Image source, Getty Images

The huge news out of the UK this morning is that a vote of confidence in UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson will be held by Conservative MPs later today.

The vote follows anger over a report detailing lockdown rule-breaking in Downing Street. If he loses, he will stand down as prime minister.

Foreign Minister Liz Truss has just said she will back Johnson in the vote, citing his leadership over Ukraine.

"He has delivered on Covid recovery and supporting Ukraine in the face of Russian aggression. He has apologised for mistakes made. We must now focus on economic growth," she tweeted.

Despite facing serious questions over his leadership back home, Johnson has earned praise in Ukraine since the Russian invasion.

In April, Johnson became the first member of a G7 country to travel to the Ukrainian capital for talks during the conflict.

During the visit, Johnson took a trip around Kyiv with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on foot. The two leaders have remained in regular contact since.

Image source, Reuters

This morning's update from the Ukrainian armed forces gives further confirmation of intense fighting around Severodonetsk.

Ukrainian troops there have come under fire from mortars and artillery systems, officials say.

Among their other updates:

• Russian troops are firing on Ukrainians along the "entire line of contact" in the east of the country
• The Ukrainian military has repelled seven enemy attacks across the eastern Donbas region over the past 24 hours

• The Russians are also continuing their push towards Slovyansk - another city near Severodonetsk

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

A pledge from the UK to join the US in sending long-range missile systems to Ukraine could make a difference, but it "won't change things overnight" due to limited numbers, says a land warfare expert.

M270 rocket launchers due to be sent to Ukraine are the "crown jewels of the British Army's capability", says Dr Jack Watling of the UK's Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) think tank.

Speaking to Radio 4's Today programme, Watling adds that these systems could "knock out" Russian artillery in eastern Ukraine. But he points out that the Ukrainians will need to be trained to use them - and adds that the UK only has so many systems to give away.

As for the threat from Russia's President Putin to expand his list of targets if the West sends longer range systems, Watling says this would be "pretty difficult" because Moscow has already been targeting Ukraine's economy as well as its troop positions.

Image source, ,

Joe Inwood
Reporting from Kyiv

Image source, Reuters

The battle for the Donbas may well be decided by artillery. Russia has an overwhelming weight of firepower it can bring to the fight. But – it is indiscriminate.

New missile systems sent by the UK may not allow Ukraine to rival the destructive power of Russia’s big guns and rockets – but they should allow it to accurately target them with return fire – and eventually wear them down.

On his visit to the front, President Zelensky will have passed some of Ukraine’s forward artillery positions – as he visited Lysychansk. This small industrial town sits on a hill overlooking the Siversky Donets river – and will be a crucial defensive position if Severodonetsk falls.

A few days ago, that looked all but inevitable. But, with Ukrainians on the counter offensive, it now seems Russian forces may be struggling to take even their most modest of objectives.

Image source, Getty Images

Heavy fighting is continuing around the eastern city of Severodonetsk, says the UK's Ministry of Defence (MoD) in its regular morning update.

Russian troops are said to be pushing towards Slovyansk in an effort to cut off the Ukrainians.

The MoD also confirms that Russian missiles hit rail infrastructure in Kyiv early on Sunday - the first such strike on the capital for weeks. The attack is thought to have been an attempt to disrupt the supply of Western military equipment to Ukraine.

The update also focuses on Ukraine's Snake Island. Russia is thought to have moved air-defence systems here to provide support for its ships in the Black Sea - after losing its flagship Moskva cruiser in April.

Moscow is also said to be using Snake Island to maintain its blockade of the Ukrainian coast - preventing grain from being sent overseas.

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

The annnoucement comes the week after the US said it was also supplying a rocket system to Ukraine.

The UK government said the Ukrainian military will be trained in how to use the M270 multiple-launch rocket system launchers in the coming weeks.

Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said the UK was supplying Ukrainian troops with "vital weapons they need to defend their country from unprovoked invasion.

"As Russia's tactics change, so must our support to Ukraine," he added.

Read more here about what other weapons the UK has given Ukraine.

Image source, Ukrainian Presidential Press Service

Ukraine's President Zelensky has spent time with frontline troops in the eastern Donbas region - where the Russian assault is focused.

In his nightly address on Sunday, he said he made a trip to the city of Lysychansk and the town of Soledar - saying he was "proud of everybody I met, everyone I shook hands with".

Zelensky also spoke to soldiers in the south-eastern Zaporizhzhia region, describing them as heroes.

The trip represented a rare journey outside the capital Kyiv for the president since the war began in February.

We are restarting our live coverage of the war in Ukraine. Here's a roundup of the latest developments:

• The UK is sending its first long-range missiles to Ukraine, Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said, adding that the M270 multiple-launch rocket system will help Ukraine defend itself against Russia
• 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
• The warning came as the Ukrainian capital faced its first missile strikes in weeks - Kyiv said a railway repair plant was hit, but Moscow claimed it had targeted tanks supplied by European countries
• Much of the fighting remains concentrated in the eastern Donbas region, where Russia refocused its efforts since pulling back from Kyiv at the end of March
• Ukrainian officials said their forces have retaken half of Severodonetsk, a city in the Donbas where some of the most intense fighting is taking place
• A Russian major general was killed in the fighting on Sunday - the latest in a string of high-profile military deaths on the Russian side
• A visit by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to Serbia has been cancelled after three neighbouring countries - Bulgaria, North Macedonia and Montenegro - refused to let his plane use their airspace
• The US envoy on climate change John Kerry has warned countries against using the confiict in Ukraine as an excuse to continue using coal - if they do so, "we are cooked", he told the BBC ahead of a climate conference in Germany

Image source, Gett