More from Ukraine's President Zelensky now, who says his Defence Ministry is working to bring home the troops captured by Russian forces at the battle for the Azovstal steelworks in Mariupol.

Speaking to reporters, the wartime leader said this fight alone had led to more than 2,500 Ukrainian prisoners of war (POWs) being held by Russia. He demanded their safe return.

"The HUR [Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ukrainian Defence Ministry] is dealing with the issue," Zelensky said. "A special joint body has been created on its basis, [but] the prisoners are, unfortunately, in the hands of the Russian Federation... [who] cannot be trusted."

He added that he "personally" trusted the HUR to get the troops home, saying this was "the only result" he would accept.

At the end of last month, Denis Pushilin, the leader of Ukraine's breakaway Donetsk People's Republic, said the POWs would be tried there. He also said Western representatives would be invited to watch.

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Bethany Bell
BBC News, Vienna

Image source, Getty Images

The head of the UN’s nuclear watchdog, the IAEA, says he is working to organise a mission to the biggest nuclear plant in Europe, which is in Ukraine but under Russian occupation.

The IAEA-led mission to ZaporizhzhyaNPP (ZNPP) will carry out essential nuclear safety, security and safeguards work at the site, Rafael Grossi said at a meeting of the IAEA’s board of governors in Vienna.

Despite it being occupied, Ukrainian staff are still running the plant.

Grossi said he had “taken note" of an appeal by the Ukrainian government for him and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres "to redouble their efforts to find ways of liberating the ZNPP from Russian invaders as soon as possible".

Kyiv asked for assistance in returning the station to Ukraine and restoring the station's security, he said.

Grossi added he had repeatedly expressed “grave concern at the extremely stressful and challenging working conditions under which Ukrainian management and staff are operating the plant".

He said the situation "has not only raised serious and pressing humanitarian concerns but is also a clear and present risk to the safety, security and safeguards at the nuclear power plant".

Russia's foreign minister says his troops will respond to the UK and US sending long-range missiles to Ukraine, by pushing back Ukrainian forces further.

"The longer the range of the weapons that [the West] supplies, the further we will push back the line from which Neo-Nazis can threaten the Russian Federation," Sergei Lavrov told a news conference, responding to a question from BBC Russia Editor Steve Rosenberg.

Russia has claimed that neo-Nazism is rife in Ukraine - a claim that's been dismissed by Kyiv and Western nations as baseless.

The Ukrainian army says it has pushed Russian vessels back more than 100 km from Ukraine's Black Sea coast, where Moscow's ships have been carrying out a naval blockade for weeks.

"As a result of our active actions aimed at defeating enemy naval forces, the group of ships of the Russian Black Sea fleet was pushed back from the Ukrainian shores," Ukraine's defence ministry said on Telegram.

"We have deprived the Russian fleet of total control over the north-western part of the Black Sea, which has become a 'grey zone'," the ministry said, adding that Moscow was currently trying to regain control there.

But according to Kyiv, "the threat of Russian missile strikes from the sea remains".

Ukraine's navy has had some well-publicised successes in the war, most notably sinking the cruiser Moskva, the flagship of Moscow's Black Sea fleet.

Image source, EPA

Some more now from the Ukrainian president, who has been giving a media briefing in Kyiv.

Ukrainian forces are "holding out" against Moscow's troops in the eastern city of Severodonetsk but are outnumbered by a "stronger" Russian force, Volodymyr Zelensky says.

"We're holding out" but "there are more of them and they are stronger", he told journalists, adding that Severodonetsk and neighbouring Lysychansk were both "dead cities now".

The fall of Severodonetsk to Russia would mean Moscow controls almost all of Luhansk region, which makes up half of the Donbas.

Image source, Getty Images

More updates now from Severodonetsk - which was earlier said by Ukraine's military intelligence chief to be the current focal point of the conflict.

"Fierce" street battles continue there, says city mayor Oleksandr Stryuk.

But Ukrainian troops will not leave the strategically-important eastern city, he's quoted by the UNIAN news agency as saying.

"The situation changes every hour," Stryuk adds - but he vows there are "enough forces and means" to fully take the city back from the Russians.

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Image source, Reuters

More now from Ukraine's president during his media briefing.

Volodymyr Zelensky says as many as 75 million tonnes of grain could be still stuck in Ukraine in the autumn, if a Russian blockade of its ports on the Black Sea continues.

