?Live: Zelensky compares Bakhmut’s ‘total destruction’ to Hiroshima in 1945

1:03pm: Zelensky compares Bakhmut ‘destruction’ to Hiroshima in 1945

President Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday compared the “total destruction” of the east Ukrainian town of Bakhmut to the 1945 devastation of Hiroshima after a nuclear strike, now hosting the G7 summit.

“The photos of Hiroshima remind me of Bakhmut. There is absolutely nothing alive, all the buildings are destroyed,” Zelensky said. “Absolute total destruction. There is nothing, there are no people.”

12:57pm: Zelensky says he is confident Ukraine will get F-16 fighter jets from West

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Sunday he was confident that Kyiv would receive supplies of F-16 fighter jets from the West to help repel Russia’s full-scale invasion of his country.

12:54pm: Zelensky says meeting with Brazil’s Lula didn’t happen because of scheduling

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he did not meet Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on on the sidelines of the Group of Seven summit on Sunday because of scheduling.

12:51pm: Zelensky says Russian troops in Bakhmut but city ‘not occupied’

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Sunday that Russian troops were in Bakhmut — which Moscow claimed it captured a day earlier — but insisted the east Ukrainian city was “not occupied”.

“Today they (Russian troops) are in Bakhmut,” Zelensky said at a press conference during the G7 summit in Hiroshima. But he added: “Bakhmut is not occupied by Russia today”.

12:50pm: Zelensky gave ‘flat assurance’ F-16s won’t attack Russian territory says Biden

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky gave Washington a “flat assurance” that F-16 fighters will not attack Russian territory, US President Joe Biden said Sunday after approving Kyiv’s access to the jets.

“I have a flat assurance from Zelensky that they will not use it to go on and move onto Russian geographic territory, but wherever Russian troops are within Ukraine and the area, they would be able to do that,” Biden told reporters at the G7 summit in Hiroshima.

12:45pm: Zelensky says Ukraine’s peace formula has potential to prevent future war

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Sunday that Kyiv‘s peace formula had the potential to prevent future wars by stopping aggressors from launching them.

Zelensky made the comment in a news conference at the Group of Seven (G7) summit in Hiroshima, Japan.

12:44pm: Ukraine says troops still engaging Russian forces in Bakhmut after Moscow announces victory in city

Ukrainian soldiers were still engaging Russian forces in fierce battles in and around Bakhmut on Sunday, military officials said, hours after Moscow and the private army Wagner announced that their troops had taken full control of the eastern city.

The fog of war made it impossible to confirm the situation on the ground in the invasion’s longest battle, and a series of comments from Ukrainian and Russian officials added confusion to the matter.

Ukrainian Deputy Defence Minsiter Hanna Malyar even went so far as to say that Ukrainian troops “took the city in a semi-encirclement.”

“The enemy failed to surround Bakhmut, and they lost part of the dominant heights around the city,” Malyar said. “That is, the advance of our troops in the suburbs along the flanks, which is still ongoing, greatly complicates the enemy’s presence in Bakhmut.”

Her comments came after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, at the Group of Seven summit in Japan, appeared to suggest that Bakhmut had fallen.

12:24pm: Biden says Putin ‘will not break our resolve’ on Ukraine

Russia “will not break” the resolve of Ukraine’s allies, US President Joe Biden said Sunday after talks with Volodymyr Zelensky on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Hiroshima.

The American president said he had assured his Ukrainian counterpart that Washington and other backers of Kyiv “will not waver, Putin will not break our resolve as he thought he could”.

11:19am: Ukrainian troops have partly encircled Bakhmut, still control part of city, says defence minister

Ukrainian forces have partly encircled the besieged eastern city of Bakhmut along the flanks and still maintain control of a private sector in the city, Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Maliar said on Sunday.

She made the remarks on the Telegram messaging app shortly after Russian President Vladimir Putin said the battle had ended with a Russian victory.

10:52am: Russian-installed official says Kyiv struck port city with British Storm Shadow missiles

A Russian-installed official in Ukraine’s southern Zaporizhzhia region said on Sunday that Kyiv had struck the Russian-held port city of Berdyansk with British-supplied Storm Shadow cruise missiles.

In a statement on Telegram, Vladimir Rogov said that seven missiles had been fired at the city, four of which were Storm Shadow missiles. He said six of the missiles had been intercepted and one had fallen on the edge of the city but had not caused any casualties.

9:15am: Zelensky spokesman says Ukraine leader did not confirm Russian capture of Bakhmut

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky did not confirm the capture by Russian forces of the besieged eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, his spokesman said on Sunday.

