risk buildings, classified as RS1. As a result, the capital has at least 404 such buildings where renting of any kind is illegal, with violations carrying fines of €1,000 (£850) to €2,000. As only a fraction of the city’s housing stock has been formally assessed for risk, experts believe the true scale of unsafe accommodation is probably greater. Those risks, however, are rarely made clear to tourists booking a place to stay. Neither Airbnb nor Booking.com requires hosts to declare whether their properties are structurally sound. “We tried everything possible to alert the platforms about this problem, but they told us it is the responsibility of the owners, not theirs,” said Matei Sumbasacu, a structural engineer and founder of Re:Rise. Ana Todor, who booked two Airbnb stays in apartments in RS1 buildings in 2025, said she felt the owners and platforms were “counting” on the fact that guests wouldn’t scrutinise the rules and regulations too closely. “But when I got there, the building looked terrible from the outside and didn’t give me a good feeling,” said Todor. “Descriptions that downplay the danger are a Hello Kitty plaster on a deep crack.” Todor says she was unaware renting in such buildings was illegal and says she would now factor the condition and location of a building into any booking decision. “The more I’ve learned since, the more my anxiety has grown. Every time I travel to Bucharest now, I don’t sleep well at all; I’m always on edge.” One listing found by the Guardian and Re:Rise on Airbnb, a two-bedroom “designer condo” in the city centre University Square, charges about €100 a night and accommodates up to six guests. A review by a family who stayed there last October noted that the building was “old and appears sketchy from the outside”. One superhost on Airbnb has 25 listings on the platform, of which at least six are in buildings deemed to be at the highest seismic risk, according to the analysis. A flat hosted by this person in an RS1 building in Roman Square is described as a blend of “classic charm with modern comfort, perfect for both business and leisure stays”. The true number of tourist rentals in RS1 buildings is probably higher, as only those where addresses could be confirmed are included. Of the confirmed listings, only two disclosed in their descriptions that they were located in a building with high seismic risk. But even they sought to downplay the danger. In one, the host notes the accommodation “may appear in older seismic risk classifications”, adding that this is “common for historic buildings in the city centre” and that the building is “regularly inhabited and maintained”. Another listing does not mention the risk directly, but in the English bio of the host one line in Romanian says the building where the apartment is located has a “dot”, without explaining what that means. By law, RS1 buildings must display a red dot above the entrance bearing a notice in Romanian stating that the building has been assessed and classified as seismic risk class 1. For the vast majority of foreign visitors, the warning is effectively invisible if they don’t read Romanian, campaigners say. After attempting to warn Airbnb and Booking.com about the risky listings, Re:Rise eventually took matters into their own hands. Volunteers began plastering hard-to-remove stickers on to the key lockboxes mounted outside RS1 buildings with holiday flats, each printed with a QR code linking to a website where tourists could read about the seismic risk of the property they were about to check into. “The state could go directly to the platforms and oblige them to act … The main institution responsible for anyone visiting the city is the city hall,” said Sumbasacu. “One has to take care of their own yard, but they have always run from that responsibility.” The city hall said local police conducted inspections only in response to complaints and that it notified the ministry of tourism in January to factor the law banning rentals in RS1 buildings into its authorisation process. “An information campaign was organised for apartment owners and building owners whose properties are on the list of buildings classified in seismic risk class RS1. Approximately 3,000 notifications were sent out,” added the statement. A spokesperson for Airbnb said: “Safety is a priority for Airbnb and we take issues like this seriously. We are currently investigating based on the information available so we can take the appropriate action.” A Booking.com spokesperson said: “Our accommodation partners should ensure that they are aware of their obligations and acting in accordance with all local laws, and we have a solid process in place for authorities to report any listings they might have concerns about.” Bucharest had more than 2 million visitors in 2025, more than any other city in the country, according to Romania’s National Institute of Statistics. However, much of the city’s infrastructure – including some schools, administrative buildings, theatres and fire stations, as well as private properties – remains at high seismic risk. The retrofitting work that followed the 1977 earthquake was cut short when the communist dictator Nicolae Ceaușescu redirected the funds to build the massive House of the People, now Romania’s Palace of Parliament. Since retrofitting legislation passed in 1994, only 35 buildings have been reinforced. A 2022 risk assessment by the Bucharest City Committee for Emergency Situations estimated that a major earthquake could severely damage about 23,000 buildings across the city, kill approximately 6,500 people and leave a further 16,000 seriously injured.

What is Ukraine’s 40-day campaign against Russia and has it worked?

On 26 June, the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, announced that he was ordering Ukraine’s state security service to launch a 40-day campaign against Russian targets aimed at “influencing the aggressor state in order to compel it to end to the war”. Since then, Kyiv has sharply escalated attacks on Russia under the aegis of a series of overlapping operations striking key supply lines in Ukraine’s Russian-occupied territories, including Crimea, and striking Moscow and St Petersburg in a series of high-profile long-range missile attacks, triggering a fuel crisis. Three weeks in to the 40-day campaign, as it becomes clearer what it involves, how successful has it been and what does the operation say about the future course of the war? Why did Zelenskyy talk about a 40-day campaign? Orysia Lutsevych, the head of the Ukraine Forum at the Chatham House thinktank – like others – sees Zelenskyy’s 40-day framing as an Orthodox Christian reference aimed at Russia and Vladimir Putin in particular. “Zelenskyy is the master of narrative performance,” she says. “I think it is a reference to the 40 days in purgatory waiting for the decision to go to hell or heaven. The message is that we already think of you as dead. Now it is your decision whether to save yourselves or not.” Beyond the metaphysical, Lutsevych sees the length of the campaign as having a political significance as well. “Elections for the Duma [Russian parliament] are in September. Part of the idea is to make Putin understand that it hurts his hold on power by doing everything to bring the war to Moscow and St Petersburg in particular.” Phillips O’Brien, a professor of strategic studies at the University of St Andrews, adds: “It is a psychological campaign. I don’t think there is an expectation that the 40-day campaign will force Russia to surrender. It is a way of saying: ‘We can take the war to you’. “I think the big thing is the effort to precipitate an oil crisis in Russia. I think what Zelenskyy is also trying to do is to focus Ukrainians on what Ukraine is doing on the battlefield where the conversation has been about a quagmire, saying, ‘we are being dynamic and taking the initiative’.” What does the campaign involve? While Zelenskyy was not initially explicit, subsequent comments by Ukrainian officials have made clear that it is seen as encompassing aspects of several ongoing efforts, including the so-called middle strike strategy that has heavily disrupted Russia’s main supply lines and the long-range strike campaign against Russian military industrial sites, refineries, shipping and major cities. The retired Australian general Mick Ryan, writing in his Futura Doctrina Substack, describes it primarily as an “influence operation” intended to force Russia to end its invasion. “This is a unified campaign of deep strikes against oil refineries, military facilities and major cities intended to press Moscow toward ending the war,” he wrote. Ryan described the attacks on oil refineries as an “attempted strategic coercion by attrition” of Russia’s war economy, adding: “By 5 July, Ukraine’s general staff claimed to have disabled 42.74% of Russia’s oil refining capacity, reporting eight refineries hit in a month, more than 60 storage tanks destroyed or damaged and cumulative industry losses of $13.5bn.” In one recent week, operations officially attributed to the 40-day campaign included 13 long-range and medium-range strikes on key military targets including the Saki and Gvardeyskoye airfields, aircraft hangars in Crimea, the St Petersburg oil terminal, the Yaroslavl oil refinery north-east of Moscow, a refinery in Kaluga region to the capital’s south-west, and the oil loading terminal at the Vysotsk seaport on the Baltic. What has the impact been so far? Ukraine has been launching long-range strikes on Moscow for a while now, but its stepping up of their scale and intensity has shocked Muscovites who had never expected the war to be brought home to them so forcefully. Towering columns of smoke from burning refineries, the new experience of large flights of drones flying over the capital and St Petersburg – Russia’s two most important cities – have triggered the posting of shocked videos on social media. In practical terms, Russians are now facing long queues at many petrol stations with some sleeping in cars for several days. Less visibly documented is the impact on Russian-occupied Crimea, where strikes on key bridges and roads to the peninsular have led to power cuts and a sense of it being under siege. It may also be generating political frictions inside Russia, according to the Institute for the Study of War. “Ukraine’s successful intermediate- and long-range strike campaigns have forced a reckoning within the Russian ultranationalist information space,” it said in a recent report. “[It is] causing commentators to blame the Russian federal government for failing to create a cohesive air defence system that can adequately protect private businesses and critical infrastructure.” Does this help Ukraine on the international stage? Lutsevych suggests Ukraine’s successes in bringing the war to Russia – before and within the 40-day campaign – may have contributed to a change of attitude in the Trump administration towards Ukraine. The notorious low point was the February 2025 Oval Office scolding of Zelenskyy by the US president, Donald Trump, who told him “you don’t have the cards”, while the US vice-president, JD Vance, accused him of “disrespect”. A very different dynamic was in evidence during last week’s Nato summit in Ankara where Trump suggested Kyiv could be allowed to produce Patriot missile interceptors under licence. “That was the biggest visible success of Ankara. It is psychologically important because before it would have seemed unbelievable that the US would give Ukraine the licence for such a sophisticated weapons system,” Lutsevych said. “I think it shows it is done for Russia in its attempt to conquer Ukraine and is important for the strategic posture of Ukraine’s forces in the future, although it is more symbolic at the moment.” Where does it go from here? There has been public and private speculation that the campaign may see other high-profile military efforts aimed at humiliating Putin and undermining his support, including against units regarded as key to sustaining Putin’s regime. One possibility that has been floated by Denys Shtilerman, the chief designer and co-founder of Ukraine’s missile producer Fire Point, is strikes on key military facilities in Moscow with newly produced ballistic missiles perhaps beginning in September. “First is Moscow … where the military facilities are protected. The most important thing is that I am practically 100% certain they won’t be able to intercept effectively,” said Shtilerman in an interview this month. There is also speculation that Ukraine may once again attempt to retake territory from Russia after assessments that depleted Russian forces are increasingly thinly spread in almost half of the areas where they were once attempting to advance. And despite the public framing of the campaign as lasting 40 days, Lutsevych believes the campaign, as Shtilerman suggests, is likely to not only continue but perhaps intensify further.

US says latest attack wave on Iran completed – as it happened

We’re about to shut this live page but are continuing our round-the-clock coverage of the Middle East crisis. Here’s a recap of the latest events as it turns 7am in Tehran and 11.30pm in Washington DC, and we also have a full report. Thanks for joining us. The US military said it completed a fresh wave of evening strikes against Iranian targets on Thursday morning local time to degrade Iran’s ability to threaten ships transiting the strait of Hormuz. Targets including the southern port city of Bandar Abbas – home ⁠to key navy and Revolutionary Guard facilities ‌– while it earlier hit Greater Tunb Island, Central Command said on social media. “The U.S. military is holding Iran accountable at the Commander in Chief’s direction,” it said, referring to President Donald Trump. The Iranian army said it targeted US military facilities in Jordan with drones on Thursday, state media reported, after the latest American strikes. It said that in response to “enemy aggression” it targeted communication systems and fuel storage facilities of the US military there using kamikaze drones, state television Irib reported. Iranian state media earlier reported explosions in several cities including Bandar Abbas, Rask and Chabahar, while earlier reports also cited blasts around southern sites including Qeshm and Bandar Imam Khomeini, as well as in Bushehr, home to Iran’s only civilian nuclear plant. Iranian air defences were reportedly activated in the capital, Tehran, on Thursday morning. Iran targeted Bahrain and Kuwait with retaliatory missile and drone fire early on Thursday. The latest US strikes hit an Iranian army barracks, killed at least seven troops and wounded hundreds of people across the country, according to Iranian officials. There was no immediate word on damage or casualties from Iran’s strikes, but its health ministry said at least 30 people had been killed in southern Iran in US attacks in recent days and more than 260 people injured. Centcom said US aircraft fired missiles into an oil tanker’s smokestack in the strait of Hormuz, disabling the vessel. It said the Belma ignored multiple warnings as it attempted to violate the US blockade. Trump ⁠said ⁠he did not like giving deadlines ⁠when asked by ⁠reporters if Tehran ‌had a ‌deadline before the US started attacking Iranian bridges, as threatened. “I ‌don’t like giving deadlines, but they pretty ⁠much know, they know the story ... they better behave.” Iran’s top negotiator, ⁠Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, said that ⁠if Iran ⁠did not benefit from its memorandum of ⁠understanding with the US, “we have no reason ⁠to adhere to such an understanding”. Iran had “never welcomed war, nor do we now”, the parliamentary speaker said on Telegram. He called on Iranians to continue with their armed resistance, but to also “use the tools of diplomacy and negotiation to achieve and consolidate national interests”. Trump thanked Iran for allowing an American citizen he says was “wrongfully detained in December of 2024” to leave the country. “She is now safely outside of Iran, and in good condition,” he said, while the woman was named by her lawyer as Dena Karari, a dual American and Iranian citizen.

US attacks oil tanker in strait of Hormuz as strikes reported in Tehran

The US has fired on an oil tanker attempting to reach Kharg Island in the strait of Hormuz as part of its blockade on Iranian ports, as Tehran came under attack for the first time in this latest round of strikes. The US said on Thursday morning it had disabled an unladen oil tanker, during a fifth day of strikes, firing Hellfire missiles into the ship’s smokestack after it ignored multiple warnings. On Wednesday evening, the US targeted coastal defences and missile sites, hours after a separate round of strikes that hit cruise missile storage and launch sites on Iran’s Greater Tunb Island in the morning. The US also hit targets further north, with state media reporting strikes on the country’s capital, Tehran, and reports of air defences being heard throughout the city early on Thursday. Iran responded with attacks targeting Bahrain and Kuwait. There was no immediate word on damage or casualties. Iranian officials say the recent days of US strikes have killed more than 35 people and wounded more than 300 others. The escalating waves of attacks come days after the ceasefire between the two sides appeared to have entirely collapsed, with fears of a return ⁠to full-scale war. The US military central command said late on Wednesday that the latest round of strikes were targeting Iranian military capabilities “used to threaten vessels freely transiting through the strait of Hormuz, an international waterway vital to global commerce.” Iranian media said four locations around the city of Ahvaz had come, along with Bandar Abbas, the principal port city on the strait of Hormuz. Missiles also hit near Sirik and Qeshm in southern Iran. The tit-for-tat attacks between the US and Iran have intensified since Tehran said it was closing the strait on Saturday, once again imperilling the movement of maritime traffic through the vital waterway which carried about a fifth of global oil and gas supplies before the war. The US on Wednesday reimposed its naval blockade on Iran. The Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) responded by threatening to halt all energy exports from the Middle East, saying “regional energy exports are either shared by all or denied to all.” Oil prices have continued to tick up higher throughout the latest waves of escalation, with the price for Brent crude oil, the international standard, trading at above $85 a barrel on Wednesday – more than 15% higher than the price before the war, but still well below the nearly $120 reached at the height of the conflict. Donald Trump on Wednesday again claimed that Iran would be “defeated soon”. Speaking in Pennsylvania the US president claimed ⁠the Iranians want to “settle so badly”. On Tuesday, Trump said US negotiators had been in touch with their Iranian counterparts to tell them “you better make a deal”. Trump has suggested the US could widen attacks against Iran to force open the strait, with the US president warning that he would hit “Pickaxe Mountain” – a fortified underground facility linked to Iran’s disputed nuclear programme. Weeks after the US and Iran signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) aimed at ending the war and restarting talks on the country’s nuclear programme, Tehran’s chief negotiator warned that the MOU could only have meaning if its “clauses are valid and being implemented,” suggesting further negotiations are being compromised by the recent wave of attacks. “If Iran is not to derive any benefit from the memorandum of understanding, we have no reason to adhere,” Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said in a statement. Ghalibaf also said his country’s security depended on maintaining what he called “Iranian arrangements” in the strait, adding that Iran was in an “essential and existential war with America”. Iran’s military spokesperson has said that the only way to reopen the strait of Hormuz was for the US to comply with the MOU. Experts have said that a lack of clarity in the terms of the MOU, and the inclusion of language that suggested Iran could take responsibility of the “safe passage of ships” in the strait, have contributed to the confusion that has characterised the Trump administration’s strategy over recent weeks. Despite the ratcheting hostilities, Trump late on Wednesday was keen to declare a possible sign of goodwill between the two sides. The US president said Iran had allowed an American who was “wrongfully detained” in late 2024 to leave the country. “The United States of America appreciates this gesture of goodwill by Iran,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. Human rights attorney Jared Genser identified the released American as Dena Karari, who had been prevented from leaving Iran since December 2024. “Dena is now safe and traveling back to the United States,” Genser wrote on social media, thanking Trump for his efforts to free her.

Fears for New Zealand’s native species as first bird flu case emerges

The deadly H5N1 bird flu has been confirmed in New Zealand for the first time, sparking alarm that some of the country’s most beloved and vulnerable native birds could be wiped out if it spreads. A single ocean-going seabird, a brown skua, returned a confirmed positive test on Wednesday, after it was found on Petone beach in Wellington on 10 July, said Andrew Hoggard, the biosecurity minister. In New Zealand, where birds hold a significant place in the culture and ecosystem, the virus has the potential to be catastrophic. However, New Zealand has been preparing for the possible arrival of bird flu for years and a vaccination programme is under way for five species of endangered birds in captive breeding programmes, including the charismatic kākāpō and takahē. The ministry for primary industries said it has a well-established surveillance programme that spans wildlife sanctuaries, zoos, the poultry industry, vets and the public. “Bird flu is an unwelcome threat to our bird species who are already under more extreme and multiple pressures than ever before,” said James Russell, professor of conservation biology at the University of Auckland. “Ultimately, there will be little we can do to stop this virus impacting our wild bird populations, but through taking meaningful actions which reduce other pressures, we can set up our bird populations as strongly as possible to recover after the virus has swept through.” Hoggard said: “There is no evidence of any mass mortality in wildlife or transmission between wild birds in New Zealand.” However he urged the public to be vigilant. “We are continuing to act early and prepare carefully, while asking the community to remain watchful and report three or more sick or dead birds in a group to the pest and disease hotline.” The deadly bird flu strain started in Asia, and has been spreading across Europe and the Americas since 2021, arriving in Antarctica during the 2023-24 summer. Australia recorded its first confirmed cases on the mainland in early July. The virus has killed millions of birds worldwide and in some areas, reduced bird populations by 75%. Signs of disease include weakness and seizures, head twisting, and breathing distress. New Zealand’s only endemic mammal species are bats and marine mammals. Consequently, its birds evolved in unusual and idiosyncratic ways. The country is home to more species of flightless birds, both living and extinct, than any other place in the world and has the most diverse population of seabirds globally. About 80% of native birds are already considered endangered, with more than a dozen on the verge of extinction. Jemma Geoghegan, a virologist at the University of Otago, said New Zealand had an advantage because it was “not facing this blindly”. “We can draw on several years of international experience, including the recent Australian response, to guide surveillance, wildlife monitoring and outbreak management.” However, the virus presented a “big unknown” because not all species are equally susceptible, said Nigel French, distinguished professor of infectious disease epidemiology and public health at Massey University. Species that tend to gather in large colonies, particularly shorebirds and other scavenging species, are likely most at risk, French said. Many of these are types of birds that are already endangered, including the fairy tern – population 50. Marine mammals, such as New Zealand’s nationally endangered sea lions, were also at risk of catching the virus. “It could be really devastating for some of our taonga [treasured] species of birds and some of the rarer native species.” Because New Zealand’s bird populations have such huge cultural significance and are particularly vulnerable, it was important the country pulled out all the stops with vaccination and containment, French said. “It is a deep cultural concern for New Zealand as a whole.”

Five booksellers arrested in Hong Kong police raids in latest crackdown on ‘seditious’ materials

Hong Kong authorities have raided two bookstores and arrested five people on suspicion of selling allegedly seditious publications, according to local media reports, in the latest step targeting independent booksellers. Videos and photos from multiple media outlets on Wednesday showed officers wearing vests marked with “police” seizing boxes from the building that houses Have A Nice Stay, a bookshop founded by former journalists. AFP reporters saw officers also lead away a woman in handcuffs to a van. A few streets away a similar scene played out, with boxes taken from the building housing the Greenfield Book Store, according to a video by online news outlet The Collective. Police said in a statement they arrested two men and three women on suspicion of displaying and offering for sale items with “seditious intention”, breaching the 2024 national security law, after raiding two stores in the Mong Kok district, without identifying the locations. AFP reporters witnessed the raid on Have A Nice Stay, and local media, citing unnamed sources, said officers had searched the Greenfield Book Store. It is the third round of arrests linked to independent bookstores after similar operations in March and June that were widely seen as stifling dissent in the Asian financial hub. Hong Kong was once known for its freedom of publication and freedom of expression. Some Chinese residents crossed the border to buy books deemed to be too politically sensitive on the mainland. The police statement said an investigation alleged the five people were suspected of displaying seditious materials and selling seditious publications on the premises. The publications’ content included stirring up hatred against the city’s government, judiciary and law enforcement agencies, it said. Customs officials referred the case after the discovery of allegedly seditious books in a batch of goods shipped to Hong Kong from overseas, police said, without specifying titles. The Have A Nice Stay bookstore had already announced it would shut down on 30 August. In a social media post, it said financial difficulties and an elusive red line were among the factors. Lam Wing-kee, the owner of Causeway Bay Books until his death earlier this month , made international headlines in 2016 when he revealed that he was held by Chinese authorities after crossing from Hong Kong to the city of Shenzhen. Four others affiliated with the bookstore in Hong Kong disappeared in late 2015. Lam’s account shocked many people in the former British colony, which Beijing promised would maintain its Western-style civil liberties for 50 years after its return to China in 1997. Following political changes after anti-government protests in 2019, independent bookstores have been operating in an even more challenging environment. Authorities say the national security laws are crucial for the city’s stability. Hong Kong’s secretary for security Chris Tang has said the government would not set up a list of banned books, saying it would be pointless to implement in reality. In March, police arrested the owner and staff of the independent Book Punch store, reportedly on suspicion of selling seditious publications. They included the biography of former pro-democracy media tycoon Jimmy Lai, who was sentenced to 20 years in prison in his national security case. In June, Hong Kong police arrested two booksellers on suspicion of selling seditious publications and receiving funds from foreign political organisations. All were later released on bail. With Associated Press and Agence France-Presse

Ukraine war briefing: Sheffield steel for Kyiv’s guns as artillery barrels ship out

Artillery barrels forged in Sheffield, Britain, are being delivered to Ukraine’s military. Steel company Sheffield Forgemasters has sent four barrels to Ukraine out of a planned 150 under a £61m deal announced last year. It is the first time in almost 20 years that forged artillery barrels have been produced in the UK. The barrels have been produced by Forgemasters and the nearby BAE Systems artillery factory, opened in Sheffield last year. Under the contract, the two companies will produce 105mm and 155mm barrels for Ukrainian artillery. Artillery barrels eventually wear out on the battlefield and need to be replaced. Sheffield is producing eight barrels a month, and the first four shipped are expected to help Ukraine test its own manufacturing facilities. Production of British-made artillery barrels comes as the UK and its European allies attempt to increase their ability to manufacture weapons domestically. Forgemasters was nationalised in 2021, with the Ministry of Defence saying the purchase was necessary to secure “critical” British defence programmes. Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said Sergiy Koretsky, the CEO of state energy firm Naftogaz, is “best prepared” to become Ukraine’s next prime minister in a government reshuffle. The Ukrainian president meanwhile was greeted with uproar after sacking his defence minister, Mykhailo Fedorov, as part of a government overhaul. Luke Harding writes that allies and Ukrainian civil society pleaded for Fedorov to keep his job. His six months in office coincided with a dramatic improvement in Ukraine’s position on the battlefield. Fedorov’s removal has outraged his supporters, and comes amid rumours of a feud with Ukraine’s top military commander, Col Gen Oleksandr Syrskyi. For our European desk, Shaun Walker takes a snapshot of Ukraine’s complicated domestic and international political situation. Zelenskyy characterised his choice of Koretsky as related to Ukraine’s energy needs, with its electricity grid and gas supplies battered by Russian attacks and expected to come under huge pressure in the colder months. Koretsky had provided “effective leadership” in an “extremely complex sector”, Zelenskyy said. “If we are entering winter, then we must prepare … After all the consultations, Sergiy Koretsky is probably the best prepared person for the position of prime minister of Ukraine.” Parliament is expected to vote on the succession on Thursday. Explosions rang out and lit the sky as Kyiv came under ballistic missile attack early on Thursday morning. The Kyiv mayor, Vitali Klitschko, said a warehouse was hit while “missile debris fell on non-residential buildings”. At the same time, Kharkiv, the main city in north-east Ukraine, was hit by drones, its mayor said. Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he expects Ukraine to acquire by the end of this year the knowhow to produce missiles for US Patriot defence systems. Moscow accused Ukrainian forces of killing the chief engineer of the illegally Russian-occupied and shut down Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant (NPP). Aleksandr Yakovlev and a driver were killed when “a drone belonging to the Ukrainian armed forces” hit a service vehicle near the plant, said the head of Russian nuclear conglomerate Rosatom – which seized control of the NPP after the full-scale invasion, precipitating a continuing crisis over the safety of Europe’s largest nuclear plant. Ukraine did not immediately comment on the allegations. Russian forces killed ⁠three people and ‌injured ‌15 when they attacked ⁠the south-eastern ⁠city of Zaporizhzhia on ⁠Wednesday, said Ivan Fedorov, the regional ‌governor. Fedorov said ‌the region remained under the threat ⁠of aerial bombs through the evening. Ukraine’s ⁠military said on ⁠Wednesday ⁠it had struck a power ⁠plant in Sevastopol which accounts ‌for nearly ‌50% of electricity generation in ⁠Russian-occupied Crimea. Special ‌operations forces said the ⁠Balaklava thermal power station was hit on Tuesday night. Ukraine’s successful campaign to knock out oil refineries means Russia is being forced to seek gasoline from Indian refiners as Moscow grapples with its worst ever fuel crisis. Top Russian energy companies have approached Indian refiners for more gasoline, two sources ⁠familiar with the matter have told Reuters. India is the biggest buyer of Russian seaborne crude oil, but now at least one cargo of Indian gasoline is said to have sailed to Russia with more expected – possibly by risky ship-to-ship transfers at sea. Reuters sources at three Indian state refiners said Russian companies had approached them ‌for more gasoline but they had no surplus volumes to export. The Indian oil minister Hardeep Singh Puri said this month that Indian companies were not selling fuel to the Russians but it was possible they bought Indian-origin fuel from traders. Nearly 40% of Russia’s refining capacity is unlikely to return for at ⁠least two months, and that would only be if there were no further attacks, one of the sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters. Russia and Ukraine stepped ⁠up their battle over the Black Sea and key trade routes on Wednesday. Odesa region governor Oleh Kiper said a “massive” Russian drone and missile attack on the southern region continued for a fifth day, with civilian, industrial and port infrastructure coming ⁠under attack. Three people were killed and at least three more injured after a Russian missile strike on a seven-storey residential building in Odesa, Ukrainian authorities said. Ukrainian drones hit 20 Russian vessels in the Black Sea, Kyiv’s top drone forces commander said on Wednesday. The Ukrainian attacks have forced Russia, the world’s top grain exporter, to restrict shipping in the Sea of Azov. A ⁠Russian attack killed ⁠at ⁠least three people and wounded seven ⁠in Ukraine’s northern ⁠Sumy region, regional ‌governor Oleh ‌Hryhorov said ‌on Wednesday. Hryhorov said Russia ‌carried out six strikes with guided aerial bombs. ⁠One struck near medical facilities and others, according to ‌preliminary information, hit infrastructure.