Zelensky estimates that 22-25 million tonnes are currently unable to be sent overseas, according to Reuters.

Ukraine is one of the world's top exporters of grain including wheat - and the war has triggered warnings of global food supply shortages.

Russia's President Putin last week denied his country was blocking Ukrainian exports.

Image source, Getty Images

The UK is joining the US in sending M270 multiple-launch rocket systems to Ukraine - something it's not done before.

In its announcement, the government said its support for Ukraine so far was worth more than £750m.

Here's are some of the other arms it's previously pledged to Kyiv:

• More than 5,000 next-generation light anti-tank weapons
• 120 armoured vehicles
• Five air defence systems, including Starstreak missiles
• "Dozens" of heavy-lift drones

Read more detail here.

As we reported earlier, President Vladimir Putin has warned the West that Russia will strike new targets if the United States starts supplying Ukraine with longer-range missiles.

Speaking in an interview for Rossiya-1 television, Putin said the US supplying multiple launch rocket systems was nothing new, but warned against sending missiles with longer ranges.

Image source, Ukrainian Presidential Press Service

President Zelensky has also had his say on fighting in the frontline city of Severodonetsk in the east.

Russian forces have a numerical advantage there but that Ukraine has "every chance" of fighting back, he says, according to comments cited by the Reuters news agency.

Referring to the eastern Donbas region more widely, Zelensky says the situation could become very difficult for Ukraine if Russia makes further gains.

Zelensky was quoted during a media briefing saying the situation was "threatening" in the south as well, as Russia wants to occupy the city of Zaporizhzhia.

Image source, Getty Images

Russians are putting the city of Mariupol in quarantine due to a possible cholera outbreak, an adviser to the city's mayor has told Ukrainian television.

"We are seeing the city get closed," Petro Andryushchenko told United News TV.

"The word 'cholera' is being mentioned inside the city, among occupying authorities and their handlers," he said.

The BBC is unable to verify these claims.

Mariupol finally fell to Russian forces in May after months of bombardment.

Andryushchenko also said the humanitarian situation in Mariupol was getting worse, with food and water shortages.

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Image source, Getty Images

We've got more reaction from Russia now after the UK said it would join the US in sending long-range missile systems to Ukraine.

Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov says his troops will respond by pushing back Ukrainian forces further.

"The longer the range of the weapons that [the West] supplies, the further we will push back the line from which Neo-Nazis can threaten the Russian Federation," he told a press conference, responding to a question from BBC Russia Editor Steve Rosenberg.

Russia has claimed that it is working to rid Ukraine of Nazis - a claim that's been dismissed by Kyiv and Western nations as baseless.

Image source, Reuters

If you're just joining our live coverage of the war in Ukraine, here's a roundup of the latest key developments:

The battle for Severodonetsk:

• Fighting around Severodonetsk now represents the "hottest" area of conflict in Ukraine, its military intelligence chief says
• Russian troops are being gradually ousted from the eastern city, says Maj Gen Kyrylo Budanov
• Meanwhile, Russia is also continuing its push towards Slovyansk, a city nearby, Ukrainian armed forces say
• Much of the fighting remains concentrated in the eastern Donbas region, where Russia refocused its efforts in recent months

Other developments:

• The UK is sending its first M270 long-range missiles to Ukraine

• Russian President Vladimir Putin has said his forces will increase their attacks on Ukraine if Western countries continue to send long-range weapons to the country

• Ukraine's President Zelensky says he visited the Donbas region on Sunday, where he visited Lysychansk, Soledar and met soldiers in south-eastern Zaporizhzhia

• A Russian major general was killed in fighting in the Donbas region - the latest in a string of high-profile military deaths on the Russian side

News you may have missed over the weekend:

• Russian cruise missiles hit parts of Kyiv early on Sunday - the first such strike on Ukraine's capital for weeks

• French President Emmanuel Macron caused consternation on Saturday when he said it was vital that Russia was not humiliated over its invasion of Ukraine

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Boris Johnson and Volodymyr Zelensky have been speaking this morning.

It comes as Johnson faces a confidence vote later today. If he loses, he will be forced to stand down as UK prime minister.

The pair talked about unblocking ports, in reference to Moscow's naval blockade of Ukraine which has left the latter unable to export much of its agricultural produce, Zelensky tweeted.