“Reporter’s question: Russians said they have taken Bakhmut,” Sergii Nykyforov wrote on Facebook. “President’s reply: I think no.” He added in Ukrainian: “In this way, the president denied the capture of Bakhmut”.

8:48am: Trudeau says Canada will support Ukraine for as long as it takes

Canada will support Ukraine for as long and as much as necessary in its conflict with Russia, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Sunday, adding he conveyed that support to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at a meeting in Japan. Trudeau made the comment at a press conference in Hiroshima as members of the Group of Seven (G7) nations wrap up a three-day summit.

Canada would also continue to train Ukrainian military as it has been doing since 2015, he said.

8:26am: UK PM Sunak says pilot training for Ukraine starts this summer

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said on Sunday his country would start training Ukrainian pilots this summer to support its air force in its war with Russia.

Joined by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at a summit of the Group of Seven (G7) nations in Hiroshima, Japan, Sunak said no one wants peace more than Zelensky but that peace conditions should be based on Ukraine’s principles.

At the three-day summit the G7 signalled to Russia their readiness to stand by Ukraine for the long term.

8:08am: Ukraine’s Zelensky appears to confirm loss of Bakhmut

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky appeared to confirm the loss of the city of Bakhmut to Russia on Sunday, saying “I think no” when asked if it remained in Kyiv’s control.

“I think no,” he said ahead of a meeting with US President Joe Biden in Japan. “For today, it is only in our hearts”.

Zelensky said the Russians had destroyed “everything.” “You have to understand that there is nothing,” he said.

7:59am: Biden unveils new US military package for Ukraine, promises Zelensky support

US President Joe Biden announced a new package of military aid to Ukraine on Sunday and told President Volodymyr Zelensky during a meeting in Japan that the United States was doing all it could to strengthen Ukraine’s defence for the war with Russia.

Biden, meeting with the Ukrainian leader on the sidelines of the G7 summit of world leaders, said the military aid package included ammunition, artillery and armoured vehicles.

4:48am: Zelensky seeks diplomatic, military support in Hiroshima

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will plead for diplomatic and military support in Hiroshima Sunday as he addresses G7 allies and a few nations who have pointedly declined to condemn Russia’s invasion.

Later he will address assembled leaders from India, Brazil, Vietnam and Indonesia and is expected to give a speech to rally support for Ukraine’s defence against Moscow’s 15-month onslaught.

His appearance at the G7 summit has firmly shifted the spotlight onto Russia’s aggression, and comes after a victory in his long-running campaign to win US backing for the supply of American-made advanced fighter jets.

3:41am: Zelensky presence at G7 a ‘way to build peace’, says Macron

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s visit to the G7 for talks with allies and major developing nations is a “way to build peace”, French President Emmanuel Macron said Sunday.

Macron said it was an “honour” to make a plane available to take Zelensky, first to an Arab League summit and then to the G7, saying it showed “France building peace and looking for solutions”.

1:00am: Putin congratulates Wagner, Russia army on capturing Bakhmut

Russian President Vladimir Putin late Saturday congratulated the Wagner mercenary group and the national army on their claimed capture of the east Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, according to a Kremlin statement quoted by Russian news agencies.

“Vladimir Putin congratulated the assault units of Wagner as well as all servicemen of units of the Russian armed forces who provided them with the necessary support and flank cover, on the completion of the operation to liberate Artemovsk (the Soviet-era name for Bakhmut),” the TASS news agency quoted the Kremlin statement as saying.

12:06am: Russia says Wagner private army, with help from Russian troops, seized Bakhmut

Russia‘s defence ministry said early Sunday that forces of the Wagner private army, with the support of Russian troops, seized the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut.

The ministry statement on the Telegram channel came about eight hours after a similar claim by Wagner head Yevgeny Prigozhin. Ukrainian authorities at that time said fighting for Bakhmut was continuing.

The eight-month battle for the city in eastern Ukraine is the longest and probably most bloody of the conflict in Ukraine.

Using the city’s Soviet-era name, the Russian ministry said, “In the Artyomovsk tactical direction, the assault teams of the Wagner private military company with the support of artillery and aviation of the southern battlegroup has completed the liberation of the city of Artyomovsk”. There was no immediate comment from Ukrainian officials about the latest claim.

Key developments from Friday, May 20:

The leader of the Russian paramilitary group Wagner claimed responsibility for the capture of the town of Bakhmut on Saturday. For its part, Kyiv said it still controlled some areas in the city, but said the situation on the ground was “critical”.

Earlier, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky arrived in Japan for a surprise appearance at the G7 summit. He met several heads of state and government, including Narendra Modi, Georgia Meloni and Rishi Sunak.

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

Read more analysis on the war in Ukraine (C) France M?dias Monde graphic studio

(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP & Reuters)