This concludes our live policy of the war in Ukraine for tonight: thank you for following us.
We will check back for major updates overnight and return to our procedural policy tomorrow.
Before we go, here’s a look at the day’s key events:
The founder and CEO of the messaging application Telegram has been arrested in France, according to French media.
French television channel TF1 reports that Pavel Durov was arrested tonight at Le Bourget airport near Paris.
According to the channel, the businessman of Russian origin travels on his personal jet and is the subject of an arrest warrant in France.
Telegram responded to a request for comment from the Reuters news agency.
Durov — who also founded the now-state-controlled Russian social media service VK — left Russia in 2014 after resisting government strain to supply knowledge on Ukrainian protesters.
He now lives in Dubai and holds the nationality of the United Arab Emirates and France.
Telegram, introduced in 2013, is one of the five most downloaded applications in the world.
Lithuania has announced a new batch of military aid to Ukraine, drones and air defense missiles.
Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte said the plan would be for Ukraine to “send the Russian occupiers back to their place. “
In a message to X, Simonyte said the aid would consist of “short-range air defense systems and missiles, as well as anti-drones, weapons, ammunition and equipment. “
The package will arrive in kyiv until September, he said.
Vilnius also pledged to send around 5,000 Lithuanian-made drones to Ukraine by the end of autumn and to allocate 35 million euros (£29. 6 million) to acquire radars and demining equipment.
Tanks passing through Poland are being used in Ukraine in its offensive in the Kursk region, President Andrzej Duda confirmed.
Vladimir Putin has promised a “dignified response” to any use of Western weapons during the invasion.
Duda’s visit to kyiv today coincided with Ukraine’s Independence Day celebrations.
In a speech on the occasion, he also said he was convinced that the war “will soon end in victory [for Ukraine]. “
“I never had, and never have, the slightest doubt that, through their united efforts and struggle, the brave other peoples of Ukraine will protect their independence,” he said.
A Russian airstrike on the Ukrainian city of Sumy tonight wounded seven people, officials said.
The Sumy regional directorate reported on Telegram that Russia had carried out a missile attack against the city’s civilian infrastructure.
Seven other people were injured, two of them in serious condition.
“Take care of yourself and your loved ones, don’t forget the caution signs in the air,” management said.
Sumy is the administrative center of the Sumy region in northeastern Ukraine, on the border with Russia.
Volodymyr Zelensky signed several laws targeting Russia, adding one banning devout organizations connected to Moscow.
The legislation package included the ratification of a statute that paves the way for Ukraine at the International Criminal Court (ICC).
The ratification increases the chances that Russia will be prosecuted for war crimes it allegedly committed during its invasion of Ukraine, according to Zelenskyy’s office.
Meanwhile, a law was signed banning the operation of devotional establishments in Ukraine with ties to Russia.
Under the new law, organizations would have nine months to sever ties with entities linked to Moscow.
Zelensky signed a law granting Ukrainian citizenship to foreigners fighting in his army opposed to Russia.
Ukrainian boxing star Oleksandr Usyk Volodymyr Zelenskyy holds the coveted WBC heavyweight championship belt as the two men gathered to mark Independence Day.
Zelensky posted a video of the assembly on his Telegram channel and said it was an “honor” to get the belt.
“Thank you for everything you do for Ukraine. To glorify the Ukrainian and invincibility. Thank you!” he wrote.
Usyk beat Britain’s Tyson Fury to become the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world in May.
In an interview with Sky News last month, the boxer revealed how he cried behind closed doors about the war in his country.
Both Belarus and Iran have sent their congratulations to Ukraine on its 33rd anniversary of independence from the former Soviet Union, despite the close ties between the two countries and Russia.
According to Belarusian news firm Belta, President Alexander Lukashenko said his citizens “have always had special respect and consideration” for the Ukrainian people.
“We are united not only by the common fate and family ties, but also by the desire to be friends and get along with neighbours,” he was cited as saying.
Belarus served as the stage for the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and Lukashenko is one of Vladimir Putin’s allies.
Meanwhile, Iran’s Foreign Ministry posted a message on social media saying it congratulated the Ukrainian government and others on their independence.
Tehran has reportedly delivered a bunch of deadly drones, as well as other weapons, to Moscow for use in its war against Ukraine.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy used an Independence Day message to refer to Vladimir Putin as the “sick old man of Red Square. “
In his speech, Zelensky claimed that the war in Russia had spread to his own territory.
“Those who seek to sow evil in our land will reap the rewards in their soil,” he said.
He also said that “those who sought to turn our land into a buffer zone now deserve to be interested in their own country not becoming a buffer federation. “
Five more people were injured after Russian bombing in the Kharkiv region of northeastern Ukraine, the government said.
The country’s emergency said that Russian forces fired rockets today at the village of Novoosynove in the Kupyan district.
Four and one man were injured, while two residential buildings and a patch of dry grass caught fire.
“Rescue personnel put out the fire and prevented the flames from spreading to other houses,” the emergency service said on Telegram, adding that doctors were at the scene of the attack.