Image source, Reuters

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has cancelled his visit to Serbia.

Several neighbouring countries prevented his plane from passing through their airspace by refusing to authorise the "overflight", officials said.

Russian news agencies quoted ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova as saying: "The Russian delegation should have arrived in Belgrade for talks. But the EU and Nato member countries closed their airspace."

"Russian diplomacy has not yet learned how to teleport," a Russian diplomatic source told news agency Interfax.

Lavrov says he will now invite his Serbian counterpart Nikola Selakovic to visit him in Moscow, adding: "No one will be able to destroy our relations with Serbia".

Image source, Getty Images

Russia claims to have destroyed industrial buildings of a plant that was repairing Ukrainian armed vehicles in the Kharkiv region.

In its morning update, the Russian Defence Ministry says another Ukrainian military jet has been downed, too.

18 more Ukrainian tanks have also been destroyed and 450 "nationalists" killed, Russia claims.

It was not possible for the BBC to independently verify the claims.

Moscow launched its "special military operation" following false accusations that Ukraine has been overrun with "Nazis".

Image source, Reuters

Russian state media has confirmed the death of one of Moscow's top generals during heavy fighting in Ukraine's eastern Donbas region.

Maj Gen Roman Kutuzov was killed leading an assault on a Ukrainian settlement in the region, a reporter with the state-owned Rossiya 1 said.

Alexander Sladkov said Gen Kutuzov had been commanding troops from the self-declared Donetsk People's Republic.

Russia's defence ministry has not commented on the reports.

"The general had led soldiers into attack, as if there are not enough colonels," Sladkov wrote on the Telegram social media app. "On the other hand, Roman was the same commander as everyone else, albeit a higher rank."

His death comes as rumours circulated on social media that a second senior officer, Lt Gen Roman Berdnikov, commander of the 29th Army, was also killed in fighting over the weekend. The BBC cannot independently verify the claims.

Russian commanders have been increasingly forced to the front in an attempt to drive forward the invasion and Moscow has confirmed the deaths of three senior generals.

Kyiv claims to have killed 12 generals and Western intelligence officials say at least seven senior commanders have been killed.

But there has been confusion over reports of the deaths of several other Russian officers. Three generals that Ukrainian forces claimed to have killed have subsequently been reported to be alive.

Read more here

Image source, EPA

Fighting around Severodonetsk now represents the "hottest" area of conflict in Ukraine, says the country's military intelligence chief.

Maj Gen Kyrylo Budanov claims his forces are gradually ousting Russian troops from the important eastern city despite "a tenfold advantage of the enemy in artillery".

It was not possible to independently verify the claim. The regional governor earlier warned that the Severodonetsk situation had "worsened a little" despite progress made to retake parts of the city.

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Orla Guerin
Reporting from the Donbas

Image source, Reuters

After months of war everyone knows the drill – pack a bag or two (only what you can carry), say goodbye to your home and your certainties, and try to outrun a moving frontline.

Now it is the turn of Slovyansk. It was home to 100,000 people. Now the population is 30,000 and falling. We saw some of the latest to be evacuated – queuing in subdued silence. One woman wept ceaselessly in her partner's arms. Another held up her hands in prayer, once safely in her seat on a minibus.

It is a grimly familiar ritual, being played out across eastern Ukraine. What sets Slovyansk apart is its history. It was here that Russia-backed separatists launched their uprising in 2014.

The Mayor, Vadim Lyah, admits that Moscow still has some support. “I have no doubt it is there,” he said “but it is many times less than before. Now houses are being destroyed and people are dying it creates a completely different feeling towards the Russian authorities.”

We spoke outside his office – one of the buildings seized in 2014.

Past loyalties are proving to be no protection. Slovyansk too is being shelled by Russia – with one recent attack killing three civilians.

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Image source, Getty Images

Ukraine's position has "worsened a little" in Severodonetsk, the regional governor says.

Severodonetsk is a strategically important city in the eastern Donbas region. Luhansk regional governor Serhiy Haidai said on Friday that Ukrainian forces they had retaken half the of the city after Russian forces at one point controlled around 80%.

"The fiercest fighting is in Severodonetsk. Fast-moving fighting is happening right now," Haidai told national television this morning.

"Our defenders managed to undertake a counter-attack for a certain time; they liberated almost half of the city. But now the situation has worsened a little for us again," he said.